Ferrets

The Epee isn't as bad as it's made out to be. You just have to play to its strengths, which are ...

1. Speed. It's 80kps faster then anything the Kilrathi have (except perhaps the Bloodfang :) )

2. Manouvreablilty. It's the most manouvreable ship in the game by at least 25%.

3. Guns. True the Particle Cannon is weaker than the Mass Drivers of the Ferret, but the area it excels in is RANGE - over twice the range of the Mass Driver.

So the key to using the Epee is to keep your enemy at arms length. If you run in close behind a Grikath or Jalekhi the turret will kill you in seconds. But you can sit back outside their turret range. Against neutron gun armed Grikaths and Sarthas, you can go head to head at long range. Your guns will inflict a lot of damage before they can get within range, at which point you turn and run. Drakhris are fairly even - similar firepower, but you're faster and more manouvreable. And considering that the range on a Kamekh flak turret is 2500, compared to the Epees 4200 and the Ferret's 2000, I know which I'd prefer to go corvette hunting in.

All that being said, I personally prefer the Ferret's heavier mass drivers - it suits my flying style better. Get in close, let 'em have it at close range, get out. Still, I am prepared to change my flying style to suit the Epee when I have to use it, rather then complain about how poor it is :D
 
I always thought it was neat how they named the fighters (swords at first, then other hand weapons), they kinda slowed down in doing that in the later games, I guess cause they ran out of names.
 
Go Ferret Go!

The Ferret is a fun craft that suites it job description perfectly : Patrol.

I've just been flying one in WC2, and it has kicked furballs all over the road!
 
Originally posted by AzraeL
The Epee isn't as bad as it's made out to be. You just have to play to its strengths, which are ...
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Nice analysis AzraeL! :) I never saw it this way...

Though you must admit that even by allowing the enemy to stay at distance, if you let one on your six for just one instant, you rear armor is gone...
The second time you're nova-ed... :(
 
Originally posted by AzraeL
The Epee isn't as bad as it's made out to be. You just have to play to its strengths, which are ...
3. Guns. True the Particle Cannon is weaker than the Mass Drivers of the Ferret, but the area it excels in is RANGE - over twice the range of the Mass Driver.
Click to expand...

Range seems to be hardly important in WC2 compared with WC3 and later games.
 
I found it rather important, especially in the Epee. You can take out two Sarthas before they can hit you.

Where range is most important is in Armada, IMHO. That's why I always disliked the Kor-larh.
 
Az, I agree with your viewpoints. I never really looked down on the ships, since they were a pilot's ship
and fun to fly. They're not effective at close range combat though, since they are light on the hull and sheild stats. ;)
 
Originally posted by Hobbie
I always thought it was neat how they named the fighters (swords at first, then other hand weapons), they kinda slowed down in doing that in the later games, I guess cause they ran out of names.
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Don't get me started...there's Scimitar, Rapier, Epee, Sabre, Broadsword, Crossbow, Morningstar, Arrow, Thunderbolt, Longbow along with the predatory animals (Hornet, Raptor, Ferret, Piranha, Tigershark, Wasp, Panther), and many of them are named after fighters (F6F Hellcat, F22 Raptor, F18 Hornet, and the Banshee, Vindicator, Phantom, Tigershark, Shrike, Devastator and Avenger) with Armada ships (Phantom, Wraith, Banshee) christined for spirits, apparations and the like. I guess you could add the Prophecy Vampire and Privateer Demon - which appears alongside the Galaxy and Orion (named after the respective celestial formations), and for what it's worth ships have been named Wasp, Hornet, Arrow and Broadsword, and I really should be getting more sleep.
 
You forgot two of the most important ones named after swords- Excalibur and Lance. Also, they named the Mace after a hand weapon.
 
its a cool trend i guess.

Those ferrets are amazingly tuff if you ask me.. i used them in WC Academy and they just owned everything you send at them very very good ships
 
Only thing I didn't like about the Ferret was the lack of a second VDU. What can I say, I like my instrument displays. The Epee isn't too bad, but the Morningstar? Ugh! Inferior Sabre replacement. 3 Particle cannons instead of 2 Particles and 2 Mass Drivers, 2 fewer standard missles, and the @#$$ Mace, which was nothing more than a hugely overpowered Dumb-Fire IMHO. I'll take a Sabre any day of the week. Heck, I'll take a Sabre over most of the WC3 and 4 ships, and I bet it could hold its own against the Bugs too.
 
Ugh, I can't stand the Sabre. Way too weak. If it was stronger it would have been a better fighter/bomber. I will take the Morningstar over it anyday. And anyway, seems to me like the 3 particle cannons pack more of a punch than the 2 mass drivers and 2 particle cannons. Shields and armor are also better on Morningstar (granted, it isn't quite tough enough to be a good bomber). The best combination of a fighter/bomber in the series was the Lance, and thats really the only one (maybe the T-bolt and first Rapier). Someone will say the Excal, or Vindicator, but those are more "heavy" fighters and not bombers. Although I guess the Rapier is similar, it was designed to help destroy cap ships.
 
Most of the Fighters, like the T-Bolts, Wildcats(from Action Stations), Hellcats, the F-86(I think) Sabre from Vietnam, the Avenger and Hornet, all were named after jets and planes we have now. I'm just waiting for a Fortress-class Heavy Bomber.......
 
I also thought the armor on the Sabre was pretty bad for a heavy fighter. Everything else was alright, but I have to choose the Morningstar because it has slightly stronger armor and another plus to it was the 3 particle cannons were set close together to have that focused fire on a target.
 
I liked the Morningstar better than the Sabre, too. But her missile loadout was indeed pathetic, compared to the one the Sabre carried (which was just excellent).

I think the best fighter-bomber in WC was the Vindicator. Seriously, I found her more effective than the Avenger or Longbow.
 
Favorite ships

I would have to say my two favorite ships have to be the WC2 Rapier II and the Sabre. It might sound od, but I really liked, what I felt, was a balance in the speed, agility and fire power of the Rapier, even though it did not have the ITTS, I really didn't think that was a handicap (To be honest, it took about the thrid play through for me to even realise that some of the ships HAD ITTS, I never used the lock key*Blush*.)

As for the Saber, yeah, its armor was weak, but, if I remember right (it has been a long time since I have played WC2, I wasn't luck enough to get KS) she had fairly strong shields and was relatively maneuverable. She packed a good punch and mounted two Torps if I remeber right. I always saw her as a strike/fighter. She could fight her way through the fighter screen and drop her anti-cap ship payload and then fight her way out. I never really saw the Broadswoard as really effectively doing that, she didn't have burners to make a quick sprint to try to get away from fighters, and she was just too slow in my mind, even though she mounted those three mass driver turrets. I just never liked flying her, where I found teh Sabre rather enjoyable to fly.
 
Originally posted by Hobbie
The best combination of a fighter/bomber in the series was the Lance, and thats really the only one (maybe the T-bolt and first Rapier). Someone will say the Excal, or Vindicator, but those are more "heavy" fighters and not bombers.
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Eh? You're contradicting yourself here. The Excal is faster and more agile than the Lance, but doesn't have torpedoes. The Vindicator is slower and less agile than the Lance, but has more torps. How can the Lance alone qualify as a fighter bomber when the other two (whose performance characteristics are to either side of it) are just heavy fighters?

Best, Raptor
 
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