Playing with Gridiron's Toy

Let's hope Zoe is not the jealous type...

By: George Argyropoulos

a/k/a Dragon_Bane   

NEWEST BUILD : https://forsakencove.blogspot.com/2017/05/preview.html

In this last update before the Raid, we got to see the final version of the Gridiron Monolith. It is... interesting. On Tuesday's TFC Show we got a little insight as well as an interesting reference to a mechanic of the Gridiron from one of the Developers of Battle Pirates.

After the last Preview Server, where we got a glimpse at the stats, it seemed clear that this hull should be used as a tank for the rest of your Monolith fleet. This was borne out during the show when GD Raikan specifically addressed that topic. He also mentioned an interesting little tidbit about the mechanic of the Gridiron - namely that the buffing field for the other Monos is displaced behind the flag like the Wake Tactical Field on a Monarch. This makes building (and driving) a fleet a tad more complex as the builds have to account for one another while taking this into consideration. I'm not particularly thrilled about the deflection buff NOT being added to the Gridiron, but it is what it is.

In designing this fleet, I went back and forth between the builds to hammer out some key issues and this is what I have for an initial build idea. Lets start with the Gridiron.

Gridiron Monolith:

As we can see, there is a lot going on here. We have the D52-R Missile paired with the Solid Fuel Booster 3 to spot at a range of 98.8. The addition of the Charged M Armor to offset those pesky missiles and a panel of D5-M for the resistance buff as well as a tiny bit of deflection added in.

The Phalanxes and Gails are there for obvious reasons, and the Hailstorm D is there to stagger the Anti-Mortar cycle.

Frontline Countermeasure special is an obvious choice as well as the Hydraulic Resistors and the MX-3 Armor special. I went with Guidance Scrambler over Agility System 4 for build time and, honestly, I did not see a call for the AS4 in these targets. The high velocity rounds is an odd choice, however, I selected it to compliment coverage from the Monoliths in the fleet. It also ensures quicker hits to make the battle a little clearer around your fleet since driving with these will tax your skill if you want to take full advantage of the Flagship's Special Abilities. I AM very tempted to add Thruster 3 in its place, but I think a clearer battlefield may behoove me better. We'll see...

Lastly, we have the Siege Cannon S. I put this on so that the Gridiron will be marginally faster than the Monoliths in the fleet, allowing for, hopefully, an easier time of maneuvering the fleet while also keeping the Monoliths within the 'buff zone' while allowing the fleet to stay 'tight' to maneuver around the mines and map.

Monolith:

This is our DPS hull. The design of the fleet was to have 3 of these to go with the Gridiron. We need to keep this hull behind the Gridiron, in the field the entire time, to take advantage of the splash and critical chance buff of the Gridiron. This build is marginally slower to aid in this. Because we may see some priority targeting in the targets, there is a Charged M armor, some D1-M armors and an MX-3 armor special to buff resistances.

There is a Gail 2 on each of the hulls to stagger and add a bit more coverage for mortars in conjunction with the Gridiron's set-up.

The Combustion System 2, High Velocity Rounds and Viscosity Regulator specials are to maximize damage to the targets and compound with the strength of the Gridiron field and the strength of the O/U mortar. It should make for a powerful combination... if I can drive the bloody things.

I chose to rely on the Combat Mortar O/U - 10 because its characteristics are perfect for the build design and the field that the Gridiron gives, and... critical hits with 150% splash is going to be awesome with this mortar.

Additionally, having only 3 DPS ships allows for the possibility of adding another, secondary, tank to the mix in case future targets have enemy fleets that flank you. You could conceivably run a tank trailing the fleet so that you are not caught with your lead tank out of position in a situation like that.

So - that's the initial thoughts for a build for a Monolith fleet. We have enough tokens to get 3 blank Monoliths out for the VXP weekend and if you can grab the Gridiron on the first day of the raid and then get all the tokens, you could also have that hull out in time for the VXP weekend as well.