GET OFF MY *** ITKO! Many times this has been said.

I fly a neon green bomber that's normally chasing down strikes / scouts. And by chasing down, I mean getting them to chase me through deathtraps. Has been working nonstop since 2.6. ...So yes, yes I do have a bounty on my head.

Pffft, I've been making people eat my mines since 2.6 dropped. It's not my fault they chase the bomber.

I'm in. Gives me a reason to buy the CM Strike. Edit: I've had exactly one game where I was able to talk my team into using blasters only against a complete team newbies. It was eye opening seeing how many of our pilots can't shoot worth a damn.

Tensor Field, Combat Command and Repair Probes should all reset the "Non Contributing" timer. Nothing worse than getting flagged because you're flying like a madman to avoid getting shot down and can't land a shot one someone to reset the timer. It's maddening I say!

Armor pen ignores all damage reduction effect. Bombers have 10% DR, Strikes have 5%, Scouts have nil. Not sure about Gunships. Target has no damage reduction? It does nothing.

I had that problem when I went from a Razorwire to a Blackbolt. *Spawn* *Crash* Trust me, fly with a Bloodmark for a day or two. Yeah it's going to be a system shock, but it's a fun little ship. And the thermites it carries? They scare the crap out of my bomber.

If your team is letting three painfully slow minelayers reinforce a node that you're going after, you need to have a talk with your gunships. You do realize and Ion missile will strip the shields off whatever side of the bomber it hits right? Plug a bomber with one of those and it will go nowhere fast. And heavy lasers are one of the many weapons that just chew through hull with frightening speed. Oh what's this? EMP missiles disable mines and turrets from stand off range? Wow. AND they do it in an AOE!? Here's the thing. That EMP missile? The one you call useless? Yeah, a bomber without access to Interdiction Mine will have their damage fall off. A bomber without access to shield converter? Well that's not nearly as survivable. You have options. You're just willingly blind to them.

But it's not. It's a counter to those who lack teamwork and a variety of ships. You can build a Quell as a bomber killer if you wanted, EMP missiles, Ion missiles and Heavy Laser Cannons - however this build doesn't create HUGE NUMBERS™ so you'll dismiss it. You know what you can target with EMP missiles? Just about everything. Mines? Check. Drones? Check. Turrets? Check. The best part about it? All those pesky mines you speak of being spawned? It cuts that in half. I know I know, prying a bomber out from under its rock can be a daunting task for all you pilots used to zipping around, nary a f**k to be given, but here's the thing. You have access to the tools you need. You just don't want to use them. Tensor Field? Hmmm... Tasty speed and turning rate increases for 24 seconds, great for being under a satellite. WAIT! It's a support skill! I CAN'T USE THAT. Combat Command? 20% accuracy and 7% crit for 24 seconds, as well as power regeneration? Man, that would be great for landing shots on a bomber to bring it down quickly - offsetting some of that tracking penalty and all... Ah damn, it's a support skill too. YOU CAN'T USE THAT!. "They're not good enough!" you exclaim. Well, you also call yourself "Aces". If you can't a bomber or one of the many MANY MANY stationary targets near it with a missile, you should probably rethink that title.

It's working for us Imps on TEH.

Another simple fix: Make Interdiction mines a secondary weapon.

And now Shayd, you see why I never talked about what build I used on my bomber? Alas, I'm going to write up a nice long reply to this, but the gist of it is going to boil down to "people need to step outside of their comfort zone".

I wouldn't say "light" craft used for CAS, the A-10 is a gunship as well. The weapons on gunships are almost useless against airborne targets, outside of a couple of AA missiles that they may carry. A gunship is defined by the weapons it carries as well as how it uses them. How cute, you discovered wikipedia. You do realize that the C-47 and the B-25 were some of the largest aircraft of their time right? One being a bomber and the other a cargo plane as well and all.