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Thread: Tip: Don't Waste Your Breath
Gom_Kuub wrote:
an npc's ship works exactly like yours or any other human player's starship
it has rear shields and front shields, rear armor and front armor, components with armor, etc.
-when an npc ship you are about to battle is facing toward you and has not engaged you in battle yet, fire 1 shot at it's face to get its attention
-then get on its tail and fire away at it
-if you stay on its tail and are not facing the front of the ship, you will only need to reduce %05 of its armor and shields, saving a lot of capacitor energy and not draining it
imagine looking at a ship's back, and a line splitting it across from side to side; the top half are its front shields and armor, the bottom half are its rear shields and armor
try not tobe on the front part of that line if you are going to be on its tail and shoot
but if you are fighting a ship where you often look at its front, then you should lower its front shields and armor
-Gom
I hate to interupt arguments....hehe but I'm sorry this guy is right on with his info....the only problem is his wording and how it is preceived by those that read it.
he specificallydescribes why he made this statement:
"an npc's ship works exactly like yours or any other human player's starship" <----this is a bit vague and can be easily misunderstood, as some people who posted proved already.
sometimes you just have to read between the lines and understand what's being said after reading the whole post...just because he made a vague comment like the one above, does not mean he is wrong or doesn't know what he's talking about.
What hecouldhave said is that npc's components work,are effected and can bedestroyed just like pc's ships....that would have cleared up this whole situation and noone would think that he was also saying that npc's use droid commands or that a pc ship can turn 180 degrees and full throttle..etc.
anyway, a lot of people have trouble with space combat because they don't understand or know about these's factors.....a lot of poeple are under the assumption that npc shielding is one whole unit and you must take down 100% of it before you can do damage or destroy the ship.....
bottom line is that npc ships do have front and rear shielding just like player ships
you can damage the ships systems, disable the ship or destroy the ships by only taking down 50% of the shielding as long as you continue to hit the ship in the same general area.
To add a little bit to the original posters comments.....
everyone knows that during a mission, npc ships spawn in front of you maybe 90% of the time.....they fly towards you and obviously you shoot at them as they fly towards you.....in most cases, by the time they fully pass you, you have taken out their front shielding and maybe even the armor and possibly hit a few system components......but since the basic instinct of players is to immediately get behind the ship and try and destroy it after it has passed you....you fall into this problem I see many pilots making (yes even masters). The start fresh and new with the damage they do because now they have switched from damaging the front of the npc ship, to the back.....now you must destroy the shielding and everything again, just like you did the front.
Well, there is one thing you can do to destroy your target faster in this situation.....when you get behind the target after it has passed...don't shoot it in the rear of the ship...lead your shots so that the ship flies into them....this will make your shots hit the front of the npc ship even though you are directly behind the npc ship....what this means is that you don't spend extra time disabling more shielding and armor to destroy your target but you effectively finish off what you started in the front....which in most cases mean you only need to hit the front of the ship with 1 or 2 well placed shots....but obviously this depends on how much damage you done in the first place.
This also works in the reverse situation....if you started damaging your target from behind first and then change and start jousting with it...you are only taking more time to kill it....
See the only reason I state this is because I get tells all day long (during my FS grind....arrrrggghhh) for pilots needing help with tier 2, 3 and 4 missions......well fine, a little help is ok....but when I actually come to help you and it's only 3 or 4 ships...I'm telling myself, why did I waste my time....so when you know how to destroy your targets fast, you can then take on 10tier 4 or 5 ships at once and come out on top (maybe with a little damage and disabled parts)...but still you come out on top more often then not......because when you can take each target out in a matter of seconds, you effectively are weakening the total damage they can do to you and with each kill, you open up more room for your shields to regen without getting hit.
final note is to always take out the unshielded targets first (normally the lower tier ships).....even though the higher tier ships hit harder...it's better to try and dodge 5 guns instead of 10 guns...those extra 5 guns add up to some pretty big damage....taking out the unshielded targets first buys you time and lessens the damage you take.....because it will take twice as long to take out a shielded target then it will an unsheilded target....and the longer it takes you to destroy one target, the higher the risk of you failing your mission.
I only wrote all of this, because it fits exactly with what the original poster wrote....and all those trying to create an argument...please stop and think first....it serves the whole communtiy better when you don't bog down a great post with useful info with meaningless flames and arguments.
FuryoftheStars wrote:
They are setup the same, yes. But PC ships are easier (stats wise) to destroy than NPC. And PCs do have the ability to cycle their shields with the special Rebel Droid commands. Not talking about cycling the target... talking about cycling the energy.
But out of curiousity, what sparked you to make this post? Maybe knowing that it would be a bit easier for me reply with understanding.
Message Edited by FuryoftheStars on 12-23-2004 09:13 PM
i made this thread to help people
what sparked you to flame me?
-Gom
Odajja wrote:
Oh sure My ship is Just the same as NPC ship. I can turn on a Dime. Keep same speed in that turn and not have it effect me in the slightest. Can anyone confirm this???
i'm not talking about the speed or weapon power
how did SO MANY PEOPLE GET MISDIRECTED?
npc ships have rear shileds and armor
npc ships have front shields and armor
guess who else does? hmm? you, the player
no more misunderstanding, i was talking about rear and front defences
no commands, no speed, no weapon power, etc.
-Gom
Ikillforbounty wrote:
heh this is a pointless thread
heh that was a pointless flame
-Gom
So you are making the assumption that they have no pilots?
Gom_Kuub wrote:
i said their SHIPS
-Gom
Gom_Kuub wrote:
atytula wrote:
Gom_Kuub wrote:
atytula wrote:
This post has newbie written all over it. First off, a player ship can cycle shields from front to back, and I believe some NPCs do this too. Can anyone verify this? So, it is possible to stay on someones tail and still have to get him down to 0% shields before hitting the armor. Also, NPCs take so many more hits then players. It is a very different ball of wax. Now, I do wish that the line separating NPCs and PCs was finer.
i have killed npcs with only lowering their shields to 50% and dmging their systems using my technique
you cannot cycle through shield sides, only some components themselves
and why can't you verify your theory yourself? i did, so back up your stuff b4 flaming next time
-Gom
My stuff is backed up. You said that you only need to take out 50% on NPCs (which I never disputed) and that NPCs are the same as PCs, which is WRONG. PCs can cycle there sheilds. Next thing you know, people will be crying nerf because they heard from someone that PCs only need to lose 50% shields to be destroyed. And I wasn't flaming, but I won't sit idly by while someone spouts false information.
you asked if anybody can verify your stuff, which means you can't back it up
also you only need to lower 50% shields and armor IF you bombard it on 1 side of the line i mentioned
npcs can't cycle through shileds, maybe you don't know whereyour enemy is
if i flough in a straight line, an npc will only need to lower my rear shields and armor to expose my components
npc ships work the same way
-Gom
Yea, I asked if people can verify it since I was not at home to do it myself. What I wanted to verify was to prove you even more wrong then the stuff that was already backed up. I wanted to verify if the NPCs used sheild reconfigs (I have never seen it but that does not mean that there issome secluded case) which means that the whole bringing the ships sheilds down to 50% part would be wrong too. The part that was already backed up is that NPC ships are a whole different ball of wax then player ships. Try the same strategy in deepspace and you will be heading back in a yatch to pick up the missing pieces of your ship.
Gom_Kuub wrote:
Odajja wrote:
Oh sure My ship is Just the same as NPC ship. I can turn on a Dime. Keep same speed in that turn and not have it effect me in the slightest. Can anyone confirm this???
i'm not talking about the speed or weapon power
how did SO MANY PEOPLE GET MISDIRECTED?
npc ships have rear shileds and armor
npc ships have front shields and armor
guess who else does? hmm? you, the player
no more misunderstanding, i was talking about rear and front defences
no commands, no speed, no weapon power, etc.
-Gom
Ya just needed to clarify. My POV, was that there are differences between a player ship and an NPC ship in combat and startegy in killing them is quite different. The fact of how you kill an NPC is bang on, just I disagree with the comparison.
As to the turn on a dime statement that was made by another poster. I can turn on a dime. You just need to use all 4 axis of the joystick at the same time. Do a pitch yaw and roll while slowing down then speed up in your new direction. Only takes 1 second and you can turn 60 degrees with an Xwing.
Gom_Kuub wrote:
FuryoftheStars wrote:
They are setup the same, yes. But PC ships are easier (stats wise) to destroy than NPC. And PCs do have the ability to cycle their shields with the special Rebel Droid commands. Not talking about cycling the target... talking about cycling the energy.
But out of curiousity, what sparked you to make this post? Maybe knowing that it would be a bit easier for me reply with understanding.Message Edited by FuryoftheStars on 12-23-2004 09:13 PM
i made this thread to help people
what sparked you to flame me?
-Gom
First off, I wasn't flaming. I was merely stating some facts on the issue where there seemed to be some confusion/misunderstanding.
Secondly, you posted it "to help people"... I didn't realize that there was even an issue on this. I've known from day 1 that components between NPC and PC craft worked the same and I have never seen someone post yet asking about that. Again, I didn't even realize that there was an issue on it which is why I was asking. I figured you'd probably seen a few other posts that I hadn't that were asking about this. Hell, if it weren't for that other guy's long post to "clear up" the whole issue, I probably still wouldn't know exactly what you were referring to. That's why I was asking what 'sparked' you to make this post... in the hope that I could understand the issue better.
FuryoftheStars wrote:
Gom_Kuub wrote:
FuryoftheStars wrote:
They are setup the same, yes. But PC ships are easier (stats wise) to destroy than NPC. And PCs do have the ability to cycle their shields with the special Rebel Droid commands. Not talking about cycling the target... talking about cycling the energy.
But out of curiousity, what sparked you to make this post? Maybe knowing that it would be a bit easier for me reply with understanding.
Message Edited by FuryoftheStars on 12-23-2004 09:13 PM
i made this thread to help people
what sparked you to flame me?
-Gom
First off, I wasn't flaming. I was merely stating some facts on the issue where there seemed to be some confusion/misunderstanding.
Secondly, you posted it "to help people"... I didn't realize that there was even an issue on this. I've known from day 1 that components between NPC and PC craft worked the same and I have never seen someone post yet asking about that. Again, I didn't even realize that there was an issue on it which is why I was asking. I figured you'd probably seen a few other posts that I hadn't that were asking about this. Hell, if it weren't for that other guy's long post to "clear up" the whole issue, I probably still wouldn't know exactly what you were referring to. That's why I was asking what 'sparked' you to make this post... in the hope that I could understand the issue better.
now that we all understand eachother we should stop tossing the hot potato 
-Gom