TSN Dreadnought

The largest and most heavily armed warship in the TSN fleet is the Dreadnought. It is equipped with four powerful engines, extremely tough and resilient shielding, three beams, (2 in the front, 1 to the rear) 3 torpedo tubes, and a massive forward-firing beam cannon that does 20 damage, (60 at full power) at twice the distance of a standard TSN beam. Very little can stand against the TSN Dreadnought, and it is sent into the most intense warzones, to face the most serious challenges to the peace of the USFP.

The TSN Dreadnought is forced to sacrifice speed and maneuverability for all that firepower. It is sluggish to turn, and has a slower Impulse top speed and Warp drive. The Dreadnought's Warp 4 is approximately Warp 3.3 to other TSN ships. As noted for the Scout, Warp is scaled in integer factors, even though the ship design and power level effect the true speed of the ship.

The Dreadnought's low speed can be countered by the power allocation system. The chief engineer can set Warp power to 120% to match Warp with other ships in the fleet. Note the "Primary Beam" setting actually effects all beams, including the beam cannon. Power distribution is even more important to the Dreadnought, because its defense systems draw a lot of power, reducing the Dreadnought's efficiency. A Dreadnought will not want to operate very far from a friendly starbase, which it can fall back to in order to refuel and resupply with torpedoes. Of course, the Dreadnought also carries the usual science and communications equipment.

As of Artemis 2.3, the Dreadnought has been made even more powerful, with the addition of a Fighter Bay. Up to two additional players may serve as pilots for the fighters, supporting the Dreadnought by mounting an independent attack on the enemy. Although the TSN Battleship is more agile and concentrates more fire into its forward arc, the Dreadnought makes for a perfect battle carrier, taking down enemies at long range with its beam cannon and torpedo stores, while still being able to protect its fighters from enemy fire and drones.

Like the Missile Cruiser, the Dreadnought is also extremely well suited to Jump Drive. While it does not have as many Homing Missiles to turn into energy, Jump Drive is not dependent on the Dreadnought's low speed, while Warp Drive most definitely is. Although the Dreadnought will always use more energy than other TSN ships, (and Jump will never be as efficient as it is for the Ximni) Jump Drive can be more efficient overall than Warp for Dreadnoughts.

In Artemis 2.4, modifications to the Dreadnought's power systems has resulted in an increase in efficiency, increasing the warship's range slightly. In versions prior to Artemis 2.4, the energy use of the Dreadnought will be around 125% of standard. That includes the energy cost of Warp and Jump.

Quick Stats Forward Shields: 200  Back Shields: 200 Beam damage: 12 Beam DPS: 2.0 - 6.0 depending on power settings (3.3 - 10 cannon) Max beam DPS: 22.0 at full power in the 72 degree cannon arc Beam Range: 1000 (2000 for main beam cannon) Torpedo Tubes: 3 Torpedo Stores: 10 Homing, 4 Nukes, 8 Mines, 5 ECM,  4 PShock (2.2+ only) Top Speed: 0.5 Maneuverability: 0.003 Energy Use: 120% of standard, 120% warp, 120% jump Fighter Complement: 2 fighters (2.3 and later only)

Beam Arcs (at Zoom 1) Beam Arcs (at Zoom 2)   Note the range of the Beam Cannon (in purple)