I've just finished the Terran plot and was considering adding a wing (or several wings) of Spitfyres to my fleet on account of them having the toughness (and maybe firepower? never really used the EMPCs) of an M3+, the Speed of an M5 and the cost of a regular M3 and was looking for a second opinion.
The only difficulty I can see would be getting enough guns to equip them all, especially given they'll probably be bought by the time I get there given how massive Aldrin is (I also hear the AI isn't that good at handling fighters this fast/maneuverable.)
[TC] Do Spitfyres make good carrier fighters?
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Gloomheart
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I wouldn't recommend a whole carrier of them, but maybe a few for interception or handling M5s.
The weapons are a pain in the neck to get, plus (like Kestrels and other high speed craft) they tend to crash into large floating objects at high speeds. Godforbid you get into a fight near a Solar Plant XL!
The weapons are a pain in the neck to get, plus (like Kestrels and other high speed craft) they tend to crash into large floating objects at high speeds. Godforbid you get into a fight near a Solar Plant XL!
Re: [TC] Do Spitfyres make good carrier fighters?
I don't have any grand advice, but figured I'd comment on two points.
At worst, you could always skip some of the engine tunings, like I did with the Kestrels, to tone down the speed to something you're more comfortable with. Spitfyres start at 113m/s, so you've got a lot of wiggle room.
I'd still suggest you avoid ordering them to dock or deploy in an asteroid field IS, though (e.g. in the rock-intensive parts of Ore Belt, Savage Spur). While 30 Nova Raiders can do so successfully without any losses, 50 Kestrels would often lose 1 or 2. I suspect that, with similar speeds, the Spitfyres would act more like the Kestrels in that.
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For a similar goal (cheap, powerful fighter-class-hybrid carrier fighter) I favor Solanos (M4+, so M4 speeds, price, & firepower, with M3 shields). I debated Spitfyres, and they were quite tempting to fill a Panther with, but I wound up skipping it because the guns would be too much of a pain without cloning or duping.
If you're comparing it to Commonwealth fighters, remember to factor in the cost of the guns. The (E)EMPCs are about 300k each, whereas HEPTs are ~150k and PACs are around 40k. For a fully-equipped (10 guns) Spitfyre, that's an extra 1.5mil compared to a 10-HEPT CW fighter. Of course, if you're comparing it to other Terran offerings, then the point is moot, since they'll all have the same proportionate expense.Aeshi wrote:I've just finished the Terran plot and was considering adding a wing (or several wings) of Spitfyres to my fleet on account of them having the [...] the cost of a regular M3 and was looking for a second opinion.
I experimented with a Raptor of Kestrels for a while, undertuned to various degrees, and looked at which subgroups took the most losses during fights and general flying. It wasn't the most rigorous of studies, but I settled on a speed of 484m/s (I was biased toward a speed similar to Fujin Raiders'/Sentinels' 477m/s from the start, since they seemed to have vastly fewer issues than Kestrels with collisions). So I suspect the Spitfyre's 452m/s should work out alright - maybe not ideal, but not subject to all the problems a 605m/s fighter has.(I also hear the AI isn't that good at handling fighters this fast/maneuverable.)
At worst, you could always skip some of the engine tunings, like I did with the Kestrels, to tone down the speed to something you're more comfortable with. Spitfyres start at 113m/s, so you've got a lot of wiggle room.
I'd still suggest you avoid ordering them to dock or deploy in an asteroid field IS, though (e.g. in the rock-intensive parts of Ore Belt, Savage Spur). While 30 Nova Raiders can do so successfully without any losses, 50 Kestrels would often lose 1 or 2. I suspect that, with similar speeds, the Spitfyres would act more like the Kestrels in that.
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For a similar goal (cheap, powerful fighter-class-hybrid carrier fighter) I favor Solanos (M4+, so M4 speeds, price, & firepower, with M3 shields). I debated Spitfyres, and they were quite tempting to fill a Panther with, but I wound up skipping it because the guns would be too much of a pain without cloning or duping.