Using just the basic starter game/races, I was wondering a couple of things about fighters:
1: In the Federation, is there any reason to use any fighter other than the Leopard? With just Rockets and Engine 2, it is faster and or more cost effective than any other hull. With a Laser/generator outfit, this also seems true.
2: Is the Rebel fighter Achilles simply the best hull there is?
Are there any instances when armor actually helps a fighter? It just seems to slow them down too much.
I haven’t explored fighters in the Alliance/Empire, but I still can’t find an argument to use more than one hull type for a fighter per race. Are there any?
The Rebel Achilles fighter does indeed have a great advantage, because its intrinsic power generating capacity lets it use the Type 3 engine where the Leopard has to make do with a Type 2 engine. I haven’t played the Rebels in a while, so I am not sure what their other ships are like, however. Advanced Ablative armor doesn’t seem to slow anything down too much, so I usually field a few squadrons of slightly slower fighters in the general mix, just to take the heat off of the super speedy ones.
Actually, the Rebel Achilles is the hull I’d suggest using for rebels. It’s the dual laser, power plant and engine build I use in campaign. The Atlanta Bomber hull also sees limited use. I think it’s capable of some pretty immense speeds, although i tend to use it as a slower painter fighter that supports my cruisers
I always ignore Tribe when discussing the best hull. Tribe is, as i’ve presenting my arguments for elsewhere, in my opinion overpowered by that HP buff.
I only have the basic game, I’m on a Mac, and I’m waiting for the app that has tribes/conquest/online bundled together. I don’t have Tribe, but when I read other topics everyone mentions them. So for now, all I have are missions. I never have massive amounts of fighters. The most I use are for Gravity Well. Painters and Rockets are all I seem to need, but maybe that’s because I’ve only used the Federation. I’ve heard quite a bit about Laser Fighters, but without the Achilles Hull, they all seem too slow. Are there other scenarios where I’ll get to use massive amounts of fighters?