Ser Chard
Benevolence Life Insurance
12
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Posted - 2013.05.26 16:53:00 -
[1] - Quote
I fly mostly Pythons.
MY TYPICAL FITTING:
- - SHIELD BOOSTER
- - SHIELD EXTENDER
- - 2X SHIELD HARDENERS
- OVERDRIVE
- TURRET DAMAGE AMP
SIDE TURRETS - 1x Cycled Missile Launcher, 1x Blaster
FRONT TURRET - 1x Accelerated Missile Launcher
ARMOR vs SHIELD: Both can be effective. Shield can laugh off swarms and with passive shield regen most small-arms fire is negligible. However, they are rocked by railguns and forge guns and laser weapon fire (scrambler rifle, laser rifle) can actually do significant damage. I feel the difference isn't as pronounced as it is with HAVs - though its easier for Shield DS to take damage mods while Armor DS makes no sacrifice to take afterburners (though I prefer torque boosters to be honest)
FITTINGS:
I consider 1X REPPER and 1X EXTENDER/PLATES to be mandatory. You need that extra health and you need a way to repair it.
The rest is up to taste. I like Hardeners because they are light on PG. The dropship is mobile enough where I can trigger them and be out of harms way 20 seconds later when they end. The 25% hardeners increase your effective shield by 33%, which on my Python gives me effectively 553 more shield WHILE IN EFFECT. Because it REDUCES damage, it also effectively improves your BOOSTERS and SHIELD REGEN by the same amount. However, because it is short-lived and active it is important you stay mobile. Thus once you have a booster and an extender, the rest of your fitting is up to taste and you should experiment to see what you like. Note that on a DS a passive resistance amplifier probably isn't worth it.
EDIT: Actually, now that I can buy the 15% ones it may be... I'm gonna experiment with using two of these instead of two hardeners. So ignore that last sentence.
I also love the torque boosters - I feel weird flying without at least one.
GUNS:
For your passengers, I recommended fragmented missiles, cycled missiles or blasters. Hard to hit with railguns unless you are going after tanks.
For your front gun on an assault dropship, it's really up to taste but I like Accelerated Missile Launchers. The splash lets me get plenty of assists, and if I get a DIRECT HIT it's an instant kill on many suits - their accuracy lets me line up my first shot and take out a suit before they know they are under fire. I find that with blasters or cycled missile launchers they take cover before I can finish them off.
SKILLS:
Vehicle skills can do a lot - you can boost your turret damage a ton with skills. Still, you don't have to go that heavy into skills to be effective with a drop ship. I like to keep my drop ships on the cheap side because of issues with RDVs one-shotting them so I don't use the upper-level modules.
TACTICS:
Too much to go into here but one of the best things you can do is flush enemies out of cover for your allies to rout, or force them into corners as your allies advance - you can turn many games with a single dropship. It's not the damage you cause, but the confusion and panic you generate (explosions and blaster fire!) that will win your team the game. Especially true with assault dropships.
You can also hunt tanks if you have a gunner or two. LAVs can become decent prey as well.
TIPS:
Watch out for RDVS
Learn to use the momentum swarms hitting you gives you to boost you out of danger
NEVER panic in an enclosed area - it will kill you.
If you are a shield DS, carry an armor repper on your suit. Can't say how many times armor burn killed me.
If there's a large rail gun or a forge gun nearby, get the hell out.
Watch out for RDVs. Don't even pretend to go near them.
You can crush people with your dropship. It's awesome.
Don't be afraid to use your actives. If under fire, pop the booster before you need all of it.
Don't stay in one place too long - fire off some shots, then circle back around to a new position.
Learn to "swing" your assault dropship up and down to target enemies below your normal aim limit.
Learn where your gunners can fire and keep the enemies in their sights.
Stay low where cover protects you or high where it's hard to hit you - mid-height is wher |
Ser Chard
Osmon Surveillance
Caldari State
15
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Posted - 2013.06.09 05:32:00 -
[2] - Quote
This is kinda an old thread, but I felt this was the best to add some new things I've learned.
MODULES:
I now believe passive resistance amps are the way to go vs hardeners, at least for shields. Penalty is minimal if you only stack two, and they are in effect always - hardeners may not kick in until you've taken some damage anyway. I notice a big boost to my Python's survival rate when I use two 15% passive resistance amps instead of two hardeners.
This may not apply to armor, which has a pretty good hardener - perhaps they'd be best taking one hardener and a second armor plate if it fits.
COVER:
Unless you are feeling risky or have good team support, avoid piloting in maps without cover, which is usually towers or installations. Drop ships are quick and can easily run to cover when under overwhelming fire - cover will save you. Stay low and limit the angles from which you are exposed to potential fire. By choosing only to pilot on these choice maps I save a lot of isk.
TACTICS:
Splatter - Learn to use the drop ship itself as a weapon. You can dive-bomb enemies and squish them at high speed without hitting the ground. This works especially well on suits standing on top of buildings.
If a swarmer or forge gun is being annoying (they like to stand on buildings - too bad they are more vulnerable to drop ships there) you can make runs from cover to cover across them, firing en route and careening at high speed towards them, lowering your altitude to flatten them against your cockpit. If you can handle a magazine of swarms, there's a good chance they'll let you just fly over them and drop down on them.
Fish in a Barrel - Drop ships and tanks make good teams. You'll compete for enemy AV attention and you can route and kill entire squads. Generally squads take cover vs tanks - tanks project a heavy presence that pushes infantry into cover. Get behind that cover and let loose - you'll either flush enemies out and into the sights of the tank, or have easy pickin's as they are grouped and partially immobile behind said cover. This tactic applies to supporting your allied infantry too, but tanks generally do this better as enemies are more likely to "hunker down" vs tanks. If you follow a tank around, you're guaranteed to find cowering, grouped and distracted infantry ripe for slaughter - this is the closest to fish in a barrel I've encountered.
Anyone else have good advice? I think I have solo gunship down well, but I need to work on being good to my gunners and dogfights - I usually give up and fly away after a few rounds. |