I've noticed a nerf in a set of faction guns from the Vanilla ones

[Dab]

We use a lot of Karasus (the HF), it just takes awhile to get used to, and people who aren't good in HFs do pretty poorly in a Karasu. Skill intensive ship.

We use Eagles more than Stingers, yes. But most people like the Eagle more than the Stinger. Also, since the NPCs use Falcons and Eagles, it's not like it's OORP to use them. The GMG shipline adds ships, not replaces the civilian line for GMG completely.

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[mjolnir]

Reminds me how 99% of GCs flew Blood Dragon HFs in 4.84 and when asked why not use Eagles they said that "they are not enough Kusari".

Funny thing is that one of those GC explaining it was Dab. Times change I guess, so I give up.

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Igiss says: Martin, you give them a finger, they bite off your arm.

[Friday]

I exclusively use the Karasu and Kaichou.

I play in Australia timezone though so you might not see me...

As far as Skyblasts go - I would be in favour of their restoration. An 8.33 gun is weak enough as it is due to the natural hit/miss ratio of a fast firing weapon (the reason why 4.0 guns are so prized).

Ultimately though, I would prefer an even faster projectile speed - but that is just me...

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[ProwlerPC]

Actually heheh I do have a very rarely used Eagle myself that used to be a Karasu, which is probably why it's rarely used now. I have to admit that I probably shouldn't have made the switch as I am far less likely to be hit in a Karasu then in an Eagle. The Karasu is like a surgeons tool. As for bombers I'm a dedicated Kaichou pilot and by far I have more hours logged in that then my fighter. This being natural due to the composition of our enemy's fleet. I certainly enjoy the ships, they are above avergae without being the at the top which is great for playability while staying below the "nerf-radar". Despite the fact that we always noticed that we found ourselves in an energy crisis compared to dmg output when using Skyblast loadouts, I didn't actuially feel compelled to look deep into it until I finnished the SP 1.0 (5 times now, yay) again and flew around the Sigmas at the end of the story. After a couple hundred NPCs downed I took a look at the stats and compared to the stats in the tougher Disco mod. This came on the heels of discussions on the forums about whether escorts can perform their duties or not so I was compelled to put it on the table. I still hold it in my opinion that fighter guns all in all should universally get buffed, but tackling this nerf was more in line with our ability to affect small changes one step at a time.

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[mjolnir]

I checked the current stats then and compared with similar guns (750 m/s / 8.33 )

Skyblast B 226 damage, power 63 per shot = 1882 damage per second, 521 energy per second = 3.59 eff
Daito 242 damage, power 70 per shot = 2015 damage per second, 583 energy per second = 3.46 eff
Sammael 265 damage, power 72 per shot = 2207 damage per second, 599 energy per second = 3.68 eff

Sammael is clearly best, but LR ships are rather big targets so don't see any problem there, I use Sammaels and find them great on LR ships. Daitos are rather very good as well. Off course neither of these guns are very good 1vs1, but here small GMG ships have an advantage.

GMG HF and Stinger are not far from current Blood Dragon fighter, so I don't think Skyblasts can be better than Daitos, different yes.

Either:
a) a bit more energy efficient - by energy use down to some 60 per shot
or
b) a bit more damage with same efficiency - 232 damage for 65 energy

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Igiss says: Martin, you give them a finger, they bite off your arm.

[ProwlerPC]

I'd probably go for option "b" based on it's infocard. It may be the result of taking their abundant energy source for granted but the Photon line GMG uses on fighters all say they pack more of a punch but have terrible energy efficiency compared to other Photons. Originaly Photon's themselves, I believe but could be wrong, are similar to lasers but with low range more dmg. Otherwise same speed, same RoF, same weakness to Graviton.

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[DeathsOverture]

About the Stinger (rather, Wasupu) - I use a Stinger on my Guild Master character only because I never fight with him. The current Skyblast B is fairly efficient on energy, and I find that with 4 Skyblasts 1 Imp Deb and CB, I will hardly ever dent its core. So while this is a balanced build, it's not really using the Stinger's full potential. With 5 Skyblasts and a Debilitator, it's not so bad; but I find 5 Skyblasts just don't match 4 Skyblasts and CB in terms of hull damage. Going all the way with 6 Skyblasts is counter productive because you'll have to either spam mines or have insane aim to take down Graviton shields in a reasonable amount of time.

So, bottom line: Most of us go Eagle or Hyperbunneh (Karasu HF).

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