Use the ability with the Mothership's Malice. It makes Ruthlessness much deadlier.

Call me the day you'll fill 9000 supply with 1500 illum i'd like to see it

anyway, the crusader ability has an other advantage, its a dot (damage over time) so it means the enemy ships you fight all take damage in range, means that half hull passive repair is used for all those ships, its a nice boost and its also bothersome because when you see all your fleet under attak its quite harder to see witch ship the enemy is on focus.

But 3 illums die several times quicker then 2 crusaders. Illum spam is nice but can be countered without too much difficulty. Adding a mix of crusaders with th DoT makes a difference as above it effectively neuters regen which can turn a defeat into a victory or a rout into an escape.

I could have swore it did affect strike craft, at least i sat there watching a bomber tick down 98% 97% 96%. Could have been something else doing it but doubt it.

you crazy? ^^'

crusader can fight head on with a enforcer, and crushes a kodiak

they can go up to more then 30 damage with a halcyon ... and guardian + mothership = almost invulnerable

Yes after all the upgrades, which is a lot, and after u get lvl 5 carrier cap they do have highest dps per supply (not sure exact number).  But the game is usually over way before then, and it's hard to depend on HC as even 50% of your fleet's DPS. End that late in the game you would have to deal with Subverters and tons of ho-ho's.

Fact is unupgraded Destra dies to lvl 2 nanos, that's just pathetic.

150? thats a lot of fleet used for a single ship hehe. Talk about putting your eggs into a single basket. The whole point of crusaders is not their stats are better then the others in a vacuum but their synergy with other ships. Sending crusaders to harass carriers or support cruisers is rather useful. Especially with their extensive shields and shield mitigation they help redirect damage so its easier for your cap ships or carriers to survive. The DPS is small but does make a difference it is merely a matter of mathematics. Every little bit helps. A player who spams one thing will be defeated as his opponent makes a counter where as a balanced fleet that alters slightly in composition each time your opponent changes tactics will statistaclly win out over the others. With Advent fleet synergy is very important.

Like any other HC, Crusaders are best tasked to anti-LRF operations, and should be used in pretty much the same proportion as any other HC.

The days immediately after 1.1's release, the stacking bug DID allow such stacking to occur... its just that there are more... lethal... abilities which were stackable (Shield Disruption x 10 = 100% penalty to shield mitigation).

crusaders go up to 35dps with halycon and all upgrades