Talk:VT-49 Decimator Expansion Pack/@comment-219.89.72.20-20161118220236/@comment-454133-20161118232455

A 100 point fleet of 2 decimators used to be very powerful in tournaments. But like the above commenter said, the meta has shifted a bit. 16 is a lot of damage to deal until they have multiple aces at range 1 that are rolling 4 dice each, with both a focus and target lock. Plus Autothrusters have done a bit of harm to turreted ships' former power. Also decimators are expensive, not only displacing other ships that might go in your fleet, but also granting a lot of half points in tournaments if they manage to deal 8+ damage.

I'd say it's not only a matter of how long it lasts, but how much damage it can do before it goes down to half or death. It's a turreted 3 attack dice ship with a couple of really nice pilot abilities. Min-max the squad points killed to lost ratio and you're dangerous.

Rear Admiral Chiraneau is pretty frightening to ships without much shielding, especially with the right upgrades. Vader works well on a decimator thanks to all that health, so long as you can get the target's shields down. Vader basically makes it a race between depleting your own health, and killing some of the delicate aces that would normally be difficult to chip to death. It's absurd to spend this much, but I've put Vader and Gunner on a Decimator not to use Vader twice, but to maximize the chances of forcing the foe to take chip damage and Vader's crit once per round. It's an extra, free, unavoidable damage if you so much as clip their hull, and the crit could debilitate them.

Kenkirk is more tanky, and Ysanne might help so long as you're not getting stressed and focus-fired. Rebel captive also helps, as it doesn't necessarily stop attackers, but can inhibit them a bit in return. A decimator like this might make a good Palp carrier, really laying on the incentive for enemies to target it, thinking it will go down trivially fast. If they take the bait, use the rest of your fleet to exploit the distracted foes while blasting away with your own turret. That said, I prefer the aggressive decimator over the defensive one.

When I can afford it, I love putting Navigator + Proton Bombs + Extra Munitions on Chiraneau with Veteran Instincts. Any time a PS9 ace gets on your back, gleefully drop a crit bomb and zoom away. You have so much HP and are fast enough, aces are more likely to take risks to get into murder range, and then you can pay it right back. Navigator also helps in moving just far enough that the target loses arc on you, but you can still fire on them at range 1.

It's also worth mentioning, the decimator's maneuver dial is pretty good for a large ship. All white and green, good speed and turn/bank options; with a turret and no arc abilities, you generally don't need to k-turn. Instead focus on moving unpredictably and/or aggressively, forcing aces to work for their shots. Use navigator at high PS to maximize your position. At low PS, position to deliberately make some ships run into you so you're facing fewer shots while you finish off one of their boats.

All that said, a decimator is a pricey ship. You probably shouldn't fill all its upgrade slots, or it's too much investment in one target. Pick a strategy and focus on maximizing the work you get out of the decimator before it dies. Decimators hover around 50 to 60 points, so make sure every point counts. What constitutes a good build is... tough to say. I've rocked with decimators at times, and other times gotten myself wrecked. It depends a lot on what you're facing.