Banu Defender Preview
Welcome to some more Star Citizen, there has been some more visuals of the Banu Defender Shown off so I wanted to talk about the ship, show off some eye candy, what we know about it & some fun facts.
The Banu Defender’s interior has been shown off in much more detail.
With the ship very much looking like you are in the internals of some form of animal.
It is extremely Giger influenced.
The Defender is the first Banu Ship we will have in game coming with Alpha 3.7
It’s a unique Dogfighter / Escort Fighter that should have a long operational range and it’s got a big interior for it’s size with beds/living area.
The Ship is listed as coming with 4 of the Size 2 Singe Tachyon Cannons. I am not 100% if these will be gimballed or not, they are not listed as gimballed BUT as I have not flown the ship I don’t know how viable fixed weapons only are on the Defender. The Singe is already in game and is mountable on a ship with an appropriate S2 mount. I am not a fan of the Singe Weapons at the moment, they don’t do enough damage & generate a huge amount of heat as well as requiring lots of power, though I am expecting a lot of balance for this with 3.7. As the Singe is a S2 weapon I suspect that the Defender will be able to make use for other appropriate S2 gear, though it is possible that it gets locked to the Banu Ships in the future.
Although the Singe looks like a beam weapon… it’s not really at least not a continuous beam, it operates more like a railgun from Quake 3. More Traditional Beam weapons are planned in game for the future, like with the Idris-K’s loadout.
The ship is also listed with coming with 2 S4 missile mounts with a combined 4 S3 EMP Missiles as stock.
The Ship is listed as a light fighter BUT it’s supposed to have a long range and be a good shield tank as it was listed as having a medium shield.
In fact it has 2s powerplants, 2 medium fuel tanks, 2 s quantum fuel tanks, it’s got good systems for it’s size sitting somewhere between the SH or Sabre & the Vanguard.
Though it’s systems are likely all pretty good stock as it’s sort of a patchwork of alien tech all coming together. I am hesitant to talk about how fast or maneuverable the ship is until it’s in our hands, on paper it has the potential to be extremely fast and agile.
Internally there is a large central room and beds on either side.
Entryways on each side of the ship for each of the cockpits.
Between them is a large forward opening ramp.
The Room could easily fit cargo BUT it’s not listed as having any, there should however be more than enough room for any weapons or geat that the pilots might want to change into.
The Banu are taller than Humans but they kind of make their ships in mind with other races potentially using them or at least visiting them.
The Cockpit glass is very interesting kind of clouded with hundreds of beehive type depressions. It looks like you can see out well BUT not see in very clearly.
We saw a much clearer look at the ships externals as well, though they weren’t textured.
And it has changed a lot from it’s original concept.
It’s worth mentioning that this is the ship in it’s landed position and that I believe it’s arms move a little when in flight mode.
With that in mind and it having 4 “feet” for landing… if it loses one of it’s arms then it’s not going to be the easiest ship to land stably in gravity. I suppose we will see when it’s in our hands.
The Cockpit looks like the arms shouldn’t get in the way of either of the pilots operation either now.
I did very much like the original concept of the Defender BUT I do understand why it’s changed and evolved, it’s a process that all ships in concept will go through.
The Banu Ship Pipeline has seen a lot of delays BUT the internals of the ship, colors and materials they have chosen for it all look amazing and very Alien.. Not just alien but the film Alien…
With the 2 pilots stations, I believe either seat can have full control over the ships functions, which is going to make for some interesting gameplay. That’s one of the main points of the ship is that it can be run with 1 or 2 pilots, it’s also for that reason that I assumed that the Weapons might be gimballed as well rather than fixed, otherwise the 2nd pilot is just operating ships shields & power, comms and other systems… make it gimballed and they can fire off in some interesting ways for a dogfighter.
The pilots are a couple of meters away from each other in their own sealed cockpits.
The last measurements we have for the ship are 33.5m long, 13.2m wide and 4m high though this has almost certainly changed a little.
The ship will have some synergy with the Banu Merchantman BUT it’s unconfirmed exactly what. There is speculation that it’s the ability to dock with it in some form, ethier for rearm, refuel and potentially repair OR for it to be used effectively for longer ranges, hoping on to the MM before it Quantum Jumps.
Whatever the case the Defender will be used as a Style Guide for the Banu Merchantman and we should start to see some more progress on the ship after the Defender is released in 3.7.
Some potentially interesting tidbits of information, I believe the original working title for the Defender was the minute man.
I still have no idea what a Banu Toilet looks like!
The Concept Sale Blurb for the Defender Reads – The Banu Defender, a multi-crew fighter whose patchwork design highlights technology from a variety of species. Though cargo space is limited, the Defender features modest accommodations for its crew and provides easy access to components. The Defender gets its name from the role it serves: the first line of defense against enemy attacks. That’s why the Defender makes the ideal companion to the Merchantman: one to do the heavy hauling and the other to perform the deadly dogfighting. Every Banu merchant knows an investment in defense is an investment in their livelihood.