Training Wing Lecture #3: Destroying Capital Ships
| Killing a
capital ship isn’t as hard as it may seem. Many new
comers to X-Wing panic when they get near a capital ship
and see lasers flying left and right. However, killing a
cap ship is a simple task if done right. First you must know how to evade the lasers. The most effective method is jinking by simply moving your control stick in a circle. Remember not to move it too fast or your craft won’t move enough to make it a hard target to hit. Second you must be careful not to move in too close, especially in an A-Wing with its weaker shields and hull. A good distance is about 0.5 to 0.75 clicks for Frigates. Distances for Star Destroyers and Corvettes will be discussed below. |
Corellian Corvette |
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First we will discuss the methods for destroying a Corvette. This is probably the easiest to destroy. The quickest and safest method is to fire 6 torpedoes at it. However, Corvettes usually travel in convoys and you probably won’t have enough for all of them. Plus the A-Wing isn’t equipped with torpedoes, so you will have to move in closer. | |
| If you are in a Y-Wing or B-Wing you have ion cannons at your disposal. Firing four torpedoes at the Corvette will take down its shields, then by firing a volley of ion blasts will disable it letting you destroy it at your convenience. Another easy way is by using the Corvette’s blind spot. By getting directly behind and very close, the Corvette’s laser turrets will be out of your line of sight. Using this method you have to be alert to enemy fighters or the Corvette turning which will make you a sitting duck. The final method is the hit and fade method. Fly towards the Corvette and fire a few shots at it, then jink to evade its fire, then fire again. When you get about 0.5 to 0.75 clicks turn around until you’re about 1.5 clicks away and then make another attack run. | ||
Imperial Class Star Destroyer |
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Next we will discuss ways to destroy a Star Destroyer. The biggest weakness on a Star Destroyer is the shield generators on it’s command tower. By knocking those out you lower the ship’s shields, thereby making your job easy. Doing this is a fairly simple task, if you are in a starfighter equipped with torpedoes, select dual fire torpedoes. Then jink the fire or move your control stick in circles until you are close enough to get a clean shot of one of the towers, then fire a pair of torps. If you still can, try firing a pair at the other tower in the same pass. It will take three torps per tower. | |
| If you are in an A-Wing or you have used
your torps on another target, making attack runs on the
towers with laser will do, only it will take a while
longer. Again here, if you have a Y-Wing or B-Wing, 10 to
12 shots from the ion cannon after the shields are down,
will quickly disable this massive target. This as well
allows you to destroy it on your own schedule. Like the Corvette, the Star Destroyer also has blindspots. Getting directly behind it and very close will put all the Star Destroyer’s gun out of your line of sight. Beware that the Star Destroyer may be moving and you should turn up your throttle only a hair to keep up with it. Sometimes, for some strange reason, the blindspot in the rear doesn’t work. There also happens to be one in the front. This is dangerous if the ship is moving though, but effective if it remains stationary. Another weakness is the fact that the maximum amount of lasers put on a ship in the game X-Wing is 12. Since the Star Destroyer is so big the lasers must be sparsely distributed. This makes it easy for you to fly over the top of the ship and attack it while jinking and weaving. Another effective method is making hit and fade attacks on the rear of the ship. |
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Nebulon B Frigate |
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Finally we will dicuss methods of destroying a Frigate. This is probably the most difficult ship to destroy. It has no shield generators to destroy and no blindspots. The best and safest way is to make hit and fade attacks. Move your control stick in circles and stop and fire when the volley of lasers has passed. When you get about 0.5 to 0.75 clicks turn around and move your stick in circles until you’re about 1.5 clicks away. |
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| Since the Frigate is smaller the lasers are closer together and cover the ship better than a Star Destroyer. However since it has so many lasers it cannot fire as rapidly as a Corvette can. This apsect gives you small windows to line up with and fire a volley of lasers. | ||
| Cap ships
are not that difficult to take out by themselves.
However, if they have fighter escorts, things can get
hairy. One thing that usually happens in later missions
is if you, or a wingman, hit a Star Destroyer with so
much as a single shot, they will launch massive amounts
of fighters. There are ways to remedy this problem
though. The fighter groups in the beginning of the
mission usally have few follow-up waves, so taking them
out is often an easy task. The fighter launches triggered
by an attack usually have 9 follow up waves. You could
destroy them all and up your kill score big time.
However, sometimes this will take a while and the ship
could have entered hyperspace by the time you destroy
them all. The way to shorten the task of dispatching the
cap ship is by destroying all but one of that wave and
evade it and the ships lasers. This usually isn’t
difficult, especially if the ship is disabled, since the
fighter will break off and turn around to set up for
another run. Also a wingman will be useful to keep it
occupied since wingman aren’t that good at killing
fighters, especially top ace fighters (this is often the
skill level of fighters launched because their mother
ship was attacked). Another thing to watch out for is losing the cap ship kill. It’s frustrating to weaken a ship and watch someone else get the credit. If you have a wingman in the area, tell him to ignore the target once it has hull damage. You can do this by pressing Shift "I" (Note: select target through CMD first). Sometimes enemy fighters pursuing you will run into the ship when you are close, this is probably the worst way to lose your kill. Once you have mastered these skills, taking out a cap ship will be simple. After awhile you will rejoice when a Star Destroyer arrives and you will proudly say to yourself, "Hurray, another one to add to my kill sheet". |
