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[Dante80]

I'm thinking it should do well with something like a storm needler and a pair of harpoon pods.

The combo I seem to prefer most now that I'm testing it is a storm (or a gauss) and two medium annihilators or torpedo bays. You use the ballistics @ med/long range to bring down the shields and then go in and unleash hell with the unguided ordnance. The Rive is nimble enough to strafe around most bigger ships, so with a little marksmanship (and luck) you can cap them.

Unfortunately, the armor and shield efficiency are so bad, that you have to pay attention on what you are doing if you want to succeed. Moreover, due to the inclusion of the flux hungry large slot, you have to manually fire the main gun, while keeping the change to missile group button handy.

Thats a good tradeoff I think for the speed and slightly elevated flux dissipation, so all in all, it looks balanced to me. At least for now, more testing ( and also AI watching) is needed to ascertain that for sure.  

[Little Bluberry Bomb]

Bloody beautiful - what a ship. Have to admit I was a bit awry on gluing a Sunder to the Hammerhead, but you pulled it off and the ship looks wonderful. What's more, it flies wonderful - absolute blast, it really is what the Hammerhead needed; in fact, what Ballistics platforms in general needed. Suddenly, I'm finding myself liking them more than Energy and it really is like these ships are bringing a lot more balance to the low-versus-high scale.
Rolling with a Storm Needler, dual Atropos, and dual 2xLMG / Revolver Autocannon setup, and it's immense - easily gives cruisers a sound beating, and even Battlecruisers can't afford to ignore it for long. It's delicate, sure, but they have to hit me first. :B

[Dante80]

Thanks for the feedback. I love the Rive so far myself, and I also found out that replacing the main slot with a medium ballistic weapon can give it a lot of versatility, especially in big fleet engagements and on AI use.

Here is the loadout I am working with this last day.

The accel shields can both negate the front shield disadvantage and keep the flux low enough to keep the thumper 24/7 on the target.
The accel thrusters augment the shields beautifully for defensive maneuvers, and also can be used to:
1. have the main gun trained on the target while strafing efficiently
2. rotate the ship in a snap into revolver cannon arc radius for missile or fighter protection.
3. prevent flameouts from the salamanders (a big threat for the ship due to its fragile nature and front shield emitter)



Stab shields will give you more bang for the buck vs vents, especially since this setup is not geared towards frequent flux venting. If you wish to change the dual MGs for revolvers though,  you will have to put the OP on vents (since the accel shields are put in to save flux also).

Lastly, the sabot/harpoon combo is devastating when used properly. Due to the difference in speed between the 2 missiles, it is very possible to both overload the enemy hull and hit it for 1500pts with the same missile salvo. It is a little tricky to perform (and a heavy needler would be a better candidate for optimizing the strategy), but when done right, it is damn impossible to wipe off the grin in your face...XD

[medikohl]

I give you full permission to "downgrade" the graphics of any of my kitbashes if you wish.

[Dante80]

Thanks a lot man, I ve seen a couple that would fit nicely to the Lotus theme. Cheers...^^

[Nori]

So I played the mission where I get the Vanquish (tough mission BTW) and your PD weapon is AWESOME! Those missiles can't touch me..  It is like a mini-flak. 

[Dante80]

It is very good at its role indeed. Also, the good lethality against missiles and fighters is offset by an OP and flux increase that helps to not make the weapon overbalanced. More testing is needed though to ascertain that, I don't want my first weapon inclusion to be too powerful..

(tough mission BTW)

I'd have to agree, although I think as a testbed for the new ship inclusions its not too shabby...^^

[Wyvern]

I haven't done extensive testing yet, but... that high explosive PD gun?  When would I want to use a light assault gun over that?  ...I can't think of a situation...

For reference, I've now played around a bit with the Rive.  Current configuration: 1x hellbore, 2x light needler.  No other weapons required - though you do have to be a bit careful to take missiles on your shields, dodge sabot SRMs, etc.  Light needlers on the various fast frigates are also devastatingly effective.

[Nori]

I haven't done extensive testing yet, but... that high explosive PD gun?  When would I want to use a light assault gun over that?  ...I can't think of a situation...

Well it does have a short range... Though maybe it should be even shorter. I wouldn't want to be a fighter getting hit by that though since their armor would be gone in a second...

[Dante80]

Hmm...in that case, a change to 250 range paired with a slight flux cost increase might suffice. Sth like that?



It would still make the weapon a viable choice for PD slots, but the tradeoffs could help balance it more against the dual MG and the vulcan.

[Wyvern]

Dunno.  I just know I looked at it and said "ooh, lightweight armor-piercing gun that won't flood my ship with flux!" - as I said, I haven't done extensive testing of it yet.  But I imagine a Lasher with those in turrets and light needlers in the hardpoints would be downright scary - it probably wouldn't even need missiles.

[Dante80]

Time for an update, 0.8 is out...^^

Introducing the Ajax class light cruiser.



Comparison to its cousin, the Falcon class.





First variant.



In game (click for full size)



v0.8 Changelog
1. Added Ajax class L. Cruiser to campaign and mission.
2. Changed the Lotus faction to be hostile to the player (they are pirates after all..).
3. Changed stats for the revolver autocannon (lower range and higher flux cost).
4. Changed price for the Vanquish class.
5. Bigger battle-sizes in battles implemented.
6. Changes in Lotus fleet sizes and compositions.

DOWNLOAD V0.8
DL MIRRORS

Original spriting for the hull is done by Avan (shiphull is called Hyena), all props go to him. Check out his superlative first mod release here:
>>http://fractalsoftworks.com/forum/index.php?topic=977.0<<
The original post for the ship design can be found in this post.

As always, any and every feedback is vastly appreciated.The next addition will probably be a bomber design, its long overdue I think. If you spot sth fishy or plain wrong with the mod, feel free to post so that I can fix it asap.

Cheers...^^

[Trylobot]

I think the Ajax is my favourite among those you have done so far! Excellent work.

[Uomoz]

Updated my mod with your tweaks and new ship

Keep up the awesome work!

 

[Dante80]

Thanks for the kind words guys...here is a teaser for the next version...^^