Hornets Attack! - Ship Talk #10: The Hornets
Well here is #10. Honestly I didn't think it would go this far so the fact that it has and the positive support from all of you, thank you. I'll get to this more at the end but just want to say thank you to all of you in TEST who read this. Welcome back to Ship Talk! For those of you new to this series(where have you been? Seriously where?), 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
Ship Talk #6 - Goin Freelance: The Freelancers
Ship Talk #7 - The Redeemer
Ship Talk #8 - Wild Horses: The Mustangs
Ship Talk #9 - Stars Above: The Constellations
The Aegis Vanguard - Ship Talk Commentary #1
The Hull Series - Ship Talk Commentary #2
The Hornet series has been with us since the beginning. Like the Freelancer or Constellation it was there on day 1 and was the first ship we ever saw in the pitch video Chris Roberts made when he wanted to start Star Citizen. The Hornet has seen numerous changes since we first saw it but always for the better and you can see it if you go back and look. The Hornet may be the most iconic fighter of Star Citizen and it will continue to be needed by everyone from NPCs to players to organizations because it is a tough little ship that can get the job done.
I think the Hornet was my 2nd ship and I got it because it 'looked cool' like all the ships I have now. This Talk won't discuss the military variant of the Hornet because not only can you not get it but the upgrade that was around back then was only a body kit and did not improve any of the capabilities of the ship you applied it to. Now I've Talked in the past about the Hornet and Super Hornet in ST#3 so many things I say here will be a rehash(I apologize in advance) of that with the addition of the Ghost and Tracker.
My Thoughts on the Ships(Hornet, Hornet Ghost, Hornet Tracker, Super Hornet)
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 Hornet Stats
Descriptions and Roles
For the Roles you'll see that they are all dedicated to fighting in some form or fashion. You have Civilian Close Support, Infiltration, Scout/Command and Control and finally Space Superiority. For the Hornet, it is the civilian version of the Hornet but I'll refer to it as just the Hornet because the Military one in unattainable. Lets go to the Hornet Description.
From this I think it is a tough ship not unlike the Aurora but larger, more capable and certainly more destructive. The 'foundation' comment to me means it will be easy to upgrade however you may want to gear it toward a specific task you have in mind. For the 'weapon never to be underestimated' comment that means to me that it can be surprisingly maneuverable for its size and it can turn the tide of battle with its tenacity. Lets move on to the Ghost.
Even before we get to anything else the description tells us in no uncertain way that the ship is made for stalking around in the background so it won't be noticed. I like this. I think we need more 'stealth' capable ships like this for intel gathering. The rest of the description doesn't tell us much. If we go by the color of the ship it may be difficult to see visually and not alert people if they can't see it, even though it may blip on the radar. Now the Tracker.
The Hornet Tracker seems to be a good ship to FIND things and people in space. Advanced sensor suite ideal for space explorers is not unlike the scanners found on the Cutlass Red or Freelancer DUR along others but may serve a more narrow function to only find ships perhaps. The comment about Command and Control is one of the only times we see this pop up. Can we feed sensor data to a Tracker for some purpose that allows for better hunting or better assessment of the battle? I don't know but it is an interesting thing to consider and not to be ignored because command ships in Eve Online could turn battles. Now the Super Hornet.
So from this we can easily gather that it is the most powerful of the Hornets. It is as near Military spec as you can get without stealing the military version. The second seat is a welcome addition so the pilot can focus more on flying the ship than trying to kill things. 2 heads are better than one after all. The spoken of ball turret will give you more dakka to play with.
Structural and Propulsion
It is good to note that these fighters are quite large just going off the numbers with the Super Hornet being the longest due to the extra seat. Now it is unfortunate that none of these ships have a cup holder of any kind. The Super Hornet however provides a solution! Put a keg in the 2nd seat and run a hose down to your pilot chair and enjoy a cool refreshing beverage while you fight enemies of TEST! I'll stop now.
Starting at the top we have cargo. The only ship of the line that can carry any sort of cargo is the basic Hornet due to a cargo addition that installs where the ball turret would go. The cargo capacity itself is an odd number: 13. Does this make the Hornet a cargo carrying ship? No. At best it means you can carry a small bit of supplies, maybe your toolkit or a couple kegs to the carrier or station above the planet but you won't be carrying anything serious. Of course until we can actually play with the cargo system then this is just speculation.
Moving down every ship is a one seater except the Super which can carry 2. For power plants you get a good Class 3 with the Super again getting one better with a Class 4. For engines it is an across the board match with a single TR4 providing. For thrusters there are 8 TR2s and for the shielding it is the same across with a Class 4 shield.
Not many differences here due to the ships being form the same base so they share MANY attributes.
Weapons
So you want to blow things up. You think you need more firepower so you got a Hornet. You did well. Most of this is the same so I'll hit the highlights and you can look at the picture above for the things that are the same. First of all the Hornet can take a Cargo Replacement in place of the ball turret giving it the 13 SCU of capacity. Like the Hornet the Tracker swaps out the Ball Turret area for an advanced Radar giving it its abilities. Finally the Super gets the ball Turret to mount a couple Size 2 weapons. The Ghost lists a Size 2 something but I believe this is either unfinished or a mistake. Overall on any of them you have a great deal of firepower at your disposal.
Equipment
Like the Weapons there isn't much difference here. The Hornet gets the Big Box(Model H) Cargo Replacement module. The Ghost gets an interesting SheerSteel Armor Refit giving it the steal capabilities it boasts while the Super Hornet comes stock with a Leaper Jump Engine. Since it is not listed I am unsure if the Ghost or Tracker also get a jump engine stock or if you have to fit one on. It is likely the base Hornet will probably make you upgrade it to have a Jump Engine due to it being a short range ship. Either way you probably won't have much fuel to make more than a couple jumps without refueling.
Continued Below....
Well here is #10. Honestly I didn't think it would go this far so the fact that it has and the positive support from all of you, thank you. I'll get to this more at the end but just want to say thank you to all of you in TEST who read this. Welcome back to Ship Talk! For those of you new to this series(where have you been? Seriously where?), 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
Ship Talk #6 - Goin Freelance: The Freelancers
Ship Talk #7 - The Redeemer
Ship Talk #8 - Wild Horses: The Mustangs
Ship Talk #9 - Stars Above: The Constellations
The Aegis Vanguard - Ship Talk Commentary #1
The Hull Series - Ship Talk Commentary #2
The Hornet series has been with us since the beginning. Like the Freelancer or Constellation it was there on day 1 and was the first ship we ever saw in the pitch video Chris Roberts made when he wanted to start Star Citizen. The Hornet has seen numerous changes since we first saw it but always for the better and you can see it if you go back and look. The Hornet may be the most iconic fighter of Star Citizen and it will continue to be needed by everyone from NPCs to players to organizations because it is a tough little ship that can get the job done.
I think the Hornet was my 2nd ship and I got it because it 'looked cool' like all the ships I have now. This Talk won't discuss the military variant of the Hornet because not only can you not get it but the upgrade that was around back then was only a body kit and did not improve any of the capabilities of the ship you applied it to. Now I've Talked in the past about the Hornet and Super Hornet in ST#3 so many things I say here will be a rehash(I apologize in advance) of that with the addition of the Ghost and Tracker.
My Thoughts on the Ships(Hornet, Hornet Ghost, Hornet Tracker, Super Hornet)
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 Hornet Stats
Descriptions and Roles
For the Roles you'll see that they are all dedicated to fighting in some form or fashion. You have Civilian Close Support, Infiltration, Scout/Command and Control and finally Space Superiority. For the Hornet, it is the civilian version of the Hornet but I'll refer to it as just the Hornet because the Military one in unattainable. Lets go to the Hornet Description.
From this I think it is a tough ship not unlike the Aurora but larger, more capable and certainly more destructive. The 'foundation' comment to me means it will be easy to upgrade however you may want to gear it toward a specific task you have in mind. For the 'weapon never to be underestimated' comment that means to me that it can be surprisingly maneuverable for its size and it can turn the tide of battle with its tenacity. Lets move on to the Ghost.
Even before we get to anything else the description tells us in no uncertain way that the ship is made for stalking around in the background so it won't be noticed. I like this. I think we need more 'stealth' capable ships like this for intel gathering. The rest of the description doesn't tell us much. If we go by the color of the ship it may be difficult to see visually and not alert people if they can't see it, even though it may blip on the radar. Now the Tracker.
The Hornet Tracker seems to be a good ship to FIND things and people in space. Advanced sensor suite ideal for space explorers is not unlike the scanners found on the Cutlass Red or Freelancer DUR along others but may serve a more narrow function to only find ships perhaps. The comment about Command and Control is one of the only times we see this pop up. Can we feed sensor data to a Tracker for some purpose that allows for better hunting or better assessment of the battle? I don't know but it is an interesting thing to consider and not to be ignored because command ships in Eve Online could turn battles. Now the Super Hornet.
So from this we can easily gather that it is the most powerful of the Hornets. It is as near Military spec as you can get without stealing the military version. The second seat is a welcome addition so the pilot can focus more on flying the ship than trying to kill things. 2 heads are better than one after all. The spoken of ball turret will give you more dakka to play with.
Structural and Propulsion
It is good to note that these fighters are quite large just going off the numbers with the Super Hornet being the longest due to the extra seat. Now it is unfortunate that none of these ships have a cup holder of any kind. The Super Hornet however provides a solution! Put a keg in the 2nd seat and run a hose down to your pilot chair and enjoy a cool refreshing beverage while you fight enemies of TEST! I'll stop now.
Starting at the top we have cargo. The only ship of the line that can carry any sort of cargo is the basic Hornet due to a cargo addition that installs where the ball turret would go. The cargo capacity itself is an odd number: 13. Does this make the Hornet a cargo carrying ship? No. At best it means you can carry a small bit of supplies, maybe your toolkit or a couple kegs to the carrier or station above the planet but you won't be carrying anything serious. Of course until we can actually play with the cargo system then this is just speculation.
Moving down every ship is a one seater except the Super which can carry 2. For power plants you get a good Class 3 with the Super again getting one better with a Class 4. For engines it is an across the board match with a single TR4 providing. For thrusters there are 8 TR2s and for the shielding it is the same across with a Class 4 shield.
Not many differences here due to the ships being form the same base so they share MANY attributes.
Weapons
So you want to blow things up. You think you need more firepower so you got a Hornet. You did well. Most of this is the same so I'll hit the highlights and you can look at the picture above for the things that are the same. First of all the Hornet can take a Cargo Replacement in place of the ball turret giving it the 13 SCU of capacity. Like the Hornet the Tracker swaps out the Ball Turret area for an advanced Radar giving it its abilities. Finally the Super gets the ball Turret to mount a couple Size 2 weapons. The Ghost lists a Size 2 something but I believe this is either unfinished or a mistake. Overall on any of them you have a great deal of firepower at your disposal.
Equipment
Like the Weapons there isn't much difference here. The Hornet gets the Big Box(Model H) Cargo Replacement module. The Ghost gets an interesting SheerSteel Armor Refit giving it the steal capabilities it boasts while the Super Hornet comes stock with a Leaper Jump Engine. Since it is not listed I am unsure if the Ghost or Tracker also get a jump engine stock or if you have to fit one on. It is likely the base Hornet will probably make you upgrade it to have a Jump Engine due to it being a short range ship. Either way you probably won't have much fuel to make more than a couple jumps without refueling.
Continued Below....
