L Class Destroyer

[Malthael_ZA]

I'm reaching the point where I can get my first L class destroyer. So far it seems there are only 2 main choices. The Syn is great but hard to get, the rattlesnake is a glass cannon, but what else is there to consider? And if I do end up going for the Rattlesnake, is Plasma on all L Turrets and a mix of Arg Flak and Beam for the rest a good choice?

[Belteguesian]

Originally posted by Belteguesian:

In general, regardless of type of Destroyer, Plasma is almost a must for the L turrets as they are not fast enough to track fighters so they can be used against capital ships,

My preference goes to all Flak for the M turrets, they are not as accurate as Beans but they have rapid fire and produce collateral damage.

I Agree with the Rattlesnake, it is made of glass but in the hands of the player it can be really fatal. Do not trust it to NPCs.

The SYN, like all Terran capitals has only one Engine and it is terribly exposed and not well guarded by the M turrets. This means that 2 or 3 S fighters can very well leave it dead in the water!!!.

A strange (but good non the less) choice is the Teladi Phoenix!!! Lots of M Turrets both in front and on the sides, the Engines are well hidden behind the "mushroom", three shields (more than any other) and the longest range main gun!!! Not that powerful (the gun) but rapid fire as Destroyer guns go. It is quite possible for the player to win 1 to 1 against a Xenon I(!!!) and it is devastating in demolishing Stations. It is slow though...

A good all rounder is the Odysseus, even though it has been nerfed in the E variant. There is one Odysseus Vanguard in the game though and you get it for free because it is abandoned. It is the only Destroyer that has both 4 S docks and one M!!!

The jury is still out for the Boron ones...

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the Teladi Phoenix usually comes for free since there are a lot of them used by SCA that the player can capture with no rep loss...

[Malthael_ZA]

Thank you. Wish the Boron ships were just a little bit better, love the designs

[Azrelus]

I find the Syn a lot better than the Rattlesnake.

Terran Main Batteries have more range, damage, bullet speed and generate less heat, the Syn is the only ship that can pack 3 of them.

I give the 4 front L turrets Plasma and the rear L turrets L Beams to deal with fighters, never lost the engine while flying it. You can't go full plasma on the Syn because it only has 4 M turrets.

You can get a free Syn in the terran story missions (Rep 10 needed if non-terran).

The Boron Ray is dependent on missiles for damage. The guns are to keep the target unmovable while the dumb fire missiles do the hard work from far away.

[Wraith]

Depend on your preference

I for example enjoy mixing behemoth and ray.
Behemoth have much longer range on their main guns which compliment with the ray range as well as being cheaper all around.

The ray will slow any capital ship to a crawl while the behemoth can kill them before they even reach firing range

[Cyrill Echo]

You can get the syn fully equiped for free if you do the yaki plot ( and some other goods as well depending on your choices). And yes Syn is the best L

[Kalisa]

if you want as much firepower in a single ship, syn is definitly the way to go, rattlesnake can be great ship as well but not as great when piloted by the AI since they have much shorter range batteries
The Odysseus E is also a very interesting destroyer, not nearly as much firepower, but its a great player command ship, its got better speed then Rattlesnake or syn, its got similar firepower to the osaka with slightly worse turret placements for frontal attack, but is the only destroyer with a medium ship dock, if you pair it with missiles its a very formatable ship

[SirProsik]

There is one free L destroyer in the game but its in a xenon sector filled with mines.
Happens to be my favorite since it can hold 10M ships :)

[Kalisa]

i just hate how its the old model of the odysseus, so ugly, and slower, usually dont need more then 1-2 medium slots but is is great if u want it for that extra slots, i usually just sell that one and use those funds to help buy the one i want.

[SirProsik]

It is unique (Special paint job) and although it is a little slower it can be modded pretty cheaply to go about the same speed. Also a lot smaller than the E and so it will get hit less when dodging.

[Tiberius]

Old odysseus is also the only destroyer that can carry M ships

[bloodymonarch]

Originally posted by Tiberius:

Old odysseus is also the only destroyer that can carry M ships

No. Odysseus E also has an M dock. It is for that, the speed, turret amount and precise main guns that I always choose it as my personal L ship.

It is a great all rounder. If you set up your Odysseus, M ship and S ship correctly, you can do almost anything on your own with no assistance from other ships.

[Kalisa]

Originally posted by SirProsik:

It is unique (Special paint job) and although it is a little slower it can be modded pretty cheaply to go about the same speed. Also a lot smaller than the E and so it will get hit less when dodging.

i mod all my main use ships, so the slower base speed makes a difference on total top speed, its also ugly as all hell imo, but to each their own. Personally cant stand the old models, so glad they refreshed them like they did, the refreshed are some of my fav ships, also fits well with my primarly yaki look, all have that kind of tech flair.

[DaBa]

You can get a Syn destroyed essentially for free, and it will be pretty well equipped too. If you want to know how, look it up, I don't want to spoil anything.

If you want to buy a Destroyer yourself, then it really depends on what you want to use the destroyer for, so choose the ship with it's purpose in mind

- Rattlesnake is basically a glass cannon in the destroyer class. It is pretty squishy, relatively speaking, and especially in the hands of the AI you can lose it very easily if you're not paying attention and get into a range of station turrets or a K gets into it's range. Also it's main guns are very low range in comparison to all the others, so it's not the best for station killing. Rattlesnake is good if you have other ships to take the attention of your target, then quickly travel drive into range and blast it to pieces. If you mod it it also becomes a surprisingly fast and nimble ship and flies almost like a sluggish M frigate.

- Syn is definitely the heaviest of the destroyers, it's both tanky and packs a lot of firepower. It can do basically anything depending on the loadout you give it, but it's definitely best at killing stations or other large ships. The only weakness is that it is REALLY slow. But hey, as I said above you can get one for free so who's going to complain?

There are other valid choices though, not sure why you think it's only 2 of them:

- Osaka is basically a lighter version of Syn and does the same job. It's a really good all rounder destroyer with decent firepower and survivability. Also you can actually buy it so there's that. Only downside is that it is a bit on the expensive side, but that's all Terran ships so nothing new.

- Behemoth is definitely the budget choice if you want something that can kill stations reliably and you don't mind that it won't do it very fast. To put it into perspective: You can get 2 Behemoths for the price of a single Osaka, And if you ever decide to get 2 rattlesnakes, how about 3 Behemoths instead? It's also very tanky for it's pricetag which will make it much more survivable against hordes of smaller ships than a Rattlesnake would.

I don't really use Teladi or Paranid Destroyers so can't comment much on them.

[DaBa]

If you end up going for the Rattlesnake, then putting large plasma turrets and flank everywhere else is definitely the way to go.

[Tiberius]

Originally posted by bloodymonarch:

Originally posted by Tiberius:

Old odysseus is also the only destroyer that can carry M ships

No. Odysseus E also has an M dock. It is for that, the speed, turret amount and precise main guns that I always choose it as my personal L ship.

It is a great all rounder. If you set up your Odysseus, M ship and S ship correctly, you can do almost anything on your own with no assistance from other ships.

Internal S ship storage of oddy e got nerfed heavily tho. From 40 to 16

Nevertheless, i still prefer rattlesnake over odyseus due to the potential dps of rattlesnake.