How to outfit a Dreadnought

Browsing this forum I discovered that it's possible to capture some mission ships, including the Dreadnought.

I have been playing this game for a lot of time, and have completed all the mission strings, so I thought it's time to take the challenge.

The plan is simple:

• Make the Voinian string until I get access to the Cruiser

• Make the UE string until I get the "Destroy the Dreadnought" mission

• Buy one Voinian cruiser, and hire or capture six more as escorts

• Go to the system where the Dreadnought will appear, and abort the mission

• Disable the Dreadnought, and capture it. The crew of the escorts should make it easy

• Do this again until I get 7 Dreadnoughts

• Outfit my dreadnought with the very best Crescent and Voinian devices

• Turn the map green

To get the best outfits, I think I should do the following strings:

• UE-Voinian space: the UE and Voinian strings. I think there's no point doing the Emalgha one

• Crescent: Azdgari and Zidagar (I'd rather do Azdgari and Igadzra, but I can't because of the time limit)

• Miranu space: The Zachit string only gives me the Miranu Gunship, which I'm not interested in at all. I can't remember what you get if you do the North Tip string... could you help me there?

• Free Huron, Stellar Corp., Fr. Exp... I think I'll do all of them in order to get money

The most difficult part is choosing the outfits. I think space won't be a problem, so I'll fit as much extras as I can.

• Density scanner, IFF decoder, two fuel tanks, two fuel scoops, afterburner

• 4 phase turrets and 8 neutron turrets

• Thrust, acceleration, RCS and Azdgari upgrade

• 3 rocket turrets, 3 SAD launchers, 3 hunter launchers, and a lot of ammunition

• All the missile jammers of the game

• Azdara and Crescent fighter bay

Oops, this ended up being a very large post. If you have had the patience to read the whole post, would you please tell me your opinion about this, and the outfits you would place in the Dreadnought? Thanks!

Sensor Upgrade, Dospect Armour, Bronev Plating, 4 Shield Enhancers, Shield Generator?
You can only have 6 Neutron Turrets but you can have 5 Phases so then you can add one Blaze for good measure. You've got enough cargo space for a Freighter to Warship upgrade but if you still run out of space I'd probably drop the fuel scoops and afterburner. With a ship this slow the difference wouldn't really be worth it.

@guy, on Apr 16 2006, 12:03 PM, said in The best ship of the universe:

You can only have 6 Neutron Turrets but you can have 5 Phases so then you can add one Blaze for good measure.

Then I'll mount 6 neutron turrets, 4 phases and 2 blazes. I'll only use 4 phases because if I had 5 the shots would disperse.

Wait, you've got three rocket turrets too so you'll have to drop some of those.
What do you mean the shots will disperse?

@guy, on Apr 16 2006, 03:03 AM, said in The best ship of the universe:

S...I'd probably drop the fuel scoops and afterburner. With a ship this slow the difference wouldn't really be worth it.

That's what I was thinking, also.

Let us know how you kit out your ship, Molten Metal. And welcome to the boards.

Personally, I'd go for the Azdgari/Igadzra combo, by starting both strings in an Arada. All three Strand strings have one mission that can't be completed in a three-day-jump ship, but in the Azdgari and Igadzra strings, that mission is near the beginning of the string. In the Zidagar string, it is fairly close to the end of the string (and it is very nasty, because the mission text only says that you need to do the first leg of the mission within the time limit, which is possible in a cruiser, but you actually need to both go to the destination and return :mad: ).

Now, as for outfitting, your list looks fairly good, although I don't think you will be able to fit in the fighter bays. The maximum free mass you can get on a Dreadnought is 265 tons, which, although fairly high, is lower than the Crescent Warship (290), and is much lower than the cruisers (330-400). It's actually fairly comparable to the Voinian Frigate (240) or Emalgha Freighter/Warship (235).

Definitely invest in a Shield Generator, but I don't think you should waste your limited space on any additional armor or shielding- the Dreadnought already has so much armor that any extra won't make much difference, and shield boosters don't do much of anything for large ships.

I think I would keep the afterburner, but mostly just for starting the ship moving. For normal travel, I suspect that you will become familiar with 5x speed.

Edwards

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What do you mean the shots will disperse?

When you have 4 phase turrets, the shots always fly in a straight line, but if you have 5, in some angles, the shots are fired from three different parts of your ship (try attacking an Igazra to check this). That's not good when you're fighting small ships. Anyway, I don't have space to fit 5 (see below).

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Personally, I'd go for the Azdgari/Igadzra combo, by starting both strings in an Arada.

The problem is that there's no point doing the Igadzra if I don't have space to place the outfits I get. I think I'll do the Zidagar string only to get the 20 extra mass (how pathetic :().

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The maximum free mass you can get on a Dreadnought is 265 tons

...

I thought the Dreadnought would have insane mass (2000, 3000...). If it only has 265, I have a BIG problem. The turrets would take up 320 tons... Maybe I should scrap all but a few turrets and fit an Azdara bay. It's very expensive, but it would let me have 18 (18!) sw. phase cannons defending me. The problem is that the Azdaras may get killed, but, if I buy some phase turrets for my ship and shoot at the enemy, it would shoot me instead of the Azdaras. Do you think this would work?

Then I would have 180 tons of the bay + 40/60 of the phases... That leaves me with 25-45 tons... The things I probably couldn't do without are the RCS and Azdgari upgrade, the shield generator and the fuel scoop (landing only to get fuel must be a pain). If I have space I'll use the speed upgrades.

Seems the only launcher I'll be able to use is a needle ...

This post has been edited by Molten Metal : 17 April 2006 - 07:27 AM

Something else to think about if you have limited space... if you are planning on capturing Dreadnoughts for escorts, you won't need to max out the upgrades on your ship because your escorts will have incredible power. Upgrade to what you need to successfully capture the Dreadnoughts, then re-configure your weaps to something different after you have the escorts.

This post has been edited by Callide : 17 April 2006 - 11:29 AM

@molten-metal, on Apr 18 2006, 12:26 AM, said in The best ship of the universe:

When you have 4 phase turrets, the shots always fly in a straight line, but if you have 5, in some angles, the shots are fired from three different parts of your ship (try attacking an Igazra to check this). That's not good when you're fighting small ships. Anyway, I don't have space to fit 5 (see below).

That depends on the ship you're flying, not the number of turrets you have. Ships in EVO can have up to 4 different turret locations along the length of the ship. Since EVO doesn't actually take into account the y-offset when calculating the angle it should fire at, longer ships can have trouble in broadside battles.

@callide, on Apr 18 2006, 04:26 AM, said in The best ship of the universe:

Something else to think about if you have limited space... if you are planning on capturing Dreadnoughts for escorts, you won't need to max out the upgrades on your ship because your escorts will have incredible power. Upgrade to what you need to successfully capture the Dreadnoughts, then re-configure your weaps to something different after you have the escorts.

Well if you're going to have Dreadnought escorts I'd pick a different ship to use for yourself. In fact I'd never be seen dead in a Dreadnought anyway, but that's just me.

@molten-metal, on Apr 16 2006, 05:23 AM, said in The best ship of the universe:

Crescent: Azdgari and Zidagar (I'd rather do Azdgari and Igadzra, but I can't because of the time limit)

On the contrary. You can do the Igadzra string and either the Zidagar string or the Azdgari string, but you cannot, in the stock game, do the Azdgari and Zidagar strings. The time limits on the initial missions prevent this.

Next, you could do what I did for my Dreadnought pilot and make a plug-in that provides an outfit for Neutron Turrets (30 tons) Salvo Rockets (2 tons), and Salvo Rocket Turrets (whatever normal rocket turrets weighs.) There's no point in making an Interceptor Bay outfit, unless you want to keep the interceptors, because to be in line with the other Voinian fighter bay it would not be salable and thus not net you any space. If you took that route you'd have plenty of space, and would be safe doing the Azdgari string for mobility.

However, if you're in the stock game then you could either do the Zidagar string for the 20 space or the Azdgari string as you see fit. In any case, if you're fighting primarily in the Crescent, the Dreadnought isn't noticeably better than the Voinian Cruiser, and if you're fighting primarily in UE/Voinian space both Dreadnought and Cruiser are fairly weak. Of course you could always just cloak and let your escorts do the work, uncloaking only to board disabled interceptors (from your escorts) and steal their fuel, until you finally need to land.

Regardless, have fun and remember it's just a game. Also, the best ship in the game is not the Dreadnought. If you want the best, you'll have to get yourself an Enhanced Arada. Upgrade however you want, it won't matter. Dospect makes you immune to everything in the Crescent. Dreadnought escorts with one of those and your fleet is all but invincible. A word of caution though: during extended engagements your Dreadnought escorts can damage themselves and each other when they blow up ships, so you should retreat every once in a while and land to heal them.

Gadzair is a very nice retreat when fighting Council Station.

I have just noticed, your plan is impossible. To capture any ship in the first place you cannot have a full fleet of escorts because when you capture it you retain your old ship as an escort. Consequently, you will have to equip yourself with only five escorts.

--Mackyboy--

@qaanol, on Apr 23 2006, 02:25 AM, said in The best ship of the universe:

There's no point in making an Interceptor Bay outfit, unless you want to keep the interceptors, because to be in line with the other Voinian fighter bay it would not be salable and thus not net you any space.

But you do need it if you want to actually use it. Unless you're planning on never landing.

isnt there a turret limit? I have enough free space on my crecent warship (by selling off other things) to get around 6 turrets, but there is a turret limit of 4 (At least on Nova Override)

@guy, on Apr 17 2006, 02:17 PM, said in The best ship of the universe:

Well if you're going to have Dreadnought escorts I'd pick a different ship to use for yourself. In fact I'd never be seen dead in a Dreadnought anyway, but that's just me.

I don't like them, either. Way too slow. I prefer something faster, like a Laizra or CW.

@cpt--mackyboy, on Apr 22 2006, 10:15 AM, said in The best ship of the universe:

I have just noticed, your plan is impossible. To capture any ship in the first place you cannot have a full fleet of escorts because when you capture it you retain your old ship as an escort. Consequently, you will have to equip yourself with only five escorts.

Retain your own ship as an escort? /checks it out

When you board a ship you only get two options: use it as your escort, or use it as your own ship. When you choose to use it as you own ship, your orig ship does not turn into an escort.

This post has been edited by Callide : 25 April 2006 - 08:18 PM

You would have to have only 5 escorts, no matter if you use the new ship as your own or an escort.
if you have five escorts, either your current ship OR the captured one will become the sixth. There isn't any way around it. Also, this may suprise you, but if you time the abort mission right, the voinian fleet won't jump in. The dreadnought jumps in first, then the voinian and UE ships. With UE Carriers (easier to capture) as escorts, you can get the dreadnought just about as easily as with voinian cruisers... I

@lt-_anonymous, on Apr 25 2006, 01:39 AM, said in The best ship of the universe:

isnt there a turret limit? I have enough free space on my crecent warship (by selling off other things) to get around 6 turrets, but there is a turret limit of 4 (At least on Nova Override)

Turrets are limited by turret slots. Voinian Cruiser has 6, Igadzra and I believe UE Cruiser have 5, many other large ships have 4. Dreadnought has 12. All items are limited by the maximum number of the outfit you're allowed. Max Neutron Turrets is 6, Blaze is 5 I think, while Phase and Emalgha Turrets have a max of 4 each.

Redchigh: In the mission "Observe Voinian Research Base" the Voinian Dreadnought, under the name "Dreadnought Prototype" starts in the system, and a vast Voinian fleet jumps in after a short delay. If you abort that mission quickly on entering the system, the fleet won't show at all.

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I have just noticed, your plan is impossible. To capture any ship in the first place you cannot have a full fleet of escorts because when you capture it you retain your old ship as an escort. Consequently, you will have to equip yourself with only five escorts.

Well, I thought about using the six cruisers to disable the Dreadnought, and then releasing one before boarding it.
Anyway, I've just realised I don't need the sixth cruiser at all (5 cruisers are far enough for crushing the Dreadnought), so I think I'll only use 5.

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Well if you're going to have Dreadnought escorts I'd pick a different ship to use for yourself. In fact I'd never be seen dead in a Dreadnought anyway, but that's just me.

Of course, that would be the most logical option. I only want to use the Dreadnought because it's the only ship of the game I haven't used. I think I'll just use the Dreadnought for a short period, and then I'll change it for an Azdara, that is also very fun to fly. (Did you ever try an Azdara with normal phase cannons? I recommend it :))

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Well, I think there isn't much left to discuss about the outfits of the Dreadnought, so I'll just start capturing it. I'll tell you when I finally get it, but I'm going to be pretty busy for at least two weeks, so it'll have to wait.

@callide, on Apr 25 2006, 08:12 PM, said in The best ship of the universe:

When you board a ship you only get two options: use it as your escort, or use it as your own ship. When you choose to use it as you own ship, your orig ship does not turn into an escort.

Umm.... I'm pretty sure it does.

Bleh, you're right. It's been so long since I captured a ship. Sorry for the wrong info.

@molten-metal, on May 3 2006, 12:37 PM, said in The best ship of the universe:

(5 cruisers are far enough for crushing the Dreadnought)

If by "5 cruisers" you actually mean, "a stock shuttle with no escorts, and a single secondary weapon with impact to repel the Voinian Interceptors," then I heartily agree.