[FuzzyDarkMatter]

So, I played FS and FS2 many, many years ago (and by that I mean played the ever-loving crap out of them). So, recently returning to the scene, I have forgotten quite a bit about how things work. All that being said, before I take my bomber wing out to be utterly annihilated due to my lack of leadership skills, I wanted to ask for some clarification.

Now, I remember distinctly that I absolutely LOVE the Artemis bomber in FS2, but I'm completely blank on some of the particulars and don't really feel like being utterly obliterated by doing the wrong thing. So, the questions are: Do Stiletto II's knock out turrets, and if I order my wingmen to disarm and/or disable a capital ship, will they use Stiletto II's before launching Cyclops? I would hope that they'd use the dedicated subsystem destroyers first, but AI logic can tend to be a little fuzzy about using the proper tool for the job.

[The E]

The AI will definitely be intelligent in its choice of weapons. If ordered to disable subsystems, they will default to using anti-subsys weapons if available, this goes for both primaries and secondaries.

Do note though that the Stiletto has a fatal flaw: Although it is fairly long-ranged and does not require lockon, it can be intercepted like any other bomb.

[FuzzyDarkMatter]

The AI will definitely be intelligent in its choice of weapons. If ordered to disable subsystems, they will default to using anti-subsys weapons if available, this goes for both primaries and secondaries.

Do note though that the Stiletto has a fatal flaw: Although it is fairly long-ranged and does not require lockon, it can be intercepted like any other bomb.

Yeah, which is why I was hoping to work out a way to get my wing to spam Stilettos at around 3km distance. In the 10 seconds it would take to empty the rack, the first salvo would just be hitting AA range and the turrets would (I hope) be overloaded with targets, meaning at least a few would get through. It wouldn't take that many to strip the turrets off the side of a cap ship, which would then leave it wide open for Cyclops barrages. It may completely blow up in my face, but I think I'm gonna try it out.

[The E]

With Stilettos, your best bet is to fire them from close range. Sad, but true.

[FuzzyDarkMatter]

Well, that's disappointing  . Might have to do some alterations to turn them into legitimate stand-off weapons. I was considering making a balance pass through the weapons anyway (fighter primaries have far too much range IMO), so that's just more incentive to stop playing and actually get some work done.

Thanks for the replies E, you've been incredibly helpful.

[BritishShivans]

I don't know, E. Stilettos are pretty fast. In my experience, while some of them often get shot down on the way to their target, it's rare for there to be a pressing need to get up close. I've only had that when there was a lot of PD or flak.

[Colonol Dekker]

Trebs for life!

[BritishShivans]

Trebs are stupidly OP vs subsystems. There is no reason to use the Stiletto II when they are available, which is why I'm giving them the bomb flag.

[Torchwood]

Could fighters targetted by trebs flagged as bombs shoot them down?

[niffiwan]

Yes, the player certainly could.  I don't know if the AI will try / be able to do it though.

[The E]

If Trebuchets were flagged as bombs, yes, they could be shot down. They aren't, and that's why they're the antibomber/anti-subsystem weapon of choice.

niffiwan: I am not sure about general AI behaviour, but AI doing escort would definitely try to engage them (although I am not so certain if that is true for all escort behaviours, there may be some assumptions somewhere that only big ships would ever be targeted by bombs)

[General Battuta]

If you're a Stiletto fan I recall beating Procyon Insurgency on hard/insane was pretty much Stilettos: The Campaign. Also don't take the bomb flag off the Stiletto D:

[Mito [PL]]

Which reminds me of breaking a mission in FOW (Ravana kills Delacroix) with a bank of Trebs. Disbeamed Ravana before it could shoot Trebuchets are cool.

[Kolgena]

I kinda wish AI could use trebs. But then I remember that Basilisk and Mara carry trebs as default loadout.

[X3N0-Life-Form]

Yeah, everybody that upgraded the retail campaign to use improved AI found that out the hard way ...