Well right now HFs and VHFs are pretty close in terms of performance, heavy fighters being a smidgen more maneuverable and sometimes with smaller hitboxes and a little less firepower. In general however, most are as easy to hit as our normal VHFs because they are just the same ships with slightly different stats. Gallia is currently the only place where HFs have a pretty level playing field, but that is mostly because they are not always fighting VHFs.
There are a couple HFs in Sirius that do standout however, mainly the Marauder, which I have been using to great enjoyment as of late... it has light fighter size and maneuverability, more power capacity than an Eagle, but 4 Class 8s and 2 Class 9s so it cannot dish out as much damage per hit as VHFs.
Is this what a real HF should be like? Something that acts similar to a LF in terms of how you fly it, but has more longevity in terms of power output than VHFs? VHFs would have heavier armor, better shields, more burst firepower but less firing time (they have bigger plants but their guns use much more energy)?
Also to differentiate between HFs and VHFs I am not sure what else that can be done. Cruise speed could be upped to 360 to better intercept things, but LFs would still rule that field in terms of efficiency. Maybe LFs could have their thrust increased to 220 and HFs increased to 210 to allow them to have more of an edge over VHFs in general situations. It would also provide incentive to fly HFs more often, as they become more versatile in general situations, being able to dish out respectable damage while still keeping speed and maneuverability that VHFs exchange for high damage output.
Also as a side note I think it would be better if there is ever a ship naming scheme overhaul that we just call "Heavy Fighters" "Fighters" and call "Very Heavy Fighters" "Heavy Fighters" as this actually adds a fighter class to the game that we lack... we compare LFs and HFs with no actual fighter class... and I think calling something "Very Heavy" is a bit redundant. If we have fast maneuverable combat ships they can be fighters... upgrade their armor, guns, shields, and power to VHF level and they are heavier versions of fighters... Heavy Fighters.
EDIT: I meant for this to be in Discovery Mod General, but I guess it can work here as well.
