Thoughts on the Valkyrie?

Thalstan

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You are correct on the 5 beds...

That said, you are wrong about the Cutlass not being a serious upgrade.

Avenger is size small components, where the Cutlass is Medium sized components.
Cutlass you will have the ability (maybe) to control 6xS3 slots with blades. The Avenger only has 1xS3 and 2xS2.
So even solo, the Cutlass has a lot more power and potential
 
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Richard Bong

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You are correct on the 5 beds...

That said, you are wrong about the Cutlass not being a serious upgrade.

Avenger is size small components, where the Cutlass is Medium sized components.
Cutlass you will have the ability (maybe) to control 6xS3 slots with blades. The Avenger only has 1xS3 and 2xS2.
So even solo, the Cutlass has a lot more power and potential
The Avenger weapons are one Size 4 and 2 Size 3 and is really agile and fast. Further it should be able to run Mil Spec, where the Drake ships aren't supposed to.

More importantly, I think the Cutlass is ugly and the implication is it will be relatively short ranged.

The Avenger is my short range prisoner transport. It is my one short range ship, courier and cheap fighter.

[Edited to add]And, as a short ranged ship, it actually fits in all the carriers.

Oh, and the cockpit view is incredible. [/edit]

I also have a Vanguard and a Retaliator. (The Tali being my bigger bounty hunting ship.)

If I go with a Valkyrie, it would be my only non-Aegis ship.
 
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Myles Awaye

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We recently ran bunkers in a Valk and had a great time. We got shot up by station guns at a refueling stop and had a dragonfly in the bay. We used it to move some folks around to get the ship to a refuel and repair stop. I got to fly it at one point. She flies like a brick, but she got us through some tough spots. As an aspiring dropship pilot, I found it to be a good experience. And the evac was a blast. Here is some footage...Rath, Hannibal, and Myles, Valkyrie on fire
 

Shadow Reaper

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In my opinion,
The Valk is an ok ship. It maneuvers just like the MIS. Much better than the Connie, but worse than the Vanguard. I like the nice wide ramp. Here's the thing, it's design for ground support, but the Hercs do a better job at this imo. If you want to explore your horizon, I would take a serious look at the Corsair. It has more fire power than the Valk (without the need for blades), it's weapon are size 5 & 4 which gives you additional range advantage against more maneuverable ships. It probably has the same or slightly better maneuverability than the Valk judging from it's size and wings. You can put your cyclone in it. And it's $160 cheaper.
I agree, and it is important to consider the Valk's lack of missiles. Right now we don't think much of it because missile suck so bad, but one hopes they will matter in the future.

If I had a choice between flying the Sentinel, Connie, Valk, Mercury or Corsair in combats against each other the others, I would choose the Sentinel. It's the only one that isn't so big it's going to get hit every time someone shoots at it. It can dodge. And the EM suite claims is going to be pure magic.

Suppose your quarry is flying a Connie and it thinks you're a Mercury, so it closes on you. That's a terrible mistake for a mark to make.

Forget the rover. It's too high a price to pay until you're in a larger team on a Polaris, IMHO.
 
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Richard Bong

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I agree, and it is important to consider the Valk's lack of missiles. Right now we don't think much of it because missile suck so bad, but one hopes they will matter in the future.

If I had a choice between flying the Sentinel, Connie, Valk, Mercury or Corsair in combats against each other the others, I would choose the Sentinel. It's the only one that isn't so big it's going to get hit every time someone shoots at it. It can dodge. And the EM suite claims is going to be pure magic.

Suppose your quarry is flying a Connie and it thinks you're a Mercury, so it closes on you. That's a terrible mistake for a mark to make.

Forget the rover. It's too high a price to pay until you're in a larger team on a Polaris, IMHO.
Missiles are not very useful for suppression fire. :)

Rovers are cheap. Probably an in game purchase.
 

LoicFarris

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I've had a Valc for a while as a loner ship for my Redeemer. It's a fun ship, I like the re-work, hated the old model, but I find it limited in some cases. The forward 4 guns are stacked together on the nose and I don't think you can gimble them... not sure if you care but that's a factor for me. Then there's the single large gun under the nose, that's useful but it's a single concussion weapon stock, I know some have changed it out to serve other functions. Anyway, I'm rambling... it's a nice ship, but I'm not sure how successful you'll be bounty-hunting in one outside of NPCs. You'll do fine against some of the larger targets but you'll have a lot of trouble with the smaller more maneuverable craft.

With regard to your questions... it flies fine I guess, I don't find it remarkable in any way. But that said, how it flies is subjective, so if you want I can spawn mine for you or I'm sure somebody else can set you up with a ship.
 

Richard Bong

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I've had a Valc for a while as a loner ship for my Redeemer. It's a fun ship, I like the re-work, hated the old model, but I find it limited in some cases. The forward 4 guns are stacked together on the nose and I don't think you can gimble them... not sure if you care but that's a factor for me. Then there's the single large gun under the nose, that's useful but it's a single concussion weapon stock, I know some have changed it out to serve other functions. Anyway, I'm rambling... it's a nice ship, but I'm not sure how successful you'll be bounty-hunting in one outside of NPCs. You'll do fine against some of the larger targets but you'll have a lot of trouble with the smaller more maneuverable craft.

With regard to your questions... it flies fine I guess, I don't find it remarkable in any way. But that said, how it flies is subjective, so if you want I can spawn mine for you or I'm sure somebody else can set you up with a ship.
That is a Hoplite, not a Valkyrie. :) Thanks though.
 

Shadow Reaper

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Missiles are not very useful for suppression fire. :)
If what you mean by suppressing fire, is firing to keep the heads down of an adversary, I think missiles do that quite well. Any S3 missle will force a foe to fly defensive for a bit and allow you to maneuver behind them. Also note, the only mention we have of spike missiles in game thus far are the Arrester III. If they can knock out a computer, I'd say that's pretty suppressing, and Arresters come with all the Vanguard variants, IIRC.

If when you mention suppressing fire, what you mean is against terrestrial targets (what the Valk is intended for) I think the Sentinel does that better too. If you load up 6 Scorpions, you're shooting 5400 rpm and each round is large enough to end a soldier. If you spot a rover a tiny squeeze on the S4 gimble will end that too, and if you spot a Nova, a single salvo of 4 S3 missiles will make short work of that. If you're on a stealth incursion, and want suppressing fire out to 2 km, you can do that with just the Sentinel turret, while it is on the ground with most systems off. Since the turret is on the top instead of the side, it has a better field of view with the bird on the ground. If you get spotted, then of course you can turn on your shields, and fly the bird, but I think you want to be expert in hover mode for those kinds of engagements.

Also, as per using missiles terrestrially: I think it's is next patch we get the new fps radar builds. If it turns out that personal radar can be fire linked with ships, then it is quite possible you can use the Vanguards as artillery, and call down the thunder. It is possible that you will be able to target a rover, tank or building with your personal radar and fire link to the Vanguard which then fires a missile. That might seem too much to hope for, but it is the kind of thing Chris has talked about in the past, and since missiles are not line of sight, and are used for artillery in the Ballista, it is possible you can use Vanguards in similar fashion. Missiles matter!

Rovers are cheap. Probably an in game purchase.
What I mean by "It's too high a price to pay until you're in a larger team on a Polaris. . ." is that in order to carry a rover, you have to settle for a slower, easier to hit ship of some sort. If you make a rover a baseline requirement for your bounty hunter ship, that ship cannot hope to fly close to 1kms, and it will be sluggish enough that most other ships will not miss it when shooting at it (which really does matter!). If you want to run your marks to ground, I think you want a Sentinel. If you fly a Sentinel for bouties you can get by on 2-4 players and never need blades nor NPCs. That's a good group for me. If I can find a group with 5 guys that plays 5 nights a week, but most of the guys only make it 2-3 nights a week, a Sentinel means that everyone plays whenever they want. If all 5 guys show then you can field 2 Vanguards and take bigger prizes. Second bird could be a Harbinger if you expect your target in his ship, or a Hoplite if you expect him on the ground, or want to board and take his ship. And lots of folks own Vanguards, so you can team up with other players very easily for large strike misisons, etc. I am looking forward to flying wing with a dozen Vanguard against the pathetic, slimy Vanduul. My their carcasses all rot in the rays of Orion!

Gameplay flexibility and handiness matters. I don't think the Valk will be very user friendly in this way.
 
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Richard Bong

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Well we have a new PTU and I am playing with the Valkyrie.

It flies a little better than a base Freelancer, but not much.

Not sure it is worth the money.
 

Richard Bong

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If what you mean by suppressing fire, is firing to keep the heads down of an adversary, I think missiles do that quite well. Any S3 missle will force a foe to fly defensive for a bit and allow you to maneuver behind them. Also note, the only mention we have of spike missiles in game thus far are the Arrester III. If they can knock out a computer, I'd say that's pretty suppressing, and Arresters come with all the Vanguard variants, IIRC.

If when you mention suppressing fire, what you mean is against terrestrial targets (what the Valk is intended for) I think the Sentinel does that better too. If you load up 6 Scorpions, you're shooting 5400 rpm and each round is large enough to end a soldier. If you spot a rover a tiny squeeze on the S4 gimble will end that too, and if you spot a Nova, a single salvo of 4 S3 missiles will make short work of that. If you're on a stealth incursion, and want suppressing fire out to 2 km, you can do that with just the Sentinel turret, while it is on the ground with most systems off. Since the turret is on the top instead of the side, it has a better field of view with the bird on the ground. If you get spotted, then of course you can turn on your shields, and fly the bird, but I think you want to be expert in hover mode for those kinds of engagements.

Also, as per using missiles terrestrially: I think it's is next patch we get the new fps radar builds. If it turns out that personal radar can be fire linked with ships, then it is quite possible you can use the Vanguards as artillery, and call down the thunder. It is possible that you will be able to target a rover, tank or building with your personal radar and fire link to the Vanguard which then fires a missile. That might seem too much to hope for, but it is the kind of thing Chris has talked about in the past, and since missiles are not line of sight, and are used for artillery in the Ballista, it is possible you can use Vanguards in similar fashion. Missiles matter!

What I mean by "It's too high a price to pay until you're in a larger team on a Polaris. . ." is that in order to carry a rover, you have to settle for a slower, easier to hit ship of some sort. If you make a rover a baseline requirement for your bounty hunter ship, that ship cannot hope to fly close to 1kms, and it will be sluggish enough that most other ships will not miss it when shooting at it (which really does matter!). If you want to run your marks to ground, I think you want a Sentinel. If you fly a Sentinel for bouties you can get by on 2-4 players and never need blades nor NPCs. That's a good group for me. If I can find a group with 5 guys that plays 5 nights a week, but most of the guys only make it 2-3 nights a week, a Sentinel means that everyone plays whenever they want. If all 5 guys show then you can field 2 Vanguards and take bigger prizes. Second bird could be a Harbinger if you expect your target in his ship, or a Hoplite if you expect him on the ground, or want to board and take his ship. And lots of folks own Vanguards, so you can team up with other players very easily for large strike misisons, etc. I am looking forward to flying wing with a dozen Vanguard against the pathetic, slimy Vanduul. My their carcasses all rot in the rays of Orion!

Gameplay flexibility and handiness matters. I don't think the Valk will be very user friendly in this way.
The Valkyrie flies at over 1 kps. It is also quite maneuverable (it isn't a fighter, but it isn't supposed to be.). It should be quite hardy, like the Terrapin you can see the armor plating. It is not as versatile as I would like, yet, but it is versatile. Gunship/Assault Transport/Light Cargo/Vehicle hauler (Rover and smaller.) And it is long ranged (at least for the crew, not the Marines)

If it had individual quarters for the crew it would be quite a bit like Lucy from Killjoys.
It definitely reminds me of the Raza from Dark Matter, though smaller.

What is holding me back is that with a Vanguard and a Retaliator, I don't really have a place for it in my fleet, at least until I know what my Retaliator can carry with cargo modules.
 

Richard Bong

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Other than the number of troop seats, (it should have 22-24), I did notice some things that are missing.
No weapons or ammo storage for the Marines.
No Weapon storage for the crew.
No crew lockers in the crew quarters.
For the number of people carried, that is a really small head.
 

Bambooza

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Other than the number of troop seats, (it should have 22-24), I did notice some things that are missing.
No weapons or ammo storage for the Marines.
No Weapon storage for the crew.
No crew lockers in the crew quarters.
For the number of people carried, that is a really small head.

it seems like this has been very common on all of the new ships coming out and I hope its just they are not adding them at the moment due to not known how the mechanic will work and realizing no need to make something they will need to fix later.
 
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Shadow Reaper

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Well let me ask the most obvious question: if you’re on approach to a target and any sort of attack comes—bird or missile or even AA fire—what would you prefer to be flying? I liked the Valk at first until I realized that:

A) it has no missiles
B) it is easy to hit
C) those side guns are vastly inferior to turrets

I think if you think through the various possible scenarios, I think what you’ll find is the early promo materials for the Valk are correct and it needs escorts. Even then, it is not going to be dodging any missiles. The stealth on the Sentinel should make all sorts of aerial combat drama go missing. If the stealth is good, you should be able to defeat enemies by avoiding them entirely.

Which of course brings the next question: what about the Prowler? Isn’t it due next patch? That’s a worthy consideration too.
 
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Richard Bong

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Well let me ask the most obvious question: if you’re on approach to a target and any sort of attack comes—bird or missile or even AA fire—what would you prefer to be flying? I liked the Valk at first until I realized that:

A) it has no missiles
B) it is easy to hit
C) those side guns are vastly inferior to turrets

I think if you think through the various possible scenarios, I think what you’ll find is the early promo materials for the Valk are correct and it needs escorts. Even then, it is not going to be dodging any missiles. The stealth on the Sentinel should make all sorts of aerial combat drama go missing. If the stealth is good, you should be able to defeat enemies by avoiding them entirely.

Which of course brings the next question: what about the Prowler? Isn’t it due next patch? That’s a worthy consideration too.
The Valkyrie has 4 turrets. One dual on both top and bottom, one single on each side. They are set up with interlocking fields of fire and there is no place you can be without at least two turrets able to engage you. Add in the slightly lighter pilot pair and the smaller door guns and a hot LZ gets pacified in a hurry.

Of course it should have an escort. So should a Retaliator, Harbinger and Sentinel.

Man I wish we know more about stasis pods and prisoner transport.

I guess I'll be waiting until next anniversary sale to finalize my fourth ship.
 
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