https://starcitizen.tools/Category:Gunships
Star Citizen Wiki wrote:A gunship is a non-capital ship larger than a fighter and armed with heavy or a large number of guns including (but not necessarily wholly) turrets.
Moderator: JC Denton
by icycalm » 22 May 2026 16:57
Star Citizen Wiki wrote:A gunship is a non-capital ship larger than a fighter and armed with heavy or a large number of guns including (but not necessarily wholly) turrets.

by icycalm » 22 May 2026 16:58

N1njaLink wrote:The state of gunships and heavy gunships
As it currently stands, the Perseus is by far the most effective ship in this category when it comes to combat power per crew requirement. And that is reflected by its overwhelming popularity comparing to the other heavy gunships/gunships out there besides the newly-released Tiburon.
Each turret operator on the Medusa cannons has access to more than double the damage output of any other turret found on gunships as well as the Perseus being the only ship in its class to have PDCs. I'm suprised those turrets can even have autogimble toggled.
The Tiburon is supposed to punch up, but it's outclassed by the Perseus in the department. Everyone thought that the Tiburon was going to be a soloable heavy gunship, but that clearly wasn't the case. Outside of a very limited usecase of taking down the shields of capital ships, the Perseus brings far more value per crew member than the Tiburon. Each turret operator on the Tiburon has access to less than a third of the DPS of the Perseus and turrets are extremely fragile.
The Hammerhead is completely obsolete in terms of usefulness. You'll only see people using this ship when they're intentionally trying to use off-meta content for fun. It's supposed to punch down and act as a fighter screen, which it doesn't do particularly well especially against skilled player-controlled fighters. Arguably, the Perseus punches down better as well.
The smaller gunships (Redeemer and Paladin) have their own flaws too. The Paladin is not that much more maneuverable than the Perseus despite having much worse armor and firepower.
I don't have too much experience with the Freelancer MIS but it doesn't seem to be a very popular ship.
Summary:
- Hammerhead is supposed to punch down but punches nothing in reality
- Tiburon is supposed to punch up but the Perseus already does that so much better
- Redeemer is pretty agile and fun to use but is totally outclassed in firepower
- Paladin was power-crept to oblivion by the Perseus
- Perseus punches everything better and dominates every other gunship for almost every single role
Personally, I would like to see the other gunships buffed until they are as effective for their intended usecase as the Perseus, per crew. But I have no idea how that would be implemented especially with some designs like the Hammerhead.
Worst case is that the Perseus gets nerfed just like the Redeemer did.
Since all three heavy gunships are currently available to pledge as well as the Redeemer, making all gunships viable for their intended roles would give CIG a lot more money.

