+- Discovery Gaming Community (https://discoverygc.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Discovery Development (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=7)
+--- Forum: Discovery Mod General Discussion (https://discoverygc.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=37)
+--- Thread: Discovery 4.79 beta features (/showthread.php?tid=673)
Discovery 4.79 beta features - f2k - 03-23-2006
Well, Ive got two characters with gunboats, one Liberty and the other Rhienland. And having tested them for a few days, all I can say is that I agree with Jamez.
Gunboats handle as a ton of brick now especially the Rhienland one.
Im kind of wondering: whats the point of gunboats? They don't have the power, shield or firepower to survive as a true capital ship. And now they dont have the agility to dogfight either. So, what is it?
I remember how terrified I was in SP when I first meet Rhienland gunboats. These things were big, tough and bristling with firepower. And to make it even worse, they handled nearly as well as I did in a HF or VHF. More than once Ive been on the tail of a gunboat, only to have it turn sharply and unleash a broadside at me. Man, those things were nasty
But now I cant really see the reason to fly a gunboat. Its too small to be a capital ship and its too sluggish to be a fighter. So why even fly a gunboat when a cruiser or VHF would do the job so much better?
Discovery 4.79 beta features - daedalus - 03-23-2006
f2k,Mar 23 2006, 09:15 PM Wrote:But now I cant really see the reason to fly a gunboat. Its too small to be a capital ship and its too sluggish to be a fighter. So why even fly a gunboat when a cruiser or VHF would do the job so much better?They're OK for piracy and attacking traders, especially now they can mount disruptors (though I don't like the idea). Gunboats should have powerful foward guns that can hurt all other cap ships, though it would be best to team up to do that as a bs would win a 1v1. I think the forward guns should be the most powerful in the game, not counting Nova. But I know what you mean, gunboats have never really appealled to me either.
[snapback]14923[/snapback]
Discovery 4.79 beta features - f2k - 03-23-2006
So, basically theyre only good for taking big targets out? I must admit that Ive never used the forward gun. I find it way to difficult to hit with as it doesnt follow the targeting icon.
I actually liked the Liberty gunboat as it was before. It had a decent mix of firepower and agility. It could be outmanoeuvred by fighters and outgunned by capital ships. But it did have one big advantage: it could go into asteroid fields to hunt bad guys something that capital ships could not.
As it is now, they are still capable of flying through an asteroid field when on autopilot. But dog fighting in there is a rather difficult and downright impossible with the Rhienland gunboat.
Discovery 4.79 beta features - Kane - 03-23-2006
Here's a thing for you to try... Mount some missile turrets on your gunboat. I have a Rhinland one with three Britonian missile turrets, and they can take just about any fighter down in one salvo. Plus, using some weapons exclusivly conserves power (Such as only activating the missile turrets, or only activating your forward cannon) so you can fire indefinately or at least a longer ammount of time.
The missile turrets are a life-saver for the capital ships against fighters. The other energy turrets are for other cap ships and such (In my opinion, anyways).
Discovery 4.79 beta features - f2k - 03-23-2006
Actually, I use cruiser missile turrets exclusively on my gunboats. Sure, they eat almost all my power in one salvo, but the resulting explosion is well worth it
Thing is, missiles arent worth anything if you cant target your enemy. As it is, most of my missiles go astray, so unless my target is almost right in front of me and heading either away or preferably towards me, they dont hit anything. And with the changes to gunboat manoeuvrability, Ive found that the best tactic is to simply kill my engines, switch to turret mode and then wait for one of my enemies to approach me head on. And even then the chance of hitting him seems very slim.
Thing is, when your best tactic is to sit still in the middle of a large group of Titans, then things get interesting very quickly
Discovery 4.79 beta features - Circadian_Lupine - 03-23-2006
f2k,Mar 23 2006, 05:07 PM Wrote:Thing is, when your best tactic is to sit still in the middle of a large group of Titans, then things get interesting very quickly
[snapback]14939[/snapback]
When your best tactic is to sit still in the middle of a large group of Titans, it's time to develop new tactics
Discovery 4.79 beta features - f2k - 03-24-2006
I never said that it was a good idea
But what other tactic would you suggest? The gunboat is not agile enough to dogfight with fighters, so the only way to deal with them is through the use of the turrets. And full speed, turret mode, and asteroid field makes for a very bad combo therefore I usually kill my engine before going into turret mode.
Ill be the first to admit that Im not that good a pilot. But my original question still stands: what are gunboats supposed to be used for now? They are not agile enough to function as a fighter, and they are not tough enough to function as a capital ship.
Discovery 4.79 beta features - marauder - 03-24-2006
Try doing missions where you have to destroy a base / a group of weapon platforms and that you don't have to kill the fighters. If you want to do missions against fighters pick ones where you'll have some NPC's back you up.
Discovery 4.79 beta features - daedalus - 03-24-2006
f2k,Mar 24 2006, 08:51 AM Wrote:Ill be the first to admit that Im not that good a pilot. But my original question still stands: what are gunboats supposed to be used for now? They are not agile enough to function as a fighter, and they are not tough enough to function as a capital ship.Also, try mounting the current battleship shield on the gunboat and you won't have to worry about npcs ever again*
[snapback]14973[/snapback]
*until the next update.