Levi Mirror
I'm going to post the same thing others have. Revert what you did to dagger. It's not stopping execs and makes Levi mirrors effing stupid! Go first? No? Retreat. Ships was already an RNG crap show......
Forum Discussion
Going to repeat what I said in another thread. You just have to know the kits. The other side can't gain TM if you use your Dorito, and they can't reach Ult if you have TenacityUP because they have to inflict 15 debuffs to use Sabotage Hangars and they have to use SH before they are eligible for the Ult.
Start TIE Dagger, Fury Interceptor, Mk6 Interceptor.
DO NOT use TIE Dagger's AoE until you have TenUP. Just start with a basic.
Mk6 first turn use 3rd ability, which grants TenUP. Now the enemy can't land debuffs and can't progress toward Sabotage the Hangars.
Use Fury's mass assist to make sure that Mk6 gains 10 stacks (using a basic while under 10 stacks, which the Mk6 will be b/c using the 3rd ability costs 3 stacks and you only started with 10).
On your next Mk6 turn use the first special, which will give you another 10 stacks.
Focus on the enemy tank. Your progress will always be faster than the enemy's progress. Use your Ult when it's available. Press auto. Win.
I didn't come up with this strategy, but you can read the kits for yourselves: it's well designed and it has worked every time for me so far. You'll be playing the battle manually for 2-3 minutes and then putting it on auto for the rest. It's no worse than other battles that you play manually for 2-3 minutes. In fact it's probably easier since the only strategy is keeping Mk6 alive and using TenUP when you have it (oh, and not using the Dagger AoE or Fury's mass assist when you don't). You don't even have to kill anything, just reach ult and then press one button and set your device down while you go make some tea.
I'll try that strategy today during my payout hour. Hopefully it doesn't end in a draw.
That aside, I don't think players are upset that they have to use a new starting line-up or get used to a new strategy, I think it's the issues that come with that specific strategy that is frustrating. In this case:
- Time out. Like I said, I have yet to use that strategy myself, but the other day I nearly timed out after winning the initial coin-toss in a mirror match (Fury, Dagger, Bomber on both sides). Getting TenUp with Mark6 might be useful in delaying the enemy Ult, but even if you get to the Ult first, if you can't get past the Bomber if it is present, what's the point? Imagine how it would play out in GAC.
- Fleet Arena. Whether you win, lose or draw with that line-up, you're still opening yourself up to getting pushed back by other players during that 5+ minute cooldown window or after the payout hour. I'm frustrated enough when I wake up and find myself pushed back to 15+ (even before the rework), I shudder to think how I'd react if I find myself in 25 or even lower. Without any tanks, it's especially easy pickings for Executors.
Yeah, these are excellent criticisms if you find yourself in an active fleet shard with several people sharing a payout hour.
I am fortunate enough to have an old but lazy fleet shard. I never fall as far as 25 and it's honestly rare that I fall further than 11th or 12th. Having relatively few active players minimizes the risks of this strategy for me in a way that it might not for others.
You obviously didn't have an arms race in your shard. Your strategy probably doesn't work well against all R9 pilots. Easy time out with strong pilots. I have run up against not being able to take out a single ship, even after ultimate because bomber just won't go down. If opponent manages to both bring in Mk6 and blow hangars, you will never win because you are likely going into ult with only three ships and your next ship being nuked from the hangars. Their dagger is still alive, so you can't TM train it either, so they are getting five ship turns to your three and by the time you get in a reinforcement, you are probably down another ship and have less than a minute left.
