atlas carrier feels underwhelming

[Pterosaur Gaming]

the atlas carrier appears to be too weak for its class, it comes with 2 viper squadrons and 1 raptor squadron, this feels underwhelming for its class as a carrier, for it is easily outgunned by the artemis, which can bring 2 viper squadrons, and makes up the lack of raptors with a missile slot, and its flack guns are known to wipe out entire fighter squadrons, this makes the atlas feel obsolete, for during my current campaign, i manage to unlock the artemis first before the atlas and due to their relatively low resource cost, i already have 2 of them built a couple of turns after the 5th mission i believe, what im trying to say is that the artemis does better as a carrier than the atlas itself, this can be fixed, for since its class is literally called a carrier, it should have at least 3 viper squadrons and 2 raptor squadrons, this would make the atlas more effective in its defined class,

[roysten712]

I don't use the Atlas often but they have good armour so can sit there as a tank and absorb damage.

They also have greater evade (35) compared with all other Colonial ships (20) barr the Bezerk (50), in a firefight with vipers this can make a big difference.

There are multiplayer strategies where a field of Atlas's can be very powerful. Admittedly in the campaign I rarely build them and like you tend to primarily build Artemis.

[Pterosaur Gaming]

Originally posted by roysten712:

I don't use the Atlas often but they have good armour so can sit there as a tank and absorb damage.

They also have greater evade (35) compared with all other Colonial ships (20) barr the Bezerk (50), in a firefight with vipers this can make a big difference.

There are multiplayer strategies where a field of Atlas's can be very powerful. Admittedly in the campaign I rarely build them and like you tend to primarily build Artemis.

exactly, while it can evade better, ships like the artemis and minerva not only bring the same amount of vipers, but also missiles and have flak capability, and they not only can tank damage, but also dish out a alot more damage than the atlas, making them a better carrier to use than the atlas, while they dont have raptor squadrons by default, i dont see a use for the raptors except boarding action, what im trying to say is that if the atlas was buffed to at least 3 viper squadrons and 2 raptor squadrons, its relevance would greatly improve, and something worth getting as a mainline heavy carrier, after all whats the point of using something if its greatly surpassed by something else that costs almost the same resources.

[Sir Wagglepuss III]

The Atlas is 3 squadrons and a ton of HP on a budget. It costs a mere 1050 points and for that you get 2 high quality Viper squadrons, 1 support squadron of your choice, durability that comes close to a Jupiter, and decent supporting guns if it ever has to get into a fight through 3x heavies on the sides and 2x mediums top and bottom.

Looking at the Atlas itself, it's simply decent, but it absolutely shines because of what it allows the rest of your fleet to do. Bringing an Atlas or two means you don't have to dish out your entire 8k points exclusively in Artemis class or above to make up your Viper complement, and the Atlas allows you to actually consider bringing gunships or missile boats without screwing over your fleet composition.

Sure, it's no super carrier, but you seem to be severely underestimating what such a low cost 2x Viper option can do for a fleet.

As for it's "Relevance", the Atlas has been enjoying a lot of time on the field during the current ongoing tournament thanks to the properties explained above.

[Gryphon_Space]

due to waggle making my job obsolete, I'll simply link the discord where even if you don't play multiplayer matches, people can still teach you.
Side note: the atlas is considered a heavy carrier, not a super carrier, a super carrier is the cerberus and this gains only 1 fighter slot with worse fighters. with the actual ship being worse and providing only a slightly worse squadron evasion bonus from the hanger.
when compared to something such as an artemis, it gains a lower cost by 450, more armour a support slot and better squadrons for what it loses.
https://discord.gg/bsgdeadlock