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A venerable design, the Onslaught-class battleships were first created to serve the Domain Armada long ago, before the development of advanced strike weapons, modern energy weapons, and shield systems.

When first launched from orbital dock, their firepower and burst-speed surely intimidated entire systems. Some even say that they were built to combat non-humans in a long forgotten war. Much later, Orion Shipyards engineers made modifications to the blueprints to include a shield system, upgraded the hyperdrive, and reduced the required crew complement through automation and iterative engineering. Even though more advanced blueprints are available, the Onslaught remains the easiest to manufacture due to the brutal simplicity of its systems.

A ship designed without shields in mind, built to be able to withstand a heavy barrage of enemy fire and strike back while protecting its crew is much loved by its officers and crew. And strike back it can; the Onslaught's unmatched ballistic potential can devastate entire fleets in minutes, its only drawback a logistical dependency on ammunition.

Onslaught crews are proud to serve in the class which forms the backbone of the Hegemony Navy.

–In-Game Description

A survivor of the original 14th Domain Battlegroup which founded the Hegemony, this ship is a prime specimen of the Domain Navy's 'decisive battle' doctrine, particularly exhibited by a series of radical structural modifications performed using pre-Collapse industrial technology.

A venerable design the Onslaught-class battleships were first created to serve the Domain of Man eons ago, before the development of advanced strike weapons, fighter craft, modern energy weapons, and shield systems.

When first launched from orbital dock, they must have surely dwarfed any other ship in existence and intimidated entire systems. Some even say that they were built to combat non-humans in a long forgotten war, in which the Domain was triumphant. Much later, Domain engineers made modifications to the blueprints to include a shield system, upgrade the FTL drives and reduce the necessary crew complement. Even with other battleship blueprints available to the Sector, the Onslaught remains the easiest to manufacture due to the brutal simplicity of its systems.

A ship designed without shields in mind, built to be able to withstand a heavy barrage of enemy fire and strike back while protecting its crew is much loved by its officers and men. And strike back it can. The Onslaught's unmatched ballistic potential can devastate entire fleets in minutes, its only drawback a logistical dependency on ammunition.

The Onslaught-class proudly serves as the backbone of the Hegemony Navy.

–In-Game Description

Notes[]

The Onslaught is a large low-tech battleship with strong armor and great frontal firepower. Essentially a larger version of the Dominator.

It is slow to maneuver and has a relatively poor shield but its Burn Drive ship system lets it get out of, or into, disadvantageous situations quickly. Care needs to be taken with facings as the Burn Drive is only useful for escaping if facing in a useful direction, or risking burning deeper into the enemy formation.

The Thermal Pulse Cannon (TPC) is an energy weapon built into the Onslaught's hull, two per ship. It provides exceptional frontal firepower at long range when fired in bursts, and is generally superior to modular energy weapons. The TPC benefits from expanded magazines.

If turn speed is urgently required then an Onslaught pilot could potentially actively vent all flux & set weapons to hold fire (X) to take advantage of the zero flux speed boost to turn rate. This maneuver can produce a relatively surprising turn, particularly if paired with Auxiliary Thrusters.

The side large turrets cannot reach a target directly in front of the ship, although turning slightly away from the target will allow them to engage. Escorts are helpful for keeping flanking enemies away from the Onslaught's very vulnerable rear, a defense line with other vessel allows Onslaught to focus on its frontal assault.

The Onslaught has high armor similarly to other Low Tech hulls. This allows Onslaught to confidently fight without needing to raise its shield, which will be necessary at times due to how overfluxed this ship usually is.

Loadout Tips[]

Generic (but effective) Loadout[]

Functions against Capital or Destroyer (with high armor)

  1. Kinetic weapon are to be set autofire to steadily dispose of enemy shield
  2. Annihilator rockets are essential in quickly disposing other capital. Activate this once the enemy's flux are halfway full and this will screw your opponents ability to keep their shield up and quickly destroy them
  3. TPC may be used as a complement to finish the job even quicker, but should not activated when you are fighting multiple enemy because it will likely burn your flux
  4. Turn off the kinetic weapon's autofire should your flux get up too high and let flux fall down a bit for venting

Function against anything smaller than a destroyer

  1. Leave the Kinetic weapons on autofire (this will pretty much kill any enemy approaching while conserving your flux)
  2. Devastator cannon will quickly dispatch enemy fighter and can even destroy frigates close enough to you

General Loadout[]

Onslaught loadout1

This loadout can deal both High Explosive and Kinetic damage at reasonable range.

4 Annihilator Rocket Pods, when set on autofire will keep pressure on target and will force it to keep its shield up, allowing you to fire TPCs (Thermal Pulse Cannons) and your other weapons at enemy without fear of retaliation.

Integrated Targeting Unit is here to increase range of your guns, giving you large advantage over cruisers and smaller ships, while keeping range similar to other capital ships. If you don't have Integrated Targeting Unit, consider using Dedicated Targeting Core, which is available from start and provides smaller range bonus. Resistant Flux Conduits cause you to vent faster when you'll use active venting ("V" in default settings) and provides 50% EMP damage resistance, which means you can drop shield and use armour to tank some damage, even if enemy has EMP weapons (Ion Cannons, Ion Beam)

Insulated Engine Assembly is here to give more health to vulnerable engines. They are exposed and this weakness can be exploited easily.

Armored Weapon Mounts make your weapons harder to disable, which combined with 50% EMP damage resistance mentioned earlier, makes for dangerous combination. Trade-off is that your turreted weapons move 25% slower.

High amount of capacitors and vents allows you to stay in combat longer without many problems.

Point Defense weaponry should take care of enemy missiles, torpedoes and unshielded fighters.

If you don't have Heavy Maulers, consider putting Heavy Autocannons for more kinetic damage or Flak Cannons / Dual Flak Cannons if you expect large missile barrages or strong fighter force.

Annihilators are best used against cruisers and other capital ships. You may want to disable the autofire on annihilators (CTRL + 2 in this case) when fighting frigates and destroyers.

Weapon groups that I recommend to use:

  1. TPCs in first weapon group, linked, autofire disabled
  2. Annihilator Missile Pods in second group, alternating, autofire enabled
  3. Both Mark IX Autocannons and Hellbore Cannon, linked, autofire disabled
  4. Heavy Mortars, Heavy Autocannon and Maulers, linked, autofire enabled
  5. All Point Defense weapons, linked, autofire enabled

This weapon group setting allows you, the player to pilot it rather efficiently. You only have to use the TPCs and Large weapons. AI will control the rest of your weaponry.

Task Force Safeguard contains a unique XIV Battlegroup Onslaught, operated by an AI Core, that can be recovered after defeating the force. This Onslaught doesn't count towards the automated ship limit, but has several D mods that cannot be removed via restoration.

Change History[]

0.97a

  • Updated Sprite

0.95a

  • Reduced arc of side-facing large turrets
  • Added built-in Heavy Ballistics Integration

0.9a

  • Increased crew required to 750 (was: 500)
  • Increased maximum crew to 1500 (was 1250)


Icon check temp

Only up to date for version 0.96. It is likely still broadly correct but not verified for the most up to date data yet. Please double check the Version History.


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