R&D Common Asked Questions

R&D Common Asked Questions

By Laredo BP Mod

I found this on the forums and Laredo gave me permission to share it. You can find the original here.

What are the basic things needed before I can start a research?

To do the R&D new objective system players need a Level 6 Outpost and are level 50 and higher.

If your OP is damaged, you can't start a new research. 

If you OP is upgrading, the research can't be started till the upgrade is complete.

If attacked while researching the current research will still continue as before while the OP is repairing, you will just have hours added to the research time.  The amount of hours added depends on the amount of hours that can be awarded from a base.  Example, if a base is worth 4 R&D to the attacker, if the OP is killed the defender gets 4 hours added to their R&D time.  The same goes for a base worth 16 hours.  Attacker can get 16 hours off their R&D and the defender gets 16 hours added to theirs.

Can a OP upgrade be started with a R&D currently going?  YES, it can.

Can a R&D be started with the OP upgrading? NO, it cannot.

Each time you reach a lock, the requirements reset.  What that means is, if you look at this list and say hey, if I do like 20 level 80 FM targets I'm good for most of the R&D levels that need them... FALSE.  The reality is, doing things that are locked or past the next lock in your R&D ladder will have to be redone in order to do that level of R&D.

Full list

1 - Return 100 mil res to base, have Weapon lab 10- Bring in Resources from anything till the 100 mil in resources is returned to your base. All Lab Upgrades have to done before research can be done for the level you want to research. Cost 100,000 Uranium.

2 - Destroy 1 x Level 87 Drac Stronghold - FM level 87 Drac Stronghold Cost 140,000 Uranium.

3 - Have Advanced Lab 10, repair 50k ship armor- Repair your fleet till this is completed.  Cost 151,900 Uranium.

4 - Destroy SSB (Drac Base) - A SSB a Sub Sector Base, we all know them as Drac Bases.  These have to be 100% killed to count.  Cost  164,812 Uranium. SSBs  can be Co-op'd for credit.  The first player in will get the credit as long as they don't die, don't leave the battle and it's 100% destroyed.

5 - Return 100 mil res to base, have Naval lab 10- Refer to #1.  Cost 178,820 Uranium.

6 - Destroy 1 x Level 87 Drac Stronghold - These are the FM level 87 Drac Strongholds.  Cost 194,020 Uranium.

7 - Complete Fractured Empires Mastery 1 time  This can be done early and banked.  Cost 195,960 Uranium.

8 - Return 125 mil res to base, upgrade Warehouses to level 10.  Cost 197,920 Uranium.

9 - Return 125 mil res to base, repair 75k armor.  Cost 199,899 Uranium.

10 - Destroy 5 x Level 60 Armada.  Cost 201,898 Uranium.

11 - Destroy 1 x Level 80 Drac Stronghold.  Cost 203,917 Uranium.

12 - Complete Snowfall Mastery 1 time - Refer to #7.  Cost 205,956 Uranium.

13 - Destroy 2 x SSB - Refer to #4.  Cost 208,016 Uranium.

14 - Return 225 mil res to base, have Weapons Lab.  Cost 210,096 Uranium.

15 - Return 225 mil res to base, repair 125k armor.  Cost 212,197 Uranium.

16 - Destroy 1 x Level 80 Drac Stronghold - FM level 80 Drac Stronghold. Cost 100,000 Uranium.

17 - Have Advance Lab Level 11, return 125 mil res to base, repair 75k armor.  Cost 140,000 Uranium.

18 - Destroy SSB - Refer to #4.  Cost 151,900 Uranium.

19 - Destroy 1 x Level 87 Drac Stronghold - FM level 87 Drac Stronghold.  Cost 164,812 Uranium.

20 - Destroy 3 x Level 60 Draconian Armadas, return 150 mil res to base, repair 100k armor.  Cost 178,820 Uranium.

21 - Have Naval Lab Level 11, return 175 mil res to base, repair 125k armor.  Cost 194,020 Uranium.

22 - Destroy 1 x Level 75 Draconian Armada.  Cost 195,960 Uranium.

23 - Destroy 2 x SSB - Refer to #4.  Cost 197,920 Uranium.

24 - Destroy 2 x Level 87 Drac Stronghold - FM level 87 Drac Stronghold.  Cost 199,899 Uranium

25 - Destroy 2 x Level 75 Draconian Armada, 200 mil res to base, repair 150k armor.  Cost 201,898 Uranium.

26 - Destroy 2 x Level 80 Drac Stronghold - FM level 80 Drac Stronghold.  Cost 203,917 Uranium.

27 - Destroy 3 x Level 75 Draconian Armada.  Cost 205,956 Uranium.

28 - Have Dock level 10, 225 mil res to base, repair 75k armor.  Cost 208,016 Uranium.

29 - Destroy 2 x Level 80 and 2 x Level 87 Drac Strongholds - FM level 80 and 87 Drac Stronghold.  Cost 210,096 Uranium.

30 - Destroy 5 x SSB - Refer to #4, 250 mil res to base, repair 200k armor.  Cost 212,197 Uranium.

The Upgrades of the required labs can be done at any time as long as they are completed when you are ready to research that level.

The Resources returned to base is at the time the level is open for you and is part of the pre-research objectives.

The FM targets and Armadas are at the time the level is open to you to complete the pre-research objectives.

What do I get from each level?

1 - Critical hit chance increase +2%

2 - 50x Aegis Shards & Wolfpack Crew

3 - VXP modifier increase +4%

4 - 50x Aegis Shards and Fearless Blitzers Crew

5 - Map Speed Modifier +25%

6 - Ship repair Modifier -2%

7 - 50x Aegis Shard and Wharf Rats Crew

8 - Crit hit chance increase +2%

9 - VXP modifier +4%

10 - 50x Aegis Shards + Midnight Marauders Crew

11 - Map Speed increase +25%

12 - Ship Repair Modifier -2%

13 - 50x Aegis Shard + Salty Dogs Crew

14 - Critical hit chance +2%

15 - Ship Build modifier -3%

16 - Critical hit chance increase +2%

17 - Map Speed Modifier +25% and Irradiated Cutthroat Crew

18 - 50x Artemis Shards

19 - Map Speed Modifier +25% and Irradiated Cutthroat Crew

20 - +4% Refit Speed

21 - Critical hit chance increase +2%

22 - Map Speed Modifier +25% and Irradiated Cutthroat Crew

23 - 50x Artemis Shards

24 - Map Speed Modifier +25% and Irradiated Cutthroat Crew

25 - +4% Refit Speed

26 - Critical hit chance increase +2%

27 - Map Speed Modifier +25% and Irradiated Cutthroat Crew

28 - 50x Artemis Shards

29 - Map Speed Modifier +25% and Irradiated Cutthroat Crew

30 - 4% Ship Repair Speed, 3% Ship Build Speed

What's the research time for each level?

1- 2d 0h 00s

2 - 3d 14h 00s

3 - 6d 11h 12s

4 - 6d 15h 24m 29s

5 - 6d 19h 23m 36s

6 - 6d 23h 28m 41s

7 - 7d 3h 39m 54s

8 - 7d 7h 57m 24s

9 - 7d 12h 21m 20s

10 - 7d 16h 51m 52s

11 - 7d 21h 29m 10s

12 - 8d 2h 13m 23s

13 - 8d 7h 04m 43s

14 - 8d 12h 03m 21s

15 - 8d 17h 09m 26s

16 - 2d 0h

17 - 3d 14h 24m

18 - 6d 11h 31m 12s

19 - 6d 15h 24m 29s

20 - 6d 19h 23m 36s

21 - 6d 23h 28m 41s

22 - 7d 3h 39m 54s

23 - 7d 7h 57m 24s

24 - 7d 12h 21m 20s

25 - 7d 16h 51m 52s

26 - 7d 21hr 29m 10s

27 - 8d 2h 13m 23s

28 - 8d 7h 4m 43s

29 - 8d 12h 03m 21s

30 - 8d 17h 09m 26s

Shards, what are they?

The Aegis is composed of 250 blueprints. Levels 2,4,7,10 and 13 pay out 50 Shards each and adds up to 250.  With that you get the print to build the hull print.

Aegis note: Since this is a limited hull print the max capacity was 5, this is being raised to 6.

The Artemis is also made 150 blueprints.  Levels 18, 23 and 28 completions will win the Artemis hull print.

What is the total buffs I can get?

Critical hit increase = +12%            

VXP increase for ranking = +8%

Map speed modifier = +200%  This greatly helps out the banshee owners

Ship Repair Modifier = 8%  This will help the Mega Fleets the most.

Ship Build time Modifier = 6%

Ship Refit time Modifier = 4%

All buffs are permanent once researched. All buffs stack.

The amount of Uranium needed:

The amount of Uranium needed starts at 100KU for level 1 and steps up from there with level 15 costing 212,197 in Uranium. At level 16 the Uranium cost rests back to 100KU and cost the same for each level as 1-15 did.

I hope this helps clear up some questions.

A day in the life of a New Player August 16, 2016

Schism Wrapping It Up

By Jon Irwin

Specialist AKA Specs

With raid wrapping up and I am sure many are wondering what to take for their prizes. The answer is not so simple and will depend on the person in question. However, the following advice can be generic to all individuals that play the game, and I am going to break it up into point plateaus. This article will help players that are new still, do not have a sub fleet already, and need to prepare or September Raid.

1 million points or less

• Spectre – I like it better than Barracuda, as it has good combat speed (16 combat speed), good explosive and concussive resistance (needed for the September raid) and three special slots. You can get stealth attack system 2 in the weekly easy enough, so I would not worry about that.

5 million points

• Spectre –
• Stealth Attack System 4 – This is a great special to use on the Spectre sub. It combines a bonus to concussive damage with 40% submerge time. You can retro it, and it is close to having Battery 3 on the sub with around Six-second difference in dive time.  At 3.5 million points easily one of the best prizes to take if you had limited points.

10 million points –

• Spectre 
• Stealth Attack System 4 –
• Charon -  The second best torpedo in the game, and while this will not always deal with those pesky drones in the Reaver targets. It will give your sub fleet an excellent punch and much better than any other torpedo you can get at this moment.

16 million Points –

• Spectre –
• Stealth Attack System 4 –
• Charon -
• Magnus 2 -  As you only have three slots on your Spectre this engine will allow you to use the Ablative Armor 3 special to boost that explosive damage resistance. If you do not get here, you will need to use Cat 3 and your best speed system to make the fleet work. 

I know what you are saying at this point, But what about Tiger Shark! I agree the Tiger shark is a great hull, but if you happen to be limited to point total it is in my opinion, better to go with trying to flesh out the best sub you are capable of getting everything. The Tiger is not that great of a sub if you cannot get the Charon minimum, Stealth attack 4 and the Magnus 2. So, the next plateau we are jumping a bit.

25 million points –

At this point, if you got this many points then you will want to consider the following to make your September event a success.

• Tiger Shark – Same dive time as the Spectre, four specials, great combat speed, turn speed, better resistance. Just an overall better sub. Built right I think it will help you achieve some great success.
• Stealth Attack system 4
• Charon 
• Magnus 2

Couple those with the Ablative Armor 3 and you have a great sub that has a chance to succeed in the new raid.

49 million –

I know this is a big jump and if you got in between here and 25 million you could think of the Apoc Mortar for your base defense. Or even get all the tokens you can so you can speed up a few blanks for vxp weekend. But, if you reach this point total you will want to consider the new toys.

• HellWraith
• Fire Twister Torpedo
• Sealed Fire Charge

Once you get beyond this point total you will want to go for tokens first, get all you can. This will set you up for the next raid even much easier and have you with a couple blanks to rank next weekend. A blank for the subs would be the hull and havoc 1. This is the lowest build time weapon you can put on a sub (Thud 1 for Tigers or Cuda).

I hope this helps you make up your mind, and please begin to prepare for the next Event. We only have about a month to go, and it will come fast.

A day on the Life of a Battle Pirates Player, August 5, 2016

As promised, I am going to share my mauler build that is getting me to Tier 2 in the Forsaken mission at the moment. It has no armor yet, and barely any rank. Once I have completed those two things, I will try this build in a 60 as I work on getting things together for a strike cruiser build.

The account is level 37, and it took me five weeks of playing a couple of hours a day to get to this point. This time spent means that if you applied yourself a bit more than I did, you could get to this point in about a week of gameplay.

To rehash the targets

The Forsaken Missions require explosive, and missile resistance and they are weak against explosive damage and splash are very helpful. While I have recommended and even built Punisher in other posts, I am advising all new players I coach to go the mortar route to speed up the process of getting through the mission. It takes far less tech to get a decent mortar fleet together, than a decent ballistic or even launcher. Being low level hinders us from those other means at this time, so we will go with what we have.

My Mauler Builds no armor

My Mauler builds with armor

My Mauler builds with refit time if you go no armor

As you can see it is not too bad of a build, and once you are done with ranking and shipyard time, only an extra two days to get it refitted with armor. With any luck this fleet will do the 60s I can make a push to Tier 3.

Video of the build in action with my entry points

Please note that I enter from around 1 o'clock and then exit to reenter from around 9 o'clock. This decision I made, is to make use of the shortest distance to the targets I want, and cut down on the time the missiles are hitting me.

I do hope you find this useful and please share it with any low level player.

Mega Hulls, Gantry, and Mega target farming!

How can you get your Gantry done and get started with your mega hull?

With the Gantry getting more love this week, and the mega hulls making a splash on the scene. Many people are going to want to have a more efficient way to hit the level 91 mega hulls that spawn during orange sector threat. With that in mind, I wanted to share my Apollo build, it is a little different in that it does not use Switchblades, is not heavy on armor, but heavy on resistance. This build is not a new player friendly build, though; you will need some technology that has taken me a few years to gather.

First things that we need to discuss, read this article by George. He goes over much of what I would have, and this will save me some space in this article.

What is in the 91?

The 91 mega hull is similar to the 86 in the Raid format for the current civil war theme we have going on. Which means that the targets deal corrosive and missile damage, those resistances are the key to success. They are also susceptible to missile damage and retargeting true. Evade is useless for the targets, as I have not seen the Rhino missiles miss, and I shoot down most of the Sent V missiles, and I shoot down all the missiles from the mega ship. So, with that said I ignored Evade.

The player will want to hit these targets to get the gantry started, build the Hyperion, and then farm materials to add weapons and engines to their mega hulls. Yes, it is a major undertaking and will take you time to complete all these steps. Couple this with the fact you need level 20 in Research and Development even to get started and level 30 to get the benefit of the mega hull.

Here is my build

First up the CM Tank, this is what I always build first for every fleet I do.

DPS build

As you can see no switchblade or the special that came with the Apollo. This development has not hindered the build at all, and I will show you the fleet auto on the level 91 in this video.

Full build in Huggies

With George's article and build, and my build and videos showing them in action. Hopefully, this helps sort your own fleets out for the upcoming challenge of hitting level 91 Mega Hulls!

Thank you and have great Weekend!

Ask specs anything August 3, 2016

Two Questions this week; collective thoughts shared by many due to the recent announcements

This week we have two questions, and that means this will be longer than normal. I normally do not do this but, as there seems to be a lot of changes coming people are anxious, and I am getting more questions than normal about the same two subjects.

First one is from Greybeard

FM is changing, will the punishers still work?

Hey Greybeard,

No one can say for certain what the changes will mean. We only have brief insight and that is that the 102 will be easier, and the 109 will be harder. What this means for the Punisher build and more importantly my single Punisher build that could take the 107 I am not sure yet. I will work on solving the 109 for the cheapest and quickest possible build once I see the targets. 

What we can be sure of, and if you have shipyard time right now, is that mortars will still work. This change in the FM means that garrison type hulls will be good no matter what, and fitting mortars will be the best damage dealer. Keep with the same concept as the CM/Tank I gave out that could do the whole 107 and I think with some Citadels, Berserkers, Nova and even DNX behind it will help you until we can see what we have. I will attempt to use just Citadels when the change happens in the 109; I will have a minor refit that can be taken care of with tokens from this week and the raid. So, I will be ready to go when the change happens. At that time, I will share my build and video of my success or failure.

For now, if you have something mortar particular around. I choose the Citadel (being the best option for 109 I think), but you will want to refit your best mortar (Judgment or Firestorm coaxial being the best). Use the best engine, 4 to 5 of the Judgment or Seige mortars rest hail B/Gale 2. Then use either siege bat and CM loader 3, or Frontline CM and Siege Targeting, with something that increases splash. That build should help you mitigate most of the change and put you in line for a minor tweak (once we see the targets) on your best mortar hull you have.

The Next question comes from Wardog

I want to do the September raid, what should I look for this hull raid?

Hey Wardog,

We have a hull store coming up, so good idea to think ahead on what to grab to help you in the future. A new sub is available in August raid along with new torpedo and special. So, if you can, I would aim for those three prizes. You could try Proto Hunters if they have them in the prize store, they have great concussive resistance and plenty of weapon slots and hybrid slots to help you build a fleet to take on the Reavers. From what we have seen from the preview videos and the targets we have hit on the live server. You are going to want explosive resistance, concussive resistance and combat speed. You will also want to deal concussive damage. With that in mind, that should help you at least plan for what you need to have based on your technology level in the game. 

For subs, you will want dive time, speed, and explosive resistance. So that is battery 3 (or similar to increase dive time), Magnus 2 (fastest engine we have with enough cloak to keep you undetected) and Ablative 3. From my experience, those three are a must. 

Surface fleets I have not tested a lot of, but you will want concussive based weapons, combat speed, high evade, explosive resistance, and concussive resistance. You need a bit more with them due to not being able to hide and not take damage at times.

When I get a better idea of the targets and see what we have, I will provide a more substantial build and advice to dealing with them.

Thank you all for the questions and feel free to hit the inbox with more if you need to

Have a great week!

Busy Pirate this week, FM strongholds changing soonish!

Summary of a very busy week!

Been a very busy week for me. I have not had a lot of time to really dedicate to the game, let alone the account where I am testing new player game play. So, here is what has happened this week.

First – I was promoted to moderator on the forum. This was a big change for me and has taken some time to get adjusted to the new powers and trying to remain helpful on the forums. Which has taken away a few hours a day from my playtime. I am settling in now and able to actually juggle both playing and moderating the forum. I am excited about this change as it allows me to help more people than I have been.

Second – My low level base is coming along, it is level 36 and will finally get the 4^th Mauler done. I think that it will allow me to get to Tier 2 in the weekly starting this week as I can hit 47s right now with the 3, the fourth should allow me to do hopefully 2 before repairs. I will have 5^th done in about 3 days 10 hours. I have been upgrading turret stands the last two days, goal is to get them to level 5 as soon as I can.

Third – We Got word tonight that the FM is being changed slightly. We are getting rid of the 107 and spawning a 102 and 109 instead. The 102 is going to be easier and allow you to grind with lower end fleets more easily. Word is probably close to 35 million points per target, but we are awaiting final confirmation on that. The 109 is going to be worth more points and a bit harder than the 107. I would assume that means maybe 4 targets for the 350 mil? Again, all speculation, will need to wait for final confirmation but I would be happy with those target points. I do believe these are being released August 17^th. Again all this could change between now and the time they are released, just keep it in mind :)

Lastly – Raid is confirmed for August 11, 20116. This will be a six-day hull raid and we will have a chance at some really nice hulls. I will have prize redemption list out as soon as the prize list is finalized and we can see what we have to choose from. Many are excited about the hull raid, as they get to claim hulls they missed out on and this month we get a new sub! A reaver sub at that, which many wanted for as long as I can remember.

Not much I know, but I will have more later in the week once we see what is going on. Have a great week!

Resonance Capacitor, Resonance Battery and those things that touch them in their special place...

What is this dark magic of which you speak??

By: George Argyropoulos
a/k/a Dragon_Bane

I get a few requests and several questions randomly thrown at me. Most of the time it is a build question or a breakdown question but over the last few weeks I have fielded a few other ones that stand out.
What I have noted between this personal correspondence and some posted questions between the Forums, The Forsaken Council and the Battle Pirates on BV pages recently is that there is still a LOT of people who have questions about the Resonance Capacitor, the Resonance Battery and how exactly they work. So... to that end, we'll talk Res Cap, Res Batt. and triggering fields.

The Basic Misunderstanding

Let's start with the Specials themselves and explain away a big portion of the confusion.  These specials DO NOT affect other hulls. It is a special like any other in that it affects the hull to which it is equipped. It does not give bonuses unless the special (The Batt or Cap) is triggered. Having one on your Vendetta does not give any benefit to your Revenge that does not have one equipped.

The special itself has to be triggered by being in an activating field or aura. These fields or auras are not generic in nature- In other words, the field or aura has to actually affect the hull to which the special is equipped.
***To be triggered, the field has to be affecting the hull the special is actually on.***

Ok, Where do they go?

There is no limit to what hull you can equip these specials on. The effects of the special will work, ON ANY HULL, so long as the Cap/Batt is triggered. The special is NOT hull specific.
Likewise, the bonus drops once the hull leaves field/aura. Yes- this means it does NOTHING if it is not being triggered. It's just a shiny bit of pixel jewelry for your boat if it is not being triggered.

Ummm... ok, how do you 'excite' them then?

Only certain fields/auras will trigger it. The fields/auras need to be affecting the hull that the res cap/batt are equipped to. I can not stress this enough it seems. Particularly because you have to keep in mind the various ways in which the specials can be used.
Can this help enemy ships coming in to hit your base? YES.
Can it help your ships going to hit a base? YES.
This isn't a one way street. It is not new. But you have to remember to balance what you gain (or don't) with what you've lost. That's part of the build process. It's not something they gain and you can't take advantage of. The Batt was used in base defenses by some people for a while. Please try to understand the working first before anyone starts flipping out about this old/new special.

Interesting tidbit for the next raidset...

Additionally, to preemptively answer this question: YES (as of RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!) they are both activated by the Subsonic Cavitators of the Reavers in the new raid coming in September.

Here are the fields/auras:(List compilation help credit goes to Johnny Frostler)

Resonance triggers

Friendly:
Retribution
Vanquisher
Vendetta
ECM Destroyer
Navigational Array Tactical
Wake Tactical

Hostile:
Apocolypse Mort Fire Field
Napalm Fire Field (still testing this one)
Proto Nem
Frostburn
Vassago Hunter
Glacial Turret Cryo Field
Wendigo Turret Cryo Field
Cryo Battery Cryo Field
Incendiary Shells Fire Field
Subsonic Caviator Tactical
Engine Disruptor Tactical
Microwave Dampener Tactical
Siege Scanner Tactical
Armor Bypass Tactical
Cryo Trigger Cryo Field (22 range. If equipped on a destroyed water structure)

NO Resonance trigger:

Aegis
Centurion
Crusader
Templar
EMP Blast
Combustion Trigger
Cryo Trigger Field (80 range)
Oil Slick
Fire Support
Combined Defense
Hidden Cache
Radiation Suppressor
Fuel Air Munitions
Chromium Overlay

Please note: Kixeye reserves the right to change anything at anytime and 

make me look like a complete idiot and make these lists utter bollocks...


In which case.... everything is working as intended. 

Ask Specs Anything July 27, 2016

This week’s question comes from Letti and it is about the Apollo

Hey Specs,

I finished my Tank Counter Measure build and I am ready to start another Apollo to go with it can you tell me what you are using from the last raid?

Hello Lettie,

Congrats! Getting that one done will make a big difference with the coming raid and Hull store. Now, you can use it with your rhinos if you have to get through A sets. We have roughly two weeks before the raid, it will start August 11th, 2016 I think. Should be that day or August 18th at the latest I am sure we will get that confirmation soon. We will go with August 11th though as that is the closer date.

Your Apollos will want the same specials as your CM tank. The reason for this is that you will have a couple of phalanx on the DPS hulls to help back up the main tank. You will want the same range and same accuracy as your primary countermeasure hull. Next, you will want the same armor value, mostly to keep repair times down and easy to manage. Lastly, you will have eight blades for your damage dealing.

Here is your link to the build

Just so you can see the real build time once you get into game

You will want to get it hopefully out a few days earlier with tokens if you get them in the weekly and rank it as much as you can before the raid. The two of them should help you do the A set, and you might be able to do the elite targets if you can get rank high enough on the two ships.

Good luck and if you have any questions feel free to send them to me!

Would you like to play a Game?

Wouldn't you prefer a good game of Chess?

By: George Argyropoulos
a/k/a Dragon_Bane

A quick word on the newest Battle Pirates campaign up on offer from Kixeye- Wargames.

I am going to concentrate on just the first three targets, 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 as I think the special is one that has many applications, but the ideas presented herein can be applied to all three levels in some manner.

On first blush, and from all the screaming, it looks like this campaign is a bust for most all players... but need it be? While I understand the frustration, I think that maybe players should try and break down what we see and attempt to make it manageable to their level and ability. No, not everyone is going to be able to rip through all three levels, in fact, I'm not sure that I will, but I will in fact try.

One thing that seems be repeated everywhere in which players are voicing their frustration, is that players are overlooking the fact that this is a PvE target. Don't mistake me- it is set up for PvP,  as PvP, using mostly PvP rules of engagement... however, the rules of PvE have necessarily bled through, and that can be taken advantage of.

While the campaign is certainly difficult, especially without Revenges or Vendettas, it is not impossible. You have to view it in a different light than traditional base hitting and see what is different that you may be able to take advantage of.

1. The bases never bubble. NEVER. You can engage the target as many times as you want!!!
2. You have MORE than 5 minutes. Timing out at over 25-50% means nothing.
3. You have 20 rockets. Use them!
4. If you have remote targeting hulls, take advantage of this and just use up tanks to soak up damage.


Mortar hulls seem to do the best, so that is what I will concentrate on, particularly with the popularity of Novas and DNXs lately.

Target 1.1

The WHs circled in red are first opportunity targets and these in particular can be targeted from the outside of the channel. With remote targeting mortars this delivers killing blows to the turrets nearby as well ( with remote targeting missiles it offers plenty of retargeting opportunities to the turrets and ships).
After doing as much damage as you can from the outside, start breaking down the target into way-points for each incursion into the base. In this way you can maximize the potential from each of your pinches and maximize your damage per engagement. I marked what way-points I used with yellow boxes.

The same ideas and theories used in target 1.1 can be used in the next two as well.

Target 1.2

Again, the circled WHs are opportunities for good splash damage and can be had from outside the channel. The next thing that needs to be chipped away at are the 2 Gammas. After this you have a few choices- you can try and get rid of the Aegis or do what I did- I just rushed the base to keep all those morts from hitting my spotter and let my remote targeting do the work for me.

Target 1.3

This one gets tricky as there are a lot of killer missiles coming in to get you at great distances thanks to the DEEs. The 3 circled targets, again, can be had from the outside, however, in this target if you don't have anything that can stand up to DEEs, then go straight to breaking down the target into the way-points. I did in fact do this with 2 Puns and 3 Vens. The 2 green triangles are ships I should have pinched and targeted in separate encounters so should be an option for you to consider.

All told, I ended up doing the first set coin free with just under 9 hours repair. Results vary, but I hope this gives some of you some ideas to try. I particularly recommend trying to get the special and doing this first set. Good luck!!


Update: I did in fact use this methodology successfully in the entirety of the campaign. I did ok overall. I used 3 of the 5 Hr speed-up tokens and about 15 coin altogether. It would have helped had I a better built Revenge or a few more Vendettas. The last set is nerve wracking as the timer is rather tight if you work the targets like this. Hope this helps!!!

Day in the life of a new Battle Pirates Player July 25, 2016

How to find those Blueprints; what salvages you should hit

It was a rough week, and time has been short actually to do much on the new account. But, I have made some progress and close to finishing up my Mauler fleet. My warehouses are enough finally to build a Dreadnought in one go. The build I have settled on is the crossbow, and I will share two possible builds that you can choose what you would like to have. Personally, I am leaning towards the auto loader for now until ranked, then swapping to siege bat.

Dreadnought 1

Dreadnought 2

Pro-Tip to finding where to get the Blueprints from

One tip I learned today from Bort is that you can get help knowing where to find individual blueprints by going to your shipyard, designer and clicking the box that shows you Blueprints you do not own. By hovering over them, you get hints of where to go to get them. This step can help take the frustration out of knowing what to hit to get that blueprint you wanted.

Here is the video showing how to get that information.

Future Goals this week

My goals for this week is to finish getting the warehouses to max level for my OP, starting at least 1 Dreadnought so that I can get moving on the higher strongholds. Begin upgrading turrets to level 5 as well as finish walls to level 4 at least.

I want to hit T2 starting next week at least as I am wrapping up T1 blueprints now in the FM this week.

Hope you are all well and that this information helps you moving forward.

Rank like a pro without coins

The Vanquisher leaves players frustrated with ranking!

Every day people are complaining about ranking fleets on the forums, these complaints center around the time it takes to rank fleets. This ranking issue is going to be painful with the new Vanquisher hull. Due to the health of the ship, there is barely any targets during regular play that give enough VXP to matter one bit. Salvages might give you 2 VXP for the level 75 elites and 100 elites. That has not been tested, but a 71 cargo provides a whopping 1 VXP to the vanquisher. So, many have asked through private messages in game and on Facebook on how I am going to rank and what they can do to ease this frustration.

It might not be the answer people want to hear but as a non-coiner, there are not many options open to us unless we want to spend mind-numbing hours hitting salvages. This option is called build a blank and wait for the VXP weekend and then go with an alarm to get as many hits in as possible. You can use the zombie method (healing the fleet 250 to 500 health total) and smack the target for a couple hundred to 2K at a time. My way, however, is not as time intensive, and I hate spending useless hours at the computer zombifying fleets.

Build Blanks!

First, you need the blank, and most people will say go with Thud 1 and the streamlined hull 3 (grants 25 map speed). These specials are a wise choice to go with, adds about 6 hours to the base hull time, and cost you about 90 min to remove them when you refit. This hull streamline is great with hulls that have very low map speed; If your hull has decent map speed, you can go with just a thud 1, and it is 2 min to add, and three seconds to remove. For me following this advice I will have a Harlock Citadel, 2x Vanquisher, 2x Vendetta ready go for refit. This list also includes the Apollos that I finished throughout the last month that still have a few ranks to go.

Come Friday evening when I get on I launch my fleet to die in the VXP target with a salty dog (use x3 if you have it). You will want a total of 3 to 4 salty dogs for the day of ranking.  These target spawn for 36 hours and you will need to sleep and such so four times max to hit with a salty dog. I will say that if I am using an x3 salty dog, I will load up 50 coins for that 50 min to get the most out of it. If I do not toss in $5 for coins, I can usually get to 70% rank by the end. While legend rank is pretty and final, that last 5% is not so important. I will finish the rank on these ships the following month as I hate hitting cargos.

Zombie!

I mentioned zombie, as I stated it is right around 250 total armor for the fleet. The more health you have, the more VXP, you seem to earn. At least, if this is the same as the previous month, that means that this can be an effective way to rank if you have time to sit and wish to rank while awake for hours. Doing this method last month earned about the same vxp as hitting 25 cargos. So, if this is still viable this weekend, it could be useful if you have the time to spend and do not mind going back and forth to put 30 seconds or so on each ship.

So recap – 

Build a blank with thud one minimum, add streamline hull 3 to add 25 map speed if you hit enough level 40+ cargo (Think that is where it was).

Get 3 to 4 salty dogs to use throughout the 36 hours

Zombie your fleets while you can, it can help you if you have lots of time and absolutely no money. This method is being discussed at being taken away. Use it while you can!

If you want to drop $5 to speed up the process, it is not so bad with no armor, and I would not do it for more than one salty dog run.

The key is to try to rank without costing you a house payment; there is no reason to coin full fleets and then coin the rank for the VXP weekend. If you do not have the money do not worry, instead of four to five ships done you will have two to three.

Civil War: Allegiance 36 hours’ in

August raid prep should start today!

This raid has been pretty fun I think for most. I do understand that many are unable to do it because of a lack of technology. Or, at least that is the thought process, and the first excuse is not having the technology. Unfortunately, we are in this place within the game that you have to build specific ships and configurations to have success. Those that follow this path are having a very comfortable and enjoyable raid. Those that choose to ignore this route have problems and frustration.

As a player, you do not want to hear this, but the game has moved on from being able to be done with a single fleet and into the era of having to have a fleet for different targets. Kixeye told us this was coming almost two years ago; it just took them that long to get it there.

Now this is not to be a rub your face into the fact the raid is not difficult, and you should have built x. I have seen many struggling with the raid, and I am helping those that are closest to me that did not get the fleet build right, or maybe the player is too new to the game and only got one Apollo finished due to whatever. I just want to point out that we cannot ignore the direction they have taken the game. We are not going to change that direction as it looks like a majority has decided to go with the flow and build the way that Kixeye wanted. This direction the game has gone means that the only choice available to us that wish to keep playing is to build fleets that can do the game for a decent to no cost.

August Raid is a Hull Raid 

We have a hull raid in about 30 days and with that comes the chance to get hulls we missed the previous four months. What a player needs today either Rhino or Apollo. If you have rhinos, and you are not sure on the Vanquisher, get to 15 million and take the Apollo. Even a single Apollo to tank for the rhinos can do the A sets and get you some nice points next month. Instead of giving you an exact build that is working let me tell you what you should be looking at in your fleet.

First the targets deal out Corrosive and Missile damage. The rhinos in the targets seem to miss no matter the evade percentage. So, you want to raise the damage resistance to those two types as much as you can. For the Heavy Cruisers, you want combat speed, as they are short range (about 80) you can kite them with speedy fleets. For the rhinos, you want countermeasures as the missiles can be shot down. For the stands, you will boost your Corrosive resistance with siege battery and frontline countermeasure. Couple either of those with an assault ship that has some natural corrosive resistance and you can get up to 75% resistance.

With that in mind, you will want (in order of best to worst) Apollo, Rhino, Kodiak, V2-H and Missile Cruiser X. These hulls give the most resistance to corrosive and are all missile based which do the best in the targets.

That thought brings up your damage types; missiles work best. They are quick to the target and with retargeting true you can kill or damage other stands and ships close to each other. You could lead a fleet of mortar ships with remote targeting as well, but that is hard to control well due to the difference in combat speed. You will have to remove fleet in the targets and then go back in with the mortars to keep your damage taken on the cheap side.

Summarize your thoughts specs!

So, let us wrap it up Hulls you want are found in the assault tab of the foundry. If you do not have it yet, grab the Rhino at a minimum and if you can get 15 million make sure to take the Apollo. You can get 1 to 2 built and up to 4 Rhino done by next raid if you start today. Keep the builds to no more than 14 days max to make sure you are ready to go.

You want some resistance to corrosive and missile. Corrosive can only be achieved with natural Resistance and siege battery or frontline countermeasure. You will want phalanx to shoot down the missiles as evade pretty useless in these targets. You will want good combat speed and high maneuverability (Turn speed), retarget true is a life savior, and then after that, if you have extra special slots use anything to boost your damage type.

You will want to use missiles mostly, although if you can prep the fleets, it can open you to running a tank and then Mortars to clear the stands and mega ships (if you hit that high up). The targets seem to have a high resistance to ballistics and launchers.

If you follow this advice, you will have some success in the raid in August, and you can get enough points with chair time to not spend money.

If I get time today to capture some videos I will of others doing the raid with various technology. I am using 3 apollo of varying degrees of rank and having great success.

Day in the Life of a New Battle Pirates Player July 13, 2016

Raid Week!

The raid is this week, I had someone offer to help me get 3 million points this raid, and I turned it down. If you have been following the blog and are working as hard as I am, you might get an offer as well. You might be able to if they prep for you decently and you should take it. Why? Well, you could get some good stuff to give you a leg up on your competition.

What should you take as a low-level player if this is the case? That is quite easy as far as I am concerned.

First I would take the Rhino, with this hull you can put any missile on it and have a good tank to lead it through the weekly and help your game a bunch. Or, you can just use it and go to town. Second I would take the Trident missile. Why? Well, chances are you do not have any real siege missiles yet, and this missile is quick to build. Works as a part time anti-missile and has high damage. Then I would take the D4-M because it will help against the Missiles in the weekly. You will have enough anti-morts to clear the mortars, and you can use the Ablative armor special to increase the resistance to explosive and protect against the frostbite turrets.

Some might want you to take the Enforcer, D104, and the Fusion charger. All those are good choices too, and I am tempted if I was in my mid-50s and needed some help in base defense and already had the rhino. The rhino will change your game and put you on solid foot going forward. You can use it in many situations, including base defense.

If you are not doing the raid

You might decide the raid is not for you and this is OK! You can do the campaigns and get some decent gear to help you advance your game. You can also upgrade warehouses, labs, and get ready to upgrade stands to level 4 or 5 after you do the needed research.

For me going forward the next week

Right now I am upgrading warehouses to make room so I can do the Dread build, I will be upgrading turrets to level 4 at least and hopefully level 5. These goals mean that I am working on the labs to level 10 and getting needed research done. Remember to pick and choose and only take what you need to open stuff up or that can help you right now.

As always leave a comment if you have a question and I will answer as soon as I can. Have a great raid all and I will see you next week!

Ask Specs Anything July 13, 2016

What should I take in the raid Vanquisher or Apollo?

Today the questions are centered on the raid, been getting asked the last few days repeatedly about the raid and those issues heated up yesterday and this morning when the prize list was released.

This choice is a tough one and one that should not take lightly. If you have not had the chance to get the Apollo yet, I can see how you might want it for at least the August raid as that will be the last in this series. But, you might want the newest defense hull as your base is suffering. The Vanquisher has some fascinating potential and should replace the Enforcer in the majority of base settings.

I feel the Apollo is more of a needed hull in the game. I think that if your focus on the game is doing the PvE stuff, then you have to take this hull. Sure, it might only be useful for the assault map targets after August, but those map targets will allow you to get easily and upgrade the Rhino. I do feel that the Apollo is a must have in the game today, it is crucial for getting pieces for the Gantry and Mega Hulls that will be released later on. So, with that, I am led to believe that they might have the hull in August hull raid. There is a precedence for this by the way, and they have done that with other much-needed hulls in the past. Of course, they have refused to put in these hulls in the first hull store too. We cannot be 100% sure what they will do this far out.

With all that said, I would take the Vanquisher this raid and take my chances with the Apollo offered in the August raid. It might come back to bite me, but I think that it the safest choice this time around as I like to develop my base defense the best I can. With five specials, same range as Enforcer with Launchers, very nice accuracy base boost, anti- weapon accuracy boosts, and 500K base armor at 2-hour repair (1 hour in the defense slot) and all at under four days for a bare hull. You could have one ready by VXP weekend and run it with a gunboat to pull things towards it so that it can die or kill.

Do not get me wrong; I love my Apollo fleet. I think that everyone should have them. But, I feel that it is more relevant to the direction the game is going and that we have a greater chance of having that in the August raid than we do the Vanquisher. As always, keep an eye on official statements from CM Doomrooster and other kixeye employees posting in the forum. Often you can get some inside information on what might come from their postings. They have not stated one way or another on this issue so I am going on what I think is more important in the game and they have a habit of offering things we need in the raids.

Day in the Life of a Battle Pirate Player July 10, 2016

Weekly Cracked for New Players

I finally succeeded in getting to 150,000 points in the weekly, took me a couple of weeks to get the fleet worked out, and it does require more than previous Forsaken Mission content. This change is not a horrible thing; I am still not happy that new players do not have a means to do the weekly right out the gate like they could in the past. It would be that the advice I give was getting the battle barge A from the campaign, toss some thuds on it, best engine and get the reactive armor one minimum.
That simple build would help them get Tier 1 within the first week, and they would be well on their way to getting conventional technology. Now that is not the case it is going to take a new player about 40 hours of total game time to get to a point to do the weekly to tier 1. None of the older players I know think this is a good development for the game, and we hope that Kixeye will rethink the Forsaken mission strategy they released and maybe brought back the old 27’s for the new players to hit for their Tier 1 prizes. Maybe level lock them so that higher than 40 cannot hit them? I think that would be a good compromise and keep the current integrity of the Missions at the point they are now.

Yes, eventually a player will be able to do the FM and start on that path. It will take some work, and they might be level 30 before they even get to starting it. Here is how I did it.

The Plan

I used two fleets, and it is not pretty, and it still resulted in about two hours of repair for 30K points. I will describe the research and technology needed first and where I got it.

Advanced lab research

• Ablative armor 2 – Advance lab level 8 (requires Outpost level 5)
• Engine 2 – Advance lab level 8 (could maybe do engine 1, but the player will take a bit more damage as the player drives to the platforms.

Those two pieces are the most important, the reasoning is that the targets have frostbite turret, and it has explosive and splash. So, it is important to protect ships from that turret as the player on the platform waiting for the stands to die. The player sees the stands are level 7, and that means they have some health.

While the player is upgrading the outpost, warehouses, labs to get to that point. The player is going to want to make way through the campaigns. You will want Levi-A at minimum, second prize pack of the shell the shore for the D2-E armor; you can get by with the Shockwave N mortar if you wish, or you can go for the Shockwave L mortar in the first prize pack of death grip. The refit from Diplomat mortars to one of those mortars is about 2 hours a piece.

That fleet will be your primary fleet for the weekly. I had to use two because, well I have not refitted the armor yet. That will be done soon though and then I will do a video. This lack of armor is why I had to use the second fleet. The second fleet I used was a Battle Barge A with Thud IV, D2-e and Reactive armor 2.

Huggy link to the Levi build

Huggy link to battle barge A build

Huggy link to first Mauler build

Wrap up

While it is possible that a new player can get started on the weekly, they are looking at roughly 40 hours of play time to get the required technology from the campaigns and research labs/upgrading everything. It will not be a fast advancement on the player’s part, but it will become a reality if prioritized in the beginning. Once I get the fleet finalized with armor and after the raid, I will have a video placed. The huggy mauler build includes a refit that I plan because I will get the weekly twice this week.

Also, because of this development, I have all the necessary requirements to build the Dreadnought. I need to upgrade warehouses though as it is expensive to build, but it is pretty quick, and that is a beautiful thing. I will share that build soon in a separate write up once I get to start doing the weekly with it.

The last thing I want to cover this week is the Raid coming up. I know many will tell new people the raid is not for them. I agree with this; you will bang your head against the wall at this level and get frustrated. That does not mean not to try the targets, though, go and hit a few of the lowest level target. Maybe your instant repair fleets and sit time can get you a prize. Worse case you do not have time for it, best case someone sees you trying and offers to prep you a target or two that you can kill for a couple of prizes. Do not beg for help; this will turn other players off to you personally. Do not expect someone to spend their raid carrying you to the top prizes. I am here to help you become self-sufficient, and it is a long road, but it is rewarding, and the knowledge you will gain will put you far ahead of those that beg for everything in your sector.

As always questions? ask below and I answer as soon as I can. Have a good Sunday everyone!

Some Battle Pirate Wisdom from a long time player

BP Priorities 

George Argyropoulos July 9, 2016

And so, with another raid upon us, we should take a moment to reflect and review in-game priorities.

I have a rather strict view of priorities in this game. Some aspects of the game overlap and wash into other areas of Battle Pirates and so I think it is important to make sure that you have a good solid foundation from which to grow and advance your game.

While aspects of the game change, these priorities seem to have held over time.

1. Forsaken Mission

2. Raids/'Chores'

3/4. Baser/Base Defense

1. The basic premise of this list goes like this: The FM prizes and possible tokens that are available in the FM have consistently driven the tech in the grand scheme of designs in the game. If you can't do this aspect of the game, you are compromising yourself, your viability and fun in Battle Pirates. The FM is always the priority when choosing prizes in the raid.

2. Raids are, by their very nature, the events that push the tech envelope forward. The FM prizes sometimes revolve around Raid offerings etc. The raids are second however because of the sheer volume of content in the FM as opposed to the Raids. What we have seen lately is a bleed over from raids to FMs and chores (like the TLC), so this is a very close priority to the FMs.

3./4. Depending on your preference you might go base hitting or base defense. Traditionally, the trend was always base defense first. If you are in the enviable position wherein this is a choice you have, be thankful you are caught up. When you are here, the game is much easier and far more fun.

Your raid choices and precious time in your shipyard should revolve around these priorities fully. Especially when you are in an alliance and you are receiving (or paying) for help, you need to think ahead and ask yourself two things: 1. What will give me a larger boost the most in my day to day gameplay and 2? What is going to help me and the alliance long term? What will reduce our costs and improve our overall game-play the most? If you can answer these two questions and apply those solutions, you will find the game enjoyable.

George Argyropoulos is a freelance writer for specsworld.co 

Ask Specs Anything July 6, 2016

This week’s question comes from Warhead, and he asks;

Hey Bro,

After a month now have you updated your Vendetta build? I am about to start, and I want to make sure nothing has changed.

My response is below;

Hey Bud,

I have changed a few things from the initial idea behind the build, not much mostly to help combat some weakness I have seen in those bases I have watched being hit by others. So, if I were you, I would look to try to boost evade and use the Agility System 4. The slow resistance will be handy in dealing with some of the issues I have seen. Evade is useful in reducing the damage from the launchers. They might not boom, but those shots can still hurt from a legend ranked Enforcer.
Here is my new updated build and what I am refitting too as soon as I finish the last Apollo.

https://www.dahippo.com/bp/ship/#!30NI01R1R1R6Q34396M5PC2C2C2C2C2C2C20ZZ0ZZ0ZZ0ZZdC

With full retro you will have 39% evade and while that is not great, it is far better than the negative you start with and will help in keeping the vendetta alive against many different ships you might face when hitting bases.

Hope all is well with you and the family and let me know how this goes for you

Feel free to send me a question if you have one, or post below have a great day everyone!

Specs! Help us stop these Revenge and Vendettas!

There is a new tool in our arsenal that you might have to combat base hitters.

OK, Lots of people are contacting me in the game and wondering how I am stopping the revenge and vendettas hitting my base. After many attempts on my base and many hits by myself on others I can say that I have found a few ways to combat this growing menace to our waters.

I will point you back to my original article on this subject last month, and all that still works. I have found a new trick to stop the growing number of legend ranked baser that combines all of that in that one post and at least one of the follow hulls.

https://www.dahippo.com/bp/ship/#!306E0292929295Y2M0000ALALALALALALALAL05U0292929295Y2M00ALALALALALALALAL05O0292929295Y2M00ALALALALALALALAL060029295Y2M0000ALALALAL00000006O02929295Y2M0000ALALALALALALALALdC

Any one of those will boost your base defense and help against the Vendetta and even the Revenge. They will either have to pause and take them out from a distance, just make sure that you are hitting that area with Executioners, Apoc or other mortars, and explosive/corrosive damage turrets.

I also intentionally left two slots empty on the special slots so that you could customize the build to fit your personal tastes. You could go with the Cryo battery that will help lower your attackers defense and slow them down a little. You could go with a resonance battery and put in the Vendetta or something else to power it. You could do whatever you desire with those two slots.

I hope this helps some with another tool you might have laying around in your arsenal to aid you in the fight against the rampaging base hitters. Just make sure you take care to protect against subs.They can still sub you out and then all that is for nothing.

Received a question on why this works so well

The reason that this UAV works best over the others is due to the duration it swarms. At max Retro it is close to 15 seconds of damage that happens no matter what happens to the Ship. So, that is a lot of damage being delivered even after the fact. Also we have the minimum damage values and there is a rumor that the minimum damage on the UAV is a bit higher than that of other weapons. This seems to hold true from my tests of hitting bases with this UAV in it.

Day in the life of a new Battle Pirate player July 5, 2016

Outpost five done, advanced lab to level 8 and still need more!

My Outpost level 5 finished over the weekend, and I finished the advanced lab to level 8 upgrade. I had enough resources to start the Ablative armor 2, which should help more in the level 40 strongholds. I tried the 40 with the Reactive armor and the damage from the Frostbite did more damage to me than the missiles. I can research the long short missile in the weapons lab, so I will do that and upgrade the launch pad if needed that might be the only way I can do the 40’s at this time.
I am ten short of the frags from having enough for the Dreadnought, but I want to try to get the 40s at least under control without that hull. Remember, I had done the Weekly for two weeks before the change and since then I have not been able to do the 40s with any success. I might be able to do it if I worked at it for more than 2 hours a day. I will tell you, that it would frustrate me if I had to hit on a target for 2 hours and not even kill a single platform.

The only thing I can do is to take a few days and refit the Shockwave N mortars I have and the D2-E and see if that helps.  I will need the engines at least to help get me by the Guardians in the Death Grip campaign regardless, as the mortars catch me. I also noticed I need to upgrade the intelligence lab to at least level 5 so I can use the strike cruiser and the Dreadnought, those are next on the list.

So that is the plan going forward this week, a refit of the Marauders with the Shockwave N, engine 2, D2-E and then try for the Mauler again, along with attempting a 40 once the fleet finishes. If I still have issues with the explosive damage from the frostbite, I will hold off until I get the maulers built.

For the base I am getting close to needing to put in stands and weapons, so going to research Sentinel Missle 3 at least and hope to get Sent 5 soon and work towards Javelines and Halo.

Ask Specs Anything June 29, 2016

Can Centurions be built to do a 107 FM stronghold?

Today’s question comes from Merlin as new student of mine that is only about six months into the game. He needs to do the weekly, but does not have the punisher yet and his question was

“Hey Specs, can my Centurions do the 107?”

My reply:

Hey Merlin,

Yes, I think that the centurion can be built to handle the new 107 strongholds. You have to understand that it will not be optimum and that you will more than likely not do all five in one go. But, I do think that you can do probably three with the right tweaks to your current Centurion fleet. Remember the keys to the 107 are; Combat speed, Missile resistance, explosive resistance and plenty of Countermeasure to keep the mortars off you. With that in mind here is the Centurion refit I would do if I was in your shoes.

https://www.dahippo.com/bp/ship/#!B07400I0I0I0I0I5K6A342U2B2323232C1A1A4M4M000007400I0I0I0I0I5K6A342U2B2323232C1A1A4M4M000007400I0I0I0I0I5K6A342U2B2323232C1A1A4M4M000007400I0I0I0I0I5K6A342U2B2323232C1A1A4M4M000007400I0I0I0I0I5K6A342U2B2323232C1A1A4M4M0000dC

This should be enough firepower to take out the stands, be fast enough to get you to the platforms following the approved path I have shared with you and not need a pinch. Of course, a pinch would lower the damage you take significantly. Also, remember to park next to the Citadels to keep within their minimum range at firing their mortars that will save you some damage as well as only facing the mortars from each island.

Let me know how it goes and I would like to video the attempt so others might learn.

Hopefully, that will help some of you that do not have the Punisher, but have the Centurion and the technology shown. Or, at the very least give ideas of what to look out for during raids and what might be useful in the FM if they put the prizes in. If you do not have the old style Arbalest, then you will want at least 6 of the new D110-R and you could use Crossbow as well if needed.