Pilot Archive

Well I'm new to pilot and I'm also going SW. My goal is to set up a SW shop which specialises in Missles and Countermeasures. I aim to keep all Launchers in stock in both low mass and low energy variants, might stock some with a balance of the two as well. I also plan to stock all packs as well.

I'm trying to find out which are the more popular choices so that I can ensure I have enough stock of those crafted when I start up. The fact the some will be slow sellers or might not sell at all is not an issue for me because they will mostly be a bit of extra work during the initial start up with little work required to keep myself in stock.

I've heard alot of talk about IR II launchers in Oppressors so I expect to stock pleanty of those. It also seems like the most popular choice in counter measure is either not to run them to save some mass or to run Chaff packs as they have minimal mass. Is there anything else I should be aware of?

I'm not sure at what level IR launchers are available. I'm on Sunrunner and I haven't seen any of them anywhere.

I also have not seen a good definition of the roles of various missiles and countermeasures. I have had to simply buy them and try them out.

I don't know what the advantage to Image Rec missiles is over others, that sort of thing.

Maybe someone can post about that here and that would give a good direction.

I personally use space bombs because of the damage they do, even though that severely limits the number that I can carry (Normally 2-4 is the loadout vs 8-12 for Lvl 3 Proton Missiles).

I use chaff because of the mass issue and I have never seen anything that gives me reason to use anything else. I don't have the information on the roles of the other countermeasures and so I have no idea what their effectiveness is.

I have looked for this information, but not done an in-depth study of it per se. =)

The descriptions given in the SW skill tree are pretty good for the missles, at least they seem to be. I believe the CMs just get more effective as you go up the SW skill tree however I'm unsure if the increase in effectiveness is worth the mass tradeoff.

The following Countermeasures and Missles are availible:

Missles

Proton Missle (levels 1 - 4)
Concussion Missle (levels 1 - 3)
Image Rec Missle (levels 1 and 2)
Seismic Launchers (Levels 1 - 3)
Space Bombs (Levels 1 and 2)

Counter Measures

Chaff
IFF Confuser
Micro Chaff
EM Emitter

Can't remember what it says each missle type is most effective against other than Proton and IR being equally effective against shields and armour and that space bombs are slow and highly affected by CM but also highly damaging.

missiles are useless for pve, so image-rec mkIIs are all you should be using, as they are the best for pvp. the reason is they lock-on almost instantly, so its really easy to hit a small fighter with one. trying to get a lock on an a-wing with a proton rack while its flying circles around you is a lost cause, but its very easy with IR2s.

for counters, the simple chaff launcher is your best bet. some belive that weapon overload 3 effects chaff too, so it doubles its effectivness, making it always work, and making the higher level counter-launchers not worth the extra mass.

Thanks for the advice guys

So IR IIs and chaff will be my main stock then, with a fair stock of protons and micro chaff. I'll keep all the others in stock anyway, just in much smaller amounts, just cause It'll be nice to have everything there if a customer ever needs or wants it.

Now I just need to work out my pricing *groan*

Anybody from chimaera able to give me some pointers? If I post on the galaxy or trade forums it'll get buried and I don't fancy going all over the galaxy checking vendors

Message Edited by Combat_Medic_to_be on 04-26-2005 08:41 PM

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Combat_Medic_to_be wrote:
Thanks for the advice guys

So IR IIs and chaff will be my main stock then, with a fair stock of protons and micro chaff. I'll keep all the others in stock anyway, just in much smaller amounts, just cause It'll be nice to have everything there if a customer ever needs or wants it.

Now I just need to work out my pricing *groan*

Anybody from chimaera able to give me some pointers? If I post on the galaxy or trade forums it'll get buried and I don't fancy going all over the galaxy checking vendors

Message Edited by Combat_Medic_to_be on 04-26-2005 08:41 PM

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Galaxy wide vendor search ftw! Seriously, Id use that to see what the normal rates are. Super easy to use, just hit up the bazaar

Man I'm being so slow today, was using it earlier loads as well, kept thinking to myself how nice it was not to have to visit everywhere =/

Another question, I am thinking of stocking the launchers in two varieties, one where I experiment on mass with leftover points in energy and one the other way round. Am I wasting my time doing that?

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Combat_Medic_to_be wrote:
Man I'm being so slow today, was using it earlier loads as well, kept thinking to myself how nice it was not to have to visit everywhere =/

Another question, I am thinking of stocking the launchers in two varieties, one where I experiment on mass with leftover points in energy and one the other way round. Am I wasting my time doing that?

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I mostly use Mk II Image-Recs, but I find Mk III Concussions to be pretty useful on capital ships--they're really good for tagging Vette components on strafing runs or blindspots. Plenty of shots per pack and good damage at only 5.5Kish mass on the launcher. I'm not sure how many people use them, but they're my second-favorite missile.