I'm more partial to the Dromedary, myself...It handles better and carries an extra 25 units of cargo, which are both more important to me than weapon class or armor. It's just a bit better suited to my piloting style.

But I did fly a Humper for a bit before going for the Drom and VHF's, and it did grow on me a bit in that time. It was fun in it's own way.



Reaper: $200,000,000.
Rockets: $100,000
The look on that pilot's face when you launch a full pod of screamers up his tailpipe: priceless

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Thanks, where is that guide?

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Right here in Lancers Reactor, in the download section.

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I'm more partial to the Dromedary, myself...It handles better and carries an extra 25 units of cargo, which are both more important to me than weapon class or armor. It's just a bit better suited to my piloting style.

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Yep, no argument here.

Dromedary = Freighter that can dogfight.

Humpback = Turret Mode Fighting Only.

However, Turrets turn faster than fastest fighter AFAIK



"Got anything for me?" - Trent, A.K.A. 'Mr. Eloquent'

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Mine dropper:

An important weapon for any lone ship, crucial for freighters.
Homing mines did seem to work better against nimble fighters, they go 80m/s
I used Razor, about the right cost/effectiveness.

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Upgrade to Driller if your foes get tougher, but if you feel the need for Cutters
then you're playing in too tough a neighborhood for a freighter.

Many players don't properly use mines in the Humpback. Here's some advice.


Target Prioritization and Mine Deployment:

The most important thing is that mines are for providing the ability to engage
a secondary enemy simultaneously with your primary target. Your primary target
is the enemy pacing you above, below, or to the side of you. They match speed
and pour their guns into you unless you engage them with your turrets. 2nd is
the enemy that is behind your ship, the target of your mines. One critical
consideration in mine deployment is never drop one if your afterburner is fully
depleted. You want to get away from your mine as quickly as possible, as it can
be hit by enemy fire and exploded too close to your own ship with disastrous
results. Try to drop mines in lulls of enemy fire if possible. If you're @ 200m/s
drop back to 80 when you drop the mine, hit thrust immediately afterwards. Don't
drop a mine at an enemy you are engaging with your turrets. Not only is it
redundant effort but you can shoot your own mine by accident.

In Humpback Turret Mode you get to watch what other pilots seldom witness;
your mine homing in and destroying an enemy. Satisfying, but the main goal of
mines is to force them to break off their attack.

"Got anything for me?" - Trent, A.K.A. 'Mr. Eloquent'

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I look at it this way. There are four phases to the Freelancer game:

SP Juni Storyline

Earn Wealth

Get & Outfit Class 10 Ship

Explore the Universe

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Ok, Ok, there is a fifth phase: Become a Pirate.

You can be a Pirate anytime, even in the storyline, but IMHO after you've been
everywhere and seen everything is the right time for Piracy.

The question is where? I only want to make ONE house the enemy, at least for start.
Liberty is the weakest, but centrally located and a great place to sell loot.
Bretonia might be good, but I can't see joining the Mollys or Gaians, they're lame.
That leaves Kusari and Rheinland. Joining the Red Hessians will make Corsairs hate me
and Bundschuh hate my guts, so maybe I should re-join the Blood Dragons?
I wonder how good a Humpback would be at Piracy, sure would stash the loot...

"Got anything for me?" - Trent, A.K.A. 'Mr. Eloquent'

Joining the Red Dragons seems like the least offensive pirate organization, but it can turn on you. Samura hates them, and they run all over the place.

I was friendly with Liberty, leaving Manhattan, when a Samura freighter plus escorts showed up. Suddenly, Manhattan, Newark, Trenton? and every nearby Police, Navy, and Bounty Hunter ship was on me! I left Liberty space for a long time, docking with a number of other bases. Even so, every time I returned to Manhattan, it was hostile.

Best shield for a Humpy?

Class 7 Gravitron.


Why? Shield strength:

C7 Gravitron - 3900(ish) shield
C7 Positron - 2900(ish)
C7 Molecular - 2900(ish)

Even if your opponent has weapons that are strong vs Gravitron, you'll make up for it with the extra shield strength.

Can you bind keys for ship maneuvering?

Like turn left/right/up/down?

If you can, you could manually steer the ship while firing in Turret mode...

It might be a bit hard, dong those two things at the same time, but I'm sure that it will be possible to master...

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Joining the Red Dragons seems like the least offensive pirate organization, but it can turn on you. Samura hates them, and they run all over the place.

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Yikes! Thanks Thorkild, I had forgotten that Samura is a virtual monopoly.

I suppose the same thing will happen if I become a 'Lane Hacker' out of Montezuma/Mactan
attacking Bretonia and BMM, eh? Maybe hunting Mollys & Gaians will get me out of trouble.

Oh well, I knew Piracy wasn't an easy life...

Looks like I might have to figure out Rheinland politics.
Harder to have a Humback pirate ship there, though.


"Got anything for me?" - Trent, A.K.A. 'Mr. Eloquent'

Rheinland politics? Simple...

Big, ugly and green is good!! lol )

Post about turning on the CM dropper:

Auto mode for the countermeasure droppers

"Got anything for me?" - Trent, A.K.A. 'Mr. Eloquent'


Edited by - Frobozz on 13-06-2003 18:00:36

What's the best Humpback?

That's simple.

If you're not the missiles type: Load it out completely with Sunblast A guns and turrets. The Humpback can barely power that.

If you're into missiles: Load it out with 2 missile launchers, and the rest max it out with Sunblast B and Sunblast A turrets, whatever the level will allow. The loss of the two guns will cut your power drain enough to handle the Sunblast Bs.

Sunblast is the untimate choice for the Humpback because it's FAST, high fire rate and fairly deadly.

Thanks for the contribution, defaultuser

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IMHO, there are only three usable freighters in the game: Anubis, Dromedary, and Humpback.

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I've changed my mind, Mule is an 'acceptable' starter ship. Especially when you can't leave
Liberty in the early storyline, or you're an MP noobie on Elite and want to stay where it's safe.

The mule is the exact opposite of the Humpback, it's a Freighter/Fighter that rarely will
use Turret Mode. I still have no use for Clydesdale or Drone, except for target practice.

"Got anything for me?" - Trent, A.K.A. 'Mr. Eloquent'

I got the humpback last night. For some reason I thought it was going to be a walk in the park defending myself. I was fully equiped with lvl 6 & 7 turrets and all. I loaded up with 250 light arms to take to Kyushu and make a good profit. I start off good, nothing bothering me, and when I am 1/4 done with my trip, corssairs(i think) attack me, 4 of them. So i hit the go to and then take the hit by the cruise disrupter but mash down the after burner. So I am shooting at the ships tailing me, running and shooting cause I know that this ship handles like a semi truck, and I knock one of them down to where he has to leave cause he is to badly damaged. About this time my thruster has given out, I have the advanced mind you. So the other 3 take me in a rush, goodbye shield batteries, goodbye nanobots, then goodbye me. So i load the auto save and this time make it to my destination, but only because I didn't get stopped. Made my profit, then bought a baracuda to get me back to Freistadt Base so i can earn the levels and credits to buy my hammerhead. I am not a quitter, I just don't see how you could survive too long in that bulky thing.

"On this ship you are to refer to me as Idiot, not you Captain. I mean... you know what I mean."

topher,

Couple of questions:

What ships were the Corsairs flying? I can tell you from personal experience that Humpy + 4 Titans = DOA

Where were you flying? From what you describe, by then you should have been near the next Trade Lane ring.

All I can say is I did the New Berlin 2 New Tokyo Diamond run many, many times and lived.


"Got anything for me?" - Trent, A.K.A. 'Mr. Eloquent'