Niche ship: Federal Bomber

[Crimson Kaim]

A fun idea that came up in my mind some days ago.
A federal bomber, designed to have alot of utility and firepower as well as jump range at the cost of internal space and defenses.

I just throw some general stats at you, nothing too accurate and can be edited for balancing:

Hardpoints:

2H
0L
3M
6S

8U

Large landing pad.

Internals:

PP: 7
PD: 8
FSD: 6
Scanner: 5
LS: 5
Drives: 7
Fuel Tank: 64T

Optional:

1C7
1C6
2C5
2C4
2C3
1C2

Ship stats:

This should be the special part about it.

Pitch: 26 d/s
Roll: 70 d/s
Yaw: 8 d/s

Shields: ~625 (With a basic C7E shield gen)
Speed: 250 m/s
Boost speed: 320 m/s

Mass: 650 T
MLF: 23
Hardness: 60
Armor: 350


With emphasis on speed and firepower, we trade internal space and defenses. Can also be used as an explorer or long range patrol ship thanks to reduced mass and a C6 FSD. And while we have traded a significant part of our internal space, we still have alot of utility as the amount of slots (internal AND external) is actually quite high.

Basically a large and flexible glass cannon with good travelling capabilities. So you don't need to ship it everywhere you go.
It is not suited for trading due to limited internal space.

Any improvements?

 

[CMDR Thorn]

To be honest I think the hull mass is a bit light but my main question is how it'd differentiate itself from the Corvette which also has 2 Huge hardpoints. Also would it be capable of using fighters?

 

[Ian Skippy]

How is it a 'glass cannon' if it has 25% more shield than a corvette with that 7E shield? This seems basically like a Corvette, but with bigger shields, magically light hull and a bit more firepower. Cut those shields in half, double the weight and drop both agility and speed by 50% and you have something approaching a bomber.

 

[Bortas]

Glass cannon? That thing has almost the same shield strength as a Cutter

Edit: I'd prefer they just gave that shield strength to the T-10... would make it useful and come pretty close to what you are suggesting.

 

[Crimson Kaim]

To be honest I think the hull mass is a bit light but my main question is how it'd differentiate itself from the Corvette which also has 2 Huge hardpoints. Also would it be capable of using fighters?

No fighter. It is faster, has less hull, less hull hardness, lower MLF, slightly better shields, better jumprange and most importantly it is way faster while slightly less maneuverable.
The 2 huge hardpoints are meant to be similar to the Vette, with the bomber being its sibling ship, after all it is from the federal navy and should follow some guidelines and thus, with emphasis to firepower, 2 huge hardpoints fit in pretty well.

 

[Crimson Kaim]

How is it a 'glass cannon' if it has 25% more shield than a corvette with that 7E shield? This seems basically like a Corvette, but with bigger shields, magically light hull and a bit more firepower. Cut those shields in half, double the weight and drop both agility and speed by 50% and you have something approaching a bomber.

It has higher base shields, yes, but instead of x3 C7 internals it has only x1 C7 for the shield generator, which means that it can not fit alot of powerful SCBs compared to the heavier and more tanky Vette. Its total shield streangth is way lower while its base shield strength is slightly higher. This comes from reduced mass and an overall better design for shield strength since we trade armor and armor hardness.
Last but not least, it has only a C7 PP, which means fitting a prismatic shield will be more expensive in terms of power resources than fitting it on any other C8 PP ship while only achieving the same total shield strength.

 

[Crimson Kaim]

Glass cannon? That thing has almost the same shield strength as a Cutter

Edit: I'd prefer they just gave that shield strength to the T-10... would make it useful and come pretty close to what you are suggesting.

I doubt you will be able to bomb anything with a ship that moves slower than any other combat ship in the game. The T10 is a fun ship but you are always better with a Cutter tbh, let alone for that insane shield strength.
The point of the federal bomber is being a faster (but large) ship with alot of firepower at the cost of defenses.

 

[Jaylem]

But what exactly does it bomb?

I like your suggestion of making it jumpy, but I wouldn't mind this reserved for a more exploration biased large ship. the game needs one to rival the anaconda... that cursed multi-role has been stealing the show for over 100 years!!!

 

[Crimson Kaim]

But what exactly does it bomb?

I like your suggestion of making it jumpy, but I wouldn't mind this reserved for a more exploration biased large ship. the game needs one to rival the anaconda... that cursed multi-role has been stealing the show for over 100 years!!!

Well anything I guess. The name is not its purpose though. It's not a classic mine bomber (though you can very well fit it like that). I was more thinking around 6-9 railguns or frag cannons. The sheer amount of hardpoints, especially in the small section allows for a wider variety of choice for hardpoints, unlike large and especially huge hardpoints which offer good damage but low flexibility.

 

[CMDR Thorn]

I think the biggest issue is that this ship would be far too niche, especially for a large ship. Of all the large ships in the game, I'd argue only 4 are general purpose and only one is truly a general purpose ship (Anaconda) where all the other ships fit specific roles (Corvette for combat, T9 for trade, etc). If the idea is to be fast and weak but have incredible burst damage then I could see that working, but would instead suggest removing the 2 Huge hardpoints and instead adding a few large/medium ones so that players could mount a lot of frag cannons and rail guns.

However if the idea was to be more like a patrol ship then I feel like the top speed should be increased and add a fighter bay but drop the 2 Huge hardpoints and maybe at 1 or 2 large ones instead.

If it was a patrol ship I can certainly imagine running an engineered class 7 bi-weave along with a fighter bay and FSD booster (and an interdictor) in order to get those pesky Powerplay NPC's on the edge of federation space.