Bombers - design and strategy

[Elowan]

Suppose I wish to create a Bomber (ship), what should I include in the design (aside from bombs of course)?

1) direct fire weapon to make sure vessel is close to target
2) point defense weps
3) armor/shields - how many and what level

and how would you set the Strategy for that vessel? Optimium, Close Range?

Thnx.

[Alneyan]

You mean, a vessel to bombard planets, rather than a fighter designed to deal a maximum of damage to ships?

I wouldn't put any direct fire weapon here, as it might make the ship fight other warships, get it more likely to be targetted, and may interfere when firing at the planet.

Combat Sensors are unnecessary here: the planet has a massive penalty to defence (-200), so anything will hit at range 8, no matter what (mods excepted, of course). ECM, Scattering Armour and Stealth Armour are very needed however, since the planet is probably going to be defended.

I'm not sure PDC is needed: fighters are going to fight away from the planet, and the other vessels should be able to take them down (bring specialised PDC ships if needed), drones aren't a common sight, and satellites are tough to hide.

Other than that, I would use armour if I planned on building a good deal of these ships, and/or if the enemy platforms feature Shield Depleters (that's more likely than not). Armour is a lot cheaper per kt, is almost as good as Shields when facing Shield Depleters, and requires a *lot* less research to get. If you are wealthy, then sure, go for Shields.

I would make the strategy Maximum Range: you can hit them just fine, and they will have a (slightly) harder time hitting you back.

[Elowan]

I should have added that I tend to use the Strategic combat mode most often and rarely employ fighters.

Are fighters more effective than bombs or missiles?