Neptune

## In-Game Description

*Neptune is named for the gas giant at the edge of our solar system, capturing Judge's mysterious and distant nature (as well as his distinctive blue tint). Its unique design is meant to interface directly with his liquid form, which can feel somewhat strange for other pilots who strap in.*

**Tactics:**

* Built to survive heavy damage
* Wings provide extra energy
* Ideal for both taking and dishing out damage.

## General

The Neptune is the work horse of the Starlink fleet, acting as a walking fortress in combat. It has a favorable balance of defense and energy that allows it to better sustain itself and hold its ground in the heat of battle.

As a Tank ship, it matches the Vigilance in terms of raw defense, but puts a larger focus on energy with its wings, making it more sustainable and capable of taking and dealing more damage over a longer period of time, similar to an armored weapons platform.

However, when not firing a weapon, the ship is sluggish to move around due to its low speed and handling. The ship's naturally Ultra-Heavy weight also increases the time it takes to accelerate, lowers the height the ship can jump, and the amount of time it can spend hovering in mid-air. This ship is not meant to be suspended in mid-air for very long unless it is flying, instead focusing on remaining grounded, where the ship becomes nearly unrivaled.

Its Ultra-Heavy weight can deal massive damage to targets upon a successful Shield Ram, and even force armored targets to lower their shields (perhaps even send them flying!). Its weight makes tough to move, and tougher to shove. When attacked, the ship is less prone to being sent flying compared to the lighter Performance ships, and can likewise stagger and/or send off enemies flying where Performance ships can only stagger them. Its Energy-based wings also allow it to pull off slightly more successive Shield Rams by assisting with boost costs. Considering its lowered acceleration and speed, however, it is more efficient to ram at point-blank, where the ship's defense can tank the hits. Shield Rams always deal fixed damage relative to weight and pilot-to-enemy levels, no matter the speed.

Overall, the balance of Defense and Energy lends well to its bulky profile, however, quickly recovering energy through tricks can be more difficult due to its weight and lesser maneuverability. The weight and lowered acceleration also becomes a major flaw when ramming, as sending a target flying means more energy spent trying to catch up to it to pull another Shield Ram off. It is crucial to corner the target in order to pull off successive Shield Rams. Likewise, maximize on defense, as it lowers the cost of using your Active Shield! This contributes most to how many times you can Shield Ram.

### Wings

The wings are wide, thick, and Energy-oriented. It gives the ship a wider profile (though not relatively that much wider) to an already bulky ship, which can make it tougher to squeeze into tight spaces; the wider profile does however increase your chances of ramming a maneuverable target. Its Starlink mounts (stubs where weapons or additional wings are directly connected) are straight upwards from the wing, increasing the ship's vertical profile when additional wings and weapons are connected.

### Paint Jobs

Like other ships, the "windshield" (area cutting through the middle of the ship) is not affected by any paint job.

The circular canopy and tubings on the side of the ship are not affected by paint jobs at all, as well as the two red dots and arrow underneath the ship. The top fins to the rear of the ship, and engine caps, are subtly affected by warmer-colored paint jobs, and support decals from paint jobs such as The Fast One.