Anti - capship tactics for Constellation?

[JohnBWatson]

Autons tend to be lightly armored, and do not retreat on shields down. Thus, they seem especially vulnerable to hostile capital ships, which is extremely detrimental to my ability to fight as a Constellation user given the fact that autons appear to be my primary means of defending myself. Is there a loadout or strategy that allows me to fight capital ships without taking unsustainable losses here?

[NMS]

Obviously, giving them better shields and armor helps their survivability. You could also try hit-and-run tactics by ordering them to attack and then return to formation. Repair them at auton dealers when they take damage.

In the early to mid game, the EMP cannon and AK505 Ballista are good choices. I haven't played the Constellation past the point where they're useful, but I can try to suggest some weapons.

The 1M and 1Mi can use the mark III howitzer and lancer cannon, which are decent against compartments. The next best would be things like the dual particle beam weapon (or even dual laser cannon).

For the late game you want Lumiere battle autons. I think the only way to get them currently is to order them, but that could change soon. They can use anything less than 100 MW, so the mark V howitzer, tritium cannon, and (ideally) Hecates cannon seem like the best choices.

[Song]

Autons struggle against capital ships because of the wacky WMD balance: you need repeated hits from a single angle to destroy compartments and the 'orbit' style of fighting is very bad at doing this.

Personally, and I haven't played a conny game all the way through for a long time, I'd go with:

-Lighter autons use high average damage or high rate of fire weapons to take out shields and absorb some fire. They're sacrificial but useful. The AK505 and Flenser are great, as are mid-game omnis (and give them guns you used to use and have enhanced, but no longer use). 300Ds are still pretty useful in stock form in the lategame for knocking out shields, although they die quickly. Upgrades help a lot.

- Mix "annoyance" weapons (EMP cannons and Ion disruptors being the two main ones) with hard hitters: Mark I and III howitzers for medium autons (the 1M family) and thermo weapons for the higher ones. The katana might be good for Lumiere autons as well.

-Upgrade *all* autons with armor and shields that can resist a direct hit from the biggest gun that you're using. If possible, the biggest gun you're facing but honestly an APA or ALT will laugh at most auton setups. THat's fine. But you want to cut back on friendly-fire damage as much as you can.


And also upgrade your own weapons as much as possible. You do have to fly the Conny as a support vehicle, and that means doing a lot of damage to things in the lategame.

[JohnBWatson]

So, Lumiere Battle Autons with stolen Hecates cannons and the best armor/shields I can find?

Is the 100MW a total value, or is it per device?

Also, the Ventari Ion Disruptors seem like the premier choice for autons, taking out the weapons of enemy ships before they can do much damage. Paired with APCs to kill shields, that seems like something that would be fairly lethal. Still, even with looted equipment, I doubt I'd be able to afford replacing casualties, and Auton dealers stop showing up past the Ungoverned Territories, making even repairs a bit of a hassle.

[PM]

Per device. The NPC can have a configuration with total powerUse exceeding their maxPower, provided no single item is equal or exceeds maxPower. You cannot install a device equal to maxPower, so no 100 MW weapons or shields on an auton with 100 MW maxPower limit.

[JohnBWatson]

Per device. The NPC can have a configuration with total powerUse exceeding their maxPower, provided no single item is equal or exceeds maxPower. You cannot install a device equal to maxPower, so no 100 MW weapons or shields on an auton with 100 MW maxPower limit.

Ah, that was what I thought. That sounds like a somewhat strange system, but given the inability to uninstall devices and the steep power curve late - game, I'm okay with it.

[Song]

Per device. The NPC can have a configuration with total powerUse exceeding their maxPower, provided no single item is equal or exceeds maxPower. You cannot install a device equal to maxPower, so no 100 MW weapons or shields on an auton with 100 MW maxPower limit.

Ah, that was what I thought. That sounds like a somewhat strange system, but given the inability to uninstall devices and the steep power curve late - game, I'm okay with it.

Personally I consider it a bug, but every time I think about reporting it people come out of the woodwork to explain why a 99.99MW actual limit is perfectly logical. Regardless, there's enough guns under that point that it should be possible to get some reasonable damage out of it.

[Atarlost]

Per device. The NPC can have a configuration with total powerUse exceeding their maxPower, provided no single item is equal or exceeds maxPower. You cannot install a device equal to maxPower, so no 100 MW weapons or shields on an auton with 100 MW maxPower limit.

Ah, that was what I thought. That sounds like a somewhat strange system, but given the inability to uninstall devices and the steep power curve late - game, I'm okay with it.

Personally I consider it a bug, but every time I think about reporting it people come out of the woodwork to explain why a 99.99MW actual limit is perfectly logical. Regardless, there's enough guns under that point that it should be possible to get some reasonable damage out of it.

It may be logical, but it's not intuitive. You should go ahead and report your bug.

[PM]

Playerships always use 0.5 MW for life support and 2 MW for stock engines. It is a good idea to prevent installing devices that equal a ship's maxPower, at least for playerships.

As for autons or other ships that do not need life support, assuming that engines consume no power, it might make sense to allow installation of devices that equal maxPower.

[JohnBWatson]

Playerships always use 0.5 MW for life support and 2 MW for stock engines. It is a good idea to prevent installing devices that equal a ship's maxPower, at least for playerships.

As for autons or other ships that do not need life support, assuming that engines consume no power, it might make sense to allow installation of devices that equal maxPower.

Yeah, and given that I can have 5 devices that use half of maxpower, I see no reason to add in an arbitrary -1 to the mix. Makes a confusing system even more confusing.

Back on topic, are there any other tricks a Conny player should know? The Dwarg glitch I recently put on ministry ended my last game of CC, but I'm planning on giving it another go.

[NMS]

Well, you can make a tidy profit by buying excess autons (except maybe autosentinels), replacing their equipment with the cheapest junk you can find, then selling the equipment and the auton. The Longreaches on the Aegis are particularly valuable if you can find other misc. devices to replace them with.

[JohnBWatson]

Well, you can make a tidy profit by buying excess autons (except maybe autosentinels), replacing their equipment with the cheapest junk you can find, then selling the equipment and the auton. The Longreaches on the Aegis are particularly valuable if you can find other misc. devices to replace them with.

That should definitely be resolved. I'd suggest making the PD some manner of built - in system.

That would also make it feasible to allow uninstalling items.