how to use Boron Ray destroyer?

[Pille]

Can someone please tell me a good loadout for anti-capital? I have tested the Ray in a 1v1 against Xenon K and it looses without even scratching the hull of the K.

The ion weapons are supposed to help against thick shields, but the dmg output is very low and I couldn´t get it to half of the shield hitpoints...

The Ray is very good against S+M ships, but it has no chance against a Xenon K...

Am I doing something wrong?

[Bozz 💀]

they are weaker than the other factions destroyers.

[Pille]

Originally posted by Bozz 💀:

they are weaker than the other factions destroyers.

Yeah I know, but they dont even stand a chance in a 1v1 situation.

Also it didnt feel like the ion weapons did their thing and slowed the enemy down, the K was still flying like nothing happened... A bit disappointing,

It still is not a bad ship because of its speed and anti fighter capabilities, but useless against capitals.... unless I am overlooking something here

[Erei]

I don't think you are missing anything. The ray is underwhelming to say the least. I haven't tested the AA capacities, but I suspect a flak Osaka will do better, while still having tons of firepower, for roughly the same price.

Being relatively pacifist, Borons are kinda meh in offensive capabilities. They are made even worse by being unable to use other factions gear to make them better (terran engine, other guns...). Their biggest military strength lie in carriers. They have 2 fast deploy carriers and that's where they'll shine.
Their fighters are not the best overall, but they can get torpedo launcher, which will destroy capital, provided you have enough of them.

Without the Terran DLC, their main strenght are the civilian ships. Their miners and traders are quite good compared to the others. With the terran DLC, they suffer a lot from not having terran engines, which are extremely strong. Still, if you go "faction pure", even with terran DLC they are very competitive because the terran civilian ship are kinda bad anyway.

[Tanall]

A problem when using the Ray against the K is that the K is an XL-sized ship. The engine debuff effect from the Ray's main battery and any ion nets you might have do not work. If you want to see the Ray shine, take it Rattlesnake hunting ^.^

[Pille]

Originally posted by Erei:

I don't think you are missing anything. The ray is underwhelming to say the least. I haven't tested the AA capacities, but I suspect a flak Osaka will do better, while still having tons of firepower, for roughly the same price.

Being relatively pacifist, Borons are kinda meh in offensive capabilities. They are made even worse by being unable to use other factions gear to make them better (terran engine, other guns...). Their biggest military strength lie in carriers. They have 2 fast deploy carriers and that's where they'll shine.
Their fighters are not the best overall, but they can get torpedo launcher, which will destroy capital, provided you have enough of them.

Without the Terran DLC, their main strenght are the civilian ships. Their miners and traders are quite good compared to the others. With the terran DLC, they suffer a lot from not having terran engines, which are extremely strong. Still, if you go "faction pure", even with terran DLC they are very competitive because the terran civilian ship are kinda bad anyway.

I dont know if you have noticed, but the ray does not need to charge up its travel drive... It can get from A to B faster than other destroyers, I think it will make a fine support and escort ship, but its offensive capabilities are really lacking... especially for that price tag

[Pille]

Originally posted by Tanall:

A problem when using the Ray against the K is that the K is an XL-sized ship. The engine debuff effect from the Ray's main battery and any ion nets you might have do not work. If you want to see the Ray shine, take it Rattlesnake hunting ^.^

Oh, wow that explains it... so that makes the ray completely useless against Xenon :-(

I always thought the K was L class. Too bad and very disappointing.

The ray in previous X games was always a powerhouse and now it is reduced to a very niche role

[Erei]

Originally posted by Pille:

I dont know if you have noticed, but the ray does not need to charge up its travel drive... It can get from A to B faster than other destroyers, I think it will make a fine support and escort ship, but its offensive capabilities are really lacking... especially for that price tag

It's fast, sure, I noticed. But with such a low firepower, fast to do what ?

For the same price tag I can have an Osaka, which, while slower, is a really good anti s/m platform and can 1v1 capital to. Maybe not as good anti fighter, but good enough and it doesn't cost me all the anti capital capabilities.

For the same price I can also buy a bunch of S ships with more firepower and better speed. Buy a L carrier and now you can even repair and rearm them. Remember that you cna have more fighter than the carrier can "officially" handle. They will not all be bale to dock when the carrier move, but they can be rearmed and repaired no problem.

IMO the ray occupy a niche that is already filled by the gruppy. Or just a bunch of fighters. If we keep the same pricetag.

I might use a few ray for anti fighters in my fleets. But quite honestly, that's about everything I can see it do.

[Pille]

Originally posted by Erei:

Originally posted by Pille:

I dont know if you have noticed, but the ray does not need to charge up its travel drive... It can get from A to B faster than other destroyers, I think it will make a fine support and escort ship, but its offensive capabilities are really lacking... especially for that price tag

It's fast, sure, I noticed. But with such a low firepower, fast to do what ?

For the same price tag I can have an Osaka, which, while slower, is a really good anti s/m platform and can 1v1 capital to. Maybe not as good anti fighter, but good enough and it doesn't cost me all the anti capital capabilities.

For the same price I can also buy a bunch of S ships with more firepower and better speed. Buy a L carrier and now you can even repair and rearm them. Remember that you cna have more fighter than the carrier can "officially" handle. They will not all be bale to dock when the carrier move, but they can be rearmed and repaired no problem.

IMO the ray occupy a niche that is already filled by the gruppy. Or just a bunch of fighters. If we keep the same pricetag.

I might use a few ray for anti fighters in my fleets. But quite honestly, that's about everything I can see it do.

I personally dont like to use fighters, because they are so expensive and annoying to manage imo, they die very fast, especially OOS and replacing them is a hassle,

I agree that the Osaka is a better platform, but I think the Ray will get in handy when it comes to fast anti-fighter/pirate response. For example, when a freighter gets attacked by SCA Behemoth, it can hold the attackers back and let the freighter escape while the main cavalry (Osakas / Rattlesnakes / Syn) arrives.

But that is a theory I have to test myself, as it stands now the ray is very limited in what it can do, which is such a shame

[zpc]

Originally posted by Pille:

Originally posted by Erei:

It's fast, sure, I noticed. But with such a low firepower, fast to do what ?

For the same price tag I can have an Osaka, which, while slower, is a really good anti s/m platform and can 1v1 capital to. Maybe not as good anti fighter, but good enough and it doesn't cost me all the anti capital capabilities.

For the same price I can also buy a bunch of S ships with more firepower and better speed. Buy a L carrier and now you can even repair and rearm them. Remember that you cna have more fighter than the carrier can "officially" handle. They will not all be bale to dock when the carrier move, but they can be rearmed and repaired no problem.

IMO the ray occupy a niche that is already filled by the gruppy. Or just a bunch of fighters. If we keep the same pricetag.

I might use a few ray for anti fighters in my fleets. But quite honestly, that's about everything I can see it do.

I personally dont like to use fighters, because they are so expensive and annoying to manage imo, they die very fast, especially OOS and replacing them is a hassle,

I used to be a Destroyercommander like you, then I took an arrow... ehr... Try going back to the S-ships once you have access to an own wharf. Outfitting a carrier with 30+ fighters and using the new position defense command is a real game changer. Because the carrier will offer autorepairs, the S-ships barely take losses (IS + OOS). In fact, I'm locking whole sectors down by using carrier fleets since 6.0. (e.g. Family Zhin, Zyarths Domain)

Having templates for your carrier S ships makes replacing them very easy. But as said, casual reports stay very low. The more fighters you use the less any target (including Xenon I) stands a chance.

[Pille]

Originally posted by zpc:

Originally posted by Pille:

I personally dont like to use fighters, because they are so expensive and annoying to manage imo, they die very fast, especially OOS and replacing them is a hassle,

I used to be a Destroyercommander like you, then I took an arrow... ehr... Try going back to the S-ships once you have access to an own wharf. Outfitting a carrier with 30+ fighters and using the new position defense command is a real game changer. Because the carrier will offer autorepairs, the S-ships barely take losses (IS + OOS). In fact, I'm locking whole sectors down by using carrier fleets since 6.0. (e.g. Family Zhin, Zyarths Domain)

Having templates for your carrier S ships makes replacing them very easy. But as said, casual reports stay very low. The more fighters you use the less any target (including Xenon I) stands a chance.

Yeah, so I have to build a wharf, build the supporting stations for ship production, then build 40-60 S Ships, which cost around 2-3 million credits each, then build / buy a carrier AND THEN I can defend my position....

Or i just buy 2-3 destroyers instead and can defend multiple positions xD

[zpc]

Not quite - 2-3 destroyers will loose against Xenon hordes. (been there, done that)

[Pille]

So I have tested it against Xenon Swarms in Hatikvah and I must say, when it comes to S+M Ships, the Ray absolutely shreds through them like a hot knife through butter...

I will definetly keep it, the ray may not be a Capital killer, but it is an excellent bug exterminator to clear any xenon or khaak infestation your sector might have and it doesnt take ages to move the ship around like some other L destroyers

[Pille]

The Ion weapons are especially helpful, because they slow down the enemies, making it easier to be hit by other turrets and killing them fast. In combination with other ships like the rattlesnake or syn, it might be extremely effective

[shuulleech]

Originally posted by Tanall:

The engine debuff effect from the Ray's main battery and any ion nets you might have do not work.

that is incorrect, Rays gun applies debuff in same way to L and XL ships

[Çhïmë®øñ]

Borons specialize in destroying shields. Most of their weaponry is designed to melt all the shields away. If you combine that with some Pulse guns you destroy everything else even K and I.
However their highest advantage is another aspect that is something not mentioned: THE RANGE. The range of Boron weaponry is INSANELY huge. Combined with the slowing debuff you can literally just fly in reverse and shoot everything in your way without getting as much as a scratch on your shields (which btw are also an advantage of borons, having mutliple shield layers)