In WC4 the dumbfires are quite effective against capships. On strike missions against light and medium caps I often take fighters instead of bombers, (I use bombers for very big targets like carriers) and load them with dumbfires. The fast fighters have not as much problems with enemy fighters as the bombers and the missiles are usually enough to send corvettes, single cruisers and transports to hell.
Guns or missiles?
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Chameleon102
Spaceman
Yay. Someone else who sees the Truth that bombers in WC's 3 n' 4 suck!
Damn that Phase Shield technology! Damn it to hell!
Damn that Phase Shield technology! Damn it to hell!
Wedge009
Rogue Leader
So, it is. Another reason why I feel jump missions are lacking after WC2. The Longbow could jump, so why didn't we use it?
I like heavier fighters, so I don't mind flying bombers, but I'd take the Devastator over the Longbow. I can understand why people wouldn't like the Shrike, though.
Mekt-Hakkikt
Mpanty's bane
Yep. But a FF can't kill a Stingray and I can't be sure that the FF really goes after the Stingray and of course its range is shorter.
Once I reached a navpoint (and had the improved IR) I targeted every Stingray and launched an IR at each and I could be sure not to be troubled anymore.
I disagree a bit: Two IRs and in 90% of the cases the Talon explodes in a nice fireball.
Mekt-Hakkikt
Mpanty's bane
1 IR enough for an undamaged Talon? I don't think so.
Death
gh0d (Administrator)
For the most part, guns, but there are some times where a missile or two will help make things easier for you.
For example, in Privateer you can lock onto one fighter, double-tap it with IRs while you're engaging another target with your guns. (FFs don't work as well, and of course HFs and DFs are useless for the purposes of "over the shoulder" shots.) 2 ImRecs will kill a Talon, and put a hurt on a Demon (and to a lesser extent a Centurion).
Also, lobbing a missile at the drone you run into later in the game will make it go into evasive manuevers, even though the missile can't hurt it. While the drone is farting around with dodging the missile, you have extra time to get away. Particularly useful if you run into the drone on the way back from the steltek ship, at one of the nav/jump points in an asteroid field (my very first encounter with the drone was in the Delta system, at the Delta->Rygannon jump).
Then, of course, there's WC4, where missiles are deadly when they hit. Especially on the atmospheric missions, missiles are a godsend (and also a curse, if you're the target). During the first Tyr mission I packed a rack of ImRecs, and a pack of Leeches. ImRec for the missile turret as soon as I get out of autopilot, and a leech for the Vindicator(s) there (the ace pilot, for the points where there was 2 Vins to engage).
Also useful during the jamming missions, where missile guidance doesn't work, are dumbfires. In addition to the obvious usefulness against the jamming ship in the last Peleus mission (a 4-missile salvo of DFs will make a frigate's life pretty short), often when engaging a fighter in the earlier missions, the AI was easy enough to tail in a good ship that it didn't take an exceptional degree of skill to lob a missile up a Bearcat's or Excalibur's tailpipes, though obviously it wouldn't be as easy as an ImRec or FoF.
I don't think I ever used WC1 missiles for any reason beyond "why not", though...
For example, in Privateer you can lock onto one fighter, double-tap it with IRs while you're engaging another target with your guns. (FFs don't work as well, and of course HFs and DFs are useless for the purposes of "over the shoulder" shots.) 2 ImRecs will kill a Talon, and put a hurt on a Demon (and to a lesser extent a Centurion).
Also, lobbing a missile at the drone you run into later in the game will make it go into evasive manuevers, even though the missile can't hurt it. While the drone is farting around with dodging the missile, you have extra time to get away. Particularly useful if you run into the drone on the way back from the steltek ship, at one of the nav/jump points in an asteroid field (my very first encounter with the drone was in the Delta system, at the Delta->Rygannon jump).
Then, of course, there's WC4, where missiles are deadly when they hit. Especially on the atmospheric missions, missiles are a godsend (and also a curse, if you're the target). During the first Tyr mission I packed a rack of ImRecs, and a pack of Leeches. ImRec for the missile turret as soon as I get out of autopilot, and a leech for the Vindicator(s) there (the ace pilot, for the points where there was 2 Vins to engage).
Also useful during the jamming missions, where missile guidance doesn't work, are dumbfires. In addition to the obvious usefulness against the jamming ship in the last Peleus mission (a 4-missile salvo of DFs will make a frigate's life pretty short), often when engaging a fighter in the earlier missions, the AI was easy enough to tail in a good ship that it didn't take an exceptional degree of skill to lob a missile up a Bearcat's or Excalibur's tailpipes, though obviously it wouldn't be as easy as an ImRec or FoF.
I don't think I ever used WC1 missiles for any reason beyond "why not", though...
