A few questions.

[Siegfried]

Hello ^_^, first post and all so ill jump right in.

Im probably around 3/4 through the game. Im generally encountering Ares Ships, Luminous Drones, and Ranx Ships (Mostly the gunships but the occasional Dreadnought)

My equipment is pretty solid I think, but im wondering if im beefed up enough for the Heretic System yet.

Reactor: Hyperion-L (1GW, holds double the amount of fuel of a normal one)

Armor: Four Segments of Dwarg HoloChroal. Or some such. Anyhoo, I applied Orthosteel Nano's to each segment so theyre at 300 HP and reflects Ion/Particle Weaponry.

Shield: Mammoth Deflector 50MW (300 Hp or around there and reflects Ion weapons)

Weaponry:Fichaki Masumune Starblaster (Positron Damage or somesort, chews up most things pretty quick, except for the Ranx Dreadnoughts, those things are beasts.)

And an Akan 600 Turret with roughly about 1000 rounds.

Devices:Two Patch Spiders, and an ICX Missile Defense Turret. Im full up device wise and such.

So how am I looking? What kind of equipment do I need to get before facing the Heretic system?

Not to mention I have roughly 400,000 Credits (Some attack/salvage runs have been highly profitable) And probably about 60,000 Rins.

[Burzmali]

I'm not an expert on all of the mods out there, but the positron dealing weapon may have some problems with the boss in the Heretic system. Also, your shield is a little weak, but very doable if you are a careful pilot.

I'd give it a shot and if you are still having problems, you can always check out the Iocyrm FAQ for some more in-depth analysis.

[dvlenk6]

Hello.

Everything looks good except, I would try to get a better shield: the 100MW Mammoth shield, or one of equivalent level...

And I am not sure if your positron based weapon can overcome the Iocrym Command Ship's Shield regeneration rate. The weapon will hurt it, but maybe not enough to bring down the shield entirely. It would likely depend on how powerful the weapon is.

[Siegfried]

Ive yet to find a suitable replacement for the shield.

Weapon-wise, ive been considering getting a Plasma Cannon which seems to do pretty awesome damage. But im not 100% sure.

Im hoping to run into an Archcannon at one of the Sung Citadels but no luck so far.

When I do get a better weapon though, im going to swap out the Akan 600. Which while awesome, is lacking in damage for most things. (Only really use it against the Ares ships)

Also, a random question. What is the weapon that the Ranx Dreadnought employs? That fires and then is like a burst weapon. That thing was horrible ><.

Although Im thankful for them because they took out a Commonwealth station in one system and I became rich from the loot. ^_^

[dvlenk6]

Dreadnaughts use a Kiloton Cannon.
Their's is omnidirectional, if you get one, it won't be omni. It does Thermo(nuclear) damage. Uses ammo (kilton cannon shell)

[Siegfried]

Id probably stray from one then, I prefer to use Omni weapons. (Although its not neccessary)

The Plasma Cannon though, is it a good weapon? Id test it myself, but its still too expensive to purchase at the Tetrion Colonys. (So many Rins ><)

[FAD]

The plasma cannon has no effect on the Iocrym. You can hit that shield all day and never bring it down. You'll need the QAC or some rad mod cannon to defeat it.

As for shields, keep checking all the friendly stations you come across. Some may have better shields. Or order one at the Trading Post if you find one of those or have any left to order from.

I always look for the omni Ion cannon pre-Heretic then the QAC for Heretic. But if you prefer mod cannons to defeat the Iocrym, try Fichikai's (sp?) Lightning cannon. It's pretty mean.

[dvlenk6]

I never tried to fight the Iocrym with anything but the QAC (except when I didn't know about that and used an Akan )

Plasma and Postiron have the same damage modifier against the Iocrym Veil (Shield). If the Plasma weapon isn't enough, I doubt your Positron one will work either, unless it is super high amount of damage (i.e. blows everything it hits to smithereens in one shot).

I think theoretically the Kyrtyrn? Launcher could beat it if it were boosted and you could fill your cargo bay with many ammos; because I think you'd have to put a paperweight of some kind on the fire button (so your fingers wouldn't get tired from holding it down for so long ) to do that.

Burzmali tested all that simulations, he'd know for sure which weapons could work against the Iocrym.

I think the QAC is the only practical one right now. I'm not familiar with a lot of the modded weapons. There's probably at least a few of those that could blast the Iocrym halfway to the core in a few shots.
- - - - -
Have you come across an omni Ion Blaster?
If you like omnis, it is more powerfull than the akan. It uses much energy but w/ a 1gig reactor it won't be a problem. Doesn't need ammo either.

[Burzmali]

Of course that is all in the FAQ now isn't it, I wouldn't want to put too many spoilers in the "Beginner's Luck" section of the forum

[goat not sheep]

Gee...i've never heard of that starblaster. Is it a mod? If it isn't... then you can't possibally take on the iocrym with that. The shields are pretty good. All you need is a better weapon(if it isn't a mod) If it is... make sure it can do some heavy damage. Do you have a targeting ROM? You don't need it...but it'll help. A LOT!

[Siegfried]

Ive still got a few systems to explore before Heretic, so I reckon Ill be able to track down a better shield.

Another random question, what rank do I have to be to do missions at Point Juno?

[Dosgamer3]

If I recall correctly, you have to be at least a Fleet Lieutenant, or something like that.

Which I think is stupid, I'll find an appropriate thread to explain why so no one calls it spam.

[goat not sheep]

you can PM it... for me...i do all the missions i can just to be sure.

[Siegfried]

There are quite some weapons that can bring down the Iocrym's shield:

QAC
Kytryn Launcher
Kytryn Blaster (or whatever the Teratons use)
Plasma Cannon
Pentient Cannon

All can defeat the shield without an enhancement, but some will require a few hours. Once the shield is down & you have a ammo-based weapon like QAC & Kytryn Launcher, switch to a Plasma Cannon or AAC to chew it's armor.

If it comes down to taking several hours, ill probably just start a new game with a new ship . Since ive blasted every known Sung Citadel and no QAC.

The ship ive been using anyways is a player version of the Molotok Smuggler, or some such. Essentially a little bit faster than the freighter and a bit more maneuverable with comparable cargo space.