Long Range
Intro
Long Range Frigates (or LRFs) do exactly what their description suggests. They have long range special weapons designed to deal damage from far away, and are unique in that these abilities vary depending on whether the LRF is Empire or Jericho. However they are slow and have poor defense, so any enemy that closes with them will make short work of them.
All LRFs are slow, fragile and difficult to move in to position. The disintegrator has the potential to do much more damage, but requires line of sight with the target and is easily traced back to its source, so is easy to hide from. Guided torpedoes do considerably lower damage over time, though they can do it with an area of effect, and can steer around corners, but the torpedo is almost completely neutralised by Guard frigates. Unlike other Frigates, LRFs are equipped with 6 turrets and often have multiple CPU slots to boost dmg further, so their damage with conventional weapons is quite high and it is possible to be very effective at mid range just with regular weapons, going into brawl should be avoided though..
The Empire produce LRFs armed with disintegrators, while Jericho produce LRFs armed with guided torpedoes.
The Empire Wardens and Jericho Raid offer Mk 3 LRF modules.
Equipment
Disintegrator
The Disintegrator is the long range weapon of Empire LRFs. It is essentially a frigate-sized sniper rifle. When used, the LRF will stop moving and the view switches to a zoomed in scope. You can't move while in scope mode (Fun fact - AI bots can move and snipe in the same time :) )! The disintegrator fires a focused beam of thermal energy that deals heavy damage. The Disintegrator gives off a telltale laser sight when aimed near someone, allowing them to see if they're about to be sniped and from which direction, so after shooting a few enemies, it is a good idea to relocate. Disintegrator does additional dmg to Destroyers, almost double the dmg, acting like a anti armored artillery.
Guided Torpedo
The Guided Torpedo is the long range weapon of Jericho LRFs. When fired the view switches to that of the torpedo and the pilot can then steer the torpedo to its target. Torpedo can be manually detonated or it will detonate if directly hit the enemy or obstacle. When detonated it deals high damage in a 300m radius, and produces a heat cloud that continues to deal moderate damage in that radius for about 5 seconds. Torpedoes can be used to hit enemies around cover, flush opponents away from beacons (with the lingering AoE damage), and can even be used to scout ahead! The main weakness of the torpedo is that it can be shot down by Guard frigates' Anti-Missile Systems, so it should not be used on targets with Guards near them, IR-Flares as well counter torpedos, when flares are used in line o f sight, player will lose control of the torpedo. Unlike the Disintegrator, the Guided Torpedo does not give a visual reference to enemies (aside from the big missile gliding towards them), but instead sets off the "Missile Incoming" audio alarm. Attentive players will hear the alarm, but notice that the "Missile Incoming" icon will be missing (which only comes on when a lock-on missile is launched)... meaning a Guided Torpedo is heading their way. While guiding a torpedo, which may take about 10 seconds to expand all fuel, pay attention to HP bars that are still visible during torpedo flight, it is quite often that smarter opponents will wait for a Jericho LRF launch a torpedo and assassinate them while they are busy sterring it. If there is any sight of taking dmg to your mother-ship - detonate a torpedo immediately and start responding to a threat in range. Torpedo Explosion does double dmg to Destroyers and since most of the destroyers are very slow to move away, radioactive cloud will do considerable addition dmg to them.
Weapon Overcharge
The Weapon Overcharge greatly improves the damage of the LRF's special ability when it is next used.
Activate it before you fire... using it while guiding a torpedo (or while a Disintegrator charge is in flight) will not affect it.
Tachyon Charge
The Tachyon Charge greatly improves the shot speed of the LRF's special ability when it is next used.
This reduced the lead required for Disintegrator shots. It may or may not be helpful on Jericho LRFs, since it increases the speed of the torpedo (making it get to the target quicker, but drastically reduces missile maneuverability).
IR Pulsar
The IR Pulsar disables the targeting systems of any enemy currently locked on to the LRF.
EM Scattering Field
The EM Scattering Field hides the LRF from enemy sensors and prevents any enemies from locking on to it. Unlike other stealth and cloaking devices it is not broken by firing, but it is broken if the LRF's engines are used. You can freely rotate your ship and fire at enemies without breaking the EM Scattering Field's activation. But any use of engines (e.g. the WASD keys, as well as the SPACE and ALT keys) will break the effect. Also, inertia from movement PRIOR to activating the EM Field will NOT break the effect.
In Open Space, AI enemies CAN see through the Scattering Field, and will still attack like normal once alerted. However, the EM field will prevent enemies from firing guided missiles (and launching negative effects) at you.
Reverse thrusters
After a slight delay teleport a LRF backwards up to 6000m , if there is an obstacle on the way, LRF will be teleport-ed right next to it. Since this is not a "micro warp" like recon has, LRF can not thud into anything. While teleport is prepared all resistances are significantly lowered, making ship vulnerable to incoming dmg.
Player Opinion and Gameplay
The bane of large, slow targets like Destroyers and other Frigates, LRFs are perfect for players who either like to snipe (Empire) or strike from a distance while behind cover (Jericho). Very weak and an easy target for even interceptors (especially Covert Ops), LRFs are quite bad at front-line fighting. Instead of charging into a fight, use cover and the 3D aspect of the game's maps to get unexpected angles on enemies while remaining largely unseen. Then, support the fight from a distance. If you think that you have been spotted, which happens a lot with Empire frigates (who are easy to spot due to the laser they show), move to another position and keep shooting. Minefields are a great missile slot weapon, since they will protect you from close in enemies and can act as a warning that someone is closing in on you. Pairs well with a Recon to spot targets for you, since your view range is rather bad.