Aquila, Mercury or Corsair?

[Shadow Reaper]

I can't believe the amount of guns the Corsair has. Insane at that price point with exploration capabilities added to it. I would count on a future nerf.

They did say from the startt the ting that would make it out as Drake was the size and number of guns. It is a smuggler's version of a glass cannon. Expect it to be fragile.

As for Snub fighters, they are a waste of time, any ship with a snub bay should just have a normal small hangar for actual full blown small ships to dock in.

Either that, or give all snubs quantum and boost regen as standard.

I'm not a fan of snubs either, but it's important to understand ships this size absolutely cannot have hangars. There's just no room. You need to step up to the next tier with the Carrack and Polaris to get a hangar, and even then you get a deliberately tiny one. Word is still the Carrack's hangar is sized to fit only the smallest birds. Have to wait and see. I think though, one important issue when comparing sizes of these sorts of exploration/utility craft is whether you can fly them alone. You can actually manage a Lancer or even a Connie alone. People do it all the time. I doubt you can mange a Carrack alone, and certainly you'd be looking for trouble since you can't manage any of the guns that way.

I also dislike the boring linearity of the Connie, but it is sturdy, and nimble enough to fire on incoming, and it greatly outpaces the others in the missile category. If you're flying alone and get attacked, my bet is on the Connie to be the most survivable.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

Just to remind for those who are into exploration, the 315P rework and Reliant Sen are both due for release with 3.5. Expect the Reliant update to be big, since no one wants what CIG made first time out. I'm hoping they put the bed back in and made it long range.

Also due with 3.5 is the "pathfinding" AI necessary for exploration. People have said very little about the pathfinding mechanism, but it is sure to be a big deal given the number of players who are into exploration. I expect 3.5 to be the most beloved patch to date, and it is due this coming week, isn't it? is Q1, and Q1 ends in a week.

 

[Kiladyn]

I am undecided when it comes to snubs, honestly we will have to see with the new flight models ect. There is potential there, from the Pisces ( The Carrack Snub, is supposed to be a 3 seater, I am guessing to make faster landings or smaller spaces) I am really interested out the fighter snubs will do, being so small and fast.

it is due this coming week, isn't it?

It is supposed to come out soon*TM , meaning the first wave PTU COULD be any second.

 

[Vavrik]

Without getting into semantics, the fact its flyable now is of no consequence, as theres no game currently.

As for Snub fighters, they are a waste of time, any ship with a snub bay should just have a normal small hangar for actual full blown small ships to dock in.

Either that, or give all snubs quantum and boost regen as standard.

So I get it, but the use case is not combat. It's exploration, it's the only place it (the design) makes sense.

 

[Kiladyn]

as for snubs having quantum drive, 1 im not sure they are big enough to hold them even if I want them to. 2 dont make them overpowered with big gas tanks or the ability to use jump points. (Even though one of short stories had one go through and barely survive)

 

[Shadow Reaper]

Edit from above: the 300 series has been pushed back :-( , and the Reliant now has 2 beds!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_R_4dgvM0U

 

[Vavrik]

Edit from above: the 300 series has been pushed back :-( , and the Reliant now has 2 beds!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_R_4dgvM0U

It's not that bad, they often delay some of their goals, but they have been pretty good at doing catch up in the quarter. And some things develop differently than planned, which is why some things get delayed longer. As long as they stay basically on target, especially with the behind the seen mechanics, they're OK. If a delay means they can do something just once, and not 3 or 4 times, we'll be OK too.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

Yeah, the 300 series is only pushed back to a 3.5x, so could be in just a few weeks. Won't be that long and apparently the 300i is working.

I'm excited they put the beds back in the Reliant. That bird is fun even if it is cannon fodder, but they nerfed it terribly when they decided to make it short range and took the beds out. No one wanted it then. It's slow, not agile, has a paper thin hull, is hard to handle, and has only meager shields and crappy guns. It looks cool but there was no reason to choose it over the Avenger once they pulled th beds, save that it has a second seat. Without the beds, the seat makes too little difference.

What they need to do is give it lots of pipes for enhanced customization. I think people would put up with the sub-standard performance if they could tweek it with say, an EM Warfare station, or serious stealth, or a medium sensor suite stuck in all that cargo space. There should be lots of mods for that ship and mix and match BUKs. Guess we'll see soon. It isn't ever going to be a nice bird, but it could become a great choice for a starter bird, and if it will fit into the Carrack hangar, would be great to fly small fleets of Sens off a Carrack.

 

[marcsand2]

we will have to see with the new flight models ect.

A new flight model won't change that much in the snubs roles.

It's slow, not agile, has a paper thin hull, is hard to handle, and has only meager shields and crappy guns.

Don't forget about the huge wings. Paper thin is with more ships. Paper thin, not agile and a huge target sounds like a sitting duck. I have the Tana, but I guess that it won't fight a lot.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

Oh, ands since the Avenger rework, it now hauls half the cargo of the Avenger, instead of twice as much.

 

[Mushin]

All I can say is, dont underestimate the value of a snub fighter and don't think any of these ships is going to be going into a fight solo successfully. Love the Corsair tho.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

All I can say is, dont underestimate the value of a snub fighter and don't think any of these ships is going to be going into a fight solo successfully. Love the Corsair tho.

If you have the pilot for an escort, aren't there a lot of other ships to choose from defense? I can't see why you'd want a P52 if you have the pilot for a Sabre, etc.

 

[Kiladyn]

If you have the pilot for an escort, aren't there a lot of other ships to choose from defense? I can't see why you'd want a P52 if you have the pilot for a Sabre, etc.

Because i sabre doesnt fit in a connie or carrack, and this way you can have the crew doing a task and then when needed launch the snub to add trouble for the enemy

 

[LoicFarris]

Connie is terrible, don't bother. Mercury if you want scanning, cargo, and data transport careers. Corsair if you want light cargo, long range exploration/scanning, and a fairly large amount of firepower.

Why is the Connie terrible? I'm genuinely asking not being argumentative.

I bought a Constellation Andromeda for my Nephew and he's in love with his ship, now that said he's 15 and he likes the looks of it, he doesn't entirely understand the functionality as compared to other ships. I showed him a pic of the Drake Corsair Warbond and he wasn't interested, because he didn't like the asymmetrical shape. I was encouraging him toward this ship because it has LTI and seems to be more versatile.

 

[Wolfy]

Why is the Connie terrible? I'm genuinely asking not being argumentative.

I bought a Constellation Andromeda for my Nephew and he's in love with his ship, now that said he's 15 and he likes the looks of it, he doesn't entirely understand the functionality as compared to other ships. I showed him a pic of the Drake Corsair Warbond and he wasn't interested, because he didn't like the asymmetrical shape. I was encouraging him toward this ship because it has LTI and seems to be more versatile.

What did he buy it to do? If he likes the looks he can keep it (his taste in aesthetics is terrible) but if he want to do either cargo or exploration it's just a bad ship overall. It's too versatile which leaves it lacking in many areas like cargo space, exploration ability, and honestly is only really made for combat. Even then... the Corsair kinda has it overpowered in pure offensive strength and the Mercury is supposed to have better speed and range so it can just outrun things. In a direct comparison it really depends what he plans to do with the ship, if it's just because he likes the look he might as well keep it and will probably have fun.

 

[Thraesh]

Personally I just don't like how the connie flies and I hated the monitors locked in place for co-pilots (never checked to see if this might get changed later). From an exploration side, I'd personally want a phoenix maybe, it at least has a really nice interior design for passengers to relax and explore as something like a variation to the Origin yacht types, only reason I'd buy it for my personal taste. For actual use, I plan to buy the Mercury in November and I'm buying the Corsair pack as well due to the pack offering decent/good ships alongside me actually wanting the corsair

 

[Shadow Reaper]

. . .this way you can have the crew doing a task and then when needed launch the snub to add trouble for the enemy

Yes, but if the crew are NPCs, they won't be skilled at more than one thing. If you want to use NPCs for protection, best you hire a pilot for whatever fighter you have, or a turret gunner. If you have PCs for crew, great to multi-task them, but I think we are going to see a lot of small and medium cargo pilots filling the seats of whatever fighter(s) they have in stock with NPC pilots, and flying short hops so their escorts can refuel. If you want or need to fly long hops, you'll need Vanguards or Defenders and they are not cheap.

The only exception still seems to be Tana's flying off the Starfarer since they have refueling probes, but they need 2 NPC's each, so that's not cheap either. Security outside the core is going to be expensive.

 

[Black Sunder]

Why is the Connie terrible? I'm genuinely asking not being argumentative.

It mainly comes down to the interior and exterior being boring af(the Phoenix being the best Constellation internally) and not having much utility outside of a cargo carrier/missile spammer.

Compare it to the Mercury which holds the same amount of cargo, does data running, can do data interception, smuggling, and is faster than the Constellation(as said in the brochure) you have an overall better ship but it sacrifices the extreme firepower of the Connie to do this. However it is more multirole in return.

 

[Wolfy]

It mainly comes down to the interior and exterior being boring af(the Phoenix being the best Constellation internally) and not having much utility outside of a cargo carrier/missile spammer.

Compare it to the Mercury which holds the same amount of cargo, does data running, can do data interception, smuggling, and is faster than the Constellation(as said in the brochure) you have an overall better ship but it sacrifices the extreme firepower of the Connie to do this. However it is more multirole in return.

Plus the Mercury has a virtual chessboard that opens into a smuggling duct. 10/10 better than a popup table.

 

[Phil]

I have to admit not all that impressed with the Corsair, I think the Aquila is one of the epitome's of an Exploration ship, the Mercury while more specific roles in mind like data and information feels less like a true exploration vessel but I love the design of it. If I had to choose of the 3 based on personal preference and pure exploration in mind the Aquila wins hands down.