Space Combat Advice
As the title says, I'm just hoping for some space combat advice. I started as a homesteader since I want to focus a bit on Outposts and the Tech tree.
While doing the main quest and some side quests I've noticed a number of missions where I'm suddenly thrown into a 3 v 1 space fight and I get absolutely obliterated.
Any recommendations on better space combat? Not sure if I should be focusing on Lasers/Ballistics/Missles (use all 3 or just focus using two weap types?), or if I should just pony up for a nice fighter ship, or if there are a few key skills I can invest in to make those missions easier without going balls deep into the skill tree or killing my money pool.
For reference I'm level 13 and mostly getting into 3 v 1's against level 10 ships and getting destroyed in about 20 seconds. Thanks in advance!
Posted Sep 6, 2023, 5:58 PM UTC
Your best bet is to build a better ship and stack it for combat. All weapons of the same group fire simultaneously, so more weapons = more bullets = more damage. Power level affects regen, not damage. Note that you can only have one shield generator, so get the best one you can.
Particle beam weapons do high (but not max, like ~10-20% less than a dedicated laser/ballistic weapon) damage to both hull and shield. So you can try swapping out the laser/ballistic combo for all particle weapons. Just be sure you have enough power to spam it with little downtime.
The Piloting skill unlocks B and C class modules at Rank 3 and 4 respectively. These aren't necessarily better, but they allow for bigger, beefier ships. Class A is for small, nimble fighters. Class B are for smaller gunships like corvettes or frigates. Class C is for big chunky cruisers and the like. Class C tends to offer more upfront power but slower regen, while A is the opposite.
The Starship Design skill unlocks better versions of modules for your ship. Pretty much straight stat line increases.
Better shields is the easiest way to make it easier to survive fights. The Shield Systems skill is a massive increase to survivability. You can also just fill your hold with ship parts to heal mid-fight.
How does Shield Systems work? My ship menu says 572 shield, and I have rank 2 of the skill along with Vasco. But it still says 100 while fighting.