Ships' types, loadouts and strategies for dummies

[Kaigun Gensui Bertin]

Hello guys, I am a new GoIO gamer, playing for 3 days so far and i am lvl2-3 in every class.

Right now I have finally realised how weapons and ships work and synergize but still there are parts i dont understand. So my questions are:

• What ships' loadouts are popular and why? (Example: i know blenderfish and sniping spire are some very popular ships and you use pretty standard tactics with them, but have no idea about ships like mobula and how you play with them)
• What is a support ship and why is called so? What roles they have?
• What weapon loadouts are popular and why?

To be honest, if everyone could post a reply about 1 ship or loadout he knows, this thread could become a guide too.
Thnx in advance .

[HamsterIV]

1: Muse changes up the weapon/item stats every once in a while so the popular builds and strategies change over time. Right now the popular gun combo is Gat/morter on ships like the Pyramiddion, Junker, and Mobula. Mercs are still popular for long range work and it is suggested all ships carry one if it is a wide open map. A good beginner build is a pyramiddion with gat/Morter front and a 2x merc side. Altenatly a junker with a merc on the front and gat morter on each side also works as a beginner ship. If you want to try heavy guns take a goldfish with a Manticore front and 2x Gatling side.

2: A support ship is generally considered a ship that is good at things other than brawling/killing solo. Ships like the Spire and Mobula are too fragile to last in close range combat are considered support ships. Also you can take a support roll with a pyra junker if you mount 2x mercs.

3: Gat mortar is popular because the gat will take down armor and the mortar will deal with the perma hull resulting in a reasonably fast kill. Gat flack used to be popular but the more recent patches has made it less viable.

We really can't make a permanent post about the meta since it is constantly evolving.

[N-Sunderland]

Altenatly a junker with a merc on the front and gat morter on each side also works as a beginner ship.

It's not just a beginner ship. A lot of competitive teams bring it as brawl-focused Junker.

But yeah, agreed with the rest.

[Kaigun Gensui Bertin]

Well ty HamsterIV!! That was more than helpfull.

And even if that junker loadout is more advanced, now me and my team know it (since we are all begginers), will make easier progress than losing 5 games trying to figure out the most effective way to use it.

[Pickle]

3: Gat mortar is popular because the gat will take down armor and the mortar will deal with the perma hull resulting in a reasonably fast kill. Gat flack used to be popular but the more recent patches has made it less viable.

To expand on this..

If you look at the Damage Matrix and the Weapon Table you can begin to understand how a weapon doing Piercing damage can strip down armour so effectively, and how it's complimented by a well timed delivery of Explosive damage once the armour is down.

http://gunsoficarus.com/gameplay/weapons/

Which leads to another point.. Gat-Flak (or Gat-Mortar) is only lifted from being an average combination to a great combination when the crew knows how to use it.  They need to hold fire on the flak or mortar until the armour is stripped by the gatling and then hammer it hard and fast with explosive damage before the armour is repaired.

[naufrago]

Also, note that some of the numbers on that spreadsheet are wrong (like the mine damage and AoE radius). The spreadsheets get updated infrequently, but when they do get updated, the updates tend to fix some numbers and screw up others.

[Alistair MacBain]

That right naufrago but u can still take the sheet as a good explanation for damage types and why a certain weapon is good at it.
As a general thing for some ships:
Always dependend on loadout but there are some basics for some ships how to utilize.
A Spire or a Mobula are more of longrange ships with good finishing in midrange. Both of them arent useful at closerange. The mobula cause of its big blind spot and the spire for its low survival when under fire.
Both are more of a sniper ship. The Spire for example with a flak+merc to front and a artemis on top side. The middeck isnt for much. Mb a mine or a flare for bid utility. A mobs quite good at longrange with a dual artemis and a merc on topsides and 2 mortars on bot for the midrange finishing blow.
A Galleon is in the current meta a support (i kill every component) ship. Mostly utilizied with merc+ dual manticore on one and manticore carronade on other side. Thats a pretty hard midrange to closerange setup.
The goldfish is midrange/closerange brawler ship. The goldfish atm with a hwacha and gatling/banshee or sth else on sides. The hwacha gets a fast unload of his clip and then the sideguns have to do their dmg. When reloaded switch back to hwacha and give him hell.
The junker is a mid to closerange killer. U want a longrange weapon at front (artemis/mercury) to give a bid of hell at longrange when advancing on enemy and kill oriented sides. Mostly gat+mortar atm. (mortars at botdeck)
The pyras role is pretty similiar but easier to handle due to its 2 frontfacing guns. Mostly it uses mortar, gatling with the gat on the balloon side.
The hardest thing is the squid. Its quite dangerous when utilized right. Loadouts are diff but u mostly use fast disabling weapons (carronades, flamers, artemis at back to shred enemy guns when running) U cycle round him to avoid his shots and give him hell. But its very dependend of maps.

That may change or has changed already. Thats what i noticed recently and in the old days with the good old forum .

To sum it up. THe pyra is still a good and easy ship for the beginners cause ur ok with a decent captain and one good engi at the bottom.
When looking at ur loadout u need to understand damage types and what theyre uses are.

[Kaigun Gensui Bertin]

Awsome Alistair MacBain, thnx! This info helps to understand the roles better and how to take advantage of gun spots i couldnt figure out, like the right side of a galion and back gun of squid.

[Alistair MacBain]

Well to add sth i missed. That was just one posibility. There are 2 basics bout dualside ships. Eiter u concentrate on specialized sides where u have for example a longrange and a closerange side. Disadvantage is obvious that u can get problems when the enemy is approaching from the "wrong" side cause u enlarged ur "blind spot"/bad side.
Other way is to give both sides a good standard setup like the mortar gatling sides on a junker to get the same advantage on both side. Disadvantage is clear.

And tbh the backside of a squid was just a theoretical thing. Most times itll honestly be of no big use.
Its just a possibility if ur enemy is not careful.

All of this is also extremly map dependand.

[HamsterIV]

I stick a merc on the back side of a squid for the annoyance value, and for when I have to run away from goldfish. Most of the work my squid does is with a gat front and a flack side, or 2x gat if I can depend on my ally. The average enemy captain will either try and kill a squid quickly or ignore it thinking they could survive its puny weapons while they 2v1 the squid's teammate. If they try and focus you, run and run in a direction that takes their guns off your teammate's line of approach. If they ignore you, park on their blind spot and do as much dammage as possible while you are unmolested. This is why each squid should have a gat or two. Bring down a ship's armor for your ally to land the kill is the best way to contribute to a fight. It is possible to kill another ship 1 on 1 with a squid but it is very difficult. It is better to play bait, break up formations, and harass the other team until they are in a position that you can get an easy 2v1 with your ally.

[Pickle]

I always think the Squid works better with instinctive weapons like the gatling, mortar,banshee and flamer on the front and side mounts.  Anything that needs concentration or aiming (flak, mercury) is working against the ships natural agility.

I quite like the mine launcher on the rear mount, but it's rare I'm flying a Squid other than on an Anglean CP match.

[Alistair MacBain]

I dont see a gatling or a mortar usefull on a squid. That are weapons u want to point at the enemy and wait till they reload to give another volley. Their clips are also quite big and they dont distract the enemy more than pure dmg on hull and a bid aoe on rest.
Flames, shatter dmg and flechette are the types to go for me. Weapons with a big arc and relative fast firing. An Artemis isnt useful either. It just needs to long to unload a whole clip.
A Flamer distracts the enemy when pointed at the enemy ship with flames everywhere. Same with banshee.
A carronade destroyes the balloon of the enemy taking 2 people need to repair when the balloon is dead. One needs to rebuild the balloon asap and one needs to watch the hull to not instdie when colliding with ground.

[Captain Smollett]

Alistair, I agree with 90%  of what you're saying however...

Artemis's are flipping AWESOME on Squids!!!!!!!!!!!

An Artemis on the right side can practically aim straight forward and put in fire on the approach.  Once you're able to position your squid behind the enemy with your clever squid manuevrs the Artemis will have clear shots on the enemy's engines.  Then you can sit merrily behind them all day long as you take out their engines over and over and you send them on to their slow demise.  So while the Artemis takes forever to shoot out its clip and reload; it doesn't really matter if the enemy can't turn and doesn't have guns with which to return fire.

[Echoez]

The Artemis is indeed underestimated, while not having the fire rate and massive clip of its older bro the Hwacha, it has much more presense that it, with a fast reload, wide explosions and the ability to 2-shot heavier components, it is still an amazing engine and weapon disabler.

It can shine a lot on Spires, Squids and even Goldfishes, on Junkers as the front gun and even on a Pyra's side.

Smollett have you tried Double Artemis Squid by the way? It's awesome, it can render a ship(s) useless and keep it that way indefinately.

[Captain Smollett]

Haven't tried double Artemis yet. 

I have some weird internal need to be able to 1v1 at all times and I have a hard time in a pure support role.  I usually take a front carronade; and while that may be a long kill, it makes the enemy ship defenseless and their demise inevitable if my gunnery and piloting is top notch. 

Besides, with a really good Artemis gunner, 1 is all you need.