<- Back to Ship Loadouts for 4.2.1
4.2 brought about some changes to torpedoes which renders the Polaris’s dumb fire torpedo strategy against ships with PDCs fairly ineffective. This loadout for the Polaris boasts a strong anti-fleet ability and uses its manned turrets to defeat any medium or large ship with ease and can apply tremendous pressure to any hostile capital ships.
To accomplish this we’ll run:
- Attritions on all manned turrets
- Laser PDCs
- Mixed Torpedo Loadout
- ‘Vanquisher X-CS’ for long range manually fired shots against stationary targets that may or may not have PDCs defending.
- ‘EX-T10-CS Executor’ for locked shots on potentially moving targets which do not have PDCs.
The strategy here is that the manned turrets will engage any and all medium (cutlass sized) or larger ships with the torpedoes focusing on targets of opportunity. The PDCs will be heavily relied on for anti-fighter and missile interception duty due to the Attritions on the manned turrets offering reduced capability in anti-fighter duty.
It is highly recommended to run this with a dedicated fighter screen that is skilled and experienced in PvP along with no less than 3 gunners – each gunner adds a tremendous amount of DPS to the Polaris. A good Mantis pilot will keep your victims from running.
Erkul Link: https://www.erkul.games/loadout/bYHdJcsD
Modifications to this loadout
CF repeaters on the size 3 turrets
If you suspect you’ll have problems with anti-fighter duties then swap out the size 3 manned and remote turrets to use CF repeaters instead. This will maximize their ability to engage enemy fighters. You may consider this an option if:
- Your group genuinely doesn’t have anyone skilled in flying a fighter in PvP.
- You suspect the enemy force is very heavy on fighters.
If you use this modification in conjunction with friendly fighters you’ll want to have your fighters stay within weapons range of the Polaris so it can provide supporting fires to them and add more pressure to the enemy fighters – not only will they have to worry about your own fighters but now they’ll have to worry about the manned turrets on the Polaris.
FAQ
Why not ballistics?
- Ballistics lose 50% of their damage in the current damage model when passing through shields.
- There is no easy way to replenish ballistics ammo without returning to a station. Most ships carry 2-3 engagements worth of ballistic ammo right now.