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Carriers need a real polish
irishhawkdrake
Member Posts: 44 Arc User
Pure carriers have no benefit over flight deck carriers ever since Cryptic brought the FDCs up to two bays. Carriers themselves just REALLY need some love, something of a buff or a category benefit like how Tac gets experiment weapons, science gets a secondary deflector etc.
Devs! Here my plea!
Devs! Here my plea!
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on
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Carriers can have Frigate pets, which nothing else has.
The presence of hangar bays (and in some cases, subsystem targeting too) is already significant. Carriers don't need to be made more powerful.
Personally I'd prefer it if they focussed on other carrier-related changes.
Like making playable ships of all pets (I'd love to see a playable Mobulai for example).
Removing restrictions on pet use (keep the requirement to own the related carrier if necessary from a sales perspective).
Improve the targeting mechanism (make it possible for our pets to assist someone else for example, without having to keep selecting that player).
Despite folks disdain for the Callisto, I enjoy using them in tandem with Delta Flyers. Gives a good feeling of a multi-purpose Jupiter.
I've unlocked them too after someone here mentioned their torpedo spamming. No regrets at all, they're a wonderful addition to my (all-energy) torpedo Alita.
Love Orion Slavers on all my other toons. Every little thing they take helps
The cool thing about that combo is the "mixed armaments." The Delta Flyers go in first with the shield stripping and then the Callisto's follow up with torp spread.
You're my new best friend!
Except that those hangers are generally supposed to be (at most) the equivalent of the catapult-launched floatplanes of WWII heavy cruisers (and larger gun-based ships), and the fantail helicopter pads of the current non-carrier ships like the Arleigh Burke heavy missile destroyers. Considering they are slower than ships, however, the shuttles are more like the whaleboats and other boats warships carry.
The reason that the only times space fighters were mentioned in Star Trek was after Roddenberry died is that Roddenberry was totally against the idea as it was laughable at best that a shuttlecraft with a tiny powerplant could do anything at all against a starship. He often used the example of a zodiac with a single machinegun trying to take on a battleship, it would not even noticeably scratch the paint much less do any significant damage.
Also, with weapon lock-ons fighter-shuttles would not have the protection of being hard to hit that WWII fighters had. In Star Wars the main guns cannot track fast enough to hit fighters so they had quick-tracking popguns to fight them with, but that is not the case in Trek, especially in TNG and later where they did not even have turrets as such and the beams were aimed with field effects which allowed even the main guns to whip around and hit multiple separate targets all in one firing cycle.
That said, some of my favorite STO ships are carriers, and I agree they do need some buffing to compete with the FDCs.
I find it odd that a ship the size of the Jupiter is restricted to a 3/3 loadout. It easily could fit in more hardpoints. If the MW Donnie can have a 5/3 loadout with 2 hangars, why can't the Jupiter et al. have at least a 4/3?
Carriers were hinted at in DS9 during the larger battles scenes, and were made canon is Disco with the enterprise laucnhing all of those drones.
there is zero game play reason to fly a full carrier now that FDCs have 2 hangars. the FDC has the hangars, a full weapons complement and better maneuverability over even the most tactical oriented full carrier. as said earlier the ONLY thing carriers have are frigate pet, which are not that great. to offset that advantage, they for the most part are limitd to 6 weapons slots and no secdef, despite most carriers being sci oriented. Carriers should, at a minimum, have 7 weapon slots and either an experimental weapon or a secondary deflector. that is offset by the rather poor maneuverability.
As for zero gameplay reason that's not right and something I keep seeing time and time again. As a carrier pilot I don't normally go near FDC's as they are not as good as full carriers for pet builds. Many of my full carriers outperform with pet builds or do different gameplay options then what I can get out of any FDC. I have effectively stopped using FDC's and switched back to full carriers. Out of the 4 carriers I swap between FDC's are not one of them.
I've been able to get some movement with the commands. Maybe I'm just lucky and they've been working for me. I don't know.
But they have recalled when I hit Recall, they've attacked my target when I hit Attack, and they do stick with me when I hit Intercept.
If we measure the performance under attack v intercept. Attack performs better over intercept. Apart from roleplay reasons there isn't really any benefit or use in using intercept. Even when doing the shoot down torpedo Endeavour I find we are better off leaving Attack mode on.
Same for Escort it does work in that the pet Escorts the target but again that just means the pets are not engaging the NPC's and so it lowers the pet performance over Attack. The only time I can think to use Escort is the shield fixing pet, I have yet to see anyone do that as it offers little benefit. I used to use Escort in the old "No Win" TFO as that was the one time it has a use.
What I am trying to say is the vast majority of the time Attack mode work best and the other modes worsen the efficiency of the pets. To the point where most carrier pilots are better off just leaving Attack mode on 99% of the time. So console players are not really losing out by not having Commands.
EDIT: I even tried the doffs that boost pet damage in other modes. But even with the damage boost the pets lose more damage then they gain. So I switched back to attack.
if I stop posting it doesn't make you right it. just means I don't have enough rum to continue interacting with you.
> Carriers were hinted at in DS9 during the larger battles scenes, and were made canon is Disco with the enterprise laucnhing all of those drones.
I love the tactical flyers. Virtually no information (canon wise) about them available online unfortunately. I presumed they were drones too but I think they are in fact manned fighters.
> Frigates are great they can outperform fighters and do not die as much either. I have 90% moved away from fighters for Frigates.
>
> As for zero gameplay reason that's not right and something I keep seeing time and time again. As a carrier pilot I don't normally go near FDC's as they are not as good as full carriers for pet builds. Many of my full carriers outperform with pet builds or do different gameplay options then what I can get out of any FDC. I have effectively stopped using FDC's and switched back to full carriers. Out of the 4 carriers I swap between FDC's are not one of them.
But there is essentially nothing you can do with a carrier that you can't with a FDC, they even have similar ship experience advantages, (the FDC arguably slightly better). With the case of the Donnie add the 5/3 weapon configuration, MW specialisation and far greater manoeuvrability. What can any carrier do that tops that? As I said, I love pure carriers but the only reason to fly one is for that exact reason, because you love them. Ie for fun!
> with the right set up they rarely die my squadrons do not die very often
If you want to use the carrier traits (and FDCs can use exactly the same as those on standard carriers) I find the same. Alliance fighters rarely die, and if they do, they are back up instantly. As was previously mentioned, my comment that the only slight advantage that carriers have over FDCs is the ability to use frigates... That was incorrect, FDCs can use frigates as well anyway!
Let's be honest though, unless you are making a theme or fun build, you aren't going to be using up valuable trait slots with carrier traits. The only exception being SAD, which I have seen used even on non-carriers because it is so darned good. Alliance Fighters + SAD = Space Top Gun!