Spire Collection

[Crafeksterty]

Post all knowledge, videos, gameplay tactics etc that you know of.

The spire needs attention and a good example for other players to get better used to ships being very different. The spire is one of them, being an incredible vertical maneuvering ship. But always focused down because of its disadvantages.

When i can, i will highlight any usefull posts.

Tips and tricks, stats and info. Anything.

Dont expect alot of posts because lack of spires ingame

Ofcourse there is https://gunsoficarus.com/community/forum/index.php/topic,263.0.html as a starter

[HamsterIV]

Thanks to the 45 degree top right hand gun it is possible to shoot Gatling guns and a manticore at the same target. Unfortunately due to the spire's low survivability asking your third crew member to leave the hull to shoot that gun is suicidal. If you have a stationary target the captain can use that gun.

Also everybody favors attacking the spire first. So a spire captains are advised to fly at the back of a formation thus forcing the enemy to run through a gauntlet of allied fire or leave the spire alone long enough for it to be effective.

[Crafeksterty]

Well, i just lost to a sniping Pyramideon. They are overpowered. Seriously, they hit like a truck with those sniper weapons. And against a sniper spire. And they have the option to Ram.

In other situations, Spires honestly have less options than most ships have. The  more i play spire, the more i see its capabilities, but even more its faults. Incredibly hard. The gunner has a hard time hitting the ships with either the flak or the lumberjack. And my ship cant outrun other ships because of map borders. As soon as one tries to go under them, they still are able to chase you.

We need some good spire lessons posted here.

Or a buff to the spires.

[N-Sunderland]

Well, i just lost to a sniping Pyramideon. They are overpowered.

No, they aren't. A Pyra can snipe all it wants, but those mercs aren't going to do very much to the hull itself. They're super effective against armour, but they lack actual killing power. Not to mention that once you get close, the mercs act as crappy gatlings.

[Captain Magellan]

Actually, Sunderland, I beg to differ on the effectiveness of the field guns against a Spire. The two best ways to kill a Spire are a ramming Gat/Flak pyra or two mercs. The mercs will eat through the hull in one or two shots and because the hull health is so low, kill the spire. Not to mention you can keep their long range guns down while sniping them.

I love the Spire and both the Pyra, but neither is overpowered or underpowered. It's very simple really. Pyra trumps Spire pretty much all the time. If you want to kill a Spire, go Pyra. The Spires are best used as sniping platforms. This means you're gonna need an amazing gunner on that flak or lumberjack and a snazzy engi on the top merc. My favorite strategy is to have my buddy spot and disable while I hide in a cloud and lay down some fire. The Spire is a glass cannon, it lays down some hurtin' but can be flicked out of the sky like a fly. If you play a Spire you need a good buddy to help protect you and take fire for you. A powerful solution in 3v3 is two Hwacha Goldfishes to protect you and disable enemies, then you end them.

[Cheesy Crackers]

When im piloting a spire i tend to have me piloting (dur), an engineer up top on the front facing gun (howitzer for me), a gunner on the big main gun at the bottom (heavy mortar for me) and an engineer on the 2nd side gun at the bottom (chain gun usually). If the main gun is disabled and theres no time to repair i get the gunner to get up on the top right gun- i tend to like to keep at least 1 gun firing on the enemy. I take a ranged tactic when playing as spire so usually i can have all crew members on the guns.
When facing forwards to fire your guns you want to get as many facing the enemy as possible and able to fire so if for example you have 2 people on the front facing guns and someone on the top right gun you want to tilt your ship about 20 degrees to the left (I think) so that right side gun can fire but your forward facing guns have range at the same time.
When under fire I get the engi on the bottom floor to stay on the hull and if needed the top engineer will go to repair the main engine and balloon. When things get serious engineers on full repair with the gunner roaming around.

My usual pilot gear is Impact bumpers, phoenix claw and either nitro or moonshine (I've started liking moonshine quite a bit but it needs good communication with the engis) Sometimes with the Spire though i'll replace the impact bumpers with hydrogen (As the spire is pretty weak anyway). If im being pursued or a ship is charging a quick burst of hydrogen in the balloons and putting the engines on full forward (With a burst of moonshine if i can afford it) then a quick spin and full reverse on the engines once halfway turned will usually get you behind the enemy (Get the engines!) with your guns facing them, if taken heavy damage then it also gives some breathing time to repair.
One problem is that if you don't communicate what you're about to do with your team or if you've never flown with them before and they don't know your flying style it can catch them by surprise and you might just end up with no engines and a wrecked balloon (Remember hydrogen stays on for 5 seconds after you deactivate it, like impact bumpers.)
I have a feeling i didnt explain the above properly so i'll sum it up here
Pursued / charging enemy
full reversing (warn crew about what you're about to do next)
when they get around 350m (bit more than Flamethrower range, guessing time!) engines full forward (use a boost if you need) , activate hydrogen
deactivate hydrogen quickly afterwards and spin the ship around
when ship halfway spun put engines on reverse again and get people on the guns
fire away at the engines to disable them
shoot them some more and hope no one ambushes you

Well anyway that's just some spire stuff

-edit- oh one more note since i have a heavy mortar on front i can usually disable a balloon and circle around / follow them to the ground without getting to close and keeping their balloon disabled
-edit2- huh i didnt realise i wrote so much xD tell me if i;m rambling on to much

[Captain Smollett]

Well, my advice with a Spire is make sure you've got a good gunner.  That'll usually give a quick solution to your sniping Pyramidion problem.  As long as your guns aren't being shot out too often, you'll have a very large dps advantage over them.

As for Ramming Pyras, a good crew can often down the pyra before it's close enough to ram provided it's been spotted early enough in it's charge.  Failing in that, I like to play Pyramidion matidor with my Spires.  Fly full speed backwards as they try to ram, right before they hit turn 90 degrees and fly sideways causing them to miss, continue turning, run away and smack them with tar barrel as I re establish range advantage, OLE!

[Mill Wilkinson]

I like to play Pyramidion matidor with my Spires.  Fly full speed backwards as they try to ram, right before they hit turn 90 degrees and fly sideways causing them to miss, continue turning, run away and smack them with tar barrel as I re establish range advantage, OLE!

Simply beautifully described, congratulations. Got a giggle out of me.

With my limited understanding I think Spire is a communications-heavy ship. I don't mean the others wouldn't be, but every time I've crewed a Spire we've lost if the captain didn't tell us where the enemy is, which gun to man and when to have an engie on the other main gun. And, if the pilot isn't up to speed with his/her ship, Spire ends up as rubble to yet another duneside. It is true the Spires are prime targets for gunning down ASAP (*cough*), but that just means the teammate has to understand to support his friend with a more durable ship or otherwise help the Spire do what it does best.

[Crafeksterty]

 right before they hit turn 90 degrees and fly sideways causing them to miss

Are you sure it works? Most ships or pyras that go for me tend to... Aim against me, infilcting in a ram any ways. What i do is i Chute vent down, and whoop. OLE

Still though, they turn around for a second a second ram. Quite difficult, yett. Still hard shacking them off.

[Captain Smollett]

The timing is a bit tricky but with judicious amounts of kerosene I've pulled this off many times.  I do usually have chute vent as well just in case so I can dodge the ram vertically or cause it to hit my balloon instead should the dodge fail.

[Sammy B. T.]

Most of

Well, my advice with a Spire is make sure you've got a good gunner.  That'll usually give a quick solution to your sniping Pyramidion problem.  As long as your guns aren't being shot out too often, you'll have a very large dps advantage over them.

Classic Smollet advice.

"Have a good enough crew that makes you look good."

[Captain Magellan]

Heh, it's not just about the pilot. The whole crew is important. Some ships you can limp by with a bad crewman, but the Spire requires a professional crew.

[Crafeksterty]

That is not a good thing for the spire in itself. In order to make a bad ship look good, needs good people?

The only thing i can come up with that supports that claim is that the ship is designed in such a dynamic way for experienced players to open up alot more. Now that is almost true, but... Not really. The ships stats itself make the players experienced play on the ship, quite limited. Cordination is key, perhaps to all ships. But is a must in a spire.

The only thing about the spire and its design that is a lifesaver in cordination standards is the top engineer can drop down the ladder to fix the hull with the second lower engineer real quickly.
Now playing it that way is pretty fun. Its like 2 different sections of a ship. 2 players with 2 players.

I would love to see a new ship that is 2 ships. But has its hull combined with a bridge/catwalk that goes across the two ships. Now that would be interresting, the spire in a way allready is like that but floor based. The issue is the ship itself. Its long and slender, yett its best at maneuvering up and down. Its long slender body type does not really make his vertical speed good. Same can be said for what map it is in, game mode, situation, etc.

What i like about the spire as much as the squid is that it is very different to the usual Goldfish, pyramidion, Junker. The way it is played, how you can use  the spire is weird but makes it a different experience. Health boost is not an answer. Gun position, baloon speed, rotation etc is. I have a knack for suggesting balances that make a certain something more distinct. But thats just me.

[Captain Magellan]

The top engi going downstairs is a very bad idea, that's the Caps job. The Captain should always be the second engi (still pilot class). The top engi needs to be constantly shooting that merc and fixing the balloon when absolutely needed.

Also, simply because something is difficult to use correctly does not mean it is useless. The Spire WILL lay down some major damage with two good gunners and is a force to be reckoned with. You don't go after the Spire first only because it's the weakest, but because if you don't, it will kill you.

[Letus]

Not too sure if this counts...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv-Ax5DgYOo

I'll have to get a video of me engineering one of these things...mostly main engie when I do.