Do Point Defence / Flak only shoot stuff targetting that ship?

[Scoob]

Hi,

I was wondering whether Point Defence and Flak only shoot at ordinance *directly* targetting that ship, or do they shoot all hostile ordinance, regardless of its target?

I was considering designing a "Protector" ship that has nothing but Point Defences on it, and have it protect the fleet. Numerous small, nimble PD-Only ships would be useful, assuming PD will target ALL hostile ordinance.

[WillieSea]

They shoot all hostiles to 'player' if they are in range.

So a PD ship (having short range PD) still needs the missile to be in range of it.

[Scoob]

Thanks for the information. So, a PD-only ship would of course need to stay in-range of the vessel(s) it's protecting. What I tend to find is that any missile-using ship will generally focus on one target, but it will send the odd missile against others. I want to tactically position the PD ship to defend whatever asset needs it.

Just got jumped by two ships each with four Nuke launchers...I won, but only because my main ship is a bit of a hull tank and the Nuke Launcher focused on that while my Fighters flanked it.

[Scoob]

Lol, PD's really aren't very good are they?

I built a ship with two PD's in each direction, eight in total. First Missile (regular HE) from long-range took it out.

I built a Mk2 version with TEN PD's all facing one way. I then took it to face a missile-equipped ship. This one worked ok, though it took all 10 PD's to destroy ONE HE missile that was launched at long-range. The PD's had their full range in which to open fire and only the combined fire of all ten brought down each missile. Only just though, literally they were detonated a bit too close for comfort.

These were regular H.E. missiles, launched one every few seconds. This might fair better vs. slower missiles, such as E.M.P. and Nuke. As it stands though, the PD is hopeless vs. the basic H.E. missile.

I think the PD needs a slight buff, give it a longer range over which to engage perhaps? Additionally, a Tier 2 "Laser" PD that emits a Beam (rather than bolts) that's more effective would be welcome.

I got into a habit initially of fitting a couple of PD's to all my ships. However, they've proven very ineffective so I don't use them any more. I thought I'd give the whole Dedicated PD ship a go, but it's just not viable.

Perhaps a LARGE build using Flak would be more successful?

[lalelunatic]

flak are even worse against physical projectiles, we talked about this in another thread. flaks are decent against energy projectiles though... but still lacking compared to the easy increase in offense.

so far you´re stuck with PD´s and flak though, albeit theres a mod that adds said laserbeam pd turrets, even those (also tested that) struggle with enough missiles (as they´re also either bugged or have a wrong tooltip, says 5 shots per second, is only 3 and so on).

[Morkonan]

I have a PD/Missile support ship that does just fine in assisting to protect my main combat ship with its defense in the face of incoming missile flights. I do not expect 100% in that situation.

There is no "I WIN" point-defense solution, though. The best solution is combos of Flak and PD with layered shields and armor to back them up as well as plentiful Crew servicing everything properly.

Sustained fire is difficult to achieve and a PD vomits out huges amounts of it. If it's an exceptional number of missiles, that counter-battery fire is going to eventually die off as those PDs run dry, intermittently, even with very good Crew/Battery design in a sensible system. (If one doesn't care about armor layers and the like and doesn't mind giving the enemy the chance to shoot rounds down one's hallways, then I guess it could be more easily sustained in longer engagements. :))

Originally posted by Scoob:

I was wondering whether Point Defence and Flak only shoot at ordinance *directly* targetting that ship, or do they shoot all hostile ordinance, regardless of its target?..

Just to confirm: Flak will defend against both Ammo-Based physical rounds and energy-based Lasers. PD can not hit energy-based projectiles/etc.

From: https://steamcommunity.com/app/799600/discussions/0/6204299339036696359/

https://imgur.com/a/CCHFGD7


The middle ship is my support ship. It's just six missile launchers and everything else PD and Shields, with one Heavy Laser at the front since it ran dry one time - It's just for finishing blows against small disabled ships if it's out of HE. I run all EMP, usually, but will have two launchers on HE at times.

Note: I just noticed - That's an older model. My in-game one atm has an additional two Missile Batteries and two Large Shields covering Port/Starboard quarters as well as an extra couple of PDs. Speed is only around 77, but the entire flotilla is getting upgrades to increase that, soon.

Setting at an oblique angle, that ship can put rounds into missile flights and help plink away at them as they come at my main ship. Then, my main ship has a much easier time taking out the last of them. BUT, it's not foolproof. Some still get through. That's what the layered shields are for.

I engaged a missile/ammo based station last night and ate quite a few missiles getting into range. At least until my Support ship could get in place. After that, it was pretty easy to mop up.

I do not know that PD and Flak set to "Defend Only" on one ship will defend another ship. I haven't tested that. My Support ship's PD are Fire At Will as those nearly never get used for itself as a target of massed missile barrages. I haven't had a reason to set them to "Defend Only," for that ship, yet. Gotta test. :)

PS: Six PDs on each side, four forward facing IIRC, four rear. Oblique angles give another forward or rear PD the chance to contribute.

[Scoob]

Hmm, perhaps I've been particularly unlucky, but 10 PD's - all firing, they see the missile just fine - barely kill a single H.E. missile in time.

H.E. Missiles are basically just tanked on hull / shields on all my other ships and they don't do much damage. E.M.P. and especially Nuke Missiles are a different story though, they can't really be tanked when launched in groups of six. This is why I wanted to test PD's some more. Perhaps PDs are more effective vs. those other missile types? E.M.P's and nukes are larger targets and they seem to travel a bit more slowly, but perhaps they also have more hit points so PD might struggle.

In my last few E.M.P. and Nuke encounters, I've used my lead ship to basically tank the hits. With nukes and E.M.P's shields are down in one hit, then it's up to the armour. My other ships can usually take out the target (flanking) before it gets off a kill-volley of Nukes.

I will continue to play around with Missile Defence builds, but I think shields and decent armour are the best defence. Crew costs go nuts when you start adding enough PD's to be even remotely effective, and flak pushes things over the limit.

On my tanky lead ship, I did fit two Flaks at one point but they were largely ineffective.