Mauzel wrote:
However, given the 2x Ion Blast II wont be doing any dmg, and the Firebeam won't be igniting anything without available oxygen, you end up with a weapon system that cannot damage the flagship, and thus be in a deadlock. For which the only way to break is to have an anti-ship drone of some sort, scrap that could've been better used elsewhere ;p
Yeah yeah, necro up the wazoo and whatnot.
But I still feel compelled to point out that this ^ is not true. Once the oxygen breaks, the laser gunner inevitably dies, and then the AI comes online. And fixes everything. Over and over
I actually had a config like this in a recent game, 2 Ions I, Heavy Ion, Fire Beam. I actually took out the BL II since I wanted to burn the Boss to death. This proved to be rather simple; the shields go down like nothing, stay down forever, and you can just torch the whole ship over and over again, exploding systems until everything goes splat.
Usually the repair cycles synched up well enough that the oxygen is fixed in time for you to go torching the weapons before they start firing, but if need be, you can ion them to be on the safe side.
As for the opening question:
When it comes to destroying ships, I'm rather partial to Halbert-Laser Combos. I quite like the Hull Smashers as well, since they give you the option of causing 1 or 2 damage, and breach easily.
For sheer entertainment value, the Ion-Fire combos can't be topped. You just smoke out everything in your path, and sending boarders just adds insult to injury. It's a good idea to complement this build with something that can do actual damage, otherwise you're a bit humped against scouts and assaults, but it's pretty likely that something will pop up along the way.