Skaar Kestrel

Introducing the Skaar Kestrel, the latest build from Filbert Shipyards!

**UPDATED TO BE 1.4 REFORGED COMPLIANT**

Special thanks to Jrandall, not just for helping me get the BP pic , but for creating my favorite faction the Skaar! Also thanks to ScriptHD, Jrandall, DarthZaphod and all the other Skaar builders for your awesome inspirations in creating a true 'Skaar' CV.

The Skaar Kestrel is designed as a Skaar-ified version of the Kestrel Corsair but built new (from a new starter block) and designed for Reforged Galaxy/Reforged EDEN.

In testing the Skaar Kestrel out-preformed the Claymore in nearly every test and has been my CV of choice for collecting Quantum Cores from legacy CV's like the Infector. I've taken out multiple infectors at the same time, fought a decimator, and in one instance the ship was the victim of a glitch. The glitch made half the ship vanish, so while an admin (thanks Pear!) was helping me replace it we watched as half a Skaar Kestrel, with no pilot at the helm, continued to straight-up spank an infector. This ship really wants to fight!

The Skaar Kestrel has a nice balance of armor, weapons, and mobility that make it a very fun Combat CV. The testing of this Kestrel (including server-play testing) has convinced me that this is in fact a superior combat CV to the Claymore. I used the combat insights i gained from continuous use of the Claymore to inform my design decisions for the Kestrel. Unlike the Claymore, for example, this CV has multiple fuel/ O2 batteries spread out (6 in total) around the ship and protected by lag shot armor. The generators have also been retooled. Instead of two XL Gens the Kestrel uses 12 large Gens spread out into 4 groups and protected by layers of lag shot armor.

Another renovation over the Claymore's combat setup is the weapon loadout. The Kestrel doesn't come with any fixed artillery cannons, instead it adds an extra pair of Pulse cannons for 6 total. These extra canons allow the Skaar Kestrel to rip through a targets shields faster, giving more time per attack for the heavy artillery turrets (4 vs the Claymore's 3) to shred the target's turrets and pound away at their generators. The ship is also laid out with an assortment of less powerful turrets to give a mix of offense/defense capabilities.

This brings us to the other key improvement over the Claymore: Maneuverability. The thrust setup on the Kestrel allows for a much more balanced and powerful combination of directional movement, with the one exception being a slight reduction in lateral thrust. The increase in F thrust allows for use of the rush in/volley/rush out marauder style tactics while the boost in U thrust allows for better general movement speed. The end result of these changes is a more mobile ship that can take on opponents with less 'tanking' required.

Speaking of 'tanking' the Kestrel has the armor to take a beating if need be; in fact the ability to take a hit has been taken so far that the entire 'head and neck' portion of the ship can be blown off and the Kestrel will barely notice it. When fighting from the battle bridge you will notice a switch there marked 'blast doors'. These blast doors 'seal' off the head and neck portion ahead of their respective doors to protect the rest of the ship and to help further armor the gowplot area during intense combat to prevent crop loss.

Crops? On a combat CV? IN REFORGED? Yes the Skaar Kestrel features a modest 18 grow plot farm to allow for food production on long trips, facilitated by the included Advanced warp drive. To keep the grow plots and fridges powered when offline (when playing on a server) the Kestrel features a pair of solar capacitors. The ship doesn't have any solar panels, but it does have enough free CPU to mount the full 24 panels. I don't mount them during use, rather i set them out before logging off to keep the ship powered while im away without wasting promethium. When i log back on i simply remove them and stick them into the cargo hold.

One other improvement of note is not an improvement over the Claymore but the original Kestrel. The Skaar Kestrel has a larger hangar than the original Kestrel and it is compatible with HV's and SV's. The ramp doesn't come all the way to the ground but i've been able to still get HV's loaded without too much trouble when they are at max hover.

Specs: - Unlock level 25 - Size Class 5 - CPU Max - Advanced Warp Drive - Advanced Shield - 4x Artillery Turrets - 4x Missile Turrets - 3x Flak Turrets - 2x Pulse Turrets - 2x Cannon Turrets - 6x Pulse Cannons - 2x 320,000 vol cargo controllers - 1x 320,000 vol Harvest controller - 1x 320,000 vol ammo - 52,000 vol O2 - 189,600 vol Fuel + 2 Solar capacitors - 18 Growplots - 3 fridges + food processor - Advanced Constructor - Gravity gen and Offline Protection - Repair station - HV/SV hangar - Battle Bridge - All Lagshot armor is Xenosteel - Upgradable!

The Upgrades i've done involved adding more function and a bit of extra firepower. There are a few spots in the hangar around the constructor bays where 'deco' type blocks can be removed and replaced with quantum cores. One is a shutter and the other is a 'dual wall' block. Upgrades i made to my test model include: two quantum cores, 6 extra missile turrets (one top, one bottom, two on outside wing spots, two just behind the forward landing gear.), a teleporter on the bridge (it comes with the sensor), an Advanced RCS (on the bridge i just replaced the 'barrel' above the captain's chair), a deconstructor (in the hangar in the open bay), and a salvage multi-turret (on the belly near the back below the ramp).

-Enjoy!