Star Citizen Heavy Combat StarFighter
Welcome to some more Star Citizen The Crusader Ares StarFighter is now on Sale for Concierge at least and we have a load of details on the ship.
The ship is available for $220 store credit, $195 warbond, it appears that it is a concept ship and not FLYABLE in Alpha 3.8.
It comes in 2 variants the Ion & the Inferno
This equates to some reasonably major changes BUT at the same price.
Both ships also have an alternative livery / skin the Radiance and Ember respectively.
The Crusader Ares is a Powerful Heavy Combat Fighter that focuses on a single weapon as it’s main armament allowing it to focus on a particular type of engagement.
The Ship is a Single Seater
27.2m x 30.2m x 5.5m while in flight
It’s entirely medium systems for components
Both Ships have a different unique S7 weapon BUT all share
4x S5 missile slots (of which 2 (Fixed slot) x4 3S Missiles 2 (Changeable slot) x4 3S Missiles).
The Ship has a focus on:
LONG-RANGE DEPLOYMENT
ABILITY TO NEGATE/DISABLE CAPITAL-CLASS SHIELDS
HIGH-VELOCITY WEAPONRY
EFFECTIVE SOLO GUNSHIP ENGAGEMENT
FLEET-LEADING POWER AND DEFENSE
The Ares Star Fighter chassis was conceived with large and capital ship engagement in mind. Heavily fortified and able to operate independently for up to years at a time, gunships and capital-class vessels require a specialized approach not possible from a general purpose fighter. So before weaponry was considered, a next-generation heavy fighter platform was devised to enable pilots and squadrons to intercept large ships in any environment. This focus is apparent in the single-seat cockpit, with all vital controls instantly accessible by the pilot. Compact landing gear promotes easy landings and takeoffs on difficult terrain, while externally accessed shield and power components enable quick maintenance from ground crews. Designed to scrambled from an orbiting carrier or ground base, simple cockpit entry and singlestick control ensure ships are in the air as quickly as possible. Behring Applied Technology devised the SF7 weapon series specifically for the Crusader Star Fighter chassis. The chassis utilizes a fixed size 7 weapon mount that not only allows a much larger weapon than normal but enables the chosen gun to be integrated into the body and functionality of the ship.
There are some major system differences on each of the variants:
The Ares Ion
Has an additional power plant and battery giving it 2 mediums over the Inferno as well as an additional shield and cooler giving it 3 of each.
The ship focuses on it’s Behring SF7 series laser cannon, which is exclusive to the Ares ION. Each shot effectively chips away at enemy shields and, once down, delivers high damage to armor and components. The SF7E rewards high accuracy with devastating per-round damage, making it untouchable in the hands of skilled marksmen and patient pilots.
Designed to lead the charge against capital ships and heavily armed flotillas, the Ares ION excels spearheading a fleet of fighters and support ships. Its purpose-built Behring SF7E laser cannon accurately delivers high powered shots to quickly disable the shields of gunships and, with the support of other Ares variants, efficiently incapacitate capital-class vessels. An additional powerplant and cooler support the high energy requirements of the cannon alongside a further shield generator for increased protection against laser equipped combatants. Usually the remit of compromised shield-busters, the Ares ION expertly fulfills its task while maintaining formidable in all combat roles; integrated missile bays counter lighter fighters, while the high-velocity cannon eradicates smaller ships in seconds.
The Ares Inferno
Has Heavier Hull Armor than the Ion BUT no other improved components over the Ion. I suspect that is also because there needs to be room for the shear amount of ballistic ammo for the ship
The Ares Inferno focuses on a The Gatling variant of Behring’s SF7 series and again is only available on the Ares INFERNO. It unleashes a barrage of ballistic fire to quickly overwhelm small ships and leave bigger vessels struggling to react. The SF7B is tailored to pilots looking to overwhelm the enemy with unrelenting fire. It’s also an effective suppression tool, giving gunners nothing to do but take cover. Estimated to fire 1900 rounds a min.
Conceived to single handedly disable large vessels and small squadrons, the Ares INFERNO shines as a single point of defense. Whether avoiding wider conflict by preemptively neutralizing threats or scrambling to tackle pirates, the SF7B ballistic Gatling breaks through shields to permanently damage armor and halt advancing forces. Increased armor all-round ensures the INFERNO can better withstand ballistic attacks from gunships and anti-aircraft guns during planetside assaults. Though capable alone, the INFERNO is a potent ally to the ION in capital-ship hunting. The high-caliber armor piercing rounds perfectly complement the ION’s shield disabling shots to leave even the biggest ships vulnerable.
So you have very different combat uses from Ares.
The Ion with better shields, more power and a focus on long range high damage alpha.
The Inferno better armor and a focus on closer range engagements with high DPS.
It sounds like the weapons on this ship are pretty bespoke sooo maybe you can change them in the future tho I wouldn’t necessarily expect that ability to.
I am going to be grabbing one of each and replacing my hurricane and super hornet or maybe my vanguard… I really really like these ships on paper and I have wanted to monoboat BIG gun fighter for ages. There is a tendency to call the new concept ship GAMEBREAKING or THE BEST but these will be balanced to their intended roles, interceptors I suspect might be pretty effective against them OR ships that can sneak up on em.
Expect the ship to be available for everyone within the next 24 hours or so.
And CCUs will be available for the ship as well.