Why is 2 class 1 and 2 class 2 weapons so prevalent, can we have more variety?

[Gryphorim]

The Vipers, the Cobra 3, the Keelback, the Asp scout and the DBS all come fitted with the same weapons systems. With that many ships surely there could have been more variety.

The Asp Scout could have fitted 6 Class 1's which would have given it a DPS boost vs smaller craft, but a greater fall-off in damage vs larger targets.

The Keelback is generally considered too slow to make best use of it's current weapon systems, and has them clustered around the fromt as if it could fight. An interesting proposal I had heard is to place weapons in the swivel axis for it's side thrusters, giving it wide angles behind that it can shoot, good for turret mountings. At the same time, a centerline Class 1 or 2 weapon on the dorsal face would need a dorsal ridge to retract into, a keel back, and offer excellent 360 degrees arc of fire on top, and in pitching maneuvers. So that's 3 Class 2 weapons and 2 Class 1s, Or 2 and 3 respectively.

There are other possibilities as well, but I will leave it at that. What are your thoughts on the variety of weapon options?

 

[Darrett]

I agree. The even pairings also discourage load out diversity. If a Viper Mk IV was 1x C1 and 3x C2, for example, I could see loading two C2 lasers with a C2 multi cannon, and having a Torpedo in the C1 slot for occasional use, as an example.

 

[Rabidweasel]

This was hugely discussed around the time that the Asp Scout, Viper MkIV and friends were added to the game and I think by now people have got used to the idea that the majority of small ships will have this particular hardpoint configuration, even though it does a lot for reducing the diversity of different builds and encourages players to use only a small number of these ships. As a new player with an eye towards combat, I'm not going to feel much encouragement towards jumping into an Asp Scout - which is a much more expensive ship than a cheap Viper Mk3 - when it doesn't even offer a different hardpoint setup.