Discovery Gaming Community

[sarcasm] I entered the age of Gunboat whoring [/sarcasm]

Not really... but after 10 months on the server I took my time to test all gunboats properly. Here I'm listing the gunboats that I see as not well balanced against other ones as well as reasons why I think so.

I'm not talking about GBs vs other ship balance, which I personally believe is a bit off and should be balanced by lowering GB power supply.

Please all of you who pilot GBs come with own assessments and try to keep the "me flies it so it must be uber" attitude out.

Thank you

Some terms:
"agility" - ability to dodge/rapidly change direction
"turning rate" - how fast it turns when you e-kill and turn

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BHG Gunship

Armor: 55 k
Bats/bots: 250
gun/turrets: 0/6 ( all of them forward)
cargo space: 280
max. angular: 0.72 (doesn't reflect handling)

Problems

- agility better than some bombers and much better than nearest GB (Lane Hacker)
- size smaller than some bombers and half the nearest GB (LH again)
- 6 forward firing turrets

How it affects combat

- Very dangerous to fighters/bombers - almost impossible to hit with SN (when frozen can't hit me with 4/5 SNs in his Catamaran it's almost impossible)

- Quite dangerous against other GBs/capships - as 80% of gunboat survival is in its shield, it can dodge GB/Cruiser fire when shield gets down and then fire (say 4 Cerbs, or some infernos) in short periods, having same firepower as most GBs ( same powersupply and 6 turrets).

What could be changed

It could remain anti-fighter/bomber specialized =>

- One less turret (drop completely or make it rear-only)

and/or

- lower cargo space so that it can't mount any capship armor, without one it dies to 1 SN

Side note:
LH gunship has a bit more armor, but it's much less agile and it's over twice the size of this one, two of its turrets are also forward firing only.

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Orca GB

Armor: 110 k
Bats/bots: 350
gun/turrets: 1/6 (1/5 forward)
max. angular: 0.625 (doesn't reflect handling)

Problems

- the forward firing gun has a firing arc of only some -5 and down, as compared to all other GB that usually have 0 and up.

How it affects combat

If you have a target right in front of you and fire the "forward" gun... you miss :shok:
Because the gun only fires some degrees down.

This and camera position makes it almost impossible to use the forward gun in combat => you rarely turn down.. you can't see enough down because of the ship being at the lower part of the screen, close to the edge.

So for BHG there is virtually no reason to use Orca ( with 5 guns) over the much smaller and more agile Gunship - that is "outdated" and not used (read info card)

What could be changed

- The forward gun should get at least 5 up and down from that firing arc

or (much better)

- it could be placed on the upper side of the mount (in front of the cockpit) giving it same firing arc as other forward guns on GBs. The part that holds the gun can be move a bit down so that the gun doesn't cover view from the cockpit.

Side note:
The infocards on both Orca and the gunship should be changed. One says it's efficient and anti-fighter... and the other one is more efficient and also anti-fighter (with forward gun??)

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Liberty GB

Armor: 110 k
Bats/bots: 350
gun/turrets: 1/7 (1/6 forward)
max. angular: 0.6667 (doesn't reflect handling)

Problems

- 1 more turret than comparable GBs:
Kusari GB which has comparable size while being only slightly more agile(actually 2 more than that one). Rhienland GB which is much slower and bigger and Dragon GB which is much slower and bigger.

How it affects combat

It is very difficult to hit with Supernova from any angle and it's small compared with other GBs while it has more guns.


What could be changed

- drop one of the forward firing turrets.

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The Gunboats under here I see as generally balanced, just adding my comments on these 3 as they are very popular

Corsair GB

Armor: 115 k
Bats/bots: 350
gun/turrets: 0/8
max. angular: 0.5 (doesn't reflect handling)

Comments

Yes it has more turrets than anything else... but it's slow and easy to CD its turns . Extremely easy to hit with a Supernova, or to kill with 2 fighters. So it's basically anti-cap GB.

Rogue GB

Armor: 95 k
Bats/bots: 350
gun/turrets: 0/6 (0/6 forward)
max. angular: 0.65 (doesn't reflect handling)

Comments

Relatively small, though easier to hit than a liberty GB, good dodging. Turrets have nicely limited firing arcs.

IMG GB

Armor: 95 k
Bats/bots: 350
gun/turrets: 0/6
max. angular: 0.65 (doesn't reflect handling)

Comments

Flat (hard to hit)... and quite agile... maybe should lose some 5k armor.

The main problem is that many people abuse it as a "civilian" GB...so you meet all from Order, Junkers, BHG and mercs in it. Maybe move it to IMG guard system?
EDIT: That means removing it from Kurile, I know it's already in Tau 44.

Ok, IMG GB whore rolling in.

The thing is flat - yes...

the thing is rather agile - yes...

The thing is sized (dimensions) like a Corsair Gb - yes yes yes ^^

The GB power core indeed might use a nerf. Slight one, because these things are supposed to fire at least 6 stock turrets constantly. And that i think should be the regen rate - just about enough for 6 turrets and nothing more.

And it already is sold on Singapore. Only other place is planet Kurile.

I agree with everything Mjolnir stated except :

Quote:- size smaller than some bombers and half the nearest GB (LH again)

I can swear that Liberty GB is actually much smaller then LH gunship.
It's in between the Rogue GB and BHG Gunship.
It might be bigger with it's mass and everything, but it's thin, which makes it harder to hit.

Power supply should be lowered for most GB's.
Why? Well, if you are not using cerbs or missiles, you don't spend any energy.
And it pretty much sucks.
Make more variety with weapons, with more/less energy usage. Same like for fighters.
With efficient one, you could shoot some 30 seconds without problems, with medium ones less, with Cerbs minimum.

Power supply as it is now is ok for Corsair GB, Brettonian GB, Rheinland GB and possibly one more, but I can't think of it right now.
Everything else should go lower to some 400k, Gunships at 300k.

Edit :

Just to add that my knowledge is mostly based on fighting against gunboats. I'v only flown one and for short time.
It was Corsair GB, and it seemed fine to me. It was different then most, and easy to take down with only 1 bomber.

I only have experience with the Orca and the BH gunship, but I agree with your assessment of the Orca. The front gun's firing arc on the Orca is really out of whack. The problems with the front gun convinced me to switch back to the gunship, which I currently own. Well, that and the fact that it looks like a speed boat.

As far as gunboat power plants are concerned, I would let them be. The power plant output compensates for the front gun and / or cerberus turrets.

Megiddo, you can't have the same power supply for a ship 3x larger then the other one.
It doesn't make sense. Variety is good, I'd say.
Orca, since it's big, could keep the 500k supply.
But no way for BHG gunship to stay the same.
It's by far the best GB in game.

The dragon gunboat is ok, though you need about a month of flying it in chugoku before even considering fighting with it, takes awhile to get use to how it handles.

Gunboats with less turrets/no forward gun might be ok to drop the power on slightly, the others would be crippled if they can't use a signature weapon (the forward gun).

Well I was mostly pointing to GB differences... powersupply is something else....

GB should be able to fire normal guns with some energy drain... just like all other ships (mount any class 9s any VHF.. and very soon you run out of power).

Firing all normal guns while gaining energy is crazy for me. But yes GB with forward gun can have a bit more power.. provided Liberty one loses the extra turret that makes it uber.

In a sense much more uber than the BHG gunship. Also.. "Liberty navy cut down it's production in favour of Cruisers and Avengers".... really? Take a look around Liberty....

EDIT: GBs should be good against fighters... and they are.. with normal guns (1400s), if you mix Cerbs in there => it throws your aim off against fighters... and then people complain that GBs can't hit fighters...

GBs should be "support" against Capships...
now they are very much Swiss army knife of disco.

Quote:GBs should be "support" against Capships...
now they are very much Swiss army knife of disco.

Sig worthy!

Down with the funboats!

Seriously, most GB's are too alike.. I think we need more variety.
And yes, I forgot that Liberty GB is uber also. Though I think it has 6 forward firing turrets, and one rear.
But it has insanely big armor for it's size, and has 6 guns + Turret.
But I wouldn't say it's better then BHG gunship.

I guess it would be ok to leave it like that.. If other House GB's were close to that as well.
RM GB sucks, Brettonia GB sucks, and Kusari GB sucks due to it's wireframe problem (I think it's not fixed yet.)
Though I like the style with Brettonian, since it has almost Cruiser armor.. But I fail to see anything positive on a RM GB.

hmm...since some other people stated that i am experienced GB pilot i think i may say something in this matter...

I agree with Mjolnir's first post...

Generally, gunboats are rather balanced, if we don't take BHG gunship into consideration...

Orca needs FWD gun arc increased, it is very useless as it is now

Liberty GB, despite its numerous turrets for its size isn't all that good, but in reflection to it i would rather make rheinland GB a bit faster...

Bret Gb is more of a cruiser then GB...it should be a bit more powerful cause with that size it is quite a target for bombers...


also...as things are now, all GBs will have same power plant...but that isn't an issue...

GB with 6 turrets can fire indefinatly, while more turrets do drain more power and fwd gun takes even more...also there is Cerberus turret

so some GBs do damage over time and some carry shorter but more powerful punch...that is quite balanced...

there are few things to fix bur generally GBs are higher on my list of balanced ships...

I can only talk about the Rogue Gb as a Gb captain.

It's a nice GB, handles properly, nice looking, powerplant isn't over or underpowered, gets eaten up 1v1 by a corsair but for some reason 2v2 the rogue wins hands down. Well balneced and nice to fly.

As someone who has to shoot at GB's That BH GB is tiny and fast and lethal to bombers and fighters. Maybe losing a turret is a good idea Mjolnir.


Corsair. Well, I have blown one of these up without taking that much damage wityh just me in my falcata and someone else on a sabre. It is hopeless against fighters, but damn it eats caps for breakfast. I don't really know if this is to be considered ballenced or not. They get spammed so much they must be quite good. Maybe nerf it cos I'm sick of seeing so many of them.

Orca needs its forward gun to work. I've never seen it hit anything but for some reason a lot of mercs use it.

That the sum of my observations.