Originally posted by Hobbie
The Rapier was far too weak in WC2. The armor is just awful, and the shields are pretty low. I think it seems like such a bad ship even more because they gave you harder missions with a bad craft (like the mission with Kur- probably the hardest in WC2). It seems to falter mainly when you have to fight heavier craft. It would be much better to use the Rapier exclusively as a patrol fighter like the Ferret.
The 'problem' with the Rapier is that it is a light/medium fighter, not a heavy. Like I said in my previous post about the Epee, you just have to learn to play to its strengths, which are ...
Speed : While slower then an Epee or Ferret, the Rapier is still faster than anything the Kats have.
Manouvreability : The Rapier is as manouvreable as an Epee, which is better then a Ferret or anything the Kats have, including their light fighters.
Firepower : The Particle Cannon/Lasers on the Rapier lack the damage capacity of Mass Drivers or Neutron guns, but what they lack in damage, they more then make up in range. If you use your speed and manouvreability to keep the enemy at a distance, you can deal out significant damage while taking little yourself.
The key to the Rapier is to treat it as a glorified light fighter, and not get fooled by the 4 guns into thinking its a heavy. IIRC, in WC1 they say that the Rapier is a light fighter with the shields of a medium.
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I wonder if we fly well in the ships we like, or just like the ships we fly well in?
The Epee and Rapier are great ships if you can keep the enemy at a distance. If you don't like to fly like that, you will die pretty quickly and often, so you won't 'like' them.
p.s. just because I've posted defending the attributes of the Epee & Rapier doesn't mean that I like them as much as other ships. Give me a Raptor or T-bolt any day
[Edited by AzraeL on 07-12-2001 at 18:08]
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