Venator-class Star Destroyer

* Empire
* Black Sun

Empire Fighter Upgrade:

* Galactic Mode: 8
* Tactical Mode: 36

Black Sun:* None

Empire:

* Not Buildable

Empire Fighter Upgrade:

* 1000 Credits (Galactic Conquest)
* N/A Credits (Space Skirmish)

Black Sun:* 220 Seconds (Galactic Conquest)
* 61 Seconds (Space Skirmish)

Empire Fighter Upgrade:

* 20 Seconds (Galactic Conquest)
* N/A Seconds (Space Skirmish)

Empire Fighter Upgrade:

* Imperial Advanced-Fighter Dockyard

Non-Targetable:

* 2x Lt Dual TL
* 2x Flak LC
* 4x LC
* 1x Hangar

Empire Fighter Upgrade:

* 2/6 TIE-Fighter Squadron
* 1/3 TIE-Bomber Squadron

Black Sun Loadout:

* 1/3 ARC-170 Squadron
* 1/3 CloakShape Squadron
* 1/3 T-Wing Squadron

### Unit Abilities

Power to Main Batteries:Diverts all power to the ships main weapons. Increases fire rate of main weapons immensely, but disables all other weapons, stops shield recharge and slows down movement speed.

## Player Evaluation

### Black Sun

The Venator-class Star Destroyer is a staple of the Black Sun's roster, buildable from any Large Pirate Haven and of the few capital ships the player starts with, the Venator makes up the bulk of them. the fighter loadout of the Black Sun Venator is arguably stronger than that of the Imperial Loadouts carrying ARC-170s, T-Wings and CloakShapes, the ARCs and T-Wings being valuable strike fighters that are almost essential for the Black Sun to make use of to be able to fight off fleets of more advanced warships until they themselves gain access to stronger vessels and CloakShapes being useful against large blobs of TIEs and low tier Rebel fighters with their cluster rockets.

As for the Venator itself, it is clear that it does not hold a candle to modern capital ships, it's survivability is poor by comparison to modern capital ships, it does however have a decent array of weapons, combined with power to main batteries these ships can still fight, using them intelligently is essential for this however, knocking out shield generators and engines with the fighters and stripping gun batteries from hulls with the main guns, the Venator has it's weaknesses, relatively weak armor, two shield hardpoints that can be easily taken out by bombers and strike fighters, the majority of it's weapons are also hardpoints that when destroyed leave the Venator near useless in a fight, rockets and missiles can dish out massive damage to the Venator. one leg up the Venator has is that it is has one of the higher top speeds of capital ships in the game despite it's low acceleration, taking a while to get up to that top speed.

As for battle tactics, Venators are midranged capital ships, best kept in the main battle line infront of/along side weaker support and artillery ships but behind tankier frontline brawlers. notable pairings are Acclamator Assault Ships that provide more of the same fighters and good anti corvette and fighter weapons and Providence-class Carrier/Destroyers which provide additional fighters along with being a powerful frontline brawler that can draw fire away from the Venator.

It should also be mentioned that if one so chooses Venator-class Star Destroyers can be taken to a Ship Refitter and refitted into Venator-class Star Destroyer (Refit) which strip out the fighter bays and replace them with more powerful reactors and more powerful weapons to better combat modern capital ships.

### Galactic Empire

Faster then an ISD in a straight line, carrying all the fighters you will ever need, yet less well armed than a Victory class, its the Venator!

In all seriousness though, most of the details about weaponry, survivability, maneuverability, and playstyle can all be found in the above black sun section because the imperial variant is for all intents and purposes identical to the buildable ones the black sun gets (The regular not the refit). The main differences between the two aside from the factions that operate them are the fighters, the ability to build them, and the difference in refits.

Starting with the fighters, the Imperial Venator has arguably worse fighters than the black sun variant since its carrying old V-wings and they both share ARC-170s being carried as well. However the V-wings are better than the base-line Imperial fighters that you start out with as they are shielded and also have an astromech repair ability, greatly boosting their survivability over the standard TIE Fighter. The ARC-170's that are found alongside these V-wings function well not only as light strike craft but also as scouts thanks to their impressive sensor range which is only beat out by the Rebel Longprobe Y-wing and the later TIE Scout.

You may have noticed I also mentioned a refit, the Imperial refit, unlike the black sun one which takes the ship from a carrier and turns it into a battleship, simply replaces the aging clone wars era fighters with TIE Fighters and TIE Bombers. Both of the replacements have worse survivability than the V-wings and ARC-170's they replaced but it does come at the benefit of improved Striking power thanks to the TIE Bomber's improved payload of assault missiles and medium proton torpedoes compared to the ARC-170s light proton torpedoes. This refit also comes with an expense of 1000 credits.

I also mentioned that the Empire cannot build the Venator, this is mainly due to the Empire not only discontinuing the ship line and replacing it with the Victory and Imperial class, but also scrapping or selling a majority of the remaining fleet whilst saving a few for patrol duties and escort. This fact makes the Venator much more valuable to an Imperial player as these ships can only be acquired through some luck with mission rewards. All in all the venator is one of the best heavy support ships the player can give their ISDs and the only proper battlecarrier in the imperial roster.

## Lore Description

The Venator-class Star Destroyer, also known as the Republic Attack Cruiser or Jedi Cruiser, is an extremely famous warship and perhaps the second most recognizable ship in Star Wars next to the Imperial Star Destroyer line. The Venator was designed by Kuat Drive Yards and built at their orbital shipyards. The Venator was the first main capital ship to actually be implemented into the GAR as the Acclamator, while formidable, was still just a frigate sized ship and was also a troop carrier, causing it to be reluctantly used in combat due to the value of equipment and men on board. The Venator was considered the backbone of the Republic Navy, and was designed to be the most versatile warship in the galaxy. Being able to perform the role of both a carrier and frontline warship, the design was ingenious as the hull spanning the front wedge was hollowed out to make room for a massive hanger. This hanger could carry massive amounts of starfighters, troops, and equipment in a highly configurable combination. In addition to the obvious advantages, the Venator featured heavy turbolaser cannons and could preform orbital bombardments. Aside from this, the Venator had advanced sensors, large provision stores, and powerful engines. After the extreme success of the Venators in the Clone Wars, various factions were foaming at the mouth to get their hands on one. The Imperials stopped purchasing them, however, they did refit their existing ships to have better chances on the field and assigned them to patrol duties on important systems. Pirate factions and criminal organizations like the Black Sun and Hutt Clans bought a few and outfitted them with pirate crews and fighters, painting them in their signature logos and colors. Private military factions also took notice of the Venators, such as the CSA, who bought a few of their own. A unique case being General Kota, who purchased and heavily modified a Venator to outgun Imperial Star Destroyers and serve as a mobile base for his resistance. Even though the Venator is outdated, it has continuously outperformed other modern ships of it's class, a testament to the ingenious and iconic design.