[TC] M3 Recommendations?

[jkjklkl]

While I love flying my big ships, fighter combat has always been my favorite, so I was looking for the "best" ship (for me).

I've already tried (in order):
Nova Raider - my first M3. it was good, but too "balanced"
Tenjin - nothing wrong with it, and it's often hailed as the best M3. maybe I just don't appreciate it because I haven't flown "inferior" ships
LX - too slow (143 m/s) for its shielding (4x 25MJ)
Mamba Raider - great, though I have to treat it like a heavy M5

I'm planning on trying out:
Nova Prototype
Notus Hauler
Venti
Mamba Advanced
Xshuttle

Since most other threads have degenerated into Tenjin vs LX, I'm looking for other options without necessarily trying each and every one. Money is no obstacle so feel free to recommend pretty much anything. I prefer fast ships around the 200 m/s mark, with the Notus being the only exception. How are the Thor and Fenrir? Are EMPCs viable replacements for HEPTs?

[Catra]

advanced perseus

can be picked up in dukes citadel 42 250 -250 31 000 XYZ

209 m/s 4x25 MJ shields.

[Sinxar]

advanced perseus

This also has the advantage of being one of the coolest looking M3s in the game (IMO).

The Cutlass is decent. Love the shielding with reasonable speed.

[kurush]

Advanced Mamba or Spitfire. First one is Mamba Raider on steroids but sadly lacking a turret, second one is just crazy XShuttle is fairly decent as well, but lack firepower.
LX kind of sucks in TC and Tenjin is nothing special, Venti beats it in all aspects.

[empiro]

Well, the Nova Prototype is just like the Nova Raider, so you probably won't like that much either.

After all this time flying a bunch of different M3s, I think my favorite still has to be the Venti. The 10 forward guns (load 6-8 EBCs and 2-4 PRGs) is just plain deadly. Otherwise, though, it's just like the Nova.

The Advanced Perseus is also good, but again, it feels a lot like the Nova in terms of shielding, speed, and weapon loadout (PBEs instead of PRGs).

For something really different, maybe get your hands on a Medusa Prototype, and start launching Firestorms at your enemies

[garv222]

Have you tried the blastclaw prototype?

While I don't like flying the fighter class ships for too long, I do have a particular fondness for any of the fighters that mount more than just a rear gun.

[Aeshi]

EMPCs are essentially a HEPT with more damage, a lower rate of fire and faster bullets, and are fairly good all-rounders.

The Thor and Fenrir are both quite vicious, but are VERY hard to get, as unless you're willing to piss off ATF by capping one then the only way to get either would be at the end of the "Aldrin Expansion" plot, which only turns up after you've done almost all the other plot series. They're also slightly slower (196 m/s and 190 m/s respectively) than what you wanted.

The Spitfyre is also worth a try, armour & firepower of an M3+, speed on par with most M5s (452 m/s).

If you want to move beyond fighters but still want speed then there's also the Springblossom Corvette, which moves at 360 m/s.

The Venti is a bit hard to get (getting rep with OTAS can be tricky) and only has 195 m/s of speed but has 100MJ of shields and VERY good firepower (10 main guns and 3 rear turret guns), basically making it the Commonwealth version of the Fenrir. It lacks the juice to fire said weapons for more than a short time but you could probably get around that by using the EBC or Mass Driver.

And I can more than vouch for the X-shuttle, it has below-average firepower (only 6 weapons), but has 200MJ of shielding and 321 m/s of speed, which means it can reliably outrun just about anything it can't kill.

[Kirlack]

While I love flying my big ships, fighter combat has always been my favorite, so I was looking for the "best" ship (for me).

I've already tried (in order):
Nova Raider - my first M3. it was good, but too "balanced"
Tenjin - nothing wrong with it, and it's often hailed as the best M3. maybe I just don't appreciate it because I haven't flown "inferior" ships
LX - too slow (143 m/s) for its shielding (4x 25MJ)
Mamba Raider - great, though I have to treat it like a heavy M5

I'm planning on trying out:
Nova Prototype
Notus Hauler
Venti
Mamba Advanced
Xshuttle

Since most other threads have degenerated into Tenjin vs LX, I'm looking for other options without necessarily trying each and every one. Money is no obstacle so feel free to recommend pretty much anything. I prefer fast ships around the 200 m/s mark, with the Notus being the only exception. How are the Thor and Fenrir? Are EMPCs viable replacements for HEPTs?

The Notus hauler isn't available in the Vanilla game unfortunately, as it is a very good ship (IMO). The Nova Prototype and Advanced Mamba are, I think, like the Venti, both corporation rewards only (although they might be used as NPC tech traders occasionally, not sure on that though).

The Thor and Fenrir are both quite vicious, but are VERY hard to get, as unless you're willing to piss off ATF by capping one then the only way to get either would be at the end of the "Aldrin Expansion" plot, which only turns up after you've done almost all the other plot series. They're also slightly slower (196 m/s and 190 m/s respectively) than what you wanted.

I was under the impression that ATF ships couldn't be acquired until the end of the Balance of Power plot? Don't you have to capture a Thor and Fenrir and then you get the Mjolinir and Valkyrie blueprints?

[Aeshi]

The Thor and Fenrir are both quite vicious, but are VERY hard to get, as unless you're willing to piss off ATF by capping one then the only way to get either would be at the end of the "Aldrin Expansion" plot, which only turns up after you've done almost all the other plot series. They're also slightly slower (196 m/s and 190 m/s respectively) than what you wanted.

I was under the impression that ATF ships couldn't be acquired until the end of the Balance of Power plot? Don't you have to capture a Thor and Fenrir and then you get the Mjolinir and Valkyrie blueprints?

Yeah, my bad. I forget what half the plots in this game are called.

[Triaxx2]

The Tenjn is something special. The Venti is Essentially the Nova. Again. Why is the Tenjin better? 9 forward guns, and the two turrets can fire nearly forward, and provides a better defensive screen than a single rear turret. Even as you're turning to engage an enemy, it'll be hammering on the target.

The LX is no longer as good as it was for a player ship. As an AI ship it's not bad. There are a lot of ships faster than it now, and it's been beaten in the weapons department. Plus 100mj of shields doesn't seem to last as long as it used to.

That's exactly how you're supposed to treat it. But it's an M5 armed with HEPT.

I'd have to say that instead of the Advanced Mamba, I'd suggest the Mamba Vanguard. Faster than the standard, and honestly faster than the default Scorpion. Same shields as the basic Mamba, and a better weapon generator. It's basically a perfect ship if you want fast and well armed, but not too weakly shielded. True, the Raider does nearly 300 m/s, but if you hit the wrong thing, you'll end up splattered in space.

The Venti has a huge forward armament, but it lacks the laser energy to maintain fire very long.

[Kirlack]

The Venti has a huge forward armament, but it lacks the laser energy to maintain fire very long.

But it's both Mass Driver and Energy Bolt Chaingun compatible, so the weapon bay generator isn't so important. Besides, at 195m/s and 100MJ of shielding it tops most M3s.

Alright, so I'm a big advocate of the Venti, yet I won't fly one myself

[A5PECT]

The thing about the Venti is if you use ammo-based weaponry to overcome the laser energy limitation, you're suddenly hit with a massive shortage of cargo space. After ammo (for up to 10 guns) and missiles, there is very little room for jump fuel.

You can try carrying a lot of ammo and jumping around with a TM, or carrying a lot of fuel and resupplying ammo with the TM, but it's still a hassle compared to simply having everything you need on you at all times.

650 L cargo space. Blastclaw Prototype ftw.

In my opinion the Venti is better suited to an AI-controlled carrier-based fighter, rather than a player ship (much like the Solano).

[Kirlack]

The thing about the Venti is if you use ammo-based weaponry to overcome the laser energy limitation, you're suddenly hit with a massive shortage of cargo space. After ammo (for up to 10 guns) and missiles, there is very little room for jump fuel.

You can try carrying a lot of ammo and jumping around with a TM, or carrying a lot of fuel and resupplying ammo with the TM, but it's still a hassle compared to simply having everything you need at all times.

650 L cargo space. Blastclaw Prototype ftw.

That's a very good point, I guess my view is a little off since I started filling Raptors with Ventis, so jump fuel is not an issue i need to consider. The Venti only has what...200 or so cargo space?

[A5PECT]

The Tenjin's weakness is that it's a fatass.

Park it next to a Nova or Mamba and you'll see what I mean.

3 x 25MJ shields may be acceptable for the average M3, but in the Tenjin's case it's wholly inadequate for the amount of fire you absorb thanks to its bulky profile.

[Kirlack]

The Tenjin's weakness is that it's a fatass.

Park it next to a Nova or Mamba and you'll see what I mean.

3 x 25MJ shields may be acceptable for the average M3, but in the Tenjin's case it's wholly inadequate for the amount of fire you absorb thanks to its bulky profile.

And yet even when piloted by the auto-pillock the Tenjin is agile enough to avoid most of that incoming fire So the 75MJ of shielding rarely gets tested to breaking point.

Besides, it's the sexiest looking M3 in the game

[Triaxx2]

Some one did some testing, and it was shown that length is far more limiting than width in fire absorption. So a Falcon takes more fire than something like an... Eclipse. Shorter profile, similar speed, but the Eclipse is shorter nose to tail and takes less fire. Odd how that works.

[Uncle Ruckus 42]

The best suggestions have already been given. Blastclaw Prototype, Advanced Mamba, MEdusa Prototype, Advanced Perseus. Whatevs. They all are workable.

Actually you know what, heres one no one mentioned, perhaps the best one actually, that is the Susanowa prototype. Don't ask me how to get one in vanilla. Vanilla sucks and it would take 200 hours to get it prob. But the Yaki Susanowa Prototype has 256 m/s speed. It has either 4 or 5 25 m/j shield slots and has average or above cargo space and generators. Typical loadout of guns (prob PBGs as well) with 8, don't remember the turret but pretty sure it has one. It looks like a duckbill platypus though.

[Kirlack]

The best suggestions have already been given. Blastclaw Prototype, Advanced Mamba, MEdusa Prototype, Advanced Perseus. Whatevs. They all are workable.

Actually you know what, heres one no one mentioned, perhaps the best one actually, that is the Susanowa prototype. Don't ask me how to get one in vanilla. Vanilla sucks and it would take 200 hours to get it prob. But the Yaki Susanowa Prototype has 256 m/s speed. It has either 4 or 5 25 m/j shield slots and has average or above cargo space and generators. Typical loadout of guns (prob PBGs as well) with 8, don't remember the turret but pretty sure it has one. It looks like a duckbill platypus though.

Indeed, the Susanowa Prototype is a very good ship, although I'm not sure about that shield count, even four would seem a bit heavy, and five would just be obscene. Without looking ingame I'm not sure, but I thought it only took three shields. Also, I'm not sure the Prototype variant has the turret, but again, I'd need to check ingame to be sure.

[Catra]

the Susanowa P has 3x25 and no turrets, and goes 267, and has stats that are all around better than the A Mamba.

[Uncle Ruckus 42]

Yea your right, it does not have a rear turret and it only has 3 25mj shields. But still at 267 m/s thats plenty. It has above average shield and laser regen, carries L cargo (although only 154 units), but yea theres really nowhere to buy it in vanilla. The only m3 thats seriously better than it is the Spitfyre. The spitfyre is pretty much a cheat ship, I really don't get why it can go about as fast as any two normal m3s combined but it does. It also looks cool and can mount prototype M/AM launchers, which is just unfair but damn fun. Really theres no incentive not to make every ship you own a Spitfyre, except fighter combat would become boringly easy.