First the Type-9 was reborn, then the Saud Kruger ships, next?

[SpaceScania]

Hello CMDR’s,

Frontier has recently been making good progress in giving some neglected ships a new purpose. The buff to the Type-9 earlier this year was amazing and made that ship a viable trading ship again for many CMDR’s. This update includes the long-awaited lifting of slot restrictions for the Saud Kruger ships that breathe a lot of life into them. These changes have been met with a lot of happiness and near universal acclaim from CMDR’s.

I for one can’t wait to put together a new long-range exploration Beluga ship with all the fixin’s. 51 light years of jump range and all the amenities that a CMDR would want. Awesome cockpit view and a beautiful ship to have in my galaxy screenshots. Great! The Beluga was the ship I most wanted to see given some love.

However, that begs the question. What’s the next ship that needs some TLC? If you could ask Frontier to make changes to one ship what would it be? Let’s exclude the Mamba and Krait Phantom for now as they are not final and there totally could be tweaks there.

But what other ship would you love to spend more time in if a key flaw were fixed?

 

[rOmiLaYu]

In before CMDR Krill gets on about the Dolphin overheating on planets

 

[nanite2000]

The Imperial Clipper badly needs a review. It really should be made a medium ship.

As it stands, it doesn’t serve a role as a large ship.

 

[Chorda]

Asp Scout. A sorely neglected ship.

 

[Gizzard]

The Imperial Clipper badly needs a review. It really should be made a medium ship.

As it stands, it doesn’t serve a role as a large ship.

This, or a bigger Courier to bridge the gap. Maybe more like the original.

 

[CMDR Corlas]

I think it's been stated by FD that the Asp Scout is up for a checkup.

I'm really hoping the T-7, which already got it's update, will get its 5th small hardpoint unlocked, although I am also pretty sure that hope is futile.

I think the lineup is in a pretty good spot to be honest. What we need mostly now are new ships to fill in some pretty big gaps - round out the mid-section of the Imperial fleet, add a high-end to the Alliance, put in a swath of commercial ships with a whole army of hardpoints but the capacitor to only run half of them, for your mining "specialists". After that, FD should turn the ship part of its gaze on larger things.

 

[Bunkerkind Anni]

wait.. the passenger ships did get an buff in the beta. restriction on some slots got removed.

sure, thats still not the important change that would make them better passengerships then any other ship, that has more internal slots for the same price/size.

and yes, the Asp Scout needs some love.

 

[CMDR Zadian Lichtfrost]

…
But what other ship would you love to spend more time in if a key flaw were fixed?

The DBX would benefit from an increase in agility and speed.

Thinking of it, a lot of small ships would benefit from a buff in agility and speed compared to the medium and large ships.

 

[npcole]

Everyone will chime in with their favourite ship.

But in my view engineering has made a mess of the Cobra III, which is a shame because it is the signature ship of elite. I think it should be made able to use enhanced thrusters.

 

[CMDR Corlas]

Everyone will chime in with their favourite ship.

But in my view engineering has made a mess of the Cobra III, which is a shame because it is the signature ship of elite. I think it should be made able to use enhanced thrusters.

By "made a mess of", do you just mean "no longer the fastest ship in a straight line, compared solely to other human players", or are there some other issues I'm unfamiliar with?

I'm curious how engineering could make a mess of a ship, rather than just give you the option to modify it, if you want.

 

[Mo Ronik]

Personally I'd like to see the T6 with medium size hardpoints. It's a medium size ship. Even better would be two medium and two small size hardpoints but that's probably just wishful thinking. It's not my favorite ship as that honor goes to my Cobra but buffing the T6 hardpoints would make it go much further as a mining ship.

 

[Trollymctrollerson]

Personally I'd like to see the T6 with medium size hardpoints. It's a medium size ship. Even better would be two medium and two small size hardpoints but that's probably just wishful thinking. It's not my favorite ship as that honor goes to my Cobra but buffing the T6 hardpoints would make it go much further as a mining ship.

Um you have heard of the keelback right?

 

[Ted Striker]

Beluga: needs those superfluous wings removed. Unless we are to believe it will perform significantly better in atmospheres than the other large ships.

 

[Mo Ronik]

Um you have heard of the keelback right?

Yeah but it's 3 times the cost and less cargo space if you set it up for mining with shields; 64t vs 80t. T6 has one more optional internal slot than the Keelback and I can live without the SLF capability.

 

[Ian Phillips]

Beluga: needs those superfluous wings removed. Unless we are to believe it will perform significantly better in atmospheres than the other large ships.

Well, at a guess the T9 will perform significantly better in atmospheres than a brick. It will make a larger hole when it hits the ground!

 

[TheSisko]

I think it's been stated by FD that the Asp Scout is up for a checkup.

I'm sure the person who said that no longer works on this game.

And I for one wasn't pleased with the nature of the Beluga buff - I wanted more passenger slots, rather than the complete nerfing of its specialised role.

 

[CMDR Corlas]

I'm sure the person who said that no longer works on this game.

I doubt that's relevant. When you release info like that, you're speaking from a design roadmap and a project plan, not personal whimsy.

Roadmaps can and do change, of course, but not because of a single staffing change.

(I mean, given a mature and stable company like Frontier, at least /flashbacks from working at startups...)

 

[npcole]

By "made a mess of", do you just mean "no longer the fastest ship in a straight line, compared solely to other human players", or are there some other issues I'm unfamiliar with?

I'm curious how engineering could make a mess of a ship, rather than just give you the option to modify it, if you want.

Yes. Engineering changes its place in the ships. It used to have a distinct boot speed, but now many ships are comparable. It feels to me either missing a utility mount or else a bit of an edge on boost speed.

All ships should have upsides and downsides, of course. I don’t think there should be any ship that has the edge over all others in every way.

But surely there should be something notable about the classic elite ship. Best boost speed was a nice “something” before engineering.

 

[Hooplah]

Since we're only dreaming. Add a class 1 optional internal module to every ship. Then everyone
can use a discovery scanner or docking computer as desired without taking up more valuable
modules. It's pretty silly using class 3 and 4 to do the same in a Cutter.

 

[GJ51]

SK and Gutamaya only mfgrs without a medium ship in their lineup.

How can this be after 4 years?