I so wanted to try the new Attritioners and Ion Blasters that I ended up starting a new game of AI War instead of playing the AVWW Beta. Both craft are now much improved.
The Attritioners are great for large waves of low-HP craft, especially if the Attritioners are well protected and tractor/gravity turrets are used around the wormhole; it's brilliant seeing vast numbers of ships all die at once (all the more so when they are those nasty Etherjets trying to steal my ships). Kind of a shame that gravity drills are buildable from the Zenith trader, as that would make for a fantastic defense. I've only used them defensively though, so I can't comment on their offensive uses. It's kind of difficult to judge how much difference the extra damage that they are now dealing back out when a ship dies is doing, but they certainly feel more powerful.
The Ion Blasters are good too and seem to work as intended in that they can still do useful damage against things that they can't insta-kill.
