Datasheet for Clichés

Updated 2024/03/26

 

Design: Very hard. While not my first time building such a ship, I spent a lot of time on micro-optimizations, squeezing every last credit that I unreasonably could out of every module. It's also my first ship to make use of full crew detach, meaning there are zero onboard crew quarters whatsoever. Long plagued by "crew bug", full crew detach solves this issue by never allowing crew to reassign to a different role. Cliches features an unusual 14/16 HL/EB armament with 8 small cannons to assist with shredding internal components. Figuring out the most efficient way to design these modules and link them together was an immense challenge that surpasses most, if not all of my previous builds. It also has a new, quite nifty feature, see below.

Piloting: Master. Unlike the modern LS pretasking avoiders, there is absolutely zero margin for error when piloting this ship. I personally still struggle to use this ship to even half of its max potential. Damage spreading is absolutely, 100% required and must be performed at least reasonably well in order not to allow one module's shields to all go down at once. Although it has a lot of boost, the thrusters struggle to recharge after boosting and thus should only be used in moderation, primarily for emergencies. With no side armor, any high-angle tilt is very risky, even if you know what you are doing. Although railguns are the biggest threat, one should also watch out for flak, chainguns, ions, nukes, or any other damage source that can penetrate the small shields directly.

Despite the steep learning curve, this thing is an absolute blast to fly. Setting up the crew detach, however, is a giant pain. To help with this, I've included a hotkey and setup guide below to make everyone's lives a bit easier.

This ship is my first time experimenting with airlock-based adjustable crew distribution. Cannon supply crew can be rerouted during the setup process to become extra energy supply crew for matchups where cannon reload is less important. No crew assignment tweaking is required, simply follow the setup instructions listed below the changelog.

 

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CHANGELOG - Cliches by Antithesis

2024/03/26 - - -

- Updated to v1.5, new ship file and updated guide.
>> For some reason the site will not let me add a new ship file, just ask me for it on discord if you want it, my dms are open - Antithesis or water3833
- Airlock detach for thruster crew replaced with corridor detach for faster setup time. This makes the ship around 2-3 tons lighter, and makes the setup process around 20 seconds faster.
- Thrusters no longer need to be autofired to pull supply crew, replaced by toggling some boost thrusters on and off.
- Hotkeys updated, hotkey list added before setup guide.
- Slightly rearranged the top crew detach module to allow slightly faster pulling of laser supply crew.
>> VERY IMPORTANT - SPECIAL CREW TO WATCH FOR ARE NOW ORANGE INSTEAD OF GREEN.wd
- Switched the weapon detach HL on hotkey 8 to the left side instead of the right.
- Changed the cannons bound to the single cannon hotkey to the ones closer to their modules' airlocks.
- Changed the formatting to be more readable, and fixed some minor spelling issues.

 

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HOTKEYS - Cliches v1.5 by Antithesis

1 - All Weapons, Alternate Boost 2, explosive charges
>> Used for targeting all weapons, activating the second half of the alternating boost system, and detaching thruster crew.

2 - All Cannons, Alternate Boost 2, explosive charges
>> Used for targeting cannons, activating second half of alternating boost system, and detaching thruster crew.

3 - All EB/HL, Alternate Boost 2, explosive charges
>> Used for targeting HL/EB, activating second half of alternating boost system, and detaching thruster crew.

4 - Alternate Boost 1
>> Used for pulling thruster supply crew but can also be used to alternate boost.

5 - All SS, Main Crew Module Detach HL
>> Used to pull energy module supply crew, and to detach weapon and shield supply crew without using an explosive charge.

6 - Cannon Module Airlocks
>> Used to trap cannon supply crew in their modules.

7 - Energy Module Airlocks
>> Used to trap energy module supply crew in their modules.

8 - Half of Cannons
>> Used to pull 1 cannon supply crew instead of 2 when more energy supply crew are desired.

9 - Left Third of Weapons, Alternate Boost 1
>> Used to micro weapon targeting in a ram

0 - Right Third of Weapons, Alternate Boost 1
>> Used to micro weapon targeting in a ram

 

SETUP GUIDE - Cliches v1.5 by Antithesis

The ship file comes pre-configured for all the following steps, DO NOT TOUCH ANY SETTINGS OR THE SETUP MAY FAIL.

NOTE: THE CURRENT SHIP FILE IS OUTDATED, SEE CHANGELOG.

 

1) Select hotkey 1 and quickly toggle boost on and off to drain its power. Once all crew have left the detachable crew module, select hotkey 1, 2, or 3 and detonate the charge to detach it.

2) You may choose your crew distribution here.

> If you want normal crew distribution, proceed to step 2.1.

> If you want more energy supply crew and fewer cannon crew, proceed to step 2.2.

> If you want even more energy supply crew, proceed to step 2.3.

2.1) Select hotkey 2 and fire one shot from all selected cannons. Next, select hotkey 5, and wait for two crew to fully enter each cannon module. Toggle off the airlocks after all crew are on board. Proceed to step 4.

2.2) Select hotkey 7 and fire one shot from all selected cannons. Next, select hotkey 5, and wait for one crew to fully enter each cannon module. Toggle off the airlocks after all crew are on board. Proceed to step 4.

2.3) Verify that all cannon operator crew are on board, then select hotkey 5 and toggle the airlocks off. Proceed to step 4.

Note: Crew will pick up ammo before entering the airlocks, so verify that all crew are actually inside the ship before turning off the airlocks on hotkey 6.

Note: If you selected step 3.3 to use no cannon supply crew, you can toggle off the cannons on hotkey 2 while out of battle to force operator crew to reload them. Do not toggle off the boost thrusters.

Note: While it's possible to use more than 2 cannon supply crew per module, doing so is a waste as 2 crew provides perfect uptime.

3) Select hotkey 5 and turn on the small shields. 

4) Select hotkey 3 and autofire all selected weapons, quickly select hotkey 7, then watch the orange supply crew. Make sure that exactly two of them go to each central weapon module. Once all the orange crew are inside the ship, wait for all crew to board the ship, then turn off the airlocks on hotkey 7. Then, select hotkey 3 and disable autofire on the selected weapons.

Note: If more orange supply crew end up on one side than the other, continue autofiring the weapons on hotkey 3 until their numbers are equal, time permitting. If the steps are done in the listed order, the orange crew should split evenly every time.

5) Select hotkey 5 and target the green crew quarters, marked with an “X” decal, and wait until the structure attachment is destroyed. Happy battling!

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Huge thank you to Juni for inspiring me to build one of these and helping to optimize early versions of the ship :p