What do people think of the idea of a support/repair greyhound?. My idea of this is a current greyhound with a large(r) repair gun built in instead of the scanner. This would allow a ship with a large(r) repair gun (built in), a radar extender and a group radar extender, in the current ports. It would be perfect for me in EMS and would be useful to some others, too, I think. It would require only the most minimal change from a built in cargo scanner to built in repair gun.

This ship would be useful in support of Hive Missions in ion storms, and would allow response to distance sites, quickly and without being delayed by messing about with storms.

Meh, I don't see the use, but it wouldn't break the game or anything.

why don't you just use a raptor with two small repair guns on it?

Its not a horrid idea but I'd go with the Hog II... (only because the Greyhound wasn't really geared towards surviving a war zone).

That's a good point, Ryan. Anyway, the Hound is a specific modification of the warthog hull - it would be silly to have additional greyhound variants.

I think the greyhound is the base here because it goes 225m/s, and can catch up to ships. A good rep ship is going to need thrust/speed. I'm for this, as long as another faction sells it (not corvus). RP reason would be they stole the design.

+1.

There are a few pros to this suggestion, and I can't really think of any cons, so why the hell not?

A built-in repair gun (or any other weapon for that matter) could potentially be problematic to implement. The way I see it, the repair gun would have to be permanently assigned to a trigger (which would be annoying if you wanted to use that trigger for something else), or the built-in repair gun would have to be selectable when assigning weapon groups (which might confuse people who expect to be able to unequip it).

Perhaps a better idea would be to implement a new ship variant that is fast and designed primarily for reconnaissance (built-in storm extender or group radar extender), which you could equip a repair gun to. I think this would still fit the role you are looking to fill.

I guess the built-in repair gun idea could work on a ship variant with no other ports available (and thus permanently binding the repair gun to a trigger wouldn't be an issue). I don't see it as a popular ship, though, unless it could get from one end of the universe to the other fast.

only because the Greyhound wasn't really geared towards surviving a war zone

Indeed, nothing with the Hound's speed and thrust should be able to survive in a war-zone.

There's a balance issue with a built-in rep gun, similar to the Hound having a built-in pair of megaposis as it was originally designed. There's probably some dev issues with making that happen, too.

Overall, though, EMS likes the Hog II/Hound platform, so something (slightly less interceptorish) seems like a good call.

Heh. EMS's greyhound today did a great job surviving the war-zone in I8 today (I mean, it isn't attacking anything, just attempting to dodge). However, a specific support greyhound would probably make things more awesome.

My reason for choosing the grey hound was mentioned here, you have to be able to catch up to the people who you need to repair. I've tried the centaur, because I figured that two large rep guns would allow me to stay on station and repair things longer without reloading. FAIL, couldn't get closer that about a 1km to anyone I needed to rep, cause they were in fighters and I was too slow. True the greyhound doesn't have a prom's armor but I'd rather be able to do a rep or two before getting boomed than just waste ships running around. A warthog that's fast and allows for large rep gun, radar extender and group radar extender is what I'd like to see. Doesn't matter which ones are built in for the functions I want.

Meridian has a point, the other builtins are automatic, no need for a trigger.

Peyt, the raptor is not fast enough, too vulnerable a silhouette and small rep guns don't do the job people want from us.

Dr. Lecter has a point too. EMS is kind of the equivalent of ambulance service or combat medics and they typically aren't armored or heavily armed, if armed at all. To be of any assistance in furr ball environments a medic ship has to be fast and maneuverable so it's hard to hit and can catch it's 'patients' before they vanish in a burst of flame. EMS has to be ready to die fairly often, but a slow ship makes the whole attempt silly. It would be nice if an EMS ship wasn't quite as expensive as the grey hound but I can live with that if I want to do EMS. If I can't afford it I shouldn't be trying to do it.

I'm also thinking of this as an escort ship. A lot of ships in voys get lost in storms. I think a lot more would survive just because they could see and avoid the Aputechs and such due to the presence of the group radar extender. Also handy in a group on Hive Missions in storms. The group could actually see the queen or lev from far enough away to make a good missile run. I don't see this ship as one that anyone would mount weapons on, but a reconnaissance and support vehicle to make group projects more practical and more fun.

Actually what I, personally, would like to do EMS in would be an Itani Border Guardian Courier with a large port rep, group radar, and reg. radar extender and a 45% energy draw, like the grey hound. We can dream can't we? :-)

rev-c is a good one to use for combat repairs but alas it only holds 2 small ports

Leave grayhound for Interceptor/Courier/Escape ship only...

For me, the already proposed 2L ports Raptor, with its built-in radar extender. You add a group extd and a Lrepair and done. On other hand, would be good idea to increase its top speed and turbo trust, while reducing turn. A complete AWACS ship able to repair, a good support ship *that looks like a support ship*.

Like, ambulances does not resemble combat vehicles.

A white atlas sort of resembles an ambulance... Would a super-variant of that with a built-in repair gun but no other ports and very little cargo capacity be acceptable?

built-in stuff must not require a trigger.