[Singh]

Bombers - speed. I DONT want to stay near flak, no matter how much they sound like tasty cereals..

Fighters - agility. In a dogfight, especially outnumbered, agility counts a LOT.

[[$$$] Money]

It depends on the role of the intended ship.

A Dogfighter has to be Agile, bar none. Speed isn't that useful if you got a fighter that's constant nibbling away at your rear with guns. Flying away from him only gives him a chance to lock on with missiles. But of course, building the most agile speed 25 fighter is asking for trouble, he's simply too slow to make use of its agility.

On the other hand, an Intercepter has to be fast. While speeds in FS2 are quite close to one another, sometimes having a really fast interceptor can help. Especially when you have an evil mission designer who has enemy bomber wings jump on both sides of a capital ship or have you rushing back and forth two separate convoys.

For bombers, likewise:

Speed is good for assault bombers. Lock at long range, zoom in, launch at range 150 and get the hell out of AFB and flak cannon range! Imagine having a bomber zip by at a constant 100 without AB, dropping off a payload and zooming off again. This will make those high speed intercept fighters useful!

For multirole fighter/bombers, agility is more useful, especially more true when you have no or sucky escorts. This is probably one of the reasons why the Vasudan bombers perform a lot better than their Terran counterparts (esp. when you don't have a turret!).


But if I'm forced to comprimse, I'll chose Agility. Speed isn't really that worth it in FS2 except in the cases I listed above. Most of the time you're just zipping into dense dogfights and blowing every enemy ship up.

[Taristin]

Originally posted by Black Wolf
Speed. The overly manoeuvrable fighters just make the game frustrating for me, though they do make the AI more of a challenge to kill.

Ditto. Plus for a keyboard jockey like me, it's not always easy to steer those super maneuverable ships.  I like Heavy assault/bomber type ships.

[Black Wolf]

I'm a mouser, and I agree - heavy assault all the way

[Taristin]

We should derail this into the " 200 Reasons why the Seth is the most superior fighter in the game" thread..

[Black Wolf]

Reason 1 - That beautiful Afterburner.

[TopAce]

The Seth is really a good one, but I prefer more maneuverable ones like the Valkyrie or the Perseus. I even love the Ulysses and the Loki despite their resisting weakness in warhead capacity, because I prefer primaries in a dogfight.

Secondary weapons have little use against fighters at close range, you cannot have a lock on them even with a Harpoon if your enemy does sudden and quick maneuvers. The Tempest may be a good choice in situations like these, but with time you run out of ammo.

I wanted to write something relatively long as my 3000th post!

[Taristin]

Reason 2 - The excellence that is Vasudan Ship Design.

For my 5000th post, I posted that Mustang Render.

[Black Wolf]

Reason 3 - Faster in all three areas (Max. Velocity, Max Overclocked Velocity and Max afterburner Velocity than the Herc II, which was built for speed.

Reason 4 - Despite that, it still has a stronger hull.

Reason 5 - Despite 32 years of extra practice, the Herc 2 only improves on the Seth by 30 hitpoints in shields.

[Black Wolf]

Reason 6 - and it's got Six Gunpoints like a true heavy assault fighter should.

[Taristin]

Reason 6 - It supports more than sufficient weaponry configurations.

Reason 7 - Despite 32 years of 'practice' as you say, it's still preferred over the newer variant, Tuaret Class, which actually is a downgrade from the Seth and Herc II.

[Psychoo]

Originally posted by Black Wolf
Speed. The overly manoeuvrable fighters just make the game frustrating

Perfectly said, Black Wolf. FS should be source of fun, not frustration. Voted for speed.

[TopAce]

Too maneuverable, too fast, too small = SF Dragon.

[Jal-18]

Originally posted by Kalfireth
Bombers - Speed. I want to zoom in and out of the combat area, unloading bombs and getting the hell out of the way of the blast/enemy fire.

Fighters - Agility. Speed is all for nothing if I can't dodge out of enemy fire/turn fast enough to keep my target in my sights.

[Nico]

Originally posted by Raa Tor'h
We should derail this into the " 200 Reasons why the Seth is the most superior fighter in the game" thread..

Bleh, I prefer the Valkyrie

[aldo_14]

Can't go wrong with the Valk.

[Woolie Wool]

Originally posted by Moonsword
Agility, definitely.  With agility comes  a reasonable amount of speed anyway, based on the lower mass necessary.

And the Myrmidon's not that unmaneuverable.  Try dogfighting in a Medusa sometime because your idiot escorts won't or can't peel a fighter off your butt.  Now that sucks.

I did dogfight in a Medusa (Doomsday) and it did suck. But that still doesn't change the fact that a Myrmidon handles worse than a Herc II.

Originally posted by aldo_14
Can't go wrong with the Valk.

That ship is a death trap.

[Woolie Wool]

Originally posted by Knight Templar
Screw you woolie, Speed owns.

See the Athena.

The Athena isn't a fighter. Bombers need speed more than maneuverability. Fighters rely on maneuverability more than speed. That's why the Vasudans completely changed the nature of the Horus' successor from a really fast but rather unmaneuverable fighter to a moderate-speed but extremely agile fighter. Besides, the Athena automatically sucks after about halfway through FS1 because it can't carry Prometheus.

As for the Myrmidon, the six primary banks MORE than make up for any lack of maneouverability. I found the good ol' Myrmidon equipped with dual Prom S cannon and dumbfires was the best ship to use in dogfighting. The Herc II didn't pack a big enough punch, primary wise and the Ares was too slow. The Erenies seems like a good successor to the Myrmidon, but lacks gun power. That good ol' Myrmidon can go all day firing dual Proms.

First of all, the Myrmidon's weapons are not positioned very well. It is MUCH harder to hit a target in a Myrmidon than it is to hit a target in an Apollo or Hercules. Second, the Perseus' primary armament is better because it has better-positioned guns and can carry the Kayser. 4 Kaysers or 2 Kaysers plus 2 Prometheus S beat 6 Promeheus S any day. The Perseus is also almost as tough, faster, and far more agile. The Perseus is the best dogfighter in FS2 (except for the Terran Mara, which is kind of cheating), in my opinion. The Perseus is nicely balanced and very agile. Here's what's wrong with other ships compared to the Perseus:

-The Myrmidon has poor weapons compatibility, badly placed guns, poor maneuverability, and is a huge target from any angle.
-The Herc Ii doesn't have the primary armament to compensate for its poor speed and mediocre maneuverability.
-The Ares is, well, not really designed to dogfight. Shooting down a Dragon, for instance, would be very difficult.
-The Pegasus is just awful for dogfights.
-The Erinyes' reactor is too underpowered for its guns and its shields and armor aren't that strong.
-The Ulysses is not durable enough and its secondary capacity is negligble.
-You only get to fly the Mara for one mission.
-The Seth is not strong enough and lacks the primary punch to compete with the other heavy assault fighters.
-The Horus isn't agile enough and its hull and armor are so weak that it can kiss its ass goodbye if it gets in front of an Ares or Erinyes.
-The Serapis isn't durable enough.
-The Tauret has really bad gun placement.
-Despite its slim profile, the Thoth is surprisingly easy to hit and can't take that much damage.
-Flying a Ptah in a dogfight is suicide. Plain and simple.

[Liberator]

Maybe, but the Avenger is almost as good and fires faster.   Plus with it's tight primary pattern, heavier payload and faster AB.  I prefered the Athena to the Herc 1.

One thing that bugs me

and it's got Six Gunpoints like a true heavy assault fighter should.

Since when does the Seth have 6 gun points?

[Lightspeed]

Speeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed.

'cause the Horus 0wnz y00h. Not to mention the Valkyrie.

Seriously, speed is a very good tactical thingy. You can be everywhere at the same time if you're fast enough.

Agility can be improved with a good amount of skill. It is possible to out-turn Ulysseses with an Erinyes.

-edit: and yes, the Seth has 4 guns.