[Liberator]

Are you kidding?  The Tauret's weapon energy pool gets drained out by 10 consecutive Prometheus shots, a Maxim would proably drain it in 3.

Ares, Herc 1, Herc 2, BTW.

[mrfun]

I've always like the herc 2 in the original campaign- It can take on almost any situation and win.  The ares is like flying a potato.  The herc 1 lacks the speed that I like- I'm currently gettign very mad at the port (fighitng the zenith mission) because I ahve to dogfight and assault a capship at the same time and there are no ships in fs1 that can do that well, in fs2 that's exactly when you'd pull out the Herc 2.

Of course, the tauret is plainly superior and I take the perseus whenever possible, but of the 3 hercs the mk 2 is on top.

[Akalabeth Angel]

I like the aesthetics of the Herc 2 myself, followed by the Herc 1 and lastly the Ares. The Ares is powerful, but it's a low tub. Like the other guy said, I prefer the Tauret to the lot as I do most of the fighters in general (Horus is best interceptor for instance, it's so damn fast!).

[Mongoose]

Definitely the Herc 1.  I loved that ship in FS1; it could deal out a huge amount of damage while taking a huge beating .  The Herc 2 was a downgrade in every way.  It felt more sluggish, its afterburner took a year to recharge, and the lack of a quad primary bank was a huge no-no.  As for the Ares, the real reason I didn't vote for it is because you don't fly it at all during the campaign.  Plus, its turn rate is a little too slow to be an effective dogfighter.  But boy, can it dish out/take damage .

[Pnakotus]

The best ships look powerful; mailed fists ready to smite your enemies, fingers pointing accusingly at the traitors, or mighty claws to tear ships apart.  They do not look like dolphins.  Herc 1.

[Trivial Psychic]

Originally posted by Mongoose
As for the Ares, the real reason I didn't vote for it is because you don't fly it at all during the campaign.

Um... never played the SOC loop missions?

[TrashMan]

You had in the last few missions with the Blue Lions...

[Hippo]

I have to admit, i flew it only once or twice... I read it was a potato in the tech room, and decided not to get mashed... Herc 1 is my favorite...

[NGTM-1R]

Ares is fun to fly in one or two missions of the last few in the campaign, like Dunkerque. There you can just park yourself off the Arcadia and lob missiles at people.

[Cyker]

I love the Ares!
Admittedly it's slower than most of the bombers and turns about as fast, but it's got GOBS of armour and shielding, and has a decent power reserve.

Anti-fighter assaults in an Ares are so simple: Just load up on Trees and nuke them all at long range while you plod along
IMHO, the Ares is also the best cap-ship neutralising fighter in the game; It can survive being AAA's better than any other craft and you can load up with Pira's and a Maxim and just shred the capship's subsystems from long range
On top of that, it looks cool, like it was *made* to blow **** up

After that, the Mk1 - Again, slow and heavy, but decent armour and it has the fire power. I like the gun arrangement too - 2 centre guns for accurate fire, and quad outer guns for damage.

I always hated the Mk2. It's only saving grace is that it's got a very large secondary bank, but it's primary systems are so weak! A flipping Myrm has more power than the Mk2!
The Mk2, at first glance, has a nice balance, but it ends up being a jack of all trades and master of none - I'd always ignore it in favour of a Mk1 for long-term survivability and heavy damage or a Myrm for speed and damage.

[Kie99]

Originally posted by BD
mk1
mk3 (you guys will see that when a certain campaign drops)
mk2
Ares

You should know that the Ares is the Herc Mk 3

[Taristin]

While I'd much prefer a Seth, or Serapis, I'd have to agree that the Ares is the best. It's the coolest looking of the lot, too.

[Janos]

I admit Ares is slow, cumbersome and not the most manouverable of the fighters, but Jesus Christ if you can't nuke **** up while flying one.

The amount of Tornadoes it can carry + heavy-duty armour + 6 UD-8's gives you edge over any fighter, if you know how to actually use your missiles and aim. When enemy engages afterburner, just decelerate and lob two double-salvoes of Tornadoes up his ass.

[varus]

Herc II
Herc I
Ares

This is kind of a weird switch for me.  First time I played through the main FS2 campaign, I loved the Ares (due to the sit back and blast everything to peices with trebuchets strategy).  

But the next time through, on a higher difficulty level, I HATED the thing.  So slow, so hard to maneuver.  Yes, it can make a mess with a bank of tornadoes and a bank of trebs, but, in my point of view, a Herc II with Kayser/Subach (or Kayser/Maxim if you want to play with energy management), one bank of harpoons and one bank of trebs can do almost as much damage.  

Ares has one shot to kill an opponent (unless using trebs),  After that, a good pilot will leave it dead in space.

As for the Herc 1 versus Herc 2;  Well, considering that I have terrible accuracy with primary weapons, having two extra primary gun mounts does me almost no good.  Also, the Herc 2's second bay can carry 40 harpoons.  The herc 1 can carry 48 total.  Hmmm.

I fly the Herc II whenever possible, shield and engine power boosted slightly except for the end levels when you have the Kayser.  If not that, then the Herc 1.  And if I can't get either, I complain.

[Cabbie]

I'm also one of those few people who love the Herc 2. Although its not a powerhouse like the original and the Ares. I love its agility (for a heavy fighter) and the huge amount to missles it can carry.

Perfect for those long missions where you take down waves on waves of enemies  without worrying about running out of missles or handling like a potato because you can't turn fast enough to shoot those Manti/Dragons sliding around and shooting your butt. (Which is usually the case if you like to play in Difficult or Insane)

On top of that the Herc II is a very good ship against the most formidable opponent of them all = another human player.

[Taristin]

Flipper. They call him Flipper.


not sure if this has anything to do with anything...

[Cabbie]

Originally posted by Raa
Flipper. They call him Flipper.


not sure if this has anything to do with anything...

As you know, dolphins can be very dangerous too...  (you know, those cases where dolphins would accidentally impale human beings by ramming into them...)

[phreak]

Originally posted by Goober5000
Phreak, can SA add the Maxim to the Tauret's list of supported weapons?  That always annoyed me in FS2.  Why have a heavy assault fighter that can't carry your best heavy assault primary?

Thats what the Reshef is for.  pretty much like a vasudan erinyes.

[Mongoose]

When I said you don't fly with the Ares during the campaign, I meant by default.  I don't think I've changed the default ship for any misison more than once or twice; I like going with what the mission designer thought was the best ship.

Plus, I'm lazy .

[Taristin]

Originally posted by Cabbie


As you know, dolphins can be very dangerous too...  (you know, those cases where dolphins would accidentally impale human beings by ramming into them...)

If Night Hammer were here, He'd laugh.