Pilot Archive
Thread: Shona's Ravager Assault Document for a Group
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SheenaBrelya
Fri Apr 22, 2005 9:05 pm
#1
I wrote this up for a non-guild organization after a Ravager Assault where we had a group of 5 or so, but I received little to no assistence destroying the escort craft. I did it, but when part of a group that size I expect help so I attempted to lay down what I consider *my* ground rules.
The Ravager Convoy consists of one Corvette class capital ship with eight turrets, two Imperial Gunboats with seven turrets each, and six escort fighters. The escort squadron consists of two Oppressors, two Interceptors, and two Aggressors. All of the ships are Tier 5s.
The Ravager follows a predetermined course through Kessel, turning at seven points and eventually jumping out of the sector after traveling for approximately 45 minutes. It hypers in (spawns) near the point 7400, 7500, 7300 and hypers out near the point -6600, -200 -6200. Ravager convoys tend to hyper in once every two hours, but that can vary and can be bugged so that no new Ravager spawns.
What now follows is my preferred method of attack. This does not mean it is the best method or the fastest method, just the one I have found most effective through my personal experience.
Upon the Ravager being sighted, all anti-fighter craft should gather together a few klicks away from the convoy and prepare to attack the fighter escort squadron together. One pilot is designated to 'pull' the escort fighters away from the turrets of the Ravager and Gunboats and towards the waiting group of players. The group should move in as soon as the escorts are safely away from the Ravager. The two Aggressors are by far the largest threat, so any pilot comfortable with attacking them should do so and get them destroyed as quickly as possible. Anyone not comfortable engaging Tier 5 Aggressors should concentrate on the Oppressors and Interceptors. Even a small group should be able to dispatch the escort squadron without too much loss.
If there are players unable to assist with anti-fighter combat and tasked only as bombers, they should engage the Ravager as soon as the escort fighters have been pulled away. The exact order of which the components should be destroyed is subject to slight variation, but in general should be:
Turret 5
Shield
Secondary Shield
Engine
Turrets 6 and 7
Turret 4
Turrets 0 to 3
Reactor
Bridge
Once the escort fighter squadron has been successfully handled, all fighter craft may choose to engage the Ravager, but those not comfortable going up against the powerful Turrets might be better off hanging back and watching closely as more experienced pilots go to work.
Let me step back a moment and explain capital ships and systems. Unlike normal fighters and Gunboats, a capital ship is not destroyed by damaging it so much that you break through the Shields, then Armor, and finally destroy enough Systems or Chassis to make it explode. Instead, a capital ship has sub-systems that must each be destroyed in order to set off an explosion that will destroy the entire ship.
At first, the Shield, Secondary Shield, and all Turrets are the systems that can be targeted. The Turrets are actual mounts on the frame of the ship that can be destroyed without going through the ship's Shields. Often, Turret mounts are reltively weak and be quickly destroyed by precise blaster fire. The Shields are also mounts on the frame of the ship that can be targeted and destroyed by precise blaster fire or ordnance. The Shield and Secondary Shield of the Ravager are on the 'shoulders' of the ship - they are flat, sloped areas directly behind the round 'head' and on each side of the body. The two Shields can only be hit by blaster fire that comes from in front of the Ravager or by ordnance that has time to properly seek out that specific area of the ship.
Once the two Shields are destroyed (no matter how many, if any, Turrets have been attacked) then the Engine will become a targetable system. Destroying the Engine, which is easily hit as it is a mass of area at the back of the ship, will cause the Ravager to become 'disabled' and it will come to a complete stop. The Ravager will stay in place indefinately, but the two escorting Gunboats will continue on the preset course.
Destroying the Engine is often the time to fly safely away and to allow the two Gunboats to make their way jerkily around the Ravager to continue on their way. Be warned that it is possible that the path of the Gunboats will have them pass near the Ravager after they make a turn, so do not simply forget about them.
With the Ravager disabled, the Turrets can be picked apart at leisure. Knowing where each and every Turret can and can not fire is something that is learned over time through experience, but I can outline the basics here.
Turret 5 is on the 'bottom' of the Ravager and has an impressively wide firing arc covering much of the area underneath the ship. Turret 5 is essentially the only Turret that fires below the ship, so destroying it creates a large amount of safe space useful when attacking other Turrets.
Turrets 6 and 7 seem to have very limited functionality, despite their position on each side of the Ravager. They are easily destroyed from below (the safe area created after destroying Turret 5).
Turret 4 is the mirror image of Turret 5. It is also powerful and has a large arc covering most of the 'top' of the Ravager. Turrets 0 through 3 are located in a square pattern behind Turret 4 and in front of the top sensor dish. Turrets 0-3 are limited to firing at targets above the Ravager and on each turret's respective side of the ship. While weaker, they do concentrate fire when possible and can be quite deadly.
The Reactor will become a targetable system as soon as the Engine is destroyed, but is not often vulnerable to blaster fire until after the Ravager has been stripped of Turrets. The Reactor mount is on the 'top' of the ship, behind the Sensor dish, and in the middle of the main Engine mass. It can be hit with blasters from directly above the Ravager, and of course by ordnance that has time to seek and find that specific area of the ship.
The Bridge becomes a target with the destruction of the Reactor, and is the final system that must be destroyed. Because it is the last system, I do not recommend destroying the Reactor until the group is ready to destroy the whole ship. Pilots tend to get trigger happy and keeping the Reactor alive can act as a buffer to some rogue pilot shooting off a missile and ruining the last mission of a poor pre-Master that might be on the way back from getting blasted to space dust.
That pretty well covers the information needed to assault the convoy, but there is still one more step: hunt down the two Gunboats and destroy them. Destroying the Ravager and not destroying the Gunboats creates a significant chance that the two Gunboats will fly to the end of the preset route and stop at the hyper out point. They will stay right there, spinning, and until they are destroyed no new Ravager will hyper into the system. I guarantee you that destroying two Imperial Gunboats flying in formation is easy compared to destroying two Imperial Gunboats that are sitting on top of each other and spinning in place.
To convert his into an assault against the Rebel Corvette, simply swap out the Imp Gunboats with Rebel ones, and the dangerous Imperial escort fighters with less dangerous Rebel fighters.
Shona
The Ravager Convoy consists of one Corvette class capital ship with eight turrets, two Imperial Gunboats with seven turrets each, and six escort fighters. The escort squadron consists of two Oppressors, two Interceptors, and two Aggressors. All of the ships are Tier 5s.
The Ravager follows a predetermined course through Kessel, turning at seven points and eventually jumping out of the sector after traveling for approximately 45 minutes. It hypers in (spawns) near the point 7400, 7500, 7300 and hypers out near the point -6600, -200 -6200. Ravager convoys tend to hyper in once every two hours, but that can vary and can be bugged so that no new Ravager spawns.
What now follows is my preferred method of attack. This does not mean it is the best method or the fastest method, just the one I have found most effective through my personal experience.
Upon the Ravager being sighted, all anti-fighter craft should gather together a few klicks away from the convoy and prepare to attack the fighter escort squadron together. One pilot is designated to 'pull' the escort fighters away from the turrets of the Ravager and Gunboats and towards the waiting group of players. The group should move in as soon as the escorts are safely away from the Ravager. The two Aggressors are by far the largest threat, so any pilot comfortable with attacking them should do so and get them destroyed as quickly as possible. Anyone not comfortable engaging Tier 5 Aggressors should concentrate on the Oppressors and Interceptors. Even a small group should be able to dispatch the escort squadron without too much loss.
If there are players unable to assist with anti-fighter combat and tasked only as bombers, they should engage the Ravager as soon as the escort fighters have been pulled away. The exact order of which the components should be destroyed is subject to slight variation, but in general should be:
Turret 5
Shield
Secondary Shield
Engine
Turrets 6 and 7
Turret 4
Turrets 0 to 3
Reactor
Bridge
Once the escort fighter squadron has been successfully handled, all fighter craft may choose to engage the Ravager, but those not comfortable going up against the powerful Turrets might be better off hanging back and watching closely as more experienced pilots go to work.
Let me step back a moment and explain capital ships and systems. Unlike normal fighters and Gunboats, a capital ship is not destroyed by damaging it so much that you break through the Shields, then Armor, and finally destroy enough Systems or Chassis to make it explode. Instead, a capital ship has sub-systems that must each be destroyed in order to set off an explosion that will destroy the entire ship.
At first, the Shield, Secondary Shield, and all Turrets are the systems that can be targeted. The Turrets are actual mounts on the frame of the ship that can be destroyed without going through the ship's Shields. Often, Turret mounts are reltively weak and be quickly destroyed by precise blaster fire. The Shields are also mounts on the frame of the ship that can be targeted and destroyed by precise blaster fire or ordnance. The Shield and Secondary Shield of the Ravager are on the 'shoulders' of the ship - they are flat, sloped areas directly behind the round 'head' and on each side of the body. The two Shields can only be hit by blaster fire that comes from in front of the Ravager or by ordnance that has time to properly seek out that specific area of the ship.
Once the two Shields are destroyed (no matter how many, if any, Turrets have been attacked) then the Engine will become a targetable system. Destroying the Engine, which is easily hit as it is a mass of area at the back of the ship, will cause the Ravager to become 'disabled' and it will come to a complete stop. The Ravager will stay in place indefinately, but the two escorting Gunboats will continue on the preset course.
Destroying the Engine is often the time to fly safely away and to allow the two Gunboats to make their way jerkily around the Ravager to continue on their way. Be warned that it is possible that the path of the Gunboats will have them pass near the Ravager after they make a turn, so do not simply forget about them.
With the Ravager disabled, the Turrets can be picked apart at leisure. Knowing where each and every Turret can and can not fire is something that is learned over time through experience, but I can outline the basics here.
Turret 5 is on the 'bottom' of the Ravager and has an impressively wide firing arc covering much of the area underneath the ship. Turret 5 is essentially the only Turret that fires below the ship, so destroying it creates a large amount of safe space useful when attacking other Turrets.
Turrets 6 and 7 seem to have very limited functionality, despite their position on each side of the Ravager. They are easily destroyed from below (the safe area created after destroying Turret 5).
Turret 4 is the mirror image of Turret 5. It is also powerful and has a large arc covering most of the 'top' of the Ravager. Turrets 0 through 3 are located in a square pattern behind Turret 4 and in front of the top sensor dish. Turrets 0-3 are limited to firing at targets above the Ravager and on each turret's respective side of the ship. While weaker, they do concentrate fire when possible and can be quite deadly.
The Reactor will become a targetable system as soon as the Engine is destroyed, but is not often vulnerable to blaster fire until after the Ravager has been stripped of Turrets. The Reactor mount is on the 'top' of the ship, behind the Sensor dish, and in the middle of the main Engine mass. It can be hit with blasters from directly above the Ravager, and of course by ordnance that has time to seek and find that specific area of the ship.
The Bridge becomes a target with the destruction of the Reactor, and is the final system that must be destroyed. Because it is the last system, I do not recommend destroying the Reactor until the group is ready to destroy the whole ship. Pilots tend to get trigger happy and keeping the Reactor alive can act as a buffer to some rogue pilot shooting off a missile and ruining the last mission of a poor pre-Master that might be on the way back from getting blasted to space dust.
That pretty well covers the information needed to assault the convoy, but there is still one more step: hunt down the two Gunboats and destroy them. Destroying the Ravager and not destroying the Gunboats creates a significant chance that the two Gunboats will fly to the end of the preset route and stop at the hyper out point. They will stay right there, spinning, and until they are destroyed no new Ravager will hyper into the system. I guarantee you that destroying two Imperial Gunboats flying in formation is easy compared to destroying two Imperial Gunboats that are sitting on top of each other and spinning in place.
To convert his into an assault against the Rebel Corvette, simply swap out the Imp Gunboats with Rebel ones, and the dangerous Imperial escort fighters with less dangerous Rebel fighters.
Shona
Merrybelle
Fri Apr 22, 2005 10:26 pm
#2
Thanks for a great walkthrough and strategy for taking down the Star Ravager! I had the pleasure of completing my master mission2 days ago utilizing many of the techniques you describe. However, I give all the credit to the master pilot who assisted me.Yes... it was just the 2 of us but hedid 90% of the damage himself and has actually soloed the Vette several times. My goal is to one day be able to do the same, the only difficulty Im having due to my own inexperience with the Vette is actually trying to visualize the location of all the shields and turrets as described. It would be very helpful to me and perhaps others if someonecould posta graphic of the Vette in which the locations of all the targetted areas could be indicated clearly. That along with this walkthrough would be a fantastic resource !
Lepr0n
Sat Apr 23, 2005 2:14 am
#3
Check out the "FAQ aka Start Here aka Cool Threads V2.5" at the top of this forum..
scroll down a page and there should be links to 2 weaponmaps for the corvette... only the 2nd one works for me though.
good post Shona.
Message Edited by Lepr0n on 04-23-2005 02:27 AM
psikobunny
Sun Apr 24, 2005 12:48 am
#4
Just one personal style difference. I find taking out any turrets other than 5 is superfluous. Once 5 is down, the ship is completely safe on the underside, and It's a waste of time and ordinance to bother with the rest.
Ywings and Krayts are magic when it comes to a 'vette run. I tend to take out the gunboats just after turret5 if I have any sort of ship with a gunner aboard. Parallel course, match speed, gunner targets weapon2 and have at it. As soon as weapon2 goes down on both gunboats, call in your fighter support to finish the gunboats off, while ordinance is used on Shield1, Shield2, and the reactor. The Engines and bridge can be handled with blaster fire, always making sure everyone who needs the mission is in Kessel before the ship is blown.
Last note: the "how" of taking out the gunboats has been explained by shona and I, but as much not the "why" It's plain politeness. Leaving them alive breaks the spawn for others, and delays the corvette for other prospective Aces. Don't let the flush of victory make you forget your responsibility, clean up your trash
Message Edited by psikobunny on 04-23-2005 03:50 PM
SheenaBrelya
Sun Apr 24, 2005 12:59 am
#5
I agree, there are several variations based on attacking craft - two seaters or ordnance heavy ships and such. I typically fly in a light fighter with no missiles, so my preferred tactics revolve around everything getting done with only blaster fire. Not always the fastest, but it has been reliable for me.
Shona
Shona
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