[General Battuta]

No worries, discussion is good.

[Kosh]

The GTVA, or at least the Tevs, just don't have an advanced enough beam tech to mount meaningful beam weaponry on cruisers. Shivans, on the other hand...

Hence why they should be replaced with ULTRAs.

[General Battuta]

The GTVA, or at least the Tevs, just don't have an advanced enough beam tech to mount meaningful beam weaponry on cruisers. Shivans, on the other hand...

Hence why they should be replaced with ULTRAs.

The ULTRA really cannot be used against players. It basically breaks the game.

[Kosh]

So useless SGreens it is.

[General Battuta]

So useless SGreens it is.

The Aeolus as a package is a really effective ship in its niche. Ships need interesting weaknesses to make for interesting missions - otherwise we'd all be driving Ares with the maneuverability of a Pegasus.

[Kosh]

So useless SGreens it is.

The Aeolus as a package is a really effective ship in its niche. Ships need interesting weaknesses to make for interesting missions - otherwise we'd all be driving Ares with the maneuverability of a Pegasus.

Yes, but wouldn't ULTRAs make it even better in its niche? It doesn't detract from its weak anti warship capability because it removes its anti warship cannons all together.

[General Battuta]

Go ahead and put some ultras on there, then fly around it for a while (set it to hostile, don't forget to beam-free, play on insane).

Then tell me how that would make for fun gameplay. I'm not ruling out some kind of upgrade to those weapons, but the ultra AAA is a weapon the player can literally do nothing about except stay away from, and unlike the regular AAA it is very hard to stay away from. (It's hitscan, pierces shields, and cannot be dodged, and it does insane DPS at really long ranges).

[crizza]

Wasn't the ULTRA only ingame, because otherwise the corvette in "A Game of TAG" wouldn't stand a chance?
So what?

[Hades]

Wasn't the ULTRA only ingame, because otherwise the corvette in "A Game of TAG" wouldn't stand a chance?
So what?

It was also used on the Colossus in High Noon, I believe.

[LordPomposity]

Since the ULTRA does far more DPS than the SGreen (and therefore presumably transfers more energy), there's a decent argument to be made that the Aeolus's powerplant and/or heatsinks would be unable to support it.

Still, the GTVA would probably be well-served to designate the Aeolus as a dedicated anti-strikecraft ship and replace the SGreen's with another pair of AAAf/h's. That would give it pretty much the same anti-fighter armament as the Deimos, minus half the hitpoints and the much-maligned-but-better-than-SGreens TerSlashes.

[Destiny]

I'm sure you would want dual SGreens if you chance upon a Sanctus than two AAAfs, or like that mission where the Akula and Ranvir got blown up.

[Deadly in a Shadow]

Uhhh, if they are replacing the SGreens with AAAf's, those AAA-beams are badly placed. And it doesn't make any sense to replace because they can only fire on their directions, unlike the usual turreted ones. Anyway, the cruiser is then unable to defend itself against an UEF cruiser.
In this case, Destiny's right.

[General Battuta]

Uhhh, if they are replacing the SGreens with AAAf's, those AAA-beams are badly placed. And it doesn't make any sense to replace because the they can only fire in their directions, unlike the usual turreted ones.

I thought those turrets had at least decent fields of fire, am I wrong? (i could be wrong)

[Deadly in a Shadow]

Uhhh, if they are replacing the SGreens with AAAf's, those AAA-beams are badly placed. And it doesn't make any sense to replace because the they can only fire in their directions, unlike the usual turreted ones.

I thought those turrets had at least decent fields of fire, am I wrong? (i could be wrong)

I've never seen an Aeolus firing the SGreens backwards, downwards, port or starboard. They are firing  to the direction the Aeolus is facing.

[General Battuta]

Uhhh, if they are replacing the SGreens with AAAf's, those AAA-beams are badly placed. And it doesn't make any sense to replace because the they can only fire in their directions, unlike the usual turreted ones.

I thought those turrets had at least decent fields of fire, am I wrong? (i could be wrong)

I've never seen an Aeolus firing the SGreens backwards, downwards, port or starboard. They are firing  to the direction the Aeolus is facing.

I'm pretty sure they can fire significantly off axis.

[MatthTheGeek]

I'm pretty sure having seen SGreens fire quite upwards in Post Meridian, thanks to me having extensively playtested the coop version.

[X3N0-Life-Form]

Or you could put TerPulse on these turrets, making them a verstile and very effective weapon, tought not quite as game breaking as the ULTRA-AAA.

Gotta try that when I get home.

EDIT - yes, I also think the Aeolus has a good vertical up FoF, but I'm not so sure about the sides.

[Qent]

It's 160 degrees. "check hull" is on in BP.

[Deadly in a Shadow]

I'm pretty sure having seen SGreens fire quite upwards in Post Meridian, thanks to me having extensively playtested the coop version.

Yes, quite upwards, but that's the dead end.

I've tested it, the cannons have a small FOF, they can fire a bit upwards, but they are harmless if you just fly over the cruiser (despite the other turrets), they can't fire backwards. And Ijust sit there with my Ulysses next to one of those cannons.
These turrets are supposed to be forward beam cannons, not AAA beams.

Tadaaa! (no turrets despite the beamcannons replaced by AAA's)

Am I the only one who tested it in FRED?

Why not replacing all Terran Turret's on the Aeolus-cruisers and the Deimos corvettes with STerPulses?

[LordPomposity]

I'm sure you would want dual SGreens if you chance upon a Sanctus than two AAAfs, or like that mission where the Akula and Ranvir got blown up.

I think you're underestimating just how much the SGreen sucks. It doesn't even do twice the sustained damage of the AAAf, and every capital ship that isn't a Fenris has enough hitpoints that the relatively high volley damage isn't worth much. The Aeolus is an anti-fighter platform with some pathetic anti-cap beams tacked on as an afterthought, and when it does kill a warship, it does it with flak. The Aeolus is amazing in its primary role. If you want a cruiser that can (kind of) take care of itself in all situations, the Hyperion is your best bet.

As for the field of fire issues, yeah, it's not great. However, a direct frontal approach is pretty much the Aeolus's only anti-fighter blindspot right now.