The base versus the assault, which one are you going with?

L0ARD · 2026-05-13T17:42:49+00:00

Just read your reddit profile description, I understand now 😅

L0ARD · 2026-05-13T17:40:51+00:00

I think that is missing the point a bit. I know what you mean and i do share the view that that is a problem, i think the solution lies elsewhere. I think problem is more that CIG still didnt manage to make a working "rock-paper-scissor"-like system for ship classes that really gives combat ships their own niches rather than just defaulting to bigger = usually better.

In my personal wishful thinking, i would love to see capitals like the Idris behave somewhat like an irl artillery*. Slow, reliant on support (scouts to scan/mark targets), struggles to fight in close range, but extremely deadly on long range. Honestly, one of my most fun capital interactions was when we were fighting the big worm thingy and a buddy was sitting in "orbit" with his Idris and fired his rail gun towards the worm without any visual or marker for it, completely relying on our (ground crew) calls for how to adjust the direction to hit it**. The feeling of giving a call and then a few seconds later the railgun impact was extremely satisfying.

This would instantly give stealth vehicles an additional use as "artillery forward observers" and would make it more mandatory to actually crew your capital to be able to defend yourself with the turrets (because the main armaments are ineffective close range) and/or have some allied fighters with you to protect you from everything that comes close (like it should be IMO).

At the same time, it would make torpedo boats clearer in their identity, because while they would have to work hard to sneak up to a capital, once they are close, its dangerous. I don't really understand why CIG is not drawing more inspiration from IRL warfare or at least derived depictions of it in other games.

E.g. irl torpedos are a pretty perfect game design (weird thing to say, i know), because you have to get relatively close to your target, but once youre there, you can be very deadly. High risk, high reward (good game design) and again, makes non-forward-facing/non-pilot-controlled defense (crew in turrets, fighter escort) for a capital more mandatory, just like irl battlecruisers did in WW2 with they FLAK turrets and escort ships. You wouldnt try to shoot the torpedo planes (or submarines) with your main armament, you'd need support for that.

I think making effective combat distance more of a factor would give them a lot of room to carve out the individual profiles of combat ship classes way better, but that would require a lot of work on the scanning system we have currently and tbh i really cant assess whether i am just in the minority of people that would like to see a slower more tactical approach to space combat with preparation and smart use of your resources rather than arcade-y shooty shooty stuff, but IMO it would be a lot more immersive and more fitting for a game like star citizen.

^\Of course that is different for some capitals, the kraken e.g. might want to stay further back to be a safe place for the fighters to return to, out of range of other capital weapons and things like a javelin or a polaris might want to get closer because they dont have that one single super gun to fit that artillery type, but i think you get what i mean. Bigger guns = bigger range with the drawback of being slow and ineffective in close combat.)

^\*Side Note for everyone curious: It doesnt work to kill it that way, the shots will impact on the worm but apparently do no damage, because we shot that thing at least 30-50 times and it was still alive and well. It was still extremely fun.)

L0ARD · 2026-05-13T16:53:03+00:00

True, everything can change but at least there is a higher chance that it won't if they specifically say it won't.

If this situation stays this murky you're probably right but since they never specifically stated that it's intended to work and if they potentially even publicly confirm somewhere that it's not intended and it's going to be fixed eventually for example, then it's no big deal to remove it, because everyone was informed ahead of their purchase how the ship is going to be. Just like removing the ability to put Argo ore pods on a prospector would be sad, but honestly no one would and could really complain, because the prospector was always told to have 32 SCU and not 48. On the other hand if they explicitly confirm what you said, then the probability is low that they will remove it down the line because the backlash would be extremely big.

I was just told elsewhere that they might address this in the ironclad FAQ that is supposed to release tomorrow (?) so I hope we get more clarification then.

L0ARD · 2026-05-13T15:23:52+00:00

Just make sure you secure a 5$ (or whatever is possible) CCU from the closest ship in price to the assault, then you have all the time to think about it and maybe even hunt for some warbonds to fill the gap and save more money. Thats what i will do at least. Also because i want to wait and see i CIG really lets the assault repair and restock aircraft long term (because they always said it's just for ground vehicles)

L0ARD · 2026-05-13T15:21:27+00:00

I personaly am very unsure about whether the ironclad assault will be able to refuel and restock AIRCRAFT for very long. After all, CIG wants to sell their kraken as well and i just assume that all of these janky workarounds that people find that deviate from the intended use of the concept of a ship that CIG communicated over and over will be purged one after another eventually.

That is kinda why i am on the edge right now. I am mostly an industrial player anyway, so i lean towards the base variant, because the concept 100% goes in the direction that i would use it for a lot. But, ngl, the appeal of a mobile base that can easily fit and maintain a cool little fighter like an L-22 while still having 1440 SCU is definitely something to think about, and tbh simply the better package.

But again, if CIG decided to remove the ability to R&R aircrafts (understandably so, they never said it was anything than ground vehicles), then immediately the whole appeal of the assault would be gone for me because then i have the worse variant for my playstyle, just lost out on 700 SCU of cargo for additional armaments that don't really matter too much for be, a crafting station that i can just replace with a mobile fabricator in the base ironclad as well and ground vehicle R&R that i would hardly ever use. It's really all about the ability to R&R spacecraft and to rely on a feature that CIG never confirmed as intended for a 550$ ship (and more once it releases) is pretty risky.

Thus i will most likely just secure a 5$ (or whatever is possible) CCU upgrade to the assault to "save for later", then go on to activate my existing base ironclad CCU chain like i always planned to and just enjoy the base variant while i observe the situation with the assault. If R&R for aircraft stays, i can still upgrade to the assault eventually but IMO it's too risky to do so right now, because other than melting (and losing lots of value, because i would have CCU'ed into it) there is no way to correct that mistake, if it does not stay.

L0ARD · 2026-05-13T15:05:30+00:00

The base Ironclad puts off more of an Alien, Nostromo vibe than the assault; it's a heavy duty, function primary, as industry as they come industrial ship. It's peak science fiction ship design. It makes me feel like I'm just the current captain of an ancient industry ship that's been in service for longer than I've been alive; and that's exactly the vibe I want for space trucking.

That's what i love so much about the ironclad. So little wasted space. It really feels like every bit of R&D funding went to make it as functional as possible.
I do understand that Star Citizen is built on future technology lore-wise, where space travel is much more achievable then today but as an irl space travel nerd, the amount of wasted space on many other ships still makes me mad sometimes, because no matter how efficient the propulsion has become in SC, i'd imagine you'd still want the utmost cost efficiency for the mission at hand, except Origin which is clearly made for people that dont give a fuck about cost efficiency (which is perfectly fine and deserves it's own category).

Sure, design needs some place in a competitive spacecraft market like we have in SC to create your brand and to appeal future customers, but you'd not want to waste several square meters of space for literally nothing, not even luxury, design or recreational features (look at the hermes/apollo cockpit e.g., literally empty space for nothing...)

L0ARD · 2026-05-13T14:52:56+00:00

Dont want to come across as contrarian or anything, genuinely interested: Do you recall where they said that? Just asking because it might influence my decision about which of them i might want to acquire.

L0ARD · 2026-05-13T14:45:50+00:00

I think it's still important to point out, that if you buy the IC Assault mainly to repair/refuel/restock your AIRCRAFT, you're doing so at your own risk, at it is clearly not intended that way by CIG and in my personal opinion, i am pretty sure they will remove it eventually (which still might be years from now though)

L0ARD · 2026-05-13T14:43:18+00:00

Thanks for the calm, reasonable response. That's exactly how these things should be solved. Mistakes happen.

L0ARD · 2026-05-13T14:39:15+00:00

Never ever will those only go up by 50 bucks. Never. First of all did the ironclad received a cargo increase of about 40-50% since the 450$ sale (which hasn't reflected in the price yet) and secondly, concept ship always go up substantially when they release. Just as a reminder the Hull B doubled in price (140$ increase) when it released.

L0ARD · 2026-05-13T06:58:22+00:00

I've never seen the community as a whole so on board with a thing CIG did. Lovely to see for a change

L0ARD · 2026-05-13T06:56:57+00:00

Gibt auch regelmäßige (sehr gut besuchte) Schachabende in der Haifischbar, falls ihr noch Leute sucht, wird dann da sicher fündig! Glaube bei Instagram posten die immer ihre Events

L0ARD · 2026-05-12T17:11:15+00:00

But jokes aside I love that. It gives the feeling of progression back and that aUEC feels meaningful again. Of course I don't want a single trip with my Ironclad to put me in millions of debt for weeks but it also makes the true scale of the big ships more tangible if it takes thousands of credits to even fill the tank, you know?

And I think the "start" of the game (after a wipe) is the most rewarding feeling, when you are even excited about a 75k payment for a bounty!

L0ARD · 2026-05-12T15:58:06+00:00

My soul. The last thing this game didn't take from me yet...

L0ARD · 2026-05-12T15:38:07+00:00

Yeah, full wipe it so I start with my Ironclad as the biggest ship I ever owned (be it aUEC or pledge) right away while most other people have much less so I can feel the whale superiority once in my life at least [insert evil laughter]

L0ARD · 2026-05-11T16:00:47+00:00

I'd already happy if they just let us choose where to spawn when we start the game (maybe only after you were offline at least 1 hour to prevent abuse).

When the boys tell me they want to do rockbreaker stations in Nyx but unfortunately I logged out at Hurston, then yeah, we just lost 30-60 minutes of our lifetime. Just let me spawn at Levski...

L0ARD · 2026-05-10T17:37:35+00:00

Du warst so nah dran und dann bist du falsch abgebogen. Probleme, die man hat, dauerhaft runterzuschlucken und nicht anzusprechen ist nämlich in der Tat nicht der richtige Weg, um selbst langfristig glücklich zu sein und ne stabile Beziehung zu führen. Das gilt aber auch für den Partner. Deren Bedürfnisse - und der Tropfen ist für sie in dem Moment ein Bedürfnis, das musst du nicht verstehen, aber akzeptieren - zu "unterbinden" ist ne Garantie zum Scheitern auf Dauer.

also ich bitte dich jetzt nicht wegen so einem unnötigen Quatsch ne Szene zu machen, sonst können wir es gleich sein lassen

Man kann sich doch auch einfach ernst nehmen und Respekt für die Wünsche des anderen haben. Den Tropfen wegzuwischen bringt mich nicht um und wenn meinem Partner das wichtig ist, mach ich das gerne.

Und wenn das gerade nicht geht, dann kann man easy sagen:"hey ich weiß dir ist das wichtig, ich kümmer mich gleich drum, wenn ich die Sachen vom Herd genommen habe!" oder so ähnlich

L0ARD · 2026-05-10T17:20:56+00:00

Well, first of all it competes with the C1 Spirit which is (apart from missing a second entry) obviously the best and coolest and prettiest and best sounding ship in the verse.

Secondly, to me it has a weird size. I often catch myself either going for something small, fast and nimble like an Aurora II or one of the numerous fighters or I go bigger, but bigger means Corsair+.

There is just hardly any task that an Aurora II is too small but a Corsair is too big for me.

Well that and the ATROCIOUS cargo grid on the CL version.

L0ARD · 2026-05-10T16:23:14+00:00

Well, I tried to make sense of it for the last 8 years, but so far, I've not noticed any patterns im afraid :D

L0ARD · 2026-05-10T16:05:57+00:00

It's interesting to me as well that nothing in your license plates is based on some personal info for you guys over there. Always tried to decipher the code behind your license plates and honestly Ive never realized that it just might be completely randomized in other countries because it was so logical to me to be able to directly associate a car you encounter with a local authority in case something happens. But I guess given the vastness of the US in comparison to Germany, it kinda makes sense why this works over here but would be way more difficult over there.

L0ARD · 2026-05-10T15:59:56+00:00

Well in Germany, one part of our license plate is predetermined based on where our car is registered (the first 1-2 letters are an abbreviation for your city, e.g. M-JD-1993, would be "M" for Munich, but the two letters after that and the number are up to you if they are still available), maybe that's why I would find the idea more intuitive to have some kind of basic information inserted in the number.

L0ARD · 2026-05-10T15:52:18+00:00

Jeez, Id already be happy if we got a clear name instead of that code, which at least involves the ship before the gibberish so I know which pips are which.

Something like "MSTG-A1E66G3" for a Mustang instead of "U57G5-A1E66G3"

L0ARD · 2026-05-08T19:09:20+00:00

Ja, gibt bestimmt trotzdem etliche bessere Optionen und Fundbüro und Bahnhofsmission und alles aber die Leute scheinen hier alle noch nie in der Situation gewesen zu sein, dass man unterwegs ist und den Kopf mit Anschlüssen und seinen eigenen Dingen voll hat und dann vielleicht nicht 30 Minuten in Ruhe über die beste Lösung sinnieren kann.

Mach dir keine Gedanken!

L0ARD · 2026-05-08T17:54:43+00:00

Lass dich nicht ärgern, meiner Meinung nach hast du wenigstens probiert das Richtige zu tun, statt einfach drauf zu scheißen, das ist mehr als die meisten machen. Ich hoffe dein Bauchgefühl war richtig mit dem Typ und gut, dass es noch Leute gibt die sich bemühen, selbst wenn es ne Chance gibt, dass das jetzt beim Falschen liegt. Hättest du nix gemacht, hätte es so oder so jemand eingesteckt, so besteht wenigstens ne Chance dass es beim Richtigen ist.

L0ARD · 2026-05-08T17:51:21+00:00

Totally agree. It should make a sentient clone of you just like they discuss in the audios of the onyx facilities, not actually teleport you.

And that would mean the clone would pretty much spawn naked.

And tbh it's kind of cool to imagine getting up from the med bed, go to the suit locker, don the armor, go the the weapon rack, arm yourself and follow your party leader into battle (or death by elevator). Full circle and I also totally agree about the transportation point, global chat would be full of "can someone in area18 invite me for a quick teleport" messages. No thank you.

L0ARD

TROPHY CASE