[Iranon]

Oh, definitely... 4 Helios (Myrmidon loadout) make a very slightly bigger boom than 13 Cyclops (full Medusa loadout) and can be lost far more quickly. So the Myrmidon is a valid choice if the Ursa is too lardy and you can justify using an almost certainly unintentional feature.

Regarding the Erinyes: While its overclocked cruising speed is rubbish, it makes up for it with good afterburners. Top speed of 130 isn't impressive, but endurance and recharge rate are very solid... unlike those of the Myrmidon (or even otherwise fast craft like the Loki and Perseus). Still not terribly fast, but better than it may seem at first.
Unless I'm misunderstanding something, speed comparisons between fighters change depending on the level you play - on low levels both overclock speed and recharge rate lose importance to afterburner top speed, since you can use them almost constantly if you max out energy to engines.

[Scotty]

At which point the Myrm is still faster than the Erinyes by that same 5 m/s.

needs more guns though...

Six isn't enough for you?

[Androgeos Exeunt]

Six isn't enough for you?

He obviously needs the fan-made Shai then.

[Woolie Wool]

Oh, definitely... 4 Helios (Myrmidon loadout) make a very slightly bigger boom than 13 Cyclops (full Medusa loadout) and can be lost far more quickly. So the Myrmidon is a valid choice if the Ursa is too lardy and you can justify using an almost certainly unintentional feature.

Regarding the Erinyes: While its overclocked cruising speed is rubbish, it makes up for it with good afterburners. Top speed of 130 isn't impressive, but endurance and recharge rate are very solid... unlike those of the Myrmidon (or even otherwise fast craft like the Loki and Perseus). Still not terribly fast, but better than it may seem at first.
Unless I'm misunderstanding something, speed comparisons between fighters change depending on the level you play - on low levels both overclock speed and recharge rate lose importance to afterburner top speed, since you can use them almost constantly if you max out energy to engines.

I consider the Myrmidon having Helios a tabling mistake and I would strongly discourage anyone from making a mission that allows such a thing to happen. It's completely absurd (just look at the size of a Helios relative to a Myrmidon) and it breaks the traditional role of bombers and bombs.

[Scotty]

But it can happen, and shouldn't be discounted because you think it was a mistake.

As such, the Myrm becomes one of the most effective bombers out there.

[Snail]

I find the whole Myrmidon having Helios thing utterly absurd.

If the GTVA can make Helios-carrying fighters than every bomber in the fleet becomes useless.

[ChronoReverse]

Especially when it can carry Helios but not Cyclops.  (btw, wasn't there a size comparison somewhere showing how a Helios is almost the size of the Myrmidon?).  And if they really had Helios-capable Myrmidons, then when the going got tough in the campaign, they should have loaded up every Myrmidon with Helios and sent them at whatever needed to be blown up.  I wonder how difficult Bearbaiting would have been with a Myrmidon that could run instead.  Have to reload more, but being able to get out of dodge quicker is nice.  Plus one rack of EMP Advanced missiles would keep the flak guns from being so annoying.


Anyway, recharge rates for the Erinyes is just about equal to the Myrmidon's.  The burners last for about 1.5 seconds longer but the trade off is a much lower cruising speed and a little lower burner speed.  Overall, I'd still take the Myrmidon.

[Qent]

I don't remember the name, but there was some campaign that had you flying a Myrmidon for the SOC in most of its missions. It had Helioses only in the last bank (which doesn't look nearly as ridiculous), and it used scramble to prevent you from changing it.

[Dragon]

This was present some of ITODH chapters (3rd for sure), prehaps it's the one you mean.
It was quite usefull when fighting large warships.

[Woolie Wool]

Especially when it can carry Helios but not Cyclops.  (btw, wasn't there a size comparison somewhere showing how a Helios is almost the size of the Myrmidon?).  And if they really had Helios-capable Myrmidons, then when the going got tough in the campaign, they should have loaded up every Myrmidon with Helios and sent them at whatever needed to be blown up.  I wonder how difficult Bearbaiting would have been with a Myrmidon that could run instead.  Have to reload more, but being able to get out of dodge quicker is nice.  Plus one rack of EMP Advanced missiles would keep the flak guns from being so annoying.


Anyway, recharge rates for the Erinyes is just about equal to the Myrmidon's.  The burners last for about 1.5 seconds longer but the trade off is a much lower cruising speed and a little lower burner speed.  Overall, I'd still take the Myrmidon.

For assault missions, the Ares is king. Sit back a comfortable distance for the enemy. Target enemy fighter. Apply Trebuchet directly to the enemy fighter. Repeat as necessary.

And it carries Maxims to defang anything smaller than a Sathanas. Sure it handles like a potato, but when you can strike enemies several kilometers away, who cares?

Subach/Maxim/Trebuchet Ares is almost a game-breaker in single player.

[ChronoReverse]

Well, for assault you do need a large secondary payload (I'd probably prefer the Sekhmet though).  The trebuchut and maxim cannons are rather OP as you say.


I find that if there's any significant number of Nephilim or Seraphim bomber wings, the inability for a pair of Trebuchets to kill them means that I'd end up more effective with the Myrmidon (which can also carry trebuchets) simply because I'd be able to get to them quicker (as well as being able to chase down bombs).  Being able to handle in a dogfight against a fighter screen is nice too.

Overall the Myrmidon is capable in almost any role even if it's not the best (unless you allow it the Helios whereupon it becomes the best strike bomber).  In a single-player game where sheer primary firepower is often very important, having a quad bank is really nice.  Besides, if the target is something you need to spray to hit, more bolts is better than slightly better gun positioning.  It's not like it's hard to aim at the edge of the lead indicator rather than the center.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

Axem also used the Helios-carrying Myrmidons in his Just Another Day mod series.

[Droid803]

You're given Helios-Myrms in many ITDOH missions.

[Commander Zane]

Especially when it can carry Helios but not Cyclops.  (btw, wasn't there a size comparison somewhere showing how a Helios is almost the size of the Myrmidon?).

I do remember this and I also remember being one of the people to mention it.

[Androgeos Exeunt]

The bomb is physically huge, looking funny coming from a GTF Myrmidon and also making it easy to visually target and destroy.

[Snail]

You're given Helios-Myrms in many ITDOH missions.

IDOH has a completely ridiculous storyline and plot anyway. Not that that's a bad thing.

[Marcov]

The best ship in Freespace 2, no doubt, is the Perseus.

A good speed, with balanced weaponry, and undoubtedly has a cool look.
It's simply overkill.

[Snail]

The best ship in Freespace 2, no doubt, is the Perseus.

A good speed, with balanced weaponry, and undoubtedly has a cool look.
It's simply overkill.

Uh, yeah. Your opinion. The Perseus sucks.

[Thaeris]

The Perseus is fine. The Herc 2 is better... 

As has been said earlier, the Myrmidon is really a fighter that is better suited for campaigns other than the main FS2 campaign. What might have been called by players as a second-rate ship in the main campaign is an extraordinary machine in BP - namely because of the Balor. In my opinion, the Myrm is a prime example of a good template for a fighter, but the template lacks an adequate filling. This is actually true of any fighter, really, and this principle sticks out like a sore thumb in several campaigns, namely in the case of my beloved Herc 2 in Transcend. Without the right tools, the Herc is in for some trouble...

I actually think the Myrm would be better with a single six-cannon primary bank that would work well with light, rapid-fire guns. Load up with Subachs/Mekhus and go for it! This, unfortunately, would reduce the overall functionality of the fighter quite a bit, though...

The capacity for the Helios is sort of odd... well, very odd. But, given the description and the configuration of the fighter, giving the Myrmidon bombs would be a rather tasteful addition to the "flare" of a campaign... though you might want to give the fighter something more reasonable like the Cyclops. Doing that would work quite well for a story, I feel. 

[Polpolion]

I actually really love the Mrym.

Sure, it's cannons are a bit off whack position wise, but I think what counts is that they're all grouped close together. All you need to know is that you should aim a few meters below the lead indicator for your target and you're set. However, if the cannons were far apart, then you'd really be in trouble. And the Myrm has six gun points, which is great. A subach only configuration is still a heavy hitter with that, and it only gets stronger if you switch things out. Sure, you can't get the maxim, but I honestly don't think you'd need the maxim that much on a Myrm.

The secondary capability for the Myrm is a bit misleading, I think. I forget if it can mount Stilettos or not, but with 3 slots, it's not hard to plop Stilettos into a slot and then be ready to take out a few turrets on any cap ships (unless, of course, the Myrm can't mount Stilettos ). And you'd still have two slots leftover for Tornadoes or whatever.

Though granted, it easily isn't the best ship in the game. You all need to understand, though, that you need to have some kind of space-superiority standard fighter, and it can't be something A1supar state of the art, or otherwise you'll be limited by cost. The Myrm probably fulfills the standard fighter role admirably, yet we never get to see the cost benefits of having a fleet of Myrms as opposed to a fleet of Herc IIs or anything.