Goin Freelance - Ship Talk #6: The Freelancers

[Black Sunder]

Goin Freelance - Ship Talk #6: The Freelancers

Welcome back to Ship Talk! Its good to be back writing and I had a good break but now I'm back with a series of ships that I think most would say are fairly awesome. I posted this a day early because I had it completely done and thought why not?! For those of you new to this series, Ship Talk is where I take the current on paper stats for a group of ships similar in either role or hull, analyze them, and give my own thoughts on how they compare to each other. Below you can find links to previous Ship Talks and Ship Talk Commentary:

Ship Talk #1 - Exploring the Unknown: The top 4 Exploration Ships
Ship Talk #2 - Aurora Rain: All about the MVP of TEST, the Aurora + Variants
Ship Talk #3 - Squadron Reporting - Ship Talk #3 'Fighters' Part 1
Ship Talk #3 - Squadron Reporting - Ship Talk #3 'Fighters' Part 2
Ship Talk #4 - Cargo Cult: The Cargo Haulers
Ship Talk #5 - Avast Me Hearties! - Ship Talk #5: The Cutlass

The Aegis Vanguard - Ship Talk Commentary #1

Ship Talk #6 is all about the Freelancer and variants and I'm excited to finally discuss them. This is one I've wanted to do for a while and I don't think any of you will be disappointed. I will warn you right now, this one will be as long or longer than #4 which saw a new record of needing 3 posts to fit everything. The Freelancer has been with us since the beginning of Star Citizen and has seen several revisions, but always for the better, and as of last year received its variants. Despite the ships sharing the same basic hull and thus sharing many stats they occupy some very different roles and this is what has me excited.

A word about cargo capacity here. If you read my Talk on the cargo haulers then you saw the links to GrayheadedGamer's videos regarding cargo capacity which I'll relink here and here for convenience. Due to these videos I believe the cargo capacities are off but I will talk about them as if they are correct. Whatever ends up being the case in the future it shouldn't really change anything else about the ship itself.

I have already discussed 2 of the variants in past Talks, the Freelancer DUR and the Freelancer MAX, but I've had time to reflect on them now and I don't think I did them the justice they deserve. I hope to correct that today. Sit tight and strap in because here we go. These are the Freelancers!

My Thoughts on the Ships(Freelancer, DUR, MAX, and MIS)

General Thoughts on Stats

First let me acknowledge again that these stats and listed equipment are all subject to change. However, unless something drastic occurs in testing I would expect these stats to still give a good overall direction and capability for each ship. Below is a link to a composite picture I made with all the stats listed from the RSI site:

All Freelancer Stats

Descriptions and Roles

The basic Freelancer opens up by telling us that it is used as a long haul merchant vessel by major corporations but that the ship itself is also frequently re-purposed by people to be explorers. Its primary role is mercantile but its original secondary role was exploration before the variants. This makes sense and here is why. Your typical explorer needs to be a longer range ship in the first place but after that it is a simple matter of fitting the right scanning equipment on it and you've got a makeshift explorer ready to go. Even if we didn't have the DUR I would expect people to modify their Lancers to be explorers because the Freelancer is like the off-road pickup truck of the frontier.

The Freelancer DUR is dedicated to exploration of all things. It comes with a better jump drive, enhanced fuel tanks and a more advanced scanner for finding all those shiny things on the frontier. It sacrifices some cargo to make room for these improvements but it shouldn't be a big deal to most people. The MAX comes with cargo capacity. It sacrifices weapons to make room for this additional capacity and is ideal for hauling equipment or raw materials.

The Freelancer MIS version is a militarized version of the basic Freelancer. It is the most rare Freelancer around with an extreme focus on missiles. The cargo capacity was cut to make room for these weapon systems. The description talks about early payload incidents which may indicate it can go boom rather easily do to the loadout.

I like all of these ships and their roles and I see this coming through strongly in each of them. You have 'almost' everything you need just in these 4 ships from general purpose, exploring, hauling, and fighting. If you had to choose a series of ships and only that series of ships to play Star Citizen with then this series would be an excellent choice because of the diverse range of professions they can accommodate.

Structural and Propulsion

On the subject of size, the Freelancer is approximately half as wide as it is long but fairly thin when looking at it straight on. The standouts here are the DUR and MIS on length due to the double chin features on the front and the MAX on width due to the extra engines. As long as you don't present an enemy with a top or bottom profile then you'll be a relatively small target to hit and this series helps you do that so well. More on this later.

Starting with cargo capacity please read the disclaimer in the introduction. The standard base Freelancer allows you to transport a very small but sufficient load of 168 Units. The DUR having valiantly sacrificed its own cargo space for better exploration equipment comes in at 148. The MAX allows for a full 280 Freight Units of Cargo making it the most haulin of the Freelancers. Finally the MIS due to its volumes of missiles only has 132 units of cargo. This shouldn't matter as much to people because you're going to be blowing things up in it anyway so anything left over will be scrap.

Moving down we get the crew members. Each of the Freelancers besides the MIS only needs at a minimum 2 crew members making them very attractive options for solo flight with an NPC or a good Wookie friend. This is one of the best parts of the Freelancer. For as large as it is and only needing 2 people to operate efficiently you don't need to wait and wait to try and scrounge up a crew like a Constellation. The MIS on the other hand requires 3 people. I believe this is due to the missile reloading mechanism or the general military nature of the ship but I could be wrong.

The power plant on the Freelancer series is a solid class 5. The MAX though due to the additional engines allows for a size 6. Next up is the engines. The Freelancer carries a nice pair of TR5 engines allowing for some good power relative to its null cargo mass. The MAX takes the cake here though and carries 4 TR5 engines. This makes sense because of the additional cargo it can carry however it also provides interesting opportunities. Stripped down and then upgraded it may make a great smuggling boat on engine power alone. Or as a racing ship because you got drnk one night and decided you felt the need for speed because why not? Better paint it red though for maximum speed.

The thrusters deserve mention. There are only 8 of them at size TR2 but I believe this is ok because the main engines can rotate quite a bit up and down giving this ship some great maneuverability. Rounding out this list is the shield. The Freelancer , DUR and MIS sport a decent class 5 shield while the MAX only has a class 4. This makes sense in context because the MAX is using much more space for cargo than the others and may not have the room for a larger shield emitter.

I like it when these structural stats make sense when looking at a ship's role and overall function. If you think about other games it is so easy to just give X number for a stat to Y object even if there is no physical reason it should be capable of supporting that. Star Citizen I'm happy to see is taking a much more real to life engineering approach to their ships and making sure things are placed right and make sense to people. This is one reason I like the Freelancer series in particular.

Continued below....

 

[Black Sunder]

Weapons

I've commented in the past that I like the weapon systems of the Freelancer line and here is why: The weapons don't require you to point your front toward the enemy on in order to get good shots in because they are either missiles or on turrets of some kind. Unlike say a fighter or any other ship where the majority of weapons are fixed and gimbaled and require the pilot to focus on flying and gunnery the Freelancer line allows for much more freedom to concentrate almost exclusively on flying the ship in a combat situation. I don't mean this in the context of having a 2nd or 3rd person you can pass off gunnery duties to either. Turrets allow for flexible maneuvers and firing positions.

So what is the point of all that rambling? Well for starters if you are in a Freelancer or even a MAX trying to get away from pirates who want your cargo, the last thing you want to do is be flying toward them to fire your weapons. It just doesn't work out for you because they will flank and kill you. With your weapons mounted on turrets you only need to worry about getting away to a safe distance and fleeing while using your weapons to cripple or destroy what you can. This goes for the Freelancer MIS being the fighter of the group as well and of course the DUR because exploring can be dangerous on the frontier.

Rambling over lets get to the weapons themselves. The basic Freelancer comes with a couple missile systems under the wings of Size 2 and Size 3. Good for killing fighters and some larger ships like the Cutlass. The turrets on the side are unmanned Size 2 weapons while the manned turret on top comes with a couple Size 1 guns. This is a very good mix that can deal with most situations that will be encountered.

The next up is the DUR variant. The DUR lacks the size 2 missile racks of the base Freelancer but gets size 5 guns in side turrets while the manned turret stays the same. Something to note here, they took the size 5 gun off the Avenger for being much too large. With the creation of weapons since these stats were published and the advances and balance tweaks in AC I can't even guess if these will stay size 5 or not. If they do then AWESOME! If they don't stay I would expect them to be downgraded to Size 4 or 3. The MAX variant also sacrifices the Size 2 racks for its increased cargo space. The side turrets get Size 4 weapons and like the DUR I can't say if they will stay or not. I hope they do.

The MIS variant is our first true missile boat. It comes with 6 missile racks, SIX! Two Size 3 and Four Size 2 racks. Just...wow. If you want to fly a flyswatter in the middle of a bunch of buzzing fighters, fly this. The side turrets get the same Size 5 guns of the DUR. The MIS lacks the manned turret on top which could be explained by the need to dedicate that space to the missile loading system. It is important to note here that the description says this ship was produced in only a small quantity due to 'payload incidents' which I take to mean the missiles blowing up inside the ship. Be careful and don't let someone breach your missile storage.

Equipment

The Equipment section this time is on the thin side but I guess that is probably true of most of these Talks. All of the Freelancers come stock equipped with Leaper Jump Engines for those long haul excursions. Seeing as how Freelancers are made for long range trips this stock addition to the ship is very welcome and allows a person to immediately get started with thwa they want to do. If you look at some of the other larger ships on the ship specs you'll see that they don't list jump engines as stock equipment. This could easily be an oversight and I really hope it is but somehting like the Starfarer not having one stock would .....be really weird. I just can't imagine something like the Merchantman or Carrack not coming with one.Again this could be an oversight or something deliberate. We don't know.

The DUR Variant comes with a more advanced Leaper Pro Jump Engine version which fits into its role of explorer nicely. The Freelancer DUR also comes equipped with an advanced long range scanner for finding that mythical sphere of beer, new jump points, Seung's lost hamster, and anything in between. Finally the DUR has expanded fuel tanks to supply the necessary longevity needed to hunt down anything you want.

The Freelancer MIS features a piece of equipment not seen before: an Express Missile Replenishing System. The MIS as stated is a missile boat through and through and this no doubt solidifies it. What does this system do? It takes missiles from internal storage and reloads your racks so you can keep destroying things. Now thats hot.

The Long and the Short

Freelancer - The Freelancer is an interesting ship. It is versatile and can do many things. It is a jack of all trades and a master of none but it doesn't need to be. Looking to haul cargo? Freelancer! Looking to explore a bit but can't afford a DUR? Freelancer! Want to go fight that one guy who flew by you yesterday in his Hornet? Freelancer! Ok maybe not that one. As said before this ship is a 2-seater ship which makes it a good candidate to fly solo or crew with an NPC without having to wait for a people to assemble as you may have to with a larger ship such as a Constellation. This is particularly advantageous as well because fewer people means less money being split among them.

The ship itself is a marvel. From its engines to weapons it seems like a very good balance of all. I'm expecting this ship to be very maneuverable due to how the 2 main TR5 engines can rotate up and down quite far while the 8 TR2 thrusters help out. This goes for all the ships by the way. This is one of those rare instances where I believe the commercial of the ship is fairly close to the truth of how it will handle in game if you're brave enough to try pulling it off. If you're just stepping out of a fighter and looking to upgrade to something bigger than a Cutlass this would be 'the' perfect ship to purchase and upgrade. I'm also expecting this ship to be used as a smuggler due to its ubiquitous nature and what how common of a sight it will be in the 'Verse.

Freelancer DUR - The Freelancer DUR taken as a complete package is one most economical exploration vehicles in the game bar none. Like the normal Freelancer it is a 2 seater vehicle which means you can go off into the unknown with a friend to find riches beyond your wildest dreams. It also means that if you lose the ship it isn't as much of a blow as losing say a Aquila.

Just because this is an exploration ship does not make it a weak ship by any means. It has the weapons and shield power to stay in a fight and win against smaller ships. The cargo space is enough that you can pick up some trinkets you find and carry them back but not enough for any serious cargo running. The DUR comes stock with all the equipment you'd need to get started and this is a definite point in its favor compared to other ships you may want to modify to perform a similar role such as the Vanguard. Again it is very economical for the beginning explorer to purchase and then further modify.

I see the DUR forming the bedrock of any exploration scout force or fleet that TEST puts together. It is a powerful ship in its own right eclipsed only by the larger and even more focused ships. These can take solo missions and expect to complete them. According to the first Ship Talk poll it seems this ship is quite well liked and people have one or will be getting on in the PU to get their exploration career off the ground. I would recommend this ship to anyone looking to get started in the exploration area. Split the cost with a friend and go find that Bengal Carrier. Overall you can't go wrong with this ship.

Freelancer MAX - The MAX is something to be admired. Not only do you add a significant amount of cargo space but you get 2 more engines to go with it. As I said in the Cargo Cult Ship Talk I still believe this ship will be FAST and if you paint it red it will go even faster. Blue creates space drag you know. I know I've discussed this at length before this but given this ship's role as a cargo hauler the weapons complement will shine through in those tough situations where you're trying to fly away and save your cargo. The only crew you need again is yourself and another person so manpower is not as much of a concern as it would be on something like the Constellation Taurus.

I touched on some things last time such as racing(4 TR5 engines!) or smuggling and I think it has a good shot at each. Hell you might even be able to make it into an assault or boarding ship of some sort I don't know but I see this ship as having a lot of potential beyond the normal cargo hauler. Like the DUR this ship is a good package all around and a good upgrade from the Freelancer if you're looking to haul more cargo until you save enough for something bigger. Maybe you just like smaller ships and want to pimp this one and you really could to make it shine.

Continued Below....

 

[Black Sunder]

Freelancer MIS - This ship is the odd one of the bunch but fulfills a very important role in the overall scheme of things. This ship is very much the 'fighter' of the Freelancer line. It is through and through a missile fighter flyswatter macross missile massacre ship. A major difference of this ship is it needs 3 people as crew instead of two. I believe this could be because of the missile reloading system but that is just my guess. It comes standard with the Leaper Jump Engine so immediately it is not a short range ship.

I see this ship fulfilling a needed role in combat ops but for anything else other than that you'll probably want one of the other Freelancers. Don't get me wrong I love this ship because it has all the strengths of the other Freelancers but it doesn't have the same role flexibility. That is not a bad thing however as you can surely modify the ship in significant ways yet to be seen. With some work you may even be able to mount the same torpedoes that that Gladiator can fit allowing you to become a true threat to larger ships such as the Constellation.

Something stands mentioning again here and that is the description of the ship mentioning 'payload incidents'. Now I take this to mean that a shot got through the shields and armor one time too many and detonated the internal missile storage and this made several ships explode in a spectacular fashion. Keep this in mind when flying one because this is a very real possibility and a way to balance the ship out in the long run. On the other hand it is entirely possible that the description means something else entirely and the story presented doesn't apply any more. I would only recommend this ship if you're looking to support combat fleet ops as your primary role in the org because it is so specialized.

Closing Thoughts

This Ship Talk was one I had been looking forward to for some time and I'm glad its done. As I said I like all of these ships equally because of the range of options and roles they can be used for while requiring little manpower and they should be on the cheaper end of the multi-crew ships. I think this is a big selling point of the ships themselves over something larger like a Constellation which is more manpower intensive and costs far more. I've harped on this a lot and I apologize but The Freelancers are just awesome and can so much. I would recommend that you try them out at least once we can fly them in Arena Commander. These ships have great balance across all their specs. Most of all I like it when the specs make sense in regard to roles and I think all of the Freelancers have that particular quality. I for one will be getting ALL of these ships at some point before or after the PU launches because of their capabilities and I recommend all of them in their respective roles. The Freelancers. Just amazing.

The next ship Talk coming out Sunday will be about the long awaited Hull Series of ships A-E. If my poll from the Cargo Cult Ship Talk is any indication then people REALLY REALLY want these ships. I think theres just something basic that appeals to people when it comes to hauling cargo either as a profession or something to do once in a while to relax. This Ship Talk will be a full featured Talk and not a Commentary like the Vanguard because we're talking about 5 ships going on concept sale. I want people to make the most informed decision possible and if I can help that in any way then thats cool.

The Ship Talk due out May 1 will probably be something smaller and not as lengthy due to the Hull Series Talk. What would you guys say to me doing the Redeemer next? Let me know below because after that the next one I do will probably be the Constellations. I expect that one to also be quite fun to write.

As always thanks for the support on these writings. You guys are awesome!

 

[Annitias]

So much data and analysis. Me Gusta.

I see a large use for the freelancer still even with the Hull A/B. Its more of a solo Owner/Operators craft where I stand to think the Hull is pure cargo. The Lancer gives the ability to be maneuverable as well as still have some ability to defend yourself but the Hull will greatly lack there.

I would be interested in grabbing a MAX just to have one.

 

[Feral Oxide]

As always, well gathered! Nicely written, informative and useful. Buy this man many beers.
Can't wait for a chance to buy and fly a DUR

 

[Derkerter]

I upped my Lancer to a DUR a few weeks ago. I figured that exploration is going to be highly valuable for the first year or so in the game. Can't wait to fly it. I want to ssee if it'ss possible to sshoot like they did in the commercial, if not, I'll be a little sad.

R.I.P. 's' key.

 

[WarrenPeace]

I really can't wait to take these ships out for a spin in the 'verse. I own all three variants of the 'lancer, and each one has a special place in my heart. I'm really hoping that these ships are fairly high speed for their class; they definitely seem to hint at it with their streamlined styling and high-tier engines. And it's still small enough that you can take it out to the black, cut the engines and all the lights, crack a cold one, and just sit in the cockpit, watching the stars.

 

[Kersakov]

Great Talk as always.

I never really liked the Freelancer and I don't know why, I think I just don't like the shape.
After this I see how awesome they actually are, I'm a big fan of the low crew costs.
I will likely be picking up a Max as somepoint, maybe dependant on the Hull sale...

 

[GrammarGestapo]

I don't think there will be much variance in weapons, I think the freelancers will all have size 2's in the side and size 1's in the turret. However, I would buy the MIS because the freelancer seems like a capable little gunboat, and it would be fun to have a small, cheap ship focused on firepower.

 

[Willem Default]

Great Ship Talk as always @Black Sunder! I've been waiting for the Freelancer one for a while and it didn't disappoint. I'm definitely up for buying a basic FL when I get the money.

 

[Black Sunder]

I'm a bit disappointed that the vanilla Freelancer doesn't have more votes but I think I did that to myself after I described all the others in such detail. I'm happy that so many people will be using a MAX at some point as I feel it has been very overlooked in its abilities and possible use. The DUR is what I expected even from the results of the very first Ship Talk I did. The MIS is also what I expected too. People like the variants of the Freelancer and I think it shows.

At the end of this Ship Talk I said I was going to do a much shorter Ship Talk for #8(#7 being Hull Series) and I was thinking of doing the Redeemer. Yes? No? Do something else? Let me know please.

 

[Kersakov]

The Redeemer would be good. For me at least, It's one of those ships that has flown under the radar a little bit and I have no idea about it.
Right now I can't think of a huge amount of ship groups to talk about. (I mean there are the Mustangs but I'm not convinced they are all that important..)

 

[Montoya]

When the MIS went on sale, I gave it a look, but decided against it.

Now I wish I had got it.

Its a missile boat! What was I thinking!?!

 

[Trick Shot Bob]

When the MIS went on sale, I gave it a look, but decided against it.

Now I wish I had got it.

Its a missile boat! What was I thinking!?!

I'll let you crash mine in the PU, I have a communist approach to ship ownership, everyone can crash my ships.

The Freelancer was the ship that converted me from a long time lurker into a backer, I can't wait for her to be flyable.

 

[Jack Firebaugh]

is there an option to just "play the game" already ? XD I really cant wait.

 

[Op4ArcticFox]

I picked up a MIS when they first came out, I only wish I wasn't an idiot and didn't melt my Lancer to get it, instead of transferring it over, that LTI would have been nice.
I see the MIS filling a great slot in the QRF (Quick Response Force) role. As it has the Leaper jump engine, and is a good flyswatter (in theory). It should have a fairly large operational area, and pack a decent punch. Meaning having a few of these on call to respond to up-crops of beer stealing mongol hoards would be handy as a first responder. At the very least as a first engagement or fire support vessel, with decent intel gathering applications as well. I am really hoping I will be able to make some other changes to the MIS like still having expanded fuel tanks and perhaps upgraded armor (try and minimize those missile loader incidents).
All around I love the idea of the Freelancer and I really really hope the in game experience even halfway lives up to those aspirations of mine.

 

[Black Sunder]

So something has become very obvious from the poll and that is very few people actually see a use or will want to get a basic Freelancer. Why is that? Just don't care for it or just want a speced ship instead?

 

[Willem Default]

I like the look of the basic FL best, but if I had the money I'd get the DUR, if only because it offers a more preferable explore/cargo ratio for me.

 

[JacknHoffa]

The MAX is going to be very interesting when maneuverability comes into play.

 

[WarrenPeace]

So something has become very obvious from the poll and that is very few people actually see a use or will want to get a basic Freelancer. Why is that? Just don't care for it or just want a speced ship instead?

The thing with all the variants is, none of them are so specialized that they can't do the same jobs as the others in a pinch. By getting a variant, you get a ship that is optimized at whatever you're most interested in, but is still capable of doing other jobs as well. Part of what makes the Freelancer as a whole a really good Jill-of-all-trades ship.