Forums » General

Marauder?

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Dec 05, 2003 Celebrim link
xochiluvr: Whether than ranting about it, why don't you make this comparison based on a practical test? Spend some time trading in the Marauder and spend some time trading in the Centaur. I think that sooner or latter you'll come to the realization that the Marauder excells the Centaur to the same degree than the Valk excells the Vulture. I certainly know which one I'd rather be in if I jumped into a sector and found Icarus bearing down on me.

"Besides, that's a function of speed, not agility. Speed is dependant upon the engine, not a ship's inherent ability to turn. A maud can get to top speed faster, but at full speed, no ship is faster than any other."

Did I say anything at all about speed? No, I didn't. I said, 'travel time', and I meant exactly that. The Marauder shaves minutes off your total travel time compared to a Centaur, if it has any engine package other than efficient + fast recharge, and a Centuar with an efficient engine is a death trap. Whereas, you can fly a Marauder with a medium engine and between the higher top speed and the better acceleration get where you are going safer and quicker than you ever could in a Centaur.

A Marauder in the hands of a good pilot is capable of thwarting the attack of an average pilot in a Valk. In a Centaur you have to just dump swarms/lightning mines and hope.

"the agility of a valk or vult (it's got SIX thrusters)..."

This reminds me of arguing with a new MtG card player that the creature can't fly unless it says 'flying' on the card, and the player responding, 'But its got wings in the picture!'. So what if it has six thrusters? Perhaps they are all quite small. A B-52 has eight engines, but that doesn't mean that the B-52 is faster and more agile than a F-16 with just one, or that any of the B-52's eight engines produces by itself anything like the thrust that the F-16's single engine does.

Besides which, its just a model. How heavily do you really want to constrain the artists? Does the ship have to also obey all the laws of engineering as well as look good? With a rule such as that, BTech would not even exist.
Dec 05, 2003 Arolte link
"Besides which, its just a model. How heavily do you really want to constrain the artists? Does the ship have to also obey all the laws of engineering as well as look good? With a rule such as that, BTech would not even exist."

No, but it would be nice to have a little practical realism tossed in there. The Marauder is only marginally faster than the Centaur. The fact that you warp out of a wormhole at a random location (sometimes 1000m behind the other person) often negates that slight acceleration boost. You're giving the Centaur way less credit than it deserves.

Why not have something different? Why not have a really weak ship with all of its hull stripped away for the purpose of shipping goods overnight at high speeds? I'd hardly classify the current Marauder unique or special. It's just a ship with a little more oompfh to it. The Valk and Prometheus are both unique and radically different than their lower class counterparts. The Marauder isn't.

The comparison here is like having a faster delivery truck model. Why focus on getting a quicker delivery truck to deliver something across a country when you can buy a cargo jet to get that package there quicker? Sure, it'll cost you more, but it's something special that'll give you a profit in the long run.
Dec 05, 2003 SirCamps link
The Marauder has much more acceleration potential than the Centuar does. Try drag-racing them together, you'll see.

The Centuar packs the punch of the Valkyrie, the maneuverability of at least the Hornet, and the carrying capacity of the Centuar. That's pretty special.
Dec 05, 2003 Archon link
"The Centuar packs the punch of the Valkyrie, the maneuverability of at least the Hornet, and the carrying capacity of the Centuar. That's pretty special."

Uh... what you mean is that the Marauder packs the punch of the Valkyrie, the manueverability of at least the Hornet, and the carrying capacity of the Centaur.

... right? :P
Dec 05, 2003 Arolte link
Centaur packs a bigger punch. No doubt.
Dec 05, 2003 roguelazer link
A bigger punch. But only in adv gat and homing weapons. I have yet to see an effective tachyon use in a Centaur. :P
Dec 05, 2003 paedric link
I would put the Marauder's agility more on par with that of the Warthog than that of the Hornet which I feel is a bit too heavy for it's function (that being a heavy attack ship). My Prom feels less heavy and more manuverable than a Hornet.
Dec 05, 2003 Renegade ++RIP++ link
A marauder has an agility even higher then a warthog but lower then the cent/vult.

cheers.

PS: I would take the marauder any day above the centaur.
Dec 05, 2003 paedric link
I second Renegade ++RIP++ on this one. The Marauder is the better ship overall IMHO.
Dec 05, 2003 genka link
heh, I'd take a bus rather than a centaur.
Then again, I'd take a bus anyway...
Dec 05, 2003 Arolte link
Incorrect. The Marauder is less agile than the Warthog.
Dec 05, 2003 roguelazer link
Maybe in your "tests". But it's more agile for me flying it with joystick controls.
Dec 05, 2003 Arolte link
Well obviously. Joystick/keyboard controls are more responsive and less wobbly. But for now I'm talking about mouse and keyboard, which applies to the majority of Vendetta players.
Dec 03, 2003 xochiluvr link
Centaur vs Marauder.

Cantaur has the same cargo space, more armor and better weapons than a Marauder, and it's a THIRD of the price. All the Maud has is some agility.

So I have 2 questions.

1. How is it special?
2. Why bother?
Dec 03, 2003 Arolte link
I still think the Marauder should be a very weak ship, but should have very high agility. As I said before time is money, and when it comes to selling goods you'll get more profits if you make it to your destination quicker. Especially with the dynamic economy now in place, you need to be ahead of the pack in order to get the most money out of a trade route. The Marauder would make a perfect speedy delivery ship. If it's hull was lowered to 4000 or 5000, it would prevent people from using it as a fighter. A valk would tear it to shreds. Luckily it's higher speed would prevent fighters from getting up to it so easily. With the extra money you're paying for a Marauder, you should be able to get to your destination faster AND ensure your own safety by avoiding fights altogether via high agility.
Dec 03, 2003 Celebrim link
All it has is some agility? All?

You make it sound like agility is chopped liver. Let me ask a few questions.

Do you care how long it takes you to travel between stops when trading?
Do you care about the ability to outrun pirates when trading?
Even when you are trading, is the ability to protect yourself in a fight important?

If you answered 'Yes' to any of those questions, then the Marauder is for you. If you don't, then use a Centaur.
Dec 04, 2003 Spellcast link
except that top speed is a function of engine not hull celebrim even in a maud i've been easily overtaken by vultures and valks. I prefer the extra armor of the centaur with a fast/eff and a couple of swarm deterrent systems

Dec 04, 2003 xochiluvr link
>All it has is some agility? All?

Yes.

> You make it sound like agility is chopped liver. Let me ask a few questions.

When you're not an uberfighter, it is chopped liver. And that's being generous.

>Do you care how long it takes you to travel between stops when trading?

Not so much, no. Besides, that's a function of speed, not agility. Speed is dependant upon the engine, not a ship's inherent ability to turn. A maud can get to top speed faster, but at full speed, no ship is faster than any other.

>Do you care about the ability to outrun pirates when trading?

That ability is more dependant on the ability of the pirate. A valk can catch ANYTHING if it wants to and the pilot is good. And once it does, it can dodge anything. Again, outrunning anything is dependant on the engine, not agility.

>Even when you are trading, is the ability to protect yourself in a fight important?

Ability to protect myself? I have killed Icarus ONCE. I did it with prox mines as he chased me. No l-ports on a marauder.

>If you answered 'Yes' to any of those questions, then the Marauder is for you. If you don't, then use a Centaur.

Most of your post is irrelevant... any engine can go into any ship. I still don't see how the maud is special in any way. The valk is special for it's agility, the promy for armor. The valk has NO bad attributes, the promy is slow. Why is the maud special? At what does it excel? Simply because it's second best at everything? We should start calling it the Forrest Gumpmobile.
Dec 04, 2003 sherman link
Actually, the higher agility in a ship, the faster it accelerates to top speed. While this top speed is dependent on the engine, put the same engine in a cent and a maud, the maud will win the race by far.

Plus, the marauder has ARMS. I mean come on, it doesn't get much better than having ARMS.
Dec 04, 2003 xochiluvr link
Wait, you're telling me two large ports and a small port isn't armed? It's better armed than a maud!

And sherman, I meant speed, not accelleration.