I recently made a comment in another thread, pondering why the Spitfire was made with a gun model ripped from an NS-10 Burster when it lacks any of the Bursters characteristics. This lead me down the line of thought that the Spitfire aspect of the game could really be expanded. Would it all be implemented as cert lines? Attachments? I don't know. It likely won't be implemented at all. I feel like it would be interesting to cert into the Spitfire base, as a sentry (no weapon, just beeps) then be able to affix different guns on it sort of like secondary weapons on Aircraft or Tanks. Previous purchasers would get the NS AI option by default or a refund. Whichever makes DBG happier. Take our current Spitfire, make it target Aircraft, give it the stats of a single burster arm - done. AA Upgrade for Spitfire. Change the gun on the current model to a Kobalt - done. Our standard AI Spitfire. Put a single Basilisk barrel on it, make it target all targets, give it half the fire rate of a regular basilisk but the same damage profile -done. A General Purpose Spitfire. Put a Valkyrie VLG launcher on it - done. AV Upgrade for Spitfire. But why stop there? Why not have faction specific Spitfires? Could have AI/AV Spitfires mounting a single arm from their respective factions MAX. Could have Spitfires that mount the Heavy Assault ES weapons (Lasher/Jackhamer/Chaingun). Or you could go deeper down the rabbit hole. The NC could get a Spitfire with a front facing hard-light shield. Or more health. Or, that does twice the damage at half the fire rate. The VS could get a Spitfire that hovers, allowing it to be placed anywhere. Or that engages faster. Further. Longer. Does more damage the longer it is shooting a target. The TR could get a Spitfire that fires twice as fast, or/also fires faster and faster the longer it is shooting a target. If we gave Spitfires a cooldown, it could have a shorter cooldown. Maybe theirs would be smaller and sleeker. You could also create non-combat Spitfires. What about a Spitfire that heals nearby friendlies with is own little medical applicator? Repairs nearby vehicles with its own little repair tool? How about one that projected a semi-circular 180 degree hardlight shield that had a firing slit at normal ADS height? Would automatically swivel towards the closest threat and let infantry stand behind it. But this line of thought doesn't end at the Spitfire - what about the standard, manned, Mana turrets? Why can't we equip them with a single MAX weapon arm? Vanu ones could be made to work on a HEAT mechanic similar to what a single magazine would get their MAX. The NS, NC and TR could then work on ammunition pulling from an infinite pool so they have a reload. Certainly having the art team splice together pre-existing models isn't all that much work - and all the other code already exists in other places. The ACE turret mechanic is currently underutilized and a huge amount of additional diversity could be added to the game for minimal work on the developers part. The turrets would continue to have all their normal downsides - particularly having to be manned by a squishy - while opening up further cert sinks / Daybreak Cash spending opportunities. Firepower wise, a MAX and an Engineer working together would still be more effective than two Engineers with turrets.
