Forums » General

Valk obsolete?

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Jan 31, 2005 Apex link
To be honest i'm getting tired of the light fighter fights. They seem to last forever because it's so difficult to hit a light fighter.

as far as the average valk vs. cent situation.. it doesn't matter how much armor the cent has if you can't hit it. The cent pilot can effortlessly peck holes in a valk while the valk pilot struggles to land a single hit. it's like hitting a fly out of the air with a slingshot.

I'd like to see more fights with larger ships where more hits are landed, and it's more up to who's using the best tactic.

CTC keeps things interesting still, because there's an objective. the cent pilots can be blown away because they're not paying attention to their attackers. PvP is just getting really boring. I used to have fun with my valk, but now I'm thinking about selling them because they're useless against the centurions.
Jan 31, 2005 Tertior link
i agree with everybody, the Itanis want a IBG Valk and sunflares itanis too, who has 400kg and not 1200 kg only for balance game.
And level up centurion armor too.
I dont fly with the valk now,i m waiting the next update balance valk
Banzaiiiiiii
Jan 31, 2005 UncleDave link
"The IBG cent is uber, so lets buff both it and the valk."

...
Jan 31, 2005 Defy link
what is this my valk is now obsolite?

also, who is the new rail master?
Jan 31, 2005 Shapenaji link
Apex, you CAN beat a centurion from a valk. My suggestion is to practice dodging a cent in a hornet. You begin to realize there are things you can do. Using a hornet against light fighters is like training with weights, when you go back to whatever ship you like, you can use the maneuverability better.

I currently run a few variations of the Rev C. Dual N3 (all-around best), Dual flare (just a lot of fun), and Dual Gauss(THE anti-fighter fighter).

Both dual gauss and dual flare are much heavier than the other light fighters, but its still possible to hit, and dodge.

Take a look at tramshed's Heavy piloting. He ACTUALLY flies heavy ships, not heavy ships that move like light ones. He flies a non-uber centaur right now (a mk III), with dual plasdev+gauss, and he flies it REALLY well.

Try out some other variations if you're bored of the lightfighter fights, you won't necessarily lose.
Jan 31, 2005 Apex link
Shape I know just about anything CAN be done.. but i'm not a vet, or greatly skilled. there's still alot about this game I don't know. Everytime I try a new setup, I usually run into really skilled players in orion cents, and I don't stand a blink of a chance. I'll have to have practice sessions with people more often.

for the moment, valks to fine for non-duel situations like CTC.
Jan 31, 2005 Shapenaji link
Well, that makes me think, my practice sessions kinda fizzled before. But if anyone is interested, we should just plan to meet sometime, then we can try out these different layouts.
Jan 31, 2005 Cam link
Interesting topic.
I've mentioned a number of times before that the Valk was rather bulky, and easy to hit compared to Vultures, and more recently Centurions.
What's happened here is that while Vultures and Centurions were buffed up to compete with the Valk, their smaller profiles have become significant advantages.

The Rev. C Centurion is extremely hard to hit!
I recently had the opportunity to fight one pilot in a Valk, and then immediately afterwards in a Rev. C.
I was in a Rev. C and beat the Valk without a scratch, it was no contest.
but when he came back at me in the Rev C, he beat me 2-3 times in a row.

At this point I think the ships are relatively balanced, with the exception of weapons.
I think we may need ship specific weapons in order to achieve a perfect balance.

But the more I think about balance, the more my head hurts, and I just feel really sorry for the devs.
Jan 31, 2005 smittens link
Personally, its seems like now...

For a Serco, the obvious choice is a Prom as a ship, unless you really can't handle the heavy-ness of it

For an Itani, there are multiple light fighters that are equal when the valk should stand out among them. Unless one can't handle that in which case they would get a hog or wraith.

Serco have THE heavy ship, but itani don't seem to have THE light ship any more.
Feb 01, 2005 UncleDave link
You're right, they don't have just one, they have 2.

For the love of god, stop complaining. You have the best centurion available, even if you don't like the valk.
Feb 01, 2005 Shapenaji link
Well, while the IBG is good, its by no means the best.

Holden told me somethin yesterday which I think I agree with.

Paraphrased:

The assault centurions (the rev C/IBG) outclassed everything in the game, and when we pointed it out, they made a new ship, which could defeat them..... which outclassed everything in the game.
Feb 01, 2005 Martin.mac.au link
Actually Shape> I'm going to disagree with you there. After a few fights, or rather a lot of fights tonight I think that in the hands of a good pilot the Serco Vult or the IBG can take a Prom. It just takes a different type of flying.

I've had a few too many close calls tonight.
Feb 01, 2005 terjekv link
from my end, the situation with the ship balance has three sides, ask yourself this about every ship in the game today -- this is all PvP by the way, against bots it's a very different world.

1) how much skill do you need to be a serious threat at all?

2) given two pilots of roughly equal skill, what are the odds that someone with any other ship will win the fight?

3) how much skill (and time!) do you need to kill a _really_ good pilot in this ship?

now, the reflections on these questions for me are simple. 1) is answered by pointing to the AGT prom or a missile-spamming Ragnarok. if I have to choose one to fight, I'd pick the Ragnarok, since I can pick a light fighter and have it eventually empty its missile load while just boosting away from it.

as for 2), it takes a lot less skill to be good with a mobile AGT platform, than it takes to be good with a Rev C. one is a very passive platform that just keep somewhat aligned with your foe, the other is a seriously active platform that you have to work to achieve a good kill with. running is easy, killing isn't for your average newbie in a Rev C. heck, I'm a good example, I can dodge and survive in 1 vs 1 fights against almost anything in a Cent, but I still have issues getting the timing down to hit my enemies. so, with equal skill, I see the Rev C pilot having rather bad odds to _win_. one has very good odds to run though. :-)

as for 3), well, put a very good pilot into a Prom. now what? how good do you have to be in _anything_ else to take him down? you have to be even better.

this is how I see the balance today. I don't have a problem with ships dominating one or two of these points, but the Prom does really well on all three points. it's a good ship if you dont' have a lot of skill (like the Ragnarok), it's a good ship if you have equal skill (here the Ragnarok becomes more iffy) and it's a great ship if you're a good pilot -- where the Ragnarok works, but it's far from a choice that shows off a good pilot.

now look at the Valk. from the Valks I've seen in action they are pretty much fat and less speedy Cents with an extra port. the Rune gets used now and then for CtC, but generally speaking, I don't see many of it at all. 1) is like the Cent, 2) is slightly better than the Cent I presume, due to extra armor and an extra gun but 3 is worse than the Cent.

so, the Valk still has a mission -- but it's a mission for _less_ experienced pilots. the best pilots will go for a Rev C, since it doesn't cost them much. extra weapons after the first two are nice, but even after two weapons battery begins to limit the usefullness of the layout. the 1K extra armor is nice, but a good pilot seems to want a smaller and faster target, over 1K armor. that I get. :-)

I don't think this is quite the goal with the Valk.
Feb 01, 2005 Apex link
terjekv: "so, the Valk still has a mission -- but it's a mission for _less_ experienced pilots. the best pilots will go for a Rev C, since it doesn't cost them much.

If a Valk is for less experienced pilots, why does it still have the 8-9 lvl combat liscence prereq? The valk has lost it's place, it's SUPPOSED to be a superior ship, but it has now become only middle ground.

/me thinks back when he spent forever botting to get a valk... how would I feel if I did that now? work for hours to get lvl8 and be rewarded with a deathtrap valk.
Feb 01, 2005 Borb II link
As a pirate I use a Rev C.

A. It's fast, I can still if I feel like it run down most any one who trys to get outta B 8 with out paying the "toll".

B. It's a good combat ship. I may not be the best in it, but I can give most people a run for their money in it, and alot of times I can prolong a fight until help can get to me.

C. It's cheap. What more do I have to say here, it's a great ship for the man with out much. And I don't need to cry when it gets killed.

To get me in a valk it would have to be fast, at would need either have more armor or less mass, and it would need a build in microwave. :D
Feb 01, 2005 softy2 link
@martin : Tell me how! =P

This thread is about the Valk.

Basically, I agree with TerjekV : The valk is now basicallly a lousy ship. Just ask yourself the question : which one do you want to fly: A Valk or a Prom?
Feb 01, 2005 Starfisher link
A Valk :/ but that's nostalgia talking, and I haven't flown one since Alpha. We'll see what happens when I finally level up to it.. (ALMOST THERE!)
Feb 01, 2005 Spider link
Prom. I've never been fond of the light fighters, the best one I've found has always been the Vulture, I hate those zip-around thingiemagoos.
Feb 01, 2005 genka link
All I ever have to think about as far as ships go is maybe a new color.

EC-88 FOREVAH!
Feb 01, 2005 andreas link
I pretty much agree that the valk is totally pointless right now. The valk should be SLIGHTLY better than any other fighter craft in the game. No other ship should be faster (thus, at least 70m/s non-turbo). No other ship should be lighter (thus, less than 300kg). No ther ship should have more turbo-speed (thus, more than 245 m/s). Right now its SIGNIFICANTLY worse than most. So whats the point? Nerfing the valk didn't help the prom either, btw. You can still easily kill them in a bus with n3.