Smart Opping

Discuss everything strategical about SMR.
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XDemonX
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Smart Opping

Post by XDemonX »

Smart Opping

Hi. I made Smart Trading and Smart Hunting (update to come). Both have received a lot of positive feedback. This game is now turnings towards opping and I see a lot of people are confused about how to op properly so hopefully this guide will shed some light on it. I will tailor this for following ops as well as leading ops. This will start out basic then move into more advanced techniques.

First, deciding on what ship to buy. For opping, top racials are always best. If you plan on being a strong opper then deciding your race is another important factor. Salvene and Ik'thorne are the best opping races. They both have mines which is very important during ops as well as strong defense. I normally lean towards Salvene a bit more because the Eater of Souls is much easier to clear mines than a Mother Ship is. Do NOT pick Alskant if you like to op. There is really no decent ship to op for alskant so avoid this.

Second, deciding on a weapon setup. For ops, it is best to have a balanced weapon setup (equal shield and armor damage)

It is important to have max turns for your op. Most people switch from traders into their top racial so use this formula to find out how many turns you'll have once you switch ships.

[Current Turns] x [New Ship Turns per hour] / [Old Ship Turns per hour]

If you use IRC: register your nick, make sure you have the same nick listed under preferences then when your leader sets up an op in chat use !op yes command and then !op info. This will tell me how many turns you'll have at start of op.

USE TEAMSPEAK even if you're just listening it makes op much more effective. Get a pair of headphones, plug it into your computer and use TeamSpeak

For leaders, choosing an op time is extremely important. For best results, give people options to vote and then decide which will have the best turnout. Too many times I see leaders just set an op time and hope people setup. For example use this format:

A) 10:00am
B) 12:01pm
C) 4:00pm
D) 10:00pm

Then people will post which time slots they can make. Whichever has the best turnout then bam that is the op time.

Next, choose your target and be realistic. If you don't have enough to bust a max level planet then don't do it. Do whatever is most efficient. If you get =< 7 just go clear mines or hit ports for money. > 7 then go bust some rocks. For leaders, take the 10-15 min before op and have a plan. Look at MGU decide where you want everyone to meet at, then lead everyone to nearest uno to your target then work from there. Have your team lay mines all around. Singles are fine, you just want some sort of warning so enemies can't counter op you.

If you're busting high level planets and expect to take some pods. Take the few minutes and figure out the arming route from HQ BEFORE the op. Nothing more annoying then waiting for someone to arm up after they die to planet and then they don't know where to go to arm. Good leaders will take the time and plan this out for each race and then this way you can dictate which weapons people arm with.

Turn management is extremely important during ops. When clearing mines, state "Okay everyone clear until down to 450 turns" when everyone is down to 450 turns then clear down to 300 and so on until mines are clear. Too many times people clear down way too low or there are people who are slower and barely pull their weight. For ops it is not beneficial to keep several people at high turns and others at low turns.. you want everyone equal to get the best out of your op. This goes for firing on planet. Firing on planet only takes 3 turns, but when you're firing 20-30 shots an op it adds up quickly. There is no reason that the leader fires every time. Whoever has the most turns get trigger. It is not exactly rocket science to hit "attack planet".

Remember, when opping there is no reason to login until op time. A lot of people being active on the server or on current player list is a good way to tell your enemy you have an op soon. This is also related to switching into your top racial. Try to wait until the last minute to switch. You do not want your enemy to know you're opping soon

Know where your uno is. Don't use plot course, use local map and follow the green forces to uno. This way you won't hit mines by accident and die and you'll know if any enemies is around you.

Next is understanding when to uno. This is where people lose most of their turns. I see too often people uno WAY too often.

Hit combat logs --> Planet then view the last shot that your team fired on planet then look at the amount of turret and drones. Here is some basic math

2000 drones + 10 turrets = /21+ has chance of living (Only MS and Devs uno). If you get drones you will die anyways. Most likely you will get a turret and drones so even if you're a DM, TAC, Dessy or EoS, being at a /12 is the same as being fully uno'd.. if you get drones you're dying anyways.

>=1900 drones + 10 turrets = /20+ has chance of living (EoS, MS and Devs) uno full.

>=1800 drones + 10 turrets = /19+ has chance of living (EoS, MS, TAC, Devs) uno full.

>=1700 drones + 10 turrets = All other ships should uno full

Now it gets more complicated. Rule of thumb if you have at least 10 in sector you have to count on getting hit by 2 turrets. Getting hit by 3 turrets + drones is rare so here is some math for you:

2 x turrets = 500dmg
1 drone = 1dmg

(Your ship rating x 100)-500-drones = how much damage you can take. If this number is =< 0 then uno. For example:
Planet has 1000 drones and my ship is a /16 right now

(16 x 100)-500-1000 = 1600-500-1000 = 100. So with this logic, I should not uno

You can also use some more advanced logic on this especially as drones get lower. You gotta remember turrets do 250 damage each. This damage does not roll over. For example, if you have 260 shields and 950 armor then you'll be a /12 which means with the above logic you can only take 700 drones, but because turrets do 250 damage and doesn't roll over you can take 2 turrets with your 260 shields which really means you can take 949 drones + 2 turrets

Next is paying attention to your surroundings. If we are busting a planet where I am not really worried about people trying to run off planet, then i am constantly in force log screen (combat logs --> Force logs) because most likely we have singles all around us and uno I will know if an enemy hits some of our mines nearby so I can warn my team.

Always have a "pop" plan. Determine this plan once you get down to about 800 drones. The enemy could be parked on planet and may pull the drones from planet early making the planet pop faster than you expected to catch you off guard. Easiest way for pop plan is to use the ship count number located above all the ships in sector. Usually the leader will say "If the ship count number jumps up to 17 then move 1 sector" or something along those lines.

For leaders, it is important to always be talking on TeamSpeak. Be decisive and always communicating. Ops need to be fun too. If you're quiet most the op then people get bored and confused. Help people out do quick math on what is safe to uno and what is not.

If an enemy is around.. do NOT chase. I see this too many times. People get kill hungry and waste all their turns chasing people. When I counter op, I purposely "poke the hive" to try to get the opponent to chase me. I know every turn they spend chasing me is less turns they will have to hit my planet.Wait for your leader to set a trap or coordinate a rush on the enemy.

If the other team has a large number of people on, then move in groups. Try to uno in groups but the main key is to always stay together. Make sure you have plenty of mines around you and wherever you're moving so you have warning of them trying to rush you.

It is important to be FAST. Ops sometimes drag on because people are not paying attention or are moving slow. You gotta remember just because you have lots of time to op, others may not. Too many times I have seen ops drag on and people have to leave so ops don't get completed OR so much time has passed that the enemy gets enough online to counter op. Always be moving as fast as you can which is why the leader should have an exact plan of what they want to do so time is not wasting trying to figure stuff out.
Last edited by XDemonX on Fri Feb 20, 2015 2:01 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Aendar
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Re: Smart Opping

Post by Aendar »

Good post!
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