Drop Ship War: Redeemer vs Prowler

[sum1]

With the into of the Prowler, we now find ourselves in the same seat that many fighter pilots were sitting in a year ago when they showed off the Sabre. what is better stealth and speed or overwhelming firepower? I am going to try to give you some answers, however I do not believe one is better then the other, maybe for your uses you will find it otherwise. But objectively these two ships both have pros and cons. As I will talk more in detail later I think we are suffering from old stats on the Redeemer.

I think some of the oddest stats come in the because of the redeemer is on the old outdated stat system. like, the Prowler has a listed size 3 shield and a side 2 power plant. where the Redeemer crushes it with a size 6 shield and size 6 power plant, and at the same time having a smaller cross section and lighter then the Prowler. I would not take these states to heart as I believe this is manly because of the old data on the Redeemer, but I do believe we will see more power and shields on the redeemer when all is said and done.

When we talk about firepower the redeemer is the clear winner, no questions asked. Although the Prowler boosts bigger guns (x3 s5) the Redeemers firepower is a godly 20 S2 missiles, x6 s3 guns, and (if I am reading the spec page right, X2 S4 - X4 FL33) X8 S4 guns!!! so if you are looking to turn your enemies into a pile of dirt read no more, your winner is the Redeemer... but if you are not looking for the most guns keep reading.

We know the Prowler is a stealth ship, where the redeemer is a gun ship. So what is better? well I would say it depends on your mission, if you want to land troops, take off and blast any one that sticks their head out. Redeemer. If you want to sneak in, drop your troops off and let them handle the rest, Prowler all the way.

The way I am looking at the two is the Redeemer will be more versatile, and be better suited to getting troops out in open combat and providing extra support until the job is done. Where I can see the Prowler being a "Black-Ops" ship, if you need to get SF in, and then deny them ever being there, Prowler baby.

So what ship is best for you? For me, I am going to stick to the Redeemer for now, but the Prowler is one good looking ship.... as much as it brakes my heart to say so being an Aegis man.

 

[DontTouchMyHoHos]

Redeemer is a gunship first, drop ship second. You would probably have redeemers escort prowlers in.

 

[Black Sunder]

Prowler:

 

[Speedkills]

The Prowler can carry more drunk TESTies to the party. Which one holds more beer, though? I agree the sheer firepower of the Redeemer is unmatched, and it is also designed to take a beating. From a piracy perspective, I think the Prowler wins.

 

[marctek]

I do like the Prowler better. I think it looks like a great drop ship. Now if I just had the extra cash laying around.

 

[Mettan]

I actually had to ask myself that question because I have a Redeemer. Until I saw the Prowler I was so like. I MUST HAVE ONE, but then I saw it and it pretty much balances out with the Redeemer. From "my" Piracy perspective they are both good. One is a sledge hammer the other is a shank, but they will get the job done. I ended up skipping the Prowler because it is way more expensive than a Redeemer, so I got a Cat.

 

[Bruttle]

One is a sledge hammer the other is a shank, but they will get the job done.

I am definitely a sledge hammer kind of guy. It's the redeemer all the way for me. I gotta believe that the rework is going to make it magical. That being said, the prowler does really look amazing. $425 worth of amazing? Maybe, but there is a large list of ships that you can get for less than $425.

 

[sum1]

I am definitely a sledge hammer kind of guy. It's the redeemer all the way for me. I gotta believe that the rework is going to make it magical. That being said, the prowler does really look amazing. $425 worth of amazing? Maybe, but there is a large list of ships that you can get for less than $425.

well you could just wait to get it in game. or the redeemer is only 250, I have seen that the price of ships keep going up so it seems to be more worth it to get older ships then newer ones.

 

[sum1]

Redeemer is a gunship first, drop ship second. You would probably have redeemers escort prowlers in.

I feel it would be better in an open fight just to run redeemers, as they will be able to take more of a beating and dish one out. keep your prowlers for steal ops, or have them use the fight to flank and board a cap ship without the enemy knowing. but if you use the redeemers to draw attention to an attack and have prowlers with them the prowlers will be easy targets as they will have lost the stealth that makes them deadly, and not have the firepower or tank to stay up. I feel one of the best strats (for multiple cap battles) will have your caps head to head with theirs, have your fast bombers (Vanguard H, Porlaris, etc) hit them from one flank, and have your elite FPS forces hit them from the other flank to capture one of their cap ships. If this strat works perfectly (good luck on that) you could cripple both of their flanks in one move.

 

[Bruttle]

well you could just wait to get it in game. or the redeemer is only 250, I have seen that the price of ships keep going up so it seems to be more worth it to get older ships then newer ones.

I've actually got a Redeemer already. That being said, I'm with you on the pricing. The older ships are far cheaper. The latest ships like the Terrapin ($195 single seater), the Prowler ($425), the Blade ($250), all point to a pretty solid price creep.

Compared to some of the older (VASTLY larger and more profitable) ships like the Hull-C ($200), the Orion ($325), the Endeavor ($350), the Merchantman ($250), the Starfarer ($300), and many others, they just don't seem to have the value per dollar that they should have. For the price of a single Prowler, you can get a Connie Andromeda, a Super Hornet, and a Dragonfly. Or, you could get a Redeemer, a Freelancer, and a 315p. The list goes on and on.

 

[DontTouchMyHoHos]

I feel it would be better in an open fight just to run redeemers, as they will be able to take more of a beating and dish one out. keep your prowlers for steal ops, or have them use the fight to flank and board a cap ship without the enemy knowing. but if you use the redeemers to draw attention to an attack and have prowlers with them the prowlers will be easy targets as they will have lost the stealth that makes them deadly, and not have the firepower or tank to stay up. I feel one of the best strats (for multiple cap battles) will have your caps head to head with theirs, have your fast bombers (Vanguard H, Porlaris, etc) hit them from one flank, and have your elite FPS forces hit them from the other flank to capture one of their cap ships. If this strat works perfectly (good luck on that) you could cripple both of their flanks in one move.

Prowler has a bigger capacity for troops? Redeemer i believe only has 6 seats for troops, havent looked at mine in awhile. People have been saying prowlers can cloak? If so it would be scary to see redeemers escort in prowlers and have multiple prowlers decloak upon landing while redeemers do strafe runes.

 

[Gauna]

The sound of Vanguard Hoplite and Retaliator Base (with Dropship module) crying in the corner, echoing in the distance.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Yeah but the Redeemer has a coffee machine.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

I think if you want to compare transports you need to ask about the Hoplite as well. The Prowler is going to be slow and stealthy while the Redeemer is going to be blazing hot and easy to spot, and fast. The Hoplite will be between them.

For planetside drops, any of these as well as the Retaliator will do just fine, but I would prefer the airframe on the Hoplite. For boarding actions, the Prowler's stealth looks like it would give an edge, especially if you can team it with something stealthy and bristling with missiles, like a Ghost Gladiator.

I love the Redeemer, but if I need to coordinate the efforts of 5 players, I would rather put them into a Prowler and 3 Ghost Gladiators, 2 with the Hornet Tracker turret, and 1 with an EMP generator, all carrying spike missiles. For boarding ships the question is does this equal the abilities of two Hoplites and a Sentinel? It very well may. It may exceed them, save that it will be slow.

 

[Vimes]

When you can fit 100 people into a Connie and drop em all over, then why would you use either a Prowler or Redeemer for this purpose`?

 

[Pander]

I still maintain the Connie as one of the best drop ships for large scale stuff and a freelancer or the new cutlass for small scale followed by the hoplite.


Having turrets is a big plus in my book,
All well armed (enough for a drop ship)
Can take a dragonfly or more than one/Ursa rover in Connie to act as a drop pod, turret or tank

Really the prowlers two selling points to me are stealth something all ships should be able to mod into themselves (both cutlass and freelancer have been referenced to have low Sig in someway) witch should be able to expand upon.

And this 4 door situation witch isn't leaps a bounds better. I know I would rather have a turret firing into the zone I'm attacking before stealth. Yeah stealth is great and all but if I'm deploying 16 odd troops do I need to be stealthy? If I'm bringing that numbers i would have dedicated ships for keeping a ship ioned.

It's kinda cool that it has some kind of metal shield when it lands but if you check in yellow jackets thread about why I think connie is great the Connie has a similar idea to it aswell.

Its so hard to pick either of these when you can get more versatility out of other cheaper ships.


This ship seems like it has to be sold to the very hardcore single minded drop trooper pilot that can only do one type of mission. that to me losing so much versatility on that there are then too many things that could go wrong.

I think if I had to make a choice it would be the prowler because of the one way mirror glass..... And I had that in my paint drawing the bastards haha

 

[LumpySkin]

How about I just have both? Sounds like a good option, so whether i'm drunk and need extra firepower to push through or sober for a stealth mission I have the flexibility to do both.

:poop:

 

[Shadow Reaper]

When you can fit 100 people into a Connie and drop em all over, then why would you use either a Prowler or Redeemer for this purpose`?

IIUC, you will not be able to use ships that merely have enough volume for passengers and load them with troops. If you could do that the Freelancer Max would be hard to beat as a boarding craft but last I heard if you exceed the limits of the craft it will simply not fly. This actually makes sense. How is CIG going to sell dedicated boarding craft when every transport could be used as such? Answer is every transport cannot be used as such.

I think right now, the Redeemer, Retaliator, Hoplite, Prowler and Genesis are the only boarding craft proposed.

 

[Mich Angel]

For a pure drop ship I go for the Prowler, but as said earlier here. Redeemer is a gunship (built like a tank), drop ship second.
And since the Redeemer then give a lot more diversity of use I have to go for the Redeemer.

 

[Vimes]

IIUC, you will not be able to use ships that merely have enough volume for passengers and load them with troops. If you could do that the Freelancer Max would be hard to beat as a boarding craft but last I heard if you exceed the limits of the craft it will simply not fly. This actually makes sense. How is CIG going to sell dedicated boarding craft when every transport could be used as such? Answer is every transport cannot be used as such.

I think right now, the Redeemer, Retaliator, Hoplite, Prowler and Genesis are the only boarding craft proposed.

It will be interesting how they will handle this game mechanic in the PU, what will be the limiter when it comes to the amount of people you can cram into a spaceship? could one solution be that people that aint seated in the spaceship will be ejected when they travel thru an jump point or something? Not being able to move your ship at all if your over the max crew limit? Or will they just say hey, if you can fit 100 people into a freighter then hey go for it, game mechanics may put a stop to this with sharding etc.