Battle Pirates - Escalation raid review

I am enjoying this raid, thanks to those that suggested I zoom out on the mega ships, does help deal with the issues I had last raid. A headache is there today, but not getting sick is a huge help. I will take a bit more time off and try to hit a few targets each day to keep the issues from sidelining me for too much.

I have not tried anything other than A set and the S target, and I managed to get one Apollo finished before this raid. It has a 10% rank on it at the moment and is my CM tank. It is doing pretty good lowering the damage I have taken in these targets considerably compared to last month. I have decided to get at least two more done this next month and worry about the vendetta after.
Watching others hitting the B set targets I see mostly V2-H, Rhinos, and Punishers being used. I have seen others in the 50 level range using Crusaders, Mercury, and Interdictors with varying degrees of success in the C target. The Rhino and V2 are the better choices for the b set, while the Mercury seems to do better in the C sets. I am trying to catch them so I can video tape them, but we appear to have issues with the C target spawning and B sets are a bit overwhelmed with the amount of 86 around the sector.

With all that said;

This raid phalanx is a big reason for success. If you do not have one, you need a dedicated CM ship. Do not put another phalanx on your other ships as this seems to have an adverse effect. My damage was halved when I removed the two rhinos that had some phalanx four on them and just went with 3x phalanx 4 and a CM special. For B sets the Phalanx 2 or 3 will work just fine, you will want about 6 of the three and 8 of the two. Even with no rank you should see a huge decrease in your damage taken.

The best missile to use is, of course, the Blade, but Harriers are working just as good. And arbalest is a bit slow, but they can work if that is all you have in the lower targets.

Combat speed is a big bonus; I am outrunning most of the damage from the Curb/Scattergun stands on my tank as well as the Heavy cruisers. I have 4x Phalanx 4 and 1x Phalanx 3 with my CM loader three special and that is cutting down most of the missiles from the Zoe in the target, especially if I can get them one on 1. I had 3x Phalanx 4 at the start and used some tokens to put the extra 4 and three on and lowered my repair time by 30 minutes on the on all targets.

Of course, if you have rhino or mastodon then making your tank a CM tank is preferred and make it as fast as you can.

So, to recap for this raid series, this is working best for me.

1 Countermeasure ship with almost all Countermeasures, the better the countermeasure weapon, the less you need to put on the ship. Phalanx 2 you will want almost all slots filled, phalanx three you will be looking at six at least, and phalanx four you will want four of them. High missile resistance and combat speed of over 30. You can get by with less in B set and C set targets.

At least 3x DPS ships, preferably missiles and 98 range. Remote targeting is excellent with Rhino or Mastodon as you can use and drive the CM tank to keep them away from the Scattergun turrets and Heavy Cruiser. Again, high missile resistance is good just in case you mess up with driving, armor not o important.

Low level Fleet idea for the C sets

https://www.dahippo.com/bp/ship/#!9P4C00H0H0H0I0317525252525252P4C00H0H0H0I0317525252525252P4C00H0H0H0I0317525252525252P4C00H0H0H0I0317525252525252P5CF0H0H0H2B03170I544M4M4M4M4M4MdC

Med Level Fleet idea for B sets

https://www.dahippo.com/bp/ship/#!9PM600H0H0H0H0I03172T5252525252525252PM600H0H0H0H0I03172T5252525252525252PM600H0H0H0H0I03172T5252525252525252PM600H0H0H0H0I03172T5252525252525252P5CF0H0H0H2B03170I544M4M4M4M4M4MdC

The idea is to have a Dedicated CM ship to shoot down the missiles, and then have something long range to take out the buildings. Lead with one ship only when facing the scattergun turrets so that it is the only thing getting fired at as you approach it.

Good luck with the rest of the raid and let me know if you are able to have success with a different type of fleet than I recommend.

Hey Specs what are you going to put on your Vendetta if you get it?

There is a lot of talks now about this new conquer hull, those that know me know I love to hit bases and try to run at least 3 to 5 a day, or 1 good base each day. So, it would be natural for me to consider this hull.

First - It is going to be 30 million points for me to get this hull. As I did not take the special or weapon, last raid and I were told that we had to make at least the weapon this raid to get the hull. So, I am looking at 45 million total points for this raid to get my wish list. It might be possible, I did get 30 million last raid, and I had to stop due to the shake of the mega causing medical issues with headaches and nausea.

So, if I do happen to get 45 million this raid (they removed half the mega from the A set, so might be good to go for an extra 15 million) then I plan to get the tokens, hull, weapon, and special, and I will be going with the next build.

Now I am sure you are saying why? Well, it is quite simple, build time for one. It is eight days 11 hours without the officer. In my shipyard, I can build this in 7 days 2 hours. This build time is unheard of in today's hyper-extended build times for any fleet. Even my Rhino builds were 12 days long, and love for that hull is still pretty high today. 

Second, while the new mortar does not have the damage of the Judgment, or the armor of the Pando, the time to put it on is close to 6 hours less compared to judgment per mortar. It is 2 hours less than Pando. Pando has less range, though, by 4, Pando also is less damage by 2K (the mortar in my shipyard is around 4500), and the Judgment is more than 1600 damage.

Beyond the time to place the new mortars, the range is identical with Judgment, and it has a secondary damage concussive. Narrowing, the gap between damage by 588. 

For specials it should not be any secret, I love splash :) It has atrocious stats for evading and resistance is set to -100% no matter what I use. So, that frees up two slots that typically are used for those specials. This means more splash! You could use the incendiary shells for the extra fire fields, splash a little less, though.

Many will look at that 15,000 penetrative deflection and maybe choose not to take this hull. I think that kind of piss poor analyst. Why? Well, I use citadels right now with my revenge, this is a natural companion to the revenge hull. Where the revenge is weak, this is strong and vice versa. If you drive well, you should be able to keep this thing away from Executioners/Dead eye exec and epic.

The one glaring weakness is ballistic, though, man this thing will probably get tore up with any ballista/Jav/harpoon, and arbs on your defense fleet.

This is first blush looking at the new prizes and working through some ideas for builds. Hope you find it helpful and as always you can comment in the comment section if you have questions, concerns, or input I missed.

June Battle Pirates Raid - Escalation

June Battle Pirates Raid - Escalation 

Specs Thoughts on Prizes

After looking over the official prize list, I am going to offer the following advice taking into consideration the points that we can receive from each set.

•    Those below 60 can hit the C sets for around 80K points for a set
•    Those below 80 can run the B sets for 607K
•    Those above 80 can run the A set for 2.69 million
•    Anyone can hit the S level target for 3.75 million points

Of course, if you are above 60 and hitting C set you will have received reduced points for the targets, and same with those above 80 hitting B sets. They still have not removed that restriction on those targets vs. player level.

You can see the new prizes in action in bases with no guard:

With that, all in mind here is my thoughts.

To those that have not received the Rhino yet, get it. It is 1.75 million points and should be grindable over the four days for no coin.  With any luck, most fleets will work with C sets (like the last raid), and you can do them throughout the weekend.  With a good rhino build, you can do B sets next raid, and they are quick to make. Most builds are less than ten days that can do the B set targets. I will try to watch what the lower levels around me are doing and see if I can capture some of the videos and get their builds. I will post my unfinished rhino build once I see how it does in the revamped B set. I did post a V2-H build here, and that did the B set last raid nicely.

If you find, that you have time and can grind out the sets to earn 6 million points. You get to have a few more choices. You cannot go wrong with the Basilisk turret (5.75 million). If you do not have it, it can help you with the Revenge fleets running the waters now if built correctly. The Executioner (5 million) is a great option and can be buffed up to decent damage potential with the right specials and attack transformers. Both turrets are available this raid and provide some much needed updated towers to battle the newest PvP hull. Where the choice comes in here is where do you want to go? If your goal is to have an easier time with the raid, then getting the Executioner and the D4-M armor is a pretty solid choice. If it is just to get a better turret than your pyro or napalm, then the Basilisk is the way to go.

Now, what if you can get 15 million points, you have to remember this raid we still have that prize lock feature where you have to take prizes in the previous tiers to unlock those above. And this is probably not going to be popular in certain crowds, but this is my opinion for those that do not coin. Your best friend is the tokens, and in this raid, you can get over five days off your build for the 15.05 million points (or pretty close to that). So, if you can get that 15 million and you do not coin, I would look to speed up one of your builds from last month by five days. If you are like my other non-coiner friends you are trying to do the FM or get something for the raid and that extra five days will be a significant leap for you. Plus if you go this route you do not have to spend points on other things in the tiers to get to the weapon or the hull of your choice.

That is not to say that I do not like the Apollo or the specials on that side. They are exceptional at doing this raid format and the assault fleets at the towers for minimal damage. The Apollo will be offered next month as well, so if you still want it and cannot get it this raid, it is possible next month. If you go with PvP aspect, the new ship will complement the Revenge in many ways, and if you are like me and use citadels, then this hull can act as an upgrade to your citadel support. Letting you use the citadels in a role they are better suited for and that is the mines/FM.