[Computers]

On 2/7/2017 at 11:47 PM, Mauiman said:

I built mine back in 2013 which I game on it.

 

The thing is built into a Thermaltake Chaser MK 1 case

Has a Gigabyte 990FXA-UD7 board
Has 16 GB's of ram

2x nVidia EVGA 650 TI Boost cards running 2 GB each

850 Watt power supply

AMD 8 core running 4.0 GHz processor

 

Will get pictures of it but I must find where I put them. But any who that's a short, sweet, simple run down on my gaming machine.

Believe it or not I have 2 670 sc's 4gb cards still and the asrock x990 mobo so I can appreciate this.

[Computers]

Since it's coming up on computer upgrade time of the year what are you guys running?

What are your plans?

My Current tower is:  http://s1336.photobucket.com/user/Scootemagoo/library/Thermaltake core x9?sort=4&page=1

Thermaltake Core x9 case (air cooled atm but with new hardware comes more opportunities)

2 evga 670 SC 4gb cards ran in or out of sli (depends on the game e&b doesn't seem to care one way or another)

AMD fx-6100 stock clocking xboost enabled in the bios

16gb of gskill ddr3 ram

Asrock Fatal1ty 990FX Killer MOBO

Coolermaster 212 evo cpu cooler(was a lot quieter then the 80mm fan on the original cpu cooler.. silence is golden)

2 200mm fans in the front a 120 and 140mm in the back (120 to be replaced with another noctua 140)

Logitech g402 mouse and a g910 keyboard

Sound Klipsche r6 reference earbuds best 80 bucks I ever spent on a computer.

Evga b2 750 psu Semi modular gonna probably pick up a full modular psu and train and tuck wires again. See the psu pictures for why.

1 Samsung evo 850 500gb m.2

2 Samsung evo 850 250gb ssd's<-- 1 currently it's match is in my laptop I plan on buying 3 more and dumping the 1tb rotationals.

2 WD Green 1TB

1 3tb Seagate.

Future plans first purchase is going to be an Evga 1070 SC black edition(it's a black case and mobo..)<-- done

Tax return intel 6700k/not sure on mobo maker but evga seems to be a common theme and probably 16gb of good ram,

I'm looking at a 1440p monitor or a second 1080p not sure which yet but something 30ish inch is in my crosshairs.

So post up whatcha runnin and what you want to do with it.

Update I am running the 1070 SC Black now(pictures in the pbucket link) and maybe a benchmark maybe. 1000+ fps in e&b is hilarious about that vsync option LOLOL.

Update 2

So since it's now almost tax season (early jan 17 atm) I'm getting ready to do the dirty and buy the parts to update my comp.

Motherboard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132927&cm_re=z270-_-13-132-927-_-Product

CPU

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117726&cm_re=7700k-_-19-117-726-_-Product

I'm working out ram atm it'll be 2 x 8gb and probably gskill

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16820232217

I finally decided on ram 2x8 Gskill Ripjaws 5 3200 14/14/14/34 ram. If I need more I'll buy a second kit.

Evga will get money for a psu again, this time a fully modular gold 80 or better either 650 or 750w as I do intend on buying a second 1070 in the future.

Yes this computer will be fast.. I've always tried to buy good parts I am a firm believer in buy quality once and not junk 2/3 times.

So yes this is going to cost roughly 650-700 bucks for mobo/cpu/ram. Ryzen is on delay, so unless it makes a comeback before mid feb I'll be doing intel for the well first time I paid for it and second time on running it vrs 4 different amd proc's over the last 15 years..

Do I need this much computer, probably not but I'm trying to not build a new computer for 3-5 years maybe a gpu update but the mobo and stuff should last me into 2020 and beyond.

Have an opinion or comment please feel free to add one this is an open forum and what would you do differently?

I could go with a cheaper mobo and a 7600k instead but I want a good/excellent sound card/dac which this has, and water cooling headers and usb 2.0/3.0/3.1 etc connectors and until hardware is only usb 3 or faster life still happens. As for the cpu why not >;) you only live once.

 

 

.

 

All righty. I grabbed my ankles.

Motherboard

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132927

(See Above Picture)

Ram
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820232217

Water Cooling
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181103

(See Above Picture)

CPU

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117726

 

The computer is complete, games are engaged and holy stuffins batman is it fast.

I'm highly impressed with the hardware I chose, the motherboard software(ai suite specifically) not so much. It's buggy as hell to install it.

 

*that 240mm radiator looks so tiny*

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/18104835

This is a 3dmark benchmark at 5.2ghz(yes it overclocks exceptionally well, I got a pretty good silicon lottery cpu)

This shows the hardware inside so you can see whats up. Any questions please feel free to ask.

I am impressed with windows 10 as I had the amd fx6100 install and drivers on my m.2 drive and it took about 5 minutes to redo itself and the drivers and it ran fine.

I did reinstall windows again and damn near ran into the commiecast 1tb dl limit for the month reinstalling games for the second time in 3 days.

As a whole the corsair h110i v2 runs flawlessly and the software works without issues. No Complaints. I'll give it 1.5 thumbs up and only because i have a stupidly large case and the lines on it are to long... or way way to short. Now if I can pop the lines out and stick g1/4 fittings in it would get a 2 thumbs up and a rezeviour and a 480 rad instead of a 240 but I digress.

Asus software not so hot a lot of bugs on installing a few things ai suite and the soundcard software(altho once installed the soundcard software is pretty decent and .. holy stuffins does it sound nice). If you are contemplating a new build, Buy a nice mobo with the new realtek or creative sound cards onboard. They are far superior to the realtek 1220 that has been out for years. This is one reason alone to buy a gaming mobo.

Ram what can we say z270 base is 2400mhz ram i bought is 3200 and as it's on the qvl list from asus it ran xmp1 and clocked the cpu to 4.8 without doing a thing, I tinkered with settings and got it to run stable at 5.2 and produced the benchmark I posted the link to above with the stars aligning I could crack 17,000 (I had a 20002 graphics score on a previous test), which is pretty damned good. Windows crashes at 5.3ghz so 5.2 is about it's limit, which is more then I expected.

In short I'd like to see a similar amd cpu in ryzen, I've had amd systems for years.. But as a first time intel buyer.. HOLYF***, this things fast. I hope the amd's run as well as this does.

 

Comments opinions(no you can't have it so don't ask... MINE!!)

I'll post here anything I find interesting bad ram performance etc..

I sure hope dropping 800+ makes it faster then a amd 6 core

 

[Nvidia Problems]

Since I swapped to nvidia vid cards roughly 2 years ago(I was previously running a ati 5850).

I have not been able to run the game at the correct resolution.

Normally I run "fake fullscreen" it gives me a border around the window but it covers my screen from top to bottom and side to side.

And it leaves the taskbar open.

Just fyi I run 2 EVGA 670 Super Clocks 4gb ram cards in SLI and my native screen Rez is 1920/1080

So while not the "best" setup currently it's pretty spiffy for my needs and my monitor size.

I wont be getting into the whole thing about 1080/2k and 4k+ monitors other then to say 1080 is the height if the screen in pixels(which are square btw I can prove it) and the 670's run 1080 flawlessly.

So with ati/amd cards you run the enbconfig or the net7 config files and set your screen up and play.

Nvidia users have other problems.

In my case when I did that the screen size was limited to 1400 by 1000 which is roughly 2/3rds of my screen.

Go ahead use plasma in DT.

You can see on the bottom and right side of my desktop.

This is how it normally looks.

*yes emp can really do that* Again use plasma at gobb..Do IT!!!

So today after I formatted I was talking to a buddy in teamspeak and I asked him if he knew how to change the screen rez in the registry.

And this is what I learned.

Now this is in windows 10 other os's might move the folder around.. You might have to do a search for it. I don't know off hand.

Step 1.

In your game install folder is a folder called EBCONFIG / open it and run the enbconfig.exe and click windowed and hit apply and okay and close the folder and application.

Step 2.

Open your registry editor.

Step 3.

Open the path

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Westwood Studios

Find the render folder and click on it

The two keys I have highlighted are the ones that control your screen rez in game.

They will look a little different in yours due to the fact mine have been changed so don't sweat it.

Step 5.

The two keys you want to edit are

RenderDeviceHeight

RenderDeviceWidth

Since I run mine bordered and leave the task bar open I run mine at 1010 on the height and 1915 on the width.

So right click the key you are changing and click Modify.

Change the value from hexadecimal to decimal.

Change the value in the bar to the left of the hexa / decimal part to the rez you want and click okay.

Do the same for the other key you want to change.

Now run the game and see if you like the setting.

Adjust as needed.

 

I ran into an issue when i bought my ssd's and setup the raid 0 and copied the game folder over.

To make it work i had to run the net-7 folder exe's as admin and the game as compatibility to windows xp/vista as needed.

I'm also going to toss in my registry key in case you do not have the folder I listed just double click it and import it and then open it up as i described above.

For Extra Credit for those notepad savvy you can edit the reg file to suit your machine and save it.

1915-1000 E&B Rez.reg

e&b 1917-1015.reg

[New Player Guide To E&b]

We were talking in new player chat last night and someone mentioned we needed a general guide for new players to the game.

Were talking about the steep learning curve in a given game by rank new players that have never played a space mmo before much less E&B.

 

I'll start easy with how I prepare a character and the mindset behind how I do things based upon the type of toon I am working on beit a builder a warrior or whatever and the general rules i have learned over the years.

 

The basic rules:

 

1. Always try and keep your reactors at least 1-2 levels above your weapon level.

 A. For progens you guys have it worst at the beginning of the game.

     Terrans are a close second.

     Jenquai rarely ever have reactor issues except for JD's but that is a specific problem to the class and it's well known how to solve it.

 

2. Always try and keep your shields at least 1-2 levels above your gun level.

    This should be a given but terrans are "kiters" and can with skilled driving can generally ignore this rule.*(see the * at the bottom of the article)

 

3. Gearing a character is based upon it's race as it determines the type of weapon that is your strong suit. When in doubt consult your skill list and find the level 9 weapon type.

 A. Jenquai are beam users, your buffs(specifically combat cloak) is based around beam damage and does not affect other weapon types you can install.

     Plasma, Energy and EMP damage are your forte.

     And each class can debuff plasma.

     Jenquai Seekers can use energy beams because they can use the manticore devices(energy debuffers)**

     Jenquai Defenders can use EMP because of the wyvern device(EMP debuff).

     Jenquai Explorers can debuff plasma as a primary damage type and explosive as a secondary(they do not use explosive weapons normally if at all).

     But your main focus is plasma weaponry.

 B. Progens are projectile users and your buffs are specifically geared to using them.

     Impact and chemical ammo are your specialty.

     Impact is the PS and PW's domain because you use gravity link and at level 5 skill level you debuff impact and explosive with the skill by 30% for 20 seconds.

     All 3 classes can use a Basilisk device to debuff Chemical type ammo.

     Progen Warriors have 6 weapon slots and can use all 3 types of weapons in the game and can make use of beams and missiles for various things.***

C. Terrans are missile users, you specialize in nothing really as you cannot natively debuff the ammo types you use.

     BUT you put out some mighty damage and you with skilled driving can kill literally anything in the game.

     Endgame**** gearing is a different story(hellbore and flingers)

     Ammo types.. Jenquai are a personal favorite ammo type.******

     Let's try that again.. Ammo types are pretty much anything you can load into your guns.

     EMP plasma chemical explosive are your primary damage dealers you have the widest range of ammo types but again outside of endgame gear and the occasional device

     (rada and thorgil's lament) you cannot debuff the ammo you shoot from your guns.

     Sorry guys a Gorgon is pretty useless to a terran in general terms as 2 of the classes can't even equip projectiles to use impact ammo.

     There is one exception the terran scout being a explorer type can and should use with great frequency a salamander device it debuffs explosive ammo.

     (I will explain ammo types in a later section so it makes more sense)

 

4.Class Basics: What the classes can and cannot do.

 

 A. We'll start with the jenquai classes.

  1. Jenquai Basics.

  As a race they get lvl 9 reactors and devices.

  All of them get lvl 8 shields and engines.

  You get lvl 9 beam weapons, lvl 8 projectiles and the jd gets all 3 weapon types but the missile skill is lvl 8 also.

  You get cloak******* Which is where your weapon damage comes from and safety.

  You are the ninja live it love it.

  Je's have a skill called wormhole which allows them to go to 10 different sector navs thru the game without using gates.

  Level 5 cloak(explore 25) gives you combat cloak which means you can cloak while moving and it doubles the base damage of beam weapons coming out of cloak.

  Levels 1-2-3-4-6-7 cloak do not give the damage buff only the lvl 5 skill.

 B. Progens

   As a race they get level 9 shields and lvl 8 engines

   Progen warriors get lvl 9 reactors

   Progen Privateers also get lvl 9 reactors.

   Progen Sentinels get lvl 8 reactors

   PS's also get lvl 9 devices.

   The PS gets lvl 5 gravity link skill.

   The PW gets lvl 7 gravity link(area effects)

   PW's are the tanks of the game they have the thickest hulls and hull damage control and if sitting motionless they have 30% added resists/reactor/shield recharge with combat trance

    (the multicolored circles around a higher level pw).

   The PW has 2 generally used aggravation holding skills aka aggro********.

   One is called shield sap which is a skill that can attack a mobs shields and remove part of there shield energy.

   The second one is called Shield Inversion which can attack and kill enemy mobs by using your shields energy as an energy based attack.

    (not used as much as shield sap it has it's purposes in farming and some raiding situations)

 C. Terrans

   Terrans as a race get lvl 8 reactors and lvl 9 engines.

   Terran Traders and Enforcers get lvl 9 shields

   Terran Scouts trade lvl 9 shields for lvl 8 and gain lvl 9 devices.

   Terrans are 3 of the 4 fastest toons in the game (Sorry te's no navigate means a lowely je is 1000 warp faster)

   Terran Scouts are the unquestioned fastest toons in the game 8800ish warp vrs the tt's 8100

    (lvl 7 navigate ts and a lvl 9 engine and a lvl 8 nos device is breathtaking the first time you use the warp button, trust me)

   Terran Enforcers are the brutes of the game thick shields thick hulls and big firepower.

   Terrans are the generalists of the game they do not do anything really unique(other then the tt/ts'd hull patch skill and a te's rally skill) or particularly well with a couple exceptions.

    Terran Scouts and Tradesmen get a skill called hull patch which means they can repair other peoples ship hulls.

    Terran Enforcers get a skill called rally which added 35-42% added resists to any ships in the same group with them (adds to survivability)

    TT's get Shield charging which raises shields capacity and recharge rate and at higher level 10% resistances also.

    TE/TS's get hacking which can do all sorts of things to hulled mobs(disable shields engines device etc) and the TE gets bio-cessation or the organic version of hacking.

 

Types of classes in the game.

 

1. Warriors.

   A. Jenquai Defender.

    Stealthy.

    Big big alpha strike damage capabilities

    Highest dps class in the game.(with guns)

    Weak shields (they get killed a lot it's the nature of the class at times..)

    Glass plasma cannons.

    Summon skill (Come get some)

    Touchy to play but very rewarding once you get the combat style figured out.

    Can kill any non see cloaked mob in the game. Given enough time.

   B. Progen Warriors.

     Da Tank. (I've yet to find another toon type in another game that does the tank thing as well as a pw does)

     Armor and resistances.

     Big firepower second highest dps(guns only) but overall the highest dps class in the game period.

     6 Guns nuff said.

     The only thing a pw doesn't do well is mine rocks and cloak..

     It's arguably the best designed toon in the game for the job.

      (from the original game anyways the terran scout makes a mockery of the miners and the JS is the unquestioned king of shield recharging)

     Can solo most if not all mobs up to about lvl 60 solo but lack the ability to kill mobs higher then that without a shield healer.

     There is drawbacks to sitting still and beating on stuff sometimes you get your butt handed to you.

   C. Terran Warriors.

      Big farging gun ships with lots and lots of firepower.(third highest gun damage)

      Good second tank vital class to any raid.

      Rally/Hacking/Biorepression

      Gun for gun using the same types of guns and similar ammo types a pw will outgun a te mano-e-mano.

      They have no secondary attack skills for damage so are the third highest dps class.

      The TE is the only class in the game capable of killing pretty much everything it can keep away from.

      Best weapon range.

      Semi fast (nobody has ever figured out why westwood never gave the te's navigate,

      Look my pw with a lvl 8 engine and a lvl 9 fury of the master is faster then my te is in combat even with a viper)

      The only warrior class capable of using 114% turbo effectively.

      (jd's are about timing and need around 60-72% turbo, and a pw fires his/her guns faster then 1 second and the difference in dps from .7 to .6 reload is pointless

       but a te with 11 second reload ml's firing them in the 4 second range is another subject bring on the turbo.)

      Weak sauce reactors bring in the recharge buffs.

   

* Kiting is a term referring to terrans specifically, they do not sit still and let mobs beat on them, they want fast combat speed engines and long ranged universally aimed weapons, they drive forward at high speeds shooting missiles in pretty much any direction.

Progen kiting is different then terran kiting as it means the progen is facing a mob and moving backwards, and using gravity link to keep the mob(s) at range.

** Debuffing is a term used in games to indicate you have remove resistances from a mob to take added damage you normally wouldn't have.

*** Farming is a term used to describe hunting the same mob many many times to collect a specific kind of loot, Pw's can use emp/energy and plasma beams and debuff for them and it makes a great tool to save on ammo cost, the drawback depending on the pw and his/her patience level the highest mobs you can farm solo this way is roughly level 54. 48/54 level mobs around about the limit of a pw's beaming but missiles.. 6 lvl 8 missiles makes life interesting. albeit a annoyance if you can't be bothered to make ammo. GoBB raid with emp anyone?

**** Endgame. The end of the line where you are geared correct and understand your character and have better loot and raid***** for it.

***** Raiding. Typically an endgame activity to gain better stuff for your ship. Shields guns reactors etc. Normally expen$ive to use and make ammo for/obtain at decent % for higher damage.

****** Sarcasm... I hope you do not need a written version explaining it.

******* Cloaking. You vanish into the night. Some mobs have see cloaked so you are not always as safe as you think you are...

******** Aggro. Def.. Annoyance to the mobs, this means that you are making the mobs mad enough to not attack other people in your group/raid this is a good thing to have as it keeps other members of your group/raid alive while you are being constantly healed.

 

So I promised a ammo type explanation in the earlier version of this guide and I'm going to tackle it in general and specific terms.

 

Ammo Types.

 

Chemical.

Chemical ammo is corrosive in other games *such as borderlands* and is a DOT type damage, meaning the ammo damage is cumulative not instant.

This game uses 6 ticks when using plasma/chem to count damage. So take the expected damage and divide by 6 to get the numbers you should see.*

Chem ammo is neutral to shields and has a +20% added debuff to it versus hulls.

So if hunting hulled mobs a good idea if the mob isn't immune is to carry half plasma and half chem to get the benefits of both ammo types 20% added to shields with plasma and 20% on hulls.

 

Emp.(Electro magnetic pulse)

EMP Is an instant damage type

EMP is a shield/reactor damage and interrupt, it damages shields and interrupts reactor functions.

Some organic mobs are weak to it.

Shielded mobs take shield damage and theoretically take reactor interrupt damage and lose reactor power because of it.(reactors do not recharge).

Emp is neutral damage to shields and does 0 damage against hulls on mobs other then the reactor hi-jinx.

 

Energy. (bizzarp)

Energy is an instant damage type.

It has the possibility to interrupt skills.

Energy is a shield and hull neutral damage type.

Along with emp and plasma this is a jenquai's main damage type and Jenquai seekers get the manticore series devices to use it.

 

Explosive. Can we say giant kaboom.

Explosive is a instant damage type.

Explosive is a neutral damage on shields and hulls.

Explosive has a chance to interrupt shields and skills.(imagine getting punched in the jaw when conjuring a spell).

The instant damage of the terran guns with well debuffed explosive can be spectacular. In endgame scenarios were talking 20-30,000 damage hits per round.

 

Impact ammo. ratatatatatatatatatatatattattatatat.

Impact is an instant damage type.

Impact ammo is shield and hull neutral damage.

Progens use impact to interrupt skills and primary ammo type on pw/ps's with the use of gravity link and various debuffers (taniwahs pride and agrippa shields).

Think machine guns and you have impact ammo in a nutshell.

 

Plasma.

Plasma is a strong to shield and neutral to hull damage.

Plasma is also the second damage over time(dot) ammo type.

It ticks 6 times like chemical does and has a 20% debuff on shields and doesn't have a buff versus hulls.

Universal damage type for Jenquai with a chimaera.

 

Damage type                       Debuffer

Chemical                             Basalisk/Thorgil's Lament Might be others can't remember any offhand. Progen Only devices(other then the thorgils)

EMP                                    Wyvern devices might be an aa or two also. Warrior Only

Energy                                Manticore devices. Tradersmen class Only

Explosive                            Salamander/gravity link/scarlet sting and others. Primarily terran only but specifically terran scout because of the salamander. Explorer only debuffs.

Impact                                 Gorgon devices and various others. Primarily debuffed by terrans(not usable by them) progens have the agrippa shields and taniwahs pride and

                                            various other things to use and gravity link 5-6-7 is 30% added damage for 20 seconds.

 

Simple DPS calculation for this and any other game.

DPS = damage x ammo fired per minute x 3(lvl 9 skill level in this game adjust as needed we'll use lvl 9 here for the discussion) + debuffs\60

Were only going to discuss weapon dps superficially as a discussion point if you want to do the full calculations knock yourself out.

DPS or damage per second is a method of comparing weapons and classes in outright damage.

It's very simple lets solve for x in X = 100 x 60 x 3 100 is the ammo damage 60 is the rounds fired per minute and 3 is lvl 9 weapon skill

so 100 x 60 = 6000 x 3 = 18000/60 (very basic example) = 300 dps (roughly a really good lvl 7-8 weapon in the game)

Lets make this a little more complicated. 100% spitter = 4.2 reload/fires 2 rounds/ ammo damage is 364 per round

dps = 364x2 x 14.285(rounds per minute) x 3 / 60

364 x 2 = 728

728 x 14.285 = 10399.48 x 3 = 31,198.44 \ 60 = 519.974 dps

This is the actual ingame dps of the gun without turbo or buffs or debuffs to the mob.

Turbo is a % of weapon speed to achieve an arbitrary damage level set by the devs. I wont elaborate any more then that but ask around, do your own testing.

So we have a base figure of 519.9 dps add in critical damage = double the base damage call it 1040 for 100% critical hits and any & between for the 6-7 critical hits say a pw/te/jd can do and you have the basic numbers to compare any weapon to any other weapon in any game anywhere. All you have to do is remove the skill level modifier.

You can do your own math for the rest of the numbers but debuffing is capped at 72% in the game so use 1.72 as your damage modifier for debuffing at the end.

 

How to view damage in the game.

In this and many other games when you shoot a mob you see a damage number appear above the mobs "head".

And this is how this game gets those numbers.

Take your hypothetical 100 damage bullet and lets use a lvl 9 skill weapon and I'll explain the numbers inside and outside of the ()

So 100 damage x 3 for weapon skill level = 300 and x 2 for a critical hit = 600 basic stuff.

So you can have 5 different numbers pop up 300 250(-50) and 350(+50) 300(+300) 0(-300)

300 simply means the mob is neutral to the damage and has no resists.

250(-50) means the mob is resisting 50 points of damage out of 300 given

350(+50) means the mob is weak 50 points of damage out of the 300 given.

300(+300) in green text = you are healing the mob for 300 damage(bad news bubby)

0(-300) means the mobs is 100% resistant to the ammo damage and could just need a debuff to get damage with the ammo type, or you have removed enough of a mobs resistance to not heal them.

The number in the () is simply how much a mob is resistant and or weak to the damage you are using.

The number on the left is the amount of actual damage done and inside the () is the amount resisted/damaged/healed.

And a critical hits just doubles these numbers.

 

* DOT vrs Instant damages.

We have 2 kinds of DOT damage in the game plasma and chemical basically it means the mob takes ticking damage at 1/6th of the damage types actual damage.

Using our 300 damage magic bullet again lets say were shooting a hulled mob with chemical into his shield and we see 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 that is 300 divided into 1/6th and shown.

Now lets get into the hull, since the devs added 20% added damage to chemical vrs hulls so instead of 50 as our tick it'll be 60 (or 360 divided by 1/6th)

Plasma works the same way except against shields and does no extra damage to hulls.

Instant simply means the damage type expended all of it's damage as soon as it touched the mob.

I hope this straightens out any misconceptions of what you see in game and specifically our little slice of gaming here.

 

So we come to Section 3. I'm just going to call it basic tactics and methods of play.

 

All games have methods of play or some people call them tactics, it's how you play a game.

I'm not going to go into other game play mechanics just the ones that pertain to E&B and mmo's in general.(not going to explain rooking for chess for example..).

 

So basics, you get the basic shoot and loot part of this I am assuming so no point in explaining how to kill something.. or is there...

Let's get this started by something I have said for nearly a decade or playing this game "ALWAYS shoot the ammo that does the most damage".

Doesn't matter what flavor it is do a little testing and find what works best for you.

My guild recently has started working on best ammo types for using in raids, and the results were surprising to say the least.

Lets explain a couple general ideas about how the ammo types work a little more in depth then we discussed earlier.

Plasma and chemical, is a dot(damage over time) damage type which mean it hits gives an initial hit and spreads damage out over time and evaporates, think of it as water hitting a hot pan and sizzling and then evaporating, but in this case causing a specific amount of damage over a given time period. Science works this way also in real life, sometimes things act instantly but taper off after a few seconds to mixing one compound with another *say vinegar and baking soda, acid and a base* acid etched glass and steel come to mind also. Nice way to make fancy designs on surfaces that can't be cut or ground*glass*, or intricate designs on a surface that can't be machined fine enough for whatever reason* steel and other metals*

Taken to an extreme as in say combat that same concept is used in military applications.

And is the basis for the 2 most common damage types in space gaming mmo's.

As a general rule in E&B.

Plasma works on shields and has an added 20% damage buff versus shields.

And Chemical(acid/corrosive if you like) has a 20% damage addition for hulls.

On general mobs this is exactly the case, it's measurable and demonstrable.

So with that said let's move on the other other ammo types.

EMP or Electro Magnetic Pulse, is a energy type damage that takes a bit of science to explain.

EMP is what happens when you create massive magnetic waves you can use google to look up examples(nuclear bombs) specifically built generators are good examples of how they are made.

They cripple and destroy un-shielded electronics by placing to much energy for the system to dissipate and melts circuitry. It does this thru magnetic waves and vibrates the electrons in your phone your car, toaster whatever at such a high rate they melt, Usually without destroying the object itself(usually altho melting stuff via vibrations can cause some serious heat).

This is an instant type of damage it means it hits and dissipates instantly. Excellent on ships with shields and organics weak to it(Ghost of Black Beard for example)

Normally organics are immune to this type of attack.

Cannot damage hulls, if you have a provable use of emp vrs hulls I'd like to see it.

Energy.

I like to think of energy attacks as shooting the energizer bunny at a mob and instantly placing the energy of the battery into the mob or it's shields, or a defibrillator, it does the same thing.

Electricity is simply energy waves controlled and used as power, there is 2 main types DC direct current(lightening strike) or AC Alternating Current(car alternators water dam generators are 2 common types).

I like to think that in gaming were dealing with DC power since it's instant and full power, where as AC is used to power pretty much everything in your life with a few exceptions and is pulsing 60 times a second.

Touch the two posts together in a car battery and it sparks or shocks you,*being 12 volts it's not normally enough to kill you but it'll contract your arm muscles and make it numb for a while and it hurts like hell*

Whereas AC power is pulsed and thru the miracle of g.. you silly boys science rules, we can make it do work by controlling it's ability to be pulsed at specific rates to move motors.1

1. Motors are items that do with outside power, engines make power by converting a fuel to energy in some fashion in a car engines case rotational energy to drive the wheels. Kapish?

I hope that doesn't muddy the waters to much if you want to talk to an expert on electricity types ingame talk to goodhumorboy/mongothepawn he does this for a living.

Explosive ammo.

Think bombs and firecrackers, it's a form of energy created by usually burning(and Mongo I know burning isn't the right term but people under stand burning) chemicals in a confined space till it produces pressure and that pressure is released. Usually making a big loud noise which the space bears can't hear. Errr..(it's 3 days after the American 4th of July)

Useful for celebrations and destroying things and various other uses.(airbags in your car come to mind, explosive rivets and so on)

There is a whole buncha science behind the concept of burn rates and compounds let's call it to complex for this article and move on to some really esoteric concepts.

Kinetic energy weapons aka Impact ammo.

Whereas explosives do damage by exploding and destroying things at a fairly controller rate, kinetic energy weapons do damage by direct use of energy waves.

Think of a bullet as point of energy that you apply directional movement via a propellant(commonly air and explosive and exotically Gaussian) and that bullet is moving along a trajectory based upon gravity speed distance time. On earth this is mostly how ballistics work with a few subtle additions based upon planet spin and directions and wind and so on.

In science this is how all particles move to some extent based upon physics an example is a light wave/particle(there is some argument if it's a particle or a wave). I'm making this point to explain kinetic energy.

In space outside of local influences gravity etc a bullet fired into space is at max speed forever and can only go in the direction fired. When it strikes an object it give direct instant damage based upon speed/direction/weight, this is kinetic energy and in general the heavier and faster an object moves the harder it can hit something, there is no need to "explode - Conflagurate" something aka make it explode. In real life different shapes do different kinds of damage by making something move in a direction that is easiest for it to move go look at a sabot round for the basic idea.

This is how you make bullet holes in items the bullet is moving at x speed and y direction over z time, and you have an item in the way that can either stop the object or it can absorb the energy released or be overwhelmed by the energy and be destroyed. This is how bullets and light waves xrays radio waves etc work, bullets are the macro scale waves/particles are the micro level of the same concept. A meteor is the same basic thing and does exactly this,as for proof ask the dinosaurs 60m years ago and see the Arizona desert impact site.

In gaming this is used to overwhelm systems designed to stop them *shields* and if you place enough of them that you overcome the shields capacity to stop them, this is how I think a game works with this kind of ammo. Kinda like filling a bucket with sand it takes capacity and at some point the bucket is full and can't handle any more and it starts spilling out of the top and given enough weight might break the bottom of the bucket out.

In some games bullets can bypass shields(ne' the borderlands 2 trespasser sniper rifle for example).(in other game different mechanics do different things)

So now for a little explanation of debuffing a target or making it weak to various kinds of ammo.

We have 2 basic ways of doing this 1 is via skill(gravity link on ps/pw's) and 2 is a well call it a beam to make something take more damage to a type of ammo.

I'm not sure of the concept behind this, in real life we use a catalyst to make something more energetic against an item(see a "catalytic" convertor it uses exotic metals to convert pollutants from your engines combustion cycle into less harmful gases and water) anyone familiar with 2 part paints/epoxy/jb weld get the basic idea.

So let me go thru the maximum amount of debuffing a mob can receive.

 

Chemical = 61.2% with a Basilisk and 20% for hulls only. Shield damage is normal.

EMP = 61.2% with a lvl 9 Wyvern

Energy = 61.2 with a lvl 9 Manticore + 15% with a Chili-Popper for a total of 76.2%

Explosive = 30% from gravity link 61.2% from a Salamander = 91.2% (gravity link lasts 30 seconds so keep applying it)

Impact  =61.2 from a lvl 9 gorgon 30% from gravity link at 15% from the chili popper = 106.2% you can't attain this because of the games damage cap limitations, to be explained in a bit.

Plasma 20% vrs shields 61.2 with a Chimaera and 15% for a chili-popper = 96.2% The 20% added at the start only applies to shields and does not affect hull damage numbers.

 

There are AA devices and stuff that debuff various damage types but this is currently the most you can attain in the game with readily available in the game.

So there is a damage cap limit in the game I wont tell you what it is but you can't exceed it from a no deflect (single number no parentheses add/weak damage numbers).

But with impact being capable of more then a 100% debuff it exceeds this number if the mob has no deflects so you reach a "Damage Cap".

BUT... and it's a mighty big but... you can attain over 100% added damage to a mob via deflects and that depends on a mobs defenses to that damage type.

Remember back in section 2 where I explained ammo damage? The number to the right is the actual damage.. That is the key to this.. If a mob has lets say 105% total deflect and you get all 3 items to debuff you have 1.2% damage you can do to a mob. important concept to appreciate 1.2% damage is better then no damage but.. it's pretty sad.

All you need is some ammo a healer and a calculator.. take the unbuffed numbers you see add your debuff to the mob fully and read the numbers you see and do a little math.

The shield/hull mobs in jupiter are excellent ways to test various things.

All this was in leading up to how to play games like this.

Yeah kinda have to understand how the damage system works to use tactics against mobs.

Most mobs you can walk up to poke em in the eye and loot them but more difficult mob/mobs might require more then driving up and lambasting them to get to the juicy center(juicy centers and crystals?)

Solo.. This is where the different races and classes really differ.

I've written several articles over the years on how various classes should gear and play out (jenquai defenders and jenquai in general)

When you look thru a jenquai skill tree and come across cloak.. and read the number 5 level and it says

Combat Cloak/Energy Cost 0/Range 1.00 units,

Eliminates the requirement for the ship to be motionless before cloaking(means you can be moving around while cloaking), and doubles unmodified beam weapon base damage for 5 seconds after cloaking is disengaged(you just doubled your crit numbers).

That is such a major game changer it's a no brainer. It's what makes a jenquai a jenquai and separates them from other classes. Jd's are the highest burst damage dealers in the game period, Nothing can change that and it makes them very difficult to kill steal and find till they decloak and shoot something then.. well the numbers are spectacular on a plasma weak mob. Je's and Js's use the same tactics but to a lesser extent js's have energy beams optionally.

Biggest downfall is reliance on energy and plasma for everything. Emp is so little used in day to day it doesn't count. They are glass cannons only the jd gets critical targeting none of them use lvl 9 shields, they all get lvl 9 reactors, js's get lvl 9 devices and can use the lvl 9 guardian which makes them the single best healer in the game but again lvl 8 shields makes them vulnerable.

Progens

Are the bruisers of the game they walk in stand still and machine gun stuff down, think of them as tanks shooting 50 cal Barrett's at everything.

Think of them as the a10 warthogs of the game, Pw's especially so.

PW and PS'd get gravity link and all 3 can use basilisk devices making them ideal impact and chemical users

They excel at being tanks and combat healers and combat miners all 3 get lvl 9 shields and critical targeting, and the pw/pp get level 9 reactors.making them some of the toughest characters in the game and the pp's 5 guns make em really good combat healers. Biggest issue with progens is ammo types.. projectiles really only get 3 ammo types.

Terrans: Jack of all trades master of none except money.

Terrans to begin with are kind of a mixed bag,

There best combat style is to fire big slow moving missiles at something and stay away from the mob till it's dead.

In day to day use gun for gun a pw will outgun a te and te's do not have an aggro attraction skill like pw's do, grouped is another story.

Te's can kill just about everything in the game solo due to "kiting" or the art of evading and since missiles fire in every direction they can drive forward at full speed and keep at range with the mob

TT's and TE's get lvl 9 shields making them durable, none of the terrans get lvl 9 reactors,

The TT/TS get hull patch skill and are valuable in raids ts's make very good miners with the largest miner hold and negotiate skill(makes great looters along with jenquai seekers). Ts's get to use lvl 9 devices are are invaluable at impact/explosive heavy raids.

Downfalls lvl 8 reactors and none except the TS can debuffs it's own ammo natively. TT/TS do not get critical targeting.

My next look into this article will be about grouping and how to setup groups to maximize damage output and why some toons get left out and some don't(eyeing the ps's and je's at raids)
 

 

This is a work in progress and is not done. I'll continue to update this post as I have time and inclination. If you have any specific requests post it in the thread and I'll add it to the main body as this goes. Please try and keep this to the discussion at hand and do not try and hijack the thread with off topic questions, lets try and keep this as pure as possible.

 

[Windows 10 The Install]

Normally getting dumped back to desktop at the map screen is a bad video card driver.

 

If you would like, I can remote into your computer using teamviewer (www.teamviewer.com )and have a look at your setup and see if i can solve the problem.

 

Poke me in teamspeak (www.teamspeak.com and ts.net-7.org look for Scootermagoo[GrA] ) I do work during the US daytime hours so.. have some patience I might not be home.

[Windowed Mode Not Movable Not Resizable (Windows 7)]

It's the same thing as windows 7 enable aero (right click your taskbar and open properties/Taskbar tab/ Put a check in the box to enable the aero popup window feature apply and okay.

 

Second with the game running in windowed mode ( https://forum.enb-emulator.com/index.php?/topic/6404-net7configexe-for-running-custom-resolutions/)  if you need a refresher on this.

 

Or  https://forum.enb-emulator.com/index.php?/topic/11418-windows-10-the-install/ for windows 10.

 

Then with the game running when the aero window pops up right click on it and chose move the mouse cursor goes to the upper left of the window hold down your left mouse button and wiggle your mouse and the window should move around.

 

Place it wherever you want on a second monitor or whatever and release it.

 

Windows will/should restart the game in the same place if you close it and restart it.

 

[URL=http://s1336.photobucket.com/user/Scootemagoo/media/windowerd%20mode_zpsi8v33z0k.jpg.html][/URL]

 

This is running in windows 10 pro look at the start button.

[Raid Rotation Now Null And Void?]

I would like to answer for myself only and not BI since Raiderman is the leader of the guild currently and unless that changes this is only my opinion.

 

First Jamoos does not represent the will of BI, he is a member as am I.

 

I had nothing to do with the raid other then offer advice, and advice is free last I cheched. You gets whats youz payz for.

 

Second I hope Raider takes it upon himself to answer, I am working now and I am not around much anymore except in the mornings and later afternoon times.

 

So I hope the retarded rumormongers piss up a rope.

 

Third since the population is getting summertime low again I propose and i have always proposed we take a 24 hour approach on the triggers.

 

If your guild can't do a raid trigger within 24 hours of it spawning the public and other guilds should be allowed to knock it off.

 

This waiting for a week to waste spawns is retarded on a large scale and needs to be remedied.

 

This is what I propose to the guild leaders, you guys know i'm not real tolerant of bullscraps and i do not suffer fools at all and i think this situation is bullscraps and foolish.

 

Let's modify what we have till fall when the population starts growing again and encourage the new players to the game to raid by allowing the public to take down the raids if the rotation guild can't.

 

It's not rocket science and it wont hurt anyones feelings this way, and seriously if you get bent over a simple proposal and your guild wastes triggers like bullets at a NRA convention then you need to get bent yourself.

 

Do the damned raids ask for help or get out of the way.

 

That is my proposal, IT"S ALWAYS BEEN MINE. So lets work this out or I'm gonna give my blessing to knocking off 24 hour wasted triggers.

 

And I'll be happy to help.

 

So let's work this out or it might be BI raids and everyone else watches, i kinda miss those days.

 

But this is just one persons opinion. And should only be taken seriously if you think there is a problem and the triggers are being wasted.

 

I think there is a problem. And the advocate has no business speaking up for their guild, and should not have brought this up.

 

You are to remain impartial to the dev's and playerbases doings.

 

Accusing a guild of something is a guild related issue and has nothing to do with your position of power.

 

Or I can comment about certain members of static now being dev's and co leaders of the guild.

 

And I do believe I have the right to complain about it if I so chose, you made your bed. Don't try to unmake it.

 

Some of you remember I am a rather intrackable enemy to have, and I doubt either the dev's or the playerbase wants a redo of the 2 years I suffered.

 

So next time have a non advocate/dev person post this, there is a co-leadership in static the last I checked. Have someone else speak up for your guild.

 

Just a personal thought. Good luck on sorting out the rotation mess, I like simple things Whats the old saying. KISS "Keep It Simple Stupid" applies here.

 

Stop wasting triggers and gives the pubbies a 24 hour window to wait and let them knock the raid down. This is pretty damned simple.

[Windows 8.1 The Install]

Oh yeah windows 10 beats the pants off windows 8/8.1 look for the install article elsewhere..

[Windows 8.1 The Install]

dont know if its related but ive managed to intall straight onto windows 8.1 but the problem im having is once game is fuly logged in i can play for 2-3min at most then it freezes and i have to kill the program with ctrl+alt+del

This might or might not be related to the problems I had when I swapped in a nvidia 670 SC card for the ati 5870 I normally run.

 

I ran into a problem where if i had a hdmi out to a non hdmi monitor it would do wierd things to the screen if you are not seeing your screen turn on and off that isn't this problem.

Second thing i ran into is my motherboard and the nvidia card hated eachother.. I rustled up a dvi-d to dvi-d cable and removed the hdmi cable and that problem went away but the comp would lock up in games after a couple minutes and i'd have to force reboot.

In the bios came up an overcloocking error(I'm not overclocking but the vid card is over clocked from the factory). If this sounds like more your problem then it might not be the game but a hardware issue.

Third how does it lock up and where specifically it could be an overheating problems or a driver error or something.

 

If you want to contact me in teamspeak I can help you that way also. Ts.net-7.org look for Scootermagoo[GrA] i do work during the american daytime but you might catch me early or after work. I typically work from 10 am MST to 5pm MST and get home after 5:30 MST if this helps.

[Windows 10 The Install]

Since I've taken it upon myself to write install guides for the game on various new windows formats it's now time to run windows 10 thru the blender.

 

First off, Microsoft my hats off to you and about time you got it right. Yes 10 is that good.

 

Okay with that out of the way lets get to how I installed the game.

 

First windows 10 is not the pos windows 8 and most certainly 8.1 was for installing games and other older software.

 

It's very similar to windows 7 in mannerisms with a compatibility and running stuff so far as I have found.

 

It doesn't require wierd settings or fancy software or spectacular knowledge of the inner workings to make stuff work.

 

You install it and use it.

 

I had the game previously installed from my conversion to 10 (I install games and large install folders to a seperate drive from my os drive) So I had a functional folder to begin with.

 

You will need 2 folders (I'll provide at the end of the article) The Net-7 install folder and the Release folder from a previous install.

 

About 2gb of hard drive space and a internet connection.

 

If you read my windows 8.1 article ( https://forum.enb-emulator.com/index.php?/topic/11263-windows-81-the-install/) this is going to be very familiar.

 

I suggest on 64 bit os's to install older pre windows 7 games to the root of your os drive if possible C:\Games\ is my suggestion.

 

64 bit windows and 16/32 bit games can be a problem. The game is directx7 so it qualifies for the root folder install.

 

If you have a previous install such as mine, open your net-7 folder(if you are running from a previous install location) and go in and delete the 4 text files:

Client-FileList.txt

Client-Version.txt

Net7-FileList.txt

Net7-Version.txt

 

Then run ( E:\Games\Net-7\bin\lLaunchNet7.exe  In my particular case)  your LaunchNet7.exe from the net-7/bin folder and locate your game install folder/Release/Client.exe file let it update and adjust your firewall if needed.

 

Go thru your net-7/bin folder and your game install folder and right click the game exe's:

Net-7/bin

LaunchNet7.exe

net7proxy.exe

 

Game install\Release

Client.exe

 

Earth&Beyond\EBCONFIG\

net7config.exe

VIDTEST.EXE

 

You need to right click these and open properties and in the Compatibility Tab(this is going to deviate a lot from 7/8)

Only check the Run as Administrator check box.

I found that using the compatibility check box to run as windows xp wont allow multiple instances of the game.

I was getting the dreaded E&B is already running box. I tinkered with it and unchecked it on the client.exe and I can log as many clients in as I want.

If you have issues please post them so I can look at the issues on my side and see if i can replicate them.

 

You only need to do this to these files

This is if you have a previous install

 

For those of you starting with a fresh install.(crosses self says a couple holy c**** just kidding) This is pretty easy.

 

Download the net-7 and release files at the end of the article.

 

If you followed my earlier advice and made a games folder in your root of your drive (such as C:\Games\ )

 

Step 1

 

Create a Earth & Beyond folder

 

Unpack the release folder into the newly made earth and beyond folder.

 

Unpack net-7 to the game folder.

 

In the net-7 folder open the bin folder and right click the LaunchNet7.exe and  right click and pin to your start and or your task bar(I use taskbar but I do most certainly love the 10 start menu Did i mention i really like 10??)

 

Step 2(yes copypasta sue me I'm lazy)

 

Go thru your net-7/bin folder and your game install folder and right click the game exe's:

Net-7/bin

LaunchNet7.exe

net7proxy.exe

 

Game install\Release

Client.exe

 

Earth&Beyond\EBCONFIG\

net7config.exe

VIDTEST.EXE

 

You need to right click these and open properties and in the Compatibility Tab(this is going to deviate a lot from 7/8)

Only check the Run as Administrator check box.

I found that using the compatibility check box to run as windows xp wont allow multiple instances of the game.

I was getting the dreaded E&B is already running box. I tinkered with it and unchecked it on the client.exe and I can log as many clients in as I want.

If you have issues please post them so I can look at the issues on my side and see if i can replicate them.

 

Step 3.

 

Go back to your launchnet7 shortcut you created in step 1 and run it.

 

I had to install .net2.5/3 and windows installed it automatically via the dialog box.

 

net-7 will want to know the current location of your installed game client.exe (hint it's in your release folder)

 

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>IMPORTANT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

 

Step 4.

 

Update the game as required.

 

The game files require about 1.3gb approximately.

 

Since we are installing the game via this method you will not have any registry settings.

 

You must click yes or continue on all of the boxes that come up when you start the launcher/client the first time.

 

If you fail to click yes or continue on the next error dialog boxes your game probably will not run till you click yes/continue.

 

Yes/continue.. do I make my point clear?

 

You were warned.

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> End of IMPORTANT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

 

I have not tried to install the game via the demo or net-7 with the currently availble unified installer.

 

So please relate any problems with it if you run across any.

 

If the forum mods would be kind and sticky this, I believe people will find it very helpful.

 

Good luck and see you out in the universe.

As a side note I reformatted this morning and I didn't have the net-7 or client.exe.

So I went to net-7.org logged in and downloaded the net7unified installer and ran it and let it update.

When I got done with the ms dot.net stuff I didn't have the client folder, so I made the Earth & Beyond folder.

I created the release folder also and inside of it, I made a text file called client.exe.(right click the open area create text file/renamed it Client.exe and forced it to change the extension)

So I ran net7 off my desktop and pointed it towards the folder and had it update the game from there and as I was letting net-7 verify files I deleted the client.exe and let it fully update.

Worked fine the launcher replaced the file and off it went.

So another alternative install method.

 

Added the client unlocker till I write an article on that subject.

release.zip

 

Net7MultiClientUnlocker.zip

Net-7.zip

[Pw Vrs 0Guns]

Official time was 12:21.21 tsunami won with a 14 minute prediction.

 

 

[Pw Vrs 0Guns]

w4g you forgot your ingame name. Tough to be proved right when I can't give you a dg and yes it's 6 lvl 6 0guns at 200%.

 

Matt roflcopters.. you think way to much but it'll be fun no matter what happens.

[Pw Vrs 0Guns]

Someone today in market asked the question whats the best shield/reactor and guns at lvl 6 for a TT.

 

So the discussion progressed and I had said type b's for lvl 6 becuase 0guns eat ammo at a stupid rate.

 

So when he asked why not 0guns we had several people pipe up saying bad ammo useage create a tt alt to haul ammo etc.

 

So me being me I asked, how fast can a 90% turbo pw use up 30 stacks of 0gun ammo in lvl 6 0guns.

 

So the challenge is for you to pick a time in how fast I can use up 30 stacks of 0gun ammo on my pw.

 

I'll be using 200% lvl 6 0guns

a turbo aa for ml's 40%

PB 20%

Cve 12%

Aegis 5%

Focus of the Celestial 7%

Black Force 9 5% installed turbo

 

40 + 20 + 12 + 7 +5 +5 = 89% turbo

 

I would like you guys and gals to pick a time and post it here in this thread on how long it'll take.

 

Please list your ingame names in your guess so I know who I am talking to saturday.

 

If you do not list your name you will bring to the designated location you will be disqualified.

 

I do not want people saying that is me. I know most of you guys but..

 

I would imagine some of you are going to get down to the second.

 

I will round up to the closest time to fast and nogo so saying 30 seconds and it takes 31 means you won but 29 seconds means you lost.

 

The reward for the closest guess will be a looted Devistating Gaze beam.

 

The time will be saturday at 3pm est 12 noon pst. the place.. no peaking i'll announce it saturday about 30 minutes before the event so the mob is secured prior to this little shindig.

 

I'll be using a program called wsplit to time how long it takes to use up the ammo.

 

Goodluck and lets have a little fun > :)

[Windows 8.1 The Install]

A couple years ago I wrote an article on how to install e&b on a windows 8 machine and it's right here ( https://forum.enb-emulator.com/index.php?/topic/8167-windows-8/) if you want a look.

 

Now microsoft has released a update called windows 8.1, it has given a lot of people fits on installing older games(uac being the big problem) and security settings.

 

I am not going to go into detail about the exact changes as I wouldn't know where to begin.

 

This article is my experience helping people thru teamviewer to get the game working on 8.1 and a couple files to help you on your way.

 

First I want to thank the poor unfortunate souls that have let me see the problems in real time so I can work out how to go around MS's security so gamers have access to old favorites.

 

This method might work for other emulators if they allow downloading the entire client via the proxy software so keep an open mind.

 

This article specifically applies to new installs without a prior install of the game to copy and paste files from (those will be provided at the end of the article).

I will provide  the steps if you are so fortunate to have a previously installed game.

 

First lets start by addressing the first problems I see with windows 8.1.

 

I was asked by Pakkrat to help him install the game on his new tower he just built with 8.1 on it and this is my experience with that.

 

So when pakk asked me to remote into teamviewer and help him get the game installed and install the starship creator I ran into the usual issues with windows 8.1( the game wouldn't install from the installer (the demo.exe)), I disabled UAC (the popup window ms so helpfully added to vista and newer os's to block users from installing malicious files (like mcafee and nortons) and create all sorts of problems for normal people. So after UAC was disabled via the slider in the user settings in the control panel and the computer rebooted it still wouldn't run the exe. Wierdly enough I didn't see this in my 8.0 experience.. But I had seen it on others comps and it seems to be a by comp problem more then a microsoft problem.(after 5-10 of these you see patterns).

 

So from prior experience I knew I was going to have to install the game via the net-7 launcher exe (kudos to the dev's who allow us to install the game without the demo.exe)

 

So first step was to zip up my net-7 install folder and the release folder from the games main install folder (This is so net-7launcher can find the game folder and have something to update from).

 

>>> IMPORTANT<<< Before you start you will need to disable UAC. Access your control panel/users/your account UAC settings and slide the bar all the way to the bottom, important reboot your comp so the uac is disabled or this will be painfull and probably wont work, you can re-enable it after were done but I hate mother ms not trusting me to know the good from the bad and causing so many issues.

 

Step 1. Via teamviewer/or the files from this article, obtain the two files required.

 

Step 2. Open your My Computer/access the c drive on your comp via windows explorer.

 

Step 3. On your C Drive(or the folder you intend to install the game to ( DO NOT USE c:\program files(x86)\ EVER windows 64 bit os's do not like older 32bit games and they need to be in a root based folder or installed to a seperate drive).

Right click in the blank area of the window and create a new folder called Games (dos guys are laughing at this point)  C:\Games  <-- this directory if you intend to install the game on 1 drive computers I have mine in this folder but larger/newer games I have installed to a 500gb drive which has nothing but games installed on(my steam folder is 145gb alone).

Once that folder has been created open the folder and make 2 new folders name them Net-7 and Earth & Beyond ( you can make it E&B/whatever you want) if you like but you need a folder you can identify as the e&b installed folder).

 

Step 4. I'll list 2 ways to do this is you have a computer with the game installed on or via the files I'll provide here.

 

A. Previous Installed game.

Version 1. Previous install and access to the game on a working comp.

 Step 1. You will need to copy/paste 2 folders from your previous working install.

You can just copy and paste the 2 folders wholesale to the correct directories from the other comp/old hard drive via whatever method you have (plugged in hard drive/usb key/network etc) and proceed.

 Step 2. Open the net-7 folder and delete the Client-FileList.txt/Client-Version.txt/Net7-FileList.txt/Net7-Version.txt this forces the launcher to update net-7 and the game folder and is important to this method.

 Step 3. Copy/paste the contents of the entire folder (minus the 4 text files listed in step 2) into the new net-7 folder you created (you could just copy the entire folder to the C:\games folder either way) just make sure you delete the 4 text files listed.

 Step 4. In the e&b folder you created previously (Step 3 in the main article) COPY ONLY THE RELEASE FOLDER into the you wont need the rest of the files and it'll be installed fresh.

 Step 5. This is the tedious part I can't help this.

Open the net-7 folder, open the bin folder, and the LaunchNet7.exe and proxy.exe need to be right clicked open properties/compatibility

Set to run as admin and (4 boxes at the bottom third one down)

Also set the games compatibility mode to windows xp service pack 2/3 or vista if xp isn't listed.

Click apply/okay

 Step 6. Open the release folder in the e&b folder and find client.exe and do the same thing xp service pack 3 and run as admin.

Click apply/okay.

 

B. Files Provided.

Version 2. No previous installed game folders and using the 2 zip files I'll provide here.

 Step 1. Open C:\Games\Net-7 (or if using a alternative hard drive to the games directory you are using, On mine it's F:\Games\Net-7/)copy the files in net-7.zip to this folder

 Step 2. Open C:\Games\Earth & Beyond\ Copy the release folder from the zip file to this folder.

 Step 3. The tedious part.

Open the net-7 folder, open the bin folder, and the LaunchNet7.exe and proxy.exe need to be right clicked open properties/compatibility

Set to run as admin and (4 boxes at the bottom third one down)

Also set the games compatibility mode to windows xp service pack 2/3 or vista if xp isn't listed.

Click apply/okay

 Step 4. Open the release folder in the e&b folder and find client.exe and do the same thing xp service pack 3 and run as admin.

Click apply/okay. (Yes I copypasta this)

 

Step 5. (back to the main article as A and B are now on the same step)

You can do this a couple ways but the easiest method is open the C:\Games\Net-7\bin and find launchNet-7.exe right click and pin to taskbar.

You can also send to desktop via shortcut or whatever method suits your needs.

 

Step 6. Run net-7 ... When windows 8 detects to exe needed .net 2.5/3.0 it will download the updated files (takes a minute or two) You might need to reboot your comp( I did 2 years ago when using 8 the first time) your situation might vary reboot your comp if in doubt.

 

>>>>>IMPORTANT<<<<<

Net-7 will likely cause a error with .net ALWAYS ALWAYS Click on continue never click close it'll shut the program down and you will have to do this again..

<<<<End of important>>>>

 

Step 7. The launcher is running(oh joy it does work)

At this point I just want the game to run,

At this point the launcher wants to know where client.exe is hiding so navigate to the C:\Games\Earth & Beyond\release select the client.exe and click open.

Let it update the launcher (if needed) when it's done click open and see the files or close and move on.

 

Step 8. Next step is to update the game and download it.

When the launcher is done updating it will want to update the game also and will start checking files and downloading missing files.

Let it update everything it's about 1.2gb approx so it'll take as long as your internet connection takes.

 

Step 9. When the game is updated, files are done downloading. You will need to check all the exe's in the net-7/bin folder and the client/e&b folder click click set compatibility/run as admin apply/okay.

 

Step 10. You will see a security certificate error (the games current certificate is expired and they know about it so don't go complaining I had issues with access to the dev ftp and they are working on it) Click on yes continue and you wont see it again.

 

Step 11. Run the game.

Launch net-7 if it's not already running

(I suggest next to the server address to check the top 3 boxes and uncheck the delete th6 check, the only thing delete th6 does is delete the games database files for the asset folder, only use this if you crash at the map loading screen back to windows, check your vid drivers and click the checkbox to clear the corrupt files and uncheck as needed. I do not understand peoples issues with this I do direct changes to the game files via a couple methods for doing my graphics updates and never have issues with map screen crashing so if you crash at map loading use this if not leave it unchecked).

 

Step 12. Megan..

All right when I did pakkrat's computer megan popped up with the activate via the demo website (name eludes me atm) click have account and continue and you should get the password screen. Try logging in if you have an account, you should at this point be in the game unless you have firewall issues(outside of the scope of this article).

 

Step 13. Always have patience, if you have followed this article step by step and still have issues please contact me via teamspeak (ts.net-7.org) I will ask you if you have teamviewer, (www.teamviewer.com) and if you do not mind me remoting into your computer (you will have complete freedom to take the mouse back over or close the program if you think I am doing anything wierd. Some people have issues with phantom typing and mouse movements others do not, I will let you know now because I will ask you. You can't shock me with your desktop as teamviewer makes it black by default and I do not need to know. I used to be an admin in a file sharing program that will go unnamed here but trust me I have seen all sorts of wierd things. I'm tough to shock but if it's illegal remove it from your desktop ahead of time. I do not want to know.

 

This method works for microsoft vista/7/8/8.1 and probably 10 when it's out the only real problem with the game is going to be having access to drivers for your video card if you run older hardware with newer os's ( aka directx9 vid cards in 8/8.1/10 etc)

 

Screen setup article   https://forum.enb-emulator.com/index.php?/topic/6404-net7configexe-for-running-custom-resolutions/)

 

Other then that have a nice day and good luck it's a big universe out there. If a moderator can pin this article I believe they will find it most usefull and hopefully make it easier for people to find.

[Halloween Mission 2014]

Hello guys with some help from a few people we have finally cracked step 1 of the Sergant Jones missions.

 

1. You need to be overall level 20-75(that we know of if anyone has a toon outside of these levels that can get the mission let us know in the comments).

 

2. Have a drink some good music or time killing hobby at hand(Mines Winamp) and a empty hold on the toon doing the mission.

 

3. Requirements:

  A. One of the items for the mission requires a level 3 device builder to map and dismantle for the item..(more about this in a few minutes)

  B. A minimum cargo size of 20 items

  C. The possibility you need to kill some lvl 43 mobs for two of the items.(were looking for alternatives for the heads)

  D. Killing some cl 22 rogue progens in neptune for a good half hour. Or more.

  E. A JE greatly speeds this mission up a lot.

 

4. Step one of the mission is to take your youngin as pakkrat was reffering to them as.. to Zweihander to the earth corp headquarters and find Sgt. Jones.(easy part)

 A. The Mission is called Emptor's Halloween Costume. 1/19. To begin adding "ichy bits" for use by the hollaw costume, start by adding heads(yes heads). Gather a bloody jenquai students head.

   1. They are looted from Booboomba's Lucky Charm. They drop in neptune north west of neptune 7 at the wreck (you can see it if your graphics settings are set to high in the game from the nav) and have 5-6 lvl 22 rogue progen sabines they all drop it about once every 15-30 minutes you need the lvl 3 device builder at this point and need 2 + of them. One to map the device(it's non tradeable) and unless you get lucky one to critical dismantle you will need at least 1 more.

   2. Someone has one for sale.

   3. As soon as it hits your hull it'll update the mission.

B. 2/19 Decayed terran head. New Edinburgh Lower right hand side navs in the ore field, the guardians there, 43 ore guards in glories orbit 81k due north of The path of Memory Shared. Drops off the manes and bio extractor mobs.

C. 3/19 Decayed progen head.

 

Getting tired I'll finish this tomorrow

 

 

[Damage Ingame Explained.]

Whem I started this thread I was just going to write up how things worked colors and so on related to the guns and ammo themselves, and I started testing items to see what stacked and what didn't and the problems began.

 

I did not write this to cause the people involved more work or problems, this was a serious attempt to explain something many people misunderstand in the game.

 

I noticed the problems and brought it up to a gm and a dev and was asked to write up what I found so they could have it for todays meeting.

I was asked to provide screen shots if needed(hence the writing change and the wierd screenshot of the intolerance crit).

This in no way was done to anger anyone.

I had thought all this stuff was fixed since I wrote my dps lists in late 2011 early 2012 and hadn't thought about the problem in years and then I started getting wierd damage numbers on the mordana that are much higher then what I would have expected.

 

Hence the first 2/3rds of the article is nothing but explaining how it works color etc then while writing the article with my pw in jupiter at the test mobs I saw the beginnings of the problem and found a gm and went hayyyy and it progressed from there.

 

I am sorry if anyone is confused by the change in format if you were reading it for info and went wtf is he smoking now (honest it wasn't ev's peace pipe..).

It was partially written in response for the dev's and gm's and the change towards the end.

 

I would like a mod to close this thread for now.

 

The information is accurate up until the last section where the problems began so if you want to read it till that point the rest of it was for the dev meeting and I'm considering this a lost thread because of it.

I'll not comment on anything beyond this and maybe in the spring after some changes are made I'll take this back up and copy paste the info from the 4th section up and paste is and finish the article properly.

 

I am sorry for any confusion this has caused and appologise to anyone affected adversly it wasn't my intention at all.

[Damage Ingame Explained.]

I have written a few technical articles on peoples questions from ingame, so it is easier to understand how something works.

 

In this example I'll be explaining the damage numbers you see in the game.

 

And how to enhance the numbers you see.

 

To start with let's explain how the ammo damage works.

 

We'll use level 9 guns for this example so the math doesn't get to fuzzy for some people.

Since the damage is universal I'll stick to a pw and impact ammo so you do not have to count the ticks.

And I'll provide a screen shot of the principals on a serious 1 round impact crit on a weak mob.

 

1. Ammo damage.

2. Dps and how to calculate it with simple math.

3. Weapon skill level damage added.

4. Critical targeting.

5. Enhancers. What works and what doesn't work.

 

Lets start of on ammo damage you have 2 choices on several ammos, vendor and player made.

Let's use Spitter pl impact ammo since the screen shot relates to it.

Spitter ammo 100% = 280

200% ammo = 364 damage per round and 2 rounds fired every time the gun fires.

The gun is at 120%(my current spitter) and has a 3.9 second reload.

PW lvl 7 critical targeting and ol 260+

Rally was engaged and the mob had a gravity link and a skirmish shield debuff.

Gear installed spitter/fotm/4 biles, Skirmish 9 shield 200%, lvl 9 ambush reactor, zues 8 engine 200%

Tactical advantage, intolerance, binder octo. Basic pw impact gear all readily available in the game.

Active buffs rally firing tactics, turbo(77%), Sting octo, and a aa ghatu.

I'm not sure what the rally level 1 buff icon is maybe someone can tell me.

Group makeup is 3 pw's, tt, je, te.

 

Okay ammo damage.

Spitter pl ammo is base damage at

100% is 280 x2

200% is 364 x2

 

The difference is 30% damage from vendor to playermade ammo. Give or take a 1 for server rounding.

Total unbuffed ammo damage per shot (remember the gun fires twice per cycle) = 728 damage per times the gun is fired.

Weapon skill for lvl 9 weapons is +200%(or a multiplier of 3)

The gun reload is 3.9 seconds and the gun fires 15.384 times per minute.

It also fires 2 rounds per shot total of 30 rounds of ammo and a smidge per minute.

Critical damage in this game is simple, base damage and weapon skill times 2.(remember this..)

Damage Enhancements buff the base damage of the ammo ONLY.

 

Weapon dps.

 

It's very simple, it's ammo damage x times fired per minute divided by 60 x skill enhancement (x3 at lvl 9 skill)

 

2(364) x 15.384 \ 60 x 200%(x3) = dps

728 x 15.384 = 11,200

\ 60 (because were calculating damage per second)

x 200% (skill enhancement)

11200 \ 60 = 186.667

x 200% (times 3)

DPS = 559.9776

Very simple this is the base dps of a un-enhanced spitter firing any ammo out of it were using impact because of the dot effect of chem and plasma.

 

For refference a 120% fotm = 235 x 50\60 x3 = 587 dps

200% archos is 437

200% biles are  542

200% fang is     369

100% sing can  135(add 30% for pm ammo and it's still bottom of t8 guns..)

 

1 shot damage = ammo x weapon skill

 

728 x 3 = 2184 non critical hit (see the first picture)

728 x 3 x 2 = 4368 critical (see second picture)

 

 

Unbuffed non crit.

 

 

Critical unbuffed hit.

 

Okay so using the above 2 pictures I'm dispelling the myth 200% skill enhancement in this game is x2.. it's the gun damage times 2 so it's x3.. don't believe me go do your own math.

 

With the above math and the 2 pictures 1, 2, 3 above have been answered and gives me the opportunity to explain the numbers you see inside of the [ ]

 

Using either picture (well use the second one since it's a crit) the number the damage is showing is 4368 this mob is neither weak nor strong on deflects to impact ammo(plasma and chem are different and I'll get to that for now lets keep it simple)

 

So base crit damage is 4368. The reason I used crit is because it's difficult to not crit on a pw.

When a mob is strong towards an ammo as a deflect the number has a [- ] in the bracket(I can't show it here because of the type of mob)

For example 4268[-100] means the mob deflected 100 damage from the ammo you shot and was damaged 4268 points.

For example 4468[+100] means the mob is weak(or has been weakened thru manipulations by gravity link and other buffs and debuffers)

When you see 0[-4368] the mob is 100% immune to your damage (think emp on hulls)

When you see 4368[+4368] it means you are healing the mob(this is not a good thing...)

The number on the left side of 4268[-100] is the damage, the number in the [ +-] is the damage resisted or the damage added.

 

Picture 3 is plasma ammo against a shielded mob. Plasma ammo ticks 6 times

 

874[+146] x 6 = 5244 damage base damage = 4368 the difference = just a shade less the 20% (given the server calculations and rounding it's 20%)

 

 

Picture 4 is against a hulled mob with chemical ammo. Chemical ammo ticks 6 times.

 

874[+145] = exactly the same amount of damage as plasma does against shields.

 

When I shot the shielded test it was 728 x 6 4358 (i'd argue a server calculation difference)

 

For all intents and purposes chem ammo and plasma ammo do exactly the same amount of damage as impact explosive etc.

There is no difference except in the rounding of the server calculations.

So quit thinking plasma is the best ammo in the game.. it's not,  it is exactly the same as the rest except for the 20% against shields(which isn't always...)

 

 

Color of ammo types. (you can check this by any ammo vendor where archos or zet ammo is sold)

 

Orange = Impact (non crit = yellow in the first screen shot and red in the second one)

Yellow = Chem (critical in red and the ammo damage color is green)

Green = Emp (whitish grey)

Blue = Energy (yellow non crit/red crit)

Red = Explosive (yellow non crit/red crit)

Purple = Plasma (red critical text purple damage numbers)

white/black = Absolute(it's being used for the threaded plasma archos for now till it's changed)(I do not have any threaded archos ammo from before when it was removed)

Green is also used when you are healing a mob regardless of ammo type used you see green text on any ammo other then chem stop firing that ammo or debuff for it.

 

(Right about now I can feel the hatred of stubborn plasma users and my response is ththtbtbtbtbtbtbt get over it. Plasma isn't any better then anything else, always shoot what does the highest damage that you can debuff, it's not rocket science, when chem or emp does more damage on shields then plasma does If you do not believe me check the bottom picture out that is 1 single well buffed round of black spitter impact ammo from a pw, and with a ps's activated damage buffs I have seen 42,000 critical emp hits and 35,000+ explosive hits, I have also seen chemical crit tick at 4200 per tick x 6.. go be a fool and shoot the rd base with plasma and do not come crying to me)

 

I hope everyone is still with me we have 2 more parts to go.

 

Critical targeting.

 

Critical targeting is simple an enhancement on how many times you hit a target critically vrs non critical hits.

Toons with critical targeting = progens.. te/jd 5 of the 9 classes have critical targeting and all 5 are acknowledged as the best combat toons in the game.

We'll use a pw as it's the highest critical targeting toon in the game it has 7 levels and invariably crits on everything.

I'm going to shoot my spitter 10 times and count how many times it crits without any sort of enhancement.

Remember your results may vary I am expecting at least 6 critical hits out of 10.

In 10 shots fired with just native critical targeting skill it was 6 crits and 4 non crits as I suspected.

Enhancing a character beyond lvl 10 skill is pointless since the skill tree's are capped at 10 skill levels.

 

Enhancers(no not male or female enhancers) damage enhancers.

 

Okay what do I mean by enhancers thats simple any item/skill/device that can directly debuff a mob or buff you for added damage and I will not be listing them all but I will list the major players in the game.

 

A large part of this section is explaining what does and doesn't stack say like the sting and aa ghatu stacks but the seal of the dragon doesn't stack with the ghatu and so on.

I'll do my level best to try and make this easily understood but some of this can be very confusing.

 

I'll start the list of normal debuffers that are active skills.

 

Skills:

 

Gravity Link  5-6-7 debuffs impact and explosive, Max gravity link on a pw with a binder octo, the debuff lasts for 30 seconds and has a 9.4k range.

Not much else.

 

Devices.

 

Blacksun(red dragon)

 

Gorgon = Impact

Salamander = Explosive

Basilisk = Chemical

Chimaera = Plasma

Manticore =  Energy

Wyvern = Emp

Petro = Energy

Thordis' Lament = Chemical

Rada = Plasma

Pride devices (various)

Skirmish Shields (agrippa) Impact

Megahurtz Devices.

There might be others, but these are what comes to mind right off the bat.

If i missed any list them in the comments and I can add them at a later date.

Honorable mention Binder devices for the gravity link buffs.

 

Gear that enhances your damage.

 

Basic items that buff your damage by activation.

 

This wont be comprehensive but it'll list the basic device series or aa devices that I know of currently.

 

Sting series for Projectiles

Laser Scope series for Beams.

AA Ghatu An, Pw only enhance weapon damage by 20%

Seal of the Dragon.

The ps based aa devices.

 

Installed gear that adds basic damage to you and your guns.

 

Intolerance

Advanced weapon control system(aka awcs)

Various blacksun weapons off of The Controller(rage/fang)

Heart of the Master.

Titan's heart.

 

With the basic number of 4368 crit on playermade spitter impact ammo, I started installing various devices to see what is and isn't stacking,

Since I wrote my lvl 9 dps lists all those years ago.

It seems things have progressed and have been fixed. That is very nice to know.

 

So borrowing my js'd awcs or testing purposes I started fiddling with installed items first.

 

Basic guns and skills I was consistently seeing 4368 crits as it to be expected. So this is normal.

Adding the awcs for the 3.0% added projectile damage(it enhances the damage of the ammo itself and didn't actually stack when i wrote the dps lists)

I saw 4412 and added amount of damage of 44 damage which is 2%(not 3 like it's listed but it does work) added damage.

Using the intolerance and no added damage buffs I saw 4949 which is 581 13.34% difference (not the 40 listed)

non crit is 2474

 

I am going to change the way this post is laid out because of problems I found in my testing.

As you can see by the above paragraph of text I started getting some really wierd numbers and it continues ( for example I activated my aa ghatu and shot the shield mob and received 4 different damage numbers for no reason) the seal of the dragon is listed as 10% and it added 2% at most and so on. I am going to run the numbers from 3/10/(the sting buff damage adder) 20% ghatu 30% gravity link 40% intolerance and the 60% number from the skirmish shield. i will list the actual math based numbers and my actual damage numbers. i explained the problem to a gm and dev and they asked me to post the screen shots for the numbers also so at this point I am done testing this is strictly for the dev's to see what i found.

 

Okay we'll use the actual numbers from the ammo do the math and list the various percentages.

 

To calculate % under 100% it's simple times the number by 1.xx so I'll do 3 10 20 (17 something for the sting iirc) 20 for the ghatu and so forth

 

Base non crit is 2184

Base crit is 4368

I'll list it as non crit/crit 2184/4368 to avoid confusion.

This is assuming the added damage is based upon these numbers, the other option is the damage is added to the base before the skill multiplier.. Only a sdev can answer that question but it still wont explain the damage numbers.

 

3%        =  2249.52/4409.4 AWCS  2206/4412

4%        =  2271.36/4542.72  (skirmish added damage activated on a different mob) 2213/4426

10%      =  2402.4/4804.4  (no seal currently)

14%      =  2489.76/4979.52  (sting octo by itself)  2288/4575

20%      =  2620.8/5241.6  2330/4659  (sting and ghatu stacked is 34% 2433/4866)(with the 4% from the skirmish) 2462/4924

30%      =  2839.2/5678.4  Gravity link.  2839(+655)/5678(+1310)(Level 5 and lvl 7 gravity link are identical damage)(this is correct with the math btw)

39.9%   =  3055.416/6110.832 Intolerance  2474/3712/4949/7423(No I'm not kidding) It gave all 4 of these numbers I have the screen shots to prove it if you want them.(see the screen shot below) there were no applied debuffs on the mob at all I check it every time I add a new item to test and relog between activayed buffs so nothing stacks)

58.9%   =  3470.376/6940.752   3538//7075 (the shield adds 4% for 60 seconds and the debuff states it's good for 240 seconds wears off when the added 4% bonus turns off) so this is broken also. damage looks really close but since the 4% doesn't wear off correctly all i can say is it's close. 4% is 87 difference for non crit so 3538 - 87 = 3451 (about 16 high but really close and we can accept a little server rounding) so i'll call this one accurate but broken since the debuff only lasts 60 seconds vrs 4 minutes like it's listed.

I'll try to replicate the 18k crit this should be entertaining and it'll require the mob to respawn.

(I did indeed get really close to replicating the 18k crit with several in the 15k range)

 

I did a little quick mental arithmetic and came up with the gear I have it adds 169% added damage to 4368 the total for that is 11749 it was damned close with 12213(which is really close to being right) but the 13301/15513 and 18k crits kinda make you wonder.. I did replicate the crits using just my spitter for a sdev and a webdev. the numbers are there and at least one of them saw them.

 

These are the numbers I should see when using each buff(the 10% for the seal will be problematic because it's impossible for me to get currently in time for the dev meeting)

These numbers are assuming ammo damage x weapon skill level + added damage if it's different then technically the numbers should be higher.. Only a sdev can clarify this but I believe the numbers will show the situation.

 

Intolerance 7423 crit. 4949 is consistent and it puts up 2 different non crit numbers 3712/2474

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was firing 1 gun and it took a couple mobs to get this good of a picture, please pardon the white flash. (it didn't help with 2 other pw's shooting the same mobs)

I'll try to replicate it on my pw on the test mobs in jupiter.

 

 

If this isn't silly I dunno what is.

[When is a Public Raid a successful Public Raid]

Okay I'll give my philosophy on group building in response to CIA's post earlier.

 

In almost all cases I build groups around a core pair of classes pw/te tank and rally.

 

You need someone to absorb damage not panic or act flaky that gets the idea of just sitting still and letting mobs come to them

Second part is the te because he can reach out and touch mobs, he has rally and can provide some serious firepower.

 

This is my core group

 

At this point depending on the difficulty of the raid I'll try and find 1 more lvl 9 shielded dps toon(pp/ps/pw/te) to fill in as the dps part of the front row.

The actual type of toon doesn't particularly matter. as Long as it has some firepower and some beefy shields.(I'll get to jd's in a moment you are not forgotten)

 

So lets assume we have a pw/te/ps, what I would start adding next depends on the raid(say fb vrs mordana) do you need 2 groups to do the raid or 1.

 

1 group raids a tt is probably the best choice(but wait.. there is more) it gives shield recharge and hull patch.

Second option is a terran scout for dps/hull patches(and the occasional js) and either a pp or a js.

It depends on the people around you and the mobs you are fighting.

 

So far according to this you have 4 people in the group, what do you add next? My prefference is any jenquai(je/js actually preffered) because of reactor buffs.

Terrans.. what can you do their reactors suck.

 

If a normal jenquai isn't handy use another healer or a dps or whatever you want.

It's really flexible on how you set up a group If you understand the basics of each class and their purpose in a raid.

 

The last invite slot should be used for your jd(if using one) And i'll explain this carefully.

If you invite the summoner offset in formation to the driver you will spin in circles chasing mobs.

if you select the jd last then the mob will be pulled directly in front of the driver.

Kapish? it's really that simple.

Jd's make pretty good drivers also because they always summon in front of themselves.. and can cloak after doing so.

 

2+ group raids.

Same basic core pw/te/whatever dps(this is where pp's shine they can dps or heal).

4/5th invite should be healers a tt and a js make an excellent combo a pp as dps .. well you get the basic idea.

6th invite, looter or summoner(if a second group has a jd then the first group can use the jd's group and use there targets), or whatever class is there that can provide firepower or fold space or debuffing(ps/ts/je's fill this hole very nicely).

 

This is how I invariably set up raid groups from guild stuff to public's raids to whatever.

 

If no pw's are availble for both groups a te can be the secondary tank.

 

Any scan based toon can make an excellent drivers in a pinch, tough to go hunting if you can't find mobs.

 

Most people have pw's drive the groups.. (hence the reason I use a spitter 14.9k scan)

But.. anyone can drive as long as the pw is in the front row for sapping.

 

My guild learned this and I have tried to pass it to the public guilds because it simply works.

 

Pw's and drivers do me a favor do not go chasing mobs with auto follow.

Just sit still this is why you have combat trance.

Just don't move and use large sig engines.

Jd's summon mobs, thats what the jd's are for, get on there asses if they are not summoning (failure isn't a reason to get angry thats just life at times) but not firing guns and not summoning gets them bad marks from me and I will kick them from the group and use someone else if needed.

 

Here is my basic philosophy of building a group. Adjust to the people available.

[Tossing the Gauntlet..Raid Times]

We toss these out for fun.

 

We time some of our raids for comparisions. To see if were slipping or improving.

 

Today we started the Controller raid with 2 groups and a looter and did the raid in 15 minutes and a few seconds.

 

The old guild record for 3 groups is 18 minutes and for comparision the wednesday raid took 23 minutes.

 

Gate raids 18 minutes.

 

Rd base is 45 minutes

 

GoBB typically takes us 20-25 minutes. Next time we do the raid I'll keep track.

 

How fast is your guild record if you keep track?

[out of game info /// buttermilk pie]

looks like cheesecake without the cream cheese.

[Jd's And Combat Cloak]

My mistake and ty for clarifying it.

 

I was always led to believe it was the other way and since my js tank fights I never noticed it.

[Jd's And Combat Cloak]

I've been adding posts in the terran and progen racial areas about endgame gearing and why I run the gear I do.

 

it's time to discuss the most misunderstood class in the game.

 

This is strictly a discussion about plasma beams.

 

It's time to discuss jenquai's(specifically) jd's and combat cloak.

 

Explore 25 a special moment in a jd's life.. it turns them from an also ran to a plasma breathing glass cannon.

 

I'm going to discuss my playtime on my jd in st4 and the gear she had and why I used it and the changes I would make.

 

And maybe make a little herrasy about "uber" beams and setups I would use now vrs then.

 

This will only discuss currently available gear in the game. In the future if the dark matter cannons and stuff get added this will change till then this is what we have.

 

We'll start off with THEN.. the go to what I feel is the better setups NOW.

 

Then. Alpha strike setups

 

GoD ED DG 2 Defenders prides.

 

Now. ED/DG/Dp's

 

The philosophy of the beam and timing and the zen of the 150,000 damage alpha strike, and how to make 1.5m dpm on a jd effectively.

 

A few basic facts:

 

1. The combat cloak buff lasts 5 seconds, it doubles the base damage of your beams.(which is not doubling your beam damage)

 

2. You can recloak in 3 seconds with a lvl 8 ursa.

 

3. 60% turbo will fire a 10s dg in around 6 seconds.

 

4. Beam damage starts dropping at 50% range and it half damage at max range( ty zackman for clarifying that)

 

5. A high turbo jd in raid firing mode barely out dps's a ps (go do the numbers if you do not believe me).

 

6. Yours and mobs shields wait 5 seconds from the last taken damage to start recharging.

 

With the above facts lets discuss how to gear a jd and why(this applies to a je/js with different guns and firing timing but the basics are the same)

 

There is 2 schools of thought on cc and turbo levels and guns on a jd and both are right and both are wrong. For different reasons.

 

School 1: Fire your guns in 3-4 seconds to hit twice from 1 cc strike.

 

The gun setup ideally would be a dg/ed and eod's

 

DG = 10 seconds

ED = 10.80 seconds

EOD's = 6 seconds

 

With enough turbo you can drop the dg/ed into the 5 second reload range the ed and dg provide excellent buffs and eod's would easily be in the 3-4 second reload range.

 

You would fire the eod's twice from cc and recloak and fire again when the eod's are ready to fire again.

The big problem with this setup is the ed/dg only fire once in the cycle, you could skip the ed/dg and just run eod's and activated turbo and fire all 5 twice at around 4 seconds and do the same thing it's your choice on this.

Good luck on keeping up with the having to wait 4 or so second before you press the cloak button before a mob turns around and minces you for dinner.

I'm not a big fan of being decloaked for 7-10 seconds. Oh yes cloak takes 3 seconds, and a hull hit interrupts cloaking.

 

The sequence is chim/fire-- wait 4 seconds-- auto gunfire/press cloak total time decloaked is around 8 seconds.

I call this suicide.

Sequence 2 chim-fire/cloak/fire/cloak/fire/cloak constantly you are going in and out of cloak roughly every 4 seconds the mobs will not have a problem zeroing in on you.

Call it what you will but equipment damage and debt and frustration will ensue.

This is what you think when you see higher dps numbers on the eod's vrs defenders prides.

Yes they are higher dps, but dps means in continuous firing mode which makes 0 difference to a cc jenquai.

 

School 2: 5-6 second reload using 9-10 second beams and 60-77% turbo

 

ED = 10.8 second reload

DG = 10 second reload

DP's = 9 second reload

 

In this combo I would not run the GoD beam at 11.0 second reload is to slow for this type of combat.

It's a dps weapon it's better for raids.

Second reason is it slows the sequense down to much so mobs will occasionally start recharging shields on you waiting for it to fire.

The same can be said about the ed as pointed out below but I'd have a tough time giving up the ed vrs the god so run a little more turbo.

The god isn't all it's cracked up to be at least not for a jenquai running in cc.

The basic idea behind this combo is the silly high damage cc strike from behind and at close range.

Remember what I said about 150,000 hits and 1.5m damage per minute this is the combo I am talking about.

With this basic combo and a chimaera 9 debuff you can hit a plasma weak mob for close to 150,000 damage each time you decloak.

 

Sequence: Chim-fire-cloak-reposition-fire guns when reloaded-recloak-reposition-fire-cloak et all.

 

You will want to come in cloaked behind the mob you want to attack ( assuming they can't see cloaked)

Get within 1k of the mob chim them fire and recloak the entire sequence takes 3 seconds total with practice.

The mob will scream like it's been hit with a hammer and turn around and start looking for you while your guns are reloading you get behind the mob and hit them again and recloak, this give you a more relaxed(sorta) fighting style vrs the absurdity of the previous two methods of fighting.

You are always cloaking and staying cloaked in this method. it's far far safer then waiting 8-10 seconds.

The reason you want to get so close is because of the beam propigation of power and loss of damage over half your beams range.

Essentially your beams once they reach half of your range starts to drop off damage and will lose 50% of there effective damage at maximum beam range.

So in essence closer is better.. MUCH better.

If you get good at doing this you can hit a mob 10 times per minute and hit them for 150k per hit, I dunno about you but that's getting nuclear on the mobs ass.

 

NOTHING in the game can do this kind of single target damage not a pw a te or anything this is what makes a jd the most feared and misunderstood class in the game.

 

But it requires a fairly specific setup and a game play style thats pretty fast and ferocious.

 

The combo: I'll give specifics and optional setups and why I use the gear I do.

 

Weapons

ED

DG

DP x3

 

Shield

DD(nothing better really)

I still like the awcs more it gives a higher cap for your reactor but your choice.

 

Reactor

HOTM (any % since recharge is kind of irrelevant)
Optional Cygnus/SSR9*

 

Engine = Ursa 7 or 8(cloak buff)

 

Devices from top to bottom slot

 

Slot 1 Chimaera(duh)

Slot 2 Martyr's Heart(swap for pegleg for summon in raids)

Slot 3 AWCS***

Slot 4 Deadly Focus**

 

* You want reactor cap on a jd the martyr's heart is for life saving, shield leech = suicide(this is based upon st4 and leech not working as intended)

the hotm has the highest cap in the game

Cygnus and ssr9 are second in cap

 

** AWCS = 1232 reactor cap

Martyr's heart = instant reactor recharge

Chimaera do you have to ask?

Deadly focus = beam energy conservation/reactor recharge buff out of cloak

 

*** I've changed around and started using the intolerance instead either one works.

 

I have a 125% god now and I use it but the method is still valid. You can skip a god because it throws your timing off still.

 

Turbo toys PB/CVE/AotW/warder stuff/Skull = 40 to 104%(114% with a dea) turbo In st4 I usualy just had my pb with me, your mileage may vary.

The turbo amount is used to adjust the beams timing to suit your needs.

CC takes 5 seconds to wear off and cloak = 3 seconds but mobs can take upwards of 10 seconds to re-situate themselves after you recloak.

Confused mobs are good.

The reason this works is the basic game mechanic that you do not start recharging your shield(player or mob) until after 5 seconds of not taking damage.

A cc hit ticks 6 times @ 1 second intervals shield recharge + 5 seconds after damage = 11 seconds that the mob is not regaining shields so you can hit them again, and again and again.

You are not always in a hurry you can take a little time and get behind a mob or to the side to hit them while they are turning.

 

The reason you want a hotm is the high cap and the added intolerance type buff.

The awcs raises your reactor cap 1232 = about 8700 reactor cap the higher the cap the more times you can fire without using your martyr's heart.

Dea and a js's reactor opt help but are short term aids and in long fights like say soloing a hellbore in ap or whatever the buffs wont last forever but a hotm/awcs are forever.

Energy leech takes 5-7 seconds + 3 seconds to recloak??? are you crazy!!?!?!?!?!

Psi shield = useless it's gone the first time you get hit. Just ignore it's there trust me.

You can substitute a cygnus/ssr 9 and a intolerance for the hotm but it's an extra device slot used and which device are you going to give up?

I couldn't think of anything I wanted to give up. Can you?

GoD beam is over rated in cc gameplay use it in raid mode. Or skip it altogether.

When dark matter guns and the bogeril/vrix stuff come in this list might very well change.

I want to point out there is no deflect devices since the mobs you will be hunting in this mode can 1 or two shot you if you screw up.

There is no real point to a ivory ward/psi shield buff on a jd except when in group/raid mode, which is a discussion for another day and time.

Reactor recharge buffs? they only work decloaked. You decide.

Bring a scutums for decloaked recharge and raids/groups your terran buddies with love you long time.

 

I have extensive time and effort put into this type of jenquai combat, I taught kenu how this was done(you can blame me for see cloaked also) I have discussed this in-numerable times in the game and other places on the forums and my beam dps list(and name names and uncover the bodies and skeletons). Back in the old days I used to solo the rd base and gobb and his minions and other 62+ mobs on my jd and js using this method. It takes a bit of practice but it's well worth it when you get the basic sequence down.

 

Hints I show the slowest gun in slot 1 in my hotbar this tells me when all 4 guns are ready to fire.

slot 2 use whatever slot

3 in my hotbar is the chimaera slot

4 is the martyr's heart

5 is cloak.

 

Jenquai can have visual issues with cloak so be wary you might have to give up a long fight if it occurs, I'm sorry guys but that is how it is right now.

 

The key sequence is 3 f 5 till you debuff the mob then it's f5 f5 f5 till you need a reactor hit then it's 4 f 5 then back to f5 etc..

This is what my hands on my keyboard is most comfortable doing for any length of time adjust to your hands and comfort level.

Also this is the trick that let the jd's solo the rd base all those years ago.

Mobs unless they are missile slingers can't fire backward, they have to turn towards you to fire so when the mob starts turning away from you fire at them all you want they have to make a complete circle to fire at you again.

Keep your eyes open this might change.

 

I wanted to put this down in the forums for people to discuss and ponder and scratch there collective heads over.

I hope you guys find this handy and if you would like to discuss it here and adjust it for yourself feel free this is a forum so discuss it.

Good luck and have fun.

 

 

>>>>>>>> Energy beams New section<<<<<<

 

Since this was written Der Todesengle was opened and the Sunfocus 2000 beams are now available.

 

This is a 8 second reload energy, high damage beam. It has some pretty nice buffs also.

 

Beam energy conservation and reactor renewal are the interesting buffs on it.

 

The use of a Sun Focus for the beam energy conservation would negate the need to leave a deadly focus installed and open up a device slot.

 

Reactor renewal is installed so think monocerous.

 

So since the original article was written for the peculiarities of plasma beams I thought I would add a little thought on energy beams.

 

Since we have a turbo energy beam available(aka the black streak) let us dicuss the firing tactics for a beam like this and changes you can make.

 

If i were to gear for a energy setup on a jd I'd use a black streak (6.0 reload) and 4 sun focuses(8 second reloads) and i would try and cram as much turbo as it takes to get it as close to 5 seconds as I could on the reload speeds. The destroyers gleam's timing might work against it for this (9.1 and the tractor/repulsar 9.0)

 

It's the same idea as the plasma beams but you need to fire your guns faster so the mob doesn't recharge it's shields.

 

Remember that your shields and the mobs shields start recharging after 5 seconds of not taking damage.

 

So I would try and get your beams firing in the 4-5 second range this way since your beams are instant damage vrs dot damage you can keep enough damage on the mob to keep it from recharging it's shields.

 

A second option if the mob allows damage to plasma is toss a EoD for the ticking damage to relax the timing a bit for people without skulls and foc's and higher levels of turbo.

 

A jaguar might work well for the plasma tick and at 4 seconds can be ready to fire within 2 seconds and not mess your timing up.

 

Timing and damage for major energy beams.

 

Destroyers Gleam   9.1 reload 1170 damage

Black Streak            6.0 reload 877 damage(125%)

Ghost Edge             8.4 reload 1089 damage

Sun Focus 2000      8.0 reload 1030 damage

Tractor/Repulser      9.0 reload 483 damage(100%)(love the hull debuff tho)

 

As a fyi I use a streak, gleam and sf2k's on warknee a js and a manticore 9. For cc work since he has a skull and waking nightmare I can swap the gleam out for whatever.

 

This is just a little thinking about how I would gear a jd for energy beams it's nothing set in stone. Discuss and enjoy.

 

The picture is from st4 before the rd base was changed and removed and rebuilt. You can't do this anymore but it sure was fun.

[Endgame Gear For A Te-Ts]

1. The ballistic sniper has been in the game a long time( I wrote my dps lists in 2011/early 2012) Your ts needs to be cl 50 and you will need a few wierd little items to finish the mission.

 

2. I am trying out GHB's agrippa 6 reactor trick, I spoke to him about it and he says it works if you get a couple reactor buffs to help the recharge. I tried it briefly at the guilds rd base and it bounced around more then a ping pong ball in a dryer. If you are not sure about reactor buffs I'm still going to use the SSR8 and awcs and steingerds.

 

3. Engines I'm still baffled why a te never got navigate. Ask westwood on that one.

 

4. I'm not a big fan of the rage, to each there own on that one, I like the higher dps and sig on the ta9 it helps the healers not get plastered in the first 10 seconds of a spawn. TA9 = 8.5k range with biles and a caster. Not many out range or out gun me. But I am geared as a dps toon not a kiter. I tend to never fight with my te solo, he's ment for raid duty, Devil has far better survivability with the mobs currently in the game solo. Might just be a matter of my playstyle vrs someone elses.

 

5. Unless it was changed from my testing way back when the intolerance made the 3-4% added damage guns and devices useless, it over wrote the buff and stuck it at 40%. Can anyone verify if they stack since I gave up trying years ago? This applies directly to the AWCS I always ran one for the reactor cap buff, never the added damage since in testing it didn't stack.

 

6. Hellbores = te reactor killers plan accordingly.

 

7. You know you are doing it right when you pull aggro off the pw with just guns, you are getting the job done. Emp and explosive on the troller I'll pull aggro off of any pw that drives me. There is nothing wrong with a little bacon frying, thin atmosphere and your toes dangling from the bottom of your ship.

[BI and public raiding.]

You know when I wrote this a couple days ago in anger and being lied about, I was fully expecting people to be ranting or whatever was going to happen.

 

But with the positive response it makes me want to thank you all for the support.

 

Like a person said during the problem no good deed goes unpunished.

 

I just try and be the best person I can be given my quirky personality, and the support you guys showed me here this is good for me.

 

I sat here for a good half hour and wanted to rant an rave and all it would have done is turned around the good that you guys showed and I didn't want that to happen.

 

Raiderman said BI can help, I just wont try and organise anymore unless I am asked to do it. I wont volunteer anymore it's not worth the pain.

 

As for how fast the raids get done, I seem to be very very good at organizing people into raid forces.

 

Call it a gift. But I just try to use that to help you guys get stuff done. I never ask my guild for help unless we need like 2-3 people I try for a long time to never even include my guild.

 

We have our own raid week and some people rightly point out it's double dipping, and I regularly never roll on anything, but when I am told by the other public raid leaders it's all right if we roll I will do so.

 

So does my guild.

 

As for the blacklung raids we were told one sunday that 3 identical raids were spawned in earth/mars and jupiter the pubbies got the earth mobs BI got the jup mobs and rolled the skull for like 8 or 10 people ( I won hey life can be good) and I still have no idea who got the mars raid ( i suspect either vge or static) we had the people on and had pubbies with us and they rolled were not standoffish and were certainly not hogging raid spawns or whatever and we respect the rotation.

 

Saturday past blacklung spawned the gobb trigger.

 

He also asked me to random 1 6 for which wave he spawned on top of the spawn trigger.

 

I got lucky and rolled a 1 and we got 2 full raids from it.

 

He also respawned the public rotational trigger and we left.

 

I ended up looting both of the blacklung spawned raids and syber randomed the stuff off.

 

I'd like to know what I did or my guild did wrong other then participate in a publically spawned gm raid.

 

It seems like a lot of misconceptions about me and my guild exist.

 

Maybe someone from the outside can explain it to me and the rest of the people in this chat what I am doing wrong here?

 

Truth and facts would be nice, not hyperbole and bs and outright lies and fabrications.

 

My record as a guild leader and a leader of people in raids should speak for itself, and my behavior and abilities are laid out for everyone to see.

 

Please, I ask you to tell me what I'm doing wrong? PM me email me message me here in the forums whatever I'm always around.

 

Canman I'll answer that simply were asked to help, your guild could help also so can VGE it's a public raid. Were part of the public and because were approachable were asked to help in the raids.

 

As for who leads BI it's Raiderman as I stated in the first post.. I brought the issue to him and he rightly pointed out I needed a cooling off time.  So the guild can participate which is right and I'll just step away(I so want to open the old can of worms here but I'll be nice) If I'm asked i'll help if not let them fend for themselves.

 

GM spawned raids may the best group win > :)

 

I wont respond to this thread anymore but I ask people to grow up and not attack someone in public for just trying to help, it looks bad upon you and your guild(tritia*however it's spelled* and lumia do you really want to rep your guild by being the guilds ass?) Isn't this over with? I sure thought it was and I wont let it go un-noticed as you well know.

[BI and public raiding.]

I was trying to help organize the public troller raid today, and it was made painfully clear to me that the public resents my help in the raids and my guilds presense.

 

I'm sorry to inform you guys I have asked my guild to not participate in the public rotation raids anymore.(we will still knock down blacklung mobs)

 

I have changed the MOTD asking the guild to not help you guys anymore.

 

If you want to accuse me of loot stacking from the guild and stuff, fine.

 

I would like to point out I did not want my guild to roll on loot from the raids but you guys said it was okay.

 

Who are we to complain when were asked to help and provide 2/3rds of the raid force.

 

So I will inform raiderman of the publics want to do the raids without BI's help.

 

It's time to break the link anyways.

 

Good luck.