The Banshee's shape, function and general design was inspired by the Fading Suns Universe "Raider Stealthship," and like the Banshee of Terran legend, this phantom is rarely seen but has a voice dangerous to all who hear it.
Blackstar's Banshee Class Frigate is a light stealth support ship designed & tested to perform as a hidden companion for another ship or light combat wing, or to conduct covert scouting and reconnaissance missions alone.
Very lightly shielded, the Banshee relies on speed, stealth and strategic thinking and should only be flown by experienced pilots. Wrapped in patented Blackstar Space Camouflage, this ship disappears into the background at even a few hundred meters distance - closer than most opponents will ever get. Even without cloaking, this ship is nearly invisible when jamming. Except from the rear, where a distinctive red X is visible; similar to the red hourglass on a black widow's belly. It does have a Cloaking System though, and a power system that allows it to remain cloaked indefinitely even while operating its Jump Inhibitor system.
While it lurks, invisible in the background, the Banshee is able flicker in and out of existence taking nasty little potshots with an Mb80e69 Seeker Missile Array that packs a punch harder than most other 1K mass ships without cloaking can boast (around 1/4M dmg per shot). The missile array has 8 groups, which must be fired sequentially with a 1-2 second minimum delay between shots.
The ship is equipped with a tiny Cargo Hold (2.9K capacity), but is not well-equipped to raid or pirate on its own.
Fly into your target zone alongside a warship or pirate vessel and prevent opponents/victims from fleeing - both with inhibitor and missiles - while your partner is all they see.
SAFETY WARNINGS: Engineers are currently trying to address the only major design flaw of this ship - firing a missile while the jump inhibitor system is still active typically results in a full power outage that shuts down the ship's jamming abilities leaving it exposed to targeted counter-attacks for a short time. Our test pilots recommend shutting down the inhibitor immediately before firing and re-activating along with the cloak as soon as your barrage is finished.
Also, rotational turning can be rather slow for this ship. If an enemy successfully scans you and attempts to close, we recommend you use full reverse thrust while attempting to evade.
Merry Christmas!
Blackstar's Banshee Class Frigate is a light stealth support ship designed & tested to perform as a hidden companion for another ship or light combat wing, or to conduct covert scouting and reconnaissance missions alone.
Very lightly shielded, the Banshee relies on speed, stealth and strategic thinking and should only be flown by experienced pilots. Wrapped in patented Blackstar Space Camouflage, this ship disappears into the background at even a few hundred meters distance - closer than most opponents will ever get. Even without cloaking, this ship is nearly invisible when jamming. Except from the rear, where a distinctive red X is visible; similar to the red hourglass on a black widow's belly. It does have a Cloaking System though, and a power system that allows it to remain cloaked indefinitely even while operating its Jump Inhibitor system.
While it lurks, invisible in the background, the Banshee is able flicker in and out of existence taking nasty little potshots with an Mb80e69 Seeker Missile Array that packs a punch harder than most other 1K mass ships without cloaking can boast (around 1/4M dmg per shot). The missile array has 8 groups, which must be fired sequentially with a 1-2 second minimum delay between shots.
The ship is equipped with a tiny Cargo Hold (2.9K capacity), but is not well-equipped to raid or pirate on its own.
Fly into your target zone alongside a warship or pirate vessel and prevent opponents/victims from fleeing - both with inhibitor and missiles - while your partner is all they see.
SAFETY WARNINGS: Engineers are currently trying to address the only major design flaw of this ship - firing a missile while the jump inhibitor system is still active typically results in a full power outage that shuts down the ship's jamming abilities leaving it exposed to targeted counter-attacks for a short time. Our test pilots recommend shutting down the inhibitor immediately before firing and re-activating along with the cloak as soon as your barrage is finished.
Also, rotational turning can be rather slow for this ship. If an enemy successfully scans you and attempts to close, we recommend you use full reverse thrust while attempting to evade.
Merry Christmas!
I like to imagine the rear-end spokes are part of a cloaking projection device or the jump inhibitor array, but in reality the only practical purpose they serve is to give the ship a superior power grid for its weight class ;-D