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Review Series Episode 1: ICC Assault Cruiser |
Vice Admiral Josh Knight
Vice Admiral
Joined: July 25, 2010
Posts: 56
|  Posted: 2010-09-10 21:11
Hello, Im starting a ship "review" series since there really are not very many out there. First im going to focus on cruiser and below ICC ships(also the MD, but it might as well not be a dread) as im in ICCU and cannot yet fly any dread but the MD. So im first toing to start out with my new favorite, the Assault Cruiser.
WEAPONS: The Assualt Cruiser has i believe 6 torpedo launchers, 2 heavy beams, and multiple normal beams. Note they are all pretty much mounted on the front of your ship, and if somebody gets behind you, i would suggest e-jumping IMMEDIATLY. These torps and beams all in the front make for a very deadly close range ship indeed.
RANGE: Your torps are really useful from 400 gu's in, as they have a very good chance of hitting anything of decent size. Your heavy beams are good for about 220 gu's. And your minor beams are about 150 gu's and in. This is all without enhancements, so enhanements will increase your range. Basically, get 500 gu's in to start with, and approach your target from there.
DEFENSE: All of your beams can funtion as PD, but this really drains your energy and severly weakens your offense. I don't suggest running pd at all actually, if you are facing missle ships or fighters, you need to jump in close. The AC can take about the same punishment as the heavy cruiser in my experience.
USAGE: All of these beams and torps make for the deadliest short range ship either the ICC or UGTO has up untill the assualt dreads. Short range. Long range, you will absolutely suck as you will have no weapons that can fire. So you need to jump in very close, use your beams and torps, and enjoy the damage. DO NOT STAY LONG RANGE I REPEAT.
NEGATIVES OF THE SHIP AND WHEN NOT TO USE IT: Really, if your in this you are only good in wide open space battles. Planet hugging is a no no as the missles and fighters from the immenent stations that will come at you will absolutely destroy you. Use this ship against corvettes, frigates, dessies, cruisers, and even carrier dreads. Do not go at a combat dread or any station, as your weapons are not powerful enough to take them out without help. The other major problem is the energy. Trust me, you will do massive damage, but for a very limited time. You will run out of energy very fast, and will repeatedly have to jump out to recharge. Good news is ammo is not a problem.
Well thats my review, give any feedback or tips you may have on the review or the ship. Thx for reading this massive wall of text!
[ This Message was edited by: Vice Admiral Josh Knight on 2010-09-10 23:32 ]
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SpaceAdmiral
Grand Admiral
Joined: May 05, 2010
Posts: 1005
| Posted: 2010-09-11 00:36
in skilled hands it can take out a dread, especially with enhancements
it can do it without enhancements however
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Windless Storm
Admiral
Joined: June 06, 2010
Posts: 105
From: classified
| Posted: 2010-09-11 02:24
Quote:
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On 2010-09-10 21:11, Vice Admiral Josh Knight wrote:
Use this ship against corvettes, frigates, dessies, cruisers, and even carrier dreads. Do not go at a combat dread or any station, as your weapons are not powerful enough to take them out without help.
[ This Message was edited by: Vice Admiral Josh Knight on 2010-09-10 23:32 ]
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well i dont agree at these point ... but except that it was a short and good review....
[ This Message was edited by: A.I. Virus on 2010-09-11 02:25 ]
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*FTL*Soulless
Marshal
Joined: June 25, 2010
Posts: 787
From: Dres-Kona
| Posted: 2010-09-11 03:25
going to give ya an A for effort but.........
1) don't jump just because someone is on your Six make every effort to shake him off
2) an AC can run great PD AS LONG as you remember to turn off the HCLs
3) you can use it at what ever is in your range for decent damage
4) If you are constantly running out of energy that means you are not managing your shields and energy correctly
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Marius Falix
Grand Admiral
Joined: July 05, 2010
Posts: 268
From: Luyten
| Posted: 2010-09-11 04:21
Has no rear armour either.
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Enterprise
Chief Marshal
Joined: May 19, 2002
Posts: 2576
From: Hawthorne, Nevada
| Posted: 2010-09-11 07:04
Quote:
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On 2010-09-10 21:11, Vice Admiral Josh Knight wrote:
Hello, Im starting a ship "review" series since there really are not very many out there. First im going to focus on cruiser and below ICC ships(also the MD, but it might as well not be a dread) as im in ICCU and cannot yet fly any dread but the MD. So im first toing to start out with my new favorite, the Assault Cruiser.
WEAPONS: The Assualt Cruiser has i believe 6 torpedo launchers, 2 heavy beams, and multiple normal beams. Note they are all pretty much mounted on the front of your ship, and if somebody gets behind you, i would suggest e-jumping IMMEDIATLY. These torps and beams all in the front make for a very deadly close range ship indeed.
RANGE: Your torps are really useful from 400 gu's in, as they have a very good chance of hitting anything of decent size. Your heavy beams are good for about 220 gu's. And your minor beams are about 150 gu's and in. This is all without enhancements, so enhanements will increase your range. Basically, get 500 gu's in to start with, and approach your target from there.
DEFENSE: All of your beams can funtion as PD, but this really drains your energy and severly weakens your offense. I don't suggest running pd at all actually, if you are facing missle ships or fighters, you need to jump in close. The AC can take about the same punishment as the heavy cruiser in my experience.
USAGE: All of these beams and torps make for the deadliest short range ship either the ICC or UGTO has up untill the assualt dreads. Short range. Long range, you will absolutely suck as you will have no weapons that can fire. So you need to jump in very close, use your beams and torps, and enjoy the damage. DO NOT STAY LONG RANGE I REPEAT.
NEGATIVES OF THE SHIP AND WHEN NOT TO USE IT: Really, if your in this you are only good in wide open space battles. Planet hugging is a no no as the missles and fighters from the immenent stations that will come at you will absolutely destroy you. Use this ship against corvettes, frigates, dessies, cruisers, and even carrier dreads. Do not go at a combat dread or any station, as your weapons are not powerful enough to take them out without help. The other major problem is the energy. Trust me, you will do massive damage, but for a very limited time. You will run out of energy very fast, and will repeatedly have to jump out to recharge. Good news is ammo is not a problem.
Well thats my review, give any feedback or tips you may have on the review or the ship. Thx for reading this massive wall of text!
[ This Message was edited by: Vice Admiral Josh Knight on 2010-09-10 23:32 ]
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From too much experience in the game, for me it lacks alot of details, but for newer players its pretty okay.
Let me expand a bit for anyone who wants to know more.
The Assault Cruiser suffers alot from what is a double edged sword; its an assault ship, but its an assault ship on a ranged faction. Similarly, its has energy heavy defenses combined with energy heavy weaponry.
This makes for a problem. The AC packs alot of firepower, but it has to be used with finesse because you're not going to get alot out of it before you run out of energy.
\
Firstly, never ever use your beams except at point blank. Map your beams to one hotkey and your torpedos to another. You need each second to count. Only anything under 150gu or less is acceptable. Hopefully while closing the distance.
Secondly, your torpedos also have to be carefully used. Bear in mind that despite having the lowest energy cost they still cost quite a bit for the energy hungry ship. If you haven't guessed already, energy is very important for this ship.
As an assault ship, your tactics should be straightfoward, jump in, do as much damage as fast and as quickly as possible, and get out the second your energy hits zero. How to go about this is another matter. It depends strongly on the situation, be here are some general tips to maximize your effectiveness:
1.) Jump in as a support ship after your main target is already engaged. This is important when targeting ships like Dreadnaughts and stations. Get in close, and hammer away at the rear of ships like Dreadnaughts, but for Stations, your best bet is to keep at range and throw torpedos.
2.) Speaking of sticking to a rear, do this always no matter what ship you are in, but the AC is even more important in this because of the lower defenses of the AC.
3.) When fighting ships your size or lower, you hold the advantage with beams. Get in close and behind them and they won't last.
4.) Despite having less defenses, the AC holds superiority over other ships of its class because of shield rotation. Get jumped in rear? Start hammering that 2 button. Alternatively, getting hit in the fronn while tailing an enemy? Hit the 8 button.
5.) Assault Cruisers are absolute monsters in packs. Get a couple buddies and melt face.
6.) Beams are easily the damage bearers of this ship. If you go for enhancements, either Beam Accelerators to maximize falloff) or Beam Multiplexers (for damage) are the way to go. If you want to be more nimble, Makkar Ship Boosters are also very effective despite the defense loss.
7.) Don't be retarded and try to use the AC as a ranged ship. The HC is much better at it. Your torpedos are support weapons, not primary ones.
8.) If you get targeted by a larger ship as a main target, get away. When you are in the AC, pretend you are playing Kluth. You are a ninja with a dagger ready to stick it into an enemy at its most vulnerable points and aid larger ships in tackling otherr larger ships. Or, being a destroyers worst enemy.
9.) Don't actually jump in point blank on ships - you put yourself in a dangerously vulnerable position : No energy and no JD. Right with the enemy all around. Yes you have to close the distance. The only exception is if you're very determined to take out a very specific small ship.
And thats all I can think of. Feel free to add to it.
-Ent
[ This Message was edited by: Saint Valentine on 2010-09-11 07:07 ]
[ This Message was edited by: Saint Valentine on 2010-09-11 07:08 ]
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SpaceAdmiral
Grand Admiral
Joined: May 05, 2010
Posts: 1005
| Posted: 2010-09-11 10:54
i think im giving away a trade secret, but beam multis may not be the way to go...
in a rough comparison (i know AC has less torps and no cannons) a WEP multi torpedo cruiser will dish out extreme damage
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DiepLuc
Chief Marshal
Joined: March 23, 2010
Posts: 1187
| Posted: 2010-09-11 11:10
I would like to add some advice for new user to this AC:
Enhancement:
- Maneurv... jets (sorry I don't remember the name) are not recommended on this ship. Instead, engine enhs are nice. I suggest Makkar Booster and Colour Exhaust.
- For human laser: the farther the distance is, the weaker the damage does. Therefore beam accelerator on this ship is not quite good. Beam condenser or multiplexer is recommended.
- Too few torps, so weapon enhs are not recommended. Instead, defense enhs are good. I suggest: Zlaar and Benchford.
Attack strategy:
Point jump any smaller ships while your speed is under 10 but still moving. Make sure you click ~400 behind the ship (depends on the speed). Don't move so fast but don't stand still. Applies this to all assualt class. You can point jump behind dreads. But don't jump behind scarab.
As ICC can direct shield, feel free head-to-head to the enemy. That makes direction simple.
Since a cruiser is great at balance, try to capture the enemy when possible. You can use AC when you try to capture a station, but don't think of attacking a station with AC.
As Valentine has said, use number instead of spacebar. Keep in mind that energy draining from firing seperate weapon system cost less than an alpha strike. When you're above any ship, don't use the torp, use beams only to avoid FF. There is no need to kill red diamond at all cost.
[ This Message was edited by: chlorophyll on 2010-09-11 11:13 ]
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Vice Admiral Josh Knight
Vice Admiral
Joined: July 25, 2010
Posts: 56
| Posted: 2010-09-11 11:12
Yeah, this was meant to be a basic guide for those new to the ship. I haven't been using it that long myself. About the dread thing though, i find that whenever i jump most dreads, i get my but kicked or run out of energy before finishing the job.
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Talien
Marshal
Templar Knights
Joined: May 11, 2010
Posts: 2044
From: Michigan
| Posted: 2010-09-11 11:47
Chances are you won't be able to take out a DN alone before you run out of energy unless you've got a lot of beam multiplexers, but an AC working together with another ship can easily do it.
If a smaller ship is chasing you and you aren't in the middle of a large scale battle area the best thing to do is stop moving forward and turn, their speed/maneuverability advantage is nullified and either they stop moving as well and make themselves a horribly easy target or they speed up and put some distance between you. Either way it gets them off your back and puts you into a better position.
If there's lots of other enemies around and you've got a good amount of armor and shields left then park yourself ontop of a larger enemy ship that's being attacked and has their attention focused on someone else, the guy following you either FFs his own teammate or picks a different target. If you're kinda low then jump to a group of friendly ships so they can get rid of him if he jumps after you.
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Borgie
Chief Marshal
Pitch Black
Joined: August 15, 2005
Posts: 2256
From: close by
| Posted: 2010-09-12 13:10
Quote:
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On 2010-09-11 00:36, SpaceAdmiral wrote:
in skilled hands it can take out a dread, especially with enhancements
it can do it without enhancements however
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in skilled hands just about any ship can kill a dred. its not saying much there
[ This Message was edited by: Borgie on 2010-09-12 20:07 ]
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0mni
Grand Admiral
Joined: March 09, 2004
Posts: 288
From: Canada, Lived around the world.
| Posted: 2010-09-12 14:52
Especially when the dread is AI or is afk 
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