As the smallest big class ship, the gunboad may use trusters. That way he will get a lot more maneuverability and a bigger chance of surviving.
Could be a nice idea. Last time I used a gunboat, I mostly used it as a really big fighter. Gunboats already have increased strafe and reverse speed, this could be another step in that direction.
Now, I have made a couple of proposals towards this topic in another thread. I'm going to reiterate them here so you won't have to search for them.
I'm also sure cruisers/destroyers could benefit if the range of their defense turrets was buffed. Either a considerable buff to range or a small buff to both range and rate of fire. Perhaps a strong buff to range on cruisers and moderate buffs to range and rate of fire to destroyers; for diversity. Such a buff IMO isn't as radical as a total rearmament of these ships, and could be relatively easy to implement (correct me if I'm wrong).
Display MoreFiiiiine.
The idea is to create "weapon refit kits" for Cruisers and Destroyers. They are applied like Battleship Upgrades/Cloaking Devices. Upon application, they will either replace (a less work-intensive variant, I don't think it will require any extensive changes to ships themselves) or supplement (more work-intensive variant that might require adding extra hardpoints to the ship's model) the ship's Defense Turrets with different versions.
I'm thinking about three Weapon Refit Kits:
>Phalanx Refit Kit - high refire rate
>Lancer Refit Kit - longer range.
>Bombardier Refit Kit - high damage per shot
(Of course, the composition of refit kit can be played with and more varied).
More interesting thing is for Gunboats since they have two types of turrets (Primary and Secondary). That means they can get two types of Weapon Refit Kits and therefore it will be possible to mix-and-match (say, Phalanx secondary turrets to deal with fighters and Bombardier primaries for heavier targets).
Another idea (which will likely NOT be implemented 'cos it WILL require adding extra hardpoints to every single battleship/dreadnought model) is to add Battleship Upgrade (Close In Weapon System), which will add a bunch of rapid-firing turrets to the ship.
The truth is, I know jack all about how this thing is really done, so I'm not really sure if this idea is worth the effort. I'm only posting this because you asked. This might also require extremely careful balancing, which is a different kettle of fish altogether.
