Pirate Strongbow (Cruiser)

The Pirate Cruiser, known as the "Strongbow", is a powerful mashup of TSN and Ximni technologies. It is comparable in shielding and firepower to the TSN and Ximni Light Cruiser classes, but is considerably faster and more maneuverable. While it cannot outperform a Scout, its seven impulse engines make it just as maneuverable and nearly as fast. As with the Scout, Warp 1 is calibrated to the energy signature of the ship, so a Strongbow's Warp 4 is about Warp 4.67. (Compared to a Scout's 5.2)

Unfortunately, the Strongbow sacrifices energy efficiency for all that speed and firepower. While Pirate vessels have the same ability to Combat Jump as Ximni ships, it costs much more energy, even compared to a TSN ship. The Strongbow is more suited for Warp, as it has the same warp efficiency as a TSN Light Cruiser, with greater speed. Its overall energy use is slightly more than a TSN Light Cruiser's, in order to power the faster firing beams and slightly stronger shields.

As would be expected for a Pirate ship, the Strongbow is very capable in combat, with two beams mounted on the nose of the ship and two on the wings. Altogether, these four beams cover a wide arc in front of the ship, but only 2 are capable of hitting a given target at any time. There is an area to the left and right of center where the Strongbow can weave back and forth in order to bring a third beam to bear, but the firing arcs either just overlap or do not quite overlap.

The Pirate beams have only half the firing arc of a standard TSN beam, but they fire faster and have slightly more range. They do less damage per shot, however, so over time the damage is the same as a TSN Light Cruiser. The Strongbow uses slightly more energy due to its faster fire rate, but the greater number of beams and faster fire rate makes it somewhat easier to shoot down drones.

The Strongbow also carries two torpedo launchers, which can be loaded with a variety of different ordinance. Like the Scout, the Strongbow does not carry Nuclear Torpedoes, but Mines, EMPs and PShocks are available. As of Artemis 2.7, the Strongbow also carries 5 probes, 2 tags and 2 beacons, emphasizing its role in espionage and infiltration. The Strongbow can pick up 2 Nukes from a friendly ship in the sector, as a reward for doing a side mission, or (2.7 only) by raiding an enemy vessel that has surrendered.

In Artemis 2.7, Pirates are considered odds with the TSN, and are not officially welcome to dock at TSN or civilian base stations. Destroying any enemy ship will gain the Pirate access to the bases in the sector, but destroying a friendly ship will lose the Pirate that access, for the rest of the game. A Strongbow crew will have to decide whether they want to ally with the TSN, and only attack the enemy forces, or raid both sides and survive by plundering the enemy for energy and torpedoes. Prior to 2.7, Pirates were not treated any differently than any other player ship, and could dock freely with TSN bases.

The Strongbow does carry the usual science equipment and communication system. If the Strongbow is equipped with Jump Drive, the engineer will probably want to maintain power to the Jump engines to allow rapid use of Combat Jump in an emergency. Engineering should be cautious with energy, however, because the Strongbow is built for combat, not long range travel. The Pirate crew may wish to hunt monsters or search for anomalies in order to extend the range of the ship, if using Jump Drive.

With Warp Drive, the Strongbow may be more efficient than the Light Cruiser or Battleship, because of its higher speed. The energy cost then comes down to the Strongbow's lower efficiency in combat. Basically, a warp-driven Strongbow has long range, but be prepared to head back to base after a long, drawn out combat.