Can't find the right ship

[Brolurk]

I am relatively new to GoIO and am really liking it. But I cannot seem to find the right ship for me. When I began playing I used the spire and mopped the floor with our opposition. But the next time I logg on and play a match with my spire, I can't get a single kill cause I'm getting blown to bits as soon as I engage an enemy ship. And this is the same with every other ship I have tried. Am I doing something wrong? Or am I not suited to be a captain?

[Imagine]

Unfortunately Spires are constructed out of tissue paper and die really really easily, so that's not entirely too surprising. As for having troubles with other ships, well, that's all part of the learning curve. I suggest finding a ship and weapon combo that works for you, sticking with it, and you'll start winning again sooner or later

[James T. Kirk]

Each ship has a certain playstyle that can be accompanied by certain weapons, and certain weapons have a certain playstyle that can be accompanied by certain ships.

You can put a Lumberjack on a Goldfish and do some sniping, or slap a gat and some Manticores on a Galleon and do some brawling.

Sometimes, fun isn't always the most effective.

For example, a few friends and I put two mine launchers on the top deck of a Junker, two Banshees on the bottom, and an Artemis up front.
Flew that thing like a flamer Squid, too.

We sure didn't win every game, but we had loads of fun.

My best suggestion is to go out, find a few friends to experiment with, and try out some wacky builds.

Who knows? You might just find one you like.

[Calico Jack]

Tbh there isn't a single ship that is good for everything. The Spire requires a good teammate to keep brawlers off you, and a good engineer to keep your hull and guns up. I'll be honest when I play against a team with a Spire I'll be focussing on that, especially if I'm in a Pyra, because when isolated from their team mates they are easy kills.

Generally speaking ships have layouts which make them easier or harder to 'get' for new crew, listing them in order of difficulty (according to me) -
Goldfish, Pyramidion - guns on the front, vital components in 2 clear zones, though accessible in a hurry.

Junker, Galleon guns on either side, upper and lower deck physically separated, components collected in 3 zones.

Squid linear layout, but all 4 engines need to be prioritised with the hull and balloon.

Spire gun mounts all over the place,  three decks physically separated, main gun and vital components spread over the other all 3. Mobula 5 front facing gun mounts with off centred alignments, vital components physically isolated from each other and awkward to get out of in a hurry massive rear blind spots.

I'll move up or down the list depending how well things work out on board ship during a match.

My favourite ship is the squid, it's just fun to fly, next comes the Mobula

[HamsterIV]

The Pyramidion, Junker, and Goldfish are sort of the bread and butter ships of the game. The Galleon specializes in tanking, the Squid specializes in positioning, the Spire specializes in low health DPS, and I don't know what the Mobula is good for yet. I normally take one of the bread an butter ships my first game on a new lobby until I can get a feel for the crew and the enemy.

[Sailorman]

I used to have a Gat/Flak Pyramidion. But i was not very happy with it, tried to fly a Goldfish and a Junker but i was terrible at it. I was  probably like you, trying to find my place on this game.

What I did? During one raining Saturday I played as engineer/Gunner on some games, tried to fly on different ships every time, took notes on the strategies, weak and strong points and asked a lot of questions, after a single afternoon of flying on random crews I found that the Squid is the ship for me, been using it ever since.

[Zenark]

I agree with Sailorman here ^
Try engineering and gunning on ships to both see how other pilots fly it, and so you'll know the layout and what your engineers and gunners should be doing. You could be the best pilot ever, but if your crew isn't sure what to do, you'll die, fast, but by then you'll know where you want them to be!

And as Kirk said above, when using my Mining Junker, we don't always win, but it's fun as hell, and we're certainly an annoyance to the enemy players. Sometimes, it's not always about getting the kill, you'll find that being the support to either distract the enemies or disable them can be just as effective if you've got good teamwork with a fellow captain.

[Rainer Zu Fall]

Brolurk, I suggest to be on board of many different ships with experienced crews as possible. Tell them your problem and ask them about their favorites. Some pilots will even grant you control of the ship and give you hints how to use this very ship and loadout the best you can.
Also, try to play as a gunner and engineer pretty much! It helps you to get behind the arc and range of guns, behind repairing mechanics and problems your crew may get if you decide to be their pilot.
Don't focus on specific loadouts yet, gat/flak is always a good start, but sometimes you just need something different to prevent the enemy from killing you before you even get to them. Take a look at the weapons in the game manual and ship loadout screen and try each and every one of them ingame. Helped me a lot!

Being a pilot in general is pretty hard since you have to keep track of your crew, your teammate, your surroundings, the enemies and how each and every other pilot, gunner and engineer is gonna react. Pretty much like chess if you wanna compare it.
So to be honest I was really bad in the beginning too until I played as engineer mainly and shot a few guns. I only tried to be a pilot again when level 3 engineer (which took me a few weeks since I don't focus on leveling) and a level 3 gunners (same as before).

Don't worry. If you find me anywhere just remind me again of your problem and we will take a look at it ingame.

[Piemanlives]

And as Kirk said above, when using my Mining Junker, we don't always win, but it's fun as hell, and we're certainly an annoyance to the enemy players. Sometimes, it's not always about getting the kill, you'll find that being the support to either distract the enemies or disable them can be just as effective if you've got good teamwork with a fellow captain.

You're not the only one to fly a mining Junker :{P

Also as fellow captain I'm going to shove my two cents in here. When being a captain it's also best to know what ships you'll be flying against, knowing that you'll be able to develop strategies in fighting them. like a Pyramidion has no weapons along one side, or the galleon, slow and tanky can't run away as effectively as other ships, a junker...... I'm not really sure it's a decent all rounder I guess, ask someone else on that though. A mobula with the right guns can get as many as four guns on a target but has horrendous turning and a very big blind spot known as the rear. A squid is like paper, it can't take a lot of damage before it's hull goes down, which is why it is a major focusing point for your engineers. A gold fish's major damage dealer is the front mounted weapon, while it has side guns, it can't put out as much damage as other vessels without the right loadout. A Spire is more of a support platform, it can deal good damage in the right hands but it is a glass cannon.

The obvious one is stay away from the fronts of goldfish and Pyramidions when you can, a gold fish seeing as a medium mount is on the front and a Pyramidion because it focus 2 guns a time, while many ships can do that, it can also close a gap with you and ram you to oblivion.

Also keep in mind the weapons the enemy is using, a lumberjack is only good for long range, seeing as it deals next to no damage in a brawl, so close those gaps. A Hwacha is a good disabling weapon but with your hull down it can deal massive damage and possibly even take you out, however it is inaccurate at long-medium range, you can extend the effective range with heavy clip.