Capital Ship Combat Positions

Ever notice how Capital ships don't pitch or 'lean' forward? Maybe not, unless you play as Alyssians and that annoying Destoyer is higher up than your Righteous. Then you notice.

=The Issue= Capital ships in O-R-B Don't rotate forward or back with four exceptions, and all of them require the 1.04 patch (these exceptions include the Arc, Jul-Watcher, Frigate and Conquest) This means that they are eternally at the mercy of altitude to determine who is more advantageous in combat. Realizing this, here's how you take advantage of the enemy not being able to pitch or roll.

=The Cure=

Alysian Vessels
The Alyssian Vessels benefit from this the most, so best to address them first.

Righteous, All Variants
The Righteous' key weakness is that annoying fact that the two guns in the rear can never aim up high enough. This means that if a Malus Destroyer is above the Righteous, the Righteous will always loose, fighting with only half the possible firepower. To remedy this, do the following-

Step 1. While controlling the Righteous, focus the camera on the target by pressing ALT on the keyboard and clicking on the target.

Step 2. Drop a Nav point infront of the target.

Step 3. Click the nav point with both left and right mouse buttons and push or drag the mouse to increase or decrease desired altitude. Increase the altitude dramatically.

Step 4. Ensure that the X Y origin of the nav point is in the center of the target. This can be done by looking at the line connecting the nav point to the nav grid while control is pressed on the keyboard.

Watch as the Righteous ascends above the target to deliver maximum firepower against its opponent.

TIP: Set doctrine to NO DOCTRINE during fights and make sure that once the Righteous is in the right place, that the command selected is IDLE so it doesn't change battle positions and therefore end up in a worse spot.

NOTE: You may need to do this several times if the target tries to change positions.

Glory, All Variants
The Glory's key weakness is the five turrets as opposed to six, and while you would thing you would be atleast able to use four on a capital, the answer is no. Unlike the Righteous, the Glory has an advantage when it is lower than the target.

Step 1. While the Glory is selected, drop a nav point in front of the target, then move the point to the center of the target.

Step 2. Lower the altitude of the Nav Point.

Step 3. Once you are at the desired altitude, turn the Glory an 1/8 of a turn so the side beam cannon will lock on and beam the target alongside the bow cannons, as the side cannons will not always be able to fire at a target directly infront of the Glory.

TIP: Ensure NO DOCTRINE is selected during capital fights so the Glory does not align with the target, potentially reducing the number of cannons firing at the ship. This will also make it so that the Glory won't try to move and therefore end up in a worse spot.

NOTE: As long as IDLE is selected, the Glory won't move, but the turrets will default to attack priorities, which are as follows. This could be dangerous in a swarm situation.

1. Repair Ships 2. Torpedo loaded fighters 3. Frigates 4. Destroyers 5 all else

Victory, All variants
The Victory is the Battle Cruiser of the Alyssian Armada and can withstand some significant punishment before retreat becomes a sane idea. The Victory's main combat weakness is that it usually approaches from above or below a target, rendering it unable to deliver the full extent of it's firepower.

Step 1. While in control of the Victory, press ALT and click on the target ship.

Step 2. Find the Victory's position marker in the NAV grid, it's the dot inside the circle coming up from the pole at the center of the Victory when CTRL is placed.

Step 3. Drop the NAV Point on the position marker,but don't let go of CTRL!!!

Step 4. Click the NAV point with both mouse buttons and increase the altitude of the NAV point more than you think you need to. (Or decrease if the Victory is too high.)

Step 5. As the Victory moves, monitor it and estimate about how long it will need to move to be EVEN with the enemy craft's altitude.

Step 6. Press CTRL I when the Victory can stop at an EVEN attitude or close to it to the target.

Step 7. Target the ship directly by attacking it normally. This will keep the Victory locked on should it try to flank.

NOTE: Sometimes due to the size of the vessels, this could accidentally make the Victory 'Shield bump' the other ship, which will cause the shields to touch and disable eachother. Be weary of this especially when your shields are weaker than the target's.

Destroyer, All Variants
The Destroyer's weak area's are to the sides and rear, as no cannon can pivot far enough to the sides to hit enemies at a 90 degree angle from it's bow, and the front cannons cannot face fully backwards, reducing the firepower from four cannons to two. The best way for a destroyer to fight is at any altitude as long as it remains locked on to the target.

Carrier, All Armed Varients
The Carrier is a Malus ship that benefits greatly from pivoting to the side during a cpital ship fight. Like the Glory, it can be prone to the side cannons not aiming forwards like they're supposed to.

Step 1. Regardless of the altitude, select the carrier and set a nav point somewhere on the size ring around the carrier over halfway in the direction you want the Carrier to turn.

Step 2. Press CTRL I to stop the turn at any time once the second side turret begins to fire.

The carrier will now engage with 3, potentially 4 turrets on th enemy ship, and the other side will deal with straggler fighters.

Assault Carrier, All Variants
The Malus Assault Carrier has an interesting attribute to it's plasma cannons that makes it brutal in battle. Prime altitude for engageing is about even, a little higher than the target ship.

Step 1. Set your Assault Carrier to your desired altitude, preferably equal to your target's altitude.

Step 2. Turn your carrier by setting the NAV point at about 4 'O clock position from your Carrier on the size ring around the unit when CTRL is pressed.

Step 3. Press CTRL I when the rear cannons begin to fire.

The result is the Assault Carrier in a position which allows six of it's eight cannons to fire at the target. Using this strategy, the Assault Carrier can go toe to toe with a Victory and win every time, since the Victory has no similar combat advantage. This also gives the added bonus of the fighters undocking from the Assault Carrier being able to undock without immediately being in the line of fire from the enemy capital. The slight draw back of this is that undocking repair ships are immediately caught in the line of fire.

Aldar Capitals
As Aldar ships can be played in the Campaign AND in custom multiplayer matches and Skirmishes, it is advised to know where their strengths are in combat.

Aldar Cruiser
The cruiser is a Destroyer class ship with more health and firepower than a Carrier, and more speed than most fighters of the Malus or Alyssian races. It has seven beam cannons total, but all cannons face forward. The cannons CAN track to the sides, but only four of them will, making straight on engagements with these ships a must.

Step 1. Get to even altitude with the target.

Step 2. Lock on to target, then select NO DOCTRINE.

Step 3. Press CTRL I so the Cruiser doesnt' try to rise above or shoot below the target ship.

Step 4. Monitor the enemy ship while in command of the Cruiser so if it tries to flank, you can order it to lock on again and keep the target in the sweet spot of all seven cannons.

Aldar Battleship
The Battleship is a massive vessel with over 60 men commanding it. It is unlocked atleast once in the Campaign mission Machina Nucleus. It has only five cannons, but with tremendous reach and firepower.

Step 1. Align the Battleship to the enemy as best you can. Altitude matters little, as usually it is pitted against the Jul-Gatherer.

Step 2. Carefully put a NAV point way out in space but infront of the Battleship as best you can, then move the NAV point to the right a tad.

Step 3. Press CTRL I when the three cannon in the center all fire. Monitor and make sure they all re-fire.

There you go, all five cannons now fire. If you do not do this trick, the strange Origin point of the Battleship will force it to mis-align with the target, reducing the number of fired cannons to four or three.