combat rank questions

[Happyscientist]

Ok lets start with what I know: killing big ships raise rank faster than small ships, killing ships with my ship raise rank faster than if I allowed a wingman to kill the same ship, leaving seta on for a long time causes rank drop.

Now with that out of the way what Id like to know is if there is more to fight rank besides just killing a bajillion ships. Does it matter how I kill my target, that is to say, can I just spam firestorm torps at an m1 or do I get more rank if I go toe to toe and duke it out with cannons? Does the size of my ship matter, should I try to take on a m1 in a m5 (yes I know that is suicide this is just hypothetical) or do I get the same rank results if Im in a m7? Do casualties count against me, can I use drones or m5s as a meat shield or does that lower my rank? Is there anything else that factors into rank calculations?

[Stormleecher]

Fight Rank

Increased by killing stuff. Each Ship class has a value of points given if killed In general the bigger and tougher the ship killed is the more points towards this rank you get. Ships killed by player owned ships out of sector give a reduced number of points. Affects the ships spawned by the Opponent Balancing System (OBS) for fight missions and in UFJD sectors in combination with the number of hostile ships already in the sector. The second to final mission of the Shady Business plot requires the destruction of a total of 50 capital ships which will give a high fight rank if done by a player piloted ship. If SETA is left on without player input for long periods the player Fight Rank will drop 2% every game hour (6 minutes on 1000% SETA).

[Happyscientist]

Originally posted by Stormleecher:

Fight Rank

Increased by killing stuff. Each Ship class has a value of points given if killed In general the bigger and tougher the ship killed is the more points towards this rank you get. Ships killed by player owned ships out of sector give a reduced number of points. Affects the ships spawned by the Opponent Balancing System (OBS) for fight missions and in UFJD sectors in combination with the number of hostile ships already in the sector. The second to final mission of the Shady Business plot requires the destruction of a total of 50 capital ships which will give a high fight rank if done by a player piloted ship. If SETA is left on without player input for long periods the player Fight Rank will drop 2% every game hour (6 minutes on 1000% SETA).

Yes, Im aware of that wiki page but I feel it is incomplete. Are you able to answer any of the questions that I asked in the second paragraph?

[Red Spot]

First of all I do not think your ships killing raises your fight rank, just your kills.
Also, "iirc" it is not bound to seta but inactivity so just not doing anything causes fight-rank to drop. Seta just accelerates it.

For the rest afaik it is just point based and it does not matter if you kill an M2 from an M5 (which is not suicide ....) or just use an other M2.

[Don]

Originally posted by Red Spot:

First of all I do not think your ships killing raises your fight rank, just your kills.
Also, "iirc" it is not bound to seta but inactivity so just not doing anything causes fight-rank to drop. Seta just accelerates it.

For the rest afaik it is just point based and it does not matter if you kill an M2 from an M5 (which is not suicide ....) or just use an other M2.

You are correct that SETA don't matter and fight rank reduction is based on inactivity. What type of ship you kill does matter, the higher the class the more points you get (but I think you meant the player ship you use, which then does not matter). Also, kills by your ships IS or OOS (and even drones) you own does gives you points (but not as much as player kills).

[Don]

Originally posted by Happyscientist:

Now with that out of the way what Id like to know is if there is more to fight rank besides just killing a bajillion ships. Does it matter how I kill my target, that is to say, can I just spam firestorm torps at an m1 or do I get more rank if I go toe to toe and duke it out with cannons? Does the size of my ship matter, should I try to take on a m1 in a m5 (yes I know that is suicide this is just hypothetical) or do I get the same rank results if Im in a m7? Do casualties count against me, can I use drones or m5s as a meat shield or does that lower my rank? Is there anything else that factors into rank calculations?

Based on my experience, what only matters is what you kill and what type. It doesn't matter what you use (M2, M5, drones, lasers missiles), and you won't get any penalties for any casualties you incur to your ships. Player ships kills does give you more points than remotely controlled ships (IS or OOS). As an example, I've had drone carriers OOS patrolling Xenon borders sectors that slowly raise my fight rank without me personally killing anything. And I'm sure you know this but I should mention it: the higher the fight rank the more points you need to gain the next level.

[Happyscientist]

Alright thanks don! This topic basicly came up because I had been using a tiger to jump into xenon sector 101 and droped about 70 keris (kerises? keri?) to soak some of the fire. Took out a J , 2 Qs, and uncountable number of fighters before I did a UFJ and it seemed as though my rank had dropped a few points. I figured I was miss remembering but Ive known games to punish for "dirty tricks" so I figured Id check. Had a similar thing happen with an m7m and a pirate sector, enough explosions on screen to make say "ok that is a bit over the top there" yet I dont think I gained even %1.

It occurred to me a few mins ago that what probably happened was I gave the engine way more than it was willing to calculate and it either dumped the incoming numbers or they overflowed into places they didnt belong......or I just have a really bad memory.

[Don]

Nice! A Tiger using drones as distraction, must be a really fun fight LOL. Most of my time in AP was from an old laptop so I couldn't do lots of the cool fights so I was mainly doing just empire building and let most fights happen OOS. Now that I've got a nice rig, I'm able to enjoy some of those dream battles now

Have you done the kill Xenons part in Shady Business yet? Just wondering what your approach to that will be.

[DrSuperEvil]

Player ship kills give more points than player owned ship kills and using SETA for long periods reduced fight rank.

[Happyscientist]

Originally posted by don:

Nice! A Tiger using drones as distraction, must be a really fun fight LOL. Most of my time in AP was from an old laptop so I couldn't do lots of the cool fights so I was mainly doing just empire building and let most fights happen OOS. Now that I've got a nice rig, I'm able to enjoy some of those dream battles now

Have you done the kill Xenons part in Shady Business yet? Just wondering what your approach to that will be.

Not yet, Im trying to push my way to unlocking lost lar and aldrin adventurer. GoD has been super aggressive in deleting and has left the majority of commonwealth utterly barren so gathering resources is a pain.

[Don]

Originally posted by Happyscientist:

Not yet, Im trying to push my way to unlocking lost lar and aldrin adventurer. GoD has been super aggressive in deleting and has left the majority of commonwealth utterly barren so gathering resources is a pain.

Wow! Good thing you showed up to start building up their economy :D