To answer your question: The Eagle can mount class 10 guns and is more manouvrable than a Titan.
There is no freigter wich can mount level 10 weaps.
Another way to turn is to use the engine-kill (Z-key) and turn around. I'm not sure if thet's faster turning though.
The Nomad manouvre thing you described is probably lag... Use your thrusters to speed up quicker. and use the reverse engine (X-key) to stop faster.

Hope that answers something.

---->>><<<-----
The Titan Flies Like A Cow
The Earth isn't flat, It's round... like a pancake.
TLR: You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.

Most "powerful" ship. In terms of hull and energy capacity

Titan.

Most "maneurvable" ship

Eagle.

Something in between.

Sabre

Using engine-kill does not actually *spin* your ship any faster, but it *does* get it pointed back to the point of origin that it came from faster.

With engine kill, your flight path looks like this. The % is your ship and the other character indicates which way it's pointing.
<pre><font size=1 face=Courier>
Start-%>---%----%----%---<%
\ V /
</font></pre>

If you don't kill the engine, your flight path looks like this:
<pre><font size=1 face=Courier>
Start-%>---
%
\
\
\
V
/
/
^ /
% %
\ '
\ /
\ /
. /
%---<%
</font></pre>

Note that it took the same amount of time for the ship to spin 180° and face the other direction. BUT, it took more time for it to face the point that it started from, because it was sweeping out a turn in space while spinning.

Edited by - T-hawk on 12-10-2003 19:14:06

Not to mention that engine kill can make lining up a target easier. Say you have a Sabre or Eagle (just so it doesn't take forever to turn) and are being chased. Cut engines, hit afterburner, then turn 180 degrees. You can now bring all 6 (or 7 in a Sabre) guns to bear on your attackers. If they drop the pursuit and you want revenge, all you do is hit afterburners again.

There are some enemies for which this doesn't work well. If you're trying not to get hit (nomads), keeping your engines on to maneuver constantly changes the lead your enemies have to use to hit you. Also, enemies that jink (move randomly to get their ass off your nose, like Bounty Hunters) will maneuver out of your line of thrust on a head to head, especially to avoid incoming gunfire.

i think it is you turn faster with enginekill...

but i can be also wrong... by using no afterburners ur facing is to the place where ur ship want to go, and not where u wanna go, if u use enginekill u facing first where u wanna go to... i use a lot off engine-kill and afterburner at the same time... do first the turn with afterburners fully on (speed 200) and after that the same with afterburners on, off, on, off... that turns ur ship a lot faster.

If u c some1 in a dagger make fireballs from hunters it can be me

Engine kill is great in combat. You could be traveling in one direction...and let's be honest here, we all aim in the direction of travel, not the direction the target's pointing...then zip off in another on a moment's notice, and have another three or four maneuvers done before the other guy has a clue where you are.

Plus, you have a decided coverage advantage in any given direction of travel...without engine kill, you can only aim as far off-center as your guns will rotate. WIth it, you can rotate the whole ship like a turret in space, giving you 100% coverage as fast as your ship can turn(which is, needless to say, great for light ships, which can rotate, pop off a few shots, zip past, rotate, shoot again, etc).

And, of course, it saves on thruster use- you only have to thrust when you change directions, so you will almost never run out.

On top of all that, it's just plain more realistic- having to thrust to change direction of travel, slow down, speed up, etc. Which is fun.

----------------------------------------
"Although I do not consider myself a member of the Bounty Hunters' Guild, I find that their goals and mine often follow the same path. I will aid them when I can...if they give me a percentage of the salvage from whatever they frag along the way. Hell, they were even so kind as to sell me a ship after one of my jobs with them, and I've been flying her ever since. But god help them if someone puts a bounty on THEIR heads, for I don't care who I hunt for, as long as their live capture(or untimely death) can get me enough credits to buy a decent sized mug of my favorite drink."- A Freelance Bounty Hunter.

No frieghters hold lv 10 weapons.
The Sabre is the best ship, but only get it if your friendy with the Outcasts.
Otherwise the Eagle is the best.

Note: On the coming Serious Sirius 1.5, the Titan can hold 2 torpedo launchers to make up for its lack of manuverability. Also one freighter can hold lv 10 weapons and shields. Its going to be soooo cool!

The real answer, I've come to discover, is that there is no "best" ship. There are some WORST ships, sure(Bloodhound, to name one), but for the most part a skilled pilot in any ship can beat any other. Even the lowest of the low are capable of great things if you're wise about how you use them.

Class and all that really don't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things...don't just use the highest level ship and assume it will always be the most fun to fly. Give the other ships in FL a chance; they may surprise you with their capabilities. Do not assume for a moment that "low level" means low performance.

----------------------------------------
"Although I do not consider myself a member of the Bounty Hunters' Guild, I find that their goals and mine often follow the same path. I will aid them when I can...if they give me a percentage of the salvage from whatever they frag along the way. Hell, they were even so kind as to sell me a ship after one of my jobs with them, and I've been flying her ever since. But god help them if someone puts a bounty on THEIR heads, for I don't care who I hunt for, as long as their live capture(or untimely death) can get me enough credits to buy a decent sized mug of my favorite drink."- A Freelance Bounty Hunter.

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Most "powerful" ship. In terms of hull and energy capacity

Titan.

Most "maneurvable" ship

Eagle.

Something in between.

Sabre

---

And the ship that can trash all three of those with relative ease, depending on pilot skill:

Drake

Hi, im flying a Rhineland Valkyrie and it works fine for me, i dunno bout turning sharper but i noticed that while banking hard after a target you can turn sharper by strafeing in the opposite direction

Titan because of the firepower, eagle for speed and sabre for average

have to say that the eagle rules !! cause ive tried most fighters out and they all seem slow compared to the eagle
fit 2 del cid 2 nomad blasters and 2 diamonds and u got ureself a hell of a ship that really can take on anything and anyone


u can take our houses u can take our wifes but u can never take are ..... CARDAMINE!!!!

like nukelt said

---

Class and all that really don't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things...don't just use the highest level ship and assume it will always be the most fun to fly. Give the other ships in FL a chance; they may surprise you with their capabilities. Do not assume for a moment that "low level" means low performance.

---

and he's right... i had some fun flying in a drake (class 6 light fighter) and did easy div 43 missions with it... later i had more fun with the defender (class 4 heavy fighter), and did also div 43 missions with it, but was harder... now i fly with the dagger (class 4 light fighter) with a lot off fun... and did also div 43 missions in it and that was very hard without the use off torps...

the class i noticed after the shipname is the class off the highest weapclass what u can put on that ship... light fighters can't mount torps if u already know...

ps. the last vhf i flew was a sabre... but i don't want thus vhf anymore... thus small low level fighters r way more fun to fly with...

If u c some1 in a dagger make fireballs from hunters it can be me

Hornet...
Are you superior?

if he is the guy i think he is he will think its funny

for those who dont know the story... its true drake can easily kill sabre, titan, or eagle
my favorite is falcon very maneuverable for a heavy fighter and carries up to c8 so u can do some serious damage. Can fly circles around sabre.