Mauser will make your life easier
By Specialist_AKA_Specs
As many of you have already learned the preview was a PITA and most of our older weapons were not very effective. I have put my video up of the progression of me attempting to get the Centurions to work in the level 57 target (this would be T4 I think) and it was a mess with PAC. You can find the video at the end of this article.
Centurion –
What I found was that to do the T4 decently you need a bit more Arbalest. I know that I recommended a build that was working on the level 97 mining bases. It the assumption that the targets would be similar to those, not have enough health on the turrets to withstand multiple blasts from the secondary weapon. I know it sucks and that there is not much time left to get some refitting in if all you have is the Centurion. That knowledge had me taking a night to sit and think and collect thoughts so that I did not get all ranty here. The goal was to get my readers a build that could do at least T4 in the raid, and unless the targets change a bit with the lowering of health in T4, you will have a hard time with the PAC, Earthshaker, and D110.
We have roughly 4 days, if you get your tokens from the Forsaken mission, I will refit at least 4 arbalests to your Centurion at a minimum. If you were able to get the Mauser, I would build the build that did the best for me in the preview.
The Best Centurion for the Raid
Centurion for lower tech levels
Centurion for the low tech level I know might still not cover all players. If you do not have the Nuclear Accelerator then use Harden Barrels 3. You can get Reflective Coating 3 in the Sea of Flames Prize pack 1. You can get D2-R in the Ashes to Ashes Prize pack 1. Both are available to level 50 players.
You will need a siege battery, if you only have 2 or lower then stick to Tier 3 targets.
You will need a siege battery, if you only have 2 or lower then stick to Tier 3 targets.
Cannoneer –
What can I say about this? It did T4 with the Mauser, could do T5 target with the Mauser. After the Centurion failing with the older tech, I did not even bother testing them on this hull. I did not get the video with the Millenium, but I did manage to auto a 75 for almost the whole fleet health due to connection issues.
The tactics that I ended up using that worked best was to go counter-clockwise the whole way around. This strategy allowed the base to fully rise from the depths. That also helped me to avoid the danger of a platform pushing me into the shorter range turrets. The video I got did not show this as I found this path just as my connection became unstable and I lost connection. I think this path will allow me to do the target for 0 Damage with the Millenium cannon.
My combat speed was about 50 the whole time and that allowed me to dodge the big Launcher in the middle and move out of the way when platforms were coming up. I think you could get by with the mid-40s though and might try that at the start of the Raid.
The build presented is the one I used in the preview. I think I have an idea for a better one, but I want to test it before I share it.
Best theory idea for the Cannoneer
Mauser build for the Cannoneer
IronClad
In the video, you will see that I could auto the T4 targets with the Mauser. It took a little more damage than my Centurions with a similar setup. But that could have been the build. I would think to increase ballistic resistance and use the Reflective Coating 3 for my specials. That would increase your resistance a bit more and give you less weight.
IronClad build
Summary
Overall I liked the idea behind the targets. I was very discouraged by the fact that the older tech was not so useful. The health of the targets seemed over the top and I am hopeful they tune that down when the raid launches next week. It will be a nasty grind for those without the Mauser, and even with that weapon you will be limited to T4 targets for your Centurion and Ironclad to keep repair time down. That is not to say that you cannot do T5, but just know that the health and damage in those targets is much higher and you should reserve that for the cannoneer builds with the Mauser or Millenium cannons.
The good thing is that the splash was not so noticeable so you could go with just the cannon system 4 and not worry about boosting splash much higher on the Ironclad.
with the greatest respect ... very few of us have the new cannon (not even allowed to buy it) nor the TLC gun and special issued this week
ReplyDeletehow about hulls. weapons and specials we might actually be able to slightly alter before the FEBRUARY raid? We have no chance without significant coining of BUYING these designs.
That is why i said that Arbalest could do T4 on the hulls. Unfortunately we are painted in a box here unless they tune the health down on the targets so that you are not sitting there for 45 seconds or so taking out a stand.
DeleteYou could take my first Centurion build and swap in 2 more Arbalaest and remove other PAC to get it under weight.
You can find a screenshot of that build at this article
http://www.blog.specsworld.co/2016/12/raid-wrap-up-and-looking-to-future.html
With that build you should be able to do the T4 targets for very little damage to grind out the points for the new stuff. It will be a PITA, but I have feeling that is all we have right now. This strategy might change once we see the finalized targets. When the raid starts I will work with the Centurion at the start to get a video, path, and I will not use the new tech with it. The build will be what I have currently or a slight modification with a few more arbs depending on coin costs.
I would also like to add that your Centurions were not R5 or fully ranked. I Have always personally stated that this was the ultimate key to using Centurions. The added speed, resists, and siege dps will make all the difference. By not having your full fleet the same speed your harlock was being targeted while the rest lagged behind. The cents were taking way too much unnecessary damage. Also by not having your Harlock in the pink rings of the cents you were not getting the benefit of splash reduction.
ReplyDeleteOver all thanks for the analysis. However it is my belief that with R5 cents you should be able to at least do the A sets on raids using cents and older guns. If you look at the stats the R5 cents with a Harlock lead is a good in between of the Ironclad and the Cannoneer. I do not believe even the R5 cents will do as well as the cannoneer but it should at least allow someone to win them.
I do agree that R5 would help a lot in these targets. Those that I talk to daily and help daily do not have R5 yet so I cannot in good conscious do them to R5 at this time either. That would not show them what to expect.
Deletei noticed from the video your fleet was well ranked and still took ages to kill the turrets .if you got a ship with low rank its going to take ages to kill anything .also combat speed and rad defense seems vital ..looking at the way your fleet died in ever target with out killing it doesn't look good for the average player
ReplyDeleteYes. as always rank is going to be key. That can be offset with a reloader of course some.
DeleteWell I have 3 cannoneers, 1 fitted with some earthshakers. The other 2 are kinda blank with the vanilla spec fitted. I think I will fit the Mauser in place of the earthshaker? I can also finish 1 Ironclad with the 12 day tokens I have. Good plan or will I need 1 more Ironclad and leave the cannoneer for next month?
ReplyDeleteThanks in advance!
Definitely if you have the Mauser I would use that. It made the target so much easier over everything else I tried. If you watch the video the first few centurion failures in the targets was with PAC and D110 and then D110 and Earth. Arbalest did pretty good in the 57 and the Mauser could do the T4 target for instant repair on the centurion.
DeleteThe Cannoneer with the Mauser could do the T5 target with some time. The Millennium cannon could do the T5 for 0 damage if you drove right.