Allied Carrier
Axis Carrier
The carrier is a heavy ship acting as a mobile base to deploy squadrons. Its various squadrons grant it many tactical possibilities at long range combat.
How to Play[]
The Carrier is a beefy damage dealer with a long reach, with a focus on the occasional big hit rather than on sustained damage dealing ability. Once skill points have been invested in Drone and Bombers, only hitpoint-stacked ships can avoid being killed or crippled by the Carrier on a successful bombing run.
The Carrier should apply its Drone and Bombers from a generous distance, whenever possible. It can participate in fights directly on occasion, but in general should not leave the support of either teammates or turrets. It is as slow as the Dreadnought, and even bulkier.
The Carrier needs to be careful to not lose its compliment to turrets. Its Bombers are significantly reduced in firepower with each hit they take from a turret, and the Drone can be lost if it wanders too close to turrets backed by a Radar Beacon (or a player that has the Passive Skill Short-range Scanner).
Force Fields are the bane of a Carrier's existence. None of its craft can enter a Force Field, and the Carrier can rarely be in position to take out the Force Field on its own. Teamwork is really the only cure to this problem.
Secondarily, the Carrier is a capable scout, able to send its Drone long distances to investigate locations for enemies. It can spot for Artillery or range equipped ships.
Stats[]
Hull[]
| Structure | Armor | Shield | Speed | Radar | Critical Hit Chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 30% | 1000 | 5 | 40 | 5% |
Turrets[]
| Position | Light Guns | Medium Guns | Heavy Guns |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Side | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Aft | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Skills[]
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Ultimate[]
Tactical Bomber
Type: Squadron
- Duration: 60 seconds
- Range: 200 units
- Speed: 9
- Structure: 750
- Radar: 10
- Special: Armageddon bomb 1500 damage ignoring armor with 20 unit radius.
Cooldown: 450 seconds
Unique Skills[]
Fighters[]
Type: Squadron
- Duration: 90 seconds
- Range: 200 units
- Speed: 13/14/15/16
- Structure: 360 / 60 per fighter
- Number: 6/7/8/9
- Radar: 20
- Damage: 4.5/5.25/7.75/9 points per second
- Total Damage with undamaged squadron: 27/36.75/62/81
- Cooldown: 90
Bombers[]
Type: Squadron
- Duration: 90 seconds
- Range: 200 units
- Speed: 9/10/11/12
- Structure: 360 / 120 per fighter
- Number: 3/4/5/6
- Radar: 10
- Damage: one bomb per bomber each bomb deals 250/325/400/475 damage.
- Cooldown: 60
Assault Ships[]
Type: Squadron
- Duration: 6/7/9/12 seconds
- Range: 50 units
- Speed: 14
- Structure: 100 / 50 per fighter
- Number: 2/3/4/5
- Radar: 10
- Special: Every assault ship reaching its target deals 1 critical (module) damage. Duration of critical damage is 15/17.5/22.5/30 seconds
- Cooldown: 60
Drone[]
Type: Squadron
- Duration: 60/70/90/120 seconds
- Range: 200 units
- Speed: 16
- Structure: 50
- Number: 1
- Radar: 30/35/45/60
- Special: Cloaked, nearby enemy ships take 0/5/15/30% extra damage
- Cooldown: 60
Builds[]
Vicker's Ranged Strike Carrier[]
Skills:
- Bombers 3
- Drone 3
- Reinforcements 2
- Command Field 1
Items:
- Speed
- Range
Passive Skills:
- Legendary Marksmanship
Attributes:
- Speed max
- Range max
- After that damage and armor
Role:
- High Alpha DPS to finish off damaged enemies
Good against:
- Everything that isn't protected by turrets
Weak against:
- Support ship turrets
- AOE that hits bombers
Tactics:
Many people assume that carriers should be slow and heavily armored, but this is a mistake. The skill that makes carriers shine is is the bomber skill. The real magic for the bombers is that they give you an incredibly long range. Kite your enemies and stay out of dangerous places. Follow your team mates around and let them deal the initial damage. Once an enemy has been damaged, use your bombers to finish them off while they're trying to head for cover. As you're following your team mates around, use your size to give them cover if they're taking heavy damage, but don't allow yourself to be put into a situation that you can't escape from.
The worst thing you can do is to send your bombers on suicide missions. If your bombers return safely, the cooldown is reduced substantially. A safe bombing run results in a 20 second cooldown. If you recall your bombers before they launch their bombs, the cooldown will only be a few seconds. It's better to call them home and save them for a new opportunity than to have a 60 second cooldown for no reason. Keep your bombers away from turrets at all times. All of these rules apply to the tactical bomber ultimate skill as well. A successful tactical bombing run means a 200 second cooldown. A dead tactical bomber has a cooldown of over 400 seconds.
A fully upgraded probe is also essential to an effective carrier build. Once upgraded, the probe increases bomber damage substantially and has a huge field of view. Use this to quickly sight for your team mates and your bombers.
The reinforcement ships serve as both defense and offense. Use them to soak up incoming fire so that it doesn't hit you. Once upgraded, they gain torpedoes that melt enemy turrets, which makes it safer for you to launch your bombers.
Tips[]
- Newbies tend to run into asteroids a lot while manuevering squadrons. Watch where you are going, or don't try to move around with your ship off screen.
- Forcefield bubbles prevent your squadrons from attacking enemy players. Get your team to bring those bubbles down before you deploy.
- Cooldowns are based on the survival of your squadrons. Keep them alive if at all possible.
- Squadrons can be attacked by turrets, whether support deployed or base, and by the Shockwave skill.
- Flak escorts, while rare, are also capable of shooting down your squadrons. Learn what they look like and keep away from them.