Strike Thrusters

"Strike Thrusters are used by Xeno Division cruisers to allow protection of faster craft through vastly increased engines at the cost of weapon system output."

Description
Strike Thrusters are unique thrusters designed for the Punisher Cruiser. They massively increase forward speed, enabling cruisers to catch up to cutters, but heavily penalize ship damage as a counter-balance. They can only be equipped on the Punisher, Guardian and Bastion Cruisers.

Advantages
Strike Thrusters are excellent in blitz attacks, allowing your cruisers to move alongside your cutters and soak up damage while the cutters decimate their opponents. They are especially effective in base combat because there is no penalty against module damage.

Cruisers equipped with Strike Thrusters can potentially kite enemy fleets when equipped with long-range weapons such as the Shatter Driver. However, do note that you will do minimal damage as a result of the ship damage penalty.

They can also be used as a carrier pusher or to catch damaged enemy fleets, though cutters are usually better at the job because of their greater acceleration and firepower.

Disadvantages
Strike Thrusters take away up to half of your cruisers' damage capability, meaning that they are only effective as tanks in fleet combat. You are strongly recommended to pair them with cutters in order to have a fighting chance.

Trivia

 * The Strike Thruster's original purpose was to allow the Punisher Cruiser to tank for the Decimator Cutter.
 * The effectiveness of the Strike Thruster is a massive debate; many players believe that it will be useless due to the reduced damage while some argue that the insane speed will break the game.
 * This item appeared for a few days in the blueprint tab before being removed.
 * The icons that were to be used for the Strike Thruster were later used for the Xeno Armored Thruster.
 * It bears a similar design motif to the Blitz Thrusters.