Starter Fleet Guide:Wulfenite
Wulfenite Squadron
Difficulty: Hard
Pros at a Glance
* Varied arsenal * Good Firepower and Utility * Combines both Scouting and Craft
Cons at a Glance
* Complicated Fleet: Players need to manage direct combatants and carrier operations. * Less cappers than a dedicated cap fleet * Less craft than a dedicated carrier fleet
Community Maintainer: SecretMink
Wulfenite Squadron introduces the Journeyman class Light Carrier and is intended to represent the archetype of a "Journeyman fleet" which is a Protectorate fleet either equipped to support the seizure or protection of capture points, or a Protectorate fleet with one or two main combatants and a Journeyman supporting them.
Craft
B-45B "Inquisitor II" Sturgeon
Wulfenite's punch is in it's "Inquisitor" Sturgeon bombers. Unlike it's sister fleet Amethyst Squadron, these bombers torpedoes are high-cork, short ranged torps intended to be fired at light targets such as Keystone destroyers, Frigates, or isolated Light cruisers. You could use them versus heavy targets, but the fact they are Active-Radar Command Validated missiles means they are more vulnerable to softkill measures and Interruptor Jammers.
If you do find a disabled capital ship however, Wulfenite can finish them of with its "Anti-Heavy Finisher" loadout which will use a cocktail of missiles intended to jam enemy point defense, distract their turrets, before unloading Cluster Bomblets and Bombs onto the target. Finally, for an additional punch against ANS lighter assets, the Inquisitors can take 100mm High Explosive guns to strafe ANS Sprinters.
PF-386A "Arbiter VI" Barracuda
Wulfenite's "Arbiter" Barracuda fighters are equipped with 4 loadout types. Two of them "Homeguard Escort" and "Standoff Superiority" are essentially the same loadout with one critical difference; their speed. Homeguard Escort goes over the loadout penalty limit to sport jammers, fuel pods, and a longer arming time. They both employ SDM-100 standoff missiles. Toggle them to launch their missiles "Standoff" rather than "Standin" for best effect and they can hit enemy ANS craft out of the sky before needing to engage up close.
As a backup, Wulfenite's fighters have a "Rocket Strike" backup to disable light ANS ships such as Sprinters, and a minimally Gun-only armed "Jammer Scramble" loadout. It is advised to only sortie strike or jammer loadouts once you have confirmed a lack of enemy aircraft, as those roles will attrition your fighter count quickly and could leave you without the air power to contest an enemy carrier if employed too early.
RS-35R "Oasis" Halberds
To spot targets, Amethyst has 2 "Oasis" Advanced Radar skiffs with 8km radars. These are essentially the long-range radar craft the OSP has access to instead of the Sundial. Keep them safe with fighter escort. These are your most valuable craft so do not overextend them. They can be used to scout for your allies, and serve as the primary enabler of your standoff ASF package.
Make sure to set your "Oasis" skiffs to the "JUKE" posture as that will enable them to dodge ballistic anticraft measures at range. Skiffs, like all craft, can also exist outside of the withdraw line indefinitely, so do not be afraid to path them outside the map if it gets you a better angle.
Missiles
SDM-122 Spamraam
A SDM-1 Lunge Boosted Missile with a Steerable Active Radar Seeker and a size 4 Blast Fragmentation warhead. The same missile found in Amethyst Squadron
Used for air to air combat, Spamraams are your long range anti-craft missiles and are employed in the two standoff loadouts available to your Barracudas.
As only one seeker is made available to SDM1 missiles, a Steerable Active Radar Seeker is chosen for the Spamraam. Steerable ACT in this case has no extra cost penalty over Fixed ACT, and is inexpensive enough while conferring a high enough kill rate to be a functional mainstay for your craft to craft engagements. However, the lack of backup seeker or reject un-validated targets setting on the seeker means this missile is vulnerable to being staged early by radar jamming, instead of going straight until a valid target appears or the primary seeker gets close enough to burn through the jamming.
The missile's tunings contribute to its effective kill rate, being sufficient to chase down enemy fighters and bombers while staying maneuverable enough to hit them despite any evasion they perform.
SGT-3 Bolas
A SGT-300 Pilum Torpedo with Fixed Active Radar Seeker!/[Command Validator] and a size 5 HE Impact warhead.
Bolas' are your primary offensive tool. Their use is straightforward: fire them off of bombers, keep the bombers on target to guide them into a track.
Bolas use the Fixed Active Radar Seeker!/[ Command Validator ] guidance package, which makes them a Straight-runner missile due to the reject setting on its primary seeker, indicated here by the "!" symbol. Combined with the Command Validator, this ensures no false returns induced by radar jamming or decoys will be considered valid targets by the missile, and it will continue to run straight as it waits for a valid target to present itself. When the Command Validator itself is jammed, the Fixed Active Radar Seeker will be unable to consider anything it sees as valid due to the reject setting, and it will continue to run straight as it waits for a valid target to present itself. As such, it will not stage under these conditions. Only when both Fixed Active Radar Seeker and Command Validator are jammed simultaneously will the missile consider itself to be jammed and begin to wiggle wildly.
Bolas handle penetration of enemy hardkill via two different ways: the first is deployment in higher mass, as covered with the Inquisitor Sturgeon. The second is by their engine configuration and terminal maneuvers, which together give them a very maneuverable cork terminal for defeating kinetic hardkill solutions. About 3.1G of turn rate yields enough maneuverability for cork to work consistently, while 222 m/s is on the fast end for a cork torpedo.
SGM-2 Banshee
An offensive pen-aid iteration on the SGM-200 Tempest Missile with a Anti-Radiation Seeker with a Self-Screening Jammer and a size 5 HE Impact warhead.
Its Fixed Anti-Radiation Seeker will prioritize radar emissions. By technicality, this missile is a Straight-runner. The lack of the expected Fixed Active Radar Seeker backup that would keep guiding the missile onto any any radar signature if no emitting target is present means that without any emitting target it will simply go straight in the last direction it was guiding in before the target EMCON'd unless decoyed. However, because the Anti-Radiation Seeker is direction only and has no range information, it will not be leading the target accurately unless said target is stationary, so it will usually miss once it goes straight even if not decoyed
The addition of the warhead is technically unnecessary, as it adds cost and a single seeker missile like this is unlikely to hit, but it does have one important function: Craft AI uses missile warheads to determine how the weapon should be used. If it did not have a warhead, the craft AI would consider it to have no specific target and would fire it at craft whenever it came under attack.
SGM-1 Scorch
A CMD4BF Anti-Missile Missile with a Command Receiver and a size 4 Blast Fragmentation warhead. The same missile found in Amethyst Squadron.
As only one seeker is made available to SGM1 missiles, a Command Receiver is chosen for this AMM. CMD in this provides mid-course guidance reducing the odds of the AMM rangeing-out before it hits. It is not seduced by Missile and Bomber launched Decoys, moreover, it can only be blinded by radar jamming if your team's radar track on the threat is lost.
This CMD4BF Anti-Missile Missile is a defensive AMM programmed to intercept SGM-H-200 Cyclone Hybrid Missiles (One per), SGM-H-300 Atlatl Hybrid Missiles (Two per), and Tanto Interceptors (one per). Its size 4 warhead is sufficient to kill any of the listed missiles in one shot, but its basic size 4 Blast Fragmentation warhead is unreliable against small missile targets and often will take 2 or more hits to defeat them, as HE-Frag warheads will deal 0 damage on a failed roll to missiles instead of half-damage as they deal to craft. Its armor penetration is insufficient for defeating SGT-300 Pilum Torpedoes, which make take 5 successful intercepts to defeat, in practice likely to be as many as 10 intercepts.
This tuning is an Anti-Craft Missile tuning, trading the agility needed to hit terminal phase hybrids for the range to more reliably hit craft. In this role its size 4 Blast Fragmentation warhead will perform much better, able to reliably one or two-shot a Tanto Interceptor or in 5-6 shots kill a Claymore Bomber.
SGM-1 Ceremonial Arming Missile
A SGM-100 Balestra Missile with a Wake-Homing Seeker and a size 4 HE Impact warhead. This missile is not intended for offensive usage, or indeed any usage at all during a typical match. Arming missiles exist so that a ship with an arming missile counts as being offensively armed, an important feature in the Control game-mode most multiplayer matches take place within. Thus, firing this missile is not advisable, besides in very niche circumstances.
Ships & Usage
Journeyman Light Carriers: The Bar Is In Hell & More Is Never Less
Journeyman or "Journeymen" are converted ore barges. They are also the smallest ship considered a carrier in the game, which means they come equipped as part of their hull with craft repair facilities. This does mean their craft tend to be outnumbered by even Alliance Levy-class carriers.
Wulfenite gets around this disadvantage by bringing two Journeymen class light carriers so that it has enough craft numbers to fight single Levies like Task Force Maple.
Each of Wulfenite's Journeyman carriers is equipped with 12 Barracuda "Arbiter" Fighters, 6 Sturgeon "inquisitor" Bombers and 1 Halberd "Oasis" Skiff, allowing for a total wing of 24 fighters, 12 bombers and 2 skiffs.
These are intended to support allied fleets in targeting ANS warships taking capture points, or lighter ANS scouting or backline assets. They can also be used to escort and protect your own 3 Gun-armed Ferryman-class shuttles which can be used to capture points and get into the enemy's backline.
Capping Shuttles: In Your Base, In Your Walls, & It's Free Real Estate
Wulfenite Squadron sports 3 "gun capper" Ferryman class shuttles, intended to leverage the space created by your strike craft. Wherever a wing of Inquisitors are looking to make trouble, one of these shuttles should not be far behind. This is especially true if the bomber mission is to remove an enemy light asset within or nearby a capture point. Swoop in with a shuttle and take that cleared space as soon as you possibly can.
The key difficulty with Wulfenite is that while its craft loadouts are well-optimized, the fact there are two carriers to manage will make micro tricky. Some practice against the computer may be warranted before taking this into a multiplayer match. Moreover, while the fleet has a punch and can murder ANS light assets, it does not have as many tools for dealing with ANS heavy assets.
Still, Wulfenite is a very good fleet for keeping map awareness whilst having a bit of punch. Target down ANS Sprinters, Raines, and hunt down those pesky Beam Keystones. Those in particular need to die so OSP can advance.
Trivia: Wulfenite used to have an Ocello, a monitor equipped with decoys, and three rocket shuttles.
In Game Description
Wulfenite Squadron is a support fleet designed to provide void superiority and objective dominance, letting the team's battleline focus on doing what it does best. The two light carriers can contest void superiority with long range craft-to-craft missiles, strike smaller ships with torpedoes, and provide sensor coverage for the team. Separating the Journeymen to cover more ground is advised, although their launches can alternatively be concentrated together to punch out larger targets. Meanwhile several gun shuttles can move around the edge of the main battle to capture objectives and harass the enemy backline. They are highly vulnerable to missiles and light cannons, and should stick to cover whenever possible. This squadron rewards a sneaky commander who can fight in several places at once.
