Zeus

[Bambooza]

Needs more struts.

Was watching the latest ISC and while the rain drops on the canopy looks sick it's missing the charm of the signature rsi can't see where your going struts.

 

[Talonsbane]

With enough struts, its view will be worse than a Freelancer though.

 

[Bambooza]

I would wager the worse is the starfarer. As I enjoy running around in the freelancer.

 

[BUTUZ]

Shush your face its nice as it is

 

[Montoya]

We need to go back to the original Connie cockpit with struts all over the place!

 

[Aramsolari]

Speak for yourself.

‘Struts into the room like a boss’

 

[Mudhawk]

Don't jinx it guys.
The thing I'm looking forward to most with the Zeus MK II CL ist basically getting a Freelancer MAX with a view.
If that gets ruined I'm gonna run around in circles, bawling my pretty little eyes out!
No strutting whatsoever!

 

[Bambooza]

We need to go back to the original Connie cockpit with struts all over the place!

It might just be nostalgia or some sort of Stockholm syndrome but I still really like flying the connie.

 

[Ayeteeone]

It might just be nostalgia or some sort of Stockholm syndrome but I still really like flying the connie.

Definitely Stockholm Syndrome. With regular, powerful doses of buff to the Connie lineup.
2x size 2 --> 1 size 3 shield
2x size 4 + 2 size 5 --> 4x size 5 pilot guns
many iterations on handling improvements
P-72 buffed for both racing and combat
manned turrets NOW BUFFED from 2x size 2 --> 2x size 3 guns


The Phoenix party boat is now a better combat ship than the Redeemer, or will be once the latest announced changes are brought in.

The Zeus's are the first ships in many, many patches that are interesting to me. The flight deck view is amazing, and as I primarily want 'explorer' gameplay, the ES hits all the boxes ++ for my daily driver.

 

[Talonsbane]

The Phoenix party boat is now a better combat ship than the Redeemer, or will be once the latest announced changes are brought in.

I have to admit, as much as I love the Phoenix, this change in the status of these 2 is absolutely bullshit & whichever devs / CIG staff decided to make them deserves to feel ashamed of themselves until this is corrected.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

I have three complaints. First, they hung the chairs on the bridge from above, and thereby robbed the crew of an upward view. It’s not just struts, it’s the whole ceiling. From the outside the ship appears has a great view, and it does not. Disappointing. All for the sake of very cool looking, but impractical hanging chairs. Again. Leaves me concerned with what they might have butchered on the Polaris bridge apart from removing the Holoviewer.

Second, they narrowed the cargo bay entrance without cause, and made it impossible to fit an Ursa. I think sometimes they do shit like this to piss people off. You would think they would have learned their lesson when they redesigned the Vanguard door for the Hoplite, but no. They didn’t. In the ES, this is a serious gimp. They could have a gold star in offering value the 400i does not and they flubbed here. No real company would choose to do this.

Third, I am aghast at the extremely late physicalizing of gravity generators, batteries, life support, dedicated fire extinguisher cabinets, and relay boxes. WTF? I get they want stuff that can catch fire and cause a problem for an engineer to fix, but I don’t think players yet understand the amount of extra work CiG has just created for themselves. What fucking year are they going to decide they got any given ship right? So can we expect the gold pass on the Vanguard sometime in 2030?

I’m disappointed that CIG has made these obviously and stupidly wrong choices. We need to know who is responsible for extending ship redesign off into the forever future, and see that person fired. Chris, WTF?! You can make anything catch fire. We do not need relays.

On the plus side, when you compare what you get here with a Vanguard, the value is shocking. This is twice the ship at half the price. I can only think this is a vanity move that disregards game revenue for the sake of the Roberts brand, and I like it. It’s going to become the standard everything is measured against. I heartily approve.

On what we do not see here. . .

The ES has a larger galley replaced by more cargo area in the CL. On the highly anticipated MR, the galley is replaced by an armory. I’m intrigued but want to know what the MR does for a galley. Did they squeeze it into the sleeping area? The MR still taunting with charms the others forsake, like that extra turret and a real armory.

 

[Vavrik]

Having flown the Zeus in the PTU, you do lose the top view. That's not terrible though, since that replaces the struts in your face instead. The two released versions are the cargo, and the exploration variants, neither of which need to be incredibly good at dog fighting - what they need to be good at is defending itself until you can get away.

The ship by the way is not a Cutlass killer if anyone wants to give you that story, but small fighters need to think about how to fly with a wingman.

Repair times are long, over twice what they currently are in the PU. Fuel price is more aligned with something that looks like a stab at proper pricing. But instead of something like 36 aUEC for Quantum Fuel, the price I got was 36k aUEC. The price for hydrogen is also up, but for example where you had to pay 360 aUEC it's now 3.6k aUEC. These are just examples from last night, but essentially this is a heads up, prices for fuel, rearming, fixing etc. may be changing in the upwards direction in the near future.

btw there is a Spectrum thread from CIG asking for player feedback on the overall design of the Zeus. First time for everything.

 

[Ayeteeone]

Having flown the Zeus in the PTU, you do lose the top view. That's not terrible though, since that replaces the struts in your face instead. The two released versions are the cargo, and the exploration variants, neither of which need to be incredibly good at dog fighting - what they need to be good at is defending itself until you can get away.

The ship by the way is not a Cutlass killer if anyone wants to give you that story, but small fighters need to think about how to fly with a wingman.

Repair times are long, over twice what they currently are in the PU. Fuel price is more aligned with something that looks like a stab at proper pricing. But instead of something like 36 aUEC for Quantum Fuel, the price I got was 36k aUEC. The price for hydrogen is also up, but for example where you had to pay 360 aUEC it's now 3.6k aUEC. These are just examples from last night, but essentially this is a heads up, prices for fuel, rearming, fixing etc. may be changing in the upwards direction in the near future.

btw there is a Spectrum thread from CIG asking for player feedback on the overall design of the Zeus. First time for everything.

Fuel prices were hammered about during Evo phase. The official response is that this isn't intentional, it was a side effect of merging several branches of code and the associated systems. Expect it to be corrected and probably quite soon, as the prices are prohibitive.

It's not a Cutlass replacement at all, but it is certainly going to drag the base Freelancer down an alley and beat it to a pulp. The MAX may put up a fight, as it can carry a Nursa and still puts out a bit better damage from the pilot seat. Until the 'lancers get a full rework (or mk2 replacement?) the Zeus is just a better ship overall.

 

[Vavrik]

The MAX may put up a fight, as it can carry a Nursa and still puts out a bit better damage from the pilot seat. Until the 'lancers get a full rework (or mk2 replacement?) the Zeus is just a better ship overall.

I discovered over the weekend that the MAX that's still in my ship inventory is because I own the damn thing lol. I haven't flown it for over a year. Neither the Freelancer Max, nor the Zeus are going to be my favorite ships. I don't like the internal stairways in those ships that exist for no reason. If there is a reason for a stairwell or ladder then OK, but not when there is no reason.

The pricing is prohibitive, but it's all we have right now in the PTU. Plus, we know they want to adjust the prices. This looks like an attempt except for the price of Quantum fuel relative to what you can earn. Maybe someone multiplied by 1000 instead of 100, but they need to align the pricing more toward what we earn on the commodities .

 

[Mudhawk]

The MAX may put up a fight, as it can carry a Nursa

I was wondering about what might fit through the rear end of the Zeus MK II CL.
I take it from the way you formulated this that an Ursa is prohibited entry?
Guess in the long run we do need the MULE Medevac after all

 

[Shadow Reaper]

It’s not just the fuel prices have gone up. The Q speeds have gone down and travel time has gone up.

View: https://youtu.be/JaT88wsroKs?si=MSLPCdEkReR3xgur

 

[Ayeteeone]

I was wondering about what might fit through the rear end of the Zeus MK II CL.
I take it from the way you formulated this that an Ursa is prohibited entry?
Guess in the long run we do need the MULE Medevac after all

Correct, the bay door is not wide enough to fit any of the Ursa variants, or the ROC DS. Everything smaller is fine. I believe they did this intentionally, because there is plenty of internal space in both the CL and the ES.

 

[Talonsbane]

Correct, the bay door is not wide enough to fit any of the Ursa variants, or the ROC DS. Everything smaller is fine. I believe they did this intentionally, because there is plenty of internal space in both the CL and the ES.

Ah, the old "eye of the needle" entry way tactic. Seems as though they want their players to have a Pulse when they enter or exit certain vehicles.

 

[Ayeteeone]

Ah, the old "eye of the needle" entry way tactic. Seems as though they want their players to have a Pulse when they enter or exit certain vehicles.

It's a mechanical way to enforce capability limits on ships for the purpose of encouraging multicrew gameplay. I was hoping a Nursa would fit in the ES, giving a viable solo/duo Exploration option to the Corsair and Aquila. But alas, 'tis not to be.

The single best way that CIG could encourage multicrew gameplay would be to make larger ships lethal vs fighters. Or so tanky that it'd be a slog to take on. Armor may fix that but it seems unlikely that the Resource Management will. During the Experimental Mode trials the Gladius never had any trouble killing the C2; it can't defend itself and damage stacked far too fast to keep up.

If fighters had the same liability, where a few lucky or well-placed hits could disable their systems, then a multicrew ship with decent turrets might stand a chance of surviving. But that's not where we are right now.

Edit: I do like the Pulse. Thought it was fugly at first but it works pretty well, fits in near anything that has a door, and that gun on the front is no joke. When the patch allows, it lives in the Titan that has been my go to ship for many years now.

 

[Mudhawk]

When the patch allows, it lives in the Titan that has been my go to ship for many years now.

I agree. The Pulse is pretty much the best thing to ever happen to the good old Titan.
Pray tell, does it fit a Stalker too? I imagine it might. Cargo grid or no.

As for med bed modularity, I do believe it's time they introduce option containers.
Like a 16SCU container with a medbed and a generator inside.
And some inventory space for a suite or two.

I'm positive that Crusader has some of those stashed somewhere.
Disaster relief is their thing, right?