A know a few ships have got buffs recently, both directly (like the Keelback and Type 7) and through military slots. But some haven't, and here's a list of changes I'd do to balance things out and give more ships a niche. Of particular focus is cargo ships. Multirole ships are always going to have a purpose, but cargo ships are only going to have one - hauling cargo. For them to be considered they need to be better at that one job than similar ships in their class, otherwise players will quickly see them as obsolete. Any thoughts appreciated, these changes are intended to be moderate, just to give some ships new or extended niches. Anyway, here's the list of changes I'm proposing:
I'll go through my reasoning one by one.
Hauler - Upgrade both class 3 compartments to class 4.
The Hauler is not all that much cheaper than an Adder, and the Adder outdoes it in almost everyway: more cargo space, far more weapons, better shields and even with the recent doubling of hull strength for the Hauler, the Adder still wins out because of it's hardness of 35 which significantly reduces damage from small weapons.
Note that with this change the Hauler will still come with class 2 cargo racks in these slots by default, and upgrading both of them to class 4 would cost 60k, more than the ship itself. So it won't be immediately unbalanced as a cheap trading vessel, as outfitting it to use this extra space will cost significant funds for the new player. Also, an E-rated Hauler laden with two class 4 cargo racks has a jump range of 5LY, and a D-rated laden 32T capacity Hauler doesn't even get 7LY, so the frame shift drive will need an upgrade to make it practical.
So the point of this change isn't to make the Hauler better off the shelf, but to extend it's life. Between the Hauler and the type-6, there are no pure trading vessels, and indeed most traders will dump the Hauler as soon as they get an Adder, which is a very short lifespan. At least this change potentially keeps a Hauler as an option all the way though to the Cobra.
Adding exploration slots
This is just adding specialised exploration slots to some ships that probably need some love. I don't think these changes are unbalancing, as it doesn't increase these ships combat potential, but it just makes say the Diamondback Explorer useful for I don't know... exploring maybe? Passenger ships also would be expected to go into the void and need a scanner, it's not surprising if they had a dedicated slot for this.
Type-7 - Add fighter capability.
Particularly for those who haven't got military rank, there's a big gap between the Keelback and the Type-9 for fighter capable ships. The Type-7 is probably an appropriate ship for filling this gap. It requires a large pad, which suggests it's got the space for a fighter bay. Also making the Type-7 fighter capable is not going to make it overpowered because otherwise offensively it is quite poor.
FDL - Allow luxury cabins.
I know the FDL isn't a dedicated passenger ship, but it has got some class, and I don't think allowing the FDL to use it's one class 5 compartment for a luxury cabin will make it an overpowered ship, considering the lack of space it has otherwise. It would just be a nice perk for the ship to have.
Type-9 - Add one new class 8 compartment.
The Type-9 currently only compares marginally to the Anaconda for trading. Once players can afford an Anaconda for trading, the extra speed, jump range etc is probably worth an only small reduction in cargo space. If the Type-9 was only around the 50 mil mark then this would be more reasonable, but at 90 million there's not much life the Type-9 gets.
Adding a class 8 compartment may seem like a lot, but even with it the Type-9 still has less space than the Cutter. The extra cargo will make it even slower and hurt it's jump range even more. But at least it will be the trading ship of choice all the way up to the Cutter, and for those without Imperial rank, perhaps the ship of choice for trading over the Anaconda. The Anaconda has got many uses, a great end game explorer, a top of the line combat ship and a very effective multi-role ship. It doesn't need to be the best trader also.
I don't think this is overpowered because that extra class 8 compartment when utiliised drops the Type 9s speed even further, and it's jump range, even A-rated, is reduced to only a little over 10LY. It will be even more of a lumbering brick than it is now, but at least it will be good at being a lumbering brick. The physical volume of the Type-9 is significantly greater than the Cutter, and also the Cutter has a larger FSD, distributor, power plant, weapons systems, etc extra filling it's internal space, so it make sense that at the very least, the Type-9 should be able to jam in a comparable amount of cargo to the Cutter into what is essentially a large box.
- Hauler - Upgrade both class 3 compartments to class 4.
- Diamondback+Asp Scout - Add one "exploration slot", can be only used for scanners.
- Diamondback+Asp Explorer - Add two exploration slots.
- Orca+Beluga - Add one exploration slot.
- Type-7 - Add fighter capability.
- FDL - Allow luxury cabins
- Type-9 - Add one new class 8 compartment.
I'll go through my reasoning one by one.
Hauler - Upgrade both class 3 compartments to class 4.
The Hauler is not all that much cheaper than an Adder, and the Adder outdoes it in almost everyway: more cargo space, far more weapons, better shields and even with the recent doubling of hull strength for the Hauler, the Adder still wins out because of it's hardness of 35 which significantly reduces damage from small weapons.
Note that with this change the Hauler will still come with class 2 cargo racks in these slots by default, and upgrading both of them to class 4 would cost 60k, more than the ship itself. So it won't be immediately unbalanced as a cheap trading vessel, as outfitting it to use this extra space will cost significant funds for the new player. Also, an E-rated Hauler laden with two class 4 cargo racks has a jump range of 5LY, and a D-rated laden 32T capacity Hauler doesn't even get 7LY, so the frame shift drive will need an upgrade to make it practical.
So the point of this change isn't to make the Hauler better off the shelf, but to extend it's life. Between the Hauler and the type-6, there are no pure trading vessels, and indeed most traders will dump the Hauler as soon as they get an Adder, which is a very short lifespan. At least this change potentially keeps a Hauler as an option all the way though to the Cobra.
Adding exploration slots
This is just adding specialised exploration slots to some ships that probably need some love. I don't think these changes are unbalancing, as it doesn't increase these ships combat potential, but it just makes say the Diamondback Explorer useful for I don't know... exploring maybe? Passenger ships also would be expected to go into the void and need a scanner, it's not surprising if they had a dedicated slot for this.
Type-7 - Add fighter capability.
Particularly for those who haven't got military rank, there's a big gap between the Keelback and the Type-9 for fighter capable ships. The Type-7 is probably an appropriate ship for filling this gap. It requires a large pad, which suggests it's got the space for a fighter bay. Also making the Type-7 fighter capable is not going to make it overpowered because otherwise offensively it is quite poor.
FDL - Allow luxury cabins.
I know the FDL isn't a dedicated passenger ship, but it has got some class, and I don't think allowing the FDL to use it's one class 5 compartment for a luxury cabin will make it an overpowered ship, considering the lack of space it has otherwise. It would just be a nice perk for the ship to have.
Type-9 - Add one new class 8 compartment.
The Type-9 currently only compares marginally to the Anaconda for trading. Once players can afford an Anaconda for trading, the extra speed, jump range etc is probably worth an only small reduction in cargo space. If the Type-9 was only around the 50 mil mark then this would be more reasonable, but at 90 million there's not much life the Type-9 gets.
Adding a class 8 compartment may seem like a lot, but even with it the Type-9 still has less space than the Cutter. The extra cargo will make it even slower and hurt it's jump range even more. But at least it will be the trading ship of choice all the way up to the Cutter, and for those without Imperial rank, perhaps the ship of choice for trading over the Anaconda. The Anaconda has got many uses, a great end game explorer, a top of the line combat ship and a very effective multi-role ship. It doesn't need to be the best trader also.
I don't think this is overpowered because that extra class 8 compartment when utiliised drops the Type 9s speed even further, and it's jump range, even A-rated, is reduced to only a little over 10LY. It will be even more of a lumbering brick than it is now, but at least it will be good at being a lumbering brick. The physical volume of the Type-9 is significantly greater than the Cutter, and also the Cutter has a larger FSD, distributor, power plant, weapons systems, etc extra filling it's internal space, so it make sense that at the very least, the Type-9 should be able to jam in a comparable amount of cargo to the Cutter into what is essentially a large box.
For the wealthy commanders ofcourse.
