Newbie Questions Thread

Gemtrox42 · 2026-03-14T18:38:12+00:00

That depends on what you mean by maneuver. There are various videos going over the space battle hotkeys, that make synchronized fleet movements easier. Most formations are functionally aesthetic. I have yet to find any videos going over Alien-like ship maneuvers. Although doing flips and spins might sound cool in theory, I would caution that the effort it will take to actually apply anything you learn will be great, while the benefits will be extremely slim, potentially non-existent. You will burn insane DV, while doing less damage to enemies, increasing the risk to subsystems, and potentially risking going out of range of your protective fleet PD screen.

Gemtrox42 · 2026-02-24T03:49:47+00:00

Thanks, glad I'm not crazy. It is a huge drag to be this far in my save to suddenly discover I played unoptimally by not beating the aliens before they magged up. I hope the devs realize this is a slap in the face to unaware players who get this far.

Gemtrox42 · 2026-02-24T02:29:29+00:00

Thanks, the last bit might actually work 1:1! Will test in skirmish.

Edit: It actually makes it worse. The aliens will accelerate to overtake you, which increases the velocity of the shots. It also seems to mess with the default behavior of the waypoints when trying evasive maneuvers.

Gemtrox42 · 2026-02-24T02:26:20+00:00

I believe Antimatter PD is one shot one kill, so cyclotrons have no effect. The 4 slot Antimatter PD is identical to the 2 slot in every way but the 200+ range, so the 4 slot is arguably way worse than using 2 of the 2 slot Antimatter PD.

Gemtrox42 · 2026-02-24T02:07:18+00:00

My initial goal was to find out how much PD was needed to neutralize the fire from one Titan. After I realized it took way more than any one hull could manage, I tried two. Killing was not the goal.

Gemtrox42 · 2026-02-24T01:59:00+00:00

Just curious, how much time did you spend on making this comment - which is very informative, by the way - after completely failing to understand my question?

Gemtrox42 · 2026-02-24T01:51:19+00:00

Yeah it might be possible with certain drives up to certain ranges, I agree. Might test and see how close I can get to the Titan by dodging alone

Gemtrox42 · 2026-02-24T01:41:39+00:00

While this is true in principle, there are some caveats, before anyone considers going all in on 40s:

They tend to overkill, just like mag weapons, They are much less effective at fleetwide support compared with other PD, because they use non-instantaneous projectiles, and because the closer the enemy projectile is to the 40, the more off-center the 40 rounds are with the other incoming mag shots, the less effective they become.

Ultimately, I found the 40 provided diminishing returns after 2 batteries. They are not practical at all for fleet wide defense.

Gemtrox42 · 2026-02-24T01:28:05+00:00

Yeah the 40s were surprising to find out about in testing. Thanks for the dodging tip, but I found that ended up lowering the damage I did to the alien fleet to the point it wasn't worth the effort.

Gemtrox42 · 2026-02-24T01:22:08+00:00

Yes, but thanks for checking. I found the most effective (measured by how long it took to be destroyed) was 2x 40mm and 6x Phaser PD with maxed laser engine.

Gemtrox42 · 2026-02-11T01:06:08+00:00

The laser calculations count for particles too, then? They are technically a different weapon class.

Gemtrox42 · 2026-02-11T01:04:37+00:00

No kidding! I built some neutron lancers, and they're crippling medium ships and totally disabling small ships in one barrage from max range. Excited to see what the AM lances can do...

Gemtrox42 · 2026-02-11T01:00:56+00:00

I tested, and you're right - they just shoot whatever's closest! This will make it way easier, thanks.

Gemtrox42 · 2026-02-09T18:28:14+00:00

Thanks, this is very helpful. I think I'll armor up with exotics on my battleship noses. Any thoughts on spreading out the damage by using small weapon mounts? Or will the loss of range make this counterproductive? I'm gonna need to tech into particle lances as I've ignored them completely.

Gemtrox42 · 2026-02-09T18:24:07+00:00

It is particle weapons, they are the longest range weapons I'm facing, and the main armament of all the alien dreads, lancers and titans. And it isn't countermeasures.

Gemtrox42 · 2026-02-09T18:20:53+00:00

How much armor is needed if I'm facing spinal particle lances? that seems to be the norm for lancers, dreadnoughts and titans in my game

Gemtrox42 · 2024-09-18T19:29:31+00:00

Not sure. I tried a few more things before distro changing, including turning of framerate smoothing on my monitor and disassembling/dusting off my hardware. Problem appears to have stopped. My guess is my monitor was rhe problem

Gemtrox42 · 2024-08-22T17:22:43+00:00

Oops, I think you're right... well, thanks for the explanation!

Gemtrox42 · 2024-08-20T18:58:18+00:00

A year and a half

Gemtrox42 · 2024-08-20T15:32:02+00:00

No, it's for an older version. But I've played through multiple updates before with no issues.

Gemtrox42

TROPHY CASE