At some point most of us have done it. Put Mercury or Artemis on a Pyramidion and started blasting ships from across the map. What is your favorite configuration for guns and crew when you roll out in a sniper variant Pyramidion? Here is mine:
Guns:
Front two guns - Mercury Field guns
Left gun close to hull - Light Flack,
left gun up stairs - Gatling gun.
Crew:
Pilot - Kerosine, Phoenix Claw, Tar Barrel, Spanner, (ammo doesn't matter)
Gunner - Spanner, Charged, Heavy and Greased
Top Deck Engineer - Spanner, Mallet, Extinguisher, Charged
Bottom Deck Engineer - Spanner, Mallet, Extinguisher, Greased
Reasons:
I like forward pointing field guns because I can back away from a charging enemy and still keep shooting. Also the Pyramidion has a narrower front profile than side profile thus giving me the edge in sniper duels against inexperienced gunner, especially when the enemy captain is putting in some lateral movement. Likewise forward and back movement does not cause nearly as many aiming issues.
I prefer field guns over Artemis because they bring down hull armor quickly allowing me to support an ally ship who is trying to get a close range kill. Charged rounds are a must for the field gun since the shot drop is not that bad and the clip size of 2 is not lowered by taking the ammo type. Also the greater zoom and lack of aim wiggle make this gun more accurate at longer ranges.
Gat/Flack is preferable to Gat/Mortar since the reload time is shorter and the clip empties faster. The engineer who shoots it will be less tempted to stay by the gun for that last shot while the ship dies.
The best player should be put on top left field gun as an engineer. For most of the game they will be shooting but if stuff gets tight they can jump downstairs and repair while the other engineer shoots. The down stairs engineer should take greased rounds for the flack so that they can unload that gun quickly and go back to repairs. The gunner should have ammo that is good for all guns on the ship. Mostly they will be shooting the front but when things get close they will jump to the rear Gatling gun and put out a steady stream of bullets until the enemy is down. The gunner should take a spanner in case a lucky merc shot takes out their gun. There is no need to repair a partially damaged gun, because if the enemy can hit you the ship is probably in close range mode. Also rebuild is useful if the ship has to run away with its tail between its legs.
Nobody should bring buff or chem spray on this build. Putting a blue or yellow glow on a ship component will attract the bullets. The other team will be pretty pissed at you for what you are doing and giving away your position through cloud cover will attract some very unwanted attention.
The pilot should keep the front guns facing the enemy and back away using kerosine if they get rushed. If the enemy gets too close they need to make a judgment call. Either turn the side guns on the enemy and attempt to kill them, or fly past the enemy and dump tar. The worst thing that can happen to this ship is a squid getting on the blind side. With the field guns narrow turn, the blind side is enormous and only the side guns are stable for engaging fast moving targets at close range. If forced into close combat use Phoenix claw and vary the direction you are turning to surprise the enemy with a fast broad side. It should take only a few seconds of flack gat fire to bring down a fast close range ship, especially if the field guns softened them up on approach.
The ships roll in a team can vary. When paired with a ship that does well at close range, this ship can hang back and bring down the enemy hull from cloud cover so the teammate can finish them off. When paired with a heavy hitter this ship can snipe out enemy guns allowing the heavy hitter to get more hits in without worrying about taking damage in return. In a pinch this ship can be used as mid field interference with its side guns, or sniping out engines of any one who tries to blow by. Trying to carry a team with a low skilled ally captain is next to impossible with this build as it lacks the raw DPS to out fight enemy ships in a 2v1.
Well I hope this rant has been useful. Not every Paramidion has to fly with gat flack on the front to be successful. Please post your alternate builds/strategies below.
