In Guns of Icarus, i think ramming can be very effective. I like to think of it as air ship kung fu. or more like a ball room brawl. As a necessary tactic and should be used wisely. Now there's a lot of builds for ramming there're good builds and bat-shit insane builds, Yet again ramming is bat shit insane.
I've come up with a theory... not sure if there is a established theory but I think the damage is calculated by the speed and newton mass compared to the speed and mass of the other
In theory the more mass and speed the more damage that's applied to it's opposite.
Theory to Ramming
Every ship has a different shape and different sizes of the hull. Each ship being easy to do damage to the hull and not being able to hit the hull at all. The spire, galleon and mobula having their hull big and easy to ram. With the squid and goldfish, their hull and their balloon can be rammed being kinda hard. I think the junker has the hardest hull to hit with the balloon being 2-3 times the size of its hull.
Each ship has symmetry when it come to engines, hull and balloon. Each ship reacts differently to ramming by turning, being tossed around and such. There are factors that must be put in to play. The enemy ships speed, how the ship is turning, rising up and down. I can't put a exact point on the ship that the ram would be most effective due to those factors.
What I use
Pyramidion- Princess Molly-
Slots
1. Flamethrower
2. Carronade
3.Mine launcher
4.Mine launcher
If you look at each and every ship the pyramidion is ideal and designed for ramming. Given that it's the second heaviest ship next to the galleon. Like a wedge the pyramidion has a triangle nose that extends over the balloon however, when you do ram the damage is mostly transferred to the hull. Being a disabling kung fu Pyramidion is at most my favorite to use. Yet it doesn't strip hull as much as any other builds, but it does take out guns, engines, balloon. It can be tough if the engineering crew on the enemy ship can maintain fire and damage from the carronade, I like to remember that all it takes is one mistake with chem spraying, extinguisher or any repair loops.
Theory build- I've seen this a couple of times
Pyramindion
1. Gatling gun
2. Gatling gun
3. Mine
4. Mine
The 2 Gatling guns can strip the armor in seconds then building up speed to the max for effective hull damage or one hit kill.
You can ram with other ships. The gallon has the biggest mass and I have seen some pretty devastating rams. With buff engines and moonshine... the numbers can be overwhelming.
Thaedeal: It is most effective to ram when the hull is down. If you ram the hull with the armor up, only the armor will take the damage and not transfer to the hull.
Blue, Sapphire sage, Sprayer: Use kersone to keep guns in arc. Kersone keeps you steady as you ram and reduces angular drag. Be cautious to ramming because your doing damage to your self as well.
Richard LeMoon- Don't always burn kerosne and moonshine and watch your engine. Use momentum and don't lose course... a bit of trigonometry I suppose. Its important to compensate for other ships movement and how the ram will carry you and what position you put your self in. You can do more damage as a straight run rather than turning in to the ram.
LeonXross- If there is a opportunity and I can guarantee that I can kill him its a no brainier.
Theory
The Jerk
I was in a match with me disabling a squid as it made it self against a wall. At full speed I tried to ram it against a wall but i missed and quickly kicked on the phoenix claw. I hit the wall with the phoenix claw and i went from a 90 degree angle to a 180 in 2 frames, it jerked me in to the squid. The turning of the ship instantly kill the squid. I know the squid had full health because i only disabled its engines it hit the wall and the armor broke.
Please add in your thoughts on ramming and your ramming ships.
