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  • Vanguard sale tomorrow, sadly AC 1.1 multiplayer still unstable


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    The ship formerly known as Prince, ups I mean the Bulldog, will be on sale under its new name Vanguard with the Retaliator sleek, stealthy look and twin engine setup from the T38 Lightning, and wow its a beauty! Extremely pricy for a fighter though, even if its deep space. 250$ US for Vanguards sexy instead of 180 $ US for Superhornets boxy looks, an additional turret and a large fuel tank for extended range, and probably some kind of missile reloading system. Some low res pics were mixed in with the developer interview in "Around the Verse Ep. 37", see below. It is a beauty, but as always a costly one. The Redeemer still got the upper hand weapon loadout wise and it has cargo, but I've got to admit I'm gonna get a Vanguard, just for the looks.

    And, sadly, AC Multiplayer still has major bugs, this weekend will probably go unstable as well. But at least we can imagine how cool we look gliding through the void in a T38 inspired Retaliator-fighter.

    If you wanna meet up despite the possible glitches, I'll be on tomorrow evening 18:00-0:00 CET, join if you wanna earn some REC!

    post-22867-0-64820200-1427399185_thumb.jpg

    post-22867-0-90411800-1427399187_thumb.jpg

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    This is adapted from my comment on:

    https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14623-Relentless-Predator-The-Aegis-Vanguard

    Ok, its here, it looks great, TR4 Engines, mini living quarters, 8xS2 Missiles, S4 Ballistic Gatling, fuel for long operations.

    But heres why I'm disappointed:
    1. Why 4 fixed S2 mounts in the nose instead of gimbals over and under the engines as shown in "Around the Verse 37"? The Vanguard is supposed to be less manouverable, it will be far too hard to actually hit anything aside from Capitals with fixed weapons. And because they are so deeply integrated in the nose, you probably cant fit gimbals, even if you wanted to limit yourself to S1 duds.

    2. Why 1 S4 gimbaled cannon in the nose, if the other mounts are fixed? In the Superhornet, you get the best results when hitting the enemy in one spot with all weapons, going through shields, armor and structure all at once. With the Vanguard, you're just wasting ammunition until youre finally through the enemy shields.

    3. Why Size 2 shields? Laughable. Even a Gladius/M50/Scoutships can get through those, and thanks to the fixed guns and weight it will be next to impossible to hit an interceptor with the Vanguard. Armor doesnt regenerate. A brick doesnt turn well.

    4. Compared to the Redeemer, it has the same weight (40kt), less powerful engines (TR4 compared to TR5), less powerful gimbaled and 4 fixed (and therefore pretty useless) weapon mounts, only 1 turret instead of 5 (2 manned, 3 unmanned), 8 instead of 10 S2, only max S2 shields instead of max S6 and no cargo! Despite costing almost as much.

    5. The Constellation Andromeda costs even less! And that ship can take out the Vanguard even quicker. 4x S4 gimbaled HPs, 2x S4 Turrets, 20 S2 missiles, 7 S1 missiles. Plus 1100 cargo. Plus scout. Plus proper quarters. TR5 engines. The list goes on.

    6. Compared to the Superhornet, it is twice as heavy, therefore less manouverable, has only 4 fixed and 1 gimbaled mounts/1 turret compared to 6 gimbaled mounts, and again only max S2 shields instead of max S4! The 20 $ US cheaper Superhornet looks more and more like a bargain. Jump drive included. You would expect a long range fighter to come standard with that.

    In conclusion:

    The Redeemer got a lot more firepower (S3 HPs on all turrets and the additional S4 FL33s) after the original concept sale, I think the Vanguard has to be much better equipped for its role as a heavy fighter. The current concept is imo far too "civil" and needlessly limited. It doesnt stand a chance against interceptors or real fighters like 325A or Hornet or even the Connie. But they got the looks nailed down!

    I suggest following changes:
    Convert the fixed to gimbaled hardpoints (away from the nose, e.g. over/under the engines), so they become useable in a less manouverable ship
    Increase shields at least to S4, so they can actually tank assaults from fighters

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    Mosts of your points don't take into account that only the Vanguard, Gladius and Retaliator are actually using the newly redesigned size system which isn't only about the weapons, that's why the Retaliator has a size 3 shield right now.

     

    Your only point that makes sense is about the nose, and my guess is it's a stylistic choice (the plane that inspired the Vanguard used front facing guns in the nose) but I too have my doubts about how they could even implement that (with the weapons they show it seems good but how will it look with other size 1 or 2, they don't all have the same shape).

     

    Edit: the front facing Hornet hardpoints (where the neutron guns where) had that same issue, even if the removing might have more to do with balance

    Edited by Tessaya
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    I think a lot of that is yet to change, until the ship sees actions. But I agree that some values see a bit odd. So far overall, they haven't balanced out ships too well... but looking at the last patch, e.g. the cutlass which used to be crap can now take quite the beating.... so that might make a difference here as well.

     

    However, also note the prime design difference, which is a different role concept:

     

    The design priorities of the vanguard are on a) Range and b) armor.

    I guess it's not unintended for a SuperHornet to be superior to a Vanguard in a 1:1. The super hornet would be carrier based, launching to intercept the enemy and dish out a heavy punch.

    The Vanguard however has a different role... it will penetrate into enemy territory and its task is to mess up the enemy, but sure not to engage with enemy fighters under cover of carrier AA guns.... that would be totally inefficient. Rather it would need to take out vulnerable enemy craft and retreat, before the enemy fighter cover has launched. It just needs to be able to hold off enemy fighters long enough to get away, if intercepted. So imho it doesn't need the firepower to win 1:1 dogfights with super hornets, as long as it can hold them off for a while.

     

     

    Vanguard_landed.jpg

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    Ps: apologies for the advertising, but star hangar has those ships in store now, for $242.33 with paypal fees included!
    Overall a bit cheaper than RSI, but probably especially attractive for EU citizens, so I thought this might be of interest - if you need one, let me know.

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    Yeah, ok, the stats are going to change for all the other ships. And I think, like the Redeemer, the Vanguard is getting a stronger bite later on, electronic warfare and so on. And the looks are awesome. So I just got one :blush:. Despite my irritations about the limitations. Just like the Herald. Why do I even bother trying to talk myself out of purchases. :mamba:

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    Didnt think it would get this bad: RSI has given up, they've essentially pulled the plug on multiplayer for the coming weeks!!

    "instability can be expected for the next several days - and possibly stretching into weeks"

    https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/244596/1-1-0-continued-mp-instability/p1

    Now that we got REC we cant try it. Jeeeeepers.

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    Have to admit that until now, we did have a lot more stable alpha than with a lot of other games. Still kinda sucks, but I'd rather have the big network bugs fixed sooner than later.

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    Good point Tessaya, and good news. Tonight I got admittance to one battle royale fight on the very first try, just seconds before it was over 8-(. But seriously, the infinite loading screen fault and the frequent client hangups have significantly decreased imo, I'm feeling hopeful that 1 out of 2 tries will actually get you in game.

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    its easier if you join solo it seems, worse in group. Hope they'll have it back under control soon.

    Just remember it's alpha - and not a final one, but they are developing on it while we play it.

     

     

    I think what's happening is that the new rec system brought tons of new players and they have yet to resize their farm to handle that.

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    And down it goes again. Ridiculous.

     

     

    Be glad you both have the computer to run SC AND the money for the Vanguard; Don't have either... Bloody bills.

    **EDIT** why is the quote system here messed up, and WHY is there a autocensor?

    Edited by Lazurkri
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    Had a very nice gaming session with Firedancer yesterday, game servers were surprisingly reliable again. Only one client crash, and only at the very end of the session. So lets earn some REC!

    Btw: Despite my earlier criticism, I didn't just buy 1 Vanguard, but 3. The last of which today, so despite the 6th April being over Vanguards are still available! I became infatuated with the looks and engine power, and also with the versatility and EWar. Yes, they will probably be interceptor feed, but out in the black theres nothing on the horizon I'd like better to pilot or as an escort.

    So if you ask me, go melt your Hornets for that hulk of a fighter! Imo the F8 wont have the range or versatility, it will just be a nimbler single-seat Superhornet.

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    Had a very nice gaming session with Firedancer yesterday, game servers were surprisingly reliable again. Only one client crash, and only at the very end of the session. So lets earn some REC!

    Btw: Despite my earlier criticism, I didn't just buy 1 Vanguard, but 3. The last of which today, so despite the 6th April being over Vanguards are still available! I became infatuated with the looks and engine power, and also with the versatility and EWar. Yes, they will probably be interceptor feed, but out in the black theres nothing on the horizon I'd like better to pilot or as an escort.

    So if you ask me, go melt your Hornets for that hulk of a fighter! Imo the F8 wont have the range or versatility, it will just be a nimbler single-seat Superhornet.

    Nice to see someone has a boatload of money to blow....

     

    Ps: apologies for the advertising, but star hangar has those ships in store now, for $242.33 with paypal fees included!

    Overall a bit cheaper than RSI, but probably especially attractive for EU citizens, so I thought this might be of interest - if you need one, let me know.

    It's closer to $300 for us canadians....

    Edited by Lazurkri
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    Nice to see someone has a boatload of money to blow....

     

    It's closer to $300 for us canadians....

    Lucky for you Canadians make on average 22-28% more than the US worker based on education level.

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