Liners vs. Gunboats?

[Drake]

I haven't really flown either Luxury/Prison liners or gunboats very much, but I was wondering how well they stood up against one another? Liners have better armor, more bots/bats, and usually more turret mounts (though only a few of those are gunboat-level turrets, the others can be loaded with high-damage fighter turrets). Gunboats (most of them, anyway) have their powerful forward gun, but do they really have anything else going for them?

Liners also have a large enough cargo hold to be decent trading vessels, and their guns and shields allow them to take on hostile territory and pirates easier than other trading vessels... I would think a liner with a few gunboat missile turrets might be decent at taking on those annoying fighters, and could easily serve as a "poor man's capital ship".

Anyone else have any experience with flying either luxury or prison liners, and how well they do in combat (versus all kinds of ships)?

-Drake

[TankTarget]

Admins lock this thread now. Lock it!

Liners do not need to be brought up ever again. They are fine, leave them be. Do not say anything just let it go. No one post in here from now on. Do not let the flames start again

[Intrepid00]

Admins lock this thread now. Lock it!

Liners do not need to be brought up ever again. They are fine, leave them be. Do not say anything just let it go. No one post in here from now on. Do not let the flames start again

Can they take on a gunboat though?

[Fellow Hoodlum]

One thing to consider before making a trading vessel choice is ... Arming your liner/prison ship as a gunboat
makes it a CAPITAL ship, and therefore not subject to the normal server pirating rules.
Just point that out before there is a rush to change from the usual old transport vessels, and a flood of moans
hits these forums ...
That said and done, please continue.

Hoodlum

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Some say he is a proud member of: "The most paranoid group of people in the Community."

[Drake]

One thing to consider before making a trading vessel choice is ... Arming your liner/prison ship as a gunboat
makes it a CAPITAL ship, and therefore not subject to the normal server pirating rules.
Just point that out before there is a rush to change from the usual old transport vessels, and a flood of moans
hits these forums ...
That said and done, please continue.

Hoodlum

So putting a gunboat turret on a liner means it can be pirated with capital ships? Cool, that seems both fair and entertaining to me. Does that mean it can no longer be flown with a Trader ID? Please, an official answer if possible, not just opinions.

Don't know why Tank got all worked up, or why this would degenerate into flames... I never said liners were overpowered, I was just wondering how they would start up in combat against other ships (gunboats specifically, since they seem the closest power-wise, but fighters and other ships too).

So, my original question(s) still stand. Thanks.

-Drake

[Knucklehead]

One of my characters flies a Luxury Liner. I have not had the need to go against a player gunboat before, but I have taken down at least 1 player fighter in it. At the time I had the Transport level mounts loaded with the strongest Transport turrets (unless there is a level 5 transport turret somewhere.) and the gunboat-level turret niounts with all basic gunboat turrets. After that, I did replace one of them with a Basic Gunboat Missile Turret, but I hardly ever use it. (I chose the Basic turrets as that best fit the OSC role my character is in.)

In the one instance where I did face an NPC Gunboat (A Mollys-flown Rogue Gunboat), the opponent was able to do severe damage to my shields before I took him out. I'm guessing that a Player-flown gunboat would be quite a problem for me. Even a well equipped fighter could take me out if flown well, and multiple fighters would be a fairly large problem.

All around, if combat is your goal, a gunboat is probably a better bet. I'm pretty sure all of them are more maneuverable than the liners, and can pack more firepower than the liners.

If your RP calls for a trading vessel that can give and take a good beating (like mine), a liner is an option. In most cases, a better option is to use the container transport, as it has far more cargo space and 1-3 more turrets than the liners.

PS: Now that Igiss has moved all the fighter turrets to class 5 and lower, that leaves class 6 with nothing. What we could do is move the current transport turrets to class 6, then create a new class 7 somewhere between the Transport and Gunboat classes. Call it Heavy Transport class, or something like that. Give the new class to ships like the liners, the trains, container transport, etc.

Just my two pieces o' eight...

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It's official, I have too few ships now...

[Eos]

Tank got mad because alot of people argue about the liners. Some think they need taken down to be around the strength of transports when others want it to be very powerful. Then the rest want it where it is, balanced between the two. These arguments turned into flames alot.

GBs will win against a liner if it moves. Its smaller, more agile, and has more energy to fire GB weapons more often.

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Without consort, Nyx the destructive, brought forth a horde of villainous Immortals. Thanatos was one of that wretched lot.

[Victor]

Agreed...:cool:

I only have 2 chars so far and both have a Gunboat... big enough, yet agile enough at the same time...

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[Fellow Hoodlum]

Drake <snip>Does that mean it can no longer be flown with a Trader ID? <end Snip>

Drake, a very good point actually, and one that ought be addressed. Till its done though, the trader ID does
state that capital ships are not to be used, so possibly the use of another that allows trading should be bought
for now. This would keep everyone within the current server rules.
I will try to get a definative answer for future reference.
As to to rest of the original debate, I have seen well armed and shielded Liners used to very good effect against
much larger ships.

Hoodlum

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Some say he is a proud member of: "The most paranoid group of people in the Community."

[Doom]

just simple answer from my side....Liners have no chance against GB...none of vessels, even remotely meant for trading, cant stand attack from properly equipped GB.