You're absolutely, completely right.
Missiles don't really add to the game's playability.
I use them in the campaign to help take out the (Spoiler) Shield generators (/Spoiler)
They're good for head-on encounters and against very bad pilots
Other than that, you could better mount an extra weapon.


The Titan Flies Like A Cow

Edited by - Nickless on 22-07-2003 08:48:35

I have them simply cos I like the look of them.
Cannonball missiles are good against a ship with no shields, and dont forget that missiles can do about 3x there stated damage value (I think that's about right)
So twin Cannonball missiles can take out a Titan

If it wasn't for the inky blackness of the night you wouldn't appreciate the brilliance of the stars...

I think the thing is that missiles and torpedoes were meant to take out solid masses, not energy-whatevers shields. If you have a torpedo, and you're in some kind of duel, it can be over in about 0.01 seconds, if my calculations are correct -_- launch a torpedo, rip off the shields, and I'm dead True, they don't work too well on stations, but I know they work well in duels...

Missiles do about the same over time as an excellent gun of the same weapon class but they deliver this damage in larger 'packets' over greater range and drain no energy. And, as Lutz has said already, like all weapons with explosive ammo they can do several times their specified damage in a direct hit on the ship hull (you get a distinctive boom when this happens, even with Javelins). This is why torpedos are such fun - with them it is easy to get the direct hit bonus and so there are very few ships that can survive a hit even with the cheap standard torpedos.

An all-gun loadout with the best guns will do about the same damage against big targets as a loadout with a missile launcher or two mixed in, but the all-gun loadout quickly uses up the energy stored in the powerplant and then the damage output drops down to the level sustained by the powerplant's recharge rate. The mixed loadout can keep up maximum damage output for longer and even when the gun damage output drops down to recharge level the missiles can still do full damage (assuming there is enough ammo left ).

The worst thing about missiles is that whenever your oponent has the smallest bit of shield left, say 1%, it takes out that particular 1% and does no further damage.
I know that's what a sield is for, but still, the blast radius should be able to inflict some damage to the hull.

The Titan Flies Like A Cow

Personally, I prefer missiles to be like that; if not, all we'd do would be aim-lock-fire-use-countermeasures. Boooring...

This way, we have to *work* at it: manouver like hell, get the ship in line with target, zig-zag away from enemy... far more fun...

I no longer use missiles; guns for regular work, torpedoes for heavy targets.

--- // ---
"I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum."

Nickless, remove the remaining shreds of the shield with your guns before deploying explosive ammo. At that point the other player has only two options: to remain highly vulnerable for 12 seconds until the shield comes back up by itself, or to recharge the shield using batteries which is very expensive in terms of batts since the shield always recharges to the max if you do that. For you it is a win-win situation.

Also, if you have shield busters then you can deplete even a full shield in one or two seconds (fire shield busters and main guns), then launch explosives and watch the fireworks.

Yeah, Sherlogs right about the shield rippers, you have to get them . I'm currently flying an Anubis and I've got a shield ripper for my turret. The shields may as well not exist. I think three shots is the best any shields have stood up to a blast from my guns. I will be adding missles when I find the Cannonball (Not found that yet.)

Lutz, try Starkillers on your Anubis. That allows you to kill even Sabres and other VHF easily in a single pass: if you launch the first torp a bit ahead of time (at about 1000m, perhaps a bit more) then you have enough time to beat down the shield before the first torp and the Titan connect, and the torp launcher is ready to deliver the coup de grace before the other ship even passes you. Just remember to launch torps always at afterburn speed or higher so that you get the damage bonus.

Lesser enemies need just one of the $373 pills on top of your gunfire, so you can pick two or more Stilettos out of an enemy wing during initial approach. This can be tricky but it is great fun.

Sherlog,

Yeah I do! Great tactic, I quickly afterburn to about 1200 metres, fire a starkiller, strafeing just a bit,and once I hit 800 metres I slow to about 40 speed and fire away at the pack. That way the pack gets hammered by the torp, they don't destroy it with return fire, and it works on all ships, cos all AI ships just pelt it towards you. I've taken out a Dagger with a Starkiller before now. The resulting explosions are good!
However, may I please point you in the direction of my latest "Survival Laws of Freelancer" post regarding said torps in rebalance.

what are $373 pills

The Titan Flies Like A Cow

Nickless, they're Starkiller torps. In normal FL they cost $373. ($1,500 in rebalance though, )

Like I said in the other thread...

What ELSE are you gonna do with your $10 million? It's not like you can buy a base or anything, and you probably already have the ship and guns you want, so why not make all that cash worth something by transforming it into a bunch of cool explosions?

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

You know, energy isn't a consideration if you're using Nomad guns...

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"Reach for the stars and you'll burn your hands." - me