The current builds make speedy fighter builds way too powerful. A cheap, fast fighter, like the achilles hull with a level 1 engine and laser, can kill 5-10X their cost. The only real defense is speedy fighters escorting y our ships, or a massive number of slots dedicated to fighter defense (turrets and defensive lasers).
I think the problem is that the current builds confuse fighters and bombers. Fighters should be fast, and deadly versus bombers, but useless against frigates and cruisers. Bombers should be slower, but able to do significant damage to capital ships if they get close. Fighters should be a defense against bomber runs, not incredibly deadly mosquitos unto themselves.
Absolutely agreed. How this is accomplished has been a matter of great debate lately. I personally am of the opinion that the light fighter laser weapons should be disallowed from causing critical hits on larger ships. Another issue is that fighters are most effective once inside shields but the anti capital ship fighter weapons (the torpedoes for instance) are ranged too long to hit within that range, making them impact the shields. That was likely a conscious decision. I also think that the fighter pulse laser should weigh the same as the beam laser.
We’ll see what Cliff does about it. I am sure he is considering what to do. My hope is that we have several types of usable fighters, anti fighter fighters, dedicated bombers with heavy armor and heavy fighters that can kill bombers and engage frigates but are still out performed by the light fighters in dueling. I wouldn’t mind a fighter gatling cannon weapon either… something with really short range and no shield penetration but good armor penetration and damage and the same weight as the lasers, but much less power usage (for other races fighters?). More variation in fighters is the key.