I believe it's that the Eagle has the best manuverability of the very heavy fighter class....

what about the light fighters? The Hawk and Banshee seems pretty nice...and they must be more manuverable than the heavy fighters.

You should also try the "Hammerhead". It's a Very Heavy Fighter ship made by the Bounty Hunters Guild. It's fantastic to handle, and turns really fast! Very nice indeed. But the "Eagle" is also pretty good for a Very Heavy Fighter also.

But in saying that I've not tried the Sabre yet! So I don't know how the Eagle compares against the Sabre in agility. But from what I've read here. The Eagle is the better ship over the Titan and the Sabre in agility. I have tried the Titan though. And the Eagle is way better. But most people seem to go for the Sabre because they say they are pretty close, with the exception that the Sabre has the Forward Firing Turret. That adds more firepower! Plus it does have slightly stronger Armour etc, over the Eagle!

So I would say take everything into concideration. Not just the agility of the ship. You can also go into your options, and change your Mouse sensitivity to maximum. I've done that here, and it made a massive difference in the ships responce when turning on other fighters in the game.

Overall it seems that the "Sabre" has the best balance of the Very Heavy Fighter ships. It has better agilty than the Titan, but slightly less Armour etc. And the better Armour etc over the Eagle, but slightly less agility.

Edited by - Gary Bolton on 20-03-2003 18:24:14

You speak very highly of some heavy fighters' maneuverability.

Do they have better maneuverability than the light fighters?

Unfortunately I only have the Demo version. Thus I cannot test it myself. I still have to wait until my full version gets delivered.

I would'nt really like to comment on that because I have not used all the Light Fighters. But I would guess the answer to that is NO! But a light fighter is not going to last you very long as your "Level Rating" in the game increases. Because as your Level Rating increases, so your enemys get better and harder to kill. So I would rule out using a Light Fighter all together in the longrun. You ain't going to stand much chance fighting against a group of enemy "Sabres or Hammerheads" with a high Level rating using a light fighter.

You need to strike a balance between: Firepower, Agility, Armour, Sheilds

You can't really expect to go for a light fighter that has the best agility in the game, and live very long with a high Level Rating, fighting against 10 Enemy Sabre's! I'll give you 2 minutes before your space dust.

You will still need good Armour and Shields. So I would say go for the Hammerhead at first, then progress to the Sabre when you have the Level Rating to buy it. You will love the Hammerhead because for a Very Heavy Fighter. It flys like a Light Fighter. The Hammerhead is the best of the Very Heavy Fighters. But it only carries Level 9 weapons, and has much worse Armour and Shields than the "Sabre, Eagle and Titan". Which can carry the best Level 10 weapons and Shields! So while you may gain one things with one ship, you lose out in other ways. Hence why I say you need to stike a good balance to suit you. But if agility is your thing. Go for the Hammerhead because you will like! You should try all the Bounty Hunter Ships. Because there ships seem to be the best in agility.

Edited by - Gary Bolton on 20-03-2003 18:45:02

I've used a number of light fighters, and I find that their maneuverability can make a big difference in combat. If you can't beat a VHF, you can at least escape from one. In terms of best maneuverability, I really can't tell you which is the best. As nimble as they all seem to be, it's hard to pick one over the other. The best of the best is the Rheinland Banshee. If you can afford it, it puts most heavy fighters to shame for firepower and defense. One step down from the Banshee is the Hawk.

If you're on a budget, I recommend the Cavalier or the Legionaire. Both are extremely nimble and fun to fly. They also have a low profile making them harder to hit. I would add the Pirhana to this, but I haven't flown it. The Legionaire has a long wing, but it's very narrow.

Anyway, I've used these ships to great effect. I've been able to face down great odds without difficulty. Anytime I start getting pounded on, I can go defensive, wheeling and dodging, until my shields recover. If I'm being evasive, I've found that I'm almost impossible to hit. Of course, this is all against the AI, couldn't tell you your chances versus another player.

i bought a drake and it was nimbler then any of the other ships that i have flown.
its got a good power rating and it seems to be a good ship.

"The basic difference between an ordinary person and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge while an ordinary person takes everything as a blessing or a curse."

The Banshee is one I am going to try and get a hold of, that or the Hammerhead. They need to increase the amount of ships in each area, or make the benefits of a light figher more in line with a VHF. I think there should be different cruising and normal speeds for the different ships too. Create some equality so that each ship could be used against any others with good and bad points.

StarFlier, anyone?

since i dont really like to fly light fighters, i cant really say anything

But of all the VHF i think the hammerhead has the best agility, turn rate

but of those that can mount the c10 weapons, definitely the eagle, but personally the sabre is better for the forward firing turret and it has a slightly smaller profile (shots can go though the middle )

Dagger, available right at the start, has 5 guns, Just love it.
So far I am doing ok with it in Rhienland, been through Bretonia, Kusari etc. Dont think its gonna last in Omega systems though.

Matching shields helps, carry multiple types, that way if you do missions you can use the right shields against thier weapons, makes a huge difference for a light fighter pilot. Also carry spare weapons and change them in dock before you start the mission.

With the Dagger I usually take a turreted StunPulse, just makes life easier getting shields down, have groups 1 & 2 for weapons, group 1 has all guns, group 2 has all except the stunpulse.