I have experienced all the new ships and had the opportunity to test them to varying extents, including the new hull mods and weapons in their current state.
In my review of the new ships, I would rank the PolarV as the best. In my opinion, it possesses a clear role and a well-organized layout of weapon mountings, allowing me to run it successfully in multiple ways. It represents a significant departure from the DA design style. Industrial espionage is not uncommon, and I would suggest creating a lore element indicating that certain aspects were stolen from nearby neighbors to develop a cost-effective siege vessel, taking advantage of the chaos caused by missile swarms. The limited shield arc, combined with the play style, feels satisfying.
Suggestions: I have only two suggestions here. The first one involves a recolor to remove the tan or heavy armor appearance, making it visually more appealing. The second suggestion is to increase the arc of the small hybrid turret at the back to 240 degrees. One major concern I have is that the arcs are excessively narrow.
Brisk, or the Brick, can be likened to a little bulldog. While its appearance may not be the most pleasing, it effectively accomplishes the task at hand. Particularly when set as an escort for the AI, I would choose it over most frigates in that role.
Suggestions: Despite its effectiveness, its appearance is unattractive and somewhat resembles a pained drone you might encounter in battle. If you're open to adjusting the model, consider refining the front right to be less boxy and slightly sharper, or experiment with a heavier asymmetrical design.
Riptide comes equipped with Dampened mounts and truly lives up to the jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none archetype. It took some time for me to find the right combination of equipment that suited my preferences. Additionally, realizing that Dampened mounts only boost ballistic range, not energy, made some of my choices easier. The ship's ability aligns perfectly with the hit-and-run playstyle of DA.
In my setup, I opted for 4 Recson S, 2 Glowtusks, a Blizzaia, and Avalanche, as the Wanzer's presence was crucial for dealing damage. Although the Hoar seemed promising on paper, the ship lacked sufficient punch without frontline Wanzers. Being a jack of all trades and master of none pushes it down in my rankings, but it excels as a line holder, delivering broad damage rather than a killing blow. The model is evidently based on the front of the Gust, which I find works exceptionally well. The main drawbacks are the lackluster PD and the limited arcs.
Suggestions: The PD capability is subpar, and the Hoar doesn't deliver enough raw damage to justify dedicating hangar slots to it. To address this, all three small hybrid slots should have their arcs increased to well over 180, preferably 240 or 270. Another viable option is to incorporate a built-in 360 arc for a Raptor Defense System, fixed in that location.
Ashfall is more of a sad fall. While visually stunning and equipped with Dampened Mounts (boosting ballistics), its ship system ability surprisingly enhances energy weapons. However, it functions more like a giant fighter craft with weapons in a narrow arc, which isn't ideal for larger ship classes. After spending several hours experimenting, I observed some peculiarities with DA energy weapons dealing less damage than expected. Additionally, the absence of a built-in micro missile system makes it feel more like a scaled-up fighter. The five PD mountings are lacking in a similar way that we saw with the Riptide.
Suggestions: The two small PD ballistic mountings should be changed to Hybrids, with arcs set to 210 or 240. This adjustment would allow them to cover the front or back of the ship or fulfill a combat role if opting for Magicbox PD. The two rear hybrids need a substantial arc increase to 270. The rear medium hybrid should have a 210 arc to better support the side turrets without clipping the front. The front center medium hybrid should have a 180 arc or close to it, acting more like a large-scale ship. Consider adding micro missiles to the Ashfall. Even with the best layout using only DA weapons, the time to kill was worse than the Riptide. Lastly, replace the High Energy Focus ship ability with one from the DA library. I suggest using either the Phase Grazer Siphon (but that was basically used on the Riptide) or, more fittingly, the Micro-Missile Rafale. This change would also address the ship's lack of stock micro missiles.
Hull Mods:
Dampened Mounts: This mod provides a 200 su and a recoil buff, limited to ballistic weapons. It also entails a slower ROF and a 100% increase in weapon damage taken. When S-modded, it grants back 2/4/6 OP, but the ship's deployment cost increases by the class of 2/3/5/7 along with the removal of the ROF penalty. The built-in version on the Riptide and Ashfall differs in wording, possibly indicating a bug. While the extra OP to deployment costs is beneficial, the mod could be improved. A range boost to all weapons (ballistic and energy) would align better with optimizing DA weapons giving it better overall value and this could be explained via the lore. Please address the inconsistency between the hull mod and the versions on the Riptide and Ashfall.
Advanced Avionics: This mod offers a 30% damage boost for a 30% flux cost, with additional effects. Given that DA's damage is not inherently high, overloading the system on a DA ship with DA weapons is not a wise choice. The OP cost is also extremely high (45op on a cruiser) for a non-S-moddable hull mod that appears to be incompatible with Dampened Mounts. It's recommended to rework this mod from the ground up, considering its use for both ships and fighters as a more comprehensive hull mode.
Bug:
State Support Beam: There seems to be an issue with this weapon, as it is hitting less hard than expected. Hitting the armor of an unshielded target resulted in only around 1200 damage with three of these weapons. Repeated testing compared to the Glowtusk revealed a significant difference in time to kill. The State Support Beam should be examined to ensure it correctly registers hits when multiple beams hit the same area, as there appears to be an inconsistency. The Glowtusk, in contrast, consistently delivered the expected damage of around 1500 from three weapons.
