Sledge or Strife anybody?

[Shadow Reaper]

I'm just curious who is flying the smaller Ballistic Cannons? Last I heard the contention over them being overpowered, then underpowered, then screwed up, then back as original, had kinda faided by making them what they were but less of what they were. So they got a speed increase but the damage bonus was decreased.

I became curious when I was looking at outfitting the Razor EX. I would not want to fight from that thing much, but if i had to I think I'd want a Hail Mary type weapon that stood a chance of doing real damage despite I was outarmored and outgunned.

Looks like the Strife is in almost every way just a little better than the Sledge, but the Sledge has twice the armor points. Otherwise not much difference between them.

Anyone flying these and what is it like to hit with them? Are they doing internal damage right way the way they used to?

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

I have not flown anything but energy load-outs since the ICC probe, its missions and Tessa Banister vanished and the Stanton system widened out. I just don't have the time to go back to a R&R and reload, and even if I did I do not want to get into the habit considering I want to go explore the Edge Systems when they get in game. Ballistics will not serve a pilot very well at all if you are 30 million miles from the nearest resupply depot when the pew pew pew goes click click click.

I think the guns that will serve these little racers/interceptors well are the Scatter Guns. They have a super short effective range but hit hard when shot at point-blank. What better for a ship that can close distance fast, give the foe a slap and run away again before they can react?

 

[Lorddarthvik]

I'm with @NaffNaffBobFace here, no ballistics. They run out of ammo way too fast and the repair/reload is still 99% bugged, would have to reclaim ship and wait for ages.
It kinda feels pointless for the moment with the shields randomly stopping shit and armor and modules not existing properly yet.

sidenote: TBH, I feel like the gun damages will be totally changed after armor and pipe systems and modules go live. Currently TTK is waaay too fast on most ships for precision aiming to be even remotely possible. It was stated multiple times by the devs wants us to shoot at modules and parts of the ship, not just deplete an HP pool, so I expect DPS to change drastically.
But ofc, for current patch, stats matter. I'm interested to see if running 4 ballistic gatlings or cannons instead of 4 laser repeaters would help with kills in my aurora.

 

[Ayeteeone]

@Shadow Reaper I've tried pretty much everything on my EX. None of it works particularly well. The mass drivers were at least interesting before they got severely nerfed.

For PvE use, the CF-227's work fairly well. Not enough agility or dps to really tangle it up with other fighters though. And the high IR signature, at this point of development, means it's not much good for sneaking up on things either.

I've been hanging on to mine in the hope of it becoming a useful scout, as it does regen hydrogen very well, and is about the smallest ship you can get with a Quantum Drive.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

I've been hanging on to mine in the hope of it becoming a useful scout, as it does regen hydrogen very well, and is about the smallest ship you can get with a Quantum Drive.

I really want to take a cutter to the wings and remove them. That shouldn't make any difference in space and if it still flies we, would make great scouts for a Polaris. Without wings could fit an entire wing of wingless scouts in the bay.