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*Stat comparisons based on non-DLC Fight ships, excluding the Xenon P (costs more than an equipped Balor but has low DPS so it would bias comparisons).
Low attention notes:
- Attacker speed is a factor Damage bonuses for fast ships and for large targets in abstracted combat so fighters have a lower damage penalty tend to favour fighters.
- The don't shoot their own missiles :)
- Surface element destruction doesn't factor in local shielding, which may help fighters (not tested if different to capitals).
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The approach-based combat AI has some drawbacks:
- Turret distribution and damage isn’t explicitly accounted for so line-of-sight can be lost for main turrets.
- The Balor is fragile so trying to bombarding with integral missiles from range would make sense.
- The Sucellus’ integral gun is spinally-mounted, so trying to point towards a target would make sense.
Drone: Capital ships may carry a range of drones but combat drones will only be used against Small and Medium ships. Given that Overrun URVs shoot dumbfire rockets that may even occasionally miss stations, it's probably not worth using them. Similarly, since Assault URVs are broken such that they do not launch, they are not worth equipping (at least for high attention combat). This leaves Interceptor (faster, weak, low DPS) and Intrepid (moderate speed, toughness and DPS) URVs as the combat drones that are effective against fighters.
Low attention notes:
- Damage bonuses for fast ships and for large targets in abstracted combat tend to penalise capitals.
- Potential DPS is split around 6 by cardinal points, with up to 3 usable per target.
- As mentioned above, the slower the attacker, the lower the damage they can apply.
- It is unknown how well Overrun URVs may work on fighters.
- It is unknown whether Assault URVs are broken in low attention or not.
- Whilst the launching of drones is not simulated, they do add anti-fighter damage and they can be randomly lost.
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Stations possess a feature called "Supply Options", which allows for the automation of restocking of combat drones. As with capital ships, these drones will only be launched against fighters. Unlike with capitals, they do not have any impact on low attention combat (at least not yet)...
Low attention notes:
- Damage bonuses for fast ships and for large targets in abstracted combat tend to penalise stations.
- NPC stations will replace lost surface elements (turrets and shields) relatively quickly.
- NPC and player stations may have defensive drones but they have no impact on abstracted combat.
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