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

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.

Special Request: Hellwraith build

I got my Hellwraith now what?

By Jon Irwin

Specialist AKA Specs

This article is going to be quick to cover some questions I am getting about a Hellwraith build. I am enjoying the raid, even if it is a bit of a grind for me. If you have yet to start I suggest you hit the A set targets, try the elites if you wish. Just realize that it is going to take more than a single fleet for most of the player base.

Now on with the Hellwraith

If you have not done so, you should read the article by Dragon Bane (George) about the twister fire torpedo. It will put this build in a brighter light on why I chose what I chose. Also, understand that I did participate in the open preview server and got to see an iteration of the targets we will be facing. This build takes that into account, as well as my need to hit player fleets on the open water.

With that knowledge in mind, I have decided to go with a mixed approach to my Hellwraith. This build will be able to tackle the raid, help me defend alliance mates from attackers, and just be helluva a lot of fun.

My Builds

Raid build

PvP theory crafting

Why these components

You can get by without the Assualt torpedos; they were added to give me a few more speed. They should never fire, but instead of 63 combat speed, it will be a swift 67 combat speed. The charon torpedo is pretty close to damage of the new fire twister torpedos, only a couple hundred difference and no splash. So, I should still hit pretty hard on that initial volley. 

Magnus 2 was enough with the stealth armor to keep me undetected from the Reavers, and the only issue was if I ran into a subcavitor field. The Ion Thruster 3 is there to help me with turn speed. These two components help give me an excellent combat speed, and good turn speed. The Stealth Attack 4 is there for my dive time and added damage boost. Sealed fire charge is there so that I can increase my projectile speed, and give a little more splash. Of course, we have to have Ablative Armor 3 for the death explosions.

All of this will give me a 14 day 9 hour build time, and I have enough weight available that I could go with more D3-S armor if I need more. I will be able to fit five of these in a fleet, as I do plan to get the Phantom Hellwraith when released in the future.

Summary

There are many different builders, and they might have a different take on the Hellwraith. We are not 100% sure what the raid will bring, and if you do not want to hit player fleets with the new hull, then you will be okay with just the fire twister torpedo. Hopefully, this will help you make up a few decisions when you weight what others have said, and what you wish to accomplish with your new submarine!

Ask specs anything August 10, 2016

This week question was from 10 individuals to my email.

This week there was ten questions for me to answer, and they all centered around one thing, and they came in this morning after people saw the prize list and costs for August raid. So, I figured I would discuss the raid that is starting Thursday, August 11, 2016. This raid is called Schism and is the last in the civil war series in the game of Battle Pirates. This raid you will want to use your Apollos if you have them as it is a hull store raid and the prizes have a hefty cost.

As a player of this game, the question that many have is probably on your lips too. 30 million points for the hull that is supposed to be the best in the September Event is a massive hike from the 15 million points for the Apollo this last raid cycle. What is the player supposed to do with such a high amount of points needed for just that one hull? Not to mention the 12 million points for the weapon and 7 million points for the special (which is required to make that gun shine). This large point total means that for the first time in the game of Battle Pirates the top three prizes are 49 million points! That is going to be out of the reach for many in the game. That is 18 sets of A targets, so it is possible for those that followed the right path and built Apollos over the month to achieve that. For those that have not, well there are two things I would recommend.

In case you have not seen the prizes here they are from the Shipyard with build times

HellWraith

With Fire Twister Torpedo

With Sealed Fire Charge

First step for those without the Apollo

The first thing a player that does not have any submarine at this point, they should aim for one of the other submarines in the prize list. They have added all the right ones to the list, and they will help with the September raid. If you have tiger sharks already, then aim for the weapon and special. Do not take the gun if you cannot get the special too. The reason for this is that the twister fire torpedo is a dumb fire weapon, and it acts more like a mortar under the water than a standard torpedo. The special gives it a nice boost to projectile speed to help it get to the target without missing.

If you do not have the tiger, then aim for the best sub that you can get. As well as Charon torpedoes at the minimum. If you follow this advice, you are looking at 6 million to 14 million points for the raid. This many points will help give you something to aid you in the September raid. The Charon will be just as valuable as a good submarine due to the damage it deals. Styx does not have the same punch and relies on specials to boost the DPS of that weapon. So, I would recommend that you take the Charon and then the best sub you can reach.

Second, step for those without Apollo

The second thing that the players can do is to ask for a mercenary to help you with the raid if you pay for the repairs. Often they do this for a set dollar amount. While I prefer to do as much myself, this event the point total to get the top three prizes is going to be out of reach for most players. This type of player can usually get you 10 million to 30 million points for your deposit. It should be viewed as a last resort and only if you are comfortable with doing so. ask around your sector for someone that is trustworthy.

Think of it as renting a fleet and a captain for your raid and that you will get the benefits of an elite fleet to aid in your development. You would only have to do this once to get to the point of being self-sufficient if you follow sound building advice for your fleets.

The preview

I was lucky to get a spot in the preview server for the September raid target and the new hull. You can find the video on the gaming channel. Be kind and forgive me as it is the first time I have used that program or streamed something. Any tips would be welcomed to make that experience better for all involved, me in producing it and yourself as my viewer.

Summary

If you have the Apollo try the elite targets, but worse case my build shared here will help you do the A sets, and you would need about 18 of them. If you cannot get the special and weapon, do not just take the weapon unless you already have the Charon torpedo and submarine like the NH or Tiger. Tiger is the next best choice for the next raid cycle that with the Charon would be 14 million points. Worse case you could hire someone to help you with the raid if you find it out of your range. Many charge a flat rate for so many points and if you are willing to pay for their repairs far more will be ready to help you meet your goal. I would use that as a last resort and only if you want to get somewhere that you otherwise cannot.

Thank you for reading and any questions feel free to ask in the comments below.

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!

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!!!

Sub Changes and New TLC; plus,

 what should you start doing to be ready for September raid change

This week we had the changes to subs, most notable is the fact that they have to be 100% repaired to launch, and the repair modifier changed to 100%. There is also the change for launcher based sub preps with a 25% reduction in range. This change means that a Launcher subrange will be 70 now, making it detectable by every thermal in the game, except for Rhinos. Also explosive damage will have a handicap of -99%. This is good news for those that do not have the Capital ships Proto Nemesis and Hellstar with their 100 range thermal and gives more options to combat against sub launcher preps. As well as those that cannot keep the mortar subs from getting to the OP and taking it out with a rim to get to 50%.

With the changes comes the foundry and our favorite subs are getting boost. These are without going through the foundry.

Barracuda:

• Accuracy +20%
• Explosive Defense increased to 40%
• Concussive Defense increased to 50%
• Cloak Time increased to 40sec
• Repair Modifier Removed - All subs now have a standard repair modifier of 100%
• Base Armor increased to 3,930

Spectre:

• Added a third special slot
• Explosive Defense increased to 40%
• Concussive Defense increased to 55%
• Combat speed increased to 16
• Repair Modifier Removed - All subs now have a standard repair modifier of 100%
• Base Armor increased to 7,908

Nighthawk:

• Accuracy increased to 20%
• Concussive Damage increased to 19%
• Explosive Defense increased to 30%
• Concussive Defense increased to 60%
• Cloak Time increased to 65 Sec
• Repair Modifier Removed - All subs now have a standard repair modifier of 100%
• Base Armor increased to 10,001

Tiger Shark:

• Accuracy increased to 20%
• Explosive Defense increased to 40%
• Concussive Defense increased to 65%
• Cloak Time increased to 70 Sec
• Repair Modifier Removed - All subs now have a standard repair modifier of 100%
• Base Armor increased to 10,750
• Max Weight increased to 7,650

As we can see here, the subs are getting many benefits that will aid them in the new raid format coming in September and help them with the new skirmish targets we are going to be seeing on the map. The foundry upgrades center on adding more DPS, explosive resistance, and Concussive resistance. As well, as minor tweaks to turn speeds and accuracy. Now you still might not be happy that they are taking away the zombie launches, and I cannot blame you. Many have learned to play that way, the goal going forward is to get to build different fleets to do the same thing. Also, with these changes hopefully we can get more play out of our subs. I am hopeful.

 The update brought a New TLC and new Conquer Hull.

Retribution

Thermonuclear Launcher

Atomic Targeting

This TLC will allow the player to hit other player bases to gain these prizes. I am sure it will be much like previous TLC with Three prize packs, 12 hours, 6 hours and 1 hour. Not sure how many targets per, but figure at least three to five and upwards of seven if they follow typical TLC pattern. It starts today at Noon game time.

September Raid changes

With the raid still a good 6 weeks away we can start to think ahead and get things ready. Especially with the changes to subs now, the foundry to give us access to better subs. So, lets discuss a few builds.

Cuda Build research technology only

Cuda build with some tier 3 FM technology

Cuda Build with high end FM technology and old raid torps.

For the Specrte builds you will use the same specials as I did for the Cuda, pretty much those are the three you want at all stages of your tech level.

Spectre build research technology only

Sprectre build with some FM technology

Spectre build with high end FM technology and old raid/FMtorps

Nighthawk build with research tech only

Nighthawk build with some FM technology

Nighthawk build with high end FM technology and Old Raid/FMtorps

Tiger Shark with research tech and salvages only

Tiger shark with some FM Technology

Tiger Shark with High End and FM technology and old raid/FMtorps

Hopefully, these builds will help guide you on a path to get ready for the September raid with technology you. I will state that I do not see specters and Cuda doing the high-end targets; however, Nighthawks and Tigers should do the A set and even elites. As always I will modify the advice as I see the targets and get to play with them. Hopefully, these initial builds will do the job, and no refitting will be needed. 

Remember to always use your best torpedo, your best engine, your best ablative armor 3 and then add in dive time and cloaking if you can.

Rumor on many Facebook pages is that we are getting a new sub in September Raid. No, I have not heard one way or another and have no knowledge of future prizes. If the new sub class is coming, you will want to try to get something ready for September raid so that you can claim it and new technology that will make the new raid series easy.

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.

A Different perspective from Bort on how to start the game

One more way to approach the game from a new player starting point

I thought this might be helpful for those that might want a different perspective than I have on starting out. Bort on the forums has given me permission to add his thoughts on this process to the blog, and I will summarize it every Friday. I hope that it provides some insight into a different way to go and help the new player make a choice on how to play the game.

The first thing you need to know is that Bort is making a straight move to the Sea Wolves and not going the campaign route.

From his forum posting, you can find his full write up here

Things that are easier

• Buildings are even quicker
• Many hulls / weapons / specials are even faster
• Researched weapons are stronger
• equipping turrets are independent of the building
• the potential for getting decent hulls early through the foundry
• regular vxp weekends (although my first will be the next one)

Things that are harder

• The FM is much tougher, even to get a foot in the door
• Raids are likely to be tougher to start

Mistakes made and shared experience

Which matches with my experience so far, He also made some critical mistakes that I mentioned earlier with not paying attention to what was needed to meet requirements for certain things. So, he got the shockwave morts but did not upgrade the intelligence lab to level four. Not upgrading the Launchpad so he could not use his rockets he researched right way. And the last early mistake was ignoring the fundamental researches so he could not use the mortars even after getting the intelligence lab upgraded.

We both share in not rolling for our free crews daily

Remember you want to do the basic research stuff in the lab this is.

Naval Lab minimum researches

• Iron 1 thru 4
• Steel 1 thru 4
• Titanium 3 and 4
• Depleted Uranium Armor 4

Weapon Labs minimum researches

• Thud I thru IV
• Rapier 1 thru IV
• Cutlass 4 (3 if you want to use it while looking for other missiles in salvages)
• Ripper IV
• Diplomat IV
• Peacemaker IV
• Hydra rockets IV
• Malestorm Rockets IV

Advance lab best researches for early to mid-game

• Guidance Scrambler
• Solid Fuel Booster
• Ablative armor
• Reactive armor
• Harden barrels
• Autoloader

If you follow, that guide for researching. Keep upgrading your buildings to the max level for the outpost.  Your intelligence lab to around 6. It will help you meet the necessary requirements for most things that you will find you need to succeed in the game.

Any questions feel free to comment below, have a great weekend!

Specs view on the September raid preview

Were you one of the lucky 300?

I was not one of the lucky ones that got into the raid preview, but I have watched quite a few videos that others have done and provided for our viewing pleasure. It has left me with a few thoughts.

None of the ones I watched did anything low level, so I am not sure how cuda and spectres will do. However, Nighthawks and Tigers did quite well from what I have seen with good driving. Of course, the lucky ones with a Ghost Crawler will have some fun in the raid series. One guy that I watched a twitch stream of was using Revenge, granted his way was the most expensive I had the pleasure to watch. So, what did the targets seem to have for strengths and weakness?

Weakness

Concussive damage, the corrosive and explosive damage is the way to go. The reavers have the typical weakness to concussive damage at they had the first time we faced them. The one guy I watched used vendettas with vanquishers out front. Did not do bad with the setup and in the Elite target, he took about 5 hours of damage. I would not recommend using mortars due to the speed of the targets. But, the Gatling gun did alright, and of course torps. The best torpedo you could use for the September raid the Charon. Granted it was in the last raid locked behind the 30 million points. If you do not have that torpedo, then B torpedos will be perfect for the range and damage. Also, siege torps should do just fine if that is all you have. You will have less room for mistakes with the shorter range weapons, though. I mentioned corrosive, and the Cobra scattergun was very useful in what I saw. It would dispose of the little drones quickly, and you could get close enough to the bigger ships to hit them with that weapon as well. Of course, the shorter range did not help much to navigate away from the pulsating sub cavitation fields that popped up.  That covers their weakness; you will want to refit your fleets with those three damage types and in that order. Surface fleets will take more damage, but they are doable if you have the right technology.

Strengths

The strengths in the target are concussive and explosive damage. From what I could tell the explosive was the death weapon that has a good range hitting you even while submerged. So, if you are using subs I would see if you could fit the Ablative armor three on them, not sure what slot to give up yet for that special. I would also consider using the new armors we are getting in the weekly. Yes, you might not like them because they did not fit what you wanted. But, the explosive resistance they impart to the subs will be useful in dealing with that death explosion that seemed to hit about 110 range from the target. For surface ships, again I would only use them if you did not have a sub fleet, you will want a mix of good explosive defense and use the concussive armors we got from the FM last month.

Some videos of various players doing the testing.

I hope this helps you with your planning stages, and we hopefully will get the skirmish foundry setup soon. This foundry update will allow us to get an idea of what the game developers feel is needed for the targets to be successful

Have a great day and leave a comment if you have questions!

Ask Specs Anything July 20,2016

How do I build my Vanquisher?

This week’s question I am sure you can imagine goes to the Vanquisher and what should you put on it. My answer to my friend Sirens Sweet Song.

Her question was:

OK got this hull now what?

My answer was as follows;

Hey SSS,

Congrats! I will tell you that you want to avoid anything that adds armor weight to the hull as it starts with a high base. As well it has a 100% defense handicap which does not allow for any armor that might add resistance. So, this leaves us with three choices for armor, evade, bulkhead, and cadmium. You know I am not a fan of the bulkhead so that means I would consider cadmium and evade. Now, Cadmium has some nice armor, but the speed bonus will not help this hull as it does not move. We also know that people will try to use suicide Tigers for the next month or two to take it out. So, this leaves the choice to Evade armor.

Weapons

For the weapon slot, we should look at the hull and see what it gets for bonuses. It has a big bonus to countermeasures. With increase accuracy and range, as well it has a generic boost to accuracy on the hull. It also has a nice boost to launchers, 100% reload and 10% range boost. I hope you took the new launcher as well for this build will require it. You will want some counter measures in the defense fleet so that you can reduce the effectiveness of Vendetta. If you did not get the new launcher, D98 is next best choice.

Specials

Specials, this hull, sports five special slots. We cannot move so we do not need an engine. You will want an evade special; I would go with Agility system so that you can get some pinch resistance. If you were lucky and got the emission generator, you will want to use that. If you were one of the unlucky ones that got hit with the prize redemption bug and got the special for the Apollo, you could use the barrel system 3. You will want to use countermeasure loader for the boost to reload, and of course, increase to our anti-mortar weapons. If you have cryo battery, you can use that to help lower the attacker’s resistance, and you can stack more evade bonus to help increase evade.

Summary

With all that said I would give you two possible builds (5 variants of those two) and depend on how you wish to go in your base, either can help you out. Before I give the builds, I hope you read the article on how to rank your fleets and you will have at least one or two to rank this weekend.

Five different options depending on your technology level

You might be tempted to do five of these for base defense, I would caution against that and maybe go with two so that you can diversify your defense fleet against other possible attackers. Below is the one I think I will go with at this time, and I will go with a second that is mostly gale 3.

I hope this helps and you love the hull.

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.