(C) TOMcatXENO
This isn’t a strat we’ve come up with, but one that I have run up against a few times courtesy of TOMcatXENO. So far I’ve only seen it used 2v2. I don’t know exactly why he came up with it, but I imagine the rational process behind it went something like this:
- Most people go swarm first.
- Swarm is so-so at killing a lot of vettes quickly.
- Pulsars are cheap, build 10 seconds faster than torps (45 vs. 55)
- A bunch of pulsars can easily put down a CC and mess with colls.
- Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! Er… I mean hyperpulsars.
It starts off 4/4, 2x refs, RM + vettes mods. Once the vette mods are up, one person goes HS mod and the other grav. If you’re going alone then you need to build both. Research vette upgrades and proxies, then jump in with some support once you’ve got 6-8 pulsars up. Keep pumping pulsars while you switch up to whatever else might be handy: Torps, arm, fighters… whatever. Possibly DD’s if you started early. You’ve already researched proxies so you can drop a few of those if you see cloak mods. Having anti-cloak on your MS/CC would also be a good idea.
CCs are the primary target here. The idea is to cripple the enemy’s production ability fast so they can’t turn the tide back. If you manage to kill of two CCs with this (assuming no more were built) you’ve probably won. Once the CCs are down you can start working on collectors or modules with your pulsars. Obviously if you can ignore whatever they can build go after their motherships.
Countering Hyperpulsars:
As a 2x Hiig Team
This is where I have the most direct experience with this strat. As a 2x Hiig team this can be hard. Your best options are to go for torps with EMP scouts. Don’t go overboard with them initially… you really needs lots of torps fast. Between 2 and 4 should help you live through the first assault. Since you probably went swarm before you saw the vette mods go up, you may have a few inties in reserve. Keep these docked for the bombers that will inevitably show up to attack your torps. Forget imp. torps initially and go for armour instead. This will help your ships live long enough to do some damage. Getting an ARM up should be your first priority after that. When you can start thinking about counter attacking their CCs instead of defending yours, go for the imp. torp research.
As a 2x Vay Team:
Laugh. Kill them. Then laugh some more.
You’d have to be on some serious crack to try this against vay.
Seriously though, Vay have it relatively easy here. Both people should get lance research. One should get EMP and the other grav. Spam lance fighters and a few EMP scouts. You should probably not get speed upgrades unless they go ints. If they go ints, add a few ACs to your swarm and get at least L1 speed. They’ll be fighting to catch up to your numbers so you shouldn’t have a hard time, especially with EMP. Your enemy may go frigs instead of fighters so get bomber research and start building those if you get swarm dominance. Tech to frigs when you have a minute and then snuff them out with HMF.
Generally:
Target vette squads one at a time with the EMP scouts, since they’re unlikely to bunch up. Keep them healthy because you may need to use them to kill off proxies (sadly, you won’t be able to scratch MS/CC mounted sensors). Be sure to grav so the other team can’t hyper out, and invest in some proxie research of your own.