Here are the stats listed side by side:
What can we tell from this?
Unit for unit, the T3 ghetto costs significantly more mass than either the Broadsword or the Restorer, but also significantly less power, with a middling build time. The Broadsword, which itself has almost three times the anti-ground DPS of a Restorer, has less than half the DPS of a ghetto gunship. The T3 ghetto also packs almost twice the anti-air punch of a Restorer, plus an extra 1k HP, and 1.5k over the Broadsword.
In the mass statistical comparison, the ghetto is the cheapest source of DPS per mass, approximately a third cheaper than that of a Broadsword, which is twice as cheap as that of a Restorer. The Restorer just barely manages to beat out the ghetto gunship in AA DPS per mass. But because of it's higher unit price, it's 1k HP advantage is overcome and it has the highest mass/HP, slightly over that f a Broadsword. (this is where the Restorer shines)
In the energy statistical comparison, the ghetto is miles ahead in anti-ground DPS per energy, three times as efficient as the Broadsword, and I shudder at the Restorer's figure, three and a half times higher than the Broadsword. Similarly, the ghetto is nearly four times as effective against air targets per energy as the Restorer. Lastly, it costs half as much energy per hitpoint compared to the Broadsword, with the Restorer again slightly behind.
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Simple version:
Costs 40% more mass than the Broadsword, (or double that of the Restorer) but does the work of two Broadswords against ground targets and two Restorers against air targets in one nasty package. Surprisingly little energy required. As a bonus, (stats in DB are a little funky, so I didn't include this) I believe the Continental is significantly faster than any of the gunships; this thing can book it across the map. It's shield can survive an ACU nuke, and being a shield, will regenerate to full hitpoints soon enough. Great feature for harassing.
All that said, it has it's drawbacks and special considerations. You're going to want a lot of T1 factories to produce the 28 Mech Marines a single Continental can carry. It's shield requires a whopping 250 energy to run, so while they cost little energy to build, a fleet of these will really eat into your available power. While in total it has 7500 HP, only 3000 of that is in the shield; once that goes down, AA units with AOE (e.g. T2 flak) will shred the Mech Marines that provide it with the vast majority of its DPS. Don't fly over flak unless you can remove it ASAP. Just don't. You cut your effective HP by 60%.
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Conclusion:
A killing platform certainly worth looking at for UEF players. Always most effective when the opponent relies largely on fighters for AA instead of ground-based AA. Great for 1v1s or small team games where there is no dedicated ASF player and T1 inties still rule the skies; with a small escort, the T3 ghetto gunship with rip them to pieces. In large team games with blobs of ASF, don't despair; find a target area free of ground-based AA, and have your faithful ASF spammer lead the way and engage the enemy ASFs over the target. Follow them in with the gunships. The ASFs will feel as if they're fighting over a fleet of cruisers, and the enemy team will be wondering when the UEF gained access to the Soul Ripper.
These things are EXPENSIVE to build in quantity, but if you can avoid running solo into an ASF blob or flying over mass T2/T3 AA, they are potent weapons.
Statistics: Posted by Adraius — 07 Aug 2012, 17:13
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