The DA-SR 12 is godawful and needs a buff.

General discussion about the game.
UglyMug
Posts: 46
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 8:09 am

Re: The DA-SR 12 is godawful and needs a buff.

Postby UglyMug » Thu Oct 11, 2012 11:18 pm

If you encounter ANY offensive drone, there's next to zero chance for your glaive to charge before their drone hit you a few times. Even at lvl 3 cloak, 15 second cloak, with 25 second charge, with a lvl 1 crew manning it, still gives about 8 second for the drone to hit you 2 ~ 3 times.


Actually if you time it right, the drone hits you once, sometimes twice before the glaive fires (depends on where the drone is in its pass pattern when you come out of cloak.) Once you get the hang of it and lvl 3 cloak, early drones are only a problem for the DA-12 if you come against a Zoltran with one. Zoltrans without drones aren't a problem either since you can hit the weapons room on the first shot with the glaive. The "luck" with the DA-12 is pretty much is "don't run into a Zoltran with drones".

The only buff I'd like to see to the DA-12 is a change in how crew experience is gained. You get weapon exp per shot fired and you don't get exp for dodging during cloak. These together mean it takes ages for a DA-12 crew to gain levels.
Kenshkrix
Posts: 51
Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2012 9:00 pm

Re: The DA-SR 12 is godawful and needs a buff.

Postby Kenshkrix » Fri Oct 12, 2012 4:00 am

embair wrote:
icepick wrote:2-3 drone shots is hardly game-ending...


It is when a single hit to weapons room means pretty much game over. (no, you will not repair and recharge the glaive, nor manage to charge your FTL when under constant fire of a beam drone AND an enemy ship)

With upgraded stealth systems you shouldn't be losing weapons AND engines (Maybe try an early engine up?), I rarely die in a single fight, usually its a string of bad luck that gets me (3 zoltan ships in a row in sector 1? just terrible).
UglyMug
Posts: 46
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 8:09 am

Re: The DA-SR 12 is godawful and needs a buff.

Postby UglyMug » Fri Oct 12, 2012 4:50 am

Zoltans are not a problem in Sector 1 for the DA-12 unless they have drones.

Use this trick.

http://www.ftlgame.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3468

In fact, I think the DA-12 is one of the better ships for dealing with Early Zoltans.
embair
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2012 1:02 pm

Re: The DA-SR 12 is godawful and needs a buff.

Postby embair » Fri Oct 12, 2012 5:50 am

Kenshkrix wrote:With upgraded stealth systems you shouldn't be losing weapons AND engines (Maybe try an early engine up?), I rarely die in a single fight, usually its a string of bad luck that gets me (3 zoltan ships in a row in sector 1? just terrible).


You're luckier then I am. Most of the time when I got my weapons hit in sector 1, piloting or engines followed before I had a chance to charge FTL. Early engine up might be a good idea (though most of my deaths were before I even get the 50 scrap for stealth upgrade, much less anything else).

Edit: As I suggested earlier in this thread, FTL recharge booster as starting augment would IMHO help making the first few jumps less ridiculous without making the ship even more OP in later game.

UglyMug wrote:Zoltans are not a problem in Sector 1 for the DA-12 unless they have drones.

Use this trick.

http://www.ftlgame.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3468

In fact, I think the DA-12 is one of the better ships for dealing with Early Zoltans.


Interesting, thought it only works on the single specific layout, but people there now claim otherwise. Must have been doing something wrong. Well, this is at least something :) .
thereaverofdarkness
Posts: 72
Joined: Sat Oct 13, 2012 3:21 am

Re: The DA-SR 12 is godawful and needs a buff.

Postby thereaverofdarkness » Sat Oct 13, 2012 3:34 am

The DA-SR 12 is actually the most fun I've had with any ship. It's rough in the beginning, but if you can get past the first sector, you can be destroying ships in 1 glaive beam for most of the rest of the game. If you can get a burst laser or missile/bomb weapon to take out their shields briefly, you can often deal 12-15 damage to a ship with the glaive beam.

But I agree, it's a little ridiculous to start with. I think it should start with a better engine, so it charges faster and dodges more.
Maestro Ugo
Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2012 2:36 pm

Re: The DA-SR 12 is godawful and needs a buff.

Postby Maestro Ugo » Sun Oct 14, 2012 1:19 am

This is actually one of my favorite ships, and it definitely doesn't need a buff. It can be tricky at start, as was noted so many times, but it's a beast later. I usually go for the third level cloak ASAP, and than the engines. Also, try getting another crewmen as soon as possible so you can employ your Zoltans where they count (shields, engines, weapons) and let the fourth guy steer.
Ethaniel
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2012 3:15 pm

Re: The DA-SR 12 is godawful and needs a buff.

Postby Ethaniel » Sun Oct 14, 2012 5:40 pm

After losing four times in a row (on normal) in the first sector with the Stealth B (barely breaking the 300-point mark), I have to say, you need A LOT of luck, period. When you have an enemy firing 3 times out of 4 against your weapons system, the Glaive becomes a decoration. After all, the enemy just needs to disable one bar to leave you without weapons, and if we add the repair time to the Glaive cooldown, then you end up full of holes, and not even Cloaking 3 can help you with that. The problem isn't about buffs or changes in the specs: It's the fact that the Stealth Cruiser must contradict itself. After all, you need scrap, and the best way to get it is blowing up other ships, when the Stealth cruiser is a lot better equipped to avoid direct conflict (and you can, but sometimes all the beacons surrounding the exit have ships anyway).
UberFubarius
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2012 5:31 pm

Re: The DA-SR 12 is godawful and needs a buff.

Postby UberFubarius » Tue Oct 16, 2012 2:37 pm

Jotoco wrote:When the enemy fires, keep pausing until the laser is right at the edge of your screen.

See where it comes from, and angle it through your ship. Will it hit Cloak OR Weapons? No? Let it hit. Yes? Activate Cloak.

This will greatly enhance your start.


Perhaps an augment (or a sensor or helm upgrade?):
Have targeting reticule marking where the incoming fire will hit the moment the enemy fires it.
UglyMug
Posts: 46
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 8:09 am

Re: The DA-SR 12 is godawful and needs a buff.

Postby UglyMug » Tue Oct 16, 2012 8:36 pm

It's not really that difficult to use, once you learn a few tricks.

Before your first 50 scrap, cloak-dodge the opening salvo. After that just cloak at the beginning of combat, queue up the beam and go eat a sandwich - you pretty much auto-win against anything with 1 shield. Against drones, you can time the cloak so you take minimal damage and against zoltans you can use that trick to shield-pierce.

I don't see the problem. In fact I got my "Wing and a Prayer" achievement with the Stealth B, just playing normally.
QuintonBeck
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Oct 15, 2012 2:33 am

Re: The DA-SR 12 is godawful and needs a buff.

Postby QuintonBeck » Wed Oct 17, 2012 2:33 am

In one of my first few playthroughs with the Stealth B I got the Pre-igniter from a random encounter in the I want to say 2nd or 3rd sector. Good God is that thing beastly when you jump right in with the Glaive beam hot. Then I had a burst laser that would leave their shields with a hole in the middle, fire off my Glaive beam and watch em crumble. I loved that playthrough. Every fight was done in seconds.