It is slated to have 4 S4 Gimbals, so could mount 8 Sledges. That's more than a Redeemer. It is too big to be maneuverable, but It could cut your engines to shreds, just tear them right off your transport, along with every weapons mount. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
I think the Cat will end up being one of my favourite purchases. Although I'm a wee bit apprehensive about the fact they just said that the Cat will need up to 8 crew to run it effectively and it's basically a small cap ship now. Sigh.
I will help crew it a pirate ship is only as good as its crew.
Sweet. Another member of our fine crew of upstanding citizens
If players manage shields its can be very powerfull un eight hands
I'm praying to god the the AI NPCs will be good enough to use. I can't imagine expecting anyone to sit for hours on end on my ship while I'm exploring around a system, etc.
Another good point Mr. Reaper. And hopefully the NPC AI has an easier time hitting targets than real people do when manning a turret. Trying to stay on target in a Connie that's dodging and weaving is almost impossible.
Roberts is on record that the NPC's won't be as effective as players in most roles so they probably won't be better at gunning than a real gunner. My guess is they will be better at things that require good communications. If a pilot wants to assign targets to turret positions and has a way to do this, it seems to me more likely that they'll stay on target even if they don't hit it. I'm dubious how much this might help. But he has also said they will be able to pilot ships for things like escort roles, so one supposes they'll be as capable as Vanduul pilots and will stay on escort service when tasked to. That means real players will be more effective when they think like autonomous pilots who understand when to stay on task and when to deviate. In the long run this should breed better players, who make themselves valuable through good decision making.
We are on one line, I wasn't sure if I had to include this, I even deleted it, but after reading your post I restored it ;)
If I'm not mistaken, the allied pilots got clearance to chase enemy fighters to destroy as much as possible fighters. Unfortunately the axis pilots took advantage of that to lure the escorts away and get an easy target.
I have never seen anything that suggested that kind of functionality and I would be extremely surprised if anyone wrote code for that. There has been a great deal said about the AI and none of it remotely suggests what you're calling for.
Unless they're totally retasking the Cutlass, that would imply they intend to allow boarding sans the collar. That means many other ships can be used for boarding. Likewise, if there is a real benefit to the collar, then we should expect all manner of peeps in standing room only aboard ships like the Lancer. The Lancer Max ought to be quite fast when laden only with characters and given the collar and the fact she can fit so many, could be a great boarding craft. The immediate question is, what benefit would one obtain with the collar?
