So, I know I made a thread about this over 5 years ago, but the stats of everything have completely changed since then, and my original post is no longer relevant and wouldn't balance properly with the up-to-date weapons.
I would like to suggest a complete rebalancing of the Civilian and House Transport Turrets to bring them up to par. Rather than listing the 9 different types every time I mention them, I will refer to all of these as the original "Type 3's".
Before I even begin, I would like to address all of the criticisms against this:
So, then I guess we should just strip all of their turrets off and have everyone fly Whales? How about the Gallic Assault Transport? How about the Armored Transport?
How about any of the heavy, well-armed 4k transports? Transports are meant to fight.
Quote:If you buff transports, they'll be OP
A transport somewhat larger than a gunboat will have a similar count of 5-8 turrets, while these turrets are significantly weaker, the shield and hull are significantly weaker, and the ship turns slower.
A transport roughly the size of a cruiser will have a similar count of 8-12 turrets, while being weaker in every way.
A transport roughly the size of a battlecruiser will have less turrets, while again being significantly weaker in all ways, though steering similarly.
Now, I am not suggesting that we buff transports up to be as strong as their same-sized combat counterparts. I'm only showing you that, being 5x worse than similarly-sized ships, transports can receive a modest buff without becoming such OP killing machines that people start making them instead of capital ships.
Quote:Transport Turrets aren't meant to be as good as fighter guns
Let's compare:
2.00's @ 600 m/s
Charon Transport Turret: 4,160 DPS / 1098 Range / 600 m/s Speed
EXCALIBUR (Strongest): 3,000 DPS / 600 Range / 600 Speed
Rapid-fire w/ high Projectile Speed
Dulzian Transport Turret: 2,100 DPS / 698 Range / 1,200 m/s Speed
Closest fighter gun is 750 m/s - Incomparable
Medium Range/Speed
Civilian Transport Turret: 2,320 DPS / 800 Range / 800 m/s Speed
Salamanca Fighter Turret: 2,453 DPS / 870 Range / 750 m/s Speed
To summarize:
If you put Charon or Dulzian transport turrets on a fighter, and its core could support them, it would be overpowered.
If you put Type 3 Transport turrets on a fighter, and its core could support them, nobody would notice the difference, and some people would likely choose to switch back to fighter turrets.
So, now that we've established that Type 3 Transport turrets need a buff, here is my suggestion. While we're at it, we might as well change the house transport turrets to be different. I know I've suggested this before, but that was many years ago, and the stats I suggested back then would not fit into the current game; so I'm bringing it up-to-date.
Charon Transport Turret: 4,160 DPS / 2.00 Refire / 1098 Range / 600 m/s Speed / 1,160 E u/s
Dulzian Transport Turret: 2,100 DPS / 5.00 Refire / 698 Range / 1,200 m/s Speed / 950 E u/s
Civilian Transport Turret: 2,320 DPS / 4.00 Refire / 800 Range / 800 m/s Speed / 820 E u/s
New Type 3 Turrets:
Civilian Turret: 2,360 DPS / 4.00 / 900 Range / 800 Speed / 680 E u/s
Bolter Turret: 2,480 DPS / 4.00 / 1200 Range / 825 Speed / 880 E u/s
Bretonia Turret: 2,760 DPS / 2.00 / 900 Range / 800 Speed / 920 E u/s
Gallic Turret: 2,580 DPS / 5.00 / 900 Range / 850 Speed / 880 E u/s
Iron Hammer: 2,680 DPS / 4.00 / 925 Range / 825 Speed / 880 E u/s
Kusari Turret: 2,420 DPS / 4.00 / 900 Range / 925 Speed / 880 E u/s
Pirate Turret: 2,600 DPS / 4.00 / 1000 Range / 800 Speed / 880 E u/s
Rheinland: 2,880 DPS / 2.00 / 950 Range / 750 Speed / 920 E u/s
Now, again, before you think it's OP because they're 10% better, go back and compare them to fighter turrets, or even to the other transport turret types.
Next, we have the Heavy Transport Turrets. These need a bit of work, and I have a feeling they were rushed. There are currently two turrets, and a flak, to choose from, and one of the turrets is better than the other in every way; so there is basically only one to choose from.
Acheron Heavy Transport Turret: 4,640 DPS / 4.00 Refire / 830m / 875 m/s / 1,640 E u/s / 2.82 Energy Efficiency
Lyre Point Defense Turret: 4,250 DPS / 8.33 Refire / 960m / 1,200 m/s / 1,458 E u/s / 2.91 Energy Efficiency
As you can see, the Lyre Point Defense Turret has nearly the same DPS, significantly higher fire rate, significantly more range, significantly faster projectile speed, and better energy-efficiency. The tradition has generally been that when a weapon is slower, it has more DPS, more range, and better energy-efficiency. If it has worse energy-efficiency, and is slower, then it will end up draining your core a lot more, just to hit the target less.
You might argue that the Acheron Turret is cheaper than the Lyre Point Defense Turret, thus balancing it. That's just silly. Anybody that can afford a transport capable of mounting heavy turrets is no longer worried about the price of their guns.
Don't get me wrong; I love the Lyre Point Defense Turret, and even if you buff the Acheron Heavy Transport Turret, I still likely won't use it, but I think it ought to be a viable alternative. I suggest:
Old Turret: 4,640 DPS / 4.00 Refire / 830m / 875 m/s / 1,640 E u/s / 2.82 Energy Efficiency
New Turret: 5,260 DPS / 4.00 Refire / 1080m / 875 m/s / 1,640 E u/s / 3.21 Energy Efficiency
I would also like to suggest the addition of more types of Heavy Transport Turrets. Due to the limited amount of slots for these, and the vast similarity between the performance of the Lyre Point Defense Turret and Gunboat Turrets, I believe that it should be acceptable for a similar aresnal to be available to transports. Here are my suggestions, along with, when applicable, comparable Gunboat Turrets:
This would fire a small projectile with a lengthy trail.
Sniper Transport Turret: 6,000 DPS / 0.75 Refire / 1170m / 950 m/s / 2,280 E u/s / 8,000 Damage Per Shot
Gunboat Battle Razor: 9,375 DPS / 0.50 Refire / 1170m / 900 m/s / 18,750 Damage Per Shot
This would fire a small projectile with a lengthy trail.
Cerberus Transport Turret: 6,400 DPS / 1.00 Refire / 1170m / 650 m/s / 1,780 E u/s
Original Gunboat Cerberus: 6,000 DPS / 1.00 Refire / 1170m / 900 m/s
Someone may ask, "Why would anyone use a gunboat, if transports can mount similar weapons?" The answer is that a transport capable of mounting heavy transport turrets will have only 1-4 slots for them, will be much larger, much slower, and with a much weaker shield, than a gunboat, while having slightly less hull. They won't be OP; they'll just be at least somewhat viable.
4.86 Bombers could already wreck 4.86 transports. Since then, bombers and fighters have received huge buffs, while transports have received small buffs, as well as some nerfs. It's gotten to the point that there's no point in sacrificing a huge amount of cargo for increased armament, as this will still not provide adequate protection.