Gunships Gunships Gunships...

[Wraiven]

Well, judging from today's patch notes...I think we can all see where the Devs want the space PvP to go. I miss SWG's Space Combat. They had the right idea... Too bad SWTOR didn't take note....again.

[LegoUniverseBC]

What are you talking about? There are suppose to be another tier of Scout, and Strike fighters coming out and Bombers are coming out. Gunships aren't even that OP.

[Luneward]

Especially the new gunships. I'm not sure yet whether to call them 'target practice' or 'fish in a barrel'.

[Kain_Turinbar]

So it says the 3rd gunship is a "cosmetic alternative" to the newest gunship.

 

Does that mean it is simply a skin you put on the existing ship or is it like the Starguard and Enforcer where they are for all intents and purposes identical (all the same components available, just different ship models) but count as separate ships?

 

The only reason I ask is even if I never use it I would still unlock it as a requisition sink for completing dailies/weeklies. That would be welcome as I've been making do with just 6...........an increase of 50 percent to 9 would make acquiring requisition so much faster (which is good, because I would like to max out a scout and a gunship in addition to the fighter I'm working on) and even more so when the two bombers raise that number to 11. The weekly would give a whopping 27,500 total ship requisition you could convert to fleet, NICE.

[Kain_Turinbar]

Especially the new gunships. I'm not sure yet whether to call them 'target practice' or 'fish in a barrel'.

 

Do they not have the same defensive abilities as the Quarrel/Mangler?

 

I know they won't have two railguns but the combination of Heavy Lasers, Slug Railgun, and Proton Torpedoes makes their offense look potent.

[Wraiven]

Do they not have the same defensive abilities as the Quarrel/Mangler?

 

I know they won't have two railguns but the combination of Heavy Lasers, Slug Railgun, and Proton Torpedoes makes their offense look potent.

 

Bingo... Whatever though, it is what it is. I know a lot of you love your gunships, but let me say this then and I'll shut up. Gunships are the reason this game's space PvP will NEVER be comparable to SWG, or any other Space Combat. Hell, STO's space combat even as of today is better....and that's just sad. Gunships are fun to play, yes...but they never had a place in this game. That's just how I feel about it.

Edited January 15, 2014 by Wraiven

[DarthVindictus]

Do they not have the same defensive abilities as the Quarrel/Mangler?

 

I know they won't have two railguns but the combination of Heavy Lasers, Slug Railgun, and Proton Torpedoes makes their offense look potent.

 

They think people will seriously be a medium range dogfighter in a ship that turns like a semi and flies at snails pace.

 

Nope, not going to work.

[Wraiven]

They think people will seriously be a medium range dogfighter in a ship that turns like a semi and flies at snails pace.

 

Nope, not going to work.

 

You sadly underestimate a player's capabilities to be creative in the ways of PvP. People will find a way to make this be insane...mark my words.

[DonWild]

It's being done now; premade squadrons with 6 Gunships flying a pair over each satellite. They cover each other; any attempt to fly a force against them loses heavily and while they're trying to take out a pair of gunships, the lower class ships are scoring points. If you try to ignore the gunships and take out the turrets or the other fighters, you get bugzapped...you fly against the gunships you get backshot by the rest of the squadron. You might be able to hide from the gunships, but then you aren't taking objectives and the rest of the gunship squadron are sitting on the satellites slowing you up while the slug guns are setting up to blow you to flinders. If you do try to throw most of your force against a pair, they just retreat into turret range of their base ships. Either nerf the dps, range or rate of fire of the slug guns or limit the number of gunships to a 1:3 or 1:4 ratio, or seriously increase the evasion capabilities of the smaller ships...otherwise the pvp is going to degenerate into Gunship vs Gunship fights...every newb out there is going to want a gunship and nothing else.

[Luneward]

Do they not have the same defensive abilities as the Quarrel/Mangler?

.

 

No, no they don't. They lose distortion field, armor component, and rotational thrusters. That on top of losing burst lasers means they are pretty much hosed at close range. The heavy lasers and proton torpedo gives an interesting mid range option... but it has limited use when you already have a railgun. And there aren't too many targets that will sit at medium range for long. Once they get in close the gunship pretty much only has the option to run or stick around and get shot - about the only defensive option the Dustmaker kept was barrel roll.

 

So they trade all that defense for a questionably useful medium range offense.

Edited January 15, 2014 by Luneward

[reclipsed]

You sadly underestimate a player's capabilities to be creative in the ways of PvP. People will find a way to make this be insane...mark my words.

 

I was trying to decide if I wanna buy the new gunship. It looks promising on paper, but I question its viability. The lack of ION is a nice twist though.

 

I asked this question before. I wonder if plasma will be a optimal choice combined with protons or if slug is king...still. I guess they thought the ion love tap with missles would be OP, and I think I agree it would be.

 

Has anyone tested them out yet? I would like some feedback.

[Suzina]

Of the Gunships, the Mangler (the original) is the best.

 

The new Dustmaker and variant are a slightly inferior load-out. The Dustmaker gives up some of it's short-range dog-fighting abilities, and also the Ion railgun, in exchange for long-range blasters/missiles that are overshadowed by the railgun.

 

The Dustmaker isn't a horrible ship or anything. You can be a total BOSS ACE in one. It's just slightly inferior to the existing gunship on short-range and long-range combat, which causes people to scratch their heads in confusion.

[Lendul]

Do they not have the same defensive abilities as the Quarrel/Mangler?

 

I know they won't have two railguns but the combination of Heavy Lasers, Slug Railgun, and Proton Torpedoes makes their offense look potent.

No distortion field and no thrusters.

[Lytewraith]

honestly after playing it thoroughly tonight it feels like a pike iwht a long range snipeing rifle for when they try to run

and I and a HUGE fan of the pike so I kinda like it but honestly for a pure sniper go mang for bump and run squad action take 1 mang and 1 of the cosmo ones you get the best of both worlds then the slug and the ion and proton missles for mid range but lets face it the slu at 10 k hits a lot harder then the protons

[Kuciwalker]

I was trying to decide if I wanna buy the new gunship. It looks promising on paper,

 

No, no it doesn't. To any serious gunship pilot it looks like an atrocity.

[Ramalina]

Having read the PTS notes and player feedback, it looks to me like the new gunships may be intended as anti-bomber ships.

 

Or at least that's the only semi-rational intent that I could read in the Dustmaker's default build.

[Daverand]

Gunships are fine.

[Kain_Turinbar]

Having read the PTS notes and player feedback, it looks to me like the new gunships may be intended as anti-bomber ships.

 

Or at least that's the only semi-rational intent that I could read in the Dustmaker's default build.

 

Yeah the heavy laser/proton torpedo/slug railgun combo seems like it would devastate a slow moving target.

[Sharee]

Yeah the heavy laser/proton torpedo/slug railgun combo seems like it would devastate a slow moving target.

 

The problem with the new gunship design is that you don't really need heavy laser/proton torpedo/slug railgun combo to devastate a slow moving target, you just need the railgun.

Edited January 15, 2014 by Sharee

[dancezwithnubz]

You sadly underestimate a player's capabilities to be creative in the ways of PvP. People will find a way to make this be insane...mark my words.

 

+1.

 

If you don't know the Tale Of Fansy The Bard, I suggest you find out about his awesomeness!

[Kain_Turinbar]

The problem with the new gunship design is that you don't really need heavy laser/proton torpedo/slug railgun combo to devastate a slow moving target, you just need the railgun.

 

The proton torpedo will let you fire on them and bypass all shields and armor, lose the tunnel vision, and fire something if you're out of weapon tpower though.

[Luneward]

Perhaps. But the four second lock a proton torpedo takes means you don't lose the tunnel vision all that much. All while sitting at least 4km closer and likely more visible to everyone in the area. Most experienced players know very well that gunship = primary target unless you are in a well shielded area. The only advantage I can see to this gunship is they can shoot people with lasers and missles while skirting the battlefield on the way to their next snipe point without giving them away the way a glowing ball o' doom tends to.

[Kuciwalker]

The time spent acquiring a proton torpedo lock will always be better spent charging up an ion or slug railgun.

[Verain]

The time spent acquiring a proton torpedo lock will always be better spent charging up an ion or slug railgun.

 

Well, this isn't exactly true. You might be being chased, or persuing someone, and a railgun wouldn't work. Versus an ignorant opponent at 9k, sure, but there ARE situations where a torp is better.

[Fractalsponge]

If you're chasing someone, why aren't you snaring them with a railgun? If you're being pursued, you won't be able to get lock anyway, and you're better off draining them with ion and running, or just full-charging a slug round to attempt to kill them before they get to you.