Yesterday I saw a couple type 2 gunships. No one I know from the forums or anything.

 

I really couldn't figure out what was going on here. For much of its active life, the type 2 gunship plays like a type 1 gunship- it shoots slugs at stuff. But the difference it has versus the type 1 are pretty harsh- distortion is a better choice than directional shield (the other two options are present on both), armor is a little better than capacitor (a lot better if you are running disto), heavy lasers is a hard sell over burst lasers, and the torps are definitely worse than having ion railgun as an option.

 

This stuff is... not really controversial. The big selling point to me would be, if you want heavy laser cannon, it is the only gunship with that. I could see someone not comfortable with burst laser cannon playing the ship because of that, but even in that edge case, the player would at some level know that they'd ultimately be better off on Type 1 or Type 3.

 

In general, the playerbase doesn't spend a lot of time asking for type 2 gunship buffs. Mostly, this is because there are already two great gunships, and gunships are very good as it is. Secondarily, it is probably because we all suspect that torps are underpowered on ALL ships, and if and when they get buffed enough to be a justifiable pick, it would help the type 2 gunship as a side effect, as it is the only ship with access to those. Finally, I suspect a little bit of it is that we'd like to see the strike frame fixed first: a missing class of ships is a pretty big deal.

 

Fun fact: these ships were supposed to have some fly-by-wire cruise missile thing instead of torps. That's why they are such goofy beasts, I think.

 

Anyway, maybe I just noticed it, and it wasn't anything. Just odd.

Just going to take this chance to throw out some crazy because this isn't super serious. I'd like to see plasma railgun be a T2 gunship unique weapon. Along with some plasma railgun tweaks/buffs. I know plasma railgun seems weak, but only when it stands next to the slug or ion rail gun.

Plasma (with an evasion debuff) together with slug can definitely rock some face, and is a much better choice over protorps until (if) they get better. With that said, you can use the same combo on the T1 if you desired, but get the added benefit of armor over... a capacitor? OP is definitely spot on there, not to mention T1 is the only option for the beautiful thing that is ion.

 

All I can think is that you were running into people who pull out their T2 for double req week in order to play it less and max it out more quickly. I've been doing it myself this week, though obviously put that thing in the garage for SS night.

Paging Dr. Krixarcs, paging Dr. Krixarcs

The only point I disagree on is that distortion field is not strictly a better choice than directional shield. There are lots of top players that actually prefer directionals.

 

Ruling out the T2 as a bad ship is easier if you compare it to the Pdive T3. If both ships use directionals, then you can basically peg the T2 as a Condor/Jurg that's missing cluster missiles, BLC, thrusters. Pdive and barrel roll are both good and therefore a wash in my opinion.

 

All of the weapons on the T2 are useless except slug. It's basically a mobile slug platform. There are a few times you can make use of HLC but you're almost always better off just repositioning and using slugs.

Edited May 29, 2016 by RickDagles

See Verain, the thing is, Plasma Railgun is so powerful that they probably felt that they didn't need the other advantages that a T1 gunship has.

 

After all, Plasma can do about 130% more DPS than either of the other railguns, and it can to it for about half the amount of weapon pool energy. It's secretly massively OP.

 

All you need is at least 6 closely grouped targets that don't pop evasion cooldowns, don't hide behind a LOS barrier, and that don't get killed by anyone else before the DOTs run their full course.

 

The DOT is independent of charge percentage, so after a 0.675 second charge you can fire for 225 immediate damage and 900 to about 1030 DOT damage. As long as you spam the DOTs around on a lot of targets in an efficient manner there's really nothing in GSF that can compete. Ion might be ahead at first, but once you get down to hull it turns pretty much useless. Plasma doesn't have that problem.

 

Sure, Ion and Plasma would be better than Plasma and Slug, but really Plasma is so OP that it hardly matters.

 

It's COMPLETELY LOGICAL and mathematically sound.

 

 

 

What do you want to bet that this was the design logic underlying Plasma's current incarnation?

All you need is at least 6 closely grouped targets that don't pop evasion cooldowns, don't hide behind a LOS barrier, and that don't get killed by anyone else before the DOTs run their full course.

 

Don't forget: they also can't turn around, because then it ticks on the other side of their shields.

The only point I disagree on is that distortion field is not strictly a better choice than directional shield. There are lots of top players that actually prefer directionals.

 

Ruling out the T2 as a bad ship is easier if you compare it to the Pdive T3. If both ships use directionals, then you can basically peg the T2 as a Condor/Jurg that's missing cluster missiles, BLC, thrusters. Pdive and barrel roll are both good and therefore a wash in my opinion.

 

All of the weapons on the T2 are useless except slug. It's basically a mobile slug platform. There are a few times you can make use of HLC but you're almost always better off just repositioning and using slugs.

 

I think an argument can be made for a directionals/regular lasers/BR T2. Lasers are usable on a GS, directionals are quite good for negating clusters/ionspam, and barrel roll is good for mobility.

 

The problems are only one missile break (not that much of a problem, since the vast majority of missiles is clusters) and bad secondaries. The second one is the deal breaker to me.

Fun fact: these ships were supposed to have some fly-by-wire cruise missile thing instead of torps. That's why they are such goofy beasts, I think.

 

Come to think of it, that could be why they're called "cometbreaker" and "dustmaker". It would be fitting names for actual missile boats.

 

Another fun thing is that the starfighter in battlefront 2, actually did have gunships with fly-by-wire missiles. not to mention it also had the exact same ship classes, gunships were multicrew/troop landing ships though.

Don't forget: they also can't turn around, because then it ticks on the other side of their shields.

 

must test this....Never really noticed it.

There are lots of top players that actually prefer directionals.

On a type 3 gunship, which has power dive and thrusters. The type 2 gunship is mostly a bad type 1 gunship- he would make a terrible stand-in for a type 3.

 

ruling out the T2 as a bad ship is easier if you compare it to the Pdive T3

 

Those two good gunships are very different ships that play very differently. Playing a Type 2 like a Type 1 is mostly what I see happen (and is probably the best way to play the type 2), because Barrel Roll or Power Dive tends to shape the playstyle (the type 1 gunship's game versus other gunship has to rely on evasion, because he has both distortion and armor, the type 3 gunship's game has to rely on his engine component, the type 2 gunship's plan is to respawn). Both engine components are good, but that does not make them the same.

 

I just think comparing to a type 3 gunship shows him as even more gimped than he is- and he is pretty damned gimped. I think we get to the same answer with different methods though

 

Also lol @ Ramalina's optimal multidotting plasma gunship!

 

 

I think an argument can be made for a directionals/regular lasers/BR T2.

 

Maybe, but I doubt you'd be getting in the ship just to play Laser Cannon. I'd have a hard time really arguing what the least suboptimal type 2 gunship is.

 

directionals are quite good for negating clusters/ionspam

 

I think power dive is good for those things, especially ion. The directionals have advantages, of course.

 

must test this....Never really noticed it.

 

You can test it, but it is pretty well known. It is true of ALL dots, too.

Edited May 30, 2016 by Verain

Maybe, but I doubt you'd be getting in the ship just to play Laser Cannon. I'd have a hard time really arguing what the least suboptimal type 2 gunship is.

 

I actually only got in it to master it. It can be close to competitive, but I wouldn't claim it's as good as either of the other gunships.

 

My T2 is actually set up with fortress/rotationals/plasmas/regular lasers... I haven't flown it in a while, but it always surprised the single scout coming for a free kill. Not to say that it's a serious ship or build, but it had its perks.

 

You could build almost the same build with the T1 too, of course, but c'mon... Why do that to the T1?

I am so happy my ship finally starts to receive some notification of notoriety thank you Verain and the other users I would be curious to know who is a smart player among us?? I will have to fly on the harb server soon to see it for my own eyes.

why is this ship the best? its simple you have directional shields which one guy mentioned and is correct. second it has barrel roll which is the best engine and it is a big laugh HA HA HA HA to compare it to any other engines in the game. lets see you FLY across a quarter of the map instantly and u can get anything u see including shields and engine overcharges and damage overcharges and friendly repair drones and friendly seeker mines not to mention the big FU slap to the scout's face also known as railgun sentry drones. so if u have 1 good player on ur team that recognizes you are the valued Krixarcs and he switches to bomber to lay down support? automatic win usually. I have a video where I beat verain and drakkoluch and xi'ao badly when I was vastly outnumbered and just had that 1 smart bomber mate.OK so you know about directional shields and u know about barrel roll? if u aren't sold yet with the keys in the ignition then let me throw in some air fresheners and a free detailing and maybe some vouchers to Applebees. Its got sensor dampening that lets you sneak around the map. its got heavies which are high high DPS much better than burst laser cannons since they have shield piercing too. proton torpedo is a terrific alternative to sitting on ur arse and recharging your blaster power since it need none and with damage overcharge u can kill a bomber with 1 proton and 1 heavy laser shot TBH. Then u have a full blaster bar with which to punish ur enemies like scouts. guess what proton also work great against feedback shield gunship if u look out for them blowing their barrel roll and u chase them. be careful it could be a trap

Edited June 3, 2016 by Krixarcs

Why are all of your posts the best? This is amazing! Edited June 3, 2016 by Verain