Spoiler
The executor is mostly a copy and the kinetic blaster is based off the heavy blaster so they’re not doing much more than what pirates have done. The gigacannon is new but it’s not very good which is probably why it hadn’t already been developed by someone else.
"weapon system integrates elements of SUPER ALABASTER technology to harness previously unutilized anti-shield effect"
Can we, you know, utilize something else? Like converging Large mounts on the Onslaught? Like all of them? I mean we have a highly trained specialist class of engineer-technicians after all. So why not? And while we are at it I'd like to have a 500 per shot HE damage ballistic gun for a medium mount, please.
Given that the kinetic blaster has an efficiency of 1.4 when some ballistic kinetics have an efficiency of 0.8 shows how it might have been unutilized because it wasn't really attractive especially when the pulse laser, also a medium energy weapon, has an efficiency of 0.8 which is only slightly worse than the kinetic blaster against shields.
The kinetic blaster does just manage to have the best anti shield efficiency among energy weapons and has pretty good DPS as well, but it's not a huge difference so it is pretty easy to see why no one else really bothered.
We also already know modifications can be made because of the pirates and the pathers, they are worse but it can still be done. It just looks like most don't bother because the old stuff seems to be almost always better and at least almost as good compared to new things. They can't just magic up a 500 per shot HE gun and whatever prevented the original designers from converging large mounts on the Onslaught, probably completely stumps the current special engineers.
I think that you have missed the point entirely. "Previously unutilized" means that no domain era blueprints exists. However, Diktat is getting them in numbers. Meaning that it is possible to manufacture something new in large quantities without having domain era blueprints. Even if it is energy weapon.
And now we back to the basics of Starsector balance that is build upon the idea of carefully introduced flaws. Like inability to bring all the guns on a single target. Or using subpar shield generators. Most of the ships are flawed on purpose. And the sole explanation for this is that you can't just build whatever you want and have to deal with the blueprints and all the ideas of the domain era designers no matter how bad they look like from the modern military perspective.
But it just happened that you don't.
You call it magic? I'm ok with that. As long as I get my ships and my guns. Like certain dictator did.
There has always been some innovation. The pirates like I keep mentioning and you keep ignoring but also Tritak is doing some. It's just really expensive presumably and the factions that can do it already have good big ships. The Paragon doesn't need any improvement and the Onslaught was made pre-collapse so any issues with its weapon layouts can be presumed to have a reason that can't be overcome by current engineers like I just said.
They probably could improve the smaller ships but TT already has good frigates, Heg won't change and I suspect the league and independents don't want to spend the money.
As for the player, it would take decades to attract good enough engineers and set them to work to make a better ship than the current ones.
As for why not make a ship that is just a bunch of missiles or some other optimized build, at some point game balance has to override what makes sense otherwise you get everything becoming pretty similar and boring.
I think you have missed not only my point but the actual words.
I directly placed Pirates (and Pathers) on the tech's bleeding edge.
With that in mind can you please go back to Starsector game there certain dictator have build himself a fleet of certain custom military grade capitals with custom weapons because he wanted so?
So unless you want to say that making a highly trained specialist class of engineer-technicians to do what you want is a worse thing than saturate bombarding civilized planets with anti-matter I'm struggling to see any reasonable argument in your position. Have you missed recent Pegasus drama? Or do you really think that Paragon is better than Radiant? Sorry but I can't believe that.
Where did you mention pirates or panthers? I reread all the messages and can’t see you mentioning them.
The dictator could get custom weapons and ships yes, but the weapons are niche and the ships are just modifications which if you read the rest of the thread, are mostly worse or just okay.
Given that we can assume that there was a large cost to this, it was a waste of money so that’s almost certainly why other factions don’t do it.
I have no idea where you got saturation bombing from.
The Pegasus is not a new ship in universe, just new to the game and it’s retroactively added to the games history.
I also have no idea where you get me thinking that the Paragon is better than the Radiant.
Which part of my position is unreasonable? Why is it unreasonable that while modifications can be made, they’re not worth it for the established factions?
So I was right, you did missed my words...
Actually I'm more concerned of the continuity. Previously it was supposedly impossible to design and build new stuff at all. And now we have Gigacannon. Plus Executor but not as itself but as an example of:
"Modifying starship designs at the forge-level is a feat only available to major polities willing to invest heavily in employing what amounts to a highly trained specialist class of engineer-technicians"
So there is a "specialist class of engineer-technicians". And what prevented them from designing good stuff all those years? Implemented idea of the certain dictator was bad. OK. There are all the good ideas? I mean we are talking centuries here yet Paragon is of Domain origin as all the AI ships. From the looks of it the bleeding edge of technology is somehow localized in Pathers and Pirates.
Am I only one who have trouble with the suspension of disbelief?
Considering other things.
I just want niche Onslaught with all large mounts capable of converging on a single target. With niche high damage medium guns. So do we have a deal?
Pegasus showed just how almost sound, from the military perspective, ship, was gutted because it was
too effective. Compare this reasoning to what happened with Executor.
If Paragon is not better than Radiant when where are all those inevitable modernizations what should bring it the needed edge? What was all those engineer-technicians were doing for a century or so? Training? Highly...
Because modernization is worth it. You are getting better ships as a result. They may not be as good as completely new ships designed from the scratch to fight in the reality of the Sector but still better than the old ones, purposely gimped to not be as effective as they could.