Role: Anti-Corvette
Attack: 4714
Speed: 307
Cost: 625 RU (3 craft)
Weaponry:
1x Pulsar: Anti Corvette/Capships
1x Twin Kinetic Autogun
Primary Role: Corvette/Capital Ship Killer

Based on captured Vaygr technology, the Pulsar Gunship utilizes a short wave Ion Beam cannon as its main weapon, dubbed the Pulsar. The Pulsar fires at a high rate of fire, allowing it to target fast moving ships. The Pulsar is also powerful enough to punch through Capital Ship armour.

"...these are Pulsar Corvettes, which include the ability to fire against larger ships, including frigates. This corvette includes a larger weapons array on top of it, so of course that can make it a  formidable opponent in numbers to attack larger strike groups, while still remaining nimble enough that it’s not going to take damage in its attack." - Dan Irish, Executive Producer

"There's a tactical component to grouping your ships together. If you have a group of battlecruisers, you can defeat them with anti-capital ship strike craft, like plasma bomb launchers or anti-frigate corvettes." - Dan Irish, Executive Producer

The armament listed in the Anark Ship Viewer item for the Pulsar Corvette is incorrect; it lists a minelayer as part of the armament, which is wrong. For those who are wondering how I know this, first take a look at the dedicated Minelayer Corvette, and note that the minelayer device is very large, taking up a huge portion of the ship's hull. Second, Relic sources have confirmed that both of the Anark-viewer ships have incorrect armament listings. Why Sierra has not fixed these, I do not know.

The pulsar beam weapon does appear different from the familiar ion cannons; it looks as if bright pulses are being sent down a dimmer carrier beam. On one of the images there appears to be a sort of sine-wave component to the pulse, almost like the "rail-guns" of Quake. In a recent gameplay video, it can be seen that the weapon fires rapidly, perhaps more than one pulse per second. In more recent shots, the beam appears orange-red.

I have actually never seen the kinetic weapons in the belly turret on this corvette fire, or even move or point anywhere but straight ahead. I don't know whether or not this is a testing anomaly or part of the normal behavior of the craft.