Making the move to Wordpress

Just a quick note that I am making the move to WordPress. I want more control over how I deliver the information to you guys and this seemed the next logical step. While Blogger is great to get started and it helped me learn during the last year, it is time to grow and try something new. All the posts and conversations from blogger have been transported over as of this time.

you can see new posts at

Specsworld.co



Thank you

100% Base parts with the Scoundrel and Irradiate Cutthroat to work again!

Busy year with a rough Raid start

By Specialist_AKA_Specs

Long start to the new year for this pirate. I have been busy, and I am falling behind, and for that, I apologize to my readers. This article will discuss the update today. I will go over my progress on the Vindicator fleet I am putting together. I will also discuss the raid and how the refits are going for my fleets. So let us begin!

Where have I been?

I am going to be busy the next month. I took on a project that is two months long, and it is sucking a lot of my time I had set aside for the blog before this commitment. The project will be finished in about four weeks, and then I can get back to writing at least two articles a week and progressing with the game.

Raid Update:

We got a kick in the teeth from the belief by the powers that be that we would all have the newer gear released shortly after Christmas and a couple of weeks before the raid. So I know that the raid was tough at the start for everyone. Lucky for those that built the Centurions with the PAC they lowered the health in the T4 targets Saturday morning and grinding could be done with good driving. Many of those I help that typically could get 30 million on their own still struggled to get to 15 million due to the start and time frame left after the change was made.  I still think that if you did not get the Mauser, you are better served to go with the Arbalest for T4 and Centurions going forward. You are going to want to try to get the Cannoneer if you did not get te Ironclad they are still the best ships for this format.

My main issue with the raid, it was the first time in a year that the weapon was the most important part of being successful. They got away from that for a time (it used to be that you always took the weapon because it was the way forward) and the hull was most important. The reverting to needing the weapon caught many of us by surprise. So much so that for the second time I was unable to be properly prepared without spending over my budget.

Another option for those ,that have a Zelos built and a blank is to refit the new Forsaken gun and special. That will put you in line with the Ironclad at a minimum for the raid.  Which will help you do T4 for relatively cheap or free, I am not sure if they will do T5 because the increase in health was pretty steep for that set. But, it is an excellent cannon and special for generalist hulls, and if you get, it would not be a bad idea to give your Zelos a boost and make it useful.

The last raid was the most expensive for me since the last Scourge. Overall I loved the idea behind the targets. I did find them stale after Saturday grinding away, but that is to be expected with the time needed and points required to gain the prizes.

Vindicator update.

I have a couple more to refit with crossbow 3. They are ranked finally and at Foundry level 4. I have not gone beyond that as I think that is an easy place for most to get to if they are fresh to the game. The tech on them is what you can find in T3 or lower of the Forsaken mission, Campaigns, and research lab. I am using an Aegis to help with resistance and dealing with the Wendigo in the targets. That one turret is a pain for this fleet.
 With two of them, I can make it half way through the target, so I think with four and the Aegis the target can be done with sub par technology.

I am not putting many coins into this fleet, for the simple fact that we will get a change of these targets in the next two months.

My advice to all of my 0 coining players is to get Centurions at least and make their way to the Cannoneer and the Millenium gun.  I know that this will not be helpful to new players and that is why with the next raid I will test this vindicator build in the T3 targets. That will give us a good indication if they can be a bridge to the foundry when targets change.

This weeks Update

Hellwraith will be available in the foundry! That is a great thing for players that could not get that wonderful sub-prior. Of course, people are complaining the new Reaver Armada are hard, and they are taking more damage. So this might not be a good thing for some, but it is an excellent progression made for this line in the Foundry.

You can get the Hellwraith by hitting the level 102 Reaver Armada, and it will take quite a bit of time to get them.

• 192 Tier 5 Skirmish Fragments
• 4 Hellwraith Fragments
• Pieces can be found in the level 102 Reaver Armada.

Blueprints:

• Tiger Shark
• Mimicus System
• Sealed Fire Charges 

That list explains why the items were added to the Forsaken mission.

Heavy Metal TLC

Mega owners will get a new campaign. This TLC will give us 75K Titanium, three metal alloy, and four advance systems. That means that if you own a mega, get ready to get hitting others you can get some new alloys and advanced systems.

The targets are not known yet, but from the notes and the target type Assault, I am hoping it is using our Apollo to gain the prizes.

New Rogue Crew

Probably the most exciting for me personally out of this update is the Rogue TLC and the new crew for base parts.

Scavenger Scoundrels will allow the player to gain 100% more base parts! That crew will be a significant help to those still getting their turrets to level 7.

With the Conquerer level 6 hulls coming in February raid event, this crew will be very useful, and I hope we can win it with rolling shortly.

Irradiated Cutthroat to work again

The most critical bug fixed in my opinion was getting the Cutthroat crew to work with the new reavers. That was a thorn in the side of players since the new Reavers were released and having that fixed will help those of us with a dozen of these crews gain our Uranium.

Edit to add: This crew will only be available at this time through the TLC. So, players can get two of them to start. Use them wisely, while not as helpful as being in the roll, it can help get a few turrets up to level 7 at least.

That wraps up this week's updates!

Have a great week everyone!

Awakening 2 days in - A new player joins the field

By Jan

Introduction

Hello everyone, before I start with a little tipps and tricks on the lvl 74 aka blitz target of this years january event I wanted to introduce myself.
My name is Jan and I have been playing Battle Pirates since the black water days when it all started. Apart from a 1 year break I have been playing almost every day and came back a little over a year ago in late december 2015 to pick up from where I had left.
 The idea for writing and sharing ideas outside of my alliance/sector came a few weeks back, when I gave a lenghty reply to one of Specs posts and he encouraged me to write more if I wanted. (Thanks in advance for that Specs).
I consider myself a non coiner, which means apart from sending gifts to other players in order to help them or thank them for helping me I do not spend money. My own account hasnt received gold from me for several years now, so I have to make up for it with using my limited resources as wisely as possible.
With my posts I hope to provide a tactical insight for other non coiners or lower lvl players who do not have all the latest tech equipped/build/ranked during raids, and maybe provide a different view on upcoming releases from a purely players point of view.
Ok without further ado lets start.

The blitz target or "How to get points without lenghty grind/repair"

As specs has covered all viable options for Tier 4 (B-Set) in his earlier post Scourge are back! lets take a look at a target that requires a little higher tech lvl but neither the millenium gun and new special nor the cannoneer.

First of all what you want to have is an ironclad preferably equipped with mauser cannons. In addition to that a generic fleet of punishers/cents equipped with atleast pacs and arbs. Sometime today the B-set was nerfed to make PACs and Arbs sort of usefull and I noticed the damage dealt by the big gun in the 74 has been halfed, so lets make good use of this.
Here is my build idea for the Ironclad, which I used the campaign tokens for, to rank and build it:

(I am currently using GS3 instead of SiegeTargeting 3, changing this might even make it instant repair on the 74)

The idea is the following:  enter at 9 o'clock and hit 5 buildings to maximize bloodthirst. Then move towards the big gun and sit under its fire until it is destroyed. (The down arrow is your friend). Then retreat and use your cents/punishers to clean up the rest. You can avoid all the small range turrets by inching closer carefully (down arrow). In the video I used my cannoneers, but I ran some tests with my punishers, it is possible.

Prepping lvl 74 with ironclad video

Cannoneers in a lvl 74

To step it up a notch here is and idea on how to hit a lvl 74 for instant repair with your cannoneers 

To conclude this post, I thank everyone for reading and hope it helps a little. As this is the first time I am writing in a blog feel free to provide some tipps on how I can improve myself, constructive criticism is always necessary and welcomend. If you have any further questions just comment below and will answer as soon as possible

Scourge are back!

I remember why I did not like them the first time around

By Specialist_AKA_Specs

Raid is in full swing now, and I know many of you are struggling. I would be a liar if I said that I was not having issues. This raid has been the most costly for me since the last Scourge raid, and I am starting to remember why I hated them, to begin with. I want to be clear that the issue with the raid is not the difficulty level, layout, or even the damage dealt. It is the fact that the buildings have so much health that you have to take extra time to take them down. Hopefully the tips I will share will help you the next couple days and to move forward with this raid series. I could go with my cannoneer build, but as I want to help my non-coiners out with my thoughts and I have been so busy the last two days that i have not been available the focus of this article is to make the Centurion the best possible fleet going forward.

Edit - I just ran a Tier 4 with my Centurions, I still have 3 PAC in the fleet as I am not done with the refits. The PAC blast was taking out more than one turret and was doing far more damage than the start of the raid. Thank you for listening to the concerns expressed by the Moderator team over the last few days to those that made this decision. It will help those with the PAC Centurions to at least grind tier 4 this raid.

Video will be coming shortly as soon as it uploads!

Centurions -

Basic Centurion build for Tier 4

Arbalest can do the Tier 4 targets. The problem is that it takes a bit longer than with the Mauser and will lead you having more chance to take damage. You will want at least 20 arbalests in the fleet (5 per ship) to make this a reality. The good news is that this weapon will allow you to snipe most of the towers. The bad news is that it might take you extra time to finish the target. Again the targets are not challenging in the sense of what we have had the last year of raids. We were able to just take the hull and slap any weapon on it that was in the same class as the best weapon for the format and do well. This raid that was changed, and we were not properly prepared for that. This raid you need the weapon more than the hull.

My Basic strategy for Tier 4

Entering from the top helps more than the bottom or the sides. There are a few targets that start you at the same spot no matter where you enter. But, I cannot remember them and just enter from around the 11 clock position as you look at your screen. This entrance sets me up for the most comfortable way for me to approach the targets.

Take your time and move only when you need to move. Combat speed is crucial in the targets. The large radioactive turret can reach the whole map just about so you do have to keep moving. But, paying attention to the rising turrets can have you in jeopardy quickly. While learning a pattern has been the norm in previous raids. Getting to a spot is far more important in this one as you can take the turret out before it gets a chance to fire on you.

Damage to buildings is your friend! The more damage that you can deal with the buildings the quicker you take down the massive health these buildings have. So you will want Siege Battery 3, it is the most significant special. Followed with Siege Loader for the extra reload (increases DPS) and building damage. That leaves you Engine, Resistance and Nuclear Accelerator (or one of the newer specials for ballistic range).

Mauser Build for Centurion

Mauser will make short work of Tier 4 targets. You could even do T5 with this weapon, it would be similar to using arbalest in the T4. The best setup is the Millenium Cannon and the High-velocity rounds that go with it. Why? Because the targets are not really grouped together so, the splash is not needed, but building damage is. And the Millenium is the best gun for this raid.

My Cannoneer Build

Summary

You might disagree with me on the difficulty of the targets, but after testing and spending more on this raid than I have in the last 4 combined I can tell you that the difficulty is not the target themselves, but it is the amount of health the buildings have. That is why when you get a blue blast from the PAC it seems like it is not doing much damage. That 100K damage is like 5% health, and that is a shame because it is such a rare thing to go off that it should not have been negated to novelty status in my opinion.

You will want to get a newer weapon, and I hope that the powers that be, those that decide what gets into the Forsaken Mission or TLC, will give us another chance to get the Millenium or Mauser this month. Barring the release of those weapons to salvage this raid format. I hope they reconsider the ridiculous amount of health on the targets so that those that are unable to spend the money to get the millennium and cannoneer this month, can get the pieces needed next month.

It was a good first step by letting us have the campaign tower camps, it would have been better if we could have gotten the 30 million points through those camps. It is not like we could get through them in a matter of minutes or even an hour or two. The grind factor would have most cursing by the end of the weekend. But it was a great thing to offer the players, and I am happy it is there. The 6 million points or so from that for tiny damage is a welcomed change to those that I help with the game each day.

Rumors around the water cooler and how they might affect your raid

Vindicator for T3 of the raid, and Rumors of major help to the player base!

By Specialist_AKA_Specs

The January raid event is shaping up to be a major headache for many of us. I can only speculate what might be the final targets for the siege targets. You can only speculate what will be done with the mountains of feedback the players are giving on the forums and in Facebook groups. With all this speculation and chatter there has surfaced a rumor that I hope is true and makes it to the final iteration of the raid this month. Before I get into that, I wanted to share my Vindicator fleet.

Vindicator and Tier 3 of the Raid.

I know that many of you are still waiting for the final video of this fleet in action and I can only say I am close to having a fleet of these able to take a level 60 mining base. While this might not be the best time to release this fleet with the changes to the siege targets coming in a few short months. I still wanted to show how you could take technology that is won through normal gameplay. The fleet features all technology that is gotten through either the campaign system, research labs and no farther than T3 of the Forsaken missions.

The idea behind the build was to maximize building damage and defenses. You will want R4 Vindicators at a minimum, and I hope that most have that by now. This can be done by hitting level 30 and 40 mining platforms. My recommendation is to do so in yellow sector threat at the minimum. The reasoning for R4 is that you get a 4th special slot and that helps the build tremendously with the addition of siege battery.

For the Damage on this hull, I settled for Crossbow 3. The building damage of this weapon is just below the Arbalest and should help in Tier 3 of the raid format. Coupled with Harden barrels 3 your range will be just shy of any other ballistic hull with a 50 range cannon and 40% range boost. Also by taking the hull to R4 you will get some much-needed aid in siege damage boost. The Seige battery three is much needed special due to the resistance against turrets and the boost to damage to buildings.

Armor is D2-R armor. This armor can be retrieved through the campaign system or the Forsaken mission. That will allow you to boost your radiation resistance against the Wendigo turrets in the mining platforms. As well there are radioactive turrets in the new raid format that can hurt a great deal with mini booms that can drop your health fast.

You could easily go with Reflective coating 3 from the campaigns and D2-C or D1-C if you wanted to boost radioactive instead.

Last piece of the puzzle

I know that the Aegis is not easily obtained but the help this can give to your fleet should not be underestimated. You can get the ability to build one of these by reaching R13 of the R&D. My plan will be to show the mining platform without and with this piece. It is not necessary, and I hope you will come to that conclusion as well. It does help with two key areas, though. First, it gives a 40% boost to resistance. Second, it has a field that puts out the ice fields from the Wendigo. An honorable mention would be the Frostburn interceptor. While it does not have the defense boosts it has a larger aura that can let your ships get further ahead.

The video is still coming along, and I needed to finish my raid fleet for this raid, so the final refits to this fleet have taken a back seat. I hope to have them ready to go by next week as I just have to finish adding a few Crossbows to the build.

You could build this to match the speed of the Vindicator and then add in some hails and phalanx with a launcher to help you trigger remote targeting fleets. The key here is to have this hull trailing behind your vindicator to give it that 40% boost to defense.

Rumor for the January Event

As promised there is a rumor I am hearing and was able to share. It is not a sure thing yet, but there is talk that we will have the ability to have two different campaigns at our towers that will grant raid points. Now, these campaigns will be lower tier stuff (think B tier and C-tier) and will be subject to the point reduction that we have in the regular raid. But, the exciting thing about this rumor is that one campaign will be reavers, and one will be legion assault forces. This idea of having older raid formats in the campaign for our younger and less advanced players is an interesting one. It is also one that gives me hope they are listening to feedback and finding a way to help everyone.

That means that if you have fleets that worked the last eight months, you should be able to get some raid points through grinding at your base.

It is complete rumor at this point and subject to change. But, it was too good and the possibilities to share something good too substantial to hold.

Review of the January Raid Preview

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. 

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.

Video

IronClad and Mauser Make a Splash!

And a Second Harlock TideSeeker? Yes! Please!

By Specialist_AKA_Specs

I say take the thing home and worship it! It resembles nothing on the earth, or in the seas or in the skies, so you can't be accused of idolatry.

Today we got to see the much-anticipated IronClad and Mauser Cannon. These two prizes have been the source of much discussion since it was announced that we would have Siege targets for January Event. The Mauser for the update to the current cannons we have, and the IronClad because it has been billed as the TideSeeker for the Siege Targets. Along with these two much-discussed pieces to our arsenal, we have a chance at a second Harlock Tideseeker and an upgrade to our cannon systems. Overall this update was a very exciting one for me as a player.

The IronClad is the hull that will mimic the TIdeseeker for the current raid set to start January 12, 2017. That means it will be auto Tier 4 targets for a coin cost.  This TLC is one that you are going to want to attempt to do if your goal is to auto the raids. The Mauser cannon is a must pick up and matches perfectly with the Cannoneer and The IronClad. The only question we have is Nuclear Accelerator or the Cannon System IV?

IronClad

I will build the Ironclad for testing purposes, my Tide fleet could do Tier 6 by the end of the event on auto, and I suspect that I can reduplicate that success with this fleet.

If we look at the hull a bit closer, we will see that it has all that we expect from a siege class hull. The biggest positive I see is the splash bonus. That will help with taking out the cluster of buildings. Other than the bonus to resistance at max stack, reload and damage will help with auto hitting the targets. The biggest negative I see is the range boost at 30% it will be below the 100 range of the Cannoneer. We saw how important the max range was in the last raid series where you hit the sweet spot for 0 damage or 30 minutes for just inching too close. I fear this will be the same with this hull compared to the Cannoneer.

That is probably why it has 100% stun resistance, and we should expect something to stun our ships while we are attacking these targets. And why this hull is being billed as our Auto hull. 

Mauser vs. Draconian Arbalest/Arbalest vs. Particle Accelerator Cannon

This Mauser cannon is a thing of beauty. Paired with the 200% splash bonus on the Ironclad this cannon will shine. The Arbalest could out DPS it in some instances on single target I think, and this will require some testing. But, I think on the IronClad you would want most of these and maybe one or two Particle Accelerator Cannons for the special it delivers to knock out clusters fast. My sweet spot seems to be 10 PAC per fleet.

By comparing the cannons, the Mauser is king taking out buildings then in order;

• Arbalest
• Crossbow III
• Railgun D-110
• PAC

PAC if you can get the special to go off is nice, but we cannot count on that reliably. I would go for a mix in this case.

I am not sure I will put this on my Current Cannoneer as I am using arbalest and PAC so while I will not be best in the show, the Cannoneer does not have the bonus to splash to make this cannon shine in my opinion. Therefore I will not be spending time in refitting before the raid.

Cannon System IV vs. Nuclear Accelerator

The Cannon System IV tops the Nuclear Accelerator in every way in my honest opinion for the Mauser. It boosts splash, it matches range and increases damage. It is also lighter by 11%. To bad we cannot match it with drum loaders, that would be an excellent combination.

I enjoy the zooming around the map as much as anyone. But, If you get this special then I would definitely go with this over the Nuclear Accelerator. Mostly because in my current build on even the cannoneer I am at max weight without full armor or weapons.

Grab the Harlock Tideseeker

If you have tideseekers you will want to attempt to get the Harlock Tideseeker this time too. It will boost that fleet of three to four tides to be able to auto the level 75 reaver armadas for hours ( was able to go 2 hours and still not have to repair) allowing you the ability to gain Uranium for a days worth of repairs while at work or sleeping.

Bug Fixes -

I could not finish the article without at least mentioning these as one fix was something that was most aggravating for the last week or so.

• Corrected an issue with the calculations being done to determine the movement speed of fleets on the world map. This should address a problem where fleets would appear to reach their destination, then jump back a certain distance and continue traveling to the target.

• Cleaned up some additional cases where stats were incorrectly showing both a plus and minus sign ahead of the bonus value.

While we do not have a fix to the diagonal land tiles yet, we at least got the map speed fixed and of course the confusing +/- signs on some blueprints.

Diagonal Base layouts are bad

You should change it, and do that soon!

By Specialist_AKA_Specs

By now many of you have probably heard or even seen the base setups with diagonal land tiles forcing the limits of the base layout to ridiculous proportions. I want to warn my readers against this and give you ample time to swap the layout back to something else that is legit.

Yes. I understand that you can do these in the base planner and it will let you set it as a legit base. But, the Team has told the moderators that this is not an intended feature of the game, or Out Post 9. It will be fixed in a future update, maybe Wednesday, January 4, 2017, and you will not want to take that chance.

Why do you ask? The game has an auto-ban feature that looks for certain things when it does checks. This base layout could trigger the automatic ban and place a tag on your base that is easily avoidable. So, take this as a warning from someone that has talked to the Game Team and the Fair Play team. If you have done these to your base, swap it as soon as you can.

It is not a guarantee that you would get banned if you still have it when the fix goes in. But, it is possible the auto ban could decide to tag your base and have you go through the process of going through a Fair Play review to get your base back. This review could take a few days and result in you missing time to do your forsaken mission or even the first bit of the raid.

I hope you are all in good health when you read this, and you take this warning to heart if you are one of the few that have set their bases up in a way similar to the below base.

Vacation about over and time to get back into the game

What would you like seen tested?
By Specialist_AKA_Specs

My vacation this last 10 days has been pretty relaxing, but it is time to get around to playing Battle Pirates again. With that in mind, I am hoping we get a preview server this week, and I can test some builds for the coming raid. I think I would have time to test four builds. So, First build will be my current Centurion build.

The second build I will be testing is my Cannoneer build. It will not be a full build but a few Drac Arbalest, a PAC and then 2x armor. The issue I have with this build is that it is already at max weight. Would you like to see one with an engine and one with the Drum Loader from the FM?

That leaves at least two builds that I can test in the preview if we happen to get lucky this week. What would like to see? Please share the build ideas below and I will at the minimum share them in an article and hopefully video of them after the Preview is over (If I am allowed).
I will try to build as many different ideas as we can come up with this week.

Hope everyone had a great start to the New Year and had a wonderful holiday week.

Have a great Weekend all!

I just wanted to take a brief moment to wish everyone a Merry Christmas (or whatever you might be celebrating this time of the year)!

I wanted to let you all know that it has been humbling that the response to the blog has gone so well. I also thank you for understanding the comment moderation due to some spammers trying to flood the comments with sport betting websites and casinos. Because I cannot do much with them other than monitor all submissions the comments are sometimes slow to show up. With the holiday weekend fast here I will not be around much the next couple days so I might not get them on the blog until 24 hours after you post them. I do plan to migrate to a different platform next year that will give me more control over blocking the spammers.

With that said I hope you all have a great Weekend that is safe, and full of family. Enjoy yourself and I will see you all Monday!

Forsaken Mission prizes, Uranium and State of the game Winter edition

By Specialist_AKA_Specs

I was going to do a couple of different posts on this update, but with the holiday fast approaching, I do not want to take up any more of your time or mine. So I am going to cover the Forsaken Mission prizes. I will speak briefly on the changes to uranium, and then include the state of the game notes. We have a lot happening this weekend with the VXP and a TLC for the Mega hulls as well. I will try to keep it as brief as possible.

FM Prize first thoughts

Gargoyle 3 – 

The gargoyle got an upgrade in a massive way. It had a bit more range and huge damage increase. The Gargoyle 3 is going to be something that will force many attackers to stop and range it with that concussive damage. Add in the concussive special (expanded concussive charge), and you are looking at 80K concussive damage for a turret.

Here is the breakdown (as my Good friend George pointed out I made an error, that error was not calculating the salvo so sorry about that, That is why you should not do math before you have sufficient coffee :D)

80,000/10 (number of salvo) = 8,000 per projectile.

Kixeye shows us double the damage so we can half this amount to make it 4K per projectile.

Malice has 6,000 Deflection, which we have to cut in half as well so it is 3,000.

Subtract the 4,000 from the 3000 and we get 1K per projectile at 10 projectiles is 10K damage for a frontline turret on a hull that is designed for tanking concussive targets.

If you add in Transformer and siege battery that will change the numbers again. Attack transformer will add more damage or more range (I would go with damage) and the Siege battery 3 can reduce the turret damage up to 50% at R15.

Very nice upgrade defenders front line turret. Or, you could go with placing one or two of these next to your thermal to combat Subs that might try to prep you.

Hammer Cannon

I was excited to learn we had a new cannon then I saw it. I wanted something for my Cannoneer, and this was not it. Now, I know what you are saying “But specs that damage!” Yes. It has nice stats it is a beautiful weapon that will do awesome on my malice and Valiants. In other words, I see this Cannon as more of a PvP cannon than a PvE cannon.

The reason for this is that it has no splash, it has no piercing. Both of those stats are something I love to have to take out the tightly clustered buildings in the mining bases. Without those stats, it will increase the time I have to spend at each group taking out turrets.

That does not say it will not do the job, and it will. But, I wanted something more to upgrade the Arbalest or the PAC. It is a nice upgrade though for our defense and base hitting fleets.

Drum Reloaders –

What is there not to like about this special? It will match up nice with all our Ballistic weapons. I love the 30% extra damage coupled with 75% reload. This special will make all our ballistic fleets shine. It is one special I cannot wait to win.

Velocity Regulator –

Talk about a tune up to our mortar fleets!, Extra splash and a decent weight percentage. The only problem I see personally is that I have my next raid fleet being built right now and no shipyard time. But, I do love this for the potential I see with my Citadels vendetta and any rocket fleet you might have on the water. Maybe we get away from the Scatterguns coming up, and we will get a new rocket. The radioactive damage boost will be nice with the Retribution basers or even your Valiant with Launchers.

Our Uranium is changing –

Say goodbye to the draw Armada and hello to the Reavers! You will need your Hellwraiths, Tigers, and even Tideseekers going forward for Uranium. This change is to help make those fleets we just spent four months building the last longer and not seem like such a waste of time or coin. I have been using my Tides and Hells for the last few months to gather Uranium. They did as well if not better than my other fleets.

The great thing here is that we will still have our old draw armadas for another month. Also bonus of getting small bits of Uranium even outside of Yellow sector threat. That should help alleviate the problems with getting uranium.

State of the Game – 

First lots of information here. I am happy they outlined the changes to the Raid format. There was a problem of misinformation that players got through the rumor mill with the raids going to three weeks instead of four weeks. That was not true, the truth was we would have three months of the same raid type, and four hull stores a year. Also in the state of the game was the rotation (I think) and that we will see the following Skirmish, Assault, Siege, Garrison. We have just finished the assault style raid and before that was a Skirmish. Siege is coming in January, and that means a Garrison style should hit the scene around April.

What does that all mean? Well, we can see the Mining base change in March or April. The Forsaken mission targets should change June or July. Just so that you are prepared for this and that you begin work on those mortar fleets as soon as you finish your Siege fleets. We will need them for the Garrison raid format.

With the changes to the format comes changes with allowing Conquerer and Defender hulls in PvE targets. Starting February, we will no longer be able to use our PvP fleets (conqueror and defender class) in the raid targets and then when the targets change for our daily chores. That one change means that you will want to get a proper PvE garrison fleet built by June/July.

That change also leads us to the new Tier 6 Conquerer hulls. Yes. We got the OP 9 upgrade and with that came the massive power to base defense. This new class of Conquerer should have been on your radar. What we will get for the first one? Not sure, but they are coming as soon as the January raid format and with them is the reason why they are going to limit them in the PvE targets starting with the new raid format. That also brings us to the red-headed stepchild of the PVP world.

Megas are not going anywhere. Yes.  You might be way behind because you just do not want to do it. The great news is that you do not have to do this part of the game. It does not look like they are going to put tech for other parts of the game into the TLC for the Mega Hulls. But, with that, they are not going away, and they will be getting more features as we move forward in the game. That means that you can please stop asking for a scrap button, the chance of that happening is on par with getting a dry dock.

Summary –

Lots of great changes, really excited about a couple of FM prizes and looking forward to the Tier 6 conquerer hulls and working with the four hull stores in 2017.

Hope everyone enjoys their family time and Merry Christmas!

Raid wrap up and looking to the future

Centurion is the way forward, Cannoneer is the future and low levels need something to get to Centurion.

By Specialist_AKA_Specs

As promised I would get a build on Vindicator ready to do the current mining platforms. I think I have the build and while it is not new player friendly, it is low-level player friendly. You will need items from Tier 3 of the FM, and if you have been following this blog, you know how to go about doing that no later than level 45 (sooner if you play more than I did the test account). Everything in the Vindicator builds you can find in the Forsaken Mission, Campaigns, level 31+ Cargo, and your research lab. The build is highly specialized to do only one thing, and that is hit the current mining platforms. When we see the targets, I will know if it can do the Tier 3 targets.

Why Crossbow?

The targets for the mining bases are very susceptible to ballistic damage. The Crossbow does decent building damage, has the piercing stat of the arbalest allowing it to hit multiple buildings in a line. It can be fired now while on the move, making it far more useful than before. It is also the best weapon I could see in Tier 3 of the FM. Meaning that it is easy to obtain for those that are following the advise to prioritize the FM.

Other choices – Siege cannons, Earthshaker, Particle accelerator cannon, Arbalest, and Drac Arbalest.

Honorable mention: Squall, or Antipode launcher.

Why the Evade armor?

The ballistic guns in the target do most of the damage; the glacial type turrets only fire once by the time you get into range, and you can target them first. So, by getting evade up, you can have most of that direct damage miss you. I am not sure that I would go with another type of armor as I want to raise the evade, and I only have three special slots. You can get this armor in the shell the shore campaign prize package 2.

Why those specials?

We only have three special slots. The siege battery is the best choice at tier 3 FM, because of the 50% it grants at the R15 retrofit lab. This special will make your Radioactive resistance at around 75% and Ballistic around 50%. It also adds building damage bonus which is a huge benefit.

You need the engine and Speed System 4 is the best choice for those that get to Tier 3 in the FM.

Harden Barrels 3 is chosen mostly because I am not 100% sure you could get the best in class Nuclear Accelerator. You need the range boost to kill the stands as soon as possible.

Honorable mentions: In place of Harden Barrels 3, CL-2/CL-3 will boost your resistance and stack with the Siege battery making it more efficient. Your range will be shorter, but you will survive longer.

This is a theory build I have not tested it yet so it might be that I have to go with a different build after I test them. You will want to make sure you are ranked, and I will be putting it to test by the weekend after I get some rank on the fleet.

Centurion –

If you happened to have been successful in the raid and got the 2.65 million points, you will be able to do the nuts and bolts of this build. This build is the one I have used to get my base parts since the level 97 mining bases were released. Many will try to argue with the use of PAC, but there is a reason for this weapon above the others. It has a special ability that triggers every .3% of the time. This ability will level large sections of the platform and the more PAC you have in the fleet, the greater your chance of triggering this ability. I have witnessed a steady secondary blast almost every 10 to 15 seconds within a level 97 mining base.

Everything else in the build is just an upgrade of the information I provided for the Vindicator. The difference is that I went with more resistance and used D5-C and D5-R armor.

Cannoneer – 

I will admit that I am not 100% sure what the new siege targets will bring. But, as usual, I try to put faith in GD Raikan and the telegraphing of what we can expect. They offered the Stun armor and increased the amount we could claim this last raid. That tells me to expect something that can stun our ships in the new targets. That is the reason for the Agility system and the stun armor and the 41% stun resistance.

Why Squall over PAC?

I chose Squall for a bit of flavor, and I want an AOE damage type of weapon, and while I love my Centurion PAC fleet, I wanted to see how this weapon did in the new targets. I think that it might be a benefit to a fleet and help clear buildings out or weaken them. The range is a little short compared to the Arbalest on the ship. But, I can get into range without sacrificing much with the defenses I have.

You will notice I went with a few D33-R, the reason is that it grants a bit more ballistic resistance and I had some weight to spare. I tried to fit a PAC to get that bonus damage so often, but the weight would not allow it.

The rest of the items should make sense and if they do not please ask and I will explain why I chose what I did in this buildout.

Summary

With many questions left to be answered, the cannoneer might need a refit after we see the targets. But, I will build it out as shown and go from there. The Centurion should be ready for Tier 4 targets, and if you can get the Harlock Centurion from the level 97, mining bases might do Tier 5 once we see what we have to work with. I am concerned with the push to offer so many stun resistant armors and I might have to refit that once we get into the new raid format. The vindicator is just a theory build to help low levels move through the foundry that join the game after this last hull raid. If you got the centurion, I would build that, even with the weapons I suggest for the vindicator it will do better and allow you a hull that can be refitted in the future when you get better stuff.

All of this might be mute once we see the Ironclad and how easy that is to get. It is being billed as the tiderseeker for the January raid series. That means for those that do not like to drive, it might be the hull to get as it will auto the Tier 5 targets at least.

Zelos: The Power of Jack

I present Zelos the Mini Cannoneer

By Specialist_AKA_Specs

The December Raid event is going to feature a generalist hull. A new launcher to go with that ship and a special that helps the launcher achieve its full potential. For 30 million points should this hull, weapon and special be a priority with so many other things to take? Players might not want to make a few different ships due to shipyard time being at a premium. This single hull could help ease the stress of the Shipyard and give a player that has little time to play, a fleet that can do the PvE chores. I will present the information about the hull and some of the features of the Squall launcher. Finally, I will share my mini-cannoneer build.

About The Zelos

Countermeasure abilities

Built in Dual countermeasures makes this hull one of the few that can be created without any weapons to start. The fact it has the means to counter mortars and missiles as an ability without using any weapon slots is interesting. This ability is accompanied with four weapon slots dedicated to Countermeasures only. Giving the player a chance to load ten weapons without fear of dropping damage potential to deal with incoming attacks.  Using one slot for your Countermeasure equipment, Frontline Countermeasure, or Countermeasure loader will boost the capability of all countermeasure weapons on the hull, including the built in Counter Measure system. That means that it will be short work to make this ship able to handle various PvE duties with its dedicated ten weapon slots.

10 dedicated Weapon slots

The ten dedicated weapons slots are for surface weapons only. Players will not be able to place UAV or submerged weapons on this hull. Of course, the Game development team is calling the Squall launcher as a perfect match for this hull. Many will look at it and see that it does not have any benefits to lower the reload time or extend the range of the launcher. So why would it be best when it gets a boost to the ballistic range? Well, the Squall grants a boost to resistance for one. That bonus will offset the lower resistance the hull has for the base build. Secondly, it does not need a range-increasing weapon special to get it to 90+ making it a great weapon to spot for remote targeting hulls. The downside is the reload at 11 seconds and the information on how many are needed for a boom. The Squall does have nice damage stats for buildings and ships, so it should fill the need of a Forsaken Mission hull if a player does not want to go the Garrison route. It could also fit the Siege roll if a player does not want to build a second fleet of specialist hulls for that. I guess what I am saying is that if you want just to build a single fleet and then refit for each raid series, this hull would be a good pick up for you. Its special slots make it suitable for any task.

Squall Launcher

I know the questions on the amount of Flechette for the boom is a big issue around the player base. The launcher class of weapon has always been 120 stacks per 10 seconds to get a boom. This feature holds true for the Squall. It also has a 30-second duration on the stacks, meaning that the player will not have to worry about overloading a hull with the launcher. With five salvos on the weapon and all of them hitting 24 of them would be needed at the minimum in the fleet to get a shockwave every time it launches. That is decreased with reloading, of course, at 50% you would need 12 Squall for example. For the article purpose, the build I am suggesting will have 6 per ship.

Five special Slots

The Zelos does not have a boost to reload, but the Flechette special offered does have a 50% reload, and it does have x3 shockwave boost. So with the Squall weapon, you would have one slot dedicated to this special, it is needed for it to function. With the base resistance for everything at 30% and the 3% boost from the weapon, you could get resistance up decent enough for the forsaken mission with little effort. If you had ten of the Squall, two gales 3, two phalanx 4 and the Limited D6-A, you would have 80% missile, 78% explosive, 73% ballistic and then 47% everything else. That is some decent resistance and damage potential for a single hull with no extra armor. From there you can raise resistance based on the target you want to take on. Toss on the Reflective coating 3 and now you have 68% radiation resistance. If the build is this general, you would only spend little time refitting armor based on your needs for the raid series.

Five Armor Slots

Granted the build I am talking about is heavy, it is pushing the max weight limit, and with it, you would only be able to fit four of these in a fleet. But, even the D1 armors can help you push your resistance in a given area to 80% and with the built in siege deflection and assault deflection that would be a strong hull that can take some abuse. The build I am going to share is a theory build and solely based on nothing more than what I can discern right now.

Mini-Cannoneer

With all that explained and I realize that some of the stuff I show in the build was not covered. Feel free to drop me a message if something is not clear. But, this is how I would make the Zelos handle siege targets in the current game and possible next raid. We do not know exactly what that event will hold for the players, but if we go by the stats on the hull being deemed the top of the line for that raid format all of this makes the most sense. I would not expect this hull to do the next raid above Tier 4, maybe Tier 5, but that is highly unlikely. I think the Centurion will be key to Tier 5 with the IronClad and Cannoneer able to do the T5 and T6 for a lower cost.

The Zelos can be created for numerous tasks. It has the weapon slots, the defense capabilities, the special slots and armor slots to make it pliable to anything the game has to offer. It will not be as good as the specialized hulls, it will take more time to repair, but if you do not want to spend all that time developing new fleets you could build a single fleet and then refit it for your needs based on the raid cycle.

Have a great weekend!

4.4 million can change your game forever

Raid Prize list priorities for Non-Coiners

By Specialist_AKA_Specs

The raid is fast approaching about 24 hours for those in world Alpha, and I am positive that everyone is preparing the best way they can for the weeklong event. By now I am sure everyone has seen the prize list and are drooling over many of the fantastic prizes being offered. I am sure there are just as many grumbling at the price point on the Cannoneer. There are a few reasons that I am telling my guys why that price point and conditions is not a bad thing for them. I am also recommending that individual players attempt to get different hulls, specials and weapons based on where they are in the game. Priorities are based on some basic ideas that I have shared for the last seven months on the blog.

The reason the price on the Cannoneer is not so bad is that it helps guide players that are not at end game to grab prizes that will help them now and shortly next month. The Cannoneer will drop in price in January so grabbing something to help with that and getting the Forsaken Mission done easily is the utmost priority.

Below level 60 players

The general advice I am giving to my players below level 60 and unable to do this raid set easily or get to T4 of the FM is to get 4.4 million points.

For 4.4 million points a low level could get the Centurion, Particle Accelerator Cannon, Nova, and Pandemonium Mortar. This path forward would give said player their January raid fleet and a boost in their FM production with the possibility to get to Tier 5 in the weekly mission with some researched components and other items from the Forsaken Mission and campaigns.

But if you can get more than that here is my general advice.

Not able to get to Tier 5 of Forsaken Mission

Points required minimum 6.5 million
Hulls in order of Priority.

Citadel – (7.5 million points) this hull is the king of the Mission, with a proper tank you can do a 109 100% with little effort.

NovaStorm – (750,000)  this hull is second only because it cannot take as much punishment as the Citadel. But, it is a good hull to pick up, and you can hit the outside platforms to reach Tier 5 as many others have done.

Weapons –

Coaxial Firestorm – (3.5 million) I am putting this ahead of the Judgment because of the price and only the price. It will make either of those two hulls that much better at completing Tier 5 in the Forsaken Mission.

Pandemonium Mortars – (1 million) great mortar if you do not have enough points, will get you through the weekly with a bit more effort, but well worth the price.

Specials –

Incendiary Shells – (5 million) – Great stats for explosive weapons and the fire patch can help if you fight the ships in the targets.

January Raid prep

Minimum points needed 8.65 million
Hulls in order of importance

Centurion – (1.75 million) Yes. This is a priority if you cannot get the Cannoneer. It has all we will need for the January raid, can be quick to build and will help you do the mines for base parts. I do not think any other hull should be a priority if you are looking to do the raid in January.

Weapon –

Particle Accelerator Cannon – (900,000) best weapon on offer for the Siege. The blast that happens about every 10 seconds is well worth the cost.

Squall Launcher – (9 million) the love child of a Cyclone and Antipode this weapon should do OK in the Siege raid, my launchers do OK in the current targets. OF course, they could make the targets have some resistance to radioactive that is why I am listing it second.

Specials –

CL-3 (6 million) You could go with the reflective coating 3 as well, either will be beneficial to you. Although, this one is the best in the show due to the two resistance we will need for siege raid targets.

Fletchette Feeder - (6 million) - If you go with the Squall, this will be a much-needed boost.

Thoughts on the Zelos

 You will need 30 million points for this hull.

The Zelos is a generalist hull, and it can be a significant benefit if you can get the points. At 15 million points you could have a single hull that could do all that I offered at the beginning of this article, and you can specialize it a bit for each target. This path wold mean you would have multiple fleets of this hull, but it can be useful if you only want to grab one hull and then grab all the specials, armors, and make sure you grab the Squall Launcher and Fletchette feeder.

What are my Priorities after Outpost 9?

Life after that major upgrade

By Specialist_AkA_Specs

The questions this weekend centered more on what to do after the outpost is upgraded. If you were like many others and just rushed out to upgrade it is understandable why you would have these questions now. I am one of those that started my upgrade as soon as I could, mostly because I do not want to stop after I start upgrading to wait two weeks for it to finish. I was hoping to have my dock upgraded to level 13 for the raid as well. Not that I need it, but because a refit I have an idea for needed it. Some did it because they wanted to get those really cool looking outpost map graphics. Whatever the reason there should be a path forward and a priority on what to build to help get your base back into the non-farm territory. Hopefully, you chose the faction that best works with your current turret layout.

Outpost 9 the massive increase in health

At 3 million health this is a huge upgrade to base health. If we put this into proper perspective, a level 7 stand is 280K health towards total base health. That means that just that single upgrade is equal to 10 level 7 stands (half your stand total for those keeping track). It is similar to all your five warehouses at level 14 with some to spare. It is a massive change in base health, and your bubble pad will be affected soon after it is done.

Warehouse level 15 is 2 million health, so one of these can help balance that Outpost and Two should get you back to even keel. But, those are about 6 days of build time, and we cannot use our base parts for these upgrades. The level eight stands are 12 days, almost 13 days with an officer.  So, what should you do?

First thing head over to BP professor and download his new base damage calculator, or BP Unknown to gather his.

Upgrade two warehouses to level 15 ASAP

I am personally going to upgrade two warehouses to level 15 as soon as possible. I have saved my build tokens from last week and will have one to level 15 right away. If you do not have your warehouses at level 14 now, then that should be your priority as those will get you to a bubble fast. Yes. This means that you will have to put them on the entrance to be hit. But, if you have a good guard you do not want to give the attackers a bunch of opportunities to prep you out. From here you can go one of two ways depending on when you did the OP 9 upgrade.

First way – Upgrade everything that can be upgraded with base parts
 

Everything from Level Eight OP and lower can be done with base parts. Take the time use that Centurion fleet I recommended two weeks ago to go out and fill up on parts daily to get things going. This path will help you get your base up to par fairly quickly leaving you time to deal with the Outpost Nine stuff at your leisure.

Second – Start with Warehouses and then go to Stands

Upgrade all your warehouses as you can do a couple each week. Then, start on the turret stands with your base parts until, you get to the highest level. At that point, you can get three stands done a month if you are caught up on the Forsaken Mission prizes and get the build tokens twice a week.

Cataclysm mortar –

If you were lucky enough to get this mortar you can fit it on a level 7 stand with solar panels and one solar reinforcement armor. If you do not have these specials, you will need to wait for your level eight stands. The benefit of this turret weapon is that it can reach outside your land tiles and target those ships that are setting up with remote targeting. That will force the attacker to reposition the fleet constantly and not be able to stay in one spot long. I would not do more than Four of these turrets though as you would not want to weaken yourself too much when the lead ships come in to trigger that remote targeting.

Summary –

Plan your priorities and then make sure that Warehouses are top of the list at the beginning. After the base is starting well, you might want to consider to upgrade your base defense guard. That is the reason it is wise to try to plan your play out ahead of time and anticipate which way the game developers will take the game. If you started your centurions when I suggested it should be ready for the fourth one by this weekend in time for the new weapon and special. Just in case the new hull is too expensive, and you need a defense hull for your new base. Remember that if they do inflate the costs of the Cannoneer, we will have it at 15 million in January. At least if they keep with the last year worth of raids. And your Centurion fleet should be able to do that easily for zero coins.

I will lay out a new build for them and the Punsiher as soon as I see the new items.

Have a great week and thank ou for reading.

December Raid Preview Server review

No coin needed for Hellwraiths and Tigersharks
By Specialist_AKA_Specs

Got into the preview server this afternoon to test the new 107 target, the 105 I guess is going to be the same as last raid so what worked with that will work this raid again. The 107 was kind of interesting and had a different setup and path than the 105. This pathing and structure did not make the target more difficult; the extra cost will come from having to hit two targets to get the full bonus. I did not test the hellwraith out, but others did and here is a path from TheHolsh that allowed him to do the target with subs for almost 0 damage (Think he had 10 minutes). The tideseekers I tested came from others, and I used my current fleet makeup. The costs ranged from 7 coins to 10 coins for my testing time. I think I could have gotten that lower with more time to practice, but I ran out of time and had to go.

Hellwraith pathway – 0-coin repair

First here is TheHolsh brilliant pathing with hellwraiths that allowed him to do two coins free. Hopefully, the targets do not change much, and this works come raid time. If you mess up, it can hurt a bit. I am sure he is running a standard Hellwraith build from the last three events. If he reads this. Maybe he will feel generous share his build.

It should be noted that if you have tiger sharks you can do the same thing here just mind your timers and go to town. Much like the 105, the path for the hellwraith will work for TigerSharks allowing more people to do the elite targets for the bonus points and seat time.

Harlock Tideseeker and Tideseeker

If you happen to have the Harlock Tideseeker you can auto the targets. This method will be ideal for those without access to the net from a PC or Laptop, and they only have a phone or Ipad to play. The costs for me to auto was between 7 coins and ten coins, and I think that can come down with some changes to my build, or the builds I used from Dragon_Bane. He sent me three to test, and I wanted to make sure I did that for him as he was unable to get into the preview today.

The best setup was with the Mayhem torpedo. That weapon was as reliable as the Calamity and with the splash it had if the reavers grouped well you could kill more than one at a time. It was a stunning experience. The video has all the builds that I used so; please view it and get an idea of how the Tideseeker performs.

The first video is of my current build, driving and I think it was just over 4.5 hours and I hit like a newbie crashing into everything I could. After that, I got into Dragon_Banes builds and tried to do the targets on auto. I never failed in a single target with any build I tried and all were done in a single hit and about 4 to 5 minutes.

Have a great weekend, and I would not worry so much about refitting your fleets. Everything that had worked last month worked this month in the new elite targets. We just need a prize list now and hopefully we can get something soon.

My build

Three of these normal tide seeker

One of this normal tide seeker

With massive update comes big questions for non-coiners

What is the next Step?

By Specialist_Aka_Specs

We had a monster of an Update on Tuesday, December 6, 2016, and with it lots of questions for players. Upgrading the base is going to be quicker for most of the newer and mid-level players. How to best navigate this change is going to be the largest hurdle to those that are still struggling to finish Forsaken Mission fleets, get their raid fleets going and we are not even discussing when to build that defense fleet or base hitting the fleet. So how should a non-coiner consider the approach to this change?

Do not rush

I know the excitement will be there just to get to OP 9 and while the extras are extremely tempting, you should not rush out and just do it. Take the time and gather base parts so that you can get those turrets and warehouses up to max level. The developers gave us a huge benefit to allowing the use of base parts at every level of play up to the Outpost 9 items just released. So, take that! We can still equip later on when the Outpost is upgrading. Taking this path means you need a fleet to gather base parts.

Base Part fleet

Centurion fleet for a student to show them a different way

After you get a fleet to do the Forsaken mission to at least tier 4, your next fleet should be a base part gathering fleet. The beauty of this priority change is that the next raid series will require said base part gathering fleet. The December raid is about a week away; I made recommendations for non-coiners and mid-level players that might not be able to get the new stuff next week to take the Centurion. I am 90% confident that the Centurion will be offered in the raid for a low cost, like all other raids since they made the change have been. You might be able to get the fleet I recommended last week for about 3 million to 5 million raid points. We will know more of course next week, but keep it in mind that a Centurion fleet will get you base parts. With your forsaken missions bringing you Tier 4 twice a week that will get you six days of ship build tokens each month. With your base part gathering fleet you will be able to get your base up to level 8 Outpost, level 7 stands, level 14 warehouses in no time. Following this path will allow you to make that jump to Outpost 9?

Outpost 9 and beyond

I know what you are saying right now; you are saying “But specs that is going to take me so long that by the time I get to this point we will have Outpost 10”. That's a fair thought, and my explanation is as follows; If you follow the advice to upgrade everything to level 8 outposts and max items for warehouse and turrets.The four Warehouses at level 14 will get you close to 10 days off each upgrade and equip on your base.  With a centurion fleet, you can get 600K each time before repairing while at work, school, or just life in general. You will spend about an hour or so hitting the targets and then walk away for about 6 hours. Take a moment to organize your gameplay vs. life and make sure to take on just enough parts to start your upgrades (do not equip yet we can do that while the Outpost is upgrading) and gather enough for the next one. If you play a couple of hours a day, you could theoretically be doing a turret every day, and in a few weeks, you are done with the 20 turrets, four warehouses and outpost 8. I know the next issue is resources right?

How to get resources fast

There is a trick to getting resources quickly it requires that you have the snowfall campaign still available. You can take rhinos and a tank into the first target and get 26 million of each resource if your fleet can hold 109 million total at 500%. That means that to go from 0 to 260 million of each resource is ten hits on auto to start anything you need. The same rhino/tank fleet can be used to get the uranium you need for your upgrades. The another option is a bit more likely to get you hit, but you can go to bases that have their warehouses on the outside and get the resources that way. For Uranium. You can sometimes get your alliance (if they are helpful) to prep them down to one ship so that you can kill it and get the Uranium.

Yes. That means that you will have quite a few other things to do than log in and talk with friends. But we are playing a game right?

Summary

Do not rush this stage of the game. Make sure your Forsaken mission fleet is good for Tier 4 at the minimum, then start your base part collecting fleet. That fleet should be at minimum Centurions, and the raid should have it available next week if you do not have it yet. After that take the time to upgrade everything to level 8 outpost and then start your level 9 outpost so that you can equip turrets on level 7 stands while that is upgrading. If you follow those simple steps, you can get the most out of this change and be ready to rock that Faction choice correctly.