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Because you know something's not right if a ship as small as an armored transport cannot shake a gunboat off of its tail. Recent mod changes have left this ship pretty much outdated. The 4.84 armored transport was practical for both combat and low-level cargo haulage, which are now done by freighters. Combine that with the 4.85 armored transport nerf, and the armored transport no longer performs the role it was designed to do.

So therefore the ship needs to be re-balanced. By definition this ship should be able to defend itself, so why not make it into an ultralight gunboat? Since transport guns are too big for the model anyway, we remove its ability to mount transport turrets. (We could also have a pirate raider version, with bomber guns and a CD mount, but that warrents a seperate discussion.) We give the ship 160-180 thrust speed (because it's smaller then normal gunboats or transports), increase the cost to 10-15 million, and keep the number of turret/gun mounts, armor, and cargo space.

Overpowered, you say? For starters, this thing only has enough power to support regular transport shielding. (Adv. Transport shield would drain ALL your power when recharging, leaving none for weapons or cruise). Armor is very light (60k armor, as opposed to the BHG gunship's 55k, or the Liberty Gunboat's 110k). Regens are less then a proper gunboat too, and it lacks a CD. And the cargo bay is too small for trading.

As for ability to kill it, this is outclassed by proper gunboats and heavily-armed transports. However, the thrust speed makes up for this, as it can escape gunboats and other transports. No more being pummeled because you cannot shake that gunboat off of your tail. Armor/shields/regens is also lighter then a proper gunboat, allowing it to be killed more easily by bombers. Fighters and freighters would have trouble, but that's the whole point of a ship like this.

So basically you got a ship that is hard to kill and can put up a fight if cornered, without being unstoppable. Exactly what an armored transport should be.

180 thrust

only two hardpoints allowable to mount transport guns, the rest are class5 turret mounts.

It's a mix between transport and freighter.

I like the idea... But thrust is controlled by what thruster you have mounted, AFAIK.

I think it unwise to make this like a mini-gunboat... It's definition is a transport - not an anti-fighter/bomber ship.

I looked at your suggestions and I personally thinks its a good idea.

Like you said, for now, no-one has a reason to use an armored transports.

Its not even a stepping stone from Freighters since it has about has much capacity as the Camara.

' Wrote:I like the idea... But thrust is controlled by what thruster you have mounted, AFAIK.

I think it unwise to make this like a mini-gunboat... It's definition is a transport - not an anti-fighter/bomber ship.

Incorrect. There might be a variable restricting certain thrusters to max speeds somewhere, but currently it's done by ship.



Currently, plop a civvy transport shield on this thing and watch bombers cry. It's small enough to dodge big stuff, and has enough guns to hurt little stuff. It's basically a larger freighter with a different powerplant, two transport guns, and a transport shield. Not as pwnage as it was in the days of yore, and certainly not designed to fight gunboats. It's designed to defend itself from small stuff, and to survive long enough against big stuff to get away.

I'm interested in seeing the results of making it a "super heavy freighter", though.

Thinking of freighters, this wouldn't have anything to do with Unseelie and I dismantling a Consortium Armored Transport in about 20 seconds with our Drones, would it? Just asking.

' Wrote:I think it unwise to make this like a mini-gunboat... It's definition is a transport - not an anti-fighter/bomber ship.

' Wrote:So basically you got a ship that is hard to kill and can put up a fight if cornered, without being unstoppable. Exactly what an armored transport should be.

Can you think of a better way to do it?

' Wrote:I like the idea... But thrust is controlled by what thruster you have mounted, AFAIK.

Last I checked, all ships use the same thrusters. An enhanced thruster can be mounted on any ship with a thruster slot. That means anything from light fighters to bombers to transports to gunboats to cruisers.

And this has nothing to do with freighters outgunning a consortium transport. The armored transport in this case is outnumbered, and SHOULD lose.

And Soverign, have you seen what bomber guns do to a civvy transport shield? The armored transport gets ripped to shreads. The bomber just has to get in close, which is doable considering who is more agile.

' Wrote:Can you think of a better way to do it?

Not really. Super heavy freighter/super light gunship looks pretty good to me.

Quote:And this has nothing to do with freighters outgunning a consortium transport. The armored transport in this case is outnumbered, and SHOULD lose.

I was just wondering. Meant no offense.


EDIT: Right, people besides me use bomber guns now... my bad. I haven't flown an Armored Transport in a while, most of my recollection was dodging supernovas- which the civilian shield is very good at dealing with.

' Wrote:EDIT: Right, people besides me use bomber guns now... my bad. I haven't flown an Armored Transport in a while, most of my recollection was dodging supernovas- which the civilian shield is very good at dealing with.

I think you hit the nail on the head. I think the armored transport was nerfed due to it being impossible to hit with a bomber torpedo. But now bombers can use guns as well as torpedos against ships like this. And if your initial bomber gun volley misses, you just adjust your aim instead of waiting 10 seconds like with a torpedo.

I was sort of disgusted that that AT popped in 20 seconds, though. Didn't even use b/b, and had 3 bombers in support....and honestly, an AT gets some level of advantage, given the extra shields, stronger guns, and increased armor.

Unseelie, currently the poor thrust + agility negates any advantages shielding/weapons give me. A gunship has guns with ~1400 shot speed to make up for the slower thrust speed and agility. The armored transport does not have this advantage with transport or fighter turrets, cannot dodge as effectively as your freighter, and doesn't have the same level of shields/armor/regens as a larger transport does. So my armored transport can't use turret mode either without taking a pounding.