Carriers should build seaplanes

[vague jetty]

Right now, carriers are practically only usable as mobile radars/anti-nukes. While they can theoretically repair aircraft, in practice aircraft are so fragile that it is extremely rare that an aircraft will take damage and survive a fight to retreat.

The solution is simple: reduce carrier build power significantly, but allow them to construct seaplanes directly. These seaplanes will still be weaker than a dedicated T2 air force, but they would still add a significant amount of depth to late-game naval: a naval force that wins the sea can pose an air threat against targets protected against cannon bombardment, and air will be a consistent presence in late-game naval fights even without the support of a team's air player, with players able to choose whether to build fighters to provide anti-air or to build bombers to assault enemy naval/ground forces.

[next moat]

There's currently both a sea rework and air rework available in mod options for testing;
Sea rework splits carriers into 2 ships: drone carriers that spawn their own drines and anti nuke ships.
While the air rework tries to improve microability/survivability as well as value of individual unuts of air, making them tankier, and more costly

[fervent estuary]

Op but feasible, increase cost to 2000?
Might reduce carrier pgen nmeta, increase nfus usage

[vague jetty]

What's the advantage of a drone carrier with its own drone units as opposed to a carrier unit that can build 5 different types of planes?

Admittedly the air rework seems to make seaplanes just straight T2 units that fill new niches and have a side effect of "can land on water", so this might not fit as well with the air rework

[stoic barn]

the drones are cheap enough to be pretty expendable, and balanced around the fact that they can't be controlled directly

[vague jetty]

So when you give the carrier an attack order it tells the drones to do an attack thing?

[stoic barn]

yes

[vague jetty]

I guess with sea rework and air rework drone carriers make sense since seaplanes are T2 specialist units and the drone carrier produces a versatile air threat that can pressure an enemy with no AA

[crisp drum]

I think they ought to keep the old carrier in addition to the drone carrier, and just rename the old carrier to support ship. That way we can keep the air repair pads.