Hi Guys, as someone who players bomber a lot and after seeing all the complaints I thought I would post a few tips on how to handle them.

 

1.Fist, know the type of bomber you are attacking and adjust your distance accordingly; Mine Layer: stay far as far away as possible, Turret Layer: get as close as possible

 

2. BYPASS...bombers have a lot of shield power and the ability to recharge very quickly, bypass ability or anything with high penetration is your friend

 

3. An extension of number 2 EMP!...any emp bombs or missles are excellent against bombers

 

4. Missiles/Drones...bombers have no ability to break lock or dodge!..I'll say that again..bombers have no ability to break lock or dodge!...disabling drones or and missiles with bypass is devastating to deal with.

 

5. Keep on them!, if you don't kill me off I will hull repair very quickly.

 

6. There is no point focusing a bomber if he has mines/turrets/drones up..kill them first!

 

7. Attack from behind, if you attack me head on I will use bypass with shield transfer and you will probably die

 

8. Lastly, bombers are meant to be the tanks of GSF..attack in 2s..may seem obvious but I have seen a lot try to solo a bomber

 

 

Hope this helps, don't normally write any "guides" but if you take something good from this then great!

 

happy hunting

Edited February 9, 2014 by adventurethis

Good post.

It's not too hard to combat bombers. If they are out in the open it's very easy to take them down.

One Bomber is easy to take down.

 

The "trouble" with Bombers is that their power grows incredibly by just adding another one. Not to mention if you have three. Try evicting 3 Bombers from a Satellite or any position really.

 

And the fact that their effectiveness does not depend on player skill nearly as much as with other craft. You drop a mine, it does the work for you. That's not to say that there aren't people who fly Bombers better than others and effectiveness increases, obviously, but at the basic level, that's what it is.

 

But eh. it's the FOV craft now. In a decent team, Bombers still can be cracked. More challenge, more fun.

Edited February 9, 2014 by SiaSinblade

1 Gunship with AoE ion cannon

2 Shoot

3 Blow up all mines at once

4 Win

They're not that hard to deal with they just ruin the game. I'd like to actually fight people not spend 90% of the time picking off mines and drones and non-moving bombers that soak up tons of dmg.

 

I know it's whining but i really liked gsf before, spent a lot of my swtor time on it, now i'm only playing a match or 2 to get the daily on my leveling character and that's all.

Edited February 9, 2014 by shackboredguy

They're not that hard to deal with they just ruin the game. I'd like to actually fight people not spend 90% of the time picking off mines and drones and non-moving bombers that soak up tons of dmg.

 

I know it's whining but i really liked gsf before, spent a lot of my swtor time on it, now i'm only playing a match or 2 to get the daily on my leveling character and that's all.

 

They add more depth to the game IMO.

They're not that hard to deal with they just ruin the game. I'd like to actually fight people not spend 90% of the time picking off mines and drones and non-moving bombers that soak up tons of dmg.

 

I know it's whining but i really liked gsf before, spent a lot of my swtor time on it, now i'm only playing a match or 2 to get the daily on my leveling character and that's all.

 

If you think mines are a pain here, you should try Star Trek Online! Granted I've not played in a while so I don't know what's changed but...

 

 

• any ship could mount them regardless of class
  
• they launched five at a time and lasted about a minute (longer than the cooldown)
  

 

When entire teams used them the mine spam became so bad that tab targeting became useless. They were more like decoys than actual weapons. It was impossible to target actual players among the mess. Two to three mines per bomber is relatively tame compared to that.

Edited February 9, 2014 by RebekahWSD

I'd add for the Type 1 Striker go with Ions and Heavies. With heavies use the shield and armor penetration upgrades. Hammer away at bombers with heavies until you're in Ion range, switch to Ions to shred their shields in a second or two, then switch back to heavies to blow them away. Throw in a concussion missile if you want.

 

I've recently be trying this combo out and it makes quick work of bombers because it completely counters the bomber's two defenses.

They add more depth to the game IMO.

Yes, pressing 2 buttons and letting the AI do all the work is an incredibly deep mechanic to add to this game.

Yes, pressing 2 buttons and letting the AI do all the work is an incredibly deep mechanic to add to this game.

 

I'm not talking about that...

I'm talking about tactics. Now you have to combat Bombers which pose a threat when capturing points. And they add repair drones and hyperspace beacons.

They're not that hard to deal with they just ruin the game. I'd like to actually fight people not spend 90% of the time picking off mines and drones and non-moving bombers that soak up tons of dmg.

 

I know it's whining but i really liked gsf before, spent a lot of my swtor time on it, now i'm only playing a match or 2 to get the daily on my leveling character and that's all.

 

Agreed. It doesn't require much skill to pop out mines and sentries with perfect accuracy and rack up kills. I'd like to see skill and piloting a little more rewarded. As such, I think mines and sentries should do far less damage. If they don't require much skill, make them harassers instead of an almost impenetrable defense.

 

In addition, bombers encourage turtling. Most good game designs try to open things up a little, since turtling takes away from action.

A single bomber by it's self is not a problem. 4 or 5 bombers working together in a premade group is impossible to beat. Complete area control and if that area is a satellite that's 1/3 of the game won from the start. It takes no skill for them to keep that satellite off limits and they don't even have to be there. They can be at the next satellite over defending with the rest of the team. So with 1 satellite totally off limits and the second one being defended by a whole team you win. There is no chance that you lose and you don't even have to worry about the 3rd satellite. I would say that a limit of 2 bombers and 3 GS's should be allowed per team in any mode.

 

By the way 1 drone carrier and 1 GS can make a satellite very hard to take as the GS throws up fortress shields and sits amid the drones (Including a repair drone) and the satellite turrets popping people. You don't dare try and kill the drones with a GS hitting you and you don't sit there and try to break through fortress shields with drones and turrets hitting you. Add a scout with a burst laser defending also and it's over. 9 ships can hold all 3 satellites indefinitely and there is nothing the 12 players on the other team can do about it.

Edited February 10, 2014 by HoloGrinder

One Bomber is easy to take down.

 

The "trouble" with Bombers is that their power grows incredibly by just adding another one. Not to mention if you have three. Try evicting 3 Bombers from a Satellite or any position really.

 

1 Pike with EMP missiles.

1-2 scouts (one type 1 scout with an EMP field will help here too) and/or a gunship

 

Pike goes in, constantly does nothing but drop EMP missiles, thus clearing/disabling all mines/drones in the area over and over.

 

Scouts and gunship blast bombers out of space.

 

Win.

Whine whine whine.

 

The funny thing about you is that you've been constantly told legitimate tactics to counter bombers - some of which are coming from me - a blaster overcharge (short range) Flashfire pilot.

 

You then completely ignore them in favor of just whining like a 10 year old who had his lollipop stolen by his toddler sister.

A single bomber by it's self is not a problem. 4 or 5 bombers working together in a premade group is impossible to beat.

 

I bet 4 or 5 gunships working together in a premade group could beat it.

What has been neglected in this discussion is with the addition of bombers and deathmatch, we need the ability to swap build-outs between queue pop and match start. If I can switch ships during a match, why not be able to switch a ship's equipment?

 

Strategy and tactics for Deathmatch are radically different than Domination, and how I'd equip my ship varies between the two map styles differs, as well.

 

Just my 2¢

A single bomber by it's self is not a problem. 4 or 5 bombers working together in a premade group is impossible to beat. Complete area control and if that area is a satellite that's 1/3 of the game won from the start. It takes no skill for them to keep that satellite off limits and they don't even have to be there. They can be at the next satellite over defending with the rest of the team. So with 1 satellite totally off limits and the second one being defended by a whole team you win. There is no chance that you lose and you don't even have to worry about the 3rd satellite. I would say that a limit of 2 bombers and 3 GS's should be allowed per team in any mode.

And yet a Gunship would make short work of both the drones & mines, a single hit with an ion railgun & that cluster of drones/mines will have no shields. Said gunship would also be able to do a decent amount of damage to the rest of the team that's clustered around the other satellite (due to the AoE upgrade on ion railgun), though they'd probably be targeted fairly quickly to be fair.

 

and there is nothing the 12 players on the other team can do about it.

 

Apart from possibly field a gunship of their own, or take out the drones/mines from range with missiles (protons for their range, for example). 3 Ships should not be able to hold out against a much larger force of similarly skilled players on the other side (especially when Proton torpedoes can have their range increased to 11.6k).

 

People just need to learn how to counter bombers (just like they did with Commandos with interrupt) & (at worst) wait for everybody to get over the new shiny toy that is bombers & matches will go back to being a bit more balanced in terms of ship distribution.

Yes, pressing 2 buttons and letting the AI do all the work is an incredibly deep mechanic to add to this game.

 

No fair. I press two buttons AND MY RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON, before HOLDING THE SPACE KEY and flying off to hide somewhere.

 

That's four buttons. That's twice the number of buttons as you've suggested.

bomber are bad at dogfighting so they rely on mine drone and their team to fair well so that make them the hardest ship to solo kill. i dont know if they are op or not yet, cause they fair well if you let them set up their drone and mine and yeah trying to assault a heavily defended position is hard but it should be. also i like that bomber have sorta a zone denial ability i mean if i go to a key part and lay mine that will make that zone a safe zone for ally and i think its great it add to the strategic game play. bomber are the slowest ship in the game that a big weakness ... if you dont let him get to a good position in the 1st place he probably wont be able to do much for a long period. also anything that has long range is good against a bomber especialy the gunship. Edited February 10, 2014 by Thorrok

Good suggestions on countering bombers I care little for bombers though I have to say they've done some interesting things to the tactics. Putting scouts a little in check wasn't a bad thing and I like my scouts. If I had anything I might change about bombers it would be those ion railguns. They are easy enough to kill I just don't like them. I won't call them unbalanced just something I could live without in the game. Too soon to be calling for the nerf bat that's for sure.

 

My current favorite build for dealing with bombers is the starguard with heavy lasers and keeping them at distance. I focus on killing gadgets as first priority.

They're not that hard to deal with they just ruin the game. I'd like to actually fight people not spend 90% of the time picking off mines and drones and non-moving bombers that soak up tons of dmg.

 

I know it's whining but i really liked gsf before, spent a lot of my swtor time on it, now i'm only playing a match or 2 to get the daily on my leveling character and that's all.

 

Pretty much this. The gunship/bomber duo has effectively ruin the game.

& (at worst) wait for everybody to get over the new shiny toy that is bombers & matches will go back to being a bit more balanced in terms of ship distribution.

 

It amuses me that you think this will happen. If anything, more people will unlock and play them. Why play something you get owned in when you can play the OP ships.

 

ION rail gun renders you pretty much useless. Once your hit with this you are as good as dead. I don't think I have ever survived after being hit with an ION railgun.

 

Picture this scenario, three gunships, all with ion guns. Strike fighters and scouts are disabled/ targeted first, bombers drop rail gun drones and set their torpedoes on enemy gunships. Send one or two scouts to mop up runners.

 

You have effectively gained complete control of the area in a few seconds. Where is the strike fighters role? What exactly is he striking? Ion cannons have completely disabled him, the next rail shot will destroy him. He cant close the gap, as his engines are drained, and his energy regen is shot, the scouts drop in and remove him.

 

Unless each team is balanced with ship types etc, there is no balance to this game. to win you add gunships and bombers.

Easiest way to kill a bomber as a scout is use the sabotage probe, they can't break it unless they LoS, and they're easy to lock onto because of how slow they are to begin with. once the fact that they're unable to turn at all comes into play? Pop your cooldowns and they're done.

It amuses me that you think this will happen. If anything, more people will unlock and play them. Why play something you get owned in when you can play the OP ships.

Yeah, some people will unlock & play them, but others (more IMO) will go back to playing the ships they prefer, just like I've mainly gone back to playing my gunship, I prefer the play style & know how to use it.

 

ION rail gun renders you pretty much useless. Once your hit with this you are as good as dead. I don't think I have ever survived after being hit with an ION railgun.

I would disagree with this (in my experience with my gunship) to varying degrees, depending on what ship I'm attacking. Against a scout, one reasonably charged ion will strip one of his shields & probably do a decent amount of hull damage as well, though you have to hit him first & I can take several shots at some scouts & not hit (a combination of lag, evasion/range & the occasional inept shot on my part).

Against Strike Fighters/Gunships, one fully charged shot may or may not take down his shields, if not he won't have much left & I'll probably swap to slug for the next shot. They generally seem easier to hit (slower + lower evasion), but can take more hits.

Against Bombers, you'll need ~2 ion hits (more if you don't go for fully charged shots) & then you have to grind through their hull...

 

In any event, the only ship that's ****ed after 1 ion hit is a scout & a lot of them have speed & evasion on their side, so while they may only take one shot, the gunship's probably had several misses.

 

Picture this scenario, three gunships, all with ion guns. Strike fighters and scouts are disabled/ targeted first, bombers drop rail gun drones and set their torpedoes on enemy gunships. Send one or two scouts to mop up runners.

Picture this scenario, those same three gunships are all focussing on a few enemy strike fighters/scouts while their target's team mates are flanking the gunships & ripping them a new one or at the very least routing them.

 

You have effectively gained complete control of the area in a few seconds. Where is the strike fighters role? What exactly is he striking? Ion cannons have completely disabled him, the next rail shot will destroy him. He cant close the gap, as his engines are drained, and his energy regen is shot, the scouts drop in and remove him.

 

Unless each team is balanced with ship types etc, there is no balance to this game. to win you add gunships and bombers.

 

Or you can refuse to play by the gunship's rules & approach from the side/rear. If a gunship's killed you a few times, note their position & take a long way round to their side/rear & you can use your own ions/missiles/blasters against them.

 

Strike Fighters are more than capable of dealing with gunships, one of my guildie's mainly flies a strike fighter & he does very well against most other ship types/players.

The issue with fighting bombers is that while you're lining up to try to hit their mines/drones, you're a much easier target for any Strike or Scout.

 

So you take out a couple of mines or drones, and then if you're not already dead then you're stuck in a dogfight against at least one defender. Even if you manage to kill or drive off your attacker, now the bomber has simply laid the mines/drones again and you're starting from square 1...except with more hull damage and lower on missiles.

 

It's frustrating.

 

Even in Gunships picking off the mines/drones you simply get targeted quickly by a Strike/Scout unless the other team is brain dead, and by the time you can attack again the mines/drones are back.