I'm starting to like the Pirate Carrack

[ajm317]

Playing X3AP I recently caught yet another Pirate Carrack and on whim decided to keep this one to try out a ship with PBC's. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

The left and right turrets on this thing are great. They mount 4 guns instead of the standard 2 that most M7's mount, allowing the Carrack to mount 8 PBC's total. They rotate almost all the way forward to almost all the way back and have great range up and down as well. Combined with the great range of the PBC this allows you to easily kite enemy capitals. The insta hit qualities of the PBC not only mean that you can actually hit targets at max range, but you can immediately call them off if you're trying to keep the shields low for a boarding operation. This has got to be the top anti-corvette frigate in the game, it just melts them from 5 km out. The PBC's also do an amazing job against missiles.

Aside from the great turrets and the PBC compatability it also has the best steering of any M7 in the game, which means flying it has something of an M6 feel to it. It also has a small profile, especially from the front or the rear, that makes dodging incoming fire fairly easy.

It does have it's negatives. The biggest one is the shields of course, at only 2 GJ. Also, although the PBC's do all right against fighters, they do miss on quite a bit of their shots on small targets meaning it can get overwhelmed by huge fighter swarms. Also, while the PBC's have great range and decent damage, it does take longer to kill capital ships with this thing than it does with a Shrike or a Tiger. I used it a bit on the final mission of Shady Business and killing an I with 4 PBC's takes too long for me to recommend the experience, even if it is extremely easy.

On the whole though it's a lot of fun to fly.

[hourheroyes]

Cool writeup, I'm running XRM so my Carrack may unfortunately be different but I'm definitely doing to try taking one out on some patrols when I get home tonight

[Sovereign01]

I found the main use of the Carrack was as an Ion-d platform since it can mount the weapon in nearly all of its slots, pretty useful for frying the weapons off smaller targets

[ajm317]

After playing around with the Carrack some more, I've come to realize the two side turrets do actually have a small overlap in the front, allowing you to put 8 PBC's on target at the same time. This gives the Carrack forward fire power that roughly matches the two GC turrets on a Shrike.

Since the Carrack can also quickly turn and kite when the generators eventually run dry, and the PBC's have a huge range, I'm actually finding it much easier to engage capital ships, especially multiple capital ships, with the Carrack than with my Panther or Shrike.

[Silencer]

what is a PBC exactly? Pulsed Beam Emitters (PBE) have terrible range and Photon Pulse Cannons (PPC) have great range but dont hit immediately, so I am a bit confused?

[AleksMain]

what is a PBC exactly? Pulsed Beam Emitters (PBE) have terrible range and Photon Pulse Cannons (PPC) have great range but dont hit immediately, so I am a bit confused? :)

Plasma Beam Cannon is the beam weapon used in laser towers.

[Alan Phipps]

Query answered despite a 3 year necro.