Better way to cap fighters?

[Jeffreyac]

Hi folks,

I am on another run through the balance of power plot, and it's one of my absolute least favorite plots, because to get everything out of it I need to cap fighters on three separate occaions (at one point, two in the same battle...). If you're not familiar, about half way through the plot you need to cap a lone Terran fighter, then later you need to cap two different pirate fighters as they flee a battle. (Blowing them up works to complete the plot, but you get a better reward if you cap them).

I just can't figure out if there's a higher percentage way to cap fighters. I go in with PBE's, strip the shileds, then plink the hull a little at a time - I believe this is the way you're supposed to proceed, but I'd be happy if someone else has suggestions.

I figure my average cap rate is less than 10%. Last run, it took me about 10 tries to get the first fighter, and I finally gave up on the second battle and accepted that I just wasn't going to get all the cool rewards, as I never could get a save where I capped both fighters in the end. I just blew them up, resolved never to do this plot again, and went on.

...except now, here I am again, save scumming in a desparate attempt to cap this stupid terran fighter so I can at least move on in the plot.

...so, anyone have suggestions? Is there a better way to cap fighters, or am I doing it right and I'm just unlucky?

[Sketchy]

On average, flak weapons are the best for getting pilots to bail out of the ships. However the chance is based on a hidden 'morale' and when it gets low enough, the pilot will bail. Very quickly depleting the shields decreases his morale faster than plinking away with any other weapon.

[Jeffreyac]

Hmmmm..... well, what I've been doing is wiping the shields quick, then whittling the hull a percent or two at a time - for some reason, I thought the mechanics drove a 'morale check' of some sort as the hull weakened each time, but now that I type that I have no idea where the thought came from (I certainly didn't read it anywhere on the web, and I'm probably making it up!)

So, would I be better off wiping the shields, letting them recharge a lot, then wiping them again, and doing that over and over again instead of keeping the shields down and nibbling the hull?

[Sho'nuff]

Best thing you can do is strip the shields then switch to a single weapon, the weaker the better. Every hit to the hull, once below 80% hull damage has a chance to make the pilot bail, so kill the hull as slowly as possible (try an impulse ray emitter if your ship can use it) and that's the best you can do sadly =(

[Digger]

When I used to do the trivial stolen ship missions to map space, I would plink like everybody else until the pilot says the same thing twice in a row. Then I would get out of range, jump out of my ship for a few seconds, then go back at 'em again. It resets something because I would often get them to bail on the second or third try...

[Gustuv Wynd]

Particle Accelerator Cannons seem to work best for me...even while flying a larger ship. Flak will blow up too many ships before they can bail.

[Fedora01]

Try using IRE, Ion Disruptor, or PBE. all of these do minimal hull damage and have a high fire rate.

[Jeffreyac]

Yeah, I think my weapons load was off. Tried more often with a bunch of PBE's (and then scaled down to 1 PBE when the shields were gone) and had much more success than I'd had previously.

[Zoran]

I found, in my testing, that the ship matters. When I fire PBE from a M1/M2 I got better bail rates than firing from a M3. The rejection audio changes as well... "Split Alive!"
For the plot it's tricky because they fly fast. I think I fought them with the Griffon and Ion Disruptors. Still many save/loads.

[Jeffreyac]

Hmmm... Haven't experimented much with that; my go-to has been my trusty Hyperion, just turn the turrets off and switching in PBE's for the front weapons when I'm trying to cap. Just thinking about it, an M2 would be crazy tough for me - chasing a fighter 10 times faster than my ship, unimaginably more maneuverable, and I;d guess you don't want to use turrets as you want to have more control of the fire than the AI would allow... offhand, I'd think that might be beyond my ability as a capital ship pilot!

[Gustuv Wynd]

You can get some of the m1s and m2s to sort of keep up with the turbo

[Tyberos]

Same problem for me, trying to capture that first fighter on the Balance of Power plot. I have saved right beforehand though as I'm not wasting one and a half million credits each time I fail. I'm going to try the Pulsed Beam Emitter's.