Hey guys, been a while so i don't know what the standard loadout would be. Any advice? It used to be simpler but now it looks like there's a lot more options. I'm looking for primarily anti-fighter design with perhaps 1 or maybe 2 slots for anti-gunboat combat. Is that viable? Also need to know whats the standard armor amount and shield amount a GB is expected to have.
Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks.
And yes i know the Tridente is probably still garbage but it's for RP and that's fine.
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Tridente is alright it's just that gunboats in general are not that popular at the moment.
If it's mostly against snubs I'd go for 6 regular solarises and 2 solaris gatlings/razors, depending on your razor aim. Solarises are mediocre against gunboats, and bad against anything bigger. If you want an all-round strong loadout especially efficient against other gunboats but noticeably weaker against snubs, go with 6 prims 2 pulses, 6 prims 2 razors or 8 prims.
Armor - the best one you have. Tridente can have a CAU VIII.
Shield - that's where you decide. If it's anti-snub I'd go for a heavy one, if not then medium or light.
Alright, so i think anti-snub then would be my goal so i may as well just make it totally that rather than partly that and partly something else.
For the armor, if i don't have a CAU VIII am i simply going to be totally outclassed and shouldn't even bother? Or will something like a CAU V or IV still be viable?
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Not really, your survivability depends on your shield. Armor matters against other gunboats where every bit of hull helps while if you're dying to snubs or caps you'll most likely die with a bit more resistance anyways, but it's of course nice to have the best equipment you can afford. A lot of people buy the CAU VI because it's solid enough while being pretty cheap compared to CAU VIII.
I like sticking Cap VI's on my transports and gunboats, mainly because I can purchase four of them to every one Cap VIII. I feel as though Cap VIII's are more necessary on heavier cruisers and battleships/carriers/dreadnoughts, and I've recently found an interest in gunboats, freighters and small transports, so Cap VI's are "good enough" when armor ratings are low enough that the multiplier difference isn't so noticeable.
Full Solaris is ideal for going anti-snub. If you go for the heaviest gunboat shield, I might even skip the Solaris Gattling turrets, though I'm not sure how a medium gunboat handles heavy shielding and Gattlings. If you forsake the Gattlings, you'll have better energy management though, plus the turret rotation speed on Gattlings is lower than the standard Solaris turret.
If you find yourself wishing to completely ruin the day of any snub that comes your way, load yourself up with a Basic Missile and Silencer Missile Turret. Your total munition count will be 140 shots, and while missiles are CM'able these days, you can mix a few CDs in there to psyche your targets out into wasting precious countermeasures.
I've been okay! I actually came back in a small capacity in August. I mostly forum browse these days, but I'm trying to get an RP project up and running in the form of a mobile restaurant ship. My fiancé has had a taste of Freelancer RP and is digging it, but has zero coordination for PvP skill, so I figured an RP-only focus would be ideal for me this time around.