Cadet II/Galving & figbees

Galving and Figbees

This section deals with using fighters to destroy bases. To do that you either need adv figs and galvonic blasters or fighter bombers.

Galving

Galv is short for Galvonic Blaster. The galv can only damage minor stations - teleports, outposts, and refineries - and ships, of course. In fact it has a slight perk vs. cap ship hull.

Note Iron Coalition stations are immune to galvs.

Loadout

On a galv run the key is to move fast - get to the target fast, move around it fast to avoid enemy fire, and get out of there fast. You are not dogfighting, you are not hunting cons, you are killing a station.

This means boosting, and lots of it. Fighter's fuel capacity is mediocre so pack at least one extra fuel can. If you have minepacks keep one in the dispenser and maybe a spare in cargo. Doing this will leave one cargo spot open, which you could fill with a gat in case a miner pops out of the dead station, or you have to abort the mission to kill something else. The exact load out will depend on your style and the general conditions (like the distance to the target, what kind of base you are going to galv, how many are you going to galv, etc). Experiment with that and see what suits you best.

Tip: If you are belters then mount an EMP cannon (if you have it) in your other gun slots to help bring the station's shields down faster.

Missiles are a maybe. Dumbs might be useful to pop a miner or con that you encounter after killing the base, seekers might distract the defenders, quickfires may even allow you to kill an unalert sf pilot. On the other hand, missiles raise your signature. Going without them will allow you to creep closer to the base before being eyed.

Setting up

Galving is not something you do alone. Apart from refineries every station you attack will be capable of launching defenders, and it is an easy matter to kill off a single galver as their loadout hampers their dogfighting abilities. Even if the enemy are expansion and they have an isolated teleporter it is unlikely you can solo it - all they have to do is rip in a nan while the ints boost there to deal with you.

The number of galvers required to take down a base varies depending on conditions - what techpath are the enemy team, are they distracted, how far is the enemy base, what kind of station is it (outposts have a lot more hitpoints than teleports). Generally in a medium sized game (10-15 players) around 5 fighters are needed to take down an outpost, however in huge games a galv runs of 20 or more fighters on an important outposts do happen.

Trying to galv through a camped aleph is generally a bad idea. It's usually wise to take a scout and deprobe the approach path to the target sector. While that is being done get figs to gather at the aleph. It is crucial that you all go together, as a pack. Stretching out your formation will give the enemy an opportunity to kill your approaching fighters one by one by concentrating fire on them. Do that and you are quite sure to fail. Even more importantly the fighter at the front of the group will be eyed long before the guys further back, so now you have the enemy warned of an attack while half your attackers are still miles away.

When everyone is ready, and the attack signal is given, start boosting towards the aleph. It may pay to setup about 1k from the aleph, so you have a nice run up. Just before you enter the aleph stop boosting, and start reloading fuel. Why? This way you fly through the aleph with all the extra speed that a booster gives you, but without the high signature.

Attacking the base

Once through the aleph check for eye. If you're uneyed then DO NOT BOOST.

If the enemy doesn't see you, they can't react. Just cruise on in to the base - this may be a good time to eject your half empty fuel can and unmount your missiles for even less sig. Once you're eyed slam on the boosters (or when you hear everyone around you slam on theirs').

Head straight for the base, but watch out for scouts trying to prox you. If you can, aim for the part of the base away from their red door to avoid any defenders launching. Once you're in range open up with the galv blaster and start side thrusting around the base. Watch out for defenders and try and throw them off using side thrusters and boosters. Spam minepacks, especially if you pass in front of the red door. Remember to use your boosters to accelerate around the base, keeping as close to the base as possible to make yourself harder to hit - you should have enough fuel to keep it up until the base pops.

Tip: Missiles can't hurt bases. Don't look like a complete idiot by firing them.

Aftermath

If you are successful take a quick look around your HUD and at the minimap. If you're swarmed by defenders slam on the boosters and hit that ripcord button. Come back for pods as soon as you can. If there are just a few harmless opponents left on the battlefield, you can try to pod them or chase them away. If their is a miner or a con go after that, but in any case get the pods and get ready for your next galv run. If you are not lucky enough to survive that long, well, you know what to do: press 'B', then 'P' to go back home.

Attacking Gigacorp

Gigacorp has a unique weakness: all their minor stations only have light base armour, which makes them vulnerable to all weapons - even ramming!

Of course some weapons are still more effective than others. As fighters vs a Gigacorp base your weapon of choice is the disruptor, and dumbfires. Get yourself 3 racks of dumbs, 3 cans of fuel, 3 disruptors, and a bunch of mates and you're looking at a dead base.

The fighter bomber

The first thing we need to cover is this ship's name. It is not a ship which is half bomber, half fighter. It is a fighter which has most of its guts stripped out and replaced with an anti-base payload. Although they have a mini-AC turret, a little like a bomber, this turret is almost completely useless (because the fighter bomber spends most of its time boosting past enemies, and the shaking makes it impossible to aim).

This ship is covered here, under fighters, instead of during bombing week because the way you use it is very similar to galving. That is, you take out most of the equipment apart from fuel, you work in a group, and you don't dogfight you concentrate on killing the base. Unlike fighters that galv, the figbee:

• Has a limited number of missiles (rix and TF being exceptions).
• Thus, it can only hit approximately one base before needing to return home.
• Because anti-base missiles have poor tracking the figbees cannot boost around the base to avoid enemy fire as easily.
• The extra weight of the SRM AB makes the ship inagile.
• The figbee can only carry one SRM AB per rack and even the weakest stations need 2 or 3, so your chances of soloing anything drops dramatically.
• They cost $250 a pop.

Loadout

You will need at least one AB missile loaded. Now there is little point in trying a low-sig approach, the ship has high enough signature to be seen either way and you have very limited cargo space. Not to mention that mounting and arming those missiles takes ages. Always have at least one spare AB missile. Although most figbees die before they can get a second shot off, in a large crowd you might be the lucky one who doesn't. You may even want to pack a 2nd spare. The rest of the cargo should be filled with fuel cans.

The figbee can carry minepacks, but be aware that these mass quite a lot and will affect your acceleration. Unmount the turret, it's dead weight and really, two figbees are better than one turreted one. If someone does hop on you can change to a ship without turrets then switch back to boot them off.

The ultimate high-speed figbee pilot will strip everything off their figbee. One missile armed, one in cargo, and fuel. No minepacks, no gattling guns, no counters, no turret, nothing.

Regular run

Performed just like a galv run, but it's more important to deprobe. Also you should setup behind the aleph, not in front, so that any stray interceptors won't pop through and pod you before you react. A couple of regular figs to check the aleph for camp is a good idea.

Removing enemy base from your sector

So, the enemy has pushed into your sector. Or your commander has pushed into enemy sector. Either way, it's your sector, isn't it?

Look at the sector in F3 and ask yourself a few questions:

• Do you have a launchable base in that sector?
• Which way does the red door face?
• Are they camping it?
• If it's camped or too far from the enemy base, is there an aleph near the enemy base that you could use?
• Is there a game-winning bomb run, htt run, tp2 attack that needs your help more than the base does?

If you have a base in a good position then it's simply a matter of all the figbees waiting in the station for the comm's call, then launching all at once. As you wait you may need to launch a fig to prevent the enemy camping - hang around the base so you can quickly change back to a figbee. If it's a long walk then you will want nan (and maybe fig) escorts, especially if your team is too poor for everyone to fly a figb!

Attacking the base

As soon as you're in the sector target the enemy base, orientate yourself towards it, and slam on the boosters. If you see any enemy ships that may be laying minefields or trying to ram then get out of their way. You may even want to approach the base in a wide corkscrew so they have trouble predicting the intersection.

Once you're in range fire your first AB. Recall, from the bombing lesson, that you can fire your ABs from extreme range by multiplying your speed by 5. With the figbee's booster this can be over 1500m! But unfortunately not over 9000 :(.

As the second missile loads start heading around the base, preferably away from their red door. Try and get up close and personal so you're hard to hit, and keep circling around it. But recall that missiles launch with your momentum and ABs are not agile, so don't be going sideways too much when the second missile is ready for firing. If you do manage to put two ABs into the base, consider yourself lucky. If you manage three and there are defenders around, you have mastered the 'merry go round the base' game.

Tip: Have the F4 screen displayed so you can see how long until the missile is primed and ready.

Aftermath

If the base pops and you happen to be still alive find your G-indicator, align your nose with it, hit booster, and rip. Or just hit boosters and rip (Lining up your g-indicator first will avoid the situation of you drifting in circles as your booster works against your momentum(.

There are most likely tons of blood thirsty defenders out there and they want revenge for the base you and your mates destroyed. You happen to be a sitting duck at this very moment, so get the hell out of there. If you manage to rip out, head back to base, jump into something that is faster and attracts less attention than a figbee, and go get those pods.

If you're in a pod, you know what to do. There should be many pods around so hopefully at least one teammate will return to pick you and your buddies up.

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