is early game combat even possible?

[Ccrack]

so im still early in the game, using the kukri starting ship for himan cadets. iv upgraded it as much as i can, mark 3 shields combat engines and thrusters, bunch of laster towers and whatnot

doing a mission marked medium difficulty where a bunch of fighters ambush me. iv got some ai to help me

every time no matter what i do i get destroyed. even the ai sent to help me gets torn to shreds in seconds. iv head all about the rock paper sissors combat ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ but the truth is the ai can easily hit you no matter what you do. dogfighting seems impossible because the ai is too accurate and my own weapons do allright damage to single targets, but in an exchange ill allways explode first

seriously am i missing something here? is the mission difficulty marker based on my net worth so its assuming id have a larger combat ship or something? even spamming laser towers isnt helping me

[Prepoznator]

very

[conrado.lacerda]

For this sort of engagement, it's better to have a squadron of mediocre ships (with mk2 engines/shields/thrusters) than a single well-equipped one.

[Prepoznator]

but since u just started i would advise u to get some practice on segaris freelancer katanas, make them bail sell ton of them and use one for your personal ship,those katanas are not part of any faction so as long as u dont kill em noone cares+ they often carry sweet sweet supply of advanced satelites just like paranid bounty hunter nemesis do.

[chronobomb]

The problem of 1 fighter vs many is the other fighters will lock on and you can’t dodge them all while you try to gun 1 of them down.

You need to keep the other fighters busy. Use missiles, mines, and laser towers so they cant stop moving to gun you down.

[Xautos]

Originally posted by Prepoznator:

but since u just started i would advise u to get some practice on segaris freelancer katanas, make them bail sell ton of them and use one for your personal ship,those katanas are not part of any faction so as long as u dont kill em noone cares+ they often carry sweet sweet supply of advanced satelites just like paranid bounty hunter nemesis do.

not all of them carry these. it would be a good idea to scan these katanas before you engage and identify the ones you want. those advanced sats sell for a lot of credits by themselves and the katana and the equipment is nothing to sneeze at where credits are concerned as an nice bonus.

[PeaceMaker]

Originally posted by Ccrack:

so im still early in the game, using the kukri starting ship for himan cadets. iv upgraded it as much as i can, mark 3 shields combat engines and thrusters, bunch of laster towers and whatnot

doing a mission marked medium difficulty where a bunch of fighters ambush me. iv got some ai to help me

every time no matter what i do i get destroyed. even the ai sent to help me gets torn to shreds in seconds. iv head all about the rock paper sissors combat ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ but the truth is the ai can easily hit you no matter what you do. dogfighting seems impossible because the ai is too accurate and my own weapons do allright damage to single targets, but in an exchange ill allways explode first

seriously am i missing something here? is the mission difficulty marker based on my net worth so its assuming id have a larger combat ship or something? even spamming laser towers isnt helping me

You're doing something wrong. I play almost exclusively as just a jobbing fighter merc/bounty hunter with one ship and NPC (sometimes a couple of Freighters for a bit of cash) and early game I can take down fighters pretty easy. Obviously use some discernment:

1. Don't pick on more than two targets at the same time, usually take on just one, especially if you're not sure of yourself until your confidence grows.

2.Also try to pick any fights near friendly Stations or friendly ships- ALWAYS. You can use them as cover to dive around and block enemy fire even if the friendly Station decides not to help or is a bit slow sending help.

3. After a bit use laser Towers, which is what I do to give myself a better chance against 3 or more bogeys. I pop around 3=5 usually and more if I find myself moving away from Tower protection.

4. Do NOT be afraid to runaway. Think ahead; if you see too many enemies arriving on the radar- BUG OUT! A nearby Hyper-lane will help. I try to fight near one if I see a heavy enemy presence. It's saved me many times from rampaging Xenon.

It's all about a bit of thinking and tactics. Use everything to your advantage.

p.s 5. Weaving dodiging, does work- but not for long, but they can miss and this can give you a chance to get some cover (ir be near something friendly, like a station).

6. lol, I remember another. I never boost in combat- that kills your shields. You can risk a little if you think your safe, but I don't. If you've been boosting it could explain why you die so easy.

[ArcticISAF]

This is just some ideas to think about, some you've probably have done already, on mitigating damage for you to try out whenever. You can often use WASD while on a head-to-head 'game of chicken' with another fighter. They will fire their blast, you hit 'S' to strafe down, and it has a better chance of missing. They fire again, switch to D strafing right, again, up, and so on. It's not 100% fool proof or anything and depends on your timing, ship agility and their weapons (and multiple targets firing at you), but it might cut down half the damage.

With this situation in particular, I would think on cutting them down one by one with longer breaks in between to recharge shields, and to reserve at least a quarter of your shields to boost away. If they're focused on you while you're away, you could try lightly boosting through the pack and quickly getting behind one, gunning them down, then get away before they a get good bearing and get through your shields. With an AI helping, there's some idea of gunning down whatever you can while they're distracted, but I guess you've gone through that.

The kind of bad thing about the Kukri (and Gladius) is that they're pretty much slow boats... basically I would not be eager to use them in the fighter role (I do use some for heavy fighter kind of role). I like the Takoba quite a lot, you can get them from the Pioneers. Two weapon slots instead of 3 or 4, but basically double the speed and they're just so much better to fly. Fighters need that ability to boost/fly away to recharge the shields, so flying the Kukri and Gladius is possible, just... I guess you need somebody else to take the heat off of you in that immediate time frame you're trying to get away. So slow otherwise lol. With shields exhausted, basically you're a sitting duck and you have to kill them before they kill you.

I think the mission difficulty thing is generic too, not based on your ships/net worth or anything. Could be wrong though. (edit typo)

[DaBa]

Yep, it is very much possible. When you use something squishy like a fighter you can't really go into a full on brawl like you're describing, the enemies are also flying fighters after all. If you're outnumbered, you need to switch from dueling into harassing. quickly jump on a fighter that's the most isolated, deal damage or destroy it, as soon as you start taking damage boost away and let your shields regenerate, repeat.

But, obviously, you never want to fight enemies that clearly outgun you. This isn't one of those games where you are an overpowered MC that can solo 20 other ships and not break a sweat. The enemies are flying ships just as powerful, if not more powerful than yours, they can do exactly what you do, so it's really not a surprise that if the enemy has a substantial advantage they will absolutely smoke you.

Also, that mission you're describing is not very hard to do even with the base ship you start with and no upgrades. So it's really that your dogfighting skills are not up to snuff yet. Remember: fighters are not designed to enter brawls, they are supposed to hit fast and hard, run away before they get shot down to recover shield and then circle back and do it all again. I you stick your nose in a middle of a few enemy ships, what do you expect is going to happen?

[Lazarus Long]

My advice is to pick your fights. If this is not a story mission then abandon it and get another one. If it is a story mission then come back to it after you have learned a bit more about the game.

[Daddy Shark]

I'm guessing you're at the mission where the main enemy is in a Katana?

You have a few options. A Katana is a M-class frigate and is one of the best ships in the whole game. It shreds pretty much anything in front of it. Trying to take it on in the Kukri is going to require some cheese.

The instant you enter the sector, bee line it straight for where they're having their little conversation. The enemies don't turn hostile until the dialog is complete. If you can get next to the katana then pause the game, you can drop a bunch of mines right next to his ship. When he turns hostile they'll take him down then you only have a few weak xenon to fight.

Or go do something else until you have your own Katana. It will be much easier in that case.

[Wraith]

If your enemy is a corvette like a Katana you can actually do what the AI does against these type of enemy

They fly circle around them and shoot them as you are way more agile in a fighter then they are when turning

Also as a kukri you should be strafing more and using your roll until you can use your travel drive to do hit and run.

Kukri got good strafing speed and agility for it class

What you don't have is base speed which can hurt pretty badly against ship that does move faster

[Gregorovitch]

On the rare occasions I've had to fight several enemy fighters by myself also in a fighter I found the only tactic that worked really was flying straight at 'em, picking one of them, shooting it maybe two or three times until I felt the first shot incoming then boosting straight through them to get out of range ASAP before they took my shields out. Then wait for a full shield recharge, turn around and repeat the process attempting to target the same one I'd previously shot if possible.

It does work but it's a long process. You can't be greedy in this situation, if they shoot down you shields you got no boost and you're toast, you have to take a just couple of quick and hopefully accurate shots and hit boost while you still got the shield juice left. It does get easier if you are successful in killing one or two of them, it's the first one that's the worst.

It's all about managing your shields really.

[GeforceJoe]

Anyone ever create a sandbox custom game and it starts you out half blown up in a sector literally covered with mines as well as it being completely controlled by enemies?! After about 20 deaths and finding the super highways I finally made it out and was able to actually start my custom game 2 hours after this challenge lol..

[DaBa]

Originally posted by Gregorovitch:

On the rare occasions I've had to fight several enemy fighters by myself also in a fighter I found the only tactic that worked really was flying straight at 'em, picking one of them, shooting it maybe two or three times until I felt the first shot incoming then boosting straight through them to get out of range ASAP before they took my shields out. Then wait for a full shield recharge, turn around and repeat the process attempting to target the same one I'd previously shot if possible.

Yeah, that's exactly how a fighter should fight, that's how AI uses their ships most of the time as well. Fighters are not survivable enough to do it any other way.

Also, you can do MUCH more if you dogfight without flight assist. Normally, when you want to turn and shoot at your target, your ship will also fly in the same direction obviously. Your ship also turns much slower the faster you're going, because flight assist is trying to maintain your speed.

But with flight assist off, it becomes a completely different game. You can do things like flying away from the enemy ship at high speed, while continuing shooting at it (very effective when you pass an enemy at high speed), or doing quick bursts of boost when things start getting hot, all while maintaining your original momentum (making it very effective way to evade enemy fire), or doing strafing runs in travel mode where you're going in one direction and evading all enemy fire and at the same time being able to turn freely and shoot things.

It takes getting used to, but this is something the enemies actually do not do, so if you can figure it out you gain a massive advantage.

[DaBa]

Originally posted by GeforceJoe:

Anyone ever create a sandbox custom game and it starts you out half blown up in a sector literally covered with mines as well as it being completely controlled by enemies?! After about 20 deaths and finding the super highways I finally made it out and was able to actually start my custom game 2 hours after this challenge lol..

Yeah, if you choose to start at a random sector, or choose one that spawned you in a middle of a minefield, and when you spawn in a middle of a minefield you tend to blow up