Thoughts on the new Scorpion SRV and multi-function limpet controllers
12 Dec 2021Scubadog
I had some credits burning a hole in my pants, so I broke down and bought one of the new Scorpion SRVs. Since my main source of income is exploring things, you have to know that my opinion is from that perspective. And, before your eyes roll too hard, yes, I know the Scorpion is being marketed as an assault vehicle. So, with that out of the way, here's what I think.PROS: It's a nice-looking vehicle and visibility inside the cockpit isn't as bad as I first thought it would be, but since it's meant for combat it makes sense you have a lot less exposed glass compared to the Scarab. It's significantly more controllable, although I've not tested it yet on really extreme inclines. The missile rack is a nice add-on if you find yourself out in the black and run across a crash site protected by drones. It's more of a tank, so it's more durable against those unintended rolls or falls. Oh, and to my surprise it actually has modest cargo storage.
CONS: As expected, it does not have a material scanner. For an explorer, this is pretty much a must-have, so this alone disqualifies it for explorers. It's significantly slower than the Scarab, which you'd expect. Even if you could accidentally run across rocks or an outcropping, that darned turret up top is inaccurate as hell. I can only imagine how much of a crap show it is in a combat situation.
The bottom line is that I'll keep one in storage for the odd joyride, but it's completely inadequate for anything other than combat. The fact that has a cargo bay seems entirely wasted on the Scorpion--anything you find to pick up would be by accident. My suggestion would be to either find a way to engineer it to add a material scanner or drop the cargo bay and improve speed and jump range.
Now, as for the multi-function limpet controllers...I don't think I've ever seen such a ridiculous waste of credits. Seriously. You have very limited class sizes and while there are a handful of combinations of function to choose from (including the universal one that's only available in a class 7), none of them are what I'd call the perfect combo for explorers. AND THEY ARE ALL SIGNIFICANTLY OVER-WEIGHTED!!!! What the actual? The closest you can get to a useful combo for explorers is the Rescue Controller (ignoring the insanely stupid mass of the thing). What I'd want to have as a combo would be either Repair, Fuel and Research or Repair, Collector and Research. Literally the ONLY reason I see for anyone purchasing these would be if they truly had limited slots but didn't give a shit about the mass. Outside of that, I'd say these things are a hard pass.
I've got some minor repairs to do on a couple of my ships (I rode them hard and put them away wet) so I'd better get to that.
Cheers!