Gunboats / gunships are fairly balanced. On average, 2 - 3 should be able to take down a single cruiser / destroyer. In addition to swatting down bombers, that's what they're suppose to do.
That said, I really do think that cruisers need love. I'd suggest a primary turret refire rate of at least 3.03.
@Montezuma: I'm sure you underestimate your piloting skills. It must be said though, that the Corsair gb is a monster and the BHG BC has an "interesting" set of firing arcs. By "interesting" I mean "sucky". It shines in the anti-cruiser department but gets clobbered by anything smaller if the pilot isn't careful.
@Ivan: The Kusari dessie is sort of an anomaly. If it were used more widely, it'd be nerfed 3 ways to Sunday.
' Wrote:Gunboat beats cruiser
are fine. Trust me they are. Cruisers are fine too. Did you try KNF one? No? It's smaller than Corsair Gunboat? WHAT?! ARE YOU FRIKKIN KIDDING ME IVAN?!
AND I CAN FLY THAT?
The problem isn't with gunboats, it's with cruisers, cruisers are too weak, but Gunboats are perfectly fine where they are. I flew a Liberty Navy Gunboat for quite a while, and after that a Lane Hacker Gunboat and then an Order Gunboat (Way way back when the Order still used the old "Lunchbox" gunboats) and then a Liberty Rogue Gunboat, all on different characters of course. But I loved each of them.
But yeah, as far as Gunboat vs Cruiser goes, it really depends on the pilot of the gunboat and the pilot of the cruiser, Cruisers can be big scary bricks of doom, or they can be big slow moving targets, depending on the pilot.