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heh 1 tip, icarus looovveeeeeessssssssss to eat mines (read as, hate).
He's also a sucker for nukes.
=D
=D
After being pirated by Icarus for the nth time, losing about 25k worth of cargo and equipment, I began to wonder if risking a trade run while Icarus was logged on was even worth it. Anxiously scanning the unfriendlies in each system, the moment you see "Icarus" on your targeting computer you know you're a goner.
Or are you?
Being the newbie that I am my first reaction upon seeing Icarus is to hit the turbo and run for the nearest station or wormhole. Invariably he catches up using that "tapping the turbo" trick, and when he gets within 200m or so, he unloads with sunfire rockets, and you're dead in 3-4 hits. The zig-zag maneuver or the barrel roll doesn't work since he is a dead-aim with those rockets. I was thinking though, since he has to get pretty close before using his all-rocket loadout, maybe buying some prox mines and laying them down while turboing would be a good answer. Does anyone else have any ideas on how to beat this dread pirate?
Or are you?
Being the newbie that I am my first reaction upon seeing Icarus is to hit the turbo and run for the nearest station or wormhole. Invariably he catches up using that "tapping the turbo" trick, and when he gets within 200m or so, he unloads with sunfire rockets, and you're dead in 3-4 hits. The zig-zag maneuver or the barrel roll doesn't work since he is a dead-aim with those rockets. I was thinking though, since he has to get pretty close before using his all-rocket loadout, maybe buying some prox mines and laying them down while turboing would be a good answer. Does anyone else have any ideas on how to beat this dread pirate?
use physics.... start going fast.... turn to look whats happening behind you while holding on to turbo. if you see a rocket coming on radar or "see" a rocket coming start to dodge by changing direction and turboing. And you can ask people to help escort you.... What nation are you because i am usally friendly to escort people.
You can dodge rockets by adjusting your direction of travel slightly every time you tap the boost. This way you never stay on the rockets direct path and any persuers will have to keep adjusting as well, so losing ground. The wormholes are big enough that you can hit one very easily when doing this.
Just be careful when approaching stations when being chased as the persuer knows exactly where to aim the rockets so they get there just before you dock.
The mines are a good bet to put people off but are unlikey to make a kill on their own, and do you want to be carrying mines around all the time instead of a more useful weapon (Advanced Gatling?). You also have only a limited number to carry, so there is the possiblility of running out of all weaponry if your not carrying any energy weapons.
Lots of people don't like mines and complain a lot when they're used, but I say if they're in the game then use them when you can. If someone's daft enough to wander into them then tough. I do use mines for trading-defence and capping, and they are also a nice "surprise" weapon that can turn the tables in a close fight. If circumstances are right then mines are definately a good weapon to choose.
Just be careful when approaching stations when being chased as the persuer knows exactly where to aim the rockets so they get there just before you dock.
The mines are a good bet to put people off but are unlikey to make a kill on their own, and do you want to be carrying mines around all the time instead of a more useful weapon (Advanced Gatling?). You also have only a limited number to carry, so there is the possiblility of running out of all weaponry if your not carrying any energy weapons.
Lots of people don't like mines and complain a lot when they're used, but I say if they're in the game then use them when you can. If someone's daft enough to wander into them then tough. I do use mines for trading-defence and capping, and they are also a nice "surprise" weapon that can turn the tables in a close fight. If circumstances are right then mines are definately a good weapon to choose.
Just become friends with him. :)
sheepdog, I'm Gold nation. I'll wave if I see ya. :)
Phaser, rockets are an excellent idea, for two reasons:
1) Icarus gets close when he uses rockets. Yesterday, I chased him out of 4 after he rocket-rammed me, because he didn't expect me to have rockets of my own, and wouldn't/couldn't take anymore damage (granted I was at 27%, but he was probably low, too). So, if you hit him with even 2 mines, that's as much as 5000 damage. In a 12000 Valkryie, that's 40%, leaving him at 60%.
2) It's hard to avoid mines and still stay close to a target. It's easy for you to dispense mines while boosting, because it takes no energy, and it requires him to either eat the mine, or slow down and change direction. However, when you do this, make sure he is not boosting parallel to you to dodge the mines, in that case you'd only be wasting them.
If you use mines, make sure to have a powerful backup weapon. By this, I mean some sort of rockets. If you're using the Centuar, put proximity mines in one of your large slots, screamer/avalon rockets in the second, and sunflare rockets in the third. In this case, drop the mines, and when he gets within 800m, turn around, reverse course, and ram him. If one of you dies, it will be him. Prox mines @ 2500 dmg a pop and rocket volleys @ 4500 dmg a pop do not exactly spell happy life for a Valkyrie.
If you're using a ragnarok, well, you're as good as dead. As it is, it's the slowest ship in the game, and has next-to-no armor, at least for a ship of its class. A good trading ship is the Atlas, and when the update comes, it will only be better. For it, I would suggest the Prox mines and sunflares. just be careful not to get into a battle of attrition, as you will lose with only 8000 armor.
When you see Icarus warp in, immediately find out where he's coming from, think that if you were him, where would you expect to find the trader, and then go someplace else. For instance, if you come out of 15, and see his little warp sig at 7, you know he'll be coming to 15. Hint: fly around the far side of wormholes 6 and 11 to make it to wormhole 7. Yeah, it takes more time, but you don't lose a ship.
Also, I happen to "detest" pirates, so if you have trouble, ask me to escort you. I am Bacix Tenra on red, but I switch to Defense Ship 4 on blue all the time to deal with unruly, uncivil, or immoral teammates.
1) Icarus gets close when he uses rockets. Yesterday, I chased him out of 4 after he rocket-rammed me, because he didn't expect me to have rockets of my own, and wouldn't/couldn't take anymore damage (granted I was at 27%, but he was probably low, too). So, if you hit him with even 2 mines, that's as much as 5000 damage. In a 12000 Valkryie, that's 40%, leaving him at 60%.
2) It's hard to avoid mines and still stay close to a target. It's easy for you to dispense mines while boosting, because it takes no energy, and it requires him to either eat the mine, or slow down and change direction. However, when you do this, make sure he is not boosting parallel to you to dodge the mines, in that case you'd only be wasting them.
If you use mines, make sure to have a powerful backup weapon. By this, I mean some sort of rockets. If you're using the Centuar, put proximity mines in one of your large slots, screamer/avalon rockets in the second, and sunflare rockets in the third. In this case, drop the mines, and when he gets within 800m, turn around, reverse course, and ram him. If one of you dies, it will be him. Prox mines @ 2500 dmg a pop and rocket volleys @ 4500 dmg a pop do not exactly spell happy life for a Valkyrie.
If you're using a ragnarok, well, you're as good as dead. As it is, it's the slowest ship in the game, and has next-to-no armor, at least for a ship of its class. A good trading ship is the Atlas, and when the update comes, it will only be better. For it, I would suggest the Prox mines and sunflares. just be careful not to get into a battle of attrition, as you will lose with only 8000 armor.
When you see Icarus warp in, immediately find out where he's coming from, think that if you were him, where would you expect to find the trader, and then go someplace else. For instance, if you come out of 15, and see his little warp sig at 7, you know he'll be coming to 15. Hint: fly around the far side of wormholes 6 and 11 to make it to wormhole 7. Yeah, it takes more time, but you don't lose a ship.
Also, I happen to "detest" pirates, so if you have trouble, ask me to escort you. I am Bacix Tenra on red, but I switch to Defense Ship 4 on blue all the time to deal with unruly, uncivil, or immoral teammates.
ok, i wont be on much till the 12th though, because of finals for school and a parent teacher confernce i have today.
back on topic, see, the only problem with mines is that the best trader does ont have mines, granted the heavy transport does, but who really wants to fly around a giant penis all day, i dont want to be like Dr. Evil that badly.
One thing that i did when i was a weak trader was just equip some heat seeking rockets and fire them, maybe 1 or 2.... your pirate would rather outrun rockets than chase you then. It worked for me, but i think you should expiement when you get more money.
back on topic, see, the only problem with mines is that the best trader does ont have mines, granted the heavy transport does, but who really wants to fly around a giant penis all day, i dont want to be like Dr. Evil that badly.
One thing that i did when i was a weak trader was just equip some heat seeking rockets and fire them, maybe 1 or 2.... your pirate would rather outrun rockets than chase you then. It worked for me, but i think you should expiement when you get more money.
The marauder is fast enough that basically you shouldn't have much problem with outrunning a pirate if you have say a fast recharge and an medium engine. Many traders make the mistake of using the efficient engine buts its top speed and acceleration are just too low to successfully escape a pirate using a heavy engine and an agile ship.
For trading in a Maruader, I'd probably either use 1 gauss and 2 sunflares or 1 guass and 2 gemini's, but basically I wouldn't bother stopping to fight at all. Stopping to fight is what gets traders killed, because you are playing to the pirates strength. If you don't slow down the pirate may hit you, but he's going to be unlikely to do enough damage to you to kill you before you can get away (either to a station to repair or to the nearest wormhole).
If the pirate was in front of me I'd flick a couple of rockets or heat seekers in his face to get him to manuever (thus dropping speed) and I'd try to go around him. If he was behind me I'd basically just tap turbo and use quick course adjustments to keep my speed high but my course erratic. Once I got the wormhole, I'd go into physics mode and a barrel roll. Since the pirate probably has a heavy battery and I have a fast recharge, once I jump I'll probably be safe.
The most dangerous point in getting away from a pirate is docking with a station because you have to slow down and that gives the pirate the oppurtunity he needs kill you. Plus, the pirate knows exactly where you are headed and thus has an easier time intercepting you. My advice would be not to try to 'blow by' a really skilled pirate at all. The most important skill in surviving pirates is good situational awareness. Learn to flick 'u' on and off alot so you know who is in the sector. Press 'x' whenever you start getting red dots on radar. Watch the range - is it decreasing? That means you are either headed to trouble or its is headed for you. If you see a pirate (or anyone for that matter) lurking near a station, don't just turbo straight toward the station and hope you get lucky. Lay off the turbo a few 1000 meters out from the station to recharge your battery. Take a good look at the ships near the station and try to figure out from thier behavior what they are doing and what ship they have. If someone is lurking near a station, try going around to the far side at a distance. Does the ship manuever to stay between you and the station? If not, you can probably approach the station safely by keeping it between you and the hostile player. (Always assume every red dot is potentially hostile). Plan your approach, and be prepared to run if it looks like someone is coming for you. It is better to sell cargo at a lesser profit somewhere else than risk a ship and the loss of a full load of cargo.
If you must get to a station (your ship is beat up and you don't think you could survive stopping to recharge at a wormhole), the best bet is to lure the pirate away from the station. Force the pirate to come to you, rather than going to them. Once the pirate is separated from the station, go around in a big circle using turbo and quick small turns (5-10 degrees each) until the pirate is behind you and you are headed to the station. Head toward a docking port at high speed. A good course isn't quite straight into a docking port, but rather at an angle by several (in case you goof). Right as you get to the ports hit the brakes (spacebar) and immediately hit enter to get in. If you miss you are in trouble, but if you choose a good course you shouldn't collide with the station. Try to use the station as terrain and quickly get around to the other side. If you can't, make another big circle and try again.
For trading in a Maruader, I'd probably either use 1 gauss and 2 sunflares or 1 guass and 2 gemini's, but basically I wouldn't bother stopping to fight at all. Stopping to fight is what gets traders killed, because you are playing to the pirates strength. If you don't slow down the pirate may hit you, but he's going to be unlikely to do enough damage to you to kill you before you can get away (either to a station to repair or to the nearest wormhole).
If the pirate was in front of me I'd flick a couple of rockets or heat seekers in his face to get him to manuever (thus dropping speed) and I'd try to go around him. If he was behind me I'd basically just tap turbo and use quick course adjustments to keep my speed high but my course erratic. Once I got the wormhole, I'd go into physics mode and a barrel roll. Since the pirate probably has a heavy battery and I have a fast recharge, once I jump I'll probably be safe.
The most dangerous point in getting away from a pirate is docking with a station because you have to slow down and that gives the pirate the oppurtunity he needs kill you. Plus, the pirate knows exactly where you are headed and thus has an easier time intercepting you. My advice would be not to try to 'blow by' a really skilled pirate at all. The most important skill in surviving pirates is good situational awareness. Learn to flick 'u' on and off alot so you know who is in the sector. Press 'x' whenever you start getting red dots on radar. Watch the range - is it decreasing? That means you are either headed to trouble or its is headed for you. If you see a pirate (or anyone for that matter) lurking near a station, don't just turbo straight toward the station and hope you get lucky. Lay off the turbo a few 1000 meters out from the station to recharge your battery. Take a good look at the ships near the station and try to figure out from thier behavior what they are doing and what ship they have. If someone is lurking near a station, try going around to the far side at a distance. Does the ship manuever to stay between you and the station? If not, you can probably approach the station safely by keeping it between you and the hostile player. (Always assume every red dot is potentially hostile). Plan your approach, and be prepared to run if it looks like someone is coming for you. It is better to sell cargo at a lesser profit somewhere else than risk a ship and the loss of a full load of cargo.
If you must get to a station (your ship is beat up and you don't think you could survive stopping to recharge at a wormhole), the best bet is to lure the pirate away from the station. Force the pirate to come to you, rather than going to them. Once the pirate is separated from the station, go around in a big circle using turbo and quick small turns (5-10 degrees each) until the pirate is behind you and you are headed to the station. Head toward a docking port at high speed. A good course isn't quite straight into a docking port, but rather at an angle by several (in case you goof). Right as you get to the ports hit the brakes (spacebar) and immediately hit enter to get in. If you miss you are in trouble, but if you choose a good course you shouldn't collide with the station. Try to use the station as terrain and quickly get around to the other side. If you can't, make another big circle and try again.
/me slaps Celebrim.
Medium engine sucks. Grab a heavy engine. More tap boosting, but you go faster and have more torque. And that's something you need against a rocket ramming Valkyrie.
Medium engine sucks. Grab a heavy engine. More tap boosting, but you go faster and have more torque. And that's something you need against a rocket ramming Valkyrie.
Arolte: But then you are asking a less experienced player to try to match an experienced players skill in turbo tapping to survive. Unless you are as good as the person chasing you, you are certainly going to lose ground. From experience with the medium engine I know it is possible to match its lower speed vs. better efficiency in long turbo runs vs. someone using a heavy engine, and thus recommend it to someone who needs to rely on equipment rather than experience. A medium engines thrust rating is only slightly lower than an heavy engines, and should provide plenty of power to a Marauder. If a newbie uses a heavy engine, I very much expect them to be completely out of power by the time they reach a wormhole, and that will give a pirate too much time to shoot at them.
Of course, if you are trading in an Atlas or a Centaur you don't have much choice but to use a heavy engine. The medium engine just doesn't have enough kick, and the efficient engine is suicidal.
Of course, if you are trading in an Atlas or a Centaur you don't have much choice but to use a heavy engine. The medium engine just doesn't have enough kick, and the efficient engine is suicidal.
Ooops
Honestly I've found that the low top speed of the efficient engine is balanced out by the ability to cruise through a system and warp out without recharging at all. Even the most skilled boost tapper will have to stop at the warp gate, buying you at least a second for every system you hop through. I've had blaster2 chase me back and forth between S14 and S15 for like 5 runs, he never did more than 15% damage and that was only when he camped a gate. Just the fact that you can maintain constant speed is a huge boon to escaping pirates or malicious gold players.
Nyte, a skilled boost-tapper will have a full battery by the time they reach the gate.
Celebrim: I doubt anyone nowadays uses any battery other than the fast recharge, especially pirates. With it, you can boost tap up to 250 energy quickly.
Question: The concept of using full battery charge to warp makes sense, but how come the heavy battery requires 550 energy to warp, while the fast charge uses 250? The obvious answer is "Duh it has to be full." But, why does it have to be full? How much energy should a ship take to warp? Making it battery dependent is stupid, unless of course batteries become ship-specific. :-\
Celebrim: I doubt anyone nowadays uses any battery other than the fast recharge, especially pirates. With it, you can boost tap up to 250 energy quickly.
Question: The concept of using full battery charge to warp makes sense, but how come the heavy battery requires 550 energy to warp, while the fast charge uses 250? The obvious answer is "Duh it has to be full." But, why does it have to be full? How much energy should a ship take to warp? Making it battery dependent is stupid, unless of course batteries become ship-specific. :-\
There is one thing about Icarus... He runs when you fight him in a roid field. If you manuever well, and manage to hit him a few times... he runs away. I have a sidewinder2, so i can move in ways he cant (he uses mouse/keyboard. ive watched the way his ships turn). Also, dont yet him near enough to rocket ram.
i dont know why you guys have such problems with him. i mean, come on. is he really so good that you have to make a database of information on how to stop him?
No he's not. And he won't be once 3.2.6 is released.
=)
=)
yesh... once you get good at boost tapping.... and i mean really good.... youre gonna be safe from most pirates... i have gotten to boost tape with a heavy engine and fast recharge batt and maintained about 190 m/s speeds... higher sometimes but i like to chat a lot.
Also be careful to keep Ragnarok usage to a minimum. Regardless of boost tapping and regardless of what engine and battery combo you use, it's too frickin' slow. You'll almost always die.