Hello everyone. From time and time again there is somebody who says that with X faction it is impossible to defend against SSDs, so I am going to make a guide here for each faction on the best anti SSD strategies for every era WITHOUT the use of any surface to space weapons and/or any other SSDs. Note that Praetor is not an SSD. It is a battlecruiser, not a star dreadnaught.
NOTE THAT THIS GUIDE IS MADE FOR 2.15 AND I WILL MAKE A NEW ONE WHEN 2.2 COMES OUTPentastar Alignment
I start with the PA because their tech tree does not change with the eras, so it is universal at the moment.
The best thing to do as the PA is to have 2 or 3 Praetors in a distance and a whole bunch of Venators as the second line. As a third line you can add some Muunificents if you want. The frigate itself is not good, but the 2 skiprays it carries are more than making up for it. Send in the fighters and let your praetors snipe the SSD from a distance. By the time the enemy beast reaches your lies it will be most possible be shieldless and miss a huge chunk of it's turbolasers. Do not run from it, it's useless. Instead send in the more than expendable Munies to take the fire out of the more valueable Praetors.
New Republic
Era 1-2:You will need to prepare with reinforcements and a 4 line battleformation.
1st line, Nebulon B-2s. I know that few people uses them because Neb.-Bs come with fighters, but the B-2 is more durable, what you will more than need to do this strategy. They will be the bullet-sponges. they will be your first line of defence/attack. Make sure to micro-manage them and as soon as the SSD concentrates fire on them activate their power to shields, but make sure not to do it to all of them as you would just waste the ability. In the second line, MC80Bs. With them the rule is the same as the nebulon B-2s. Use power to shield
As
Soon
As
Possible(ASAP from now on) after the SSD turns it's weapons on it.
In the third line, a whole bunch of quasars(at least 4). keep them away from the fight, just use their fighters and bombers to harass the SSDs. Since NR fighters have proton torpedoes they are still effective against larger ships as well as the fighters.
The fourth line is the kicker. At least 2 dreadnaughts. If you attack don't call them into the battle right at the beggining. If you are defending as soon as the battle starts send them to the left and right sides. As soon as the SSDs shields fall, send them in from the sides, efectively flanking the SSD. The reason is that it will cause more damage, as the ships on the front will only shot at maximum 6 different hardpoints, while the Dreadnaughts will start to take them out in the middle and back section of the ship, efectively reducing their firepower as fast as possible. Don't use power to weapons, only if the ship is about to loose all of it's shields either way, so you won't waste your precious shields. Also if this means that the SSD starts to turn towards one of your dreads you got a bonus out of it, since this means half of their weapons will need more time to turn back towards your main fleet again, and you can spare even more HP and shields.
The whole base of this strategy is to soak up as much damage as possible with as few losses as possible.
Please take note that this strategy requires pinpoint accuracy with ability use for maximum effectiveness, so keep that in mind please.
It is also recommended to pause the game if deemed necessary.
Era 3:just replace the MC 80Bs with the MC90s and the nebulons with the Corona. Otherwise the same as it was.
Era 4-5:The main focus should be on Endurances and MC90s. I know it is tempting to use the newer Nebula SDs, but they are extremely easy to destroy. They really make a punch, but an SSD punches harder. You need Endurance to defeat it the most effective way as possible(you see what I did there?
). You can dump the Coronas now. Your first line should contain nothing but MC90s. They still have the power to shields, and you should use it to the fullest. Make sure to rush that SSD and deal as much damage as possible. The Endurances should hang out in the back. When you deem it safe, you can move them in as well for added firepower, but do not let them be the frontline ships. Their greatest strenght is that they keep you with a constant flow of fighters for a long time, so keep an eye out if they spawned new fighters, even after long minutes in the battle.
The flanking strategy still works though, but you should use MC90s to do it. The reason why not the Nebulas is that if the SSD focuses on them the MC90s can hold out longer, therefore distracting it for more time.
Imperial Remnant
I know, this is a surprise. Usually the IR is the faction that is associated with SSDs, but shock on shock, others have them too.
So as the IR, you should have a plan to face them as well. And if you happened to be someone who plays without SSDs like me, then you need some sort of strategy to face them.
Era 1-2:Believe it or not, ISD II is not your middle name this time around. You have to play it smart. With this VSD Is are the best choice because of those missle launchers. They are very very effective. Your other friend is the Escort Carrier. Keep them behind the front and use your bombers to harass the SSD. In the meantime separate your VSDs into two groups and start to flank the SSD from both sides. When you attack, the SSD will turn towards one side, basically giving you free regin with the other one. After it finishes off one side, it will start to turn slowly, but you can focus that side of weapons and weaken it as much as possible before it can even turn to fire on you. As soon as it is in firing position, you can call in a whole bunch of VSDs behind it, where you lost the VSDs before, and repeat the process.
Easy as a pie. And those TIE interceptors are very good at keeping enemy fighters clear off your bombers asses.
In Era 2 also make sure to take full advantage of those TIE Scimitars. They are your best friends from now on.
Era 3:Basically the PA strategy, just replace the Venators(since you don't have them yet) with ISD IIs (having nothing to really replace Venators go for the second best option fighterwise) and the Munis with Modular Taskforce Cruiser.
The only real difference is that you should use the ISD IIs as the front line to lose them instead of endangering the praetors, as they are more valueable as the remnant. Don't forget that in later eras you will only have what you spared now, so you have to be careful and take good care of them.
Era 4:The tables are turned. Now you are the underdog. Time to think like one and start sparing your units. Spam venators. Use their fighters and bombers to harass the SSD and only engage in ship-to-ship combat as a last resort. Use the still remaining praetors from Era 3 if there is any.
If you play reunification then god help you, you are either more than capable or foolish. that can't be done without night hammer. But, as I have to think of something...
Use Crimson Commands as much as you can. Pro tip, build 14, then start cuing up 5 more. as long as Cronus is there they will finish up building. You can get 19 instead of 15. ABUSE THIS!
VSD Is are also good friends of yours.
Era 5:About the same as Era 4, but you lost the Crimsons, so use VSD IIs as there is nothing better. Go for quantity. Make your fleets big or go home in a body bag.
You WILL be desparate.
Empire of the Hand
EotH method was made by Director Krennic and you can find his post bellow.So first off, try to isolate the SSD by it self or at least not many fighters, then distract with a fodder ship in the front and front your big guns in the back so it cant you . If there is still a strong force with the SSD, just try send all you got at it so it blows up first and attack the rest. To me phalanx destroyers and Syndic Destroyers are the best choice but also fighter carries. Good luck hunting. Oh one last thing. Once it gets low start attacking the other ships and try to use your fighters.
If its that new SSD with the superlaser similar to the Eclipse or is the Eclipse, Run for your lives.
Topic: Guide: How to kill an SSD (Read 10611 times)