Fighter 'Classes'

[Taneru]

What makes a heavy fighter?

What makes a light fighter?

What makes a very heavy fighter?

What aspects are important?

What elements do you think are vital to classifying a fighter as a specific class, or are there any?

This is a thread for personal opinions from everyone on the subject.
Hopefully, we can collect some information on how to better classify and develop ships in the future.

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Characters
Alan Markson: The Hellfire Legion's Lord Commander
The Perihelion: Freeport Four's guardian, and yet much more. Missing and assumed Lost with all hands.
Eric Dresmund: Junker, smuggler, thief. Last seen drunk on Beaumont
Vayrn Wyard: IMG Recon pilot turned Neo-Terran Captain. Last location unknown

[Hone]

I think that very heavy fighters should be heavier, like SHFs, they are too agile for the "VERY" tag at the moment. Same with the others, I think all fighters should get the manouverability of those 2 classes up, E.G. heavy fightgers get bomber manouverability, VHFs get SHF manouverability.


Same with caps, but thats a different point.

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[kikatsu]

Heavy fighters should be the bread and butter, but now they are mid sized, maneuverable, has more firepower than a LF but offers no other real advantages. Good in Gallia, where there are almost no VHFs, so the there is a level playing field. Some are the size of VHFs, making them as easy to hit as a more heavily armored ship.

Light fighters are supposed to be interceptors and antibomber in role. They can intercept now with their speed, but the average of 4 guns is bad at dealing with bomber armor. Once you know how to use a LF you can kill most small craft, but it takes a lot longer... advantages are size and speed. Can outrun anything in the game.

VHFs are the staple of the game. Maneuverable, respectably armored, have the best firepower of any small ship. Can kill any small ships, any transport, and gunboats in groups. No real reason not to use one. They out turn and overpower all bombers save for their one shot SNAC kill. Their superior firepower kills light and heavy fighters. Their speed keeps them safe from capital ships.


EDIT:
Yes the Very Heavy label is a tad redundant. Change the names like this

Heavy fighter-> Fighter
Very Heavy Fighter-> Heavy Fighter
Super Heavy Fighter- Very Heavy Fighter (the Very implies a massive armor and powerplant buff, super is rather silly sounding)
Light Fighter= keep it

[jammi]

1) LFs should have a speed boost, to allow them to act as interceptors and chase down enemy ships. Fast and fragile.
- Check, cruise buff and low hull.

2) HFs should have a CD and a torp slot, much like the Gladiator and Bulldog. This makes them glass cannons.
- Derp, needs doing. Otherwise yes - moderate firepower, thinnish hull.

3) VHFs are the everyman ships, with the most armour and average handling. Easiest ship to use, because they're fairly agile and absorb noob mistakes fairly easily.
- Check, current VHFs.

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News article library, feedback and content requests.

[Rommie]

Currently, Heavy Fighters are quite useless, when the average VHF will do the job just as good.

Light Fighters are basically Interceptors, even more now that they have a speed buff.

VHF's are the backbone of any faction. Un-expendable.

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In space, nobody knows I'm a panda

[Taneru]

I think that very heavy fighters should be heavier, like SHFs, they are too agile for the "VERY" tag at the moment. Same with the others, I think all fighters should get the manouverability of those 2 classes up, E.G. heavy fightgers get bomber manouverability, VHFs get SHF manouverability.
Same with caps, but thats a different point.

But why do they need to be heavier?

How 'heavy' does a very heavy fighter need to be?

What makes a very heavy fighter a very heavy fighter?

This isn't about what doesn't fit into a class, or what changes should be made, at least not yet. This is about what you think the class means.

Why is the Titan called a very heavy fighter and not a light fighter?
Why is the Patriot/Liberator a light fighter and not a freighter?

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Characters
Alan Markson: The Hellfire Legion's Lord Commander
The Perihelion: Freeport Four's guardian, and yet much more. Missing and assumed Lost with all hands.
Eric Dresmund: Junker, smuggler, thief. Last seen drunk on Beaumont
Vayrn Wyard: IMG Recon pilot turned Neo-Terran Captain. Last location unknown

[Luka]

Light fighters are the fast ones, they're pretty good if you know how to evade people and aim at the same time, they lack armor and guns, but they're really freaking fast; great of speed-tankers and the sort that wants to annoy people.

Heavy fighters are the balanced ones, more armored than a Light fighter and faster than a VHF, if you lacked speed and armor when using any of them this may help a bit. It is NOT useless. I found it pretty great having a similar punch as VHFs and yet faster and they're NOT made of glass.

Very Heavy Fighters are the ones most people use, they have higher armor and guns, the speed is balanced (not for me though:laugh:) and they're good when dealing damage, if you want a ship that's goo all around in fighting then this is pretty good.

[Corsair]

What makes a heavy fighter?

What makes a light fighter?

What makes a very heavy fighter?

What aspects are important?

What elements do you think are vital to classifying a fighter as a specific class, or are there any?

This is a thread for personal opinions from everyone on the subject.
Hopefully, we can collect some information on how to better classify and develop ships in the future.

I'll tackle these in chunks.

Code:

What makes a light fighter?

A light fighter is just as the name implies, a lightly armored, lightly armed fighter. They fulfill the interceptor role, chasing down larger ships and providing fire support for their heavier siblings. A diminutive hitbox, powercore and DPS output all firmly root it in the SUPPORT category. They are virtually required for fleet battles to stop heavier ships from escaping the battlefield.

Code:

What makes a heavy fighter?

These guys seem to be more of the Space Superiority fighter. I've seen very talented Heavy fighter squads obliterate everything from light fighters to bombers to gunboats. Heavy fighters fill the 'glass cannon' role, referenced earlier in the thread. They are well-armed and reasonably armored, while still having the agility to avoid the brunt of most hostile fire. In fleet battles, they are best suited for hunting down bombers and heavier fighters, but they need to be in larger numbers because of their lighter armor and weaponry compared to Very Heavy Fighters.

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What makes a very heavy fighter?

In my opinion, this is the highest tier of fighter. Heavily armed and armored, but still more agile than bombers. They are the flexible arm of vengeance on the battlefield, tasked with everything from escort to assault. Depending on the role they fill, VHFs will either rely on speed or armor to survive. They are heavier and more powerful than their Heavy Fighter siblings without sacrificing too much agility. Very Heavy fighters don't deserve the prefix because 'Very' gives the impression that they are a great deal heavier than HFs. Removing the 'Very' and re-naming Heavy Fighters to Space Superiority fighters would allow them to be more accurate in terms of function.

Code:

What aspects are important?

Speed, armor, firepower, size. If a ship is small and powerful, it's a heavy fighter. If it's large and weak, then it likely isn't a fighter at all.

Code:

What elements do you think are vital to classifying a fighter as a specific class, or are there any?

It must be compared to its counterparts of the same class. Current agile VHFs like the Eagle could be shifted to the HF category, while many SHFs could simply be absorbed into the Very Heavy Fighter classification.

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[Ursus]

I think of LF as recon ship. Not really made for fighting, rather its to get in, do something, and get out. Kill any NPCs in the area, otherwise evasion is the design purpose. In a FPS shooter, this is the SMG class. In an FPS we would use this class to plant the bomb, to grab the papers, to do whatever, Disco doesn't have that kind of objective playstyle so this class does not get used very much.

HF is the dog-fighting ship. Still nimble, but with enough firepower to actually stay and fight, with emphasis on evasion and output. Do not get hit or you will die, but you can kill somebody with it and don't have to rely on running exclusively. This should be the interceptor ship, the anti-bomber ship. In a FPS, this is the assault class. Everybody should use this ship as the default. Problem is its usually too weak against the larger classes so people don't use it.

VHF is a large fighting ship, should have a lot of damage output, and ability to absorb damage. As a result it weighs a lot more and is much larger physically, making it much less nimble. This is the heavy machine gun class. It should be used as defensive ship, but because of the weaknesses in the lower classes it is used for everything.

In disco the bomber class is basically VHF++ which is wrong. I think bombers should be much different. Like a bomber should be the shape and size of the Lane Hacker gunship, using turrets instead of guns, with 159 max thrust.

Each class should be succeptible to the lower classes getting behind them and tearing a new one. Each class should also be able to make roadkill of the lower classes when met from the front. This is almost there now, some problems with it but close. The biggest problem is that most people use the VHF, when the HF should be the preferred ship.

edit--Just to be clear I'm not saying it should be like FPS. In an FPS the classes are very close to each other and they are just minor variations on the same thing. For example, the SMG class is weaker on damage output than the HMG class, but has higher mobility shorter reload etc, and both classes have the same number of HP. This doesn't work at all in disco, where fighter ships have different HP and don't really have reloads (not on guns anyway).

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Discovery 24/7 Negotiating Tactics:

[AeternusDoleo]

What makes a light fighter?
- Light fighter shields.
- Highly maneuverable.
- Low hull - splat when meeting a nuke mine, even with AU8.
- 4 primary guns, usually no fighter torpedo

What makes a heavy fighter?
- 4 to 6 guns
- Mediocre maneuverability
- Up to class 9 shields
- Doesn't carry class 10 guns

What makes a very heavy fighter?
- Heavy powercore and armor
- Relatively poor maneuverability
- Does class 10 guns, usually 4 of em. And 2 clas 9's, sometimes an additional turret.
- Class 10 HF shields
- Can use fighter torpedos

What makes a super heavy fighter?
- Can use multiple fighter torpedos OR a bomber torpedo
- Freighter-sized powercore
- Freighter-like maneuverability
- Uses freighter shields
- Bomber-like armor


But frankly, the distinctions between HF, VHF and SHF are really subjective. They all belong to the same basic class of ship - Heavy fighter.

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Wide awake in a world that sleeps, enduring thoughts, enduring scenes. The knowledge of what is yet to come.
From a time when all seems lost, from a dead man to a world, without restraint, unafraid and free.

Mostly retired Discovery member. May still visit from time to time.