( Basalt heavy fighter )
heavy looking utility / HF hybrid - based on a popular modular design. similar to the AP line from which the design is somewhat "stolen" as being efficient, cheap and robust.

after testing it in openSP - it turns out that the ship is as easy to fly as a hammerhead and "feels" just like that. - the narrow profile feels "good" - even if it exposes a large side on turns. i have hardpointed it similar to the BHG bomber. - overall, its an easy ship to learn, easy ship to master - but highly vulnerable in group fights.


( Mafic SHF )
based on the Basalt design which itself is based on the ap line. the Mafic is an abstract and asymetrical vessel that is something like a "heavy miner" with heavy tools to detonate even larger asteroids. due to the asymetrical shape, it would be hard to fly - but also not too easy to hit, considering its size.

don t be too fooled about the abstract shape and asymetical appearence. - i have tested the ship in openSP - and its quite fun to fly. - it "rolls" around the cockpit axis, making it "overweight" on the right side. that gives the ship a tremendous advantage about erratic manouvers ( autoaim goes to the cockpit ) - the forward SNAC requires a lot of practice - making it a "hard to learn" ship. ( thats inavoidable... its like a starflier is on an "easy" difficulty setting - while this ship is on a "difficult" setting... so the pilot handicaps himself. but winning is all the more satisfying when you know you had to learn the ship more.

to compensate for it - i have currently ( not balanced - but just for my own testing ) turned all weapons to be able to fire forward - giving it similar broadsides like the spatial at a smaller size.


( Touketsu )
a cheap and robust medium class interceptor based on the popular dromedary / borderworld design concepts. no doubt that ship is meant to be cheap enough to be purchased by middle class pilots - and at the same time simple enough to be easy to fly.

after testflights, the ship feels like a very agile and fast dromedary. i have scaled it to a short kingfisher size ( around 20% shorter - but making up for it by being more massive in the middle ) - the ship "feels" like a HF should feel. faster than a VHF - while not giving up too much dps.

all in all - the ship is average down to the bone. you get what you expected, nothing more but nothing less either. - a good "beginners" ship.


( Dacite )
mostly a very heavy "Worker Bee". a heavy construction ship - well armoured and equipped for heavy duty construction.... and decontruction. it is equipped for close range work but can easily be used as a heavy fighter.

after testing - the ship is somewhat...... troublesome. it takes hits like a cruiser, cause its shaped like a cube. ( from the front ) - in group fights it might be better, cause there s not that much to hit from above ( but the side still is very large )

the ship "feels" like a utility ship that is used as a fighter - and after some time ( short time ) you feel that it was not meant to be a fighter. balancing might increase its armour to reflect its heavy duty utility feel to compensate that.

even if the dacite is one of the more agile ships in the current presentation, it doesn t feel like it. - but for a ship of that size, its weapons are impressive. 6 guns and 1 turret ( thats what i gave it atm ... but HF gunclasses mind ) - the turret firing forward.


( Citano )
this is a Junker ( sirius Junkers ) based light fighter. it is vaguely similar to a "barebone" CSV without cargomodule and other fancy tools like the grappling. - so that ship is only meant to be a "heavy starflier" a robust and cheap light fighter.

after test flying - the ship might be a little "too good". its currently scaled to starflier size ( compared the cockpit ) - making it very troublesome, cause with an accurate hitbox - its like trying to hit the cockpit of a CSV only. - now the ship has extremely weak and light weaponry ( LF mk1 ) - but it beats avoiding being hit better than even a voidrunner. ( at least when NPCs try to hit you )


( Bulldog )
i have decided to stick to this rather conservative approach ( for now ) cause the mesh is better than the others. - it might not be inspired, but the point of these replacements is to get rid of the homeworld designs and slowly get a feeling of new ships. - so this design is likely to be altered based on what the junker factions desire ( in some update ) but for now - i think its a good enough compromise.

its a heavy CSV / Collector without cargo module ( making it thinner ) it has a little fancier lines defining it more to be a heavy fighter than a fighter / freighter hybrid.

after test flying - it turns out that its a solid HF. the CD/torp, CD launchers actually make it a good support fighter - but it suffers from the current bulldogs problems ( energy / armour ) to stand alone. its shape is balanced for 1 vs. 1 and group fights alike - shining in nither but also having no real weakness. all in all - it feels more fighterlike than the collector - but not much different to other HF. ( in other words, the decurion is much better - so are some other factionized HFs with similar setup )


( Marauder )
made that one as an afterthought. - as far as i remember, the marauder is a zoner fighter? - anyway - the concept started as a "jump capable" long range fighter ( hence the complex reactor casing on top of it and the huge engine drum below ) - but since we don t have jump capable ships - its just a very large experimental reactor. - the ship is somewhat small and very compact. it offers quite a small profile from the front - and not much more in terms of "space to hit" from any other direction ( similar to some vanilla ships )

in terms of lore, the marauder could be made into the "latest" zoner design in terms of engine technology and reactor core. - the kingfisher being an utter failure - this might well be one of the secret projects kept to zoners alone. - a ship based on technology zoners don t share much. - it might become a heavy LF ( like the slipstream maybe ) - with nice handling and 6 guns. ( unless those players having a marauder atm dislike altering the role of the fighter )