I think you have a point

We already have siege frigates, but they suck.

i kinda like the suggestion. half-capital ships basically, kinda neat. maybe they would have fewer levels to gain as well, maxes out at level 5 or something. they could come in different varieties. a super-carrier for Advent (4 squadrons and a special ability to support them). a super Phase Missile ship for Vasari (4 batteries of phase missiles, and maybe an anti-structure special ability for them). a super Auto-Cannon gunship for TEC (covered in turret mounted auto-cannons so it could fire 360 degrees like a flak but deal high damage like a Kodiak). 

kind of a big change though, would have to be material for an expansion pack. also would just be a flavor thing mostly. the current combat system already covers the bases very thoroughly and is well balanced so adding new stuff would be just for fun i think. to me anyway it doesn't feel like there's anything important missing but that doesn't mean you can't add new stuff for coolness factor. 

I think adding such a ship would radically change how players prioritize the use of capital ships vs normal ships.  Before you could introduce something like this, you would need to increase the power of all capital ships and then re-balance them with the rest of the game.  Then you can more effectively introduce a middle ground ship which is what I suppose a mega-cruiser would function as.  I also think having a normal ship, which is what this would be, able to gain levels could lead to problems from spam. 

I think what some people are looking for is a ship that can lead a small fleet, but be expendable.  For the most part, cap ships are expensive and losing one can be a serious blow to a fleet if your fleet depends on the support abilities of said cap ship.  Personally I wouldn't mind seeing capital ships to be rarer, more expensive, but truely awe inspiring.  I'm sure many people here have played homeworld 1 or 2.  While playing that game, most fleets I encountered consisted of frigates and destroyers.  However, when a battlecruiser or two showed up, you knew you had to do something about that thing before it started chewing up your lesser ships.  Capital ships in SOASE don't really generate that same kind of feeling here. 

mega cruiser i disgree the cruisers are speacialist ships support ships buff ships nothing less nothing more apart from 2 cruisers that are offencive ships it would be a waste and a ship cheaper than a captial but has the same abilities you can just spam them like people do with LRMs and Carriers may aswell just add a Dreadnought to the captial list than a Cruiser

well maybe they could only have two abilities that could only get to level two, and maybe the mega cruisers would not get a upgrade point until level two or three

Good Idea keep working

I also agree that we dont need new ship classes, but if one were to be created, I would prefer a Raider for all three factions.

NomadWarriorSoul, I DO know about the Arcova's Time Explosives, but the timed explosive ability does not turn the Arcova into a good raider. A good Raider can destroy structures and/or bombard planets to make a profit and destabilize the enemy. Arcova's can't do that, you'd be lucky if you succeeded in destroying 2 structures with your 10 scouts. The damage they do is very impressive (1200), but have you look at the cooldown time for this ability; 900 (15 MINUTES). They also require a lot of micro to make it work, otherwise they could just start targetting different structures, and you would end up with no damage done to the enemy.

And what about the other 2 factions, Advent Seeker have no such ability, and please don't tell me about the Advent Seeker's Martyrdom, 250 points of damage AND you lose the ship, it sucks. Vasary have even less raiding capabilities with their Jikara Navigators.

The only way to raid in this game right now is targeting refinery/trade ships (but you dont need a raider to do that) and upgrading Vasari with the Wreckage Auto-Salvage ability.

Foraven, light frigates are easy to destroy only if you overwhelm them with superior numbers or if you have the right counter (Long Range Frigates). Otherwise, they are fine the way they are right now. At mid games, you HAVE to back your light frigates with support cruisers (hoshiko/guardian/overseer) and in late games switching to heavy cruiser might be a good idea (keeping a small number of light frigates, even in late game, is always a good idea for support).

Back to the mega-cruiser idea, I am not oppose to it, but no one here made any reference to what role it would play except to say that they would be better than heavy cruisers but weaker than capital ships. If you want a ship capable of leveling up and using special abilities: build a Capital Ship, if you want a hard hitting cruiser, build a Heavy Cruiser, thats what they are for! What would be the counter to this mega-cruiser?, right now I dont see the point of this unit whatsoever!!!

It would be interesting to hsve the cap ships see a boost and have these mega-cruisers in the game as well. Have the Kodiak, Destra, Skarovas cruisers be smaller versions of the mega-cruisers. If you notice, the other cruisers are pretty much support craft, much like the cruisers today. These heavy cruisers are the only cruisers really for combat (not counting the carriers). It would be interesting to see the mega-cruisers as more of an offensive force.