Need a little advice on Capship Strikes...

Dammerung

Spaceman
...in WC3. Usually, I can take down the big boys without too much trouble. Bhantkara, Fralthi II are easy prey for me. When it comes to the Tiny stuff, I start getting in trouble. A Light destroyer isn't too tough, but a heavy is hell, especially in the Excalibur where you get them the most. And most of all, the one ship I hate so much, that I need my Wingman to take it down for me-- The Corvette. Yes, 4 laser turrets and a mass driver ten to send me home crying. In a Longbow or TBolt I can waste them fairly easily with a simple Torpedo- a Luxury the Hellcat and Arrow don't have. Anyone have an idea on how to take these things down? Sometimes, If I can take out the Mass Driver Turret, I can put myself in a tiny little nook if I'm in the Arrow where it's completely unprotected spot. Just hammer away. The problem with that is getting into position. My Front armor is definatly going down, and I'll be shredded after I get into place. I've tried sliding across the top (Mass Driver can't shoot you there), But the Laser turrets on top can take even my Excalibur down in a few seconds.

Sliding is also a Luxury the Hellcat doesnt have. If I can even get the shots in before the turrets rip me up to take out a turret, I'll be shaken up with heavy damage and unable to make another run. Considering that these little beasties are in almost all the missions in WC3, it's a pretty bad thing not to know how to defang. I can't take out turrets at long range, my stick is too sensitive. That leaves torps as my only option. something I'd rather save for the Fralthi II or Heavy Destroyer that Lies ahead. So how do you take these things down? My Wingman can usually handle two before it gets a little too hot for them, so that usually leaves me to handle at least 1 per mission(These things are EVERYWHERE). I'd like a solution without missiles, if possible, to these pests.
 
Corvette- The best overall option is to take out that aft turret (that thing eats shields, I'm more inclined to believe its a Tachyon). The best way to do this is to come in directly form aft and take the time lining up your shot. The laser turrets will open up at about 10,000, but jinxing just a little will throw off their aim. The aft cannon comes into play at around 6000-5000, so what i do is order a break and attack (your wingman must be formed on you or he will be toast before you get there - they always seem to afterburn towards a target) at about 7000. This will cause that aft turret to target him, giving you one clear volley at that beast. Otherwise, I pray your a good shot, especially on the upper skill levels, taking down a corvette on nightmare is just that.
Okay, other strategies, divert most of your power to shields. At the start of every mission, I tend to set my engines at 25%, guns at around 30%, the shields at 45%, and the damage repair to nill (in the power menu, one up on the weaps, 2 ups on the shields, all the way to nill on the damage). I tend to repair damage in between scuffles. This works for me. If your in an arrow or Excal, autosliding is your best option. Get just inside of weapons range and set a course parallel with the corvette, shoot him to bits. If your in the Thud or hellcat, take a note from your wingman (believe it or not, your computer-controlled wingmen have lots of strategies you can emulate that will bring you back in one peice on the higher skill levels). Pump your capacitors into him and the minute you take 3 hits or so (one or two if that aft turret is still operational) roll off and let your gun caps and shields charge up for about 3-5 secs, then roll back in and repeat. Takes a while, but the computer wingmen do it for a reason, its probably the most effecient way to take one out without taking much damage yourself.

As for the Heavy Destroyer, take the time to come up on it from behind. At about 10,000 out order your wingman to attack, that will occupy the guns for abit and the heavy has a huge aft blindspot, you can plink at it for a good 15-20 secs before the turrets respond tou you. otherwise take out that AMG on the front first and repeat corvette style till its dead, will take a while.

C-ya
 
I'll try that out right away

I _Was_ leaving things at 25-25-25-25, so that mighta been a problem. Sometimes, Wingmen dont like to get back on your Wing(Maniac and Flash, mostly), so that might be a problem.
 
I didn't reply to this at first because everyone seems to have a different opinion on tackling corvettes, and we've had long discusisons on this before.

But about power management, repairs don't seem to happen fast enough to make much of a difference in combat, so it's worth diverting damage control power to other sections. Max speed is the same no matter how much extra power you allocate to engines (unlike Prophecy), but dropping power in one section allocates power evenly among other sections. So I drop power to damage control to 0 first, then (personal preference) I add one to weapons and shields each.
 
Ditto on the power management. One thing I didn't see mentioned was missiles. With some practice you might be able to consistently nail the rear turrent on the Corvette with a Heat-Seeker, Dumbfire or IR. At the very least it'll soften up the target.
 
I always hated Corvettes. They're murder in the simulator in WCP, because you can't kill turrets.

The secret is to come in from behind, taking that rear turret head on, but jink until you get in close. Either afterburn in while jinking, and then line up with full guns on that turret. You'll take some hits, and possibly armor dings, but once that turret is gone, you can get into the blind spot.

Or, a heat seeker will do it every time. Line up dead astern to the thing just outside of turret range. Lock on a seeker, and let her go. If you're DIRECTLY behind it, the seeker will hit the rear turret and take it out. I know this because I used to waste a TORPEDO on that bloody turret, not realizing what I was doing wrong. Again, once the turret is gone, you can go for the blind spot, or you can even lazily pick off the other turrets and have loads of fun harrassing the damn thing.
 
Another thing you can do is to approach from the side within the same plane as the corvette (i.e. not above or below it). By doing that, you ensure that the turrets on the far side can not point at you, and neither can the rear turret. That reduces the number of turrets you have to dodge from five to two.
 
Either use Autoslide or use the Turrets of your bomber. Capship turrets are extremely bad at targetting you in either case...
 
overmortal said:
I always hated Corvettes. They're murder in the simulator in WCP, because you can't kill turrets.

Prophecy corvettes are easy, if your in the right ship. Swing in on the corvette and give it a pass to piss it off, then swing down till you're travelling directly in front of the corvette ( you can use the chase camera mode to make sure the corvette is on your tail). Dump 4 mines out of your ship, switch to object camera on the corvette, and watch the corvette plow straight through the mines and go nova!

C-ya
 
Thanks, nothing like pissing off an enemy. Psychologically, if a person is angry then the logical portion of his brain shuts down, causing rash action.
 
Mines and Trackers work well on corvettes, but I advise against sitting in front of one to deliver mines, especially the Barracuda. Barracudas are easy enough to take down anyway, since all their guns are up front. Pretty poor design, but that's okay for us. :)

Anyway, mines aren't stationary, so it's still okay to dump them along the sides of a corvette, especially if it's manoeuvring about trying to avoid several fighters simultaneously.
 
Now you make me wish I hadn't misplaced my Prophecy discs. As far as I know, Prophecy's Missile Mines are not stationary, and can nail a Moray if you drop it right. A Porcupine, on the other hand, stays put.
 
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