Stats and tactics for PvP - An Overview

This is a thread for those who are into their PvP, and the stats and tactics that may help you, after all, knowing can often be half the battle.
We'll start with the boring stuff that is not common knowledge, these are from experiments I did so if anyone wishes for them to be done again please say and I will do so when I can
The results of each part will be highlighted in Yellow if you are not interested in the other stuff.

There's a fair amount to read though, some of you will already know some of it however the aim is to cover things that people may not know. Stats will be on this post and the tactics on the next.


Stats


Laser Miss Rate

Lasers can miss, we all know this, but at what rate do you get the big "MISS" show up on your screen? When I tested this I reset the pilot bio on 2 of my accounts so that neither had Electro-Optics or Evasive Manoeuvres. The targeting CPU was not in use either, this was very much bare-bones.

I shot 342 lasers and missed 70, which comes out as a 20.4% miss rate. It's fair to say the base miss rate is probably 20%.
This then begs the question, what does the 50% from the targeting CPU and the 12% from Electro-Optics actually do if there is only a 20% chance to get a MISS? I'll be honest, it's hard to tell at all.

There is a misconception about lasers shared by both players and some support members. Some believe that if you have 10 lasers then it is the case that maybe only 8 will hit and so you do less damage than you would if all 10 lasers had hit, this is incorrect and does not happen. How do I know this? Onto the next section!



Laser Damage Percentage

A laser cannon will not always hit it's full damage potential, this is common knowledge to many players, however how big is the percentage at which the damage can be between.
It's 75% - 100%.

I continuously shot a ship with a single LF-4 until I saw the same all time high and low figures 10 times each, these figures were 424 and 319. The 319 figure is 75.2% of 424, so it's safe to assume the lowest the damage can go is 75% of it's absolute maximum.

So this returns us to the first point about miss rates. If 319 was the lowest value with 1 laser, then when I go to 10 lasers it should mean any value lower than 3,190 would mean that 1 or more of the lasers missed whilst the others hit. After 500 shots the lowest value I saw was 3,192, meaning all 10 of the lasers were hitting apart from when all 10 lasers would "MISS". When I added the targeting CPU to my ship, the values continued to remain between 75% and 100%, so it seems the CPU in fact does very little
"50% less chance that lasers will miss their target"
It seems that if you have Electro-Optics max then since you miss rate is only 8% (thanks to the 12-20 by the skill) the CPU only removes half of that 8%, leaving you with a grand total of 4% chance to miss - if you opponent does not have the Evasive Manoeuvres skill.
`


Rocket Miss Rate

The has to be done twice, once for regular rockets and once for PLT-3030, however you can (and should) use the rocket tech when using 3030s to get rid of the miss rate completely. For both of these I did not have the rocket accuracy pilot bio skill.

With regular rockets I shot 200 and missed 62, giving a 31% miss rate which is more likely to be set at 30% by DO.
For PLT-3030 I shot 200 and missed 100, setting the accuracy at 50%.



Rocket Damage Percentage

Same as the lasers, the damage of rockets will range between 75% and 100% of the maximum damage possible.



Hellstorms Miss / Damage Percentage

Hellstorms will never give a full "MISS". However individual rockets within the 5 that are launched can miss and those individual rockets deal between 75% and 100% of their maximum damage. Hellstorm rockets are the ones with the most variables, in some shots the damage difference is huge.

 

Tactics for PvP

Now this will be based around 1v1 PvP - the JPA and TA - , group PvP and 1vs2+ is much harder to give specific tactics about other than shoot the same target and take out the strongest ship first.

It is aimed for people UFE and near to UFE. Although there are some tips such as best way to cycle rsb that everyone can use.
Again, some of you might find this obvious but it is mainly for those who are not experienced in 1v1 PvP and looking to know the various tactics that are used.

When you are doing JPA there is one main aspect essential to how you play. The ammo you have available - do you have CBO? In TA it will not matter as much. All tactics will be with a Goliath.

Edit: Added in proper sections to make the formatting clearer.

Also new sections for group PvP. Fighting as 1 vs multiple enemies will follow later.

JPA relevant only

Spoiler

Why do I need a speed config in JPA?

A speed allows you to run away from the enemies ability, if you can run away from the enemies spectrum then you have an huge advantage now that they have just wasted it. If you don't have a speed then your enemies P.E.T will solo you. They will get their pet in range of your ship and just keep on chipping away your shields until you are left with nothing and they can come and finish you off.
Use all 15 engines, don't opt for 14 speed and 1 shield on ship.



CBO-100 + HERCULES (JPA)

This is the most popular tactic in top 100 of JPA. Your slow config has 4 or 5 shields on the drones and your speed has 10-12 shields on drones, both configurations having Hercules. The basics of this tactic are just cycle CBO-100 and RSB until your enemy has no shields then use x4 and RSB. CBO will beat out SAB in these configs.

For drone formation you want to be looking at Heart, Pincer and Chevron. Start on Heart and as soon as you lose that bonus shield switch to Chevron if you have a rocket tech active using 3030 rockets, if you don't then switch to pincer.

This tactic has no obvious counter, it really can go either way, some people play it terribly and others use every trick and make these configs work very easily. I will talk about basic 1v1 tricks at the end of this post!



SAB + Havoc + Diamond (JPA)

Don't have any CBO? Come right this way! The main idea behind this one is that you get so much shield back from SAB that you make your opponents CBO / SAB useless if they are using the more conventional congifs with more shield. The diamond formation just aids this tactic, however obviously the big cut to your HP can be risky as the fight draws to an end. On your slow config you want 2 shields on your drones and to be full Havoc. Your speed can be the same as above, 10-12 shields on drones and Hercules.

Same as before, you want to start the fight on Heart and change once taking their first shot. Chevron and 3030s with the tech is probably the best direct way to deal with this, the quicker you get their limited shield down the better.



How important is my P.E.T? (JPA)

Very.
Using the speed config to take full advantage of the pet is critical. You want your opponent to be chasing you around the map - when they do this your pet can shoot then whilst their pet cannot shoot you, that extra damage advantage for things like that wins fights.

It is common to try and combine the effect of pet kamikaze and the freeze rockets together to stop your opponent from being able to repair as they run as well as getting the full use of kamikaze damage.



Baiting out a EMP from your opponent (JPA)

Baiting your opponent into using EMP is surprisingly easy. All you need is a DCR. If you and your opponent are both on slow configs it is often a nice trick to switch to your speed and shoot a DCR rocket as you fly away from them. Outside of JPA most UFE's reaction to a DCR is to EMP to get rid of the slow and it happens a lot in JPA too.

If you pull this off and get out of range when they EMP it means they have wasted their EMP, they did not get any damage done to your ship while their EMPs effect was active, meaning you can now go in and use yours to the full advantage.



P.E.T Anchor (JPA)



You will need to watch this video to understand what is happening. I am controlling my pet so that it does not follow me around but stays in the same spot. This is useful in JPA as it can be used to shoot your opponent for a little longer as you back off to get more shield etc.

To do this you will need an Evasion Protocol and fast fingers. When you have an evasion protocol on and you have something on lock press ctrl repeatedly. The pet will go into a crazy mode like you see in the video and if you press ctrl quick enough it will stay in the same spot forever.



P.E.T Sacrifice (JPA)

This one is tough. If you are on the run from your opponent and need some emergency shield, lock your pet and turn it onto passive mode. SAB your pet and steal it's shield for your own. A pet will all shields, not upgraded, will have 195k shield on both configs, that's almost 400k shield you can just take for yourself if you are on the run and need that little edge.

Now I'll be honest, I don't even know if you can shoot your own P.E.T in JPA, it's been a while since I have done this one because it's pretty hard to do since the P.E.T is so hard to lock.

Training Arena + JPA

Spoiler

Why do I NOT need a speed config in TA?

Map is too small, nobody can run from you in there. You will meet people in TA using speed configs, most of these people will be trying to practice for JPA.




Standard Two Slow (TA)

For TA you basically use your JPA configs but repeat your slow config twice, there isn't as much skill and tricks required when it comes to TA, you pretty much sit and fight until someone dies. Just don't sit there on a full damage config with moth in a Goliath or Aegis, it's a good sign you're a noob at PvP.



Smartbomb Blocking / Dodging (TA & JPA)

I'm sure most of us know that Insta-shield activates immediately after being pressed, whilst smartbomb takes 1 or 2 seconds to be set off. If you are on your slow config and have no option to change to your speed and you see your enemy use insta-shield, its a very good idea to use yours as well.
In the lower rounds of JPA lots of people will just hit smartbomb and insta-shield at the same time, giving you a window of opportunity to block their smartbomb with your own insta-shield as you see their shield animation begin before the smartbomb is let off - this applies to TA as well.
In the higher rounds of JPA it is better to try and get out of range of them as soon as they use insta-shield, since it is unlikely they are going to be using smartbomb and insta-shield at the same time.



Mine Wombo Combo (TA & JPA)

Hit you enemy with IC3 rocket and drop a mine, after 2 seconds hit your enemy with a DCR, they are too slow to run away from the mine.
This is pretty hard to actually do x)



Basic Formation tips (TA & JPA)

Switch to heart whenever you are running away to get shield or HP in JPA, you will repair more HP and Shield per second so can fight quicker. Chevron counters Spectrum ability pretty hard - rockets are unaffected by it -, especially if you are using the tech and 3030s. Against anyone Chevron with 3030s and rocket tech will do more damage output than Pincer will.

Edit: See new tactics below regarding new formations!




"4 Configs" (TA & JPA - but more useful in TA)

With the addition of the ring formation the tactics have changed. The 180% bonus opens up a lot of new possibilities, one of which is the appearance of a casual 4 configs during a fight.

This works better with 2 slow configs so is much better suited for TA than JPA.

To do this you must have the Ring on and make sure both configs are full shield before fighting.
When the fight starts just use x4 and RSB, you wait until you have lost the 180% bonus shield then you change config. You then wait again until you have lost the 180% bonus on your other config and then change to a new formation such as Pincer, Drill or Chevron.

This will leave you with full shields on both configs and so will appear as though you have had 4 configs.

Here is a visual guide to make it easier ^^






Super simple stuff ^^
Obviously depending on which formation you are going to swap to you will have to know when to change your shields. So I went from Ring to Drill so I had to wait until my shields were down further than if I had been swapping to Pincer or Chevron.

The reason you want to use x4 and RSB during the Ring phase is due to your enemy probably using SAB (if they are smart) to counter your ring damage. This will work for them however you will still be doing damage to their HP whilst not wasting any of your own shield since it is all bonus and irrelevant once you swap to another formation.

If you get called a hacker for seemingly having 4 different shields then you get bonus points

All-around PvP

Spoiler

Manual Rocket Loading

I wouldn't recommend doing this as it takes a lot of concentration to as you need to learn a new rotation between everything else that you have to remember in a close fight but manual loading of the rocket launcher is quicker than letting the CPU do it.




Efficient RSB Cycle

The cooldown on RSB lies a little. You can use RSB just before the cooldown animation on the hotbar finishes. Now, this is only fractions of a second, but it can add up and more often than not, you can shoot RSB and x4 in the same second.



This is what it will look like, x4 and RSB in the same second, this is how people hit the really high combos.
If you want to start your RSB early you need to press the hotkey when the cooldown timer looks like this. I have slowed it down to make it clearer to see the slight skip at the end of the cooldown:

Group PvP

Spoiler

As a general rule of thumb when I refer to group pvp tactics I am thinking along the lines of a full outfit, so 8 players vs a similar or larger number of players. If I am talking about a different scenario then I will make sure I mention it.


Lag will be your biggest weakness in group PvP. If you're game runs better in 3D mode then use 3D for fighting - being able to all lock the same enemy is much more important than being able to see further with 2D.


How to instantly become better as a group

Use voice communication.
Everything is easier and simpler if people are talking not typing. You're best off with something like teamspeak where users can all set their mics to push to talk - you don't want to hear someone's pet budgie going off in the background while you are trying to talk to people.



What ships to use
If we imagine you are going to be going up against another group that is just as strong as yourselves or you fear they might have the edge over you in numbers then you will want everyone in a Goliath and then one or two Citadels.
Aegis is not useful in group PvP. The impact their abilities have in group PvP across 8 or more players is very minimal.

The reason a Citadel is good use is simply because it messes up the locks of the enemies. If your enemies are good at PvP the first thing they will do is all lock the same person - a citadel can mess this up as well as tanking a lot of damage. While your Citadel is absorbing damage you want to try and kill or force at least 2 or 3 of the enemies away from the fight.

As far as what Goliath's to use, Spectrum is normally the best option but so long as you use the ability correctly, see below.



Spectrums, Spectrum, Spectrums

When to use your spectrum:
When you have hardly any shield left on either config - you're about to die. This is when you activate your spectrum because you are as good as dead. You are close enough for the enemies to continue shooting you to get your kill but your spectrum will let you last that little longer to get out more damage and help your team mates.


When your enemy uses a spectrum:

Q: Does your enemy have lots of shield left and has activated Spectrum?
A: Yes!

Ignore them, move onto next target. You allow them to waste their ability and do significantly less damage all while nobody is shooting them, kill them once their ability has ended.


Q: Is your enemy using Spectrum and almost dead?
A: Yes!

Kill them off - if you leave them alone them to repair up and get shield back then it effectively like having to fight another player.


What you don't want to do is just all activate spectrum when you see your enemy do it, be smart about when you use your abilities and you can easily win vs a group with bigger numbers.

Configs for Goliaths in group PvP should be a hard hitting slow config, if you are all running this then your enemies will melt and be forced to either run or emp very, very early on. Your speed config should be high shield.



Citadel

As mentioned a little previously a Citadel has two jobs. Primary job is to mess up the enemies lock. Second job is to tank some damage.

Draw fire is obviously how you are going to mess with your enemies lock, more your get the better. If you can combine this ability with your fortress. Once your draw far has ended you are best off doing to good old EMP + Cloak.
This will once again leave all your enemies with no lock and they will have to find something new all causing them to waste time to get something to shoot.

You will then uncloak and continue the fight spamming your Protection ability to once again tank more damage. Combine Protection and Insta shield together.
If you survive to manage to get off another draw fire then rinse and repeat.

Best configs for a Citadel is a big shield, around 3mil with ring, on your slow config to do all the tanking with and then a semi-decent damage config on your speed so that you can still do reasonable damage.



When to use EMP / run

Run to fight another day ... or again in a couple of seconds.
If you have been targeted and are almost out of your shield, try running off first. If you run away and the enemy doesn't chase then head right back into the fight and carry on dealing out damage. If the enemy locks you again, use your EMP and cloak, wait until they have locked someone else again then come out of cloak and continue dealing the damage.
This way you have wasted a lot of the enemies time as they try to finish off your ship while they are being damaged by your team mates.

Never use EMP first. When my clan is hunting we see other clans regular use EMP + Cloak as their primary move.
They panic and see 15 ships on their screen with a few of them shooting and their first thought is "no" and they try and back out and not get shot, all whilst having almost all of their shield remaining.


Quick example of how easy it can be:
http://i.imgur.com/wGOXFbK.webm

Solo vs Multiple Enemies

Spoiler

These will be rough guide lines because fighting solo vs lots of enemies is much harder now than it used to be a few years ago.


Keep moving
You need to try and drag your enemies behind you, assuming they are of a similar equipment to you. The issue in today's game is that they have lots and lots of ways to stop you from doing this, it used to be you could just drag and SAB an enemy.
However now you must drag them at a far enough distance so that they cannot use ICE rocket but you can still make you pet shoot them.

Once you have taken away a good chunk of their speed config's shield with your pet then you you swap to your battle, hit them with a dcr and try to finish them off.



Let them run
It's incredibly frustrating when you are winning in a 3v1 and your enemies all start emp cloak and running.
However you cannot just chase them down, especially if you are out of range and hoping they somehow mess up and you catch up to them.

Reason you should let them go is because if you move on your next target they will assume it is safe for them to come back into the fight at which point, you wait for their return and kill them.

 

Thank you this help me so much men. i am noob. i dont fight very good and this help me so much. i will do much better with this.

 

nice high quality content, thx a lot

 

I'v only done 2 JP, 1 i won a few rounds the other i went in with nothing and ALMOST got some guy who was double boosted, but never really thought out tactics since im not even UFE lol. Now i know some tricks to add to my own when i try at JP

 

okapi are hercs better than havocs? your opinion on this?

 

If we are just talking about in a 1v1 situation then it depends on what ammo you have available. If you have CBO-100 then Hercules, if you don't then Havoc to make your SAB more effective.

 

SSHHHH
Don't give away our secrets! :O
It belongs to our founding fathers!

 

Thank you for explaining why I see some players' videos and they have RL on their hotkey bar

I used to use manual repair bot until the update where you could rep on the move seemed to remove that advantage. From what I've seen the auto cpu for RL is giving about a 4 second delay. Could they not just fix it so it starts loading after the cooldown like when you would expect it to start loading?

 

They could but I'm happy with it as it is really, they probably added the delay on purpose. I don't do manual rocket loading but I think those who can do it sort of deserve to have that advantage ^^
It's like if they made a CPU to swap RSB and x4 / SAB / CBO, I would want it to be worse than what a human could do since it requires less effort and skill to use.

 

nice okapi!
btw what do you think about a mixed havoc ß herc tactic `? i have seen various pepole fighting with hercs in their speed and havocs in their slow ?

 

That's odd, I've seen it the other way around.

 

I mostly use hercs on speed side and havocs on slow side. since you're almost always on your speed side and therefor you get hit on your speed side first you may not want to have it the other way around cause this way you don't lose too much HP when switching configs. I only have havocs on my slow side cause 80% of the time I shoot npcs and I don't want to miss out on the extra damage, even though it has been useful when slowing down vengeances to hit harder, but if it wasn't for the NPCs I'd never fly havocs on either config

 

Ah, I see

 

For the x6 pic, were you double-boosted and sepped? 279k is pretty high even for a combo

 

Thank you Okapi for the great posts! I have learned some new things here for sure, especially the thing about the P.E.T.

And about Rocket Launcher, I have seen lately too that the RL has some delay before starting to reload again. I was trying to get used to play without it, but it is really hard if you are doing heavy NPC's around or you are in PvP. Still, I guess I will stick with it for a longer time.
Maybe we have to contact support, maybe that delay was not made intentionally?

 

Yes, my main account was sepped and double boosted, however the account that I'm shooting didn't have any boosters to help the damage look more than it was.

Glad you found it helpful and yeah, pet has quite a few hidden tactics ^^

As for the rocket launcher CPU, I think the slow reload is deliberate, when I first tested it way over a year ago it was still slower than doing it manually, support is generally a gamble with these sort of things as to whether you get a proper answer or just the one they think is the proper answer depending on who replies.
There is a bug that can occur where you RL just will not reload at all with the CPU unless you change config, so that is another good reason to use it manually.

 

True, but still the manual usage of the RL is hard, cause everyone needs to pay attention on the battle and on the RL. Maybe I need more practice and it may take time to get used to it, but I am sure it is worth a try.

What I was trying lately is not to use the RL totally manually, I am just "helping" it to start reloading sooner, rather than let the CPU start the reload.

 

I noticed this since adding the RL to hotkey recently. Seems to bug every time you warp a ship at base.

 

Did this from experience.
The launcher is loaded, it's just not showing. Just a mere visual bug.