Here's the Crusader Ares

FZD

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Not sure it's going to go up in smoke but it should be disabled and thus the escort now needs to figure out how to protect the hull until its repaired and flying again. This gives the Kracken a chance to field the right ships to counter the escorts and loot the prize.
Well, with the amount and size of missiles an Ares has, I think it'll do enough damage thrice over to decimate Hull C.
And sure, the Ares pilot doesn't really gain anything from it, but griefers rarely seek loot. Only destruction.
 

FZD

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I would caution against going off of current shield hp values and recharge rates, as they are going to probably change greatly once the new armor and physical damage is in.

Plus standard blah blah game is WIP and balancing is more of a Beta thing blah blah blah
Yes, I also suspect there will be some rebalancing. However, that only happens if people notice and talk of the problems with the current values, otherwise CIG might be fooled into thinking that no complaints means people actually like the current values.
 

Blind Owl

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Oh shit this is right up my street. With many ships I've always thought I wich I could mount 2 x big guns instead of 4 small ones, or 1 big gun instead of 2 small ones.

This one actually does it!! 1 big fekoff gun and to top it off 4 x torpedoes!

Plus I am rapidly falling in love with crusader.

Arg!
I freaking love them both. The indecision is killing me, hahah. I want to buy the 2 pack, but not getting LTI is kinda a kick in the pants. Although, is it really? Ugh.
Its funny because we were just talking about this about a month or so ago what kind of ships were missing and one of the ones I suggested was a rail gun type of ship or something with a cannon for capital ship hunting and wham! I was damn close!

Nov 8, 2019
I know right? It's not exactly what I envisioned, but it's close enough. If only I could make up my damn mind on which one to get. Jesus, both of them are so gorgeous!
It really is a hard choice between the two.
It's killing me. Haha
I am weak.... got the two pack
I wish I could afford to buy the 2-pack with cash. As of right now I'm honestly wondering if the value of the credit 2-pack is worth ditching LTI. Probably. But who's to say...
 

Blind Owl

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I love the concept of this thing. Trying to decide which one will for both my play style and my fleet.

My Carrack, Sentinel and Mercury StarRunner are lonely, and require a companion or two. For the fine art or privateering, which of these beauties makes the most sense?
 

Esctasy

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I'd have to say the inferno if I could only have 1. The problem I have with the Ion is that the guns are not changeable. And that slow fire rate will effectively make it ineffective against smaller ships. It's like take 6 shots in 10 seconds, miss 5 hit 1. I know they are design for bigger ships but the infernal could definitely go against smaller ships as well with the high fire rate. Maybe I'm just a bad shooter lol
 

Blind Owl

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I'd have to say the inferno if I could only have 1. The problem I have with the Ion is that the guns are not changeable. And that slow fire rate will effectively make it ineffective against smaller ships. It's like take 6 shots in 10 seconds, miss 5 hit 1. I know they are design for bigger ships but the infernal could definitely go against smaller ships as well with the high fire rate. Maybe I'm just a bad shooter lol
True story. But against bigger ships, that Ion would wreck.
You'd think the brrrrrrrrrrt would be better against smaller ships, but it's going to be hugely dependent on skill and ammo. I like both though. Quite a bit.
 

AntiSqueaker

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Playing in AC is also a bit different from the intended use of the Ares. Hitting a Gladius with a Combine at 1000m is going to be a shitton harder than a Idris at 8000m.

For me I'm leaning towards Ion. Not as good in a 1v1 as the Inferno, but the longevity from no ammo reserves, higher shield disabling power, and apparently longer range than the Inferno make it better for my needs as someone who primarily wants to play in groups....although I do so dearly want to brrrrrrrrrt things with that big honking gatling cannon.
 

Bambooza

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Playing in AC is also a bit different from the intended use of the Ares. Hitting a Gladius with a Combine at 1000m is going to be a shitton harder than a Idris at 8000m.

For me I'm leaning towards Ion. Not as good in a 1v1 as the Inferno, but the longevity from no ammo reserves, higher shield disabling power, and apparently longer range than the Inferno make it better for my needs as someone who primarily wants to play in groups....although I do so dearly want to brrrrrrrrrt things with that big honking gatling cannon.
I imagine pilots in both will be needed. Last night I was thinking about what would be the Ares primary target in fleet engagements and what is going to be its counter. As for its primary target, I imagine its mostly going to be the Hammerhead, Freelancer MIS, and Retaliator with the possibility of including the Polaris. Taking out the Hammerhead opens up the enemy's capital ships for bombers like the Gladiator, Eclipse, Retaliator, and Polaris.

While it could do damage against the larget Capital ships I do not feel like it would have enough time on target to be effective and so felt it's far more useful against targets it can burn down quickly.

The question I still have is the Ares any better than simply having more bombers? And for the most part that still depends greatly on if torpedos are targetable. If you can target and destroy a torpedo before it reaches its target then the Ares becomes very effective as its weapons can only be physically avoided.

The other area where the Ares is going to shine is in close ground support against the Valkyrie and Nova with its counter like all aircraft being the Ballista. Here I am not sure how effective the Ion will be but the Inferno so long as it has a place to fall back to rearm is going to be a menace.
 

Phil

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I think people are trying to buy ships to fit their playstyle rather than pick a playstyle and buy the right ship for it. Example, I keep hearing people opt for the inferno because it might be a better ship to dogfight with and this is a problem I think these ships are niche and you need to understand the roles they are trying to fill, either ship 1 on 1 with smaller more agile fighters is going to lose unless your damn lucky, these were meant to engage larger slower ships or capital ships and lets face it even vs a capital ship it most likely wont do it alone so to me these are fleet ships, designed to spearhead attacks on ships with large shields and armor and lets face it most capital ships unless its a Polaris or something wont be flying alone so they will need support to keep the fighters at bay.

And as someone said and the pictures show its based on a A-10 Warthog kind of role, ground support, big guns lots of armor but lets face it vs a Mig or F22 the hog doesnt stand a chance because it wasn't designed to fill that role.
 

Bambooza

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I think people are trying to buy ships to fit their playstyle rather than pick a playstyle and buy the right ship for it. Example, I keep hearing people opt for the inferno because it might be a better ship to dogfight with and this is a problem I think these ships are niche and you need to understand the roles they are trying to fill, either ship 1 on 1 with smaller more agile fighters is going to lose unless your damn lucky, these were meant to engage larger slower ships or capital ships and lets face it even vs a capital ship it most likely wont do it alone so to me these are fleet ships, designed to spearhead attacks on ships with large shields and armor and lets face it most capital ships unless its a Polaris or something wont be flying alone so they will need support to keep the fighters at bay.

And as someone said and the pictures show its based on a A-10 Warthog kind of role, ground support, big guns lots of armor but lets face it vs a Mig or F22 the hog doesnt stand a chance because it wasn't designed to fill that role.

I agree attempting to dog fight in them will be a terrible idea. I am also not sure if they will be that effective against large capital ships like the Idris, Javelin and Kraken vs bombers like the Eclipse. Or if it would simply be fare more effective utilizing a Retaliator.

In a pirate force for the Ion would be great against ships like the Caterpillar, StarFarer, Freelancer, Merchantman, and Hull's as long as it has support from a Buccaneer. In fact two Arese, two Buccaneers and a Cutlass Black would make a great Kraken Pirate force.
 

Phil

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I agree attempting to dog fight in them will be a terrible idea. I am also not sure if they will be that effective against large capital ships like the Idris, Javelin and Kraken vs bombers like the Eclipse. Or if it would simply be fare more effective utilizing a Retaliator.

In a pirate force for the Ion would be great against ships like the Caterpillar, StarFarer, Freelancer, Merchantman, and Hull's as long as it has support from a Buccaneer. In fact two Arese, two Buccaneers and a Cutlass Black would make a great Kraken Pirate force.
But I think their goal at least for an ION version was to disable or weaken shields of a larger vessel so an eclipse or retaliator torpedo ship could in essence deliver more damage if the shields were weakened and that was the primary idea of a long range rail gun type weapon, to be able to stay outside of a capital ship range and weaken their shields also why to me these ships are designed for fleet or group action, not to say you couldn't go out and pick off a Cat or other similar size vessels if they were out there alone but the design to me was more along these lines. And ya maybe a lone Ares with a single ION wont do much against a capital ship but multiple IONs hitting the same area might be devastating if coordinated.
 

Blind Owl

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For me I'm leaning towards Ion. Not as good in a 1v1 as the Inferno, but the longevity from no ammo reserves, higher shield disabling power, and apparently longer range than the Inferno make it better for my needs as someone who primarily wants to play in groups....although I do so dearly want to brrrrrrrrrt things with that big honking gatling cannon.
This about exemplifies my feeling towards the two ships. I feel the Ion will serve me better I. The purposes I wish to use it for - disabling Andromeda to Idris sized vessels so I can then lighten their loads to assist them in contributing on their journeys.

But goddamn, that brrrrrrrrrrt is gorgeous.

I think people are trying to buy ships to fit their playstyle rather than pick a playstyle and buy the right ship for it. Example, I keep hearing people opt for the inferno because it might be a better ship to dogfight with and this is a problem I think these ships are niche and you need to understand the roles they are trying to fill, either ship 1 on 1 with smaller more agile fighters is going to lose unless your damn lucky, these were meant to engage larger slower ships or capital ships and lets face it even vs a capital ship it most likely wont do it alone so to me these are fleet ships, designed to spearhead attacks on ships with large shields and armor and lets face it most capital ships unless its a Polaris or something wont be flying alone so they will need support to keep the fighters at bay.

And as someone said and the pictures show its based on a A-10 Warthog kind of role, ground support, big guns lots of armor but lets face it vs a Mig or F22 the hog doesnt stand a chance because it wasn't designed to fill that role.
Very true.
 

Blind Owl

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I agree attempting to dog fight in them will be a terrible idea. I am also not sure if they will be that effective against large capital ships like the Idris, Javelin and Kraken vs bombers like the Eclipse. Or if it would simply be fare more effective utilizing a Retaliator.

In a pirate force for the Ion would be great against ships like the Caterpillar, StarFarer, Freelancer, Merchantman, and Hull's as long as it has support from a Buccaneer. In fact two Arese, two Buccaneers and a Cutlass Black would make a great Kraken Pirate force.
My juices are flowing.

This is what I'm talking about.
But I think their goal at least for an ION version was to disable or weaken shields of a larger vessel so an eclipse or retaliator torpedo ship could in essence deliver more damage if the shields were weakened and that was the primary idea of a long range rail gun type weapon, to be able to stay outside of a capital ship range and weaken their shields also why to me these ships are designed for fleet or group action, not to say you couldn't go out and pick off a Cat or other similar size vessels if they were out there alone but the design to me was more along these lines. And ya maybe a lone Ares with a single ION wont do much against a capital ship but multiple IONs hitting the same area might be devastating if coordinated.
Yeah, all these things you two said while I was typing my last reply: I concur. I like this ship
 

Kaus_Borealis

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I'd have to say the inferno if I could only have 1. The problem I have with the Ion is that the guns are not changeable. And that slow fire rate will effectively make it ineffective against smaller ships. It's like take 6 shots in 10 seconds, miss 5 hit 1. I know they are design for bigger ships but the infernal could definitely go against smaller ships as well with the high fire rate. Maybe I'm just a bad shooter lol
In addition to this. ION lacks large radar...Against large and capital combat ships can be destroyed in seconds if enemy radar locks it before. Keep in mind that eclipse which performs the same role with torpedoes (instead a large cannon) is a stealth ship.

I think Ion and inferno will work as an auxiliary chivalry, to use it as a second wave attack to turn the fate of the battle in your favour.

They must be hidden ships (in a near asteroid belt or the blind side of a moon) ready to punch when enemy forces and their primary batteries are busy engaged with same size ships.

Then as second wave fleet, inferno can wipe out quickly damaged & out-of-ammo fighters and remove them from the battlefield, and ION can create a breach in the capital shields enabling a decisive advantage for friendly capital ships heavy fire to finish the job.

Also can serve as a diversion in order to divide the enemy's fleet, if you show deliberately your Ares ION wings, probably an inexperienced admiral could send several wings of fighters to chase them, leaving the main group defenseless.
 
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Phil

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I guess this explains it lol the brochure -

"Designed to lead the charge against capital ships and heavily armed flotillas, the Ares ION excels spearheading a fleet of fighters and support ships. Its purpose-built Behring SF7E laser cannon accurately delivers high power shots to quickly disable the shields of gunships and, with the support of other Ares variants, efficiently incapacitate capital-class vessels"

Like I figured it would take multiple Ares to drop shields on a capital ship and they would have to be supported by other ships to engage them.

"Conceived to singlehandedly disable large vessels and small squadrons, the Ares INFERNO shines as a single point of defense. Whether avoiding wider conflict by preemptively neutralizing threats or scrambling to tackle pirates, the SF7B ballistic Gatling breaks through shields to permanently damage armor and halt advancing forces.
Increased armor all-round ensures the INFERNO can better withstand ballistic attacks from gunships and anti-aircraft guns during planet side assaults.
Though capable alone, the INFERNO is a potent ally to the ION in capital-ship hunting. The high-caliber armor piercing rounds perfectly complement the ION’s shield disabling shots to leave even the biggest ships vulnerable."

It actually details the combined use of both Ares models in tandem to be more effective capital ship hunters which makes sense.

It also states that the ION has more shielding with the extra generator to protect it from lasers and the Inferno has more armor to fair better against ballistic damage. Interesting!
 
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Richard Bong

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Remember when using the Gatling against bigger ships, you are going to keep hitting with most of the rounds. :)

Since it si a short ranged carrier bird, reloading should not be an issue. :)

(And the black is cooler looking. :) )
 
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