What is the point of a squadron?

[Sandwich-Anomaly]

So far... they are just as useless as the friendly ships I encounter when I deal with pirates. They do no damage whatsoever and they do not distract the enemy to give the player room to maneuver. They just fly around and fire theyre laser pointers while I still have to do everything. Same goes with the fleet of ships I have with my freighter. All those guns and they do barely anything

[Dirak2012]

They look cool, kind of... Like a lot of other things in the game, there is not really "a point" for them.

[Sandwich-Anomaly]

Dirak2012 lähetti viestin:

They look cool, kind of... Like a lot of other things in the game, there is not really "a point" for them.

but you spend nanites to upgrade them... and the stats. Its like there was a plan but decided not to go forward with it. So theyre just a cosmetic then huh?

[gussmed]

Squadrons are actually extremely useful. The only thing is, they won’t do the job for you.

They don’t do a lot of damage, but they prevent enemy shields from regenerating. This is more important on higher difficulties, and when you don’t have enough firepower to destroy your targets in a single pass.

They do, in fact, act as meat shields. You’ll take less shield damage with several wingmen in play. Sometimes it means your target is reacting to them, instead of you, so it’s easier to get. Into a firing position.

The defensive benefits tend to show up more strongly if you’re dealing with 4+ enemies at a time, as in bounty missions.

If you’re playing on Normal difficulty and only playing freighter defense missions… yeah, you won’t see a lot of benefit from your squadron.

[Legendary]

My squadron of three S class do some damage to the pirates, and I have found that they will eventually eliminate the pirates on their own if you accelerate away from the combat.
It's also another way to spend nanites if you have accumulated a lot of them.

[Sandwich-Anomaly]

gussmed lähetti viestin:

Squadrons are actually extremely useful. The only thing is, they won’t do the job for you.

They don’t do a lot of damage, but they prevent enemy shields from regenerating. This is more important on higher difficulties, and when you don’t have enough firepower to destroy your targets in a single pass.

They do, in fact, act as meat shields. You’ll take less shield damage with several wingmen in play. Sometimes it means your target is reacting to them, instead of you, so it’s easier to get. Into a firing position.

The defensive benefits tend to show up more strongly if you’re dealing with 4+ enemies at a time, as in bounty missions.

If you’re playing on Normal difficulty and only playing freighter defense missions… yeah, you won’t see a lot of benefit from your squadron.

So they only really work on higher difficulties then? Guess ill see what a full squadron can do...

[momopovich]

No, they are still useless on higher diffuculties once you have like 2 or 3 random S class upgrades on your weapon. Enemy fighters run straight into your visor and you vaporize them. There's no practical use for the squadron.

[Foxglovez]

Mini game. Something to do to keep you engaged with the game, or not, your choice. It's a sandbox.

[Dirak2012]

It's marginally useful, as they will take some shots meant for you, but in no way it's worth the time and resources needed.

[Mr. Bufferlow]

Most everything in the game is optional and you can question the usefulness. I never use exocraft. The squad just gives you something to put a dent in that ever growing pile of credits/nanites. They do have some cosmetic value, but that is balanced by them getting in your way while aiming.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2808213011

[taniwhat]

Meat shields. Collect maybe 20 kill pirate missions across multiple stations, then go trigger one :)

You'll find that useless squadron makes a life or death difference then.

[BlueLightning]

NPC does low damage to each other, including turrets, squadrons, or trader vs pirates. Honestly, I got fed up with it too, and that's why I made this mod:
https://www.nexusmods.com/nomanssky/mods/1608

It address everything you mentioned: Squadrons deal damage to pirate, and AI deal substantial damage to each other just like player's DPS. Frigates and freighter cannons now deal devastating damage instead of being there just for show. Well, if you are frustrated like me, give it a try.

[Sandwich-Anomaly]

BlueLightning lähetti viestin:

NPC does low damage to each other, including turrets, squadrons, or trader vs pirates. Honestly, I got fed up with it too, and that's why I made this mod:
https://www.nexusmods.com/nomanssky/mods/1608

It address everything you mentioned: Squadrons deal damage to pirate, and AI deal substantial damage to each other just like player's DPS. Frigates and freighter cannons now deal devastating damage instead of being there just for show. Well, if you are frustrated like me, give it a try.

ah i shall think on this then. But at I have reached the point in the game where I have done so much, gotten the best gear again that I might just drop it for a while and wait for something else to get updated.

[BlueLightning]

Sandwich-Anomaly lähetti viestin:

BlueLightning lähetti viestin:

NPC does low damage to each other, including turrets, squadrons, or trader vs pirates. Honestly, I got fed up with it too, and that's why I made this mod:
https://www.nexusmods.com/nomanssky/mods/1608

It address everything you mentioned: Squadrons deal damage to pirate, and AI deal substantial damage to each other just like player's DPS. Frigates and freighter cannons now deal devastating damage instead of being there just for show. Well, if you are frustrated like me, give it a try.

ah i shall think on this then. But at I have reached the point in the game where I have done so much, gotten the best gear again that I might just drop it for a while and wait for something else to get updated.

Well, that mod made the game combat somehow comparable to Elite Dangerous, so it's kinda challenging and fresh. Still lacking compared to the real elite but well, at least it should entertain you for a few chunk of hours.

Also, if you really want to get the mod, consider installing this too
https://www.nexusmods.com/nomanssky/mods/1637
For balancing the ship classes (need to obtain new ship or to upgrade old ship class)
and
https://www.nexusmods.com/nomanssky/mods/1606
To make it easier to get S class modules to combat them.

But yeah, you can always think about it.

[Shir Blackwater]

When you have a combat frigate teleporting in along with your squadron they do provide a big enough distraction when you have multiple ships to fight so you can focus on one or two at a time while your crew creates a distraction for the rest. Just don't expect them to take out any ships on their own, that's still your job.

[Holeypaladin]

NPC ships have incredibly strong shields and hull compared to player shield, and space combat is designed to be player VS NPC ships. Their low damage weapons are still enough to cause considerable damage to a player's pathetically weak shields, but their own shields are balanced around players throwing three X-rated weapon upgrades onto their guns, so they're tanky as heck. You can see how much stronger their shields are, because if you so much as tickle them with a phase beam (which only converts half of damage dealt to enemy shields into restoring the player's shields) when your shields are down, a you'll instantly be restored to full shields after knocking off a small fraction of the enemy's shield.... and this at normal combat difficulty with x-rated shield upgrades.

End result is that NPCs are essentially invulnerable to each other. Except for freighters, which get blown up quite quickly by pirate dreadnought fleets. Personally, I'd much prefer it if NPCs were as big a threat to each other as they are to the player, but oh well.