[NGTM-1R]

Athena is a bomber.

The Athena is the game's heaviest interceptor.

[wardog300k]

I don't actually understand, why do people like Athena so much? I could not get used to it, I preferred Valkyrie and Herc in the fighter role, and Medusa and Zeus in the bomber, but Athena was ,,just another ship" for me, if I did use it, it was only for disarming and disabling cruisers.

[FIZ]

De'm gunpoints.

[Colonol Dekker]

It was a genuine pleasure to fly in freespace the great war.

[NGTM-1R]

I don't actually understand, why do people like Athena so much? I could not get used to it, I preferred Valkyrie and Herc in the fighter role, and Medusa and Zeus in the bomber, but Athena was ,,just another ship" for me, if I did use it, it was only for disarming and disabling cruisers.

Apollo's speed, tiny front/side profile, superior maneuverability to the Hercules, better or equal hull to all GTA fighters, superior shields to the Apollo or Valk, the tightest gun setup in FS making bomb-interception a snap, good time on burner, the deepest secondary bays on a fighter-like chassis you can get.

[Lorric]

I don't actually understand, why do people like Athena so much? I could not get used to it, I preferred Valkyrie and Herc in the fighter role, and Medusa and Zeus in the bomber, but Athena was ,,just another ship" for me, if I did use it, it was only for disarming and disabling cruisers.

There's some healthy respect for the Athena in the veteran comments here:

http://www.hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/GTB_Athena

And it's mostly about using the Athena for things other than bombing.

I imagine part of the problem is you don't see much of the Athena in Freespace 1. I got a new respect for the Athena from working on Frontlines, it wouldn't surprise me if I logged more flight time in the Athena there than everything else I've ever done combined. Also, in FS1, the Athena is flown in the earlier, easier missions so you don't get really tested in it. And I don't think I've ever flown against it before either. And even if I have, I imagine it would just be a bomber and not engaging me directly in combat. So while my respect for the Athena rose considerably I guess I still don't fully appreciate just how good it actually is not being used as a bomber. This'll be something for me to keep in mind later on.

I'm interested now who, if anyone, would have chosen the Athena as their favourite fighter if it had been up for selection?

[CT27]

For me, the Athena isn't bad, but I'm not in love with it.


Why is it classified as a bomber?  It can't even carry Tsunamis.  Just my opinion, but it kind of seems like a missile boat fighter (similar to the Ares).

[NGTM-1R]

Presumably there were pre-Tsunami weapons it could carry. It's built more to the role of defanging capital ships that most people would grab a Perseus for in FS2; get in, launch subsystem-killing weaponry or use guns, get out.

[headdie]

FS1 saw a massive upscaling in bomb technology and unfortunately in these cases existing designs get left behind, nut in this case redesignating or retiring the Athena hadnt happened yet

it could be that the Athena was designed to carry large rockets or very heavy guided missiles with "conventional" warheads for harassing cruisers but was not easy to retrofit to carry the much bigger tsunami