Overview
A great storm is brewing.The Angleans traverse east, the Chaladons race to the west, the Merchants move North and the Baronies fly swiftly south. As the tensions heat up between the great factions of the world, the shipyards are hard at work preparing for war. Large, small, Fast and Slow ships – all capable of dealing tremendous damage and advancing factions within the war. This guide will give you an insight into the magnificent ships each faction has to offer within Guns of Icarus Alliance.
The Ships:
Currently within the Alliance Beta, there are 4 new airships with two being developed in the shipyards. These include:
- The Mercantile Guild Magnate
- The Fjord Baronies Crusader
- The Anglean Republic Corsair
- The Order of Chaladon Shrike
Most of these are all large ships with two or more heavy weapons and at least 4 light weapons. This makes ships especially effective against the powerful armies of each faction as you battle it out to claim territory.
Other ships are smaller with fewer light and heavy weapons, these are extremely fast and lightweight making them effective vessels for fast paced combat situations.
From the lush, green lands of the Isles of Chaladon to the dust swept plains of the Arashi Desert. Let us explore each of the current faction ships within Guns of Icarus Alliance.
The Mercantile Guild Magnate:
The Ship:
The Magnate is a large vessel hailing from the Mercantile Guild. Only The Guild can afford such luxury through their antics and trades. The Mercantile Magnate is primarily designed to be a cargo vessel, hauling cargo across the skies.
The ship has a variety of weapons situated around the ship central to the hull.
It is equipped with two heavy weapons situated at the back of the vessel and four light weapons.
Two light weapons are situated on the sides and another two light weapons are positioned on the front. The positioning of these weapons allowing for gunfire from a variety of angles. The light weapons situated on the front of the vessel can face can face forwards for potential moving attacks.
Engineering:
There is a lot of potential on the magnate to use your stamina to quickly access certain areas of the ship. You can jump from front guns to the back lower walkway to gain access to the engines and balloon. It is also possible to jump back.
A good routine for crews on board the magnate to use would be to have a bottom deck engineer maintain hull, lower engines and balloon. The gunner can also support the main engineer between shooting. The top deck engineer can repair or buff the guns as well as maintain the top engine.
Ship Performance:
Thanks to the ship’s weapons covering the perimeter of the vessel, the Mercantile Magnate is a very versatile ship when it comes to gunfire. The Magnate is also designed to carry cargo thus, it is incredibly maneuverable in the event that the cargo vessel is being chased through a canyon. in terms of maneuverability, the Magnate performs similarly to a Goldfish. This ship comparison also applies the the armour. The overall design of the Magnate is similar to the Junker – a similar cargo vessel of lesser beauty and weaponry.
The Fjordland Baronies Crusader:
The Ship:
The Crusader is a long, sleek baronite ship hailing from the Northern Fjordlands of the Fjord Baronies. The Vessel has two forward facing heavy weapons. Captains are advised to take precaution when using this vessel. Based on an assessment of the piloting, using the side exhausts as a market proved effective when attacking ships with all three guns either side of the vessel in combat. Apart from the front heavy weapons, the Crusader also has Four light weapons. These are positioned in the center of the vessel as well as on the aft of the vessels turning engines, all weapons face forward with good clearance on for forward and side attacks. The side light weapons can be turned about 50° to each side whereas the light weapons on the back of the vessel can be turned so that they are facing ahead.
Engineering:
Due to the size of the ship, It is best for one engineer to maintain the top light guns, side engines and balloon while the other engineer maintains the heavy weapons, main engine and middle guns. Due to the accessibility of the hull, both engineers can repair it easily while maintaining their designated components.
Performance:
The design and performance of the crusader is similar to that of the Mobula, another baronite ship used by royalty to traverse the skies. Because of this, the crusader has excellent acceleration when increasing altitude. The armour and hull of the crusader are similar to that of the Pyramidion, a strong tanking vessel hailing from the Yeshan empire. This gives the crusader a degree of strength and durability, aided by two heavy guns. This makes the crusader a deadly target in close combat.
The Anglean Republic Corsair:
The Ship:
The Anglean Republic Corsair is large, titan of a vessel. It has three layers and three heavy weapons. One heavy weapon is situated on the front of the middle layer alongside two heavy weapons which face sideways on the bottom layer. The Corsair also has three light weapons, two situated on the sides of the middle layer and one facing towards the aft on the bottom layer. The Corsair has 4 engines, 2 on the bottom layer on both sides of the aft gun and 2 on the middle layer. The balloon is situated on the top layer with the captain’s helm. The hull is on the bottom layer, near the aft gun and the engines.
Engineering:
One engineer should maintain the top half of the ship, repairing the balloon, the upper side engines and light weapons. The other engineer should maintain Heavy weapons, hull, lower engines and aft gun. Due to the large size of the vessel, this is an easy to maintain method of engineering on the Corsair. On a side note, the corsair is a very heavy ship and falls extremely fast without a balloon. It is best to keep an engineer on the central deck at all times to ensure that the ship maintains optimum altitude.
Performance:
The Anglean Republic Corsair is a massive vessel with design similar to that of the Spire with performance similar to the Galleon. The Anglean Corsair happens to be tankier than the Galleon making it a deadly opponent once the vehicle is parked and attacking enemies from its front and sides. With four engines, the Corsair is also notably faster than the Galleon which has three. This makes gives the Corsair potential to move into position faster than Galleons can and provide heavy attacks on targets.
The Order of Chaladon Shrike:
The Shrike is a ship hailing from the Chaladonian Order. Using heavily modified balloon technology, the mad scientists of the order and have designed a ship of slim profile but, can lift heavy weaponry. Despite this, vessels using such technology are prone to gas leakage from various pipes in the floor—a common issue with Chaladonian vessels..
The Ship:
The overall ship is incredibly small compared to other ships thanks to its extremely slim profile and compact design. The vessel has two light weapons located at the front of the vessel as well as two heavy weapons located on the lower deck below. The ship has many features to suggest usage of advanced technology such as a rotational fan below the hull which is powered by a green toxic chemical. Technology such as this enables the ship to be light and carry large weapons. Other features of the ship include its engines. The vessel appears to be very compact suggesting that it was purpose build for speedy engagements. This is quite notable due to the vessels usage to two heavy engines and one light engine. This makes the vessel extremely sensitive and fast in combat. The overall ships design and durability is similar to that of the Squid.
Engineering:
Engineering on the Shrike can primarily be based on the upper deck due to the location of the hull, balloon and main engines. The Pilot and the Gunner can be based on the lower deck which is comprised of the helm, heavy weapons and light engine. Placement of both engineers on the upper deck allows for fast maintenance of the balloon, hull and main engines. The engineers will also have quick access to the light weapons to provide the gunner support. In the unlikely event of an enemy disabling you, the engineers can fall down to the lower deck by jumping down between the heavy weapons guard and the staircase railing. This enables engineers to quickly rebuild the heavy guns before making their way up the stairs for immediate access to the hull, engines and balloon. This space can also allow the pilot and gunner to access the helm and guns quickly without hassle.
Performance:
The vessel is extremely fast and somewhat sensitive to movement during slow speed flying. Once the vessel reaches full speed, the controls become somewhat stiff yet easy to control. This makes the ship particularly effective in at fast moving combat or drive by attacks. The weapons are mounted on the sides making the vessel particularly effective at attacking targets while on the move. This could also include buildings and drills.
The Shrouded Mists of the South West:
Far, far to the western and southern lands, the mountain high cloud formations and the deep dunes begin to shift, the Faithful Warlords and the Crafty Scavangers prepare to return to the world.
Two moons ago, A mercantile vessel travelling across The Vastness witnessed a sleek vessel, low-flying towards the great dunes of the Arashi Desert. This event was treated as a hoax but more news is sure to make way to the High Commands of the guild. Extra defences have been placed throughout all trade routes to ensure such an infriltration attempt is prevented.
To the north, Nomads reported sightings of a great battle taking place near the firnfelds, A titan engaged compat with a unknown vessel – red in colour with a large, unique balloon shape. Defences have steadilly began advancing to the southern borers of Anglea.
The days of peace are at an end, from amongst the rubble of warfare, four factions arose – but two are advancing behind a shrouded mist of the unknown regions. Traders, Adventurers and Mercenaries are adviced to stay on high alert when travering near the Red Mountains and the Arashi Desert. The League and the Empire – are preparing for war.
Thank you for reading!
I hope this guide was intuitive and interesting for all the new players of Guns of Icarus Alliance. I have been assisting with the testing of Guns of Icarus Alliance since September of 2015 and am very proud to of vitnessed its release at EGX Rezzed London 2017 with some of the devs and fellow volunteers within the Guns of Icarus Community.
If you found this guide interesting, please rate and share with all your friends!
This is not compulsory of course.
Also feel free to discuss below which ship is your favorite and why?
If you see any Muse Devs, show them this guide!
Much Love, The Mann – See you in the skies!
