Quote:Part of the issue is connection latency, which makes piloting more fragile craft in pvp exceedingly difficult
I think this is a fallacy. I have 420 ping average, and I hardly ever get complaints about lagging in fight or anything. During a LH training session, I appeared "fine" to the opponent...
I think I can hold my own in small-craft pvp, maybe not for long against great pilots but long enough against the others.
Gunboats, in my limited experience flying them, don't seem to have much trouble against cruisers at all. Practically every cruiser has a blind-spot, which the more agile Gunboat can easily exploit and get a kill.
P.S your point about gunboat turret refire being too slow to hit fighters with... Well, 4.0 is often the preferred speed in fighter combat. Fighter weapons have an even slower velocity, usually around 50% of the gunboat turret speed.
the scorpion has 8 guns, which is a ton... its not the smallest, but its not the least agile either. - awesome against capital ships, decent against fighters. - it hasn t got a hell lot of armour, but lasts long enough.
comparable with the corsair gunboat - slightly better due to the placement of guns. it cannot go 1 on 1 vs. a BHG gunship. but thats only when both of them fly without any cover. - a bhg gunship can outturn the scorpion, but the scorpion can easily outdamage the fragile bhg gunship. - i m not sure about the hitbox of the scorpion though. - the frame suggests a rather large profile from all sides, - but thats just the visible parts, haven t seen the real HB yet, not like its a big deal though.
i think the scorpion has all 8 fire foreward, too. - picked that up ... don t quote me on that, i don t fly one. - no matter what, its amoung the strongest gunboats ingame, when it comes to weaponpower. - i think its armour above average, but only slightly.
the scorpion is a great assault vehicle, but it is not too hard to hit... even from the turret view of a juggernaut, it presents a generous target. - the BHG gunship would be harder to hit from like 1 mile camera distance. from what i experienced, 2 scorpions cannot take a battleship down ( or at least not when they tried, and i m no good gunner ) - but 3 certainly can. - mind, that applies to all gunboats. i daresay that even the worst gunboat ( kusari ) can take a battleship down when its 3:1 ( well, or maybe not, cause i just have to shoot a missile at them to blow them up )
well my ping is usually around 200, or less sometimes (according to the server status screen before I connect).
Still, many times when i'm pvping against fighters, they appear to 'teleport' all over the place, making it nearly impossible to keep my targeting reticule on them.
I do chain fire btw, but it doesnt seem to help with the above issue.
And... when i refer to weapon speed, i always mean refire rate, not velocity. I'm sure projectile velocity plays a big part in hitting fighters, but capships dont have much choice in that regard - we're pretty much stuck using the same weapons for everything.
I suppose I'll be able to give some input on the scorpion if Praetyre accepts me into das wilde =)
I don't think you'll be able to pilot a Scorpian right away, if I remember correctly they are restricting gunboat and above usage anyway.
Weapon speed is effectively the velocity. Please try and use standardised terms...
Cerberus guns are slower than normal turrets, so that can hamper anti-fighter attacks.
About teleporting fighters... Well, that's most likely either bursts of thrustering and more.
' Wrote:[massive snip]I prefer combat to have a little strategy involved.
One other, semi-related reason gunboats are popular, especially among pirate and criminal groups: GB's can fairly easily manuver through scrap and asteroid fields, and have the shielding to withstand mines and explosive gas. The first two are the biggest points - a gunboat has firepower and survivability, but unlike cruisers and battleships the gunboats are small enough to escape into an asteroid field where larger ships cannot follow.
Just my input.
Fighter combat is a lot more tactical than capital ship combat. Capships requre basic moves and strategic thinking, while the fast "adernaline junkie" nature of fighter combat ensures that you must find ... creative ways of getting the upper hand.
Those reasons that you stated about gunboats are spot on though. Its very handy to be able to waltz through mines and explosive gas, and the firepower helps a lot. I myself used to be an avid user of the 'sair funbox, though that time was around two versions ago now.
The best aspect about gunboats is their all-purpose nature. Anything from fighters to cruisers and perhaps even battlecruisers are in danger from them. Two missile turrets mean you will win against any kind of fighter or bomber, as their guns will fall off fast. Whatever other guns mounted should make light work of another gunboat if you use a bit of strategy and cruisers fall even faster.
However, the problem here is that cruisers are just too weak in general. If cruiser powerplants are standardised, then that means a mortar takes 2/3 the powerplant of any cruiser. There is really something wrong with that. Not to mention the effects of the current balance. Cruisers are far too large to dodge, bar the Kusari Destroyer and perhaps the Outcast destroyer. However, even the most powerful 12 gun cruiser cannot hope to touch a battlecruiser or battleship. This makes crisers useless to both those in a lower class and those in a higher class.
Gunboats on the whole, are balanced. The BHG GS is an exception to that, but they are all fairly well balanced. Perhaps the RH gunboat needs a bit of a nerf, but its front forward cross-section is tiny enough to avoid a SN from near point blank if the pilot strafes correctly.
I think the balance within the gunboat class has been more or less struck. The real question should now be cruisers and destroyers...