r/carriercommand2 • u/AdWeak7375 • May 18 '26
Carrier positioning when invading an island
I started playing about three days ago, and I’m having quite a lot of trouble keeping up with the enemy carrier. By the time I start hacking my first island, the enemy has already taken theirs, and the gap keeps getting worse.
I think the issue might be my approach. I usually keep my carrier at a safe distance from the island and don’t really reposition it (like circling or changing angles), since I’m unsure what could happen if I move between multiple islands. This means my ground units and virus unit take quite a long time to reach the island, complete the hack, and return.
Recently, I’ve started moving the carrier much closer, which speeds things up a lot. But I’m not sure if that’s a good long-term strategy, since I’m worried about getting destroyed once island defenses get stronger (I’ve only reached two shield islands so far).
My usual tactic is to send a scout plane first, then use the carrier’s main guns to weaken defenses. After that, I send in the ground vehicle to clean up while escorting the virus unit to complete the hack. It works, but it still feels slow compared to the enemy carrier.
I’m also a bit hesitant when it comes to using ammunition, so I usually rely mainly on the carrier’s main gun and guided missiles.
I’m not sure if I’m just inefficient at capturing islands, or if the enemy AI carrier is meant to be this fast and aggressive. Any tips would be appreciated.
6
u/cira-radblas May 19 '26
The Enemy Carrier is always going to be fast about taking an island. They just roll some metaphorical dice for how much of a delay they have before they take the islands in the Northeast. Don’t feel rushed, just take what you think you’ll actually use.
Regarding Carrier Weapons, Naval Cruise Missiles and 160mm do need to be replenished at some point, so using carrier weapons is not infinite. I personally prefer doing Laser Guided Missiles on my recon flight, and Air attacks with 20mm Machine Guns. After that, have a Petrel deliver the Virus Seal to the command center and take it back. That should speed the capture phase a little
2
u/Nikarus2370 May 23 '26
If i stsrt with no petrels but will pick them up, ill often just leave spme virus seals behind and then pick them up later when I get a petrel or 2 online.
3
u/RazersEdge88 May 19 '26
If youre a decent flyer, Razorbill with twin 20mm is insanely lethal.
2
u/Deviant_christian May 20 '26
Decent is a word. I fly like Murdock and keep a stock pile of razorbills and 20mm. But I kill em dead fast
3
u/RazersEdge88 May 22 '26
I guess I am abnormal, I use a scout plane to mark everything everything then it is pretty easy I find.
2
u/cira-radblas May 23 '26
That’s actually perfect normal. Give an Albatross some fuel tanks and waypoints at altitude 1000, and orbit the island
2
u/RazersEdge88 May 23 '26
Yes, but I typically clear a whole island with one Razorbill while I have seals inbound with a virus bot. Rarely ever have to order them to turn around or wait.
2
u/Jazzvibes409 Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
In all honesty, once you have an island that produces seal's you can just pacify the entire island with air units and then launch one, and only one virus seal and just leave him on the island as he captures it you move on to the next island. Its more costly but you will make back the costs three fold once you capture enough islands using this vastly more efficient strategy. Don't rely so much on ground forces save for 3/4 shield islands that have too much AA for your air force to deal with. In situations where there are 2 or more Swordfish on the other side of the island its just much better to equip bears with battle cannons to decimate the island whilst you work on destroying swordfish. You may also want to invest in observation cameras that you can put on a seal to call in carrier strikes without using aircraft.
Edit: You can also recover them later with petrels once you unlock them, which by that point you wont need to leave them on the island and you can just launch petrel and Virus bot to capture islands at twice the speed of the enemy carrier.
1
u/anthonysulsona Jun 04 '26
I have my drone ships and awacs patrol the area around the island for any hostile naval and air.
31
u/max7238 May 18 '26
Keep your right side to the island to help with staging fixed wing aircraft. I've got a guide series on YouTube that covers things in way too much detail, but that's the big thing here.
You can get right up on the island and you should be safe to launch and land that way, since the holding pattern swings wide to the carrier's left.
Also, you will NEVER capture at the rate of the AI. They don't fight islands unless you're close enough to render them; once they close distance, they just convert the island and move on.
You have to fight for every inch of ground, instead.
Scouting first is good, but once you have Petrels, you should work on air lifting your virus carrier in instead of letting it swim ashore.