Ares Ion 3.23 Review - Star Citizen

[@scottboyer8450]

The ship never needed to be nerfed.

[@Brodoodle]

Imagine if this was WoT and you bought a £200 premium tank and they nerfed It to this level, I would be livid.

[@MasterBen10]

Tbh I hadn't thought of it that way but you are dead right. Star citizen does a fascinating job at making you forgot how much money you spent for PNGs that then get reduced to digital paperweights.

[@smut28]

Id be livid if it was finished but this was the first pass of many. Id be more pissed as a HH owner getting 13 hit by an ION or 6 hits each if theres 2. Also, please ignore DPS in high alpha damage ships. It really is redundant

[@schlagzahne6741]

Yes but even then you get the big " this stuff can change" warning. WoT DOES need to ner a fee premium tanks, I haven't played in a while now and have only heard and watched the terror of the new Chinese tier 8 (9.5) premium caused. Also... CIG doesnt hide the fact you are pledging to support game development. You get access to a pixel ship of your choosing as a reward, with no guarantee it works a specific way. Also it's balance should change anyway. A few patches ago it was OK but never hit, then CIG made it so it could shoot fast AND hit, it was fun Then they made this abomniation

[@Teddy-tx7wb]

I really wish they would make this ship, the ship they sold me: they said it would have a high magnification (essentially sniper scope) and have a range of 7 to 8 km. as I recall the alpha damage was about 3800 per shot (I realize as shield and armor and ship HP change over time, this must change proportionately) and there would be about 20 shots per minute. but at the time, I think an Arrow had about 7,000 HP (shields and ship HP combined, making it a 2 shot kill) I had dreams of sniping smaller fighters, and even if I could not destroy them, they would essentially be stripped of shields by the time they came into weapon range of the light/medium/heavy fighters of my companions. not to mention the devastating effect it would have on larger ships, it was meant to WRECK connies and seriously threaten Caterpillars, even cap ships if you had a squadron of them. But yeah, aside from the first week of it's launch, it really has never been the ship it was meant to be. one thing i will say for it. that size 2 QT drive makes it one of the FEW cargo escorts. but a real cargo escort needs a bed, so really all we have is the Vanguard series.

[@alltimenative]

i think they should turn it into a giant hitscan laser tbh

[@nistramai]

Dude honestly that would be so cool. It would actually make the Ion unique. Like the Exodus on the Idris-K kit. And you have moderate expected maneuverability normally, but when charging up the beam and firing maybe you have shit maneuverability leading to intense DPS hit and runs against large/capitol, but poor prospects against fighter abuse. Cause ofc hitscan would abuse fighters lolol

[@MasterBen10]

That would be absolutely epic!!!! Just watch the whole cockpit glow red from this angry Beam Of Doom

[@planah6198]

I want a giant mining lazer

[@AJ-em2rb]

only 4 minutes in when i write this, but like i really think that having high alpha, low dps ships will be invaluable to combat in the future once armor is implemented, or at least it should be CIG's goal to make such ships important. high grade armor should be immune to damage from an Aurora or even a Gladius, but should be concerned when a ship with size4 or larger guns shows up since the higher alpha should be able to punch through armor plating or give hardened shields a run for their money.

[@RythmOfEvolution]

Ion need an Beam Laser the longer. Making more Damage over Time. Small Targets can manouver the Beam. Big Targets get what they get from ION.

[@my1st66mustang]

I was thinking that maybe they could replace the typical stagger fire mode to a continuous fire mode on the Ares Ion. Default would be the charged shot with it continuously charging and firing as long as you hold down the mouse button. Continuous mode would instead fire the gun without charging whatsoever and would continue firing while holding the mouse down or when the system overheats. I would still buff the continuous mode dps to 1/3 or 1/2 of the charged to make it still competitive with other ships while not making charged completely useless.

[@ixxolos]

Love this ships looks but I regret buying it. Feel like it was a waste of 4.5 million.

[@MasterBen10]

Yeah I totally agree. Other patches it has some use, but this time it's awful!

[@realtimbotube]

@@MasterBen10 How'd you get the china skin for the ship?

[@tehrinzler3178]

Yesss increased range was exactly what i was thinking. 100% agree

[@bhinkle420]

Awesome video, agree with all your points!

[@MasterBen10]

Thank you very much!

[@danlewis2999]

I think you need to discuss both burst and sustained dps, as the F7 has high burst, but runs out of ammo in 4 seconds and then takes a further 8 to charge. This means over the course of a minute it will kick out an average of 1,200 dps (ish) vs around 2,000 (ish) for the Ion. Against larger target the Ion will take it down much faster, and the nerf to its fire rate, maneuverability, charging etc just its hard to use in dogfighting, which is intentional, as it's not a dog fighting ship, it's an anti capital ship.

[@JagHiroshi]

I have trust issues with CIG over things like this. Are they nerfing it as part of genuine balancing work - or have they taken enough money and now they need to sell the next new hotness? I think the Ion cannon should have 25% distortion added on top of the existing laser damage. Not more lethal in DPS terms but more effective, especially when hammering big targets.

[@alphacentauri3069]

Ah yes, the Ares. The ship that was supposed to threaten capital ships, and then cig decided that it shouldn’t be able to harm a light fighter.

[@MasterBen10]

All this ship can threaten is a gust of wind.... and even then it will lose

[@rafaelpaiva9770]

CIG is too scared too unleash the ares. Both should have the highest alfa and dps of the game. Nerf the performance. Since they're so fond of WW II style, use the old interceptor meta, high firepower, high speed, poor turn rates, not having the best acceleration. Done.

[@MasterBen10]

I think they could quite easily make the Ion unique and by no means OP or meta. Retain the current movement, buff the range on charge shots to 7-10Km, and make it a true sniper against big ships. At this point you could even have some fun and make the missiles short range but super fast to help stop small fighters. It's fair to say they could do lots of things .... just not this xD

[@Hanashibi]

Where did you get that lovely paint job in the screenshot? I mean my goodness, that's pretty.

[@MasterBen10]

Sorry for the late response. It's from the valentine's day collection

[@valkyrie1689]

I agree, even when im high on copium nd imagine its just a photon torpedo the laser projectile just drifts away or makes a pretty splash but doesn't feel as hefty as it should esp when the inferno seems to just mow small ships down. Great video. The above is my opinion and doesn't matter.

[@MasterBen10]

Thanks I'm really glad you liked the video. Tbh if they made the sound and 'shake' more dramatic from firing the cannon. I could still like it, who cares if it works if the thing feels amazing! But currently, yeah, it's got nothing.

[@andrewfanner2245]

SC needs this level of honesty. I'm unsurprised about their troubles with balance, and a dive into marketing policies will probably imply far too much influence there🙂

[@MasterBen10]

Ah thank you! I try to be honest and balanced in these vids, it's just rather hard to love this ship atm.

[@SuperSenka4508YT]

Have you tried using the precision firing mode? I find using the charged shot in precision mode makes hitting the target easier.

[@MasterBen10]

I have indeed, so that'll definitely help with aiming, however while aiming these shots you'll be within 3km of a presumably angry enemy ship. Until we can shot at around 7km, you'll just be swarmed in the ion and dead

[@Storm-Cleaver]

I love the look of the Ion, and I still prefer it over the Eclipse... but I would *_not_* recommend it to anyone at the moment. My F7A mk2 out does it for DPS, even the F7C mk2 does. The Heartseeker and Bucc probably do too for that matter. I tried using it at XT against the XT Idris and I couldn't reliably hit either the fore or aft hangar doors. If I was trying to be more exact than just hitting "the Idris" I had to be so close there was no point in using an Ares.

[@commanderroddi7742]

This is a ship I want to really like. I like the idea of a long range anti capitol ship sniper, which isn't the size 7 cannon is just not useful. I like the idea of having a charge mode and a constant fire mode, but I don't think ALPHA was the issue. I agree that Projectile speed and range should have been the balancing factors. Make the fire rate slow, but make it hurt! I dont' care if I don't have a constant fire rate (not what the ship iss for, though I coudl make sense if little fighters are coming at out, but will id o enough damage?) That's what the missiles are for anyhow on the Ion, keep small fighters at bbay with long range fire and S3 missles (and btw, as of 1A I do believe Firebird has more missiles and it can defend itself well against small fighters). Again, I love the look, the components, and the diea. Maybe, when ships like Idris and Polaris are more common, and hull armor is a factor, this ship may get its redemption, but then, there's teh inferno... I tend to prefer laser weapons, but at this time, I'll keep my Ion on buy back, hoping for it to get fixed.

[@cabal2k]

Completely agree on the engine sounds, but that's a Crusader thing :D The current state of the ship is really bad, I took it out to assist buddies in an ERT and was shocked how low the damage output is. Luckily it's bought ingame and I can at least use my Warden for fighting.

[@MasterBen10]

Ah the Ion and ERTs, you would think that is a match made in heaven.... AND YET they managed to mess that up xD Oh well, it works well against??? Gusts of wind?

[@level1timmy846]

Make its a 1.5 full charge time and increase the ammo speed to 2 to 3 thousand speed.

[@rexwa633]

BEST KZbinR EVER!

[@MasterBen10]

AHH thank you!

[@PRIMEVAL543]

Rockets are terrible. On normal ships with burst dps you can shoot your mag, switch to rockets, go back to your gun, rinse and repeat. That’s called a damage rotation. Since the Ion has no burst damage, only sustained dps, swapping to rockets instantly takes away from the guns damage, making the rockets much much worse than they usually are

[@RD-qn4gt]

Lol, has anyone caught on that almost every ship when 1st comes out is "Over powered". Could this be done to sell this or "a" ship?? Just asking, because at this time that's what it looks like.

[@MasterBen10]

To be honest I was thinking of making a video on this, because it's uncanny.

[@NORKIE]

not a headache if you're smart, its a large gun, make it do large damage. simple as that. what CIG needs to do is make the shields on ships last significantly larger so fights last more than thirty seconds... a capitol ship fight should be a five to ten minute fight for your damn life because there is fundamentally a home for everyone on it.

[@MasterBen10]

I do agree tbh. The original iteration of the Ion had that strong alpha feel (maybe a little too much), I think the issue is, this shouldn't be able to solo kill a capital ship, otherwise it would be so OP. But beefing it up, so it could do some damage and then run would be nice.

[@CZEmp9k]

well... there is 1 gun and 2 weapon groups/mouse buttons... maybe they could just use that for modes... but if their intention was to make this iteration of ion and they were ok with it, i fear what other nonsense they will come up xD

[@MasterBen10]

That's actually really true! Can't believe I didn't think of that!

[@pawe6199]

Yeah it says it all when You need to list as a first pro quantum drive.. this ship is in dog shit state.

[@MasterBen10]

Ikr xD What is good about a heavy fighter? Ahh it makes a great Taxi!

[@pawe6199]

@@MasterBen10 I truly enjoy your content. Keep it up! :)

[@fuzzyeagle142]

Wish I watched this video before using it for Xenothreat.......

[@benvalle8253]

Just going to ccu to the sentinel and use my bfuks i have in buy back. I’m done with this ship.

[@MasterBen10]

Definitely a good idea. I'm really not a vanguard fan, but it's certainly more reliable!

[@rybuds47]

In game purchase, too easy to nerf. Nice review!

[@MasterBen10]

Totally agreed. I feel like this has been the most changed ship since it's release... And never for the better

[@rybuds47]

@@MasterBen10 its just here a little too early, eventually it will have its place. For real cash i felt the mk2 was much harder to nerf. For me having in game goals is important as having the right ship so i have a reson to play.

[@MasterBen10]

@@rybuds47 you are absolutely dead right. I've certainly pledged for a few ships. But I still have my grind goals, sadly I don't love re-grinding ships every patch / bug when the ship gets lots. But one day, those goals will be met xD

[@tuckerodonnell9269]

Get rid off the charge and i think you fix it combat wise

[@FreebirthBoccara]

i love the ion.. but its unusable as it is. you cant hold a charge.. so it just goes off regardless of if your lined up or not making it nearly impossible to aim a fully charged shot unless you and your enemy are iflying in straigth lines. . just make it so you can hold charge fro a second ror two..and after that the weapon starts building up heat.. there fixed.. but.. even if your tap firing and not holding to charge,, there is an ungodly break between firing... having to wait nearly a full second between evrey shot regardless of if its a full powered hold shot or a quick fire is ridiculous and makes it even less usable. why even have it? ifr your doing weaker "quick" shots. then your being burdened by the overly long cooldown making it useless to fire "fast" because your dps will be less then a size 1 gun. and if your charging up..then your already waiting to charge the weapon.. so why have a cooldown ontop of that? oh.. and in a fight. there is almost no feedback for how much its charged or if its abotu to fire or anything. so i keep finding myself looking at the bar go up..wich means im not looking at the target and invariably miss when it DOEs go off.. because again. short of shooting it preemptively. you cant decide when it goes off. it just reaches full charge and discharges of its own free will.

[@MasterBen10]

Tbh that's my biggest thing I missed out from the video. You can't hold a charge!!! You can hold a charge on a Karna but not this???? Absolutely bizarre

[@chrissnider9555]

CIG's balance department is about the worst I've ever seen in game development. They make the biggest kneejerk reactionary changes to anything that upsets the meta, so things are constantly swinging from overpowered to completely useless.

[@MasterBen10]

Yeah, I would say the changes each patch are worrying. They either think its an amazing idea, or just have zero idea on what to do with it.

[@undersmack648]

Had the Ion. Melted it post first nerf. Got it again. Melted it again the second I heard of these changes. Never again.

[@MasterBen10]

Ah this had he howling with laughter xD. The cycle continues

[@qutatron]

Wow, this ship barely moves.

[@MasterBen10]

Yeah, it'd give oil tankers a run for their money.

[@DemonhartStudios]

Booo go back to HH fight ... I want my kill streak to show ;-; Other than that... that ship needs an overhaul or something... it flies ok but the slug shot I am still in range to a HH turrets

[@MasterBen10]

Yeah, it's really interesting to see the changes it gets each patch. It feels like CIG doesn't know what the Ion should be in the game. Oh well... Bring on the 4.0 ion?

[@sunshineinabag9956]

Why the fuck are we playing this game?

[@Lolle9999]

This is the saddest ship. Yes they managed to make it absolutely shit aganst anything smaller than a size 4 ship. However now its 2/10 aganst big ships which it should atleast be 9/10 at since its the ONLY thing its supposed to be good at. its 1/10 aganst everything else. Since it allready oneshots small ships atm but its impossible to hit them, make the cannon do 36k dmg or something for the charged shots so it will still be equally shit at small ships as before but now its actually good aganst big ships when its possible to land shots. Its absolutely horrible that its a ship thats worthless at anything else beside shooting big ships but when it goes up aganst big ships its dps is also soo shit that you cant even take down bigger ships shields. Atm when i want to kill any kind of ship in pve i just go with an f8c since that ship is 8/10 aganst EVERYTHING. Last patch it kinda had a weird nieche that i liked where its dps was still low compared to every other heavy fighter but it had ONE thing going for it and it was the huge capacitor for the gun so its burst window was huge which made it ok at taking down big ones. Imo, if they just bump up the damage of the charged shots like absolutely mad and keep everything else the same, then it would fullfill its nieche at having lower time to kill on big ships than others and still being bad aganst everything else. This is my favourite ship in the entire game and as long as its in this state i wont even play the game.

[@MasterBen10]

I do agree that this was my favourite ship in the game since it came out... But now I really don't know what to do with it. I guess we wait for 4.0 and hope they change it again?

[@Bwakcmo69]

West aos waste of money

[@MasterBen10]

It really really is!