No one has ever denied that the Epee is a flying coffin. The only "but" about it is that the Epee works genuinely well in WCP, where shields bounce you off, and horridly badly in WC2... and unfortunately, WC2 is the canonical Epee experience. However, the Epee may be a death trap, but it's by far one of the best-looking death traps in the series

.
I think the Epee's looks and initial attractiveness are actually what makes it so horribly disappointing in WC2. You
love it when you first set your eyes on it (and WC2's takeoff sequences do a fantastic job of introducing new ships, better than pretty much any other WC game). You take off, you get into the first combat, and you
loooove it even more, because you see the ITTS system in action, and you see how fast and manoeuvrable you are, and you see your powerful guns… and then you die. Ok, you figure, unlucky fluke, let's try that again. And you die again. And again. And again. And then… then you finally
understand.
This cycle from love to disappointment is made all the more powerful by the fact that after the Ferret (a lovely ship, but the lightest possible type of fighter) and the Rapier (a has-been from a bygone era), the Epee is the first time you really get to try a shiny new WC2-era fighter in action. They positioned the Epee in such a way that the expectations are pretty big, making reality a really bitter pill.