The problem with that is the Prom is already superior in single combat. Improving it would tip the scales drastically.

The SCP has been beaten soundly with the Nerf-Bat at least twice in my recollection. However, your "problem" isn't really much of a problem--if you're correct, not improving it would allow the scales to remain "drastically" imbalanced in favor of the Valks in group combat.

what we need is some way to improve the Serco's ability in group combat without dramatically increasing their potential in single combat

Do we? Why can't one's strengths simply play to solo combat while the other's strengths play to group combat? It's more fitting with the backstory of each race anyway. Return the SCP to its 2005 era, pre-nerfs, stats.

But, if you want an idea that cuts the Itani group combat ability without upping the Serco solo combat ability, here's one: cut back on the Itani ability to evade engagement with near impunity. All Valks save for the Rune to 65 drain.

In addition to fixing their brutal group combat superiority vs. the Proms, it would give people a reason to fly the Rune, which has been entirely neglected since it lost its infiniboost. It would also gut the whole "Pirates fly Valks" thing, which has annoyed me as much as it has assisted me in killing traders and VPRs without having to swap ships. Pirates belong in (better accelerating, more armor, and cheaper to repair) Greyhounds.

but greyhounds suck

Hence my points about more turbo thrust, an armor buff, and some lower repair costs. Other than that, they're great for what pirates are supposed to do: run down and kill/credibly threaten traders.

They're supposed to suck at actual combat.

The greyhound is an ideal pirate vessel. Great at catching traders, but at a disadvantage against a decent combat vessel. Pretty near perfectly balanced for its role IMHO.

"Do we? Why can't one's strengths simply play to solo combat while the other's strengths play to group combat?"

This is just my observation, but it seems to me that the engagements that carry some weight, like nation war, and engagements that will SoonTM carry some weight, like BS, all revolve around group combat. As single combat becomes less important, superiority in single combat will no longer be an adequate balance to superiority in group combat. Not to mention if Vendetta ever has a large influx of players.

I don't necessarily want to balance the prom against the valk. I have a sneaking suspicion that if the Serco have a ship that can give chase, it will help to support the prom in group combat.

Dr. Lecter, were you not the one to suggest the ship's current stats? I think the acceleration is already sufficient to catch up with moths, unless they are empty, some heavily laden centaurs, or sometimes even an atlas. To be honest I won't say no to even more acceleration, but to what end?

The armour is also sufficient to take some damage fighting a convoy, as well as getting hit by a few stray swarms fired by a fleeing trader. Sure, it can not take as much punishment as the old HogII, but it is fast enough to avoid getting itself in a position where it can take that damage in the first place. Would making it more sturdy not make it more usable as a PvP ship, which is to be avoided?

As for the repair costs I am in full agreement with you. Whilst the ship cost is fine, and could even be higher, the money I end up paying keeping the damn thing in good health is hardly affordable with the money I make pirating. The problem is that the ship has an extortionate cost/armour ratio, making repairs unusually expensive per hit point of damage sustained. I already suggested in another thread for a pirate badge to unlock cheap (10 times cheaper?) repairs at Corvus stations, hopefully that will happen.

Sure, recently there has been a surge in traders doing low volume high unit cost trading in small fast ships like Hornets and Atlas Xs, but the Greyhound is not designed to catch a running Hornet. A running Hornet should IMHO be uncatchable by a pirate... maybe shootable with enough rails, but no more.

Everyone makes mistakes, Antz. The important part is not to stubbornly defend these mistakes as 'tradition' but to be able to accept improvement. I'd say that's the case here...

Edit: I didn't mean to say I'm exempt from that rule in any way.

I also agree with Ghost and Lecter on group tactics and their importance in the future. I disagree with the 'uncatchable', though... everything needs checks and balances. The Greyhound should be able to catch any and all ships in VO without breaking a sweat except for a select few (such as Valks).

Why should the greyhound be able to catch up with ships that (in theory) have nothing to do with trading? That would not only require a higher acceleration but also a higher top speed. Some of the lighter trade ships in the game are able to infiniboost at 220m/s. A top speed of at least 275m/s would be required to reliably catch up with them before they jump. I don't think the devs would be willing to go that far to please the pirates, and having such things hunt traders in greyspace will not bring trade there.

I'm not asking that the Greyhound have a higher top speed Antz. The Hound improvements being suggested are NOT to let it catch non-trade ships or really even light trade ships. Tosh, I don't think the interceptor needs to be able to catch "any and all ships in VO."

The current state of affairs is that (1) the Hound doesn't have enough kick in the pants forward thrust--it can't close distance fast enough to have time to do the whole "shoot it down" thing often enough; (2) even a few hits from the pesky Moth Heavy turrets are enough to drop a Hound into the 40% range--it needs a bit more staying power to drop its prey before being forced off by counter fire; and (3) it costs ~80,000 credits to repair a Hound that has been dropped to 50% armor, which frequently happens when it engages a convoy of Moth Heavies--the repair cost needs to be halved at least, though I like your pirate badge idea.

Dr. Lecter, I am not against more turbo-acceleration as such, but I find in my chases I get to top speed relatively easily and spend most of the time closing the gap. I am uncertain about faster acceleration being able to help much more.

I also admit that the staying power for taking out voys could be better, but feel that increasing the armour on the ship is not the right way to go about it, as the armour is well balanced for engaging human-controlled trading ships. Would making the AI-controlled turrets on Moth Heavies much less accurate work better?

In that case, more turbo thrust can't hurt anything. I disagree re: armor balance.

What specific stat changes do you propose?

I expressed myself poorly and without precision, my bad.

The Greyhound should be able to overtake any ship (except for a select few, like variants of the Valkyrie), if within a certain distance. I'm not an expert at catching up with prey, rather running away, but I think 1 km should suffice for the fastest tradeships to get away. That would make that distance be somewhere between .5 and 1 km. At less than 500 m, the Greyhound's acceleration should give it the ability to outpace any ship besides the IDF Valkyrie.

...but what about the Serco?

What about us? Give the SVG a lower turbo energy drain (52-54 range). Don't give it to the IBG (they already have the valks...). That might solve it.

The Prom could also use some long-range love (as a heavy trade ship), but that might unbalance things.