33
« on: January 30, 2021, 06:05:48 PM »
Its something that has come up in many threads and I still don't understand why people like certain ships that I wouldn't have in my fleets in my nightmares. From least to most understandable:
-The Mora
It screams of a ship that is trying to do too many different things at once with it's relatively low OP limit. 2x medium missile slots that would be foolish to not make use of, 8x small ballistic slots that could be used for railguns or point defense, with a whopping 3 flight decks; and the missiles and fighters both being prime candidates for help with hullmods like missile racks or expanded deck crew. All of that OP cost leaves you far from a complete package no matter what strength of the ship you want to prioritize. If you put a focus on missiles, ballistics, or fighters, it severely hampers the utilization of both of the others.
What is the role this ship is supposed to play? It is a carrier, but it does not play to the strengths of any typical carrier, like the Heron. The Heron has limited emplacements which are in practice only good for PD as expected of a dedicated carrier, it doesn't want for them either when considering its role. In return it is allowed to specialize in what it's class of ship is expected to and most of them are: a fighter/bomber carrier. It is also much faster, with almost double the speed of the Mora allowing it to evade threats while projecting force where it wants much better than the Mora due to the Heron's ship system and emphasis on its fighters and bombers.
The only thing I can think of as a strength of the Mora is its durability. It can soak damage on the frontline better than any other carrier and be stuck in with any heavyweight cruisers and capitals one is fielding and hold its own. However....
There is a ship that already exists that actually can achieve what the Mora wants to do - the Legion. Sure, its in a higher weight class but compared to what a Legion can do, pound for pound, it falls flat. The Legion pulls its weight whereas the Mora does not. A legion can put out respectable firepower while also still being a useful carrier with the OP to spare, also while still being a capable frontliner like the Mora. Especially the XIV legion which is everything the original is but also a powerful missile boat.
-The Lasher
A frigate with 5x light ballistic slots and AAF. A little feisty bulldog worth of trouble. I'm not going to even attempt to compare it to the Tempest, that's just unfair. Compare it to the Brawler.
The Brawler has no AAF and is 20 units slower than the lasher. In exchange, has across the board better flux stats, durability, and has medium mounts for weapons that can punch much harder against targets the light weapons on a Lasher couldn't scratch.
The only use case of the Lasher that I could see as being superior to the Brawler is when you are chasing a retreating fleet and need mobile, high dps but low damage ships that can chew through retreating cargo and fuel ships quickly.
-The Shrike
It's not as outlandish as the first two compared to similar choices, because it does fit a general all-rounder profile. However, anything it can do is overshadowed by 3 notable ships in its weight class. The Hammerhead, Sunder, and Enforcer. The Hammerhead is very versatile and can dish out damage much better than a Shrike, while being slightly less survivable in terms of speed and shield stats. The Sunder is a similar case, with emphasis on energy instead of ballistic weapons.
The Enforcer fills a different niche than the Shrike, but does do it's job of heavy firepower and respectable durability much better than the Shrike can hope to do. It is very slow and has poor flux stats compared to the Shrike, but can really put the pain downrange when it is in range and has decent hull and armor to back it up(also pretty cheap).
A truly soul-sucking experience that you can see affect long-term moderators who eventually just stop posting altogether.