Pilot Archive
Thread: Pilot Style...
)I am still learning, and have a lot to learn. I have read 6+ pages of this board, all the FAQ stuff, various external links, hints on RE parts, etc. I just recently hit 4333 pilot and I am turning my thoughts towards pvp in the near future. I will always fly a TIE of some sort, I want a ship that challenges me to be skillfull, the rewards are greater that way.
My question to you veteran pilots in the pvp arena...when did you find out your "style" ? How many different ones are there? I mixed and matched and crammed a lot of very expensive RE parts into my interceptor, including a 4k mass cap that does 44 recharge and 1195 energy. I found an engine that was 68 to all and 78 top speed, and a rare (from what I understand) lvl 3 RE booster with nearly 17 seconds burn time.
I had fun, I felt confident that I was learning as I went. I did my best to solo missions, but half the time got my arse handed to me, but still learned, tried again, then called for help. I practice in kashyk on tier 4 privateers now, but they are kinda easy, very slow and easy to maneuver behind and blast to bits with even a interceptor, the advanced's two guns make it nearly cake now.
I enjoy the negative 10g turns, the turn ins and outs, the speed and twists and torque turns, the way I have to use the throttle more then the stick to control my TIE bomber and account for inertial slide. In short I like the "flying" part of it, more then the guns blazing overpowering muscle part. I believe that a good flyer can outmaneuver a double or triple gunned ship and come out in the end. Is this possible in pvp?
Now I am faced with a perplexing question, keep the advanced for pvp, it seems a bit less maneuverable then my interceptor was, go back to the interceptor and massive parts-cramming, or step up in mass to an oppressor? Maybe from what I have posted here thus far, you vets can define my own "style" and offer a little wisdom. I love the ease in firepower of the advanced, but I do miss the zippiness of the interceptor, and at this point all I have done is pvm for my missions and farming loot for my MASSIVE RE project and liberal bribes to shipwrights.
I really dont' ever want to fly a ship in pvp that makes anything easier. I've taken pride in learning and limping back to spaceport sometimes, having storm squadron command chew my butt for failed missions, etc. For farming parts PVM I'll just throw together a tie bomber with 35k mass guns and blast all day though.
What are the veteran imperial pilot's thoughts on all this? Do I even make sense? Is anyone else out there as bitten by the JTL bug as I am?
/consider
Use them all, my standard ships in my datapad are 1. A Ywing LP, 2. A Ywing deuce, 3. An Awing, 4. A heavyX, 5. An empty (not flown in months) JSF, and finally 6. that dopy sorosubbboat.
That way you can change between them as you like.
In PvP I can make that Ywing dance better than a spiced up Twilek girl, but I prefer the X, im now working on a Awing loadout as well.
I'd agree that Style comes with experience. Learning your strengths and weaknesses are likewise part of that style. Though experimentation is also an important factor. There isno defined limit on how to approach the same problem,so don't be discouraged if what you try doesn't work.I'd encourage you to learn from your weaknesses and work through them rather than around them, if that makes any sense.
Space isn't really ... diverse enough to make people fly That differently. Only in PvP will you see this as important. And thenI'd argue that recognizing the pilots style, and their maneuver is one and the same at that point.
For your ships, there is no reason why you can't do both an Interceptor and an Advanced, and an Oppressor. Maybe even a Heavy TIE too. Play with all of them!
Applying Style to something as concrete as a Space Sim makes me think more along the lines of Form vs. Function. Meaning, the role for each ship. Say you need a bomber, take the Oppressor. Say you need an Interceptor, than the Advanced or Squint. Or if you need a more durable ship, you could use a Heavy TIE. It all depends on how you outfit them and how you plan to use them, for what kind of role.
If you're really being stubborn about not using ROTW ships though, you might even want to dust off a TIE Bomber, just for the fun of it. 
I'd also encourage you to try the other Imperial Squadrons, and maybe even some Neutral or Rebel Squadrons to broaden your experience further (if changing to Rebel isn't too much of a pain). But definitely the Imperial Squadrons. But on the otherhand, if you're really just interested in PvP, jump straight into it. The more exposure to it you get, the faster you will learn. But you should try to remain focused after you start PvPing. Regardless if you win or lose, you should be thinking about what mistakes both sides made, how they can be improved for the next round.
The trick is though alot of improvement may depend on a component or two. Meaning if you got shot down because you couldn't turn around fast enough, you might need a engine with better YPR. Which means months of work to RE an engine.
Good Hunting
1. would you perfer to run circles around your opponent and do the circle jerk thing?
2. Would you like to bomb the hell out of your opponent?
if you choose "1" then go with an interceptor. Maybe a low mass lvl 8 RE gun, with a lvl 6 RE engine (you can get a better lvl 6 than the one you already have) and then just build aroud that. mkIII shield, mkI-II cap ... you get the picture
if you choose "2" then fly your oppressor. with 3 missle tubes, you got some pretty insane fire power sitting under your cockpit. Load it wwith 3 mkII imagerec missles and enjoy blowing everything in pvp to smithereens. I personally would perfer MKIV protons, but those are a bit harder to lock in pvp so a trick is just to slow down when the enemy is approching till you lock. after the lock just fire all or right click the mouse 3 times fast.
I personally would choose a TIE advance with a lvl 8 RE engine and 2 lvl 6 RE guns, and just build around that. Good maneuverability with good firepower.
I would say go with the advanced. Statistically, the advanced and interceptor are the same except for the extra weapon and 15k mass on the advanced.The wepon slots will let you mount more firepower for PvE and and the extra mass will let you use a larger engine for PvP. Unless you really like the Interceptor your first few PvP encounters in it are really going to hurt and drive you away from it. With the extra mass the advanced can be a bit more forgiving as far as dealing and receiving damage. You might even want to try out the heavy tie. The lowbest turning speed and high maneuverability ratings will be very forgiving and give you an edge in turning fights. Also the 95k mass will let you mount a wide variety of parts, ie., L10 engine, L8 weapon, and L8 Shield for speed, maneuverability, and protection or L6 or 8 engine, L10 weapon, L7 shield for high fire power.
Overall, as Leaph said, it comes to personnal preference. Fly what you like andmake it into the ship you need.
Bravo Attla!
I have also been bitten - I was getting bored with the ground game and have been flying a lot lately (I just got 4444 last night - Storm Squadron)
I have been enjoying the missions - they force you to use a little more strategy than firepower - and that has been a lot of fun.
The Heavy TIE is the 95k~ mass variant of thenovice box,Light duty TIE Fighter.
The TIE Aggressor is pvp suicide even with a gunner in my oppinion.
The TIE aggresor is a taxi... albeit a one person taxi...
I kind of like how the Aggresor looks - but yeah, she's too big for the firepower she carries.