That's just stupid. Could anyone put that difficulty scale thing on the black list? I hate seeing it everytime someone has problems with the game.

Back on topic: If you're getting killed by the battleship, stay away from it. You don't have to kill it, others will do it for you.
Focus on the fighters and make sure you stay well away from the BS, at least 1k or it will shoot at you.
Gunboats are relatively easy even compared to the fighters. As someone said, just sneak up behind them and blast away what you have.

The Cruisers are likely toast before you can make any difference so don't bother with them.

Yes it's cool to have a BS kill on your stat, but if that BS kills you constantly, stay away from it. But I might have said that already.

Keep trying, you'll get there.
And don't listen to these fools, what do they know
(j/k)

Edited by - > Nickless < on 6/28/2004 1:02:11 PM

One of the challenging things about rebalance is that you have to pick your fights. You can stay alive by using thruster/engine kill, but i've found using cruise missiles (if done properly so you don't kill yourself) give you the decisive advantage and make the capital ships sitting ducks. Just take your time and invest in lots of really good equipment, and buy shield capacitors to beef up your defenses.

trinthakis

The entire trick to taking on large capital ships is the "dodge + weave" routine. Torpedoes are aimed based on the direction your targeting cursor is in, which means that they have very little in the ways of maneuverability. Hence, you should start firing them at maximum range. Granted, it isn't easy to dodge fire from a battleship, three cruisers, about twenty fighters, and three gunboats ... but it can be done.

As you close in on the battleship, start using your thruster at random intervals. Firing your guns will also help, but you should close in close enough to the battleship to start laying down mines ... as many mines as you can throw out of your ship in the quickest amount of time possible. You can also lock your flight control (hit the spacebar) and pound that ship with your guns, while throwing out mines, missiles, and torpedoes. (Just beware: the explosion from a torpedo will also generate blast damage to your shields if you're really close.)

When your shield starts to buckle, lay on your thruster and get away from the battleship. Keep in mind that the closer you are, the larger a target you present for the gunners on board. When your shield is restored, go back and tear that thing into scrap metal.

A tip, as well. If you're getting consistently beaten and don't want to go hunting for random files to edit, try downloading Achilles' mod for the Starfleet vessel. Granted, it doesn't exactly fit into the Freelancer universe (and you have to start a new campaign), but a pair of torpedo launchers and a number of heavy guns means that your firepower is on a par with a Liberty cruiser. Furthermore, the ship has heavy shields, which means that you can take the brunt of fire in a battle but still come out swinging. I used that through the entire campaign ... and believe me, that ship could deal out some serious damage.

"The safest bet for commerce is sticking close to the military patrol routes. And you can just forget about asteroid fields and nebulas."
- Overheard on standard comm channel from a DSE pilot at Fort Bush

Edited by - Merchant Trader on 7/13/2004 8:34:12 PM