[eliex]

 Erm . . . this is kinda of my first poll . . . but i just have this really nagging feeling for a piloting skill . . . 
SHIELDS
ARMOUR               
or Speed?
                 Shields are good for keeping out of the way from stray shots . . .
                 Armour helps you live when you get hit by an AAAF beam or just run into a SRed . . . GTF Ares check it out! 
                 Speed for cowards, they never EVER help . . . and I mean afterburner speeds that reach up 155.

 Terran fighter of choice - Erinyes
 Vasudan fighter of choice - Tauret
 Shivan fighter of choice - dot, dot, dot . . . 

[Polpolion]

Why don't you like shields? I hope never have to fly intercept.

[eliex]

 Who said I never liked shields?
And i guess you mean speed, but I'm talking about excessive speed over shielding and armour like the Horus.

[Herra Tohtori]

Depends almost completely of the preferred role of the pilot and the consequent favourite ship.

Heavy assault/bomber pilot would likely prefer having lots of armour and firepower, whereas space superiority fighter would benefit more of the maneuverability brought by lesser mass, and they could spare the energy loss to shields from speed - and still have adequate primary capacity.

Reconnaissance fighters, interceptors and tactical* bombers would likely benefit most from speed, from quite obvious reasons. Strategic bombers don't need that much primary weaponry either.


Tactical bomber would be something like Bakha or Artemis... or the Zeus. Strategic bombers would be on the Ursa/Boanerges/Sekhmet group.


A good Alpha one prefers to learn to use all ship classes to their best capacities. I myself have always liked flying the Perseus, Erinyes, Herc 2 and Artemis (in missions where primary firepower is no needed very much or at all); and from Vasudans I've preferred Serapis, Tauret and Bakha to other options. From FS2 ships, that is.

So, analyzing this I'd say that I value shields the least of the three energy eaters (armour, shields and weapons).

I say armour because in FreeSpace, that's roughly proportionate to speed (and maneuverability) and thus engine power.

[azile0]

I would go Ubershield/Super fast Ship hybrid, but have low armor.

[TrashMan]

Ares is my fighter of choice...allways..ina any situation, for any mission

Speed and manuverabilty are overated. I find even the potato agile enough to dogfight with dragons.

[BengalTiger]

My opinion:

Speed doesn't kill, accidents do.

Therefore I vote burners, as they are the best way to avoid a collision with the dozen Kayser bolts that are flying at you.

[CP5670]

Between shields and armor, it's generally better to have more shields because they recharge, and you gain hitpoints from damaged shields at a faster rate when the fighter has strong shields.

In most situations, I don't think speed is a worthwhile tradeoff for the other two given how the FS combat mechanics work (although there are of course exceptional missions). In multiplayer, you will see people generally using slow, heavy fighters and bombers whenever they're available.

[spartan_0214]

Or some of us just like a nice balance, like the Ulysses or the later Vesuvius.

[Mobius]

Depends...

Speed at the beginning, there's no need to divert energy to weapons and shields. During a close combat it's whorthwhile to divert some energy to weapons and shields.

There's no need to do it when escaping from the enemy(with shields at 100%). Depends on the situation...a bomber pilot will behave differently, for example.

[spartan_0214]

Head-to-Head, I'd much prefer shields and firepower over speed and a strong hull. Shields keep you alive (if you use 'em right) and the superior firepower means they won't come back for more.

[Bob-san]

Shields are cool. I have a lot of fun shooting down "fast" and "light" fighters with an Ursa... the trick is making sure you don't get them into your normal sights. I've destroyed a score of fighters with the heaviest and best bomber available.

Anyways--my favorites list...

1) Ares
2) Ursa
3) Myrmidon

The Potato is my favorite ship--it's smallish (compared to the Limo, for example) and has gigantic weapons capacity, strong hull, strong shields, and even reasonable maneuverability and speed. After that I have to go with pure shields, armor, an automated Kayser turret, and anti-Cruiser+ firepower. Finally, the good ol' Myrmidon. Enough primary capacity to tear through shields with the Subach, enough secondary capacity (haha I love using Helios with them) to make quick and effective kills, enough shielding to absorb stray shots, enough maneuverability to outclass heavy fighters and bombers, and finally enough speed to make quick runs on enemies.

[spartan_0214]

You play multiplayer a lot, don't you?

[eliex]

 Generally pilots here like to play the offensive, cause their so good and powerful! 

[Bob-san]

You play multiplayer a lot, don't you?

Actually never. Anyways--I love the Ares, the Ursa, and the Myrmidon.

[BloodEagle]

Titanium is crappy as armor. 

[AlphaOne]

well i prefered oads of shields cuz aaaf beams or small beams i can try and evade and sometmes actualy evade them but missiles are a lot harder. Also i prefe to balance things out! usualy i go for the most powefull primaries i can get allong with the furthest reaching missiles i can get! Usualy trebs and those other things that can be fired 2 at once fast lock on not so powerfull! Forgot theyr name. Usualy i go for the Perseus Herc 2 Ares and the one with the 8 primaryes. Forgo its name also i much more prefere the Terran Mara if i can get it:P