Punisher Cruiser

"Built to be the front line hull of the Xeno Division, the Punisher Cruiser is capable of withstanding a tremendous amount of enemy fire allowing its allies to blast enemies apart."

General
The Punisher Cruiser is a Tier 6 hull with the ability to resist Alien Damage.

As a cruiser, this ship has great defensive capability and is designed to soak up damage.

Advantages
With high innate health, 2 shield slots and 6 armor slots, the Punisher Cruiser is designed to take a real beating and absorb damage while allowing the rest of your fleet to lay waste to the enemy from a safe distance. Its Alien resistance is ideal against Alien Event Targets as well as advanced Xeno Division Ship Weapons.

It can equip up to two hybrid resistors (Anodized Resistor, Skirmish Resistor, Hardened Resistor), further reducing damage from the three traditional damage types (Energy, Explosive, Kinetic).

Disadvantages
This ship is just as susceptible to kiting tactics as any other cruiser, with battleships reliably outranging them and being able to impede their movement with NET Torpedoes, destroying the entire fleet without getting any return fire.

The maximum armor mass reduction for this ship is only 35%, which is inferior to the 50% weapon mass reduction of other Xeno Division Hulls. However, the increase in mass reduction is more linear, gaining a decent boost with each upgrade, compared to the other ships where the bonus is only noticeable at Mk IV/V.

Trivia

 * The Punisher Cruiser is the first of the Xeno Division Hulls.
 * It is consequently the first hull with inherent resistance to Alien Damage.
 * The Punisher Cruiser is also the first asymmetric hull.
 * The Punisher Cruiser is the first hull to share the same design for multiple levels. (Mk I-II, Mk III-IV)
 * The Punisher Cruiser Elite originally had 360 AU/h sector speed, this has been changed to 390 AU/h.
 * A bonus to weapon speed was added to cruiser mark upgrades towards the end of 2017.
 * All player ships had their Resurgence values modified as a result of the late February 2020 update.
 * The repair time of all Tier 5-6 ships was standardized in the early February 2021 update.