What makes the DS great?

[Bobingabout]

This post is a bit off-topic, but since you asked:

X3: Reunion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X%C2%B3:_Reunion

its a space fighting and trading game, much like how i would like Destructivality 2 to have been. although you do have a set of missions to keep the game interesting, the main aim is to trade your way to power, build an army and protect, or destroy the universe.

I'm kinda in a jam at the moment. Last night i went to Omicron Lyrae to buy a nova raider in my captured pirate nova, and changed my mind after seeing its weapon selection, however, i can't get out of there because theres a Xenon P cruiser, 3 Xenon XL heavy fighters, and a Xenon L Heavy fighter litterally destroying the place, for 1 the battleship is gone, and the only Argon ship in the sector is the TL class (massive transporter, used to transport structures you buy) Argon Mammoth. now, a Pirate nova M3 class heavy fighter is no match for a Cruiser, let alone 1 accompanied by 4 Heavy fighters, who seem to be able to shoot at me with an endless stream of HEPTs, but the Mammoth is 15Km away. so i planned a tactic, jump in a pair of captured pirate Falcan M3 class Heavy Fighters(that makes all 3 of my M3 ships, which were all captured from Pirates, its easier to get your first M3 by capturing rather than buying, because the cheapest 1 costs about 1.6 million credits, however, you have to be careful, because they cost about 500 thousand to a million credits to repair, then either way you have to upgrade its capabilities(speed, manuverability and cargo space),and equip them with weapons, and shields, and software, and any other gadgets such as a 100k jumpdrive and 50k transporter system, which can cost another 500 thousand to 1.5 million credits. so, you'd best capture 2 or 3, then do up the best and sell the rest so you can afford it. i had to sell a pair of fully kitted out M5 light fighter scouts to afford to mearly repair my first M3, which was a Falcan Vanguard, which i later sold to do up a Falcan, because the Vanguard can't make use of a jumpdrive, because theres not enough storage space for the fuel required to jump more than 2 sectors.), while luring the Xenon ships to the mammoth before they destroy the rest of the place, and then try and take them out.

now, the nova is a special ship, since it is probably the only fighter with a rear mounted turret, and you can fit an AHEPT. and to my suprise, in my execution of phase 1, while dodging that endless stream of HEPT fire, my rear mounted AHEPT turret destroyed the Xenon P Cruiser(i own an argon police licence, and as such the argon federation pay me bounty for every enemy i kill in argon space, they payed me 5000cr for the kill, which sadly is mearly the same as a M3 class heavy fighter). i imediatly docked at the nearest station to save my game, but continuing the luring, my rear AHEPT shooting at the Xenon hit the Mammoth as i flew by, several times, and the mammoth captain got mad and started shooting at me, so, i turned it off and went to work. when i get home, i'll try that again, and hopefully manage to destroy the xenon intruders.

i need to buy another AHEPT, my original loadout was 2 forward AHEPT, 2 forward BPACs, 2 forward BIREs, 2 forward APSEs, and 1 rear BPAC, i swapped my rear BPAC with a forward AHEPT for this task, and i REALLY like the result, so, i need a new forward AHEPT, and those things costs a couple of hundred thousand. the BHEPTs cost about half a million, and i don't think any of my ships can use them.

if i buy this Argon Nova Raider, i'll need to change my loadout to APACs instead of BPACs, AIREs instead of BIRES, and IDs instead of APSEs, because the Nova Raider can't use the same weapons as the Pirate Raider, the Pirate nova is build for firepower, where the Nova Raider is built for speed and monoverability, which is 1 reason why i like the Falcons, they have high speed and good weapons, however, they only have 50MJ shield emitters, where the Pirate nova has 75MJ. Pirate Nova's are hard to capture, because the Pirate also fit them with Rear AHEPTs. I'll probably save my 2 million credits, and buy something that will make me more money, instead of a new nova.

Weapons names:
Prefix A or B or G(in rare cases) refer to Alpha, Beta or Gamma radiation. Beta is stronger than Alpha, i've never owned a gamma based weapon, but i imagine it would be the strongest.

IRE = Impulse Ray Emiter. Rapidly fires a low power high speed energy projectile. this is great for low energy situations. (your weapons are powered by an energy generator, meaning you can only fire for so long. in M3 class ships, like my nova, the energy generators can typicly power a pair of BIREs indefinitly) These weapons can generally be fitted in almost any ship. (My M5 Discovers used 2 AIREs and 2 BIREs, before i sold them to fix my captured Pirate Falcan Vanguard, my Mercury Frieghter ships are fitted with BIRE rear mounted turrets.)

PAC = Particle Accelerator Cannon. Fires Moderatly speed medium energy projectiles at moderate intervals. this is a good standard weapon, and can be fitted in most M4 and M3 fighters, some M5s can be fitted with APACs, such as the Pirate Harrier.

HEPT = High Energy Plasma Thrower. Fires a slow High Powered Energy Projectile at fairly slow intervals. this is a good weapon for M3 class fighters, and generally can't be fitted in the smaller ships.

Main problems are that the slower the projectile moves, the harder it is to hit your target, so those crappy IREs are pretty good against smaller high speed ships, or long range shooting. i tend to use IREs at ranges 1.5km and further. switch to PACs at about 1km, and HEPTs at 500m. and use my PSEs agains groups within a 500m to 1km range, usually paired with IREs(which is great against Kha'ak clusters, i killed all 9 cluster ships in about 5 seconds once using only the BIRE and APSE loadout. they also fire missiles, so, i could have detonated a missile close to the cluster, which severarly dammaged them).

you can have 4 loadout groupings, so, i tend to pair things up. currently, my short range config is AHEPTs and BPACs, midrange is BPACs and BIREs, longrange/low energy is BIREs only, and group is BIREs and APSGs. an alternate grouping i tried was close range quick dammage, AHEPTs and BPACs, short range AHEPTs, medium to long range BPACs and BIREs, and group BIREs and APSG. note there is no longrange/low energy group. in this case, use the mid/low range BPAC + BIRE combo, because, when you have low energy, the BPACs rarely fire. the first config is more useful imo.

PSG = Phased Shockwave Generator. a short range energy weapon, that detonates a wave infront of your ship that causes minor damage to mass targets, great for shooting down missiles, and large numbers of smaller ships, however, it also damages friendlies, so, its best used for solo fighting in wide open spaces(away from friendly ships and stations)

ID = Ion Disrupter. Simular to the PSG. however, it emits as an energy cone from your ship, rather than a shockwave.

these are just some of the weapons i've played with, the Xenon P Cruiser, and the Argon Mammoth TL were shooting something even stronger than AHEPTs, although i might have seen 1 in a factory in argon prime, i can't remember the name of the weapon.