Current Warbirds

Shadow Reaper

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Keep in mind the Vanguard has an Electronic Warfare variant, that will be able to jam and scramble missile locks.
Maybe. My first choice of a ride right now is the Sentinel, but there has been precious little said exactly what the e-war suite will be capable of. We do know it will sport some sort of "EMP charges", which all by itself is very interesting. If you dig this kind of play, drop a post in the Privateering thread (in the Professions folder) so I can collect your name for when the time comes. Vanguards rule!

Plus they have the power plants for shields big and strong enough to take several hits. Something like the Prowler is all about that small sig. So it's low power, you wont be able to strap something big enough to even phase the Polaris. Your DPS will likely be lower than its passive shield regen, but if they hit you even once, you're space dust.
Both the Vanguard and the Prowler sport big guns. Right now it looks like the Prowler can carry 6 S4 ballistic cannons for a through-the-shield DPS of more than 6,000. It should hit much harder than anything remotely close in size, so able for example to take out a Polaris turret in a second-long surprise attack and clear a path for boarding.

I got the test out the warden yesterday but wasn't to impressed with the missiles on it. . .
The Vanguard are the only true fighters that sport an S5 weapons mount, and official CIG word is they include a missile lock system that is faster and more capable than any other fighter. Some of them carry S3 missiles. If your trial of the Warden was not flattering, could be worth another spin. Keep in mind that one of the primary advantages of missiles is they have vastly greater range than guns. If you are not locking and firing from >5km, you are seeing only some of the benefit. The larger a missile is, the harder it is to evade through maneuvering and counter-measures. Th Vanguard's shortened missile lock time is more important up close, but its ability to lock at great distance should prove to be just as important in the PU.
 

BUTUZ

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Y'know I've had a BIG change of plan recently, I've decided that I am not gonna buy any warbirds at all. I'm gonna buy warbirds after release with in game money,

There's always new ones coming out and your always melting and rebuying and changing your mind every time they patch or nerf, or release a new concept. I can't be arsed any more.

My money has now gone in on industry ships that are reasonably fixed in their approach and usefulness. "known quantities" for example a Hull series is good at hauling cargo, it was good at hauling cargo in 2015 and it'll be good at hauling cargo in 2019.

So that's me done. I'll use my ships to earn money in game and then buy whatevers cool.
 

Sirus7264

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Y'know I've had a BIG change of plan recently, I've decided that I am not gonna buy any warbirds at all. I'm gonna buy warbirds after release with in game money,

There's always new ones coming out and your always melting and rebuying and changing your mind every time they patch or nerf, or release a new concept. I can't be arsed any more.

My money has now gone in on industry ships that are reasonably fixed in their approach and usefulness. "known quantities" for example a Hull series is good at hauling cargo, it was good at hauling cargo in 2015 and it'll be good at hauling cargo in 2019.

So that's me done. I'll use my ships to earn money in game and then buy whatevers cool.
I agree with you with them having the ability to downgrade or upgrade ships at any time it makes it difficult to rely on the ship you want in the end fighterwise. Bigger ships are going to be bigger ships and will perform their purpose and I think are going to be a lot more balanced in the end. I think I may take a time out on fighters to and focus on the bigger ones as LTI will be more important for those anyhow(especially if you have a jav or Idris)
Maybe. My first choice of a ride right now is the Sentinel, but there has been precious little said exactly what the e-war suite will be capable of. We do know it will sport some sort of "EMP charges", which all by itself is very interesting. If you dig this kind of play, drop a post in the Privateering thread (in the Professions folder) so I can collect your name for when the time comes. Vanguards rule!

Both the Vanguard and the Prowler sport big guns. Right now it looks like the Prowler can carry 6 S4 ballistic cannons for a through-the-shield DPS of more than 6,000. It should hit much harder than anything remotely close in size, so able for example to take out a Polaris turret in a second-long surprise attack and clear a path for boarding.

The Vanguard are the only true fighters that sport an S5 weapons mount, and official CIG word is they include a missile lock system that is faster and more capable than any other fighter. Some of them carry S3 missiles. If your trial of the Warden was not flattering, could be worth another spin. Keep in mind that one of the primary advantages of missiles is they have vastly greater range than guns. If you are not locking and firing from >5km, you are seeing only some of the benefit. The larger a missile is, the harder it is to evade through maneuvering and counter-measures. Th Vanguard's shortened missile lock time is more important up close, but its ability to lock at great distance should prove to be just as important in the PU.
Yeah I think I need to take a step back give this ship another shot I did like the beefy defensiveness about it taking on 3 ninetails at the same time and beating them all was definitely a plus. I think the retaliator's torpedos really put the bar a bit high for my dislike on the missiles also so maybe I need to try both out and see where they both take me. but like it was stated ships are changing to much to fast.
 

Shadow Reaper

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I think the retaliator's torpedos really put the bar a bit high for my dislike on the missiles also so maybe I need to try both out and see where they both take me. but like it was stated ships are changing to much to fast.
Keep in mind the big torps are only good against large, comparatively sluggish opponents. For fighters you want S3's max.

Still no word about shooting torps down. If for example you could mount 2-4 Pyrobursts on the Polaris' S6 chin mount, you might destroy torps before you take a hit, which would create a decisive advantage in conflicts with larger cap ships. I would be interested to find if a Sabre with 4 Pyros can shoot down incoming missiles. A Harbinger carrying 2 Pyros on her chin swivel could suddenly become a very hard target, if it is launching ordinance at 8 km and the only way to hit back is with missiles.
 
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Bruttle

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Aurora Series - not real fighters, except the LN, if you are a real ace.
Mustang Series - only the Delta, but this is a beast, if you can handle her, looking to fixed weapon points.
Avenger Series - tiny but deadly because of the Tigerstreik; poor thrusters though.
300 Series - not good for dogfighting, except for the 350R, imho
Buccaneer - mother of all dogfighters; currently. Will be "nerfed" most probably. And you have to be at least a pro-pilot to handle her.
Cutlass Series - more a tank than a dogfighter. And the turret can't be operated by the pilot thus you need a turret gunner
Hornet series - was once the prior dogfighting series. Has become minor love and today is, except of the SuperHornet, way underpowered compared to the new released ships
Warden Series - perfect backup muscle, but cannon fodder in MP doghfight. In AC MP you will get ripped apart very fast.
Hurricane(not out yet) - like the Buccaneer it is planned to become a "glas cannon". Hence no dogfighter, more a hit&run kind of vessel
Gladius series - have not flown her much, but is something like the 08/15 standard UEE dogfighter
Redeemer - planned to become a troup transport with fighting abilities
Scythe - mighty fighter, devastating weapons. I like her very much, but have problems with this blade design of the wings. Hence I went back to my SuperHornet.
Freelance MIS - no dogfighter, but a missile boat. Always good to have one in your back like a "big brother"
Esperia Glaive - like the Scythe, but less agile.
Sabre series - is today that what the Hornet was once: the standard superiour dogfighter.
Retaliator Series - no dogfighter. The pilot of the bomber version has no gun control at all!
Esperia Blade - not released yet. Will most probably become something like the Buccaneer, powerful but fragile.
Very nice breakdown Sam. I also agree with you about the considering the connie more of a miniature capital ship. The Freelancer, Constellation, and even maybe the Cutlass are pretty useless at being specific. Can they fight? Yes, but not well. Can they carry cargo? Yes, but not much. Can you hop in them and experience 95% of the game? Yes, but not easily.

I see these ships as something cheap to run around in with a few friends. For really small orgs, these will be their capital ships. For new players, these will be their "Firefly" and they will use it to bomb around the universe and discover it for the first time. For long term or experienced players though, they will just sit in the hanger collecting dust. That's because if we are going to run cargo, we will do it in one of our Hull series. If we are going to explore, we will hop in our Carrack. If we are going into a fight, we will hop in one of our fighters.

After playing for a while, we will all have the ships that specialize in a task. So if we are heading for a task, we will have the ship that does it well. That doesn't devalue the lancer, connie or cutlass though. They are great ships. They're just not great at any specific task.
 

Sirus7264

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so i used some rec yesterday to try out a couple different S3 guns on my khartu and that really made a difference. i guess the m5a lasers are just garbage. i went from killing 15 vandulls in swarm by wave 10 to killing 10 by wave 2. what S3 guns do you guys recommend? i want to improve my fighter skills more so when the game is released im worth something more in a fight. i said goodbye to my andromeda today because of the banu i couldnt miss that gravy train now im one upgrade away from endevor/reclaimer.
 
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