Ryder? Pfft, no Ava is a ship gal. It would be a Cera Gunboat and she'd ride it like a coin operated ride.

Imagine a massive stack of paperwork.

Then add guns.

Bam.

I imagine Ava would wear a crisp black pilot suit to compliment her (possible) eyepatch, and that her Ryder would be another heavily armored one just like Kryska's but with some support functions to denote her status as a leader. Instead of calling attention to herself she would spend a substantial amount of energy designating a target to ensure all other Ryder's could peg it at a distance.

It makes sense for her to use a heavy ryder because (1) it was already established the Sunrider needed one and (2) Cosette runs off, thus leaving the niche vacant once again.

Yeah, while the Havoc sounded great on paper I found Cosette's Ryder rather useless once the missile payloads were depleted. Therefore another Paladin-esque Ryder would be more useful in my mind. A heavy ryder would definitely fit Ava's no no-nonsense attitude, and you could still strap some Torpedoes onto the frame if you're willing to ditch the assault rifle.

I also think a heavy ryder might be easier to learn off the bat because they don't do as much in a single turn as some of the other ryders due to their ponderous movements and heavy weapons. So much better for a beginner like Ava.

I imagine her ryder would look very similar to the old Sunrider, but sleeker, with smoother edges and a blue and white motif instead of the read and white one. As, in my mind, I see them getting an Ancient Ryuvian Assault Carrier, the design of which was the basis of Cera's (and later PACT's) assault carrier, but an actual working STC ship. Not the bastardized, jury-rigged versions that Cera and PACT use. That's what I see Ava using in battle in the next Sunrider game.

I just want her ryder to have a matching eye patch.

A Ryder that was actually useful in close combat with ships would be nice. Sure Claude had her Shotgun, and Kryska could finally get off an accurate shot - but neither one is intended to focus on dispatching enemies at close quarters (inasmuch as Claude should focus on support). The problem with ryders specializing, for me at least, is that there are never enough doing the same thing to apply the tactic across the battlefield.

Although since many Ryders were wiped out or MIA at the end (Chigaru's, Claude's, & I guess you could technically count Cosette at the end), I suppose the team will need to be reconstituted from the ground up. Hopefully the Blackjack will be more useful this time around...

Asaga, even with little investment, can cut through unshielded vessels with her laser once awakened - although this tactic becomes less viable when Chigara is unable to heal her mech in combat. A mixture of shield disruptions and gravity pulls is often enough to pull up a good target. Although this is usually the work of Chigara and the Mining Union Vessels (with shield disrupt and gravity pull) since Claude is usually going to be debuffing everything.

There is frankly never a long enough campaign with enough cash and points to make a real dream team with each mech leveled to perform their roles well. Atleast not if you want Sola to be able to score two hits in a single turn.

An Ava Ryder would likely be sidelined and forced to pull it's own weight using base capabilities if they bring up the full mech lineup again. This can easily be solved with more sidequests, which there were not enough of in Liberation Day - although this was likely to prevent easy access to the OP upgrade of the Sunrider's Vanguard Canon.

If you've ever seen that upgraded Vanguard in action you will cry UTE the instant it goes off with glee. But I only saw it because I was setting up one of my games on easy mode and had plenty of cash on hand.

I really like Ava in black.

Just read the news of a new sunrider coming up.

Coming back to this thread, it would be funny if they capture cosette a second time... and then Ava has to pilot the Havoc. You know, since Ava wanted the Havoc scrapped in the last game but you ordered it fixed anyways because it is a resource.

Ava: "I can't pilot this thing, it is associated with murder and destruction across the galaxy!"

Kayto: "Ok Ava, I'll just let Cosette out of the brig again and she can fly it instead."

Ava: "Damn it. Fine. Which button activates the giant chain-saw sword? You are gonna be doing so much paperwork later when the complaints and protests bombard us later. "

Kayto: "Don't worry Ava, we'll paint the Havoc black for you later. I bet you'd look good in a black plug-suit.