The Ur-Quan Masters Discussion Forum

Fundamentals

Below is a compilation of useful information and tactics that apply during a wide range of different ship-to-ship confrontations.



Natural Intelligence vs. Artificial Intelligence

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Basics_Contrast.gif)

To a player uninitiated in net melee, Star Control's "awesome cyborg" combat AI likely appears to be a competent pilot. The computer's main strength is that its reaction time exceeds human capabilities. This is especially obvious when it is given control of a ship that rewards this, such as Pkunk. The many weaknesses of the awesome cyborg vastly outweigh this strength, however. The computer cannot distinguish between different enemy ship types so it doesn't try to exploit its opponent's flaws. It will use one ship the exact same way in every given situation. Among other things, this leads to the AI aggressively chasing Spathi around the arena when a more cautious approach would be more effective. The computer will also decide which craft it sends into battle at random rather than choosing the most effective counter to what their adversary has in the arena.

By contrast, a live player can pick up all of these things very quickly. No person will be able to match the computer's ridiculous dodging ability with the Slylandro, but with practice they can get very close to it. Despite human limitations, an experienced player can become more dangerous even with those fast, dodgy ships by utilizing superior tactics. The most significant advantage a player has over the computer is that the player's abilities improve with every skirmish while the computer remains static forever. Given practice, a person will eventually outgrow the AI.



Initial Selection

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When a melee match begins, both players must pick their first ship without knowledge of what the other player is using. The best approach is to use something cheap and crappy that you don't care about losing. If your opponent starts out with Chmmr and you only use Zoq-Fot-Pik, this is actually a good thing. You've only paid out 6 points and now your opponent has one of their best ships set up for you to counter. Gaining initiative is well worth the sacrifice of one weak ship. Zoq-Fot-Pik and Shofixti are the most commonly deployed starters for this reason. Use of slightly more expensive starters such as Syreen and VUX is also frequent, as they are just powerful enough to lay waste to the cheapest of ships without leaving you at a disadvantage afterwards.



Countering

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Although the most expensive spacecraft are also typically the most effective, they each have a weakness to at least one ship which costs less. It's good to get in the habit of holding back certain ships until the other player deploys ideal prey. For instance, Orz has a tendency of leaving a long trail of death and destruction whenever it's deployed. That is to say, until Androsynth shows up in the arena with its comet form and slices right through it without even trying. Androsynth costs a little more than half the price of Orz, so if the other player has Orz in their fleet then you had better keep your Androsynth in reserve. Strive to hit every ship the other player uses with the most effective counter available.



Mirroring

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This is another solution to difficult enemy craft. If someone has a ship out that you have no counters to use against, match them with the exact same ship yourself. If the other player's ship is already damaged, then the odds of winning are in your favor. If the other player's ship is at full crew capacity or very close it, mirroring them is not a smart choice.



The Arena

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Basics_Arena.gif)

This diagram is a representation of the entire arena in melee. The arena is actually the size of four fully zoomed-out screens. Within the arena's confines there are always five asteroids and one planet. If an asteroid is destroyed, it will respawn off camera. Why is this information useful? Because during a significant portion of ship match-ups, one player will begin searching for the planet as soon as combat begins. Even when this is not the case, you should constantly be on the lookout for the planet so as to minimize your chances of crashing straight into it. Get in the habit of doing this and you'll find yourself ramming the planet much less often.



Blind Spots

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A ship can only face 16 different directions. If you approach an enemy ship while hiding between their firing lines, they will be unable to hit you. Although this is usually not a major factor, blind spots exist on every ship in the game. If you find that your opponent is approaching along one of your blind spots, it's generally a good idea to reposition yourself so that you have some possibility of landing a hit on the other player. Weapons that fire in a wide spread or automatically home in on their target almost totally negate the presence of blind spots.



Braking

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The above header is a bit misleading here; there are no actual brakes in Star Control. If you want to bring your ship to a stop, turn your ship exactly 180 degrees from the direction you're moving in and apply just enough thrust to negate your inertia. Due to differences in acceleration, top speed and ship mass, you'll find that the various warships each require a different amount of thrust to bring themselves to a stop.



Flanking

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Flanking is a tactic in which an attacker maneuvers around their opponent's front and strikes them from the side or back where they cannot retaliate effectively. When piloting a fast and agile craft such as the Arilou Skiff, this is the only way to fight. In some situations, a flanking ship can use an enemy's blind spot to help close the distance without being shot at.



Pillboxing

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For vehicles with fast turning speed, pillboxing is the best answer to a flanking adversary. To pillbox, simply bring your ship to a halt and then rotate in place so as to lead your opponent with your guns. A stationary craft is difficult to flank, for if it is not traveling in any direction then there is no obvious opening to rush in from.



Asteroids

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Basics_Asteroids.gif)

Asteroids are a minor factor, but never to the point where you can totally disregard their presence. Crashing into an asteroid inflicts no damage, but will bounce your ship away from it. Asteroids exist in Star Control melee to add a random element to combat. It is unusual for a player to win or lose a bout because of an asteroid, but it does happen. Situations where one can actively capitalize upon an asteroid are rare, but here's one tactic you can use...



Covered Charge

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This is a fun one. If you happen to notice an asteroid directly approaching the enemy ship and you're close enough to it, you can hide behind the obstacle and advance under its shadow. An asteroid can only absorb one good shot, but sometimes one deflected shot is a huge advantage. This is a tricky and highly situational technique that you won't get to perform very often, but there's satisfaction in using a stray space rock to win.



The Planet

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Basics_Planet.gif)

Behold the planet. The overlay you see around it shows the area upon which a planet exerts its gravitational pull. The approximate distance that this area extends across is three times the planet's diameter starting from the planet's outer edge. When your ship's center of mass crosses into this boundary, the effects of gravity begin to slowly drag your ship inward. A direct collision with the planet will kill either one fourth of your current crew, or a single crew member if your vessel has very few staff aboard.



Gravity Whip

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Basics_GravWhip.gif)

The above figure demonstrates the ever popular Leyland Gravity Whip, a handy trick that will significantly boost the speed of most spacecraft. To perform this maneuver, accelerate straight through the planet's gravitational field. Once you've left the planet's immediate vicinity, stop accelerating. Using thrust beyond the planet's area of effect will rapidly bring your vessel back down to its default speed. Due to this limitation, a gravity whip can only be used to travel in a straight line. This maneuver has a wide range of applications within melee. The most obvious use of the gravity whip is to send spaceborne artillery such as the Earthling or Mycon careening so that they become much more difficult to engage up close.



Orbiting

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Basics_Orbit.gif)

Orbiting is a defensive technique with some similarities to pillboxing that allows the player using it to escape by gravity whip at any time, in any direction they want. As you can see from the diagram, orbiting involves placing your vessel in the planet's gravitational field in such a way that you automatically revolve around it. Lots of players seem to have trouble with this, but it's actually fairly easy to do. Remember how to brake? Simply repeat that procedure in close proximity to the planet. As you grind to a halt, your ship will begin to circle the planet on its own. You can adjust your orbit by accelerating very slightly in a given direction, and may need to do so to avoid colliding with the planet itself.

The Androsynth Guardian

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Androsynth_01.gif)

Androsynth is versatile and deadly enough to put up a decent fight against almost every ship in Star Control. It is also easily the most overpowered ship in the game when considering its low point value of 15. Androsynth is not the most effective combatant, but anything that can outperform it costs quite a bit more. You should always have one of these in your fleet for the purpose of getting the most bang for your buck. It's hard to go wrong with Androsynth.



Primary Function: Acid Bubbles

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Androsynth_02.gif)

These adorable little hazards move slowly and erratically in the general direction of the enemy, inflicting two damage each on contact. Acid bubbles are insignificant by themselves, but quite lethal as a large cloud.



The Bubble Bath

While acid bubbles aren't used as frequently as the ship's comet form, there are a few enemies which warrant a technique known as the bubble bath. To perform a bubble bath, spam the bubble weapon whenever your opponent draws near and maneuver around to keep the bubbles between them and yourself. You would be surprised how many different ships are unable to break past this defense. Unfortunately, bubble bathing is also considered foul play in many situations because of its tendency to create long, boring stalemates. With that in mind, the bubble bath is best used against speedy opponents that can easily thwart the Androsynth's comet form. These ships are: Arilou, Pkunk, Slylandro, Thraddash and Umgah.



The Bubble Trap

The acid bubble weapon can be used to force an opposing craft to abandon a particular position. If the other player is soaring around on a gravity whip and you want to make them to break off the maneuver, move into their path and drop a large heap of bubbles. This same trick is also a good way to force an opponent to cease pillboxing or orbiting for a time, as they will have to move away to avoid damage. The likelihood of your opponent sustaining damage from this technique is low if they know what they're doing. This is a utility move, not something you win battles with by itself.



Secondary Function: Comet Form

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Androsynth_03.gif)

The Androsynth can compact into a tight little ball and launch itself like a battering ram at enemy craft. As questionable as that sounds, it's amazingly effective against a wide range of different enemy craft. A single bump against an enemy ship counts for three damage, but the comet will often crash against its victim's hull multiple times before bouncing off in another direction. Occasionally the Androsynth can even wedge itself into its opponent, destroying them almost instantly. Comet charges are best started when you have a full battery and finished far away from the opponent's position where the other player cannot retaliate while you recharge. The comet form can also be used when your battery is low to make a quick leap away from imminent danger. The turning rate of the comet is rather poor, so whenever you fly past or bounce off a target you should not attempt to turn around for another attack run until you've bypassed them by a reasonable distance. Attempting to turn back around in close proximity to your opponent is a great way to get yourself shot up.



Ideal Purpose

If your opponent has an Orz in their fleet, hold your Androsynth in reserve until given the opportunity to counter and destroy it. Your comet form is the perfect weapon for dispatching an otherwise dangerous vessel. Orz marines are killed instantly upon contact with your comet form and the ship itself is not nearly fast enough to evade you. When faced with an opponent that has no Orz, think of your Androsynth as a spare that can be used to take out almost anything which you have no specific counter to use against. Here is a list of the ships that make good alternate targets for your Androsynth:

• Druuge
• Earthling
• Melnorme
• Spathi
• Supox
• Umgah
• Ur-Quan
• VUX
• Zoq-Fot-Pik



Counters

If you absolutely, positively have to crush an Androsynth into scrap metal right this instant then use Kohr-Ah. Drop a few spinning blades nearby and try to time your flamewave ability for the moment the Androsynth's comet form is about to crash into you. Expect them to try and pull a fake-out or two to get you to waste your battery -- it's their only way around the devastating flamewave. If Androsynth does not go on the offensive, they are shooting themselves in the foot; Kohr-Ah excels at long range warfare. Before you send your Kohr-Ah out for this, you should consider your less expensive alternatives.

If the other player's Androsynth is damaged down to half its crew capacity or less, a well piloted defensive Ilwrath is a more economical solution. Keep your distance from the Androsynth until they decide to comet charge and then do your best to catch them with your flame thrower as they strike.

Slylandro is also an effective Androsynth killer regardless of the target's crew, but you'll need good reflexes and a little bit of patience for that. You will have to dodge around the dreaded bubble bath and slowly wear the Androsynth down with your lightning weapon. This is generally the best counter to use.

The Arilou Skiff

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Arilou_01.gif)

Being the first of several ships designed for flanking, the Arilou is built around the premise of being able to pick apart its enemies without taking any damage in return. With only six crew members, this craft does not allow its pilot any room for error. The ship's maximum velocity is not high enough for it to flank most other spacecraft the conventional way, so Arilou pilots must instead rely heavily upon a frustratingly random teleportation ability to get into attack position. In terms of cost-effectiveness, the Arilou falls short of its 16 point value.



Primary Function: Auto-Aiming Laser

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Arilou_02.gif)

This short range laser that is always aimed at your opponent. The weapon stutters while firing, causing a point of damage every other frame. To look at it another way, that's half the rate of sustained firepower which you can expect from a VUX laser or a quarter of sustained firepower from a Chmmr laser. This comparison is hardly flattering for the Arilou, but the weapon's precision and ease of use mitigate this lack of impact somewhat. Be sure you do not exhaust your battery entirely when you unload on an opponent. Keep a small reserve of energy in case an emergency teleport becomes necessary.



Secondary Function: Teleport

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Arilou_03.gif)

For only three points of energy, the Arilou may instantly teleport to a random location within the arena. This ability is most frequently used as an escape mechanism. See a projectile flying your way? Teleport out of there before it connects. Teleportation has a catch to it: There is a minuscule chance of the Arilou spawning inside an asteroid or planet, destroying it instantly. The more you use Arilou, the more you will learn to hate this flaw in the ship's design.



Chain Teleportation

It's not immediately obvious, but teleportation also has offensive potential. To teleport offensively, use the secondary function repeatedly until your ship appears close to your opponent at an angle they are not able to stop you from flanking them. Between each teleport you should wait for your battery to recharge so that you are at your maximum capacity when the moment to strike finally presents itself. This tactic dramatically increases your chance of a fatal teleport, but is nevertheless worth it against many different ships which Arilou would otherwise not be able to beat.



Bonus Feature: Inertial Nullifier

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Arilou_04.gif)

Arilou is the only ship in the game which does not continue to coast in a direction after it turns off its thrusters, allowing it to come to a full stop in an instant. This gives you better handling of the ship, but isn't really decisive by itself. Arilou is also not affected by the planet's gravity, nor the Chmmr's tractor beam.



Ideal Purpose

If the other player has Mycon in their fleet, definitely use Arilou to take it down. The technique for that particular match-up is as simple as watching out for plasmoids while moving in for the kill. Most players are sharp enough to know not to ever use Mycon, unfortunately, so you will not be able to do this very frequently.

The next most popular ships to send Arilou against seem to be Melnorme and Supox. These are normally easy prey for Arilou, but unfortunately both ships each have their own obscure anti-Arilou tactic which can give them an edge. Attack either ship with Arilou if you want, but understand the risk involved. Here are the most viable alternate targets:

• Druuge
• Earthling
• Umgah
• VUX
• Zoq-Fot-Pik

One other thing you can do is deploy the Arilou as your starting ship, particularly if you think the other player is going to start with VUX. Arilou's teleportation ability negates the VUX's point-blank starting position, which is especially brutal in the very first bout of a net melee match where both ships warp in at a complete stop. Hold down teleport just as the match begins to avoid this first strike.



Counters

Ilwrath is a reasonably effective counter against Arilou, and it's cheap too. Abuse the cloaking device as much as possible, for Arilou's laser does not track you while you're cloaked. For the best results, play cautiously.

Shofixti is not the most reliable Arilou killer, but it's certainly the cheapest. The Arilou's effective weapon range is too short to hurt Shofixti without walking into the glory device's kill radius. Unfortunately, this leads to a long and frustrating series of feints from the Arilou in order to trick you into triggering the bomb at a bad time.

Spathi performs well against Arilou, although the match is long and tedious to an extreme. Keep plugging away with those torpedoes and you'll eventually nail them.

You can also use one of the tougher ships such as Androsynth, Slylandro or Mmrnmhrm if none of the cheapo ships are available to you, although none of these are ideal as you should have bigger fish to fry with them.

The Chenjesu Broodhome

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Chenjesu_01.gif)

To say that Chenjesu is lacking in mobility would be an understatement. Due to its mediocre acceleration, abysmal turning rate and high ship mass, this ship lurches about during combat like an obese sea turtle. This ship will crash into the planet more frequently than anything else in the game, and due to Chenjesu's large crew capacity, even one crash will sting like a swift kick to the crotch. An expert player can minimize these collisions, but they are still going to occur. Despite this, Chenjesu is a quite powerful. Its choice of armament is powerful and versatile enough that this ship can put up a fight at all distances against just about everything in the game. It's a solid combatant, but not nearly worth the cost of 28 points.



Primary Function: Photon Shard

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Chenjesu_02.gif)

Photon shards can be launched all the way across the screen and continue traveling beyond the camera's boundaries and come back again on a wrap-around. While that is a neat demonstration of the weapon's infinite range, it's also a phenomenally stupid way to fight. Lots of players like to try and hit their opponent with a crazy wrap-around shot and I have no idea why anyone would think that's a good idea. That technique is not reliable in the least bit and wastes far too much time, so don't do it.

With that tangent out of the way, let's go over the specifics of this weapon. To fire a photon shard, hold down the primary attack button. The photon shard inflicts six damage on a direct collision with the enemy. If you release the primary attack button before the shard strikes an object, it will explode into eight little pieces of shrapnel that travel in different directions and inflict two damage each. You do not need to line up your shots perfectly to damage an enemy craft thanks to shrapnel. These smaller fragments are not very precise, but they do help.



Shrapnel Spamming

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Chenjesu_03.gif)

Rapidly tapping the primary attack button will unleash a flurry of ordinance nearby that can be devastating at short range. This technique is a good way to handle small enemy craft attempting to flank you, for it will cover your ship from almost every angle with weapons fire. Shrapnel spamming does leave two diagonal openings behind the Chenjesu itself that are not covered, so try to keep hostiles off your back as much as possible.



Secondary Function: De-Energizing Offensive Guided Interceptor

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Chenjesu_04.gif)

Using their entire battery, the Chenjesu can construct and deploy DOGIs during combat. DOGIs seek out the opposing craft and attempt to bump into them. A DOGI collision inflicts no damage, but rather drains ten points of battery power and knocks the other ship off course. Chenjesu can only maintain four DOGIs during combat at a time, though even one DOGI can potentially disable an opponent by keeping their battery empty. DOGIs have varying amounts of usefulness depending upon what the Chenjesu is up against. Even when you're in a match where DOGIs do not appear to be decisive, it's good to make one if you've got the energy to spare and the opposing ship is not an imminent threat. DOGIs are vulnerable to your own weapons so try not to shoot them down.



Ideal Purpose

While Chenjesu is too expensive to be used as a proper counter, it is also moderately effective against the entire line-up of ships within the game. You can use Chenjesu against almost anything and get significant mileage out of it. The DOGIs make it particularly devastating against Utwig and Druuge, so those are often the best prey.

If you're being smacked around by a Syreen bloated full of extra crew, Chenjesu is a good ship to put a stop to the rampage. Against Syreen, pillbox to minimize their ability to steal your crew.

Chenjesu is also a good choice against a Chmmr that has been beaten down to half its crew compliment or less. You should be able to wipe them out before they can unload their battery on you. Shrapnel is mostly useless against Chmmr, so try to land every shot.



Counters

The most reliable counter to Chenjesu is Orz without a doubt. If you have an Orz around, save it specifically for Chenjesu. Drop marines from many different directions so that they cannot avoid them all. Do not engage the Chenjesu directly.

Earthling is a good way to finish off a Chenjesu that has lost at least half its crew. Run away from them, then turn back around and lob missiles until the Chenjesu is no more.

There are many ships that cost less than Chenjesu, but can go toe to toe with it when played well. Androsynth, Mmrnmhrm, Melnorme, Slylandro, Mycon and Yehat can all see success here.

The Chmmr Avatar

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Chmmr_01.gif)

Here we have the first of three 30 point heavyweights, and it's a doozy. The Chmmr is not very fast, but it has astronomical firepower and a solid defensive screen. Even casual use of this ship should make it clear to anyone that the Chmmr is an absolute murder machine. A melee newbie will likely think the ship is unbeatable -- not true. There is one definite hard counter, one soft counter and several weaker ships that can inflict respectable damage upon Chmmr. So is the ship still worth all the points? Very much so, especially if you learn how to win some of the trickier matches. At the same time, I wouldn't really call Chmmr a "must have" simply because multiple smaller craft can give you more flexibility.



Primary Function: Terawatt Laser

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Chmmr_02.gif)

So long as you keep the beam on your target for more than an instant, this weapon's rate of damage is ridiculous. An Androsynth comet lodged into a ship does more damage per frame, but in general the Chmmr's laser inflicts the highest rate of sustainable damage. Watch those blind spots, however, for it's very easy to charge right into an opponent and then be unable to point your beam directly at them.



Secondary Function: Tractor Beam

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Chmmr_03.gif)

This exerts a gravitational pull on the other ship, dragging it towards the Chmmr. Each ship in Star Control has their own ship mass, turning rate, acceleration and top speed so the effectiveness of the tractor beam will vary depending on what you're fighting against. Both the Terrawatt Laser and the Tractor Beam eat up considerable amounts of power. Use these abilities with restraint. At the very least, make a habit of never activating both at the same time. The tractor beam can screw up your opponent's gravity whip, pull them out of orbit or drag them smack into the planet itself. Because of this, the planet becomes particularly beneficial to Chmmr and an obstacle to anything fighting against it. Take full advantage of this. High level Chmmr play involves clever utilization of both the tractor beam and the planet.



Bonus Feature: Protective Satellite Array

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Chmmr_04.gif)

These nifty little things intercept incoming projectiles and provide fire support at close range. They have 10 hitpoints. If the satellite ring is destroyed, Chmmr becomes vulnerable to many different ships it would otherwise be able to shrug off effortlessly.



Ideal Purpose

You can use Chmmr against almost anything and come out on top. My personal recommendation is to send your Chmmr to take down Mmrnmhrm or Slylandro. Both ships can be ridiculously hard to stop in the hands of a skilled player, but Chmmr steamrolls right over them.

I also recommend NOT using Chmmr to go after Ur-Quan or Kohr-Ah. Ur-Quan will damage Chmmr quite heavily and Kohr-Ah will wipe out all of your satellites with its flamewave. Either opponent will cripple your Chmmr, setting it up to be destroyed by the next ship the other player sends in. There are more cost-effective ways of taking on the other two heavyweights which will be discussed elsewhere.



Counters

The most reliable Chmmr counter is Utwig. The Chmmr's satellite ring works against itself by firing constantly and indiscriminately on Utwig whenever it moves in close by. This gives the Utwig endless battery refills, which in turn leads to virtual invulnerability against Chmmr. I personally opt to save Utwig for something else, but using Utwig on Chmmr is not a bad decision in the least bit.

The other effective Chmmr counter is Druuge. Between equally experienced players these two ships have 50/50 odds against each other. This is good seeing as how Druuge costs substantially less. While the balance between ships may be even, the match is heavily dictated by player skill. Avoid using this counter if you haven't practiced it extensively.

Orz can put up a fight against Chmmr, particularly if the other player isn't very experienced. The Orz cannon can shoot right past the Chmmr's satellite ring and has long enough reach to pummel them from a safe distance. Unfortunately, there's a score of dirty tricks the Chmmr can use to catch and destroy the fragile Orz. This is not a smart counter, but it can see a degree of success.

A damaged Chmmr can be finished off by Chenjesu. Try to land direct hits, do not rely on shrapnel.

A nearly dead Chmmr can be finished off by VUX. Try not to fly straight through the Chmmr's satellite ring after you kill it with your beam. They continue to fire for a brief period even after the Chmmr itself is destroyed.

For what it's worth, I actually read those.  I completely understand why you're not going to keep doing that, however. 

Druuge is next, I'm excited!

I think giving them for selected ships is a good idea (as you are doing it now); but every one was a bit much.

What is a good counter to earthling cruiser besides androsynth? I don't want to waste a blazer for that. Also, what is most effective against syreen?

I tend to disagree about the effectiveness of arilou against androsynth. it's easy to get in a few pot shots and warp away if the androsynth is bubble bathing or in rocket form. I can't beleive arilou is worth 16 points. That's way too many.

Also, I found against the computer that orz blows away chmmr. I don't know if anyone's had experience with this match-up in pvp, but it works pretty effectively.

What would you recommend as the all-around best 30 point ship? I've been kind of leaning on kohr-ah because utwig makes such an impossible match-up for an avatar.

Is druuge worth putting in your line-up (if you're a beginner)? How about chenjesu?

Ilwrath, and that's the best thing to use it for. Like many counters, you need to have the technique down pat or it isn't a counter at all. I will cover this in more depth when I get around to it.



Honestly, there is no Syreen counter. You have to kill it with something that costs more. Druuge and Slylandro do the job nicely.

If you want Mycon to disappear, use Arilou for an easy sweep. A harder, but more punishing way to do it is with Zoq-Fot-Pik. Mycon is a bad ship for its price, possibly the worst in the game.



I'm afraid I don't follow you. In the guide's current incarnation, I don't discuss that match-up at all because it's one of those "grey area" fights where there isn't a consistent result. It sort of favors Androsynth, at least from what I've seen. Arilou is indeed a bit on the sucky side.



I used to like that counter too in PVP. You're in for a world of disappointment once you try it out on one of the better Chmmr players.



Kohr-Ah, but every so often Chmmr pulls more weight.



Druuge is a great ship. It takes some practice to use well, but not as much as people around these parts would have you believe. Chenjesu is a decent newbie ship, but sucks at higher levels of play where things like Melnorme, Slylandro and Mmrnmhrm will go head to head with it and win.

EDIT: Upon further reflection, Chenjesu isn't a good newbie ship. Earthling will eat a poorly played Chenjesu for lunch.

It looks like you’ve done quite a bit of work on this. I like the graphics. Good job! You should convert all this information into a PDF when you complete the guide.

I think he may have been asking whether or not Mycon is a good choice against Syreen, rather than asking about counters for Mycon.  At least, that's how I read it.

shiver had it right actually.
when is the next installment of the guide coming out?

A few days after the second round of the net melee league.

Hey guys, what's a good static image for the Druuge's furnace ability? I'm not feeling creative right now, someone give me an idea.

holocaust

(http://c-68-56-193-60.hsd1.fl.comcast.net:82/DruugeKill.png)
?

Wow, I can't believe I didn't think of that. Thanks dude!

Is that sarcasm?

What? No. I think I'm going to grab that and use it since you even got the dimensions right. Not like I would have thought of anything better.

Ah, good. Yeah run with it.

You should add stuff representing the sound effects.   "AAAHHH!" *FOOM* or however you feel it is best transcribed.

The Druuge Mauler

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Druuge_01.gif)

Going by point value, Druuge has to be the second most useful ship in Star Control. It would be first if not for the grossly underpriced Androsynth. The Druuge's top speed is low, maneuverability below average and rate of energy recovery quite embarrassing. These faults make the Druuge difficult to use at first, but the ship's insane primary weapon makes up for all of them. Once you master this ship you will find yourself including it in every fleet you use automatically. If you aren't at that point, the Druuge is still an easy win against many of the more frustrating vessels to play against.



Primary Function: Huge Cannon

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Druuge_02.gif)

The Druuge cannon has obscenely long range, high velocity and respectable damage. Cannon shells also have a significant knockback effect to them, which helps maintain a good distance between Druuge and adversary. Even better than knockback is the cannon's recoil, which throws the Druuge backwards whenever it shoots. The two of these effects together allow the Druuge to succeed where other space-borne artillery fails; it can hold attackers back at a comfortable distance and destroy them.

IMPORTANT: Whenever you are flying around above your default top speed, the accelerate button functions as a brake. Druuge can very easily throw itself out of control with its cannon, so you will need to slow yourself down often. "Thrust = Brakes" may be the one of the dumbest things you've ever heard, but it's essential to remember this if you want to play Druuge in any useful capacity.



The Blitzkrieg

While Druuge outclasses the other long range warships for various reasons, it tends to fall flat against those same ships. For this particular section, I am referring to Earthling, Mmrnmhrm, Mycon and Orz. If one of these comes after your Druuge, your best bet is to turn your ship away from the opposing craft and launch yourself right past them by firing off your cannon many times. You want to pass within a relatively short distance of the other ship, but do not set yourself on a direct collision course. As you go screaming past, you might be able to tag the other ship with a lucky shot. Continue to adjust your course and press the attack if you want to keep your Druuge alive. This aggressive style is useful against only the aforementioned handful of ships. Do not blitzkrieg against anything else, it will only make the game more difficult.



Secondary Function: Furnace

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Druuge_03.gif)

When running low on battery power, the Druuge can throw its own staff into a furnace which turns them into usable energy instantly. If you're fighting anything particularly difficult, you will have to make liberal use of this function so as to not be caught without ammunition. Don't be shy with the furnace unless you're up against something easy for Druuge to beat, such as Syreen.



Ideal Purpose

Druuge is most often used as a Chmmr counter. It is not the most reliable at this task, but for most purposes Druuge is the first thing worth throwing into the lion's jaws. Because this is one of the most critical matches in PVP, I will attempt to cover it in depth in the section below. The great thing about Druuge is that even if your opponent brings no Chmmr along at all, you aren't at a disadvantage. Druuge is powerful in general and relatively cheap for what it does. Here are some other victims ripe for the killing, most of which are relatively simple to put down:

• Ilwrath
• Melnorme
• Mmrnmhrm
• Shofixti
• Spathi
• Supox
• Syreen
• Thraddash
• Ur-Quan
• Utwig
• VUX
• Zoq-Fot-Pik



Druuge vs. Chmmr in detail

Above all, recoil and knockback from your primary weapon are your friends. The Chmmr itself is not fast, but that awful tractor beam artificially increases its effective speed significantly. By the simplest metric, Druuge destroys Chmmr every time. If a Chmmr flies straight into a Druuge with its tractor beam on, the Druuge will repel and destroy the Chmmr without sustaining direct damage by utilizing its guns and furnace in a quick and efficient manner. This does not take into account asteroids, the planet, blind spots, screen crossing or point blank arrival into the arena, all of which work in the Chmmr's favor. When playing from the Druuge side, you are most definitely on defense. It's possible to eventually sneak in a hit on a Chmmr that doesn't want to commit to attacking, but for the most part you should focus on reacting to what the other player does and working in shots when the opportunity presents itself. Now that it's been established that Druuge against Chmmr is all about counterattacking, here are the four most threatening Chmmr tactics:

1) The Chmmr may try to run up one of your blind spots.

2) The Chmmr may cross the screen in a hurry, then bear down you as fast as possible while you aren't facing towards them with your cannon.

3) The Chmmr may perform a gravity whip in your direction.

4) The Chmmr may attempt to tractor you into the planet.

The solution to the first three approaches is exactly the same. Fire your primary weapon many times while facing roughly 90 degrees to the left or right away from the Chmmr. Shooting sideways like this is a great escape mechanism, much better than firing straight at the Chmmr when you are unable to hit it. As long as your back isn't pointing directly into them, you can potentially save yourself from an advancing Chmmr regardless of what they're doing. After you do this, judge the situation as best as you can and decide whether you should apply brakes, continue soaring, or launch yourself in a different direction. The fourth listed Chmmr tactic is not as immediately dangerous as the other three, and is usually done to throw you off so that the Chmmr can get the drop on you. If you can manage to avoid the planet without firing a shot, that's great, but it's better that you do waste some battery power shooting yourself away rather than crash into it.



Counters

As I mentioned previously, Druuge is most often deployed against Chmmr. If your Chmmr game is good enough, you may not need to counter Druuge at all. There isn't a sure-fire way to win as Chmmr against Druuge, you will simply have to practice against other players until you get a feel for it. If Druuge does win against your Chmmr, the Druuge has already accomplished its mission. You could kill it with a Zoq-Fot-Pik afterwards and it would not matter much. Regardless of whether the Druuge you're attacking was used against Chmmr or not, the best candidates for taking it down are Earthling, Androsynth and Arilou. For more specifics, keep reading...

Earthling vs. Druuge: Keep your narrow end facing the Druuge any time your Earthling is in their sights. If you give them even one good opportunity to fire on your broad side, that is usually enough to skew the match in the Druuge's favor. The best time to sling your nukes is when the Druuge is moving towards you, though you should be firing at all times rather than waiting for just the right moment.

Androsynth vs. Druuge: Your comet form has a very small outline, making you difficult to hit. Charge at the Druuge to force them to launch themselves backwards with recoil, then come around from the opposite direction and nail them. You don't absolutely need to force Druuge to throw themselves out of control to win the fight, but it helps.

Arilou vs. Druuge: Chain teleport until you end up where you need to be, then fly in and blast away. It may take a couple attack runs depending on how much crew the Druuge has. Never stay in the Druuge's line of fire for more than a fraction of a second.

More expensive ships that have an easy time with Druuge: Mycon, Orz, Chenjesu, Kohr-Ah. Try one of these if a cheap counter is not available.

How do I get these graphic effects to UQM that you have on your pictures or are they just made with photoshop ?  ;)
Nice guide btw.

They are photoshopped, but there's a nice idea for a mod =) More graphical effects...

Just an idea, more moderators oriented - I think all the thread related discussion in this thread should be moved to another thread, like "PVP strategy guide discussion", leaving only the guide posts themselves.

That's unnecessary. The first post has links going to each update and the amount of discussion is hardly overwhelming right now.

I found a typo. Fundamentals/Flanking is missing an "is" in "this the only way to fight".

</most-insignificant-post-in-the-universe>

You can't be serious. :(

...

Okay, it's fixed.

Well, it turns out Druuge is better than I thought. Curiosity got the better of me, so I played a battery of tests against Elvish Pillager. The tests were Druuge vs Mmrnmhrm and then Shofixti + Spathi vs Chmmr. Druuge won most of the bouts, regardless of player. It turns out that a blitzing Druuge is superior to Mmrnmhrm if the Druuge player has their shit together. Therefore I'm going to have to give Mmrnmhrm's honorary second place title to Druuge instead. This means I have some revisions to make.

The second test showed that Shofixti is not reliable at knocking out Chmmr satellites. It can do it, but not with consistency. I'm going to have to remove that tactic altogether from the Chmmr section. I think I'll put Orz vs Chmmr in there instead, although that counter isn't much better.


Update: Went through and made minor adjustments to several articles, did a re-haul of Druuge.

I've mentioned it before, but you and elvish pillager should try arilou vs androsynth

We did already, but it wouldn't hurt to give that a second look at some point. The previous conclusion was that chain teleporting dropped Arilou inside bubbles as often as it would put you were you wanted to be and the ship was too fragile while not fast enough.

ah, true about the bubbles. the comp is so stupid that it's easy to out maneuver it.

-One other thing was that I played an utwig vs. a melnorme and realized how great melnorme was against it, I think. It's just that the melnorme special attack disables the utwig shield.
Maybe this was already known, or maybe I'm wrong, but I hadn't heard of it before.

So I've been comparing v1.1 of the guide with v1.0, and found a few ships which might possibly be missing from the lists of targets/counters (based on the outlooks in v1.0). You're probably aware of all this, but here goes anyway...

Androsynth targets: Arilou, Ilwrath, Shofixti.
Androsynth counters: Chmmr, Yehat.

Arilou targets: Thraddash.
Arilou counters: Chenjesu, Chmmr, Kohr-Ah, Orz, Ur-Quan, Utwig, Yehat.

Chenjesu counters: Chmmr (full crew), Kohr-Ah.

---

Also, I have a few more "corrections". I suppose you might just ignore these, I'm being more obsessive than Valaggar here.

• In Druuge, "your cruiser": I would capitalize "Cruiser", as it's the ship's actual name and not just "a cruiser".
  
• In Androsynth and Arilou: Earthling comes before Druuge in the target lists, while the rest is in alphabetical order.
  
• In Fundamentals and Druuge: "vs" should be "vs." with a dot.
  

God I'm insane. :(

I believe the idea is to list specifically the targets and counters that are remotely efficient point-wise. (Note that, for instance, Ilwrath is actually recommended as a potential counter for Androsynth.)

You're a nazi, but you live in Israel?



Okay, sorry, that was in bad taste. Your first set of corrections is mostly irrelevant and I'm not bothering with them. Thraddash, for instance, is a retardedly overpowered ship that's almost never fun to deal with so I don't list it in counters. Do you know what is actually involved in killing one with Arilou? It's not anything resembling entertaining gameplay. That said, I'll give Thraddash a real article when I get to its place on the list describing how to abuse it at its absolute worst.

The second set of corrections is useful to me and I'll go about fixing the listed things, though possibly not as you imagined in some places.

EDIT: As soon as this forum allows me to edit posts of mine on the first page! Something is very wrong here.

The targets/counters weren't meant to be "corrections", just the results of a simple comparison which I thought I might share, in case they're of any value to you. Obviously not. :P


Time limit? :-\

Meep-Eep says one was implemented somewhat recently. He's bumped the limit up a bit, but I'm going to have to run this thread through several iterations before it's finished. There will likely be a 1.2, 1.3, etc. Wait, that's wrong too. This should be 0.2. Holy crap, Shiver.

I don't think that I have said anything about when this was implemented. I expect that it's been like this for over half a year now. I never liked the fact that people could just edit their old postings and erase history (which has happened in the past), so when I discovered this setting, I turned it on.

I've changed the limit from 30 days to 60 days for Shiver now, but I think that that is too long for normal postings. It would have been better if I could set it to count from the last edit date, instead of from the original posting date.

Btw, did I mention that the Ultronomicon would be a much better place for this? :P

The PDF file suggested by Amiga Nut seems like the best idea for when it's finished, but that might be a better place for this in the meantime. I will move this onto the Ultronomicon on the condition that no one ever touches my stuff. Keep those guest corrections on a talk page. Is that possible? I know nothing about wikis.

Hmm... if you don't want anyone else to contribute to it, then the Ultronomicon may not be a better place after all. Although I guess it could be put in your user namespace, say 'User:Shiver/Strategy_Guide'. I can't make the decision whether that is acceptable on my own though.
The wiki software does not prevent anyone else from editing those pages, though it is against nettiquette to edit someone else's user pages.

What I'm asking for seems to go against that which makes a wiki be a wiki. Gonna stick with the forums as a drawing board for now.

It doesnt feel like a wiki will work for ya Shiver, so Id say just keep using the forum. Its not a big deal if you have to keep making new threads because you cant go back and edit, we know you arent spamming and I think this guide is a highly worthwhile project

There's more than one instance of "vs" in Druuge, by the way.

/me runs away from a raging Shiver.

Oh cool, /me works here.

If you ask me, I don't see what's so bad about the missing period.  :P

Let's go fix that.

Seeing as alephresh seems to be the ultimate spell-checker, maybe you should integrate him in the process? If you send every chapter to him before you post it, I bet it'll come back nice and spiffy with every dot in the right place...

Oh, I'm really not. Microsoft Word seems to do a better job...

Chmmr/Counters: whenver
Druuge/Blitzkrieg: refering -> referring
Druuge/Secondary: usuable -> usable

It also says "torpedos" in Arilou/Counters should be "torpedoes". Is that so? I don't know.
And it says "Terawatt" is wrong. I guess it demands canon only.

Myself? I'm better at spotting insane petty stuff (like "Pillboxing" being capitalized in the first sentence of Fundamentals/Pillboxing, which isn't in accord with the rest of the guide). I should just be ignored, really. I don't think I'll ever stop noticing such crap, so it's a waste of time trying to please me. :-[

Can't you point this stuff out all at once? I'm convinced you're somehow editing new typos into my posts every time I go back and fix the ones that are there.

The Earthling Cruiser

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Earthling_01.gif)

Some of the crappiest ships in Star Control have managed to prove themselves useful in player-versus-player. Earthling is the poster child of this phenomenon. The ship sucks, I think it would be fair to say that it sucks out loud, but due to its low point value and long ranged homing attack it is the perfect candidate to finish off almost anything that is left standing in the arena with a low crew count. Earthling is not one of those ships which you absolutely must attach to your fleet every single game, but you will rarely be disappointed when you do.

Earthling has mediocre top speed and terrible acceleration, but in most match-ups you will need to use what you've got to run away from your opponent. The longer you can stall, the more damage you will inflict with your homing missiles. If you can make it to the planet, a gravity whip can help keep you alive longer.



Primary Function: Nuclear Missile Launcher

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Earthling_02.gif)

Missiles are one of the simplest weapons in the game to use properly. Turn the front of your ship towards the general direction of your opponent and fire off a nuke. It will rapidly home in on the other player's ship over a long distance, inflicting four damage when it reaches its destination. Missiles are low on maneuverability so they will sometimes miss their mark. Some of the more agile spacecraft will often be able to weave around them as well. It is also remotely possible for a missile to whirl back around and hit you while chasing the opposition, so you may have to use your point defense to protect yourself from one of these. This is a great weapon regardless of its limitations.



The Cornered Squirrel

If you find yourself under attack by a fast flanking ship, you're probably going to lose regardless but here's a little trick which can sometimes sneak in some damage: Reserve enough energy to fire at least one missile, then launch one right into the aggressor's front as they pull in to start firing on you. This is useful because most of the faster ships can easily dodge missiles if they have time to react to them. This tactic can fall flat sometimes; for instance, the Slylandro's lightning weapon will frequently destroy missiles that approach head-on.



Secondary Function: Point-Defense Laser

(http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb278/SunBloom/Earthling_03.gif)

The point-defense laser is not a weapon, it's a tool. The main purpose of this tool is to break apart asteroids. It does this marvelously. Due to the Earthling's weak propulsion, an asteroid bump will either bounce you off into a bad direction or bring your ship to a near halt for an uncomfortable amount of time. This tool can also take out Ur-Quan fighters, VUX limpets and various other enemy projectiles. The laser will fire on everything in its range simultaneously, allowing you to wipe out a pair of Ur-Quan fighters at once among other things. The Cornered Squirrel tactic is better in most short range combat situations for actual damage, but the laser can still prove useful.

Leave your point-defense laser off whenever you activate your launcher. It does not play well with outgoing missiles.



Ideal Purpose

Although Earthling is both cheap and crappy, it is not a good starter. Under no circumstances should you ever play Earthling as your first ship of any match. Even VUX, normally easy prey for Earthling, will ravage you due to its point-blank arrival. As stated earlier, Earthling is the ideal choice to deliver a finishing volley to pretty much anything, and is also a natural counter to VUX and Druuge. Whether you hold your Earthling in reserve to deal with one of those in particular or throw it into the arena at the first wounded enemy you see is your decision. Both approaches have their merits.

Earthling vs. VUX: Run around lobbing nukes and watch them die. It really is that easy. VUX is too slow and clumsy to seriously threaten Earthling. The point-defense laser can stop limpets, but you probably won't need to worry about that.

Earthling vs. Druuge: Keep your narrow end facing the Druuge any time your cruiser is in their sights. If you give them even one good opportunity to fire on your broad side, that is usually enough to skew the match in the Druuge's favor. The best time to sling your nukes is when the Druuge is moving towards you, though you should be firing at all times rather than waiting for just the right moment.

If that weren't enough, Earthling can also inflict a respectable amount of punishment upon Ur-Quan, Chenjesu or Kohr-Ah by running around and firing off nukes. Don't expect to win, but if you can't find anything better to do with your Earthling then attacking one of these is a good way to go.



Counters

There is only one true counter to Earthling and that's Ilwrath. It is possible to win with Zoq-Fot-Pik as well, but that is dangerous to attempt.

Ilwrath vs. Earthling: This can get a little bit tricky, but if you play it right there's no reason you should lose. Your first priority is to find the planet, so start looking. Turn your cloaking device on so that missiles do not follow you. The cloak does not need to be active all the time, just enough to prevent you from being hit. Try to gravity whip onto the Earthling, then use thrust to return to your default speed once you're close to them. Your top speed is a single integer higher than Earthling's; even if you fail to whip straight into your opponent, chasing the Earthling starting from a short distance away will eventually win you the match. Your flamethrower can shield your front from missiles to a limited degree, which is sometimes useful during an extended chase.

Zoq-Fot-Pik vs. Earthling: This counter is difficult to execute, but completely turns the table on the other player if you manage to pull it off. The Zoq-Fot-Pik is just barely quick enough to dodge missiles and close in on Earthling. You will need to hit them with your tongue attack once, then finish with either the scattergun or a second tongue hit. As you approach the Earthling, missiles can be shot down with the scattergun. Only do this if the Earthling fires straight into you at a medium distance, otherwise you're better off dodging. Zoq-Fot-Pik has a rather high amount of mass, so when it collides with Earthling during a tongue attack it will often send that ship careening off in the opposite direction. If this happens, or if the Earthling performs a gravity whip, stop chasing straight after them and instead prepare to intercept as they wrap around the screen.

Aside from the above two ships, all you can do is chuck something fancy at the stupid Earthling. This is bad in the long term, but you may not have a choice. Use whatever decent ship you can spare in this situation.

Detail: You can actually fire a missile while holding down the secondary key. It'll only be shot down if the secondary is off and you turn it on while the missile is still in range.

Yet when I try using both weapons simultaneously against the cyborg, the PDL makes its sound effect and I lose a bit more energy even though the nuke is unharmed. Does it shoot and miss or something?

well darn, sure looks like it. So you can put in that it'll waste energy.

The PDL definitely doesn't miss though - maybe projectiles automatically ignore friendly fire on the first frame they exist, or something.

I wonder if you can get a double-shot with the PDL if you active the primary and secondary at the same time at point-blank range to an enemy ship... EDIT: YES, YOU CAN! ;D

One point of extra damage? Pfft.

There are loads of errors in there! Nah, actually I just wanted to say thanks for the effort. Now I actually know how to use yet another ship. Keep 'em coming! \o/

it definitely seems like the cruiser is great against a mycon. true?

Nope. The computer's Mycon is stupid. With two players, a Mycon is more likely to win against Earthling than the other way around.




Minor update: I redid the missile picture because that old VUX was horrifyingly pixelated. Refresh your browser to see it.

If this was true it'd be hilarious.

Regarding the Earthling, you say that Cornered Squirrel is almost always better than using the PDL. In what kind of situations would it be better to use the PDL. Just when your battery is low? Or when?

I think the point of cornered squirrel is to get the other ship to move out of the way for a second while it's dodging the incoming missile? Damage isn't the reason for using it. If I'm right. So PDL would be a different situation.

Oh? I thought he meant that in such a situation you'll be dead so soon anyway that you might as well go for one big hit rather than dally around with the PDL.

PDL is without question better than Cornered Squirrel against Androsynth. The comet form is fast and friggin' tiny so missiles almost never connect with it. You also want to be maneuvering around in such a way as to make it difficult for Androsynth to hit you. You can't whirl around like a madman and fire off missiles that have any chance of hitting at the same time. Believe it or not, Earthling can manage to defeat Androsynth by doing this. I think EP even lost his 'Synth once to an inferior player. So that's the one big exception. Smaller exceptions involve an opponent with exactly 1 crew left or some such.

EP and Gekko barely even respond when prodded lately. I'm sitting on 90% of a completed Ilwrath section, which makes this so irritating.

EDIT: Alright, I got to them. Starting another thread now for future updates.