AI Turrets and missiles, what combos are safe/effective to use?

[Johnathan Dahmnation]

As stated above. Made some D1000+D1000 turrets on my ship. Upon spawning pirates they promptly alpha'd a docked fighter then went to punching holes in themselves and any other turret nearby. Are missiles of any combo handled well by AI's. Was D1000+D1000 the worst thing to do?

 

[MossyStone48]

Any you like. The game is in alpha still. #NOTHINGISSAFE UaHAHAHAHA

Seriously tho. I'd be careful with missiles on turrets. Friendly fire happens. Place your turrets very carefully to avoid those issues. If you notice the missile turret keeps blowin up itself, other turrets or something docked; Move it and replace it with something that doesn't have that sort of AoE. Area of Effect + fast reload = swiss cheese ship. And I'm not talking about your target. I mean YOU. YOUSHIP be swiss. You don't want that. I'm talking from experience. Or you could move your docks further into the ship where the missile's AoE can't get at them. One way or the other somethings got to be moved. Turrets or docks. Your call.

 

[NuclearFun]

Missiles on turrets are a little bit weired, while they will pass through the mothership they can hit other docked entities (also when they explode -> AoE damage).

Missiles+cannons and guided missiles (beam or pulse slave) are somewhat save if you design the ship and turrets around those firing arcs (you also can get pretty cool effects with guided missiles).
That being said, right now the only safe systems seem to be cannons, i had tests where guided missiles circled around an enemy fighter and then passed through my ship and damaged turrets after that fighter got too near.

Missiles+missiles (heat-seekers) work very well as a ship weapon (they seem to ignore your turrets/docked ships completely ... as far as i know from a few tests i did) but apparently they are suicidal for turrets.

 

[starhaiden]

turret signatures don't show up when they are on ships any more right? so way are the tracking missiles killing other turrets and your ship?
will the al update coming soon stop turrets firing at each other and the ship

 

[MossyStone48]

You can change the filter on your navigation to show turrets but that won't change anything. Turrets and small ships will go gunning for your turrets and your turrets will (in most cases) got after other turrets as well as the enemy ship they are attached to. The AI update is not likely to alter that. It might tweak it some. Or it might get ignored and fixing the docks so that shots pass through them could be the solution the great grey one goes with. All hail schema.

 

[Commodore]

Missiles + beams are the most effective by far IMO. 2km range, high missile speed (not that it really matters), lock on.

 

[DrTarDIS]

just put the missile computer (main) facing "up" relative to the core. the missiles will fire straight away from the ship they are docked to (and other things on it) for something like 20-50m, then do a sharp curve and start tracking their target. Also gives a cool "death blossom" look when multiples pop off at once and anyone seeing the wide cloud coming at them is gonna have a diaper-change moment.

 

[Johnathan Dahmnation]

Any you like. The game is in alpha still. #NOTHINGISSAFE UaHAHAHAHA

Seriously tho. I'd be careful with missiles on turrets. Friendly fire happens. Place your turrets very carefully to avoid those issues. If you notice the missile turret keeps blowin up itself, other turrets or something docked; Move it and replace it with something that doesn't have that sort of AoE. Area of Effect + fast reload = swiss cheese ship. And I'm not talking about your target. I mean YOU. YOUSHIP be swiss. You don't want that. I'm talking from experience. Or you could move your docks further into the ship where the missile's AoE can't get at them. One way or the other somethings got to be moved. Turrets or docks. Your call.

The docks can't really be moved at this point without effectively scrapping the design so that's a non issue. Either way that doesn't solve the issue of the other turrets, so it seems like this combo is a no go. Furthermore some testing as a ship mounted weapon on a ship with turrets seemed to have detrimental effects as well, causing the missiles to swarm harmlessly around the docked turrets, which means the are effectively useless in the presence of any docked structure, but at least unlike the turret versions they don't work against me. This is disappointing as I really love the visual effect.

just put the missile computer (main) facing "up" relative to the core. the missiles will fire straight away from the ship they are docked to (and other things on it) for something like 20-50m, then do a sharp curve and start tracking their target. Also gives a cool "death blossom" look when multiples pop off at once and anyone seeing the wide cloud coming at them is gonna have a diaper-change moment.

Direction doesn't seem to help. The turret itself tracks the target fine and fires in it's direction so the initial path of fire is a non-issue. The issue comes in when the missiles decide to let their guidance take over causing them to about face and come right back at my docked structures.

Which as stated above is sad because visually they are my favorite to fire. Guess I'll have to try dumb fire or swap weapons. Does D1000+Cannon result in dumb fire or heat seeking?
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Another dumb question, which while not terribly related I'll ask here to avoid cluttering the forums, Are the power requirements of Beams correct? My beam related weapons seem to be using so much less power than any other system at the moment using an equal number of blocks, even with Cannon slaves causing constant firing.

 

[starhaiden]

need a block or a option to limit the turning of the turret so you can make so they don't fire at your ship

 

[madmann135]

Missiles+Beam is a good combination because the AI does lock on before firing.
Missiles+Pulse needs to be controlled by the pilot and only the pilot. The AI will use the pulse and if the pulse is strong enough it will destroy your ship.
Missiles+Missiles are 50:50. They make for a great anti-fighter weapon but they are indiscriminate in who they track and target.

 

[Johnathan Dahmnation]

Thanks all, going to refit for D1000+beams and do a quick test but so far it looks promising.