Harpoon Research Division

[ATeddyBear]

I have always had a fond interest in the mechanics and uses of the Harpoon. I never really had a chance to work with some people to develop more meaningful and interesting uses for it. Hence why I am starting this group.

This group is designed for the research, development, and application of new and useful Harpoon tactics.  Current tactics revolve around using the Harpoon as a way to pull enemy ships closer or limit escape/maneuverability. I believe we can do more and improve our current tactics if we can get an exact understanding of how Harpoons work. Then we can develop more predictable tactics with it. The tactics we develop will be recorded (to the best of our ability) in some form and be available to other players view one of the other forums. 

The HRD is not a clan as we will not participate in competition play (E.G. tournaments) or have anything more official than this post. This group is designed for people who have express interest in Harpoons and flying Harpoon based ships. This group is open to everyone. I discriminate against no one and no commitment or loyalty is needed. This also comes with the understand of when you are flying a H.R.D. ship that you will most likely lose. A lot. On the other hand though. Playing around with Harpoons is a lot of fun! =)

If your interested feel free to reply here and once we have enough interested people I can start setting up times for us to get together and mess around. You can also add me to your in-game or Steam friends list to bug me for some general non-organized harpoon fun.

[-Muse- Cullen]

I'm curious enough to join ya in some harpoon experiments. Count me in.

[Sgt. Spoon]

Now this is interesting. The harpoon should be more looked into than just the random funny thing to do when you're bored.

[Shukketsushi]

This group is designed for the research, development, and application of new, useful, and hilarious Harpoon tactics.

Fixed that for you.

Count me in.

[Lord Dick Tim]

How could I be the Cloud Whaler and not join this?  I'm in.

[TheMick]

In my limited experience the harpoon is not only good for snagging an enemy but also as a  funny means of escape.  with a good head of steam you can use it to slingshot past your target if you don't wish to  remain close after having,  say,  given the business with your goldie's heavy carronade.

 one thing I am def curious to see is how the tethering  effect stacks,  if at all,  with  more than one harpoon.

 also,  the harpoon description suggests it does hull damage primarily while the stats say balloon. is it just one or both?

[ATeddyBear]

Welcome to you all! As long as we have 4 pilots then we can at least do some testing with AI. I already have a few ideas I need to draw up and if I get some time at lunch today I'll post up some terrible MS Paint drawings.

In my limited experience the harpoon is not only good for snagging an enemy but also as a  funny means of escape.  with a good head of steam you can use it to slingshot past your target if you don't wish to  remain close after having,  say,  given the business with your goldie's heavy carronade.

I already did some basic testing yesterday in a Squid and found a predictable tactic using this swing method. More drawings later!

one thing I am def curious to see is how the tethering  effect stacks,  if at all,  with  more than one harpoon.

 also,  the harpoon description suggests it does hull damage primarily while the stats say balloon. is it just one or both?

I am assuming this is in regards to the pull? I think it would depend on the timing and position. Ideally if you have two harpoons (like a dual-harpoon Pyrmid) pulling then you would have double the pulling power. But this is why were here. To find out what would happen!

Fixed that for you.

Count me in.

Hilarity indeed =)

[N-Sunderland]

Know what you guys need to do? Test strategies, find a good one, then enter Cogs and sweep it with harpoon Squids.

[-Muse- Cullen]

Yeh. And we can be the Harpies.

[ATeddyBear]

Alright here is the first couple of drawings.

The Swing - This is the maneuver I can pull off correctly and consistently. It just involves harpooning the target ship, chute vent and rise. When you chute vent the ship will be pulled forward and down (a bit). Longer the harpoon rope the larger motion you will get. It's designed as a quick way to get in blind spots, but can also be used to fling ships into something if you get lucky.



The Hug - This is my first idea to experiment with. It revolves around flying between two ships (who are decently close). Harpoon both as close together as possible then chute vent or hydrogen to pull them together causing them to crash into each other. Rise/Fall to finish them off with a Mortar or Flak.

[-Muse- Cullen]

Cool! Let's give some of these a shot sometime today?

[BdrLineAzn]

Ok this doesn't go about harpoon tactics, but i would want to see on Flayed if a four, all harpoon Junker team can go up to a Galleon, triple harpoon it, and the Galleon pops its own balloon. Will the Junkers be able to hold up the Galleon, or will the Galleon pull all four ships down with it.

[Sgt. Spoon]

The Hug - This is my first idea to experiment with. It revolves around flying between two ships (who are decently close). Harpoon both as close together as possible then chute vent or hydrogen to pull them together causing them to crash into each other. Rise/Fall to finish them off with a Mortar or Flak.

I've always imagined the exact opposite, a 2-ship coordinated harpoon-assault on an enemy, tethering him between them and dragging him into a pole or something. As such:

                    O
                  /   \
                 /     \
                /  __  \
               /  |   |  \
              V          V

But if the hug works that's even cooler

[Captain Smollett]

 also,  the harpoon description suggests it does hull damage primarily while the stats say balloon. is it just one or both?

The harpoon was recently changed. It does a decent chunk of damage to armor and balloons.

[Lord Dick Tim]

I noticed something interesting using a Harpoon on my Junker while using Phoenix claw.  I literally threw a ship head long into a wall and it exploded. 
I'm unsure how much of this was situationally caused by the pyramidion that was harpooned relative speed at contact, but my god it worked wonderfully.