So, it seems there are a number of players who have been frustrated with vettes throughout their evolution and into their current state; they feel they get away with too much. Yet there are also a number of players who see vettes as nothing more than canon fodder; they have found certain ships, modules, and techniques to easily counter them.

In an effort to help the former (those players who feel frustrated with vettes continually taking them by surprise), I thought it might be helpful to start a thread devoted to this purpose: To share tricks/tips/loadouts that players have found to be successful against vettes.

The main defense against vettes isn't a module or an OB or even a ship, its just map awareness. If you are aware of the disposition of both teams around you then a vette has less of a chance of getting the drop on you (which is their best strategy). If you are aware of how a vette pilot thinks you can counter him, and for this reason you should get in a vette yourself and play a few matches even if you don't plan on continuing.

Now, the recent change to the zoom level of the map makes map awareness MUCH more difficult to have. You will have to compensate accordingly by learning the maps and, again, by playing a corvette yourself.

That being said, here is a list of things i use to kill corvettes in order of most-to-least effective per ship type(these ARE NOT COUNTERS, the counter is being aware of them in the first place).

• Corvettes - Main weapons, Blast Pulse, flying skills
• Tactical Cruisers - Nuke/Drain Mines, Blast Pulse, main beam, Tesla Pods, secondaries
• Artillery - Main weapon, turning skills, Secondaries, Mines
• Destroyers - Power to shields + Flak, main weapons, flying skills
• Dreadnoughts - Stasis Pulse, Secondaries, Plasma Broadside

If there is one ship that is better suited to counter vettes, would you say it is the Harwich line? And if so, is there a particular loadout that works best for this purpose, for those looking to build an anti-vette ship?

I really don't think one ship type is better at killing corvettes specifically, but there are definitely ships that are better for killing everything. Ships Like the Medium Artillery and Light Corvettes are really good at killing stuff, so they are also good at killing corvettes.

• Corvette - Light Corvette (Fastest, strongest main weapons)
• Tactical Cruiser - Light Tactical (highest damage beam, is not going to be staring at an ally's back end and thus will have better map awareness)
• Artillery - Medium Artillery
• Destroyer - Any~ destroyer can kill any Corvette, but the light destroyer is better at chasing them
• Dreadnought - Any~ Dreadnought can kill any Corvette, but the light dread is faster and can maneuver to keep broadsides on them better

~When they are at close tiers

The Harwich is a solid counter to corvettes and will soon be a more solid counter. If you're running one tesla pods, mines, and blast pulse are all excellent options to take down a corvette before it can attempt an escape. But, in general, it's being prepared. Tactical cruisers and arties especially tend to have a tunnel-vision issue where they lose awareness of things happening nearby. That is what vettes capitalize on. Noticing a corvette 2-3 seconds before it reaches attack range makes all the difference in the world.
Knowing the right moment to switch to your secondaries is a massive help too. Most secondaries (destroyer and arty flak, tac teslas) drastically increase your chances of beating a vette attack once in range.
Finally there's shields. Having shields vs not having them makes a massive difference for the 3-5 seconds a corvette is applying full burst to you.

I play tac cruiser a lot. If i see a vette near by and i have beam amp i can level them with my main beam. Swapping to secondaries if i get the jump on them but swapping once they are on you means you're dead. i can either kill them or get them close enough another ship near by can finish them off. awareness is the key. If in a tac cruiser everytime you use auto repair cam around and see whats going on. Do not get stuck in the tunnel vision we all have.

When modules are working and not bugged. Stasis missiles, Stasis beams, Purge Beams, Disrupters, Bomb Catapults, Nuke Mines, Tractor Beams, Tractor Pods, Blast Pulses, Well timed Nuclear missiles (nuke yourself with shields) and Flaks but only at very close range. These range from hindrances to legit dangers for them.

As others have said interception is key. If they've already arrived at their target... it's an uphill fight from there. None of that means you'll win. Just increase chances. Good Luck.

Classes that are good against them?
Vindicta for chasing (not to far).
Other destroyers for long rang harassment. Close range melting with flaks.
Dreads broadsides work well if they are dumb enough to get in it's range. Switch to secondary if you have something decent like repeaters.
Artillery is it's bane as much as it's their victim. Straight on Arty wins.
Tacts can be effective and generally good at scaring them off. Most vettes don't like to attack when wounded.

Press F on them. Trust me some of us know you're either calling out a target of opportunity or a threat. I often spin my camera to see who's calling what. Doesn't always work but you can be sure I'll make a circling vette my priority.

Try to never be alone. Even if you spawn alone... rush to your team. Nothing is better than a lone target to a corvette. Remember they strike so fast that even a fringe ship is a decent target. They are counting on your team not paying attention to the further reaches of the group. It's hard to not focus on the enemy turtle. Seriously... police your own artillery if you have to. I've seen them lag behind and I'll idle somewhat near them... using them as bait honestly. Sure enough a vette will come.

Polarissb#3313 posted (#post-117159)
The Harwich is a solid counter to corvettes and will soon be a more solid counter.

I just saw that the Harwich line got a buff. Very nice.

As a vette player myself, the most frustrating encounters I've had with Harwiches were when they went into Armored Lockdown on me. I shoot and shoot and nothing would happen to them. They just casually turn their beams on me and take me down easily.

I would imagine any ship with Armor Lockdown or Armor Amper would be able to withstand the onslaught of an approaching vette, long enough at least to consistently take them down. To be honest, I am surprised that it is not used very much in this way. I've only encountered a few ships who employed this tactic. But in all cases, I died and he lived.

I have 2 counters for Vets. In a game with lots of vets or if my team is struggling against a few I hope in an oberon Vet. Lot's of people hate of them but they are, by far, the best dog-fighters even an average pilot can literally fly circles around the other 2 classes . . . and this is actually how you win, let the enemy overshoot you, and then happily gun him down with you're 360 fire arc while he tries to turn around for another run.

When i'm not playing a Vet, I'm usually in an Arty cruiser. here's my anti-vet strategy.
1. map awareness. Especially with the new extra mini (useless) mini map I am always looking around.
2. Develop pinpoint accuracy. I fly both the oberon arty (a little) and the murometz I consider my main cannon my main tool for all situations, including vet fights. With the oberon this is very easy. But with the Muro it requires constant awareness so you can bring the weapon to bear in time. I spent a lot of time forcing myself to learn how to hit a vet at close, medium, and (sometimes) long range, depending on what the vet is doing. If you can get them under your guns AND you can hit them consistently your chances of survival skyrocket
3. An Anti-vet module/OB loadout. From the above, I rely mostly on my main cannon(s) and not on modules this allows me to equip my snipers of utility tasks. I typically run dive, anti-missile pulse, bomb catapult, and any of the missiles that strike my fancy (usually scramble). for OB the most important is desperate measures. Here's what I do if a vet closes to weapons range.
-Shields up
-missile pulse the torpedoes
-wait till the dude gets close OR stops and settles in for the kill
-Hit dive maneuver, and while diving target the enemy vet, when he's targeted use bomb cat (for extra effectiveness run module amper and briefly switch energy->weapons while the bombs launch.

If the vet has the audacity to actually ram your ship OR get very close immediately bomb-cat, it's actually capable of triggering on enemies that are close to your ship allowing virtually instantaneous burst damage that's often a 1 hit kill.

If you happen to be weak, mess up, or have already used your modules desperate measures is a 2nd chance to win, it's also a good counter to any vets that happen to have it since it gives you another anti-missile pulse to kill their torpedo reload, full energy for more shields, and another shot with bomb-cat + missiles.

I usually don't bother with my secondary weapons except in certain circumstances that kind of depend on my feel at that particular moment, It's hard to hit with them, the range is short, and I find i'm often able to swing the main gun around which is FAR more effective then several rounds of MG or Flak fire.

Incidentally, if you like a more aggressive arty; this build also allows you to play in a manner more akin to a destroyer. It gives you a lot of survivability and burst damage potential up close, which I've used to flush groups of healers more than a few times or turn the tables on a dreadnought that warp-jumps me without support.

want to kill a vette? bring another vette, and kill more than other vettes while you rthere.