What is the point of carriers?

[hakkarin]

Fighters can fly through hyperspace right? Then why even build carriers to carry them around?

 

[Malacodor]

Because fleet AI isn't really there, yet. Or just for fun, it's a sandbox game after all.

 

[splatthecat]

One fighter could but twenty? It is also very satisfying to see ships launch from the carrier, do their thing and then do a swirly dance while they try and dock when you recall them!

 

[Batavium]

Fighters can fly through hyperspace right? Then why even build carriers to carry them around?

In Star Wars and the likes X-Wing Fighters can jump through hyperspace as well. Carriers are used there to. Even a puny shuttle can jump through hyperspace in Star Wars. Like Splatthecat says it is all about numbers.

 

[Dannage]

In future builds, it's probable that fuel will become a thing, meaning your overall fleet fuel costs will be reduced by using a carrier to take the fighters through hyperspace.

Also, one day, there is talk of factory production on ships. This would mean carriers could serve as mobile repair platforms.

Then who knows, the game goes into Beta?...

 

[Edymnion]

Currently fleets cannot use a jump drive. If you want to get a dozen ships somewhere without making them fly there the long way, you gotta have a carrier.

Also, its a lot easier to fly one ship alone than it is trying to keep a fleet of dumb as bricks drones going where you want them to. Fly in, launch, and then you've got a fleet of drones harassing everybody and taking up valuable turret fire that leaves you more free to go in for the kill.

 

[Nickizzy]

In Star Wars and the likes X-Wing Fighters can jump through hyperspace as well. Carriers are used there to. Even a puny shuttle can jump through hyperspace in Star Wars. Like Splatthecat says it is all about numbers.

It's a cost thing. Even if AI could totally use JDs, the JD system costs a ton and uses a lot of power. There's a reason tie fighters are so spammy, the're shieldless jumpless, and don't even have a reactor(they use solar panels and batteries(?) instead). X-wings were a lot more valuable for their pilots and their firepower, with usually better pilots and outfitted with torpedoes and 4 launchers each bigger than tie fighter ones, so they are outfitted with things like astromechs, pressurized cabins, shields, and jump drives.

 

[Edymnion]

It's a cost thing. Even if AI could totally use JDs, the JD system costs a ton and uses a lot of power. There's a reason tie fighters are so spammy, the're shieldless jumpless, and don't even have a reactor(they use solar panels and batteries(?) instead). X-wings were a lot more valuable for their pilots and their firepower, with usually better pilots and outfitted with torpedoes and 4 launchers each bigger than tie fighter ones, so they are outfitted with things like astromechs, pressurized cabins, shields, and jump drives.

Yup, they even flat out say when seeing a TIE fighter that "Its too small to have gotten here by itself" or something along those lines.

TIEs are basically drones. Doesn't matter that one good hit kills them, they swarm in such large numbers that they still get the job done.

 

[TrickyNicky27]

#1 Cool factor

#2 It offers a place for the fighters to return to for protection, repairs, and upgrades. The carrier offers a place the pilots can return to and recollect on the previous engagements, as well as planning their next move in the field. It is the mobile logistics base and can be used as a drop off point for the loot collected in battle.

#3 Allows a large fleet of Ai(or manned) Fighters to amass just outside or inside the enemy territory for an attack. Very strategic

 

[jayman38]

I'm surprised noone has really touched on the issue of limited systems.

If you spend so much as a single block on a FTL drive in a fighter/corvette, that's a block that could have been better spent on weapons or shields in a vessel that is already squeezed for combat capacity.

So while you can add the FTL capability to fighters if you want to, you'll probably want to use that space for something else instead. (A docker block and a shield capacitor, for one example.)

 

[KiloZulu]

I'm surprised noone has really touched on the issue of limited systems.

If you spend so much as a single block on a FTL drive in a fighter/corvette, that's a block that could have been better spent on weapons or shields in a vessel that is already squeezed for combat capacity.

So while you can add the FTL capability to fighters if you want to, you'll probably want to use that space for something else instead. (A docker block and a shield capacitor, for one example.)

That's where I was going to go - I don't put jump drives or any other systems on my fighters that increase their mass. The carrier does the jumping, scanning, jamming, and what not. Fighters are turrets with an additional axis of movement.

 

[Jojomo]

Fighters can fly through hyperspace right? Then why even build carriers to carry them around?

Lets you use cheap disposable fighters/drones that don't have jump drives.

 

[MacThule]

1) EFFICIENCY. A single missile or heavy cannon blast from a large capital ship can deal enough damage to completely vaporize a small craft like a fighter instantly. This isn't an old Final Fantasy game though, and the fighters aren't lining up to be shot. Fighters with 3:1 thrust ratios and above can be extremely hard to hit when they stay moving. AI turrets don't track them well, and even most missiles have trouble catching up to them (with overdrive you can outrun any missile). So they can survive for extended periods in the face of extremely heavy firepower through simple evasion, and a nice side effect is that they sometimes draw heavy fire away from other ships. Add a jump drive to your fighter, and it directly impacts the fighter's primary survival strategy. Because it's not just the weight and size of the jump modules, but they require more energy, so the power system needs to be expanded. If your fighter is armored, the armor must now be extended to cover the jump modules and additional power, and as a result, additional thrust must now be added, which also requires more power. Even if you add enough to bring your thrust ration back up above 2:1 or 3:1, you've now made your fighter a substantially larger and easier to hit target. Try this: drop a core with 1 power, 2 engines, a radar jammer, an overdrive comp, and 1 overdrive module. Get in and fly right up to a pissed off enemy base with turrets and then see how long you can dance around it without ever taking a hit. Now try that trick in a 1.5K mass armored jump "fighter."

2) ECONOMY. Fighters are meant to be rather expendable and overwhelm the enemy with numbers and too many targets to control. This means if you include fighters in your fleet, you are probably expecting losses anywhere from 25-100% of them depending on how things go. Considering this, how wise is it to throw away expensive jump modules and more than minimum armor and shields on them when you know you'll lose some? The alternative is to have all the extra systems (jump, inhibit, scan) on your carrier that can escape if a fight starts to turn South. Keeping the front line troops as cheap and simple as possible saves you lots of resources in the long run, so you can actually lose a battle and still fight the war.

A fun trick I worked out recently is an extra light carrier with fast jump and permacloak capability when nothing is docked to it. I jump it in with a full fighter load, deploy the fleet then instantly cloak. Then, from the relative safety of stealth I can order the fleet to attack and charge my jump drive to get away if things go wrong. If it's going well I can remain to observe and uncloak periodically to support my fighters by taking down small enemy craft with light missiles when it seems safe to do so.

 

[Groovrider]

It's a cost thing. Even if AI could totally use JDs, the JD system costs a ton and uses a lot of power. There's a reason tie fighters are so spammy, the're shieldless jumpless, and don't even have a reactor(they use solar panels and batteries(?) instead). X-wings were a lot more valuable for their pilots and their firepower, with usually better pilots and outfitted with torpedoes and 4 launchers each bigger than tie fighter ones, so they are outfitted with things like astromechs, pressurized cabins, shields, and jump drives.

Back when I saw the episode 4 launch way back when, the printed guide (yep, they handed them out to kids along with some comics) said that panels were radiators to cope with such a tiny craft having a hot reactor under the pilots ass. Things may have changed in the last 30 years or so...