Interceptor strategies

[Michael13117]

Hello everyone, I was wondering if anyone had any good strategies for scouting the Geoscape with short range fighters such as Condors? the most advanced planes I have are X-37's, and they seem to have a knack for attacking south Africa and south America, I have my main base in the US (I'm aware how none optimal that area is by now of course), my secondary in the southern area's of the Soviet union, a base in south Italy, and a base indochina, Radar coverage for all but the last base.

Its not so much fighting the aliens that my issue is, I have no issue with that, I can take out the heavy fighters with Condors, and if I play my cards right , I can use anything to kill my target..It's getting to my target, and or finding them.

what are some of the strategies you guys use, if any to combat this issue?

[Dranak]

The only good way to detect UFOs is radar dishes. Your planes don't have enough range to do much of anything once beyond radar range and intercepting moving targets on unknown courses is pretty much a long shot. You really just need to place your bases/radars better.

[kabill]

Yeah, the only time it might be worth sending out planes on a scouting mission is if you can see UFO events just outside of your radar range.

In any case, by mid-game Condors also aren't a good choice just because they're so slow compared with the UFOs you're trying to catch. Unless you get lucky, they won't chase down Scouts or Landing Ships (which will constitute most of the UFOs you're trying to intercept come December) so ideally you want to upgrade to Foxtrots/Corsairs. If you're relying a lot on Condors this might be why you're having difficulties intercepting.

[Dranak]

Yeah, Condors are pretty lame. I strongly suggest not ever buying them as they can only reliably catch two types of UFO, and Heavy Fighters can just be out flown by Foxtrots.

[Michael13117]

Not going to lie, I own about 8 condors, I normally keep them around for the sole fact that I can crank them out in three days without having to break my engineers back, or pay 300k per plane, And...despite their lack of speed and firepower, they're quite maneuverable, I'd stack myself in a condor against a heavy fighter any day, just gotta know when to dodge.

though they do show their age against landships..I feel like replacing them but I don't have the 1 mill to construct all of the new fighters yet, and as I said before, they are the best against enemy fighters (though If i play my cards right, a foxtrot can still kill one...if I aim right)

as for radar coverage, I've got decent coverage of the countries I care about, It's just the ones I don't that don't seem to get any attention...though I have no clue how I lost europe with a south Italian base...

Indochina likes me well enough and I have my least defended base there...in fact no radar at all there (no need with the Soviet radar covering all of it, indochina, and the middle east)

I dunno, is it really worth getting rid of 8 battle hardened fighters to get 2-3 new ones?

[kabill]

I dunno, is it really worth getting rid of 8 battle hardened fighters to get 2-3 new ones?[/color]

The number of air missions a plane has been on doesn't make any difference for them. And they will increase in ineffectiveness as the game goes on. You don't have to replace them all at once either - try getting a single Corsair per base for chasing faster UFOs first of all and replace the other planes if you have the time and resources to do so.

[Dranak]

Condors are always worth replacing. The problem is they can win 1 vs 3 against Fighters, and you can get one Corsair per base by the time triple H Fighters will show up. Foxtrots can also just ignore both Fighters and Heavy Fighters by outflying them. You are spending 800k per month on planes that are basically worthless after the first two months of the game.

[Gurbo]

Late game condors are awesome dogfighters if you have fusion rockets and mag storm... They would be my entire air force if it wasn't for their horrible range and speed.

If you are having problems killing but not finding, upgrade weapons, if your problem's the oposite, just build more radars or think more about your base placement.

Extra tip: Maintenance for every plane is exactly the same, they only differ on building cost (Except transports, that cost 1/2 the maintenance of air superiority).

[Michael13117]

Late game condors are awesome dogfighters if you have fusion rockets and mag storm... They would be my entire air force if it wasn't for their horrible range and speed.

If you are having problems killing but not finding, upgrade weapons, if your problem's the oposite, just build more radars or think more about your base placement.

Extra tip: Maintenance for every plane is exactly the same, they only differ on building cost (Except transports, that cost 1/2 the maintenance of air superiority).

This is mainly why I keep most of my Condors, being able to out fly their fighters is just fun, Even without missiles, I can take 2 fighters and take out 3, I just wish they had those fancy weapons you're talking about, I'm in early november.

Btw, South America has got to be one of the most ungrateful countries I've seen...I saved them from an aerial terror and they didn't even stop from lowering their funding, >.>

And yeah, I suppose I can replace one or two at a time, or something, I just wish I wasn't under an onslaught right now, I'd replace them gladly, or at least transfer my Corsairs to the Soviet Union, sure their effectiveness is better for defending a smaller area, but they don't see as much action as they should

[Ichthyic]

This is mainly why I keep most of my Condors, being able to out fly their fighters is just fun,

and corsairs simply do a better job of that, frankly. faster, more firepower, faster turning, better range.

after 3-4 months, you'll be using corsairs to take out fighters and scouts, and looking at building marauders for the rest of the game.

it's worth the investment, if you just keep slowly, but regularly, replacing the planes in your arsenal. you should have a base that is mostly devoted to construction, with say, 60 engineers. and have that base have say 5 hangers and a garage. that way, you have plenty of room to build aircraft and tanks for your other bases, and transferring aircraft literally takes seconds.

how many hangers per base do you have?

[Ichthyic]

They would be my entire air force if it wasn't for their horrible range and speed.

..and poor turning rate, and actually LESS firepower than anything but a foxtrot.

[Michael13117]

Wait the corsairs have more firepower than condors? i thought them being able to carry missiles would be more damaging than twin autocannons...do the auto cannons have more ammo than the corsair one?

And the smallest base in Indo china has about 2, while the biggest bases have up to five..though I could be wrong, I just set construction for 2 more in the Soviet base.

[kabill]

I think the absolute amount of damage that a Condor can do is greater than a Corsair, but that assumes that both missiles hit. Against alien fighters, this generally isn't the case so the Corsair's effective firepower against them is greater. So it only matters when fighting unescorted larger UFOs but you should be using Foxtrots to intercept them anyway.

[Dranak]

Cannons do more damage than missiles of the same tier, the only time a Condor could deal more damage than a Corsair is when your explosives research are a tier ahead of cannons (which to be fair, does happen regularly) and you're fighting a UFO that can't roll.

[Ichthyic]

I think the absolute amount of damage that a Condor can do is greater than a Corsair

nope.

example looking at just plasma level weps:

condor has 2 plasma missiles, one cannon.

cannon does 15 per shot, over 80 shots. that's 1200 damage

missile does 500 damage. you have two of those, for 1000 damage. total potential damage, 2200.

corsair has 2 plasma cannons. total potential damage, 2400.

2400>2200

corsair wins, no matter how you look at it. It wins over the condor in every category, flat out, except initial cost.

oh, and just for completeness...

foxtrot has 2 plasma torpedoes, at 900 damage each.

1800.

making it the lowest in firepower of the 3.

now, the only thing mitigating all of this is armor. and that would depend on what you are shooting at specifically, where it's possible if you had good armor, that missiles would end up doing more net damage than guns. That I cannot say, as I don't have the armor stats at hand*. I also am still unsure exactly what armor really does in this game. for example, say I have 80 armor against energy weps. supposedly then, a standard plasma pistol should only damage me on a perfect critical shot, but I've gotten damage from aliens using basic plasma pistols and rifles frequently even while wearing predator armor.

*that said, I have noted that I could sometimes shoot down a medium craft with one corsair, while it always took more than one foxtrot to do the job, so if armor is affecting that, it doesn't seem to be by much.

Edited November 8, 2014 by Ichthyic

[Michael13117]

Remind me to research plasma!!

[kabill]

@Ichthyic: Fair enough. Clearly remembering from a pre-release build.

UFO armour doesn't do anything (indeed all values should be set to 0) as there was a bug with it that never got fixed. As for armour in ground combat, it subtracts from the damage done. Note that armour gets damaged as it absorbs hits, though, which might explain why even weak weapons were injuring your soldiers (or it could just be unlucky RNG).

[AmpsterMan]

Hello, just got this game and I myself have a few questions. What would you say are the uses for the different craft? I've gotten pretty far in game but I can't help but feel it was mostly luck.

[Michael13117]

Hello, just got this game and I myself have a few questions. What would you say are the uses for the different craft? I've gotten pretty far in game but I can't help but feel it was mostly luck.

Not gonna lie, I feel that way myself at the moment, I'd suggest using Foxtrots for the larger vessels like Landing craft, or the corvetts, nothing smaller than a scout, The condors for all of the fighters, the corsairs for fighters/medium craft (If you're crafty enough you can flank them. dodge their cannon, and do quite a bit of damage, then bug out, the damage you do, you can finish later, It stays), Anything more advanced than that I haven't seen...

Oh, If you're sending a transport through an area that has a lot of UFO's flying around, send a condor with it in the same squad, Or be prepared to lose that transport, which you don't want, Trust me.

Of course I'm new myself, so I am not the best for this...also, pro tip when using condors against enemy fighters/heavy fighters, do not set your missiles to auto fire, shoot one off, wait for them to dodge, and as soon as they dodge, fire the other one, it'll hit and normally? It'll either do critical damage, or destroy the entire fighter altogether.

What month are you on anyway? and what's the biggest craft you've seen? I'm fighting cruisers right now and...these things are tough as nails

[AmpsterMan]

Heh, I am by Carriers and am in March or April I think... It's just, I feel like the only important parrlt in this game is the Geoscape. Once yyou lock it down, the battles become more routine. (Geoscape just feels to random to me; I'm trying to minimize that randomness )

[Gurbo]

Hello, just got this game and I myself have a few questions. What would you say are the uses for the different craft? I've gotten pretty far in game but I can't help but feel it was mostly luck.

Condors: To fight light scouts that can evade the Foxtrot's torpedos

Foxtrot: Your basic airplane, takes down anything that can't dodge easily, and is faster and has a longer range than Condor

Corsair: You can skip it if you want, it's basically a Condor with better speed and range. I'm actually thinking about trying an entire game using only corsairs and no Marauders, it's really good if you prioritize your weapons research over your explosives.

Marauder: The ultimate air superiority fighter. Heavy torpedos for the main crafts plus cannons for the escorts. An overall beast of a plane.

Clarifying what I said about the Corsairs, if you micromanage them correctly (I'd point you to Dranak's manual air combat tutorials for a quick start) there's not much Marauders ca do that Corsairs can't except chasing for a bit longer and maybe fighting battleships with escorts (tho I've never seen one).

[Dranak]

Hello, just got this game and I myself have a few questions. What would you say are the uses for the different craft? I've gotten pretty far in game but I can't help but feel it was mostly luck.

Gurbo pretty much nailed it. Condors kill Light Scouts. Foxtrots outfly Fighters/Heavy Fighters, and kill everything else up to Carriers. Corsairs kill H Fighters/Interceptors 1 on 3 (and are otherwise just Foxtrots), Marauders kill everything. Furies are toys for after you've basically won the game.

[Michael13117]

I really wanna see those Furies, they sound amazing, <3

[Ichthyic]

you just get a picture when you use them to attack something that is the fury, with a backdrop of a very large explosion.

you don't actually get to do combat with the furies like you do with your other interceptors.

just fyi.

[Michael13117]

you just get a picture when you use them to attack something that is the fury, with a backdrop of a very large explosion.

you don't actually get to do combat with the furies like you do with your other interceptors.

just fyi.

Wait...are you serious?

That...Why..;-;

That makes me sad