Gunboat (CivBE)

Gunboat
Ranged Sea Unit in Beyond Earth
Required	Habitation
Moves	3
Base Unit Strength	6
Base Ranged Strength	16
Base Range	2

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Game info[]

Basic ranged naval unit, available at Habitation (unlocked on Planetfall).

The Gunboat and its upgrades form the water-based support and artillery of Beyond Earth. As a sea unit, the Gunboat can only move on water tiles. It is capable of healing in non-enemy territory and excels when supported with Patrol Boats in clearing Alien Nests and attacking aquatic cities. Gunboats are armed with long range batteries that can target both sea and land. Perks allow specialization in a variety of aspects, including siege power, agility and durability.

Upgrades (Rising Tide)[]

Tier 1 & Tier 2 (Non Affinity)[]

Gunboats and Cruisers have designs inspired by that of Old Earth technology. Using conventional machine weaponry, they can provide a nice and safe way of dealing with aliens at borders during the early-game. They are quite fragile but deal high damage in comparison to the Ranger, its infantry equivalent. Cruisers can be adapted to deal bonus damage to land or sea units, which can prove critical in the long run as this bonus is quite high in comparison to later perks.

Gunboat-1and2-be — Gunboat (left) and Cruiser (right)

Subject	Tier 1 (Gunboat)	Tier 2 (Cruiser)
Tech Prerequisites	Habitation	Habitation
Affinity Prerequisites	No requirement	5 of any Affinity
Resource Cost	No requirement	No requirement
Production Cost	145 Production	225 Production
Combat Strength	6 Strength 16 Ranged Strength	10 Strength 24 Ranged Strength
Movement	3	4
Range	2	2
Perk Choice A	--	+20% Strength against land units
Perk Choice B	--	+20% Strength against sea units

Tier 3 (Primary Affinity)[]

Gunboats take the aspects of their sponsor's primary affinity in Tier 3. This is when Gunboats begin to form strategy styles - Tritons would excel with siege power due to their bonus when attacking cities. Destroyers would be great when stationed to defend choke points regardless of the perk chosen while Arbiters can either gain a bonus to defense or in typical Supremacy fashion; an adjacency bonus . Be sure to know how to use Tier 3 Gunboats effectively unless you want to be playing inefficiently!

Gunboat-tier3-be — Triton (left), Destroyer (middle) and Arbiter (right)

Subject	Tier 3 (Triton)	Tier 3 (Destroyer)	Tier 3 (Arbiter)
Tech Prerequisites	Habitation	Habitation	Habitation
Affinity Prerequisites	7 Harmony	7 Purity	7 Supremacy
Resource Cost	No requirement	No requirement	No requirement
Production Cost	325 Production	325 Production	325 Production
Combat Strength	20 Strength 36 Ranged Strength	20 Strength 36 Ranged Strength	20 Strength 36 Ranged Strength
Movement	5	5	5
Range	2	2	2
Perk Choice A	+30% Strength when not next to a friendly unit	+20% Strength when attacking	+15% Strength when next to a friendly unit
Perk Choice B	+40% Strength when attacking cities	+5% Strength per unused Movement	+30% Strength when defending

Tier 4 (Final & Hybrid Affinities)[]

In Tier 4, players may continue following a single Affinity that receive powerful perks or could invest in hybrid units that are typically more versatile and available earlier. Tier 4 Gunboats have varied mast-mounted long guns, like bomb vessels. Tier 4 Gunboats also have two diverging automatic bonuses that change the way they are used.

Primary affinity units (Tier 4)[]

Primary affinity Gunboats are not available as early as Hybrid affinity Gunboats are, but they tend to have superb perk choices that are unique to their affinity and suit their strategy. Vindicators are unique in that they can carry 1 aircraft in them if the appropriate perk is chosen. However, what is also unique is that Dreadnoughts are the only Primary affinity Gunboat that has less range than the other two. However, it also has an additional +8 Ranged Strength, which makes up for it in a sense. The perks here as well as the affinity choice must be taken into consideration into what kind of ship you desire.

Gunboat-tier4a-be — Poseidon (left), Dreadnought (middle) and Vindicator (right)

Subject	Tier 4 (Poseidon)	Tier 4 (Dreadnought)	Tier 4 (Vindicator)
Tech Prerequisites	Habitation	Habitation	Habitation
Affinity Prerequisites	12 Harmony	12 Purity	12 Supremacy
Resource Cost	No requirement	No requirement	No requirement
Production Cost	445 Production	445 Production	445 Production
Combat Strength	36 Strength 54 Ranged Strength	36 Strength 62 Ranged Strength	36 Strength 54 Ranged Strength
Movement	5	5	5
Range	3	2	3
Perk Choice A	March^a	+1 Range	+1 Capacity as base for Aircraft
Perk Choice B	50% chance to scatter a unit to another tile	+1Movement	Can move after attacking

a: March means the unit automatically heals 10HP per turn, even if an attack has been declared. This is a term borrowed from Civilization V.

Hybrid Units (Tier 4)[]

Tier 4 Gunboats can often take on aspects of a couple of Affinities. While they do not have powerful perks to choose from in comparison to Primary affinity Gunboats, they are available earlier due to their relatively low Affinity cost, so they can be influential during the mid-game.

Gunboat-tier4b-be — Mako (left), Countess (middle) and Wrath (right)

Subject	Tier 4 (Mako)	Tier 4 (Countess)	Tier 4 (Wrath)
Tech Prerequisites	Habitation	Habitation	Habitation
Affinity Prerequisites	7 Harmony, 7 Purity	7 Purity, 7 Supremacy	7 Supremacy, 7 Harmony
Resource Cost	No requirement	No requirement	No requirement
Production Cost	445 Production	445 Production	445 Production
Combat Strength	36 Strength 62 Ranged Strength	36 Strength 62 Ranged Strength	36 Strength 54 Ranged Strength
Movement	5	5	5
Range	2	2	3
Perk Choice A	March^a	+1 Range	Can move after attacking
Perk Choice B	+1 Range	Can move after attacking	March^a

a: March means the unit automatically heals 10HP per turn, even if an attack has been declared. This is a term borrowed from Civilization V.

Upgrades (Vanilla)[]

	Gunboat (Computing) Cost: 120 6 16 2 3
	Cruiser (Any Affinity 5) Cost: 200 6 24 2 4 Perks: +20% against land units +20% against sea units
Triton ( 10) Cost: 300 16 36 2 5 Perks: +30% when not next to any friendly unit +40% when attacking cities	Destroyer ( 10) Cost: 300 16 36 2 5 Perks: +20% when attacking +5% per unused	Arbiter ( 10) Cost: 300 16 36 2 5 Perks: +15% when next to friendly unit +30% when defending
Poseidon ( 15) Cost: 420 32 54 3 5 Perks: Heal outside of friendly territory +50% chance to scatter attacked unit to another tile	Dreadnought ( 15) Cost: 420 32 62 2 5 Perks: +1 +1	Vindicator ( 15) Cost: 420 32 54 3 5 Perks: Can hold 1 aircraft Can move after attacking

Strategy[]

The firepower and mobility of Gunboats exceeds that of any non-Affinity land unit. This makes them ideal for sea exploration, interdicting embarked units, and shore bombardment, especially against land-bound melee units, which cannot retaliate. However, Gunboats are quite fragile, especially in the early game. When using Gunboats, make sure you get the first shot, and that the enemy is unable to effectively retaliate against your initial salvo.

In the later game, Gunboats are very vulnerable to aircraft so air cover from Tacjets embarked on Aircraft Carriers are vital to their survival. Also, final-tier Combat Rovers and Missile Rovers are able to hover over sea tiles; Gunboats must use their speed advantage to prevail over these.

The Observatory building quest offers a global +2 for all naval units. This is a great advantage in both getting to the combat zone quickly and in ensuring you get the first shot. (Note that this upgrade is not available in Rising Tide)

In Rising Tide care must be taken to prevent Gunboats from being swarmed at close range by Patrol Boats or torpedoed stealthily at a distance by Submarines, using your own Patrol Boats and Subs in turn can be very useful in not just one of the situations or the other but depending on what upgrades are taken for the aforementioned units they could easily deal with both in their own ways.

In Universe information[]

Of all branches of colonial military the navy is the one that remains relatively unchanged from its days on Old Earth. Ships are still used mainly the way they were ever used; even though they're moving in the strange waters of a new planet. Of course, humanity is always trying to settle planets as similar to Earth as possible, and one of the principal requirements of such planets is to have abundant water - hence, this medium, even though it may contain some strange substances, behaves essentially the same way it behaved back on Earth. There were almost no major engineering challenges to overcome when developing water transport. Once the initial planetary survey was finished, GPS systems brought online and oceans were mapped, colonial navy was ready to start performing their duties.

Most basic ships look and behave exactly as their progenitors on Earth. They move with petroleum (and what's more, their engines are so efficient that they don't even need a lot of the resource!), are equipped with radars and guns, and may move anywhere on water. However, it turned out they weren't very suitable to face the veritable sea monsters inhabiting the alien planets. So, new models had to be developed capable of carrying bigger guns and thicker armor. Nuclear-powered Cruisers were a natural next step, and with bigger platforms and more power, more powerful weapons could be installed. HEW such as coilguns and plasma cannons, as well as multiple missile launchers prove much more effective against wildlife. Some colonies went even beyond that and started experimenting with lasers or poison-based weapons specifically designed to counter the monsters' formidable natural defenses. And of course, such weapons prove very effective against rival colonies as well. It wasn't long until naval combat started in these alien seas, and it looked a lot like it did back on Old Earth.

Civilopedia entry

The early Naval Boats built by colonists were based on plans which had been included in their colonial database. These plans were adapted to the planets prevailing conditions and available materials. The result of these modifications was a combat vessel, 30 meters in length, armed with directed-energy weapons and a variety of secondary armaments, such as torpedoes and surface-to-air missiles.

Although originally driven by CODAG engines, which made use of local petroleum, the ships were eventually augmented to support nuclear power. This development gave way to a variety of new ship classes, both large and small. Larger vessels were capable of carrying heavy Particle-Beam ordnance, which proved particularly useful against larger sea creatures. Smaller Patrol Ships were primarily used for exploration and contact with other colonies.

Although capable of operating independently, these Gunboats were often formed into flotillas of varying size. In times of Colonial warfare, the flotillas usually served as escorts for Carriers and Transports.

Interestingly, of all the colonial military branches, it is the Navy which remained the least changed. Although they now operated on an alien world, their mission and activity was nearly indistinguishable from what it had been on old Earth.

Trivia[]

The highest attack a Gunboat can deal in Rising Tide is from the Mako, with +30% when alone and +20% from sea units, making the total ranged strength attack 62 * (1.5) = 92 Ranged Strength.
The highest attack a Gunboat can deal in Vanilla BE is from the Poseidon, with +30% when alone and +20% from sea units, making the total ranged strength attack 56 * 1.5 = 84 Ranged Strength.
However, A Vindicator carrying a Seraph (tier 4 perk choice) can deal even more damage ((54*1.15*1.2)+(56*1.3*1.2*1.15) = ~175)
Due to the nature of the affinity requirements for Tier 4 hybrid units, it is difficult to get a Triton upgrade into a Dreadnought, Vindicator or Countess. A Triton can only turn into 3 other possible hybrids. Thus, the total number of perk arrangements would be 2*3(2)*3(2) = 72 arrangements.
The highest Movement possible on a Gunboat is 8, with a Dreadnought with the +1 Movement perk and the completion of the Observatory quest. Sadly, even with advanced futuristic technology, it is still not as fast as an English Ship of the Line from Civ5