To have maximum advantage against the Rheinland ships I suggest getting the Bretonian heavy fighter instead since it carry heavier components,along with molecular based weaponry like the adv. rippers & using Positron-based shielding since there molecular based weaponry is weakest against this type of shield weather it be Tachyon based or not.

i find the best way to deal with these was to boost at them firing, drop a mine just before you pass them, spin around and hit the tail. then cruise while rebuilding shield, then repeat. btw up until i had the anubis i was a light fighter only man; they are so much better than the fat boys

Well I finally made it to Leeds. Talk about a long fight. I was out of batteries after the 1st ambush, and felt a wave of relief when I finally smoked the last fighter. Then I get ambushed again at the jump hole. Criminy! I wound up flying in cruise mode for much of the fight, and waited until I had a clear shot at one to break out of it. I'd launch a few seconds worth of shots before the other 2 homed in on me and then I'd resume cruise mode while the shield regened. The AI in this game is so aggravating. If they want the professor that bad, why aren't all their ships going after him? That's a different problem though.

Anyways, now I'm starting the next mission and I think I am in way over my head. How in the world am I supposed to tackle that big battleshipt guarding the Tau jump gate? Do I need to go back and get a heavy fighter w/ torpedos? I'm still getting shredded by Rheinland weaponry. I Even switched to a positron shield and it is still getting smoked. What weapons are those rheinlanders really using on their ships? What weapon has the ultrafast firing green ray? Seems like a really kick-butt weapon that would be worth using, but I haven't found anything that fires green rays yet.

That's a Rheinland Weapon.
Can only get it after SP...I think.

Anyway, always try to get the best ship you can.
By this, I mean the HFs..Or VHFs.
You can buy the Crusader HF in Bretonia Space.
It should last much longer than the Cavalier.
Judicious use of the Thrusters (Always buy the best available) will save you many times.
Learn to discern when fighting is a viable option.

*Spoiler*
Once you get to Kusari Space, get the Dragon or the Barracuda immediately.
Boh are HFs that will serve you well towards the end game.
Remember, for the 4 factions, all their HFs can be purchased at the respective battleships.

yes. . .how could i forget . . . the barracuda. . . well, get that one. forget dragons. get the barracuda. . . it'll take u as far as u need, up until the anubis. then take the anubis ($1100 ) get a torp launcher into ur barracuda. i htink u have to be at lvl 10 for that, so try wat i do; i got a defender early in the game, in liberty space, onboard one of the battleships, the one u have to go to after u catch ashcroft i think. missouri i htink it was. well, it took me this far, mission 9, without too much trouble. but get the barracuda. u'll need it. here's wat i do to tackle them: get a good booster on board the HOOD b4 racing. then, after u win, u go to the ambushed base. use ur booster to get to the rear or ur enemies b4 blasting. then, if ur far away, they might turn around for a head on fight. heres when having missiles comes in handy. i only carry javelins. take out their shields with ur guns b4 doing anything. after that, get into a head on fight or boost really near them, and fire. that should take out a good bit or their armour, then repeat.

presently, my world is upside down, so if u do not mind, u'll have to tok to my a$$

It looks like I'll have to replay from an earlier save point. I had tried the Crusader in an earlier game, but got jumped by 6 bountyhunters (why are they after me again?), and they tore me apart. I'll try it again.

I always do have the best engines and shields I can affored. Up to now I've been avoiding the tachyon weapons since the others have a bigger punch. But knowing that both the bounty hunters and Rheinland vessels have molecular shields means it is likely better to use some tachyon stuff against them.

try approching the from the side or from the back. that way they can´t fire at you at the first...

Also if memory holds, the rhineland weapons are tachyon weapons, get a shield that is strong to tachyon if possible. Seems like you can never buy a good lvl loadout of weapons for your fighter. So I went on an outcast slaying campain and mounted their salvaged weaponry, 4 maxed out for fighter class guns, with twin catapult launchers made fairly short work of them rhinelanders, also good mine usage. Just keep ducking and dodgeing, and remember all battleships have blindspots, and most of these blindspots provide good cover from incomming fire.

Yes the Rheinland weapons aka Steathblades are being used against you the player from the heavy fighters which are weakest against positron as I said before.What got me through that mission were basically 2 rippers{lvl4},3 advanced rippers{lvl5} & 1 catapult missile launcher{lvl5} & a Level 4 positron heavy fighter shield & a heavy thruster.This should allow you to get through the mission,btw the Battleship that is blocking the jumphole will be destroyed by the Rheinland turncoats so you shouldn't have to worry about a torp. launcher for now until the next mission.

Cavalier is good enough for the rhinelanders...I never took a bit of hull damage in my cavalier. I replaced that with a hawk(choosing it over the barracuda for the improved maneuverability).

The key is your thruster. Use your thruster every time something starts hitting you. If you don't have an advanced or heavy one, use it in short bursts. It works wonders for your survivability.

Finally, avoid flying in a straight line as much as possible. When you can, come in for attack runs from an angle so that your ship curves toward the target. THe more you throw off their aim, the better.

Reaper: $200,000,000.
Rockets: $100,000
The look on that pilot's face when you launch a full pod of screamers up his tailpipe: priceless

The best way to fight these pesky Rheinland Valkyries is first to know them better: they are armed with 4 of those deadly StealthBlades(which is a level 6 Tachyon cannon, with a refire rate of 5.88-this is is not the fastest but its seemed to me it fires as fast as a Wakizashi-which has a 8.33 refire rate!!!).
The Stealth Blade is weakest against positron Shields indeed but u need at least a lvl 5 shield (btw u can find one in the Dublin system) to make a difference in defence since its equivalent with a lvl 4 graviton shield in hitpoints and recharge rate. I also recomend that u try to capture some Dublin Dusters or Angelitos...from the Corsairs, by flying missions on batteship Essex from Dublin. cause they do 120 hull damage and thats the bigest problem with the Valkyries - the hull, NOT the shields, since they carry only lvl 3 Molecular shields(1080 hit points, 24 recharge rate) and their hull is rated at 5800 hit points.
I ussualy tried to take out thier shields quickly in a head on aproach or by tailing them then fired a Slingshot Missile at burner speed wich reduces their hull to 1/3...than its easy, a few shots and they die. If u observe some green stuff on u're tail for more than 2 secs, break off quickly cause after 2 more u'll be dead, or almost...
The best fighter to fight them is probably the legionaire since is the most maneuvrable and thoughest than the cavalier...but than again it is possible to take them in a Crusader as well(I did that)...or even in a freighter if u;re really nutts...i've not tryed that yet.

The reason the bounty hunters are after you is because there's a bounty on your head because Juni shot that cop on Manhattan, remember?

I thought it was because the Chancelor/Nomads put a million credit bounty on your head, as an artifact smuggler?

I bought the Crusader and got a level 4 Positron shield on it. I eventually got a couple of level 5 Advanced Rippers on it as well. Replayed the race mission and won on my 1st try inspite of the slightly more sluggish handling vs. the Cavalier. Went on to the next waves of battle against the Rheinland ships, and managed to do much better. Positron shield and Tachyon weapons help a lot. I also am getting better at fighting them and lining them up. I still wound up using cruise mode a lot to avoid stuff and let the shields recharge, but I managed to get back to Leeds w/ about half my batteries intact.

In the next mission where you flee from Leeds, you do need to blow it up (Note to Rheinland Destroyer: I think you are confusing this with an earlier mission. When you return from the excavation site, turncoats help you by blowing up a Battleship. That's not the case here. You do wind up getting help from your mentor who shows up a short ways into the fight, but you still need to blow up that battleship. I hit it with 3 Torpedos, and while it wasn't enough to take it out, it did make it easier for the rest of the folks to take it down. No credit for the kill, as by then I was in cruise mode letting shields regen again. Oh well.

The thing I really didn't like about this mission is how long and complicated it becomes. Each place you jump to has more and more rheinland ships until you face their huge armada. I wound up chasing down a couple of gunboats and picked off a few fighters while the Kress fighters focused on the battleships. I wasn't expecting more battleships at this point, and cash was low a well, so I had no torpedos for this battle.

Thankfully, I got thru it and am now enjoying Kusari Space. Things are going much better there.

Note to Easy Rhino - Why I'm asking about the bountyhunters is that I had gotten them off my tail after buying a new ship on Leeds. Things were fine with them for a while, and them all of a sudden they jumped to being aggressive again. Are you saying they figured out who I am again? It seemed more like I did something to annoy them, but can't figure out what I did.