Ramming with a Goldfish

[ShadedExalt]

   So I'm a noob here, and I like to run either the Goldfish or Pyramidion.  I won't bother talking about the Pyra, because I am here to ask about the viability of ramming with either a Hwachafish or Blenderfish. 

   With the 'Fishes main gun right up front, it is a risky move to an extent.  Up close is obviously desirable with a Blenderfish, and ramming makes a little bit more sense.  But with a Hwachafish, you want to be just a little bit further away, to get the little bit of spread required for a multiple component attack... unless the enemies armour is down.  This is where I usually ram, and to avoid the whole 'destroying your main gun' issue, I propose a simple, effective solution: come in with your balloon.  Hey, that spike on the fronts gotta be useful for something.

   This negates the worry of busting your front gun, and increases your survivability by transferring damage to the balloon, which is pretty beefy.  If you really want, go for an uppercut.  After laying the smack down, just rise up, or if you really want pop hydrogen, and be right up in the bastard's face.  Impossible to miss.  Thoughts?

[Indreams]

You aren't wrong, Goldfish can effectively ram with the balloon. I've done it several times, I'm sure others do as well. Some even use the balloon's 'beefiness' as a shield.

But Goldfish shouldn't primarily ram. Ram (or impact damage) is most effective when the opponent's hull armor is down. Hwacha will take a few volleys to properly strip armor. Carronade will usually focus on the balloon.

Still, Goldfish is probably the second best ramming ship. I use Goldfish ram in three situations:

1.) it's 1v2 and I need to escape. I kero towards the lightest ship (typically a junker), carronade and ram the balloon. We push forward, enemy drops, its heavier ally needs to reposition itself before getting us. I get us out of there as quickly as I can.

2.) Our ally is in 1v2. They are getting pelted by two focus fires. I kero in to the least maneuverable ship (typically a pyramidion) and knock its gun arc off our ally. I save the day and turn the match into a fair 2v2.

3.) I have an itch on my left forefinger. It presses 3 (kero) and R (forward) on my keyboard. I ram for the heck of it.


And somebody get Melon into this thread. He's the legend when it comes to rams.

[Sammy B. T.]

Ramming with a goldfish is more akin to wrestling than to boxing. What I mean by that is you need to be very strategic and see it as another facet of gaining better position over your enemy as opposed to knocking them out. when decidng when to ram do it mainly for the movement instead of the damage. Pushing ships into walls, messing up gun arcs, and smashing into the ground are the major times to ram.

Be fast and decisive with them. The goldie is not a heavy ship so you can't rely on its weight alone for the ram. Therefore when I bring a blenderfish I make sure to have both moonshine and chute vent for maximum speed and maximum drag (don't want to be turned)

[Indreams]

Sammy perfectly summarized what I was circling around.

Goldship ramming is more strategic than damaging.

Salute to Sammy B.T.

[Omniraptor]

well, this can be said of all rams to an extent.

[Sammy B. T.]

Well yes and no. Other heavier ships do decent damage on the ram regardless of situation. Doesn't mean its always practical but it is always something. The goldie though doesn't have the mass for the ram to do anything on its own.

[Alistair MacBain]

Ramming with Goldies is great.
A Goldfish is supposed to get in the fight (aka the enemies) and distract them as much as possible so his ally (most likely a killship) can get in the fight and finish the enemies off while they cant shoot back.
Its hard to accomplish that only with gunning. Ramming them offarc and forcing the enemy captain to react to you instead of your ally is a great thing.

[Melon McCrabernathy]

When I fly a goldfish there are only 2 ships in the game that I am vaguely worried about ramming, the pyramidion and the galleon. Whether I ram these ships or not greatly depends on my position relative to their ships. For example if a pyra were facing even a slight angle away from me I may be inclined to give it a gentle (or not) nudge to push it's guns further out of arc. With a galleon the only time I can endorse ramming in a goldfish is when they are being blended out on the floor and you get bored and want to finish it quicker.

With all other ships I tend to just man up and much to the dismay of my engineering team, will usually ram anything that moves (and doesn't move) in the process of goomba stomping a target.

In my opinion junkers are the easiest ship to ram successfully, especially with a goldfish, as they have the maneuverability to keep up with a junker most of the time. As well as this once the junker's balloon is down, it provides a massive hitbox not only to ram, but also for the heavy carronade to shoot at, stripping it's armour even quicker. Spires are pretty funny to ram too, cos they have a tendency to just explode occasionally...heh...

(I tend to fly my goldfish as the killship, not the support ship, which may explain my slightly more aggressive/psychotic tendencies)

[ShadedExalt]

I take after Melon, then.  Thanks for the feedback.  Sammy B.T., Indreams, I DID mention that I don't ram primarily for damage, but to confuse, befuddle, and otherwise screw up the enemy captain.  Whether this means getting their guns out of arc, getting their attention, or lining up for a Stomp.

   If I DO ram for damage, its usually with Hwachafish when the enemies armour is down.  With me playing in Novice matches, my ally(ies) are usually 'exploring'.  I can usually kill an enemy on my own anyway, with a little bit of luck, a decent crew, and a few mistakes from the enemy ship.  Oh, Melon, anyone who rams a non-blended Galleon is a giant idiot.  It just has so much more mass than anything else its stupid.  I really liked the Wrestling analogy Sammy used as well.  Thanks for the advice.  Nice to know that my strategies are OK.

[Melon McCrabernathy]

Oh, Melon, anyone who rams a non-blended Galleon is a giant idiot.  It just has so much more mass than anything else its stupid.

Just you wait, one day I will take a squid competitive and ram a galleon to death, you'll see...you'll all see....

[ShadedExalt]

I wish you nothing but luck in that endeavour, friend.  Oh, and a noob crew on the Galleon.  And a recording.  If you have that recorded, Muse would have no choice but to feature that.  I would PAY to see that.