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« on: January 30, 2014, 05:32:35 AM »
So I've been playing a fighter centric campaign in the latest version, running vanilla, no addons, and I've found that the Trident seems extremly underwhelming when compared with its nearest equivalent, the dagger.
My undertsanding is that the dagger is a fast, light strike craft, and the Trident is more of a flying fortress, however the lack of 360 degree shield coverage means a trident will almost always die on the return run from any significant strike target that isn't destroyed outright. This wouldn't be a problem per se; but for the fact there is very few situations to use a trident wing over daggers. I'll list the points :
Daggers are 25% faster, reaching targets much sooner, and returning with less damage
Daggers carry 50% more ordnance per wing 3 x 4000 Damage vs. 4x 2000 Damage, and although Atropos torpedoes are more likely to hit, they are much are easier to shoot down.
Daggers wings have only half the crew requirement, and are much more likely to survive, saving valuable crew.
Daggers have more replacement chassis available,
Daggers cost less than a third of the credits to buy, and use 33% less CR
Daggers have Omni shields, allowing protection at any angle, Higher flux dissipation, and identical efficiency. Although the Trident does have significantly higher flux capacity, this is offset by the use of PD lasers, and the fact that its rear is permanent vulnerable.
I was initially thinking of going to the suggestions thread, but I though to get some community feedback first and see what people think can be changed whilst preserving the Trident as a distinct strike craft, and hopefully maintain its supposed role as high tech flying fortress bomber.
A few changes that might make sense are:
1. Give tridents back omni shields, perhaps at the expense of some amount of shield Arc.
2. Make an AI change so that after firing their ordnance, tridents retreat facing the target, taking retaliatory fire on their shields, rather than exposing their vulnerable rear. If they had improved lateral thrust or maneuvering jets, this could make then particularly distinct.
3. Load them up with more firepower. A pair of one-shot Sabot's or Harpoons would make the tridents much more fearsome, or upgrading the Single shot Atropos torpedo's to the two shot variant would give them a significant edge in terms of strike potential over the daggers, and would explain their heavy frame and slow speed.