I know there already have been some threads about it, but as they are rather old and I already collected much information i decided to start an own Thread.
It's about the Salvager, and about the perfect Setup to get for it (Should be useable with Junker Guard ID without special rpg though). I already collected some ideas:
-One missile for slot2 should be standard in most setups. Missiles generally can be put in the rear slots, and still launched with the "fire forward" key or while turning to one side (as they will correct their course anyway, if they are not shot ina totally wrong direction). It's very helpful against Fighters/Bombers (especially their shields), even if it uses half your energy. (What means 5 seconds of not shooting at all for regening the energy the missile used. Still, ingame i normally find myself having enough energy to fire a missile from time to time against a fighter or bomber)
Also people say, that a missile in the back is really good for running away, as you can keep firing missiles backward. This means your enemy will have to avoid it somehow (and you gain more distance to him), or eat all your missiles and suffer damage. But i must admit, I myself never came tot ry that so far.
I am pretty sure there is no better weapon to mount in slot 2 for any setup, but prove me wrong, if you know it better.:)
And i also don't think more than one missile does make any sense. Firing both missiles really needs a full power core (which you should normally never have) and really does not deal damage which is worth that. The ability, to fire a missile in every direction without using "fire forward" is not worth an Turretslot, i think
-Damage per Second, but also Damage per Energy is very important when it comes down to fighting other Gunboats or Large Transports/Liners. Razors deliver the best Damage per Second, but are extremly hard to hit against fighters and bombers, and totally screw up your energy (And, they are even not always easy to hit against a good Gunboat Pilot). Cerberus are also quite interesting, but they are also not that energy efficient. 4.00 Weapons got the best damage/energy score, but of course leaving your ship always at around 90% energy is wasted potential, too.
-Against gunboats, you need at least one pulse (better 2), even if they use even more energy per second than razors already do. Gunboat shields are just hard to break. (There is absolutely no chance to fight a cruiser or even a battleship, so these ships can be easily ignored when it comes down to find the perfect loadout for a Salvager). Still i consider pulses as rather bad weapons, because they consume_very_much energy, and are useless when the shield is down. (You know, 6 slots is not that much, there is no place for luxury) For single snipe shots, the Razor has about the same effect on a shield (uses more engery, of course, but saves a much needed slot, if you plan to equip a razor anyway) But as i said, i guess you just still need pulses if you want to face other Gunboats.
-The antimatter cannon totally rips you apart (3 antimatter hits destroy you, class 8 noncap armorupgrade included). But i don't really see a way to counter that. Countermeasures, as well as „hits“ on the projectil do not influence it anyhow. (As it's no real torpedo/missile, but only an energy shot if i am not totally wrong) The only way is to end the fight quickly, as time will only deliver you more and more deadly antinovas sooner or later... If the bomber is not that good, an antimatter shot *can* be avoided sometimes, but a well shot antimatter will always reach it's target.
I've set up and tried 2 different builds for now, and made good, as bad experiences with both of them: (I do not say they are already perfect, but somehow show a basic for an antifighter and anticaploadout. And they might still be improveable - let me know your ideas or experiences)
The first one had one Razor, one Missile, 4 Zoner GB Turrets. It was quite nice, but still a Gunboat was superior in nearly every way. Still it was quite good to fight (in turretview) and worked really okay against Fighters/Bombers. Even if Basic Gunboat Turrets are even better at Damage per Energy, i never really had Energytroubles with that one, so i went for Zoner Turrets. (They deal around 20% more damage, what is quite noticable)
The second one (which i am currently using) is:
Razor
Missile
Razor
Razor
Pulse
Pulse.
This one got some energyproblems of course, and was meant to fight gunboats. (Still a normal gunboat is superior, at least in my experiences). It also can fight Fighters or Bombers, but in a completely different way, with well aimed "snipe shots, as a hit with 3 razors is always deadly. (Often 2 suffice). Still i find myself often just never hitting an enemy fighters or bombers hull only once and slowly bleeding to death against their weapons. And against fighters/Bombers, i normally never use the pulses, as they just consume to much energy and razors do the job, too. And of course, this Setup is not meant for turretview-fighting (This would make you unable to hit, as well overusing your poor powerplant even more) . The missilelauncher is never used in antigunboat fighting because i did not see a real use for it.
But to be honest, i am not quite satisfied with the second one. It is very hard to kill a gunboat (only acomplished that once so far) and it's much harder to defend against bombers.
Now i was about to just forget the second loadout and stick to the first one (and might still improve it), to be at least able to kill bombers/fighters quite safely. And just never only dream about fighting a Gunboat. But that did not really satisfy me...
Now i looked for ways to find a mix of both. Maybe Cerberus turrets would do the job, as they deliver much damage and still are quite fast and have a 2.00 refire rate. But i fear, a mixed setup would only combine the weaknesses of antifighter- and anticaploadout and not their strengths.
Feel free to comment or discuss my ideas and loadouts (I'd be really happy about that) but you can also just bring in your own ideas/loadouts.
And please, as a sidenote, avoid posts like „it all comes down to skill anyway the loadout isn't important“ or „salvager is a weak ship, better just run or pay“. I often get to read stuff like that ingame, but that does not help me in anyway. Nobody can decline that the „perfect loadout“ makes you *a bit* stronger, so please don't rate how important it is (or not). And yes, i've read This Thread. But Discussions/hints concerning flight tactics for the Salvager might be very helpful. (For example, it would be quite stupid to fight in turretvie with the second loadout, at least, my experience told me so)
Let's bring my (and maybe your) Salvager to the very limit and make the best out of it.:)
Well, on my gunboats, I tend to stick to a single (or two, depends whether it has a forward gun or not) pulse cannon, one missile (ruins aim, even if it doesn't hurt them) and the rest standard GB turrets.
There's a lot of folks who can attest to that working. (Angelfire, a few BHG and IMG in the Taus, Rogue gunboats in New York)
Zealot Wrote:Just go play the game and have fun dammit.
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If you're having energy issues but you don't lag much you can go hardcore for the all pulse + razors setup. Use pulses specifically to drain shield then snipe with razors for OMFG damage. To do this you need good aim and decent connection though, the first comes with practice.
If you can't aim straight even if your life depended on it I recommend you to have a mix to pulses and normals. More normals than pulses I'd say, that's the best I got for ya, you can just spam energy at the general direction of your enemy this way. One neat trick is to NOT start firing every weapon at the same time (ie: hold right button). Pop a few shots first using 1,2,3,4 etc then start holding it down. This way you'll have a consistent volley until you run out of energy.
Well, yesterday i had some fights in Connecticut again: I was able to take down some bombers with loadout 2 (razors and pulses), it worked better at the end than at start. (Maybe i just need some more practise) It is a dangerous loadout, indeed. But i still consider fighting in turretview with normal turrets the better way of defending against fighters or bombers.
At the end i faced a Outcast Gunship, and still was quite chanceless again. Those Gunboat shields just regen insane fast. But he told me, he flew a Salvager before and knows a lot about it: He even suggested 3 pulses, if i really want to face Gunboats. But i doubt i can sacrifice 3 slots just for pulses and i am pretty sure, that this would leave me completely vulnerable against bombers/fighters.
At the last fight, Things got interesting (i finally got his shield down and damaged his hull quite good - somehow he couldn't hit me anymore although i was really on hull. But then the Server crashed.
I'm still thinking about cerberus these days. Their damage is pretty damn high and 2.00 refirerate with 1000 m/s seems good against fighters. (Fighting in turretview then, but needing a good aim. But if you use Felix' little trick, you could somehow simulate 4.00 weapons, just with more damage. The only problem i see with them is the energy consume of them. (Even they got a better damage per energy score than razors. But Razors aren't used for constant firing anyway.)
And yeah, excuse my "wall of text", but i consider all of them as important information concering the best Salvager loadout. I already made and collected a lot of ideas, as you see.
I basically have 2 loudouts. 1 for mining/trading/general exploring. And 1 that is my "combat" loadout. Keep in mind though, combat in a salvager is basically good for fighters/bombers/and Assisting with taking out Gunboats. Ive never seen anyone in a salvager take a decent gunboat pilot by himself.
Mining/Trading/Exploring
1 transport mining turret in front only
1 gunboat missile turret in back only
4 Solaris Gunboat turrets on wings
The Solaris turrets just make it that much easier to deal with npcs while traveling and scrap mining, or to help get away from a bad situation.
Combat
1 Gunboat pulse in front only
1 Gunboat missile in back only
4 Zoner Gunboat Turrets on wings
Switching the Solaris turrets to Zoner's allows you a little more punch to your hits, and the pulse to help drop shields. Like I said, you wont be eating Gunboats with this, but you can help in a team situation, will tear up any other transport, and you still have a decent loadout to run from bombers and get a few kills.
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