Following the concept release of the ANVIL Liberator, we took your community-voted questions to our designers to provide you with more information on the recently unveiled carrier.
What sort of capabilities will this ship have for refueling, repairing, and rearming the ships and vehicles it carries? (I believe there were fuel tanks shown in concept art.)
The Liberator will only support basic levels of refueling, repairing, and rearming, which will be done manually by players onboard using supplies stored in the cargo bay. It does not have dedicated facilities or separate stores.
Are the ships on the deck shielded by the Liberator's Size 3 shields with the new SDF shield tech?
They are not explicitly protected. However, the shield projects multiple meters from the ship’s hull, so most ships would likely be partially covered (but not entirely). The same applies to the Kraken and any other ships where vehicles are stored on the exterior.
What is the largest ship that can be parked in each of the garages, the upper landing pads, and the front landing pad?
The garages and front landing pad can store ground vehicles up to and including the Tumbril Nova and Anvil Ballista, and what we refer to internally as ‘XXS’ ships, which includes the Argo MPUV and Origin 85x.
The upper landing pads support ‘XS’ ships, which includes most single-seat combat ships (Aegis Sabre, Anvil Hornet and Arrow, etc.) and other single-player ships such as the MISC Prospector.
Can the Liberator transport one big ship on both its upper decks providing the latter can touch down with all of its landing gear?
Officially, this won’t be supported as large ships won’t be able to spawn there, but what players do after the initial spawn is up to them. So, while they can surely ‘Tetris’ larger ships onto the landing pads, it will likely not be supported as an official method of landing.
What's the Liberator's armor like in comparison to the other military ships of its size?
The Liberator packs medium/heavy armor to offset its relatively sparse weaponry and to allow it to take a beating whilst transporting vehicles.
Does the 400 SCU cargo capacity refer only to the internal cargo bays next to the garages? Is there any limitation that prevents additional cargo from being ferried into the garages or onto the landing pads? I'm assuming only the 400 SCU dedicated area gets mag plates.
The 400 SCU refers only to the internal cargo bays, which are the secured areas for cargo. As above, what happens outside of that is up to the player, though it may not be supported via the full range of systems in the game, such as it not being mag-secured.
What is the primary usage difference between this and the M2?
The big differentiator is the M2 is not designed specifically to carry spaceships, let alone multiple spaceships, which is the Liberator’s key role.
Will there be any consideration to removing the spawning ship requirements when loading your own fleet? For example, when we spawn the third vehicle, the first vehicle we spawned will despawn.
Ultimately, yes. The current limitations are there as a temporary measure.
Are there any ways to lock down ships on the upper landing pad to prevent them from taking off (let's say someone wants to escape)? On the same topic, is there a way to forcibly detach a ship if it's an unwanted visitor?
We don’t have any specific details to discuss regarding the topic of security and potential griefing and how it interacts with this ship and other similar ones. But, both the scenarios listed here are areas we are discussing internally, particularly how we wish to deal with them using the current and planned range of mechanics.
The Liberator is described as having "extreme range." But how does its endurance compare to other carriers like the Kraken and Idris?
The Liberator has “extreme” range by virtue of the capacity of its hydrogen/quantum tanks compared to other ships of its size class. However, the Kraken and Idris are over double the size and as such have even greater range.
Can vehicles be driven up the ramp bay door and secured on the upper deck in place of fighters?
This is possible though not advised, as if the ramp/door becomes damaged, it will no longer operate putting it out of commission. You must then only load and unload from the rear ramp until it’s repaired.
What are the two cylinders on the lateral side of each engine?
They have no function and are just rule-of-cool bits of geometry. (See the image below.)
Will the ship be able to traverse jump points with ships on deck?
Yes. If a ship is landed on the deck, it will be carried with the Liberator during a jump.
Is the Liberator a capital ship as it is categorized in the ship matrix, or is this incorrect labeled as it does not have any actual capital-class components?
The Liberator has no capital components. While this is not the sole requirement of a capital ship (size and role also play a part), the Liberator being listed as ‘capital’ is an error on the matrix and should say ‘large’ instead.
Where is the tractor beam mounted, and can it be used to pull an immobile ship onto the deck and then transport it off?
The tractor beam is mounted in a deployable compartment in the “passenger” side, under the remote upper turret. This allows it to have range over the external pads to aid with the landing and removal of ships.
Does the Liberator offer any facilities to house the crew of the transported ships or vehicles?
The crews of those transported vehicles have access to their own dedicated area of the ship complete with food services, lockers, storage, a bathroom, and a seating area.
Disclaimer
The answers accurately reflect development’s intentions at the time of writing, but the company and development team reserve the right to adapt, improve, or change feature and ship designs in response to feedback, playtesting, design revisions, or other considerations to improve balance or the quality of the game overall.