[Kosh]

Both. Even the shockwave does enormous damage to it, and it doesn't really have the speed to outrun it. On Argonautica I always use the Tauret because I never made it out alive with a Serapis.

[QuantumDelta]

stay off the firing angle the missile has quite a lot of travel time and the smaller warheads are pretty easy to dodge, especially in a serapis, but yea, I'd fly a tauret too if I didn't make good use of the speed.

[Kosh]

Well one Pirahna isn't a huge problem, its when you have the entire incoming bomber wing shooting them all off very close together that it becomes very serious.

[QuantumDelta]

Uhm... Why would 4 bombers be pointed directly at you when you're flying intercept?
Wouldn't that kinda defeat the point of being an interceptor?

Generally I dart in on one maybe drawing a second one off their target depending on how close they are, but that's never something you have to worry about in that mission.
Then go back and finish another/the rest.
Doesn't take long even on insane (even with the shield bug) with the right weaponry (proms/tempest).

[Asakura]

I only tend to fly either the Horus or the Serapis on Argonautica... never quite got the hang of taurets. The burners are fine and the speed is not absolutely hopeless, but turn rate does leave quite a lot to be desired. Never had any real problems with pirahnas either, other than having to move out of firing angle to dodge them.

[Commander Zane]

Uhm... Why would 4 bombers be pointed directly at you when you're flying intercept?
Wouldn't that kinda defeat the point of being an interceptor?

Happens to me plenty of times, and it's not because I fly into their line of fire, it's because they always bring it to me.

[Asakura]

Aquarius wing does have a tendency to dog you, especially after the Aquitaine jumps out, even more so if the rest of Alpha wing is out. Still rarely a problem though, the most the pirahnas should do is force you off the tail of one of the Nahemas. Just dodge, burn away and resume chase or hit the next closest bomber.

EDIT: This is specific to Argonautica of course, if you are being chased by bombers otherwise you are definitely doing it wrong ;p

[QuantumDelta]

Aren't they normally all dead before the Acquitaine jumps? :<

[Asakura]

There should be about 5-6 waves total, The most I managed to kill befoe the Aquitaine jumps out is 4 of them.

[QuantumDelta]

I feel I am going to have to play through the continue my play through when I get home tonight.

But yea, if bombers are coming at you in a group, assuming it's not on insane (then it takes a bit more work which I cba going in to) just corkscrew into them, and blow the crap outta one of them before the rest turn around, then just chip away at them.
It's a ***** with the lack of ai twitch but it is doable, you just have to get behind them without dying.
Certainly though it's not fish I worry about when they do that, it's those mega lasers :<

[Iranon]

A very strange craft. It's good at getting the job done when left alone (best secondary loadout of the light fighters if you can live without Trebuchets, Maxim compatibility, decent gun placements), it can survive furballs better than most others thanks to its target profile and agility. However, you can forget about mixing the two since you can't ignore being shot at, not even for a short time.

This could be so much better. Being a Maxim platform would be so much more useful if reactor output actually did anything. And anything that's supposed to be an 'advanced interceptor' should really be compatible with Trebuchets.
It does fix a hole in the Vasudan lineup (they don't have any other craft able to carry Maxims and anti-fighter primaries at the same time), but it doesn't do so brilliantly... they still don't have a nimble craft that can withstand some punishment. The Thoth and Horus still excel at their respective jobs, the last thing the Vasudans needed was another ultralight craft.

[QuantumDelta]

A very strange craft. It's good at getting the job done when left alone (best secondary loadout of the light fighters if you can live without Trebuchets, Maxim compatibility, decent gun placements), it can survive furballs better than most others thanks to its target profile and agility. However, you can forget about mixing the two since you can't ignore being shot at, not even for a short time.

This could be so much better. Being a Maxim platform would be so much more useful if reactor output actually did anything. And anything that's supposed to be an 'advanced interceptor' should really be compatible with Trebuchets.
It does fix a hole in the Vasudan lineup (they don't have any other craft able to carry Maxims and anti-fighter primaries at the same time), but it doesn't do so brilliantly... they still don't have a nimble craft that can withstand some punishment. The Thoth and Horus still excel at their respective jobs, the last thing the Vasudans needed was another ultralight craft.

Perseus has a better secondary weapon loadout, the Serapis' is Terrible.
Do you want a list of how many ships can fit inside the stupidly wide firing arc of the primary and secondary wide banks on the Serapis? cuz it's pretty big
The Serapis does NOT have a small target profile.
It doesn't.

If combat took place in a straight line, or you could permanently face your enemy regardless of which direction you were flying (ie; you were playing ****tonian physics) then sure, it would have a small profile.
However dogfights take place in a rotating furball with variation - the target profile of almost ALL vasudan ships is ABSOLUTELY HUMONGOUS, it's HIDEOUS most of them are as big as a Myrm and that's saying something!
The idea that Vasudan's have a small target profile is an absolute myth.

Just LOOK;


I mean ffs

[Commander Zane]

Compared to Terran fighters Vasudans have the smallest fore and aft profiles because they're flat pancakes.
The Pegasus is that big?

[Asakura]

Yeh, the pegasus is actually pretty big. However it is flat like Vasudan fighters making it hard to hit if you are not shooting from the right angle, and also hard to spot without AWACS because of its colour and design.

That picture only shows top-down of the strike crafts so it does not really give a very good idea of how big the target really is. For example all the Vasudan fighters, the Elysses, Pegasus and Astaroth have thin side profiles. The Dragon and Manticore also have reasonably smaller profiles from the side. The Erinyes on the other hand looks pretty compact in this one but is really quite blocky from the sides, as are the Herc MkII and Ares. The only truly huge fighters on that chart are Herc, Basilisk and Aeshma; Ares is arguable but that thing flies like a granite block anyway.

[Black Wolf]

That's actually a really good picture. I've never realized just how small the dragon is - that might have as much to do with their being difficult to kill as their table stats.

Oh, and the Thoth is a way better Space superiority fighter than the serapis, and much prettier to boot

[QuantumDelta]

Play some multiplayer TvT games, or spectate on me playing a tvt game, you will see how THIS is the only perspective that matters ;\

Side, front, back, you never see it, you typically see the top or bottom side of a ship from a very slightly rearward perspective, and because of the way it's moving your shots only ever see it from more or less this angle.

Disclaimer;
Average to good pilots only (read; 80+% of pilots).
The best wont let eachother on eachothers screens.
And bad pilots die before you get into that kind of situation. >.>

[Mura]

Yeh, the pegasus is actually pretty big. However it is flat like Vasudan fighters making it hard to hit if you are not shooting from the right angle, and also hard to spot without AWACS because of its colour and design.

That picture only shows top-down of the strike crafts so it does not really give a very good idea of how big the target really is. For example all the Vasudan fighters, the Elysses, Pegasus and Astaroth have thin side profiles. The Dragon and Manticore also have reasonably smaller profiles from the side. The Erinyes on the other hand looks pretty compact in this one but is really quite blocky from the sides, as are the Herc MkII and Ares. The only truly huge fighters on that chart are Herc, Basilisk and Aeshma; Ares is arguable but that thing flies like a granite block anyway.

You know what else has a thin profile? a sail on a sailboat, and yet it is the easiest target to set on fire and bring the whole ship into a nice fireball, it's the same with the vasudan ships, they might be thin from the sides, but they make a HUGE SAIL TARGET when you engage a turning dogfight, easy targets, trust me

[Commander Zane]

However it is flat like Vasudan fighters making it hard to hit if you are not shooting from the right angle, and also hard to spot without AWACS because of its colour and design.

You know what else has a thin profile? a sail on a sailboat, and yet it is the easiest target to set on fire and bring the whole ship into a nice fireball, it's the same with the vasudan ships, they might be thin from the sides, but they make a HUGE SAIL TARGET when you engage a turning dogfight, easy targets, trust me

Asakura already pointed the wide profile issue.

[Asakura]

Yeh, the pegasus is actually pretty big. However it is flat like Vasudan fighters making it hard to hit if you are not shooting from the right angle, and also hard to spot without AWACS because of its colour and design.

That picture only shows top-down of the strike crafts so it does not really give a very good idea of how big the target really is. For example all the Vasudan fighters, the Elysses, Pegasus and Astaroth have thin side profiles. The Dragon and Manticore also have reasonably smaller profiles from the side. The Erinyes on the other hand looks pretty compact in this one but is really quite blocky from the sides, as are the Herc MkII and Ares. The only truly huge fighters on that chart are Herc, Basilisk and Aeshma; Ares is arguable but that thing flies like a granite block anyway.

You know what else has a thin profile? a sail on a sailboat, and yet it is the easiest target to set on fire and bring the whole ship into a nice fireball, it's the same with the vasudan ships, they might be thin from the sides, but they make a HUGE SAIL TARGET when you engage a turning dogfight, easy targets, trust me

Vasudan ships suffer the most from this and I am well aware. Does not change the fact the Pegasus is hard to spot and keep up with though, even if it does show you the top profile at any point.

[NGTM-1R]

Perseus has a better secondary weapon loadout, the Serapis' is Terrible.

Call bull****, the Serapis' first secondary bank is half again as large.

The idea that Vasudan's have a small target profile is an absolute myth.

Translation: I have no idea how to use my fighter's rate of roll to present my small side profile at all times.
 
The AI can do that. The mother****ing AI. Don't tell me you're a good pilot, you just vacated all right to the title.