The one ship to destroy them all!

Specs single ship build, for the 107 Draconian Stronghold

I will start with that this build has some bells and whistles that you might not have. I will also state that I am positive that not everyone will have what is needed. However, I am a firm believer in growing as a person and player and that this might help you decide what to take come Raid time, or maybe realize that you have these parts sitting around your intelligence lab doing nothing.

It is not the most efficient at killing the target, of course, taking 1 hour 30 minute to 1 hour 51 minutes of damage so far in tests I have done. But, in one month you can have it built and ranked and be able to do your five level 107 strongholds as you build others to go with it. I refer you back to this post that I made on tips for the FM to refresh your memory on what I believe works the best.

The build is as follows;

https://www.dahippo.com/bp/ship/#!B0NH01T1T1T5K6D3468372525252A2A574M4M4M000ZZ0ZZ0ZZ0ZZdC

That single ship will do the 107 with no pinches and no coin if you are willing to wait about 2 hours per target. Yes, I do understand that not everyone can hit a target and walk away for two hours to come back later to do another. But, this option is there for those that can make that time and have the technology in their blueprints to pull this off. Also, this should give you an idea of the minimum you need for your CM tank to lead your other ships. There is plenty of videos around now of people using Dreads and DNX to do the 107 with pinches, and that is a very strategic way to approach the targets.

As well a single refit is needed to swap out the Reflective coating 3 with the Siege Battery 3, or even the CM loader 3 for the frontline CM platform. Either would be an improvement and get the repair time down drastically.

Video

Me? I hate having to rely on the Launch pad :D

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.

After Raid Report

Specs quick thought on the raid

This raid was well balanced in my opinion. The lag was not too bad most of the weekend and allowed for some smooth sailing on this end. I was able to end up with 69 million points for $10 spent. That included three Grease monkey crews over two days, and that got me to 55 million. The other 14 million was spent just hitting sets a couple of times a day over the last two days. This success means that if I needed too, I could have hit 30 million for zero coins this raid, far better than the last raid where we all had issues getting going and through the challenging targets the first couple days.

For those points I took

• The whole Vendetta Tree – I grabbed the Apollo last raid but did not claim the special or weapon for that hull. 
• All tokens – that were used to finish refits to make my Punisher fleet better for the FM
• All Ghost Shards – I want that hull bad, still need 103 though.
• Fragments for the foundry

The fleet I used was a simple one, it consisted of an Harlock Aegis with one harrier missile (you could use Aegis), Three Rhino with Blades, and the Apollo finished up and was a CM/Tank.
Overall it was a great raid for me and many others. The CM/Tank is critical to this raid format and can be created with any assault class hull that has some corrosive resistance.

Rumors for next raid

The rumor mill is going crazy with the next raid and the September raid. Next raid we get a new defensive hull to help combat the two new Conquer hulls released. This should be interesting to see how they balance the two groups in the new meta game.

September Raid is looking to be a sub raid, meaning that in August you might want to think about grabbing a sub if you have not yet. If you have some, I would aim to put your best torps on them and hopefully they release D2-S again just in case we need the extra stealth.

More information on both these rumors should come out in the next few weeks and months. Many are very excited for the sub raid though.

Any questions feel free to comment below.

A day in the Life of a New Battle Pirates Player June 8, 2016

Specs Day 3 battle pirates June 2016 Test

OK, so talking to some people on the forums (Xwolf1, and Seraph_Fate) they claimed that level 40 cargos can give the Dreadnaught pieces and that hull is a very nice one for the starter FM. You can get that and use it with Thud IV if nothing else until you get the Crossbow and even Arbalest from the weekly. I will try to get some videos to the daily posting when I get a chance to be on with one of those two, and they use their older fleets. In the meantime, I am going to push to Predators and the ability to farm level 40 cargos. This path forward will fit in with my advice on hitting your cargo as soon as you can and help us move forward in the game.  Also, when I get the Predator fleet done, I will get a video of it hitting a 40 cargo.

Remember to keep the Longshot campaign on the mastery level so you can fill to about three million (2.88 million total resources)  of resource quick if you need them.

Today’s progress

Finished the FM once through to tier 1, going this route we can see how long it takes to get a fleet capable of doing the level 37. I might try a BB-A with Diplomat mortars see how they do. Not sure how long it will take to build, my first ballistic was over 9 hours. We will see how long it takes to get the pieces to create the Dreadnaught.

Upgrades

•    weapons lab level 6
•    Naval lab level 5
•    warehouse x 3 Level 7
•    War Academy level 3

Research – Advance Lab, Naval Lab, Weapons Lab

•    Solid fuel booster
•    Predator Sub
•    steel 3
•    Havoc 3
•    Rapier 4
•    Started Havoc 4

Ships built

•    Finished one BB-A (started night before)
•    Finished Predator x 2
•    Started a second BB-A ballistic

Summary after three days

I had to play a bit longer due to trying to get the weekly done twice through tier 1 in less than two days. After three days I am on the path to doing level 51 cargos, and I will start doing level 40 with what I have right now. I have just under 3500 Uranium at this time, and I am taking a gamble with my free rolls hoping for something useful.

I have received the first three prizes in the weekly, and will get the Negotiator mortars either tonight or tomorrow. That should allow me to have a decent weapon to put on levi-A as soon as i hit 24. Right now I need the levi-a campaign to help me fill up when I need resources asap.

My level is 22, and it will be slowing down some as most basic research done.

Any questions feel free to comment below.

Ask Specs Anything June, 8 2016

Ask Specs Anything June, 8 2016

This week’s question comes from Agil:

If I have crusaders with arbs, should I use Autoloader 3?

Dear Agil,

Thanks for the question and it is a good one. I am sure many have a different opinion on this, and they are all valid.  The Arbalest does much better with autoloader three than without during the ranking process. Yes, you can build without it, but then you are stuck at a reload speed of 2.8 until you get some foundry work done. With Autoloader 3 you will be at 1.94 giving you more shots over the course of a battle that lasts a bit longer. At Legend rank, it is .70 without and .49 with autoloader 3. Meaning that in 2 seconds of fight you will get two without the autoloader and 4 with the special.

The DPS is just that much greater with Autoloader 3. Can you go without it? Of course, but you will get better performance from your crusader with it than without out. And this is a type of fleet that should do level 67 draconian strongholds for you if built right.

Here is an example of a build that could do multiple 67 stronghold holds. While you are building the fleet, you would do lower level ones until you get it ranked and all the technology I have listed. If you do not have the nuclear accelerator, then you can use harden barrel 3 and then make room by removing some armor. You can use any D5 armor in place of the D5-M I just used that as a place holder, and it is my favorite armor. Plus, the new draconian strongholds have some missile damage that you are not shooting down, so better penetrative protection the better.

https://www.dahippo.com/bp/ship/#!9P6G51T1T1T002B6A5K3423231B1B4N4N4N4NP6G51T1T00000U6A5K34232323231A000000P6G51T1T00000U6A5K34232323231A000000P6G51T1T00000U6A5K34232323231A000000P6G51T1T00000U6A5K34232323231A000000dC

Specs take on Battle Pirate Update June 1st, 2016

Specs take on Battle Pirate Update June 1^st, 2016

This update featured the assault class to the foundry and as such we got two new prizes to the T5 of the weekly, the Judgement mortar and the Explosive System V. This is because they are needed to do the various foundry retrofits (researches?). So, you will want to try to get to T5 if possible to move the foundry along.

Judgment mortar is a stunning mortar, I know many like the Pando Morts due to the armor increase, but the judgment mortar is excellent for the MIRV ability and defeating the Iron Curtain in the mines and the new FM. So, if you do not have the pando mort and can get to T5 to get this mortar it can help you with the PvE content in the game. Also, the judgment mortar is quite nice when paired with a remote targeting hull like the Citadel and Novastorm. You could also mix and match the two mortars to get the best of both worlds.

Explosive system V is more than likely going to be in line with the others and help mortars with their splash, spread, and projectile speed. I think that combustion system 2 is the better special all around do to most FvF combat not catering to mortars and the reduction of spread. With the spread bonus, you have a greater chance of being able to hit the most compact buildings in the new FM and Mines. If the splash bonus is better on the explosive system than the 50% in Combustion System 2, that might give this a bit of an edge, even with the reduction in the spread. A few other factors will be the weight comparison and projectile speed.

The changes to the Assault class ships was robust. First, some hulls got a nice boost to penetrative damage. Kodiak also got a small boost to Corrosive resistance. These are all great changes and will help make older fleets a bit more competitive at the lower end of the game.

Missile Cruiser X

·         Penetrative Damage: +35%

Interceptor V2-H

·         Penetrative Damage: +35%

Kodiak

·         Penetrative Damage: + 35%; Corrosive Resistance: +40%

Rhino

·         Penetrative Damage: +35%

Meanwhile we can see the following for the Foundry retrofit.

Foundry Retrofits

Missile Cruiser X

·         R1: Assault DPS: 0 to 3

·         R2: Assault DPS: 3 to 6

·         R3: Assault DPS: 6 to 12; Siege DPS: 0 to 6

·         R4: Assault DPS 12 to 25; Siege DPS 6 to 12; Corrosive Resistance 25% to 30%; Combat Speed 12 to 13

·         R5: Assault DPS: 25 to 50; Siege DPS 12 to 25; Corrosive Resistance 30% to 40%; Combat Speed 13 to 15

Interceptor V2-H

·         R1: Assault DPS: 0 to 12

·         R2: Assault DPS:12 to 25

·         R3: Assault DPS 25 to 50; Siege DPS: 0 to 25

·         R4: Assault DPS: 50 to 200; Siege DPS: 25 to 100; Corrosive Resistance: +25% to +30%

·         R5: Assault DPS: 200 to 400; Siege DPS: 100 to 200; Corrosive Resistance: 30% to 40%

Kodiak

·         R1: Assault DPS: 0 to 30

·         R2: Assault DPS: 30 to 62.5

·         R3: Assault DPS: 62.5 to 125; Siege DPS: 0 to 62.5

·         R4: Assault DPS: 125 to 250; Siege DPS: 62.5 to 125; Corrosive Resistance: 40% to 45%; Assault Deflection 0 to 12.5; Siege Deflection: 0 to 7.5

·         R5: Assault DPS: 250 to 500; Siege DPS: 125 to 250; Corrosive Resistance: 45% to 55%; Assault Deflection: 12.5 to 25; Siege Deflection: 7.5 to 15

Rhino

·         R1: Assault DPS: 0 to 42.5

·         R2: Assault DPS 42.5 to 85

·         R3: Assault DPS 85 to 175; Siege DPS 0 to 85

·         R4: Assault DPS: 175 to 350; Siege DPS 85 to 175; Corrosive Resistance: 50% to 55%; Assault Deflection: 0 to 50; Siege Deflection: 0 to 25; Turret Defense: 0% to 10%

·         R5: Assault DPS: 350 to 700; Siege DPS: 175 to 350; Corrosive Resistance: 55% to 65%; Penetrative Resistance: 40% to 50%; Assault Deflection: 50 to 100; Siege Deflection: 25 to 50; Turret Defense: 10% to 30%

Some exciting changes to these hulls once you move through the foundry retrofit levels. I will admit the rhino is getting some nice buffing and will be helpful for the new raid series. Especially, if the Turret defense stacks with our other specials like Frontline Countermeasure and Siege Battery. Typically, they have not, though, so I am not holding out hope. The others are getting some nice buffs as well, and those will also be helpful for the new raids. These changes make my V2-H fleet I tagged for doing the b set even more potent and valuable to those that manage to get a couple built before the raid.

My biggest complaint is how much time do they think players have to play this game? You will find out that the T5 is going to 350 million points on June 22, 2016. Yes, they are going to increase the points in the 97 so that you have to do the same amount. But, honestly who has that much time to spend doing the weekly each week, grabbing parts for the foundry, grabbing parts to equip turrets. Yeah, they say this is for end game, but who honestly believes that with the numerous changes in the game the last few months that anyone at the end is prepared to keep up? I for one do not want to spend six days at one hour a day hitting the FM targets, and then on top of that have to spend a few hours doing the other stuff.

What happened to lower some chores in the game? As always, would love to read your thoughts in the comments.