From: blojo@xcf.berkeley.edu (Jon Blow)
Newsgroups: rec.games.netrek
Subject: "Better" DD players' guide
Date: 22 Jul 92 18:42:47 GMT
Organization: Experimental Computing Facility, Berkeley
NNTP-Posting-Host: xcf.berkeley.edu
Originator: blojo@xcf.Berkeley.EDU

I recently read the old destroyer player's guide by Robert Hill and,
as someone who flies DDs most of the time, found that I had things
to contribute that weren't present in that guide.

So, I here present to you an "alternative" DD player's guide.  It
makes some references to the original for clarity and to emphasize
certain points.  Throughout most of the guide, it is assumed that
you are fighting "clued" players, but this fact is made explicit
where it becomes important.

I didn't go into too much detail-- a lot of the stuff I commonly do
in a DD just seemed too weird to stick in here.  If there's enough
call for it, though, I could write up a more detailled version.

Any requests and comments on this guide that have more intellectual
content than "dude, destroyers suck" are welcome.

  -Jon (Hell Peacock), Proud Pilot of the Ship of Lose.




FOR NEW PLAYERS:

    The "destroyer" is the second smallest ship in netrek, larger
    than a scout but smaller than a cruiser.  They are correspondingly
    fast and maneuverable, but their weapons are less powerful than
    the heavier ships'.

    The destroyer is commonly referred to as "The Ship of Lose" for
    many reasons, some having to do with the fact that the destroyer
    is popularly considered to be unbalanced (toward the weak side)
    with respect to the other ships; the rest of the reasons have to
    do with the playing styles of many people who fly destroyers.

    The two-letter abbreviation for "destroyer" is "DD".  In this
    guide, the two terms will be used interchangably.


(The following ship stats thing quoted directly from Hill's guide):

SHIP SPECIFICATIONS:

Internal damage/shields: 85/85
Maximum warp speed: 10
Torpedo Speed: 14
Maximum fuel: 7000 
Torpedo damage/fuel: 30/210
Plasma damage/fuel: 75/2250
Phaser damage/fuel: Good:60-85/595 
Maximum armies: 5
Bombing: Fair
Cloaking: Good
Maneuverability: Good
Acceleration: Good 
Deceleration: Great
Tractor/pressor strength: Fair



ENEMIES:

Scouts are generally easy to fight in a destroyer.  You can outgun them
and out-tractor them, and as long as you don't fly in a straight line,
you can chase them.  A destroyer has more than enough firepower to quickly
doosh a scout who has decided to try and bomb a planet, thinking (often
quite incorrectly) that the DD cannot arrive in time.

Enemy destroyers are by far the easiest opponents for the simple fact that
nobody else plays destroyers much, so anybody you see flying one is probably
pretty bad at it.  When fighting a destroyer, keep in mind the tactics
highlighted here and expect the enemy to use them.

Battleships are not too difficult to fight because of their poor acceleration,
but a clued BB will tractorphaser you, or just detonate your torpedoes all
day without blinking twice.  DD/BB combat is likely to be long since it
is difficult to kill a BB on one tank of fuel unless the BB is a hoser or
you are ogging it.

Combat with Assault craft is likely to be as prolonged as that versus a
battleship due to the AS's large damage capacity.  However, AS's have even
less fuel than you do, and once they're out, you're in.  

Starbase: Destroyers can be very useful when attacking starbases, but only
under certain circumstances.  Do _not_ attack a starbase alone in a destroyer
unless the starbase is lame-- a clued, nonlagged SB can invariably toast a DD
with phasers before the DD manages to uncloak.  However, destroyers are very
useful in a multiple-player coordinated ogg of a defended starbase, since
the destroyer is able to get behind the base quickly and relatively safely.
It is true that you do less damage than other shiptypes, but you have a much
higher probability of actually doing the damage than any other shiptype.

CRUISER: The cruiser is by far the destroyer's worst enemy.  In a "fair fight"
(one-on-one, no lag, all clue being equal), the destroyer generally doesn't
stand much of a chance of survival.  Destroyers can do a fair job of ogging
cruisers, however.

Throught this guide, you will notice occasional specific references to
cruisers; they are important.


BASIC TACTICS:

(This section is presented as a stepping-stone for the discussions of weapons
 and advanced tactics.)


RUN    Destroyers are traditionally looked upon as the "scavenger" vessel,
AWAY:  or the "runner-scum's choice".  There is a simple reason for this:
       they are very good at running away.  Many of the hints below are aimed
       at helping DD pilots flee more effectively.

       Do NOT run away "too much".  Intelligent exceptions can be made to
       this guideline depending on how much enemy attention you are drawing
       (i.e. how useful you are being overall), but it should always be kept
       in mind: if you spend too much time running away or wimping out, you
       are not doing your team any good, and you'll probably die eventually
       anyway.

       Running away should only commonly occur under two circumstances:

           1) An unforeseen emergency occurs while you are attempting
              to accomplish an important objective, AND it seems likely
              that you will have a better chance to accomplish it in the
              _near_ future, or

           2) You have just accomplished a major objective and wish to
              escape with a ship capable of performing another major
              mission immediately.

       In short, run away only to preserve the state of a useful ship.
       That does, however, *not* say "run away _always_ when you have a
       useful ship".  There are many objectives that are a lot more
       important than the state of your ship, and which you will probably
       die accomplishing.  _These_ are the objectives you should be saving
       your ship for, and they should be given priority.  Kills don't do
       your team any good unless you use them well.  

       Keep this in mind and you will be much more effective than the
       stereotypical "runner scum".

FUEL:  In a DD, fuel is your most important resource; guard it carefully.
       As long as a destroyer is in reasonable shape and has fuel (*and*
       paying attention, of course), it cannot be ogged unless it is
       willing to take the risk.

       If you are not willing to die, fuel is your only defense against an
       angry cruiser.  You *must* save enough fuel to get away at maxwarp
       (and/or cloak) in order to survive.  The DD's cruising speed (warp 7)
       is not sufficient to escape a cruiser, no matter how much you plan
       to try to outmaneuver/outdistance it with right-angle turns and the
       like.

CLOAK: Cloaking is useful.  Do it a lot.  More discussion on this later.

DET:   Detting enemy torpedoes is often a good idea, even in a destroyer.
       Though a destroyer doesn't have much hull, you can afford to abuse it.
       At 75% damage, a destroyer can still move at warp 4.

       Detonating your own torpedoes is essential.  When in close-range
       combat, a destroyer's lifetime is generally measured in enemy
       phaser shot units.  Because of this, you need to be able to dish out
       a large quantity of damage in a short period of time, which is
       difficult because of the DD's relatively weak weapons.  This quite
       often means detonating your own torpedoes so you can fire more, even
       if some of the torps in the air are about to strike a target.

SPEED: Accelerate and decelerate a lot.  I've found shifting between warps
       4, 7, and 10 to be very effective.  Your maneuverability is your best
       defense, so use it.



WEAPONS:

Torpedoes are the destroyer's primary weapon.  There's not much that can be
said about DD torps that aren't true for anyone else.  Note that your torps
do the same damage as AS torps but are slower.  They do less damage than those
of any other ship except the scout.

Phasers are useful in a DD but are not a good general weapon; their range
is short and their damage weak.  The old DD flyer's guide rates DD phaser
damage as "good", but neglects to mention that closing to "good" range in
a DD is quite hazardous to your health.  One example of a good time to use
phasers is when fighting a (clued) heavy ship that you have severely damaged;
he goes into Warp-2-Extreme-Dodge-Mode and is difficult to hit with torps.

Destroyer plasmas are a joke.  Don't even bother with them unless you're
really bored.  They do 2.5 torpedoes worth of damage and cost almost 11 torps
worth of fuel.  Remember that this fuel is your most critical resource.

There's not much to say about DD tractors/pressors that doesn't apply to
any other ship type.  Remember that they are fairly weak in this case, but
they're not too weak to be useful.



ADVANCED/SCENARIO-DEPENDANT TACTICS


Planet taking:

    It is undoubtedly a controversial opinion, but I find the DD to be
    the best overall planet-taking vessel.  Because of its high speed,
    a DD is usually able to pick up armies and run for an enemy planet
    within 30 seconds of getting a kill, which does not take long,
    especially with damaged, scavengable enemies floating around.

    Hill's DD guide cites the 5-army capacity as a disadvantage.  This
    is illusory since during a "real" game the following generalizations
    are (usually) true:

        1) Your team doesn't have more than 5 accessible armies.
        2) You don't have enough kills to carry 5 armies.
        3) You're a fool to carry more than 5 armies anyway.

    When taking a planet, take your time.  Of course, you should *always*
    be cloaked.  Zoom around the planet for a while; let the enemy shoot
    at you a bit.  Go in and drop when you see an opening.  In a destroyer
    at warp 3 or 4 you can stay cloaked and keep dodging torps for quite a
    while.  Don't get hit, though, because if you do, you'll get phaser
    locked, which basically means instant death at that proximity.

    You can afford to drop some armies on a planet, leave it to avoid torps,
    and then re-orbit to drop the rest.  You can afford to change your mind
    and zoom off to take a different planet than the one you originally
    intended; even clued opponents may not notice until a little too late,
    and will probably be too slow to stop you.  This works well with core
    worlds.

    People often say that it's dumb to cloak on the same screen as the
    enemy, but you can get away with it in a destroyer.  It can be useful
    to do this if you need the extra fuel for extended cloak distance.
    If you're trying to take one of a few remaining core worlds, the
    enemy is going to see you coming anyway; you won't be giving away
    any "surprise factor" by waiting to cloak.

    If, on the other hand, the element of surprise is what you're really
    after, then start your cloak run when out of enemy scanner range.
    This generally only works versus a weak team because when playing a
    strong one, you won't be able to get out of scanner range and stay
    that way for long.  If you can do it, though, you can usually stop
    at a friendly fuel planet along the way; remember that when cloaked
    you are not detectable until you are very close to the enemy, so you
    can afford to stop without being seen.

Defending:

    Hill's DD guide states that the DD is a "powerful defender".  This
    is partly true.  The destroyer can be useful in terms of light
    space control and as a deterrant; however, they are not very useful
    for general planet defense.  It is difficult for a DD to put out
    enough damage to kill a cloaked heavy ship and escort in a time-urgent
    situation (e.g. they are taking a planet), especially if the DD is not
    fully fueled.  The best way for a DD to defend is to make sure the
    enemy doesn't have any armies.

Ogging:

    Destroyers can be good ogging ships because they are so maneuverable
    and so fast.  An ogging DD should match velocity with its target and
    uncloak directly on top of it to achieve maximum phaser damage.

    DDs can also be effective at something I have termed the "Fool's Ogg"
    for lack of a better name.  A DD will generally engage in a fool's ogg
    when the target is deep within its core worlds surrounded by many
    defenders; the DD does not expect to kill the target.  It cloaks
    far out (by necessity to avoid being destroyed by the target's teammates)
    and, by the time it reaches the target (having been cloaked a long time
    and dodging energetically to avoid being squished), the destroyer
    uncloaks on the target with about 1000 fuel remaining.  This is
    generally enough fuel to do a moderate amount of damage to the enemy,
    as well as causing him to use up much of his own fuel.  A good series of
    5 or 6 fool's oggs will keep the target and 2 or 3 opponents busy
    refueling, repairing, and generally watching for you, while the rest
    of your team has a corresponding numbers advantage.  It will, of course,
    hose your ratio, if you care about that sort of thing.

Lag:

    Network lag is very dangerous to a destroyer, because the lag effectively
    steals the destroyer's maneuverability, which is its main defense.  Most
    ships can afford to take a few torps when lagged, but a destroyer will
    go foom.

    Note also that lag can work especially to your advantage if it is present
    on both sides (or only the enemy side).  If a destroyer quickly changes
    direction and accelerates right before a fit of lag, the enemy will
    not notice the change until some time has passed; by then, it is too late
    for the enemy to catch up unless they are flying a light ship.

Morale:

    Destroyers can be effective morale weapons.  The destroyer's high
    speed and refueling rates give you the ability to be in the enemy's
    face constantly.  They are generally looked down upon but can be
    *very* dangerous, especially when underestimated.  A big cruiser or
    battleship who is constantly being obliterated by this small craft
    can become frustrated and/or depressed.

    One of the most effective things a DD can do morale-wise is to cloak
    and dodge torps being fired by 4 or 5 enemies.  When they fire and
    fire and *cannot* hit you, they will generally begin to panic.

    It can be very frustrating for an enemy to throw lots of torps at you
    only to watch you "effortlessly" dodge them with your _shields_down_.

    Keep watch over your own morale.  You have to remain fairly wired to
    fly a destroyer combat-effectively.  If you keep getting blown away and
    become tired and/or frustrated that you are unable to get a kill,
    take a break.  Fly a different ship for a while.
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