How to avoid missile damage without defense drone?

[infernaldragon5]

100% of the times I die in this game, it is because I don't get a defense drone to deal with missiles until I receive too much hull damage. All the offense in the world doesn't matter if I don't get that defense drone. If I get a defense drone with my Drone System purchase, I'm all set. If I get a system repair drone, I'm ♥♥♥♥♥♥ unless if I get really lucky and find a defense drone later on.

I'm debating if I should just restart all of my playthroughs from now on if I don't get a defense drone with my drone system purchase.

[Marte]

Usually i just aim at the enemy weapon system and their missiles go kaput. Without the defense drone its the only way i think. Also keep in mind that the defense drone can actually miss the shot and you get hit.

[OMEGA79[DethOIVI]]

i never buy such a drone ... most of the time i sell it if i find one ...
just aim all your fire at their weapons and you should be fine ...
as more weapons you get as quicker you can take em off and spread fire to other systems aswell

[DarkTwinge]

A variety of ways:

1) Damage their weapon system before they can fire their missiles. Fast-firing weapons are useful here, as are Reloaders, Pre-ignitors, and crew manning the weapons system.

2) Engines. A lot of newer players neglect buying Engine upgrades; that icrease in evasion is helpful for dodging both missiles and lasers alike.

3) Cloaking. You get +60% evasion while cloaked, allowing you to dodge projectiles in flight.

[Diresheep]

Can't forget the option of the Zoltan shield, although it's a little harder to come by

[StudleyKansas]

I share your frustration with getting that system repair drone instead of my beloved Defense Mk I. The tips mentioned are pretty much your only alternatives, however they are pretty much standard procedure anyway. Take weapons out, upgrade engines, these are things you pretty much always do anyway. If you really want to be sure you have that drone, you can always play the Mantis B, which starts with one as well as 2 shields.

[infernaldragon5]

Targetting weapons hardly ever is of much help, they can usually get off one missile barrage before I even power up my weapons, and with my luck when I damage the missile system it only cancels out their useless beam or heavy laser anyway. Pre-ignitors are way too rare.

Engines to evade is a wash. Getting to 30-40% evade is cheap enough but it is not in any sense a hard counter under any circumstances. Plus, the extra energy can always be used for more weapons to kill the enemy faster.

Cloaking can usually only afford me a dodge every other missile fire or so due to its cooldown.

Mantis B is pretty much my favorite ship right now. The Zultan ship is also alright because usually the super shields hold out long enough against missiles until sector 2 or 3 just by themselves.

[Drain]

Upgrade your Engine and pray to jesus. Unless you're an Atheist like me. Dumbass religious fanatics. Also, try Cloaking late in the game. Rank 1 after the missile fires will make the missile miss for only 1 power investment. When praying to jesus for dodges doesn't work; Cloaking does.

[mikeydsc]

Teleport over to kill the weapons also

[Diesel Dave]

High evasion and cloaking

[LosthawkX]

Get cloking and high evasion also put one of your players in the the engin room

[W@KK0]

1) Engines... power them up faster than shields. Seriously. When you can get your dodge rate around 50% you're doing fantastic

2) Level up your helms man and engineer. Both maxed give you a bonus 10% each for 20% to evasion.

3) Drones are nice, but don't rely on them. Even with a good drone, they still miss the missiles.

4) Focus fire on the weapons if you must. If you have multiple weapons with different timing, don't let them auto fire. Wait till they are all charged, then fire them all at once. Repeat. Autofire is a nice lazy option, but focus fire with multiple weapons attacking at one time helps ensure the damages get through all the layers of shields and hit your intended target better.

[pickled_heretic]

The best way to avoid damage is to inflict overwhelming damage on your opponent before he has a chance to attack. Pre-igniter and cloak both guarantee that you get first strike. After that, it's down to how smart you are with your weapons. Ion weapons are actually pretty bad for this since they require cumulative shots over a period of time to wear down shields. You want enough basic laser fire to reliably bring shields down, and at the end of your volley there should be some heavy lasers and/or beam weapons (avoid the glaive beam, it is bad). Ships with 4 weapon slots have a pretty big advantage here.