' Wrote:I've thought about this a lot, and have come up with the following:
VHF's are supposed to be good against Bombers, and yet Bombers can mount 4 codes and fire them continuosly without energy issues, and have mines to shake off pursuers.
Solution? Change Bomber's to have one CD and one Class 6 Turret slot. MAke the Turret slot to only be able to fire forwards, and change SNAC's, MR's and Inferno's to Class 6 turrets. Now, make SNAC's, MR's and Inferno's take up about the same % of energy as now, but from a VHF powercore. Change the bombers to have VHF powercores, and now Bomber's have their Anti-Cap weapons only they can use, and yet arn't so good against fighters. Possibly also remove Mine slot.
Gunboats good against VHF's.
Possibly slow down Gunboat weaponry, making it easier for VHF's to dodge. Have gunboat's specialise against Bombers by having their slow weapons better against the slower bombers than against the faster VHF's.
HF's weak against VHF's: Give HF's twin mines, and perhaps faster impulse speed, allowing them to really give VHF's a run for their money.
LF's weak against all: Give LF's twin thrusters, giving them speed that just can't be rivalled. Should make them more powerful.
Cruiser's and Battleships are pretty equally balanced, except against each other imo, I dislike the fact you have to have a HM to win a battle now, and light Bs's are useless against Heavy ones in 4.85, whereas in 4.84 I could solo an Outcast Dread in the San Fran D:
But that's not so important. Opinions on the Fighter/Bomber/Gunboat ideas?
I like the fighter and bomber ideas. Especially making the MR bomber only as well.
Possibly slow down Gunboat weaponry, making it easier for VHF's to dodge. Have gunboat's specialise against Bombers by having their slow weapons better against the slower bombers than against the faster VHF's.
and this:
' Wrote:Nerf gunboats vs fighters: Why would you do this? This is what they are for.
Should they ultimately be the uber fighter/bomber killing vessels? I thought this was what fighters were supposed to do...if a gunboat/ship can happily kill a bomber 1v1, imagine with that shield in a fleet engagement.
The "not so useful in mass fights" doesn't roll...simply replace every VHF deployed with a GB (the infocards imply this is feasible...), and try 1 BS, 2 cruisers, 5 bombers, 5 fighters vs 1 BS, 2 cruisers, 5 bombers, 5 GBs...GBs have more armour and shielding than VHFs and thus survive for longer against capship fire, meaning they have more time to take out the enemy bombers...and they can even act as bombers in the event of all your bombers being lost (especially the ones with forward guns).
From an RP perspective, if you can produce such an effective anti-fighter platform in such large numbers, why are our factories still producing VHFs? Why don't they all just switch over to gunboats?...
Anyways, what I'm concerned about is this:
and this:
Should they ultimately be the uber fighter/bomber killing vessels? I thought this was what fighters were supposed to do...if a gunboat/ship can happily kill a bomber 1v1, imagine with that shield in a fleet engagement.
The "not so useful in mass fights" doesn't roll...simply replace every VHF deployed with a GB (the infocards imply this is feasible...), and try 1 BS, 2 cruisers, 5 bombers, 5 fighters vs 1 BS, 2 cruisers, 5 bombers, 5 GBs...GBs have more armour and shielding than VHFs and thus survive for longer against capship fire, meaning they have more time to take out the enemy bombers...and they can even act as bombers in the event of all your bombers being lost (especially the ones with forward guns).
From an RP perspective, if you can produce such an effective anti-fighter platform in such large numbers, why are our factories still producing VHFs? Why don't they all just switch over to gunboats?...
VHF's have better survivability in almost all situations compared to a Gunboat. VHF's still have a purpose, even if it is a diminished one.
Aren't gunboats supposed to be pretty rare?
Yeah they're 'better' but I don't think that's a problem, since players mostly still use fighters/bombers, which is nice and noble of them, and also as has been pointed out, gunboats get swarmed at the beginning of fights. And even if they didn't, as people have also said, they go down far, far easier to bombers than fighters do.
Quote:Liberty Gunboats were built in mass numbers for several centuries
Quote:Built in large numbers by the Bretonian Armed Forces, this class serves as a reliable sentry force as well as an effective method of mass deployment.
Quote:In an effort to better enforce the will of the Emperor, the Kusari Naval Forces developed this ship. In large numbers they are particularly devastating.
Quote:Aspired to replace the aging dromedary model which is still the mainstay of the Zoners' traders fleet, the model was placed in limited numbers upon the open market for purchase by trusted pilots.
(ok, "aspired to replace", not yet replaced, but...)
Quote:this successful class rapidly became the most produced capital class vessel in the Order.
Quote:Compact and efficient, this ship was the first gunboat-class warship developed by the Bounty Hunters Guild.
In fact, of all the house gunboats, only the Rheinland one doesn't mention mass production/large scale use...
Gunboats are the VHF of capital ships, they're not that great alone, but in numbers they're a swarm. They're cheaper, faster, but not better 1-1. Think of it as an upgrade from a VHF, swarm of VHF can kill gunboats or even cruisers, but a swarm wont hit a BS, Gunboats can and I actually think gunboats shouldnt be that great against fighters, I just see it as a cheap capital ship used enmasse, its just variety.
Just because a force can only build small ships, doesnt mean that force is to be weaker than other forces, doesnt seem to be any definitive x > y but y > z > x system, because not all factions can build Y. Granted, I dont think gunboats should ever be as they was, right now it seems alright. Unfortunately it just requires you outnumber your foe, or find a way to even the odds, have bombers soften up their fleet while your gunboats keep their distance (they can, thanks to their new speed).
This is a multiplayer game, teamwork is useful, even for people who arent amazing at PVP, BAF does great because of group training and following orders, having everyone shooting their own target is silly, this is not a game for dueling.
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