Hellcat = Piece of Junk
- Thread starter Sonntag
- Start date
Originally posted by Hobbie
Alright! A Vindicator debate! Kind of seems appropriate that I open my posting on this board on this topic.
But with something that does more damage (i.e heatseeker or Imrec) hoping to survive the hit with minimum damage is nowhere near as good as evading that missile in the first place. The Vindicator gives you a far better chance of doing that than the Avenger does.
Yep, the Avenger's firepower is good, but again the lack of speed and manueverability limits the effective use of that firepower. The Banshee has the speed and agility to stay with the enemy, but the lasers have a hard time making a dent on the enemy. The Vindicator offers the best of both words, enough maueverability to get the enemy into your gunsights on any level, and enough firepower to make those shots count.
I usually load up with leeches. One shot, one kill on any difficulty level. That means that the two extra missiles, while usefull, don't make enough of a differance to affect the mission outcome.
Anyway, the only mission on Ace difficulty that I really have problems with the Avenger is the first Pelius (sp?) mission when your systems are screwed.
Someone prove me wrong on the best ship
Why the Vin is better: You try taking that hog of an Avenger down into the atmosphere.The Vindicator can do it all, from capship attack runs to dogfighting to close air support. While some might argue that being a jack-of-all trades makes it master of none, it's the perfect fighter for a cash strapped, low tech faction like the Union of Border Worlds.
Best, Raptor
[Edited by Hobbie on 03-16-2001 at 21:29] [/B]
Never liked the Hellcat much myself. I almost automatically choose the Thunderbolt in the first two thirds of the game, with the Arrow been flown when its a choise between that and the Hellcat. As for the corvettes, my farvorite T-bolt tactic was just to after burn behind and blast that rear turret into scrap with full guns, then carve the cat apart at leisure. Of course, if I'm in the mood for over-kill, I just let go with the torp. As Flint would say: Woohoo, one less Kilrathi.
Heh. Well, what made *me* want to whine in WC4 was that I only got to fly the Hellcat and Longbow when I was with Confed. On several of those early missions, I'd have sold my soul for a T-bolt. The instant we defect, of course, Confed seems to have Thunderbolts out the yin-yang.
Best, Raptor
Mekt-Hakkikt
Mpanty's bane
I meant of course that there is no mission in WC4 where you need more than 3 torps.
And the Vin's guns are cool: Centered, so you hit with ALL of your guns, fast firing and more powerful than the Hellcat's guns. The Avneger's guns are spread out, fire more slowly and she is a very big target.
Anyway the alternate guns (Stormfire and Leech) gave the BW such an advantage over Confed, I never had the impression that BW technology was inferior to Confed's.
And if the Vindicator is a jack-of-all trades, then the WC3 Hellcat is jack-of-no trades.
Dogfighting: Arrow. Even against heavier fighters she is more able. Simply allocate some energy from your engine to your shields and those 2 missiles extra also provide extra firepower.
Heavy dogfighting and small Cap ship attacks: TBolt.
Heavy Capship attacks: TBolt or Longbow.
Of course,when the Excalibur is available, it is the best fighter for all of those missions.
Exactly. Even if you run out of torps, the stormfire and/or the main guns can easily take out any capship.
Plus the fact that on the higher levels, even the AI can make it very hard to land more than a couple of shots with the Avenger's guns before the target pulls out of your sights.
Well, while the BW's basline fighters (Banshee, Vin and Avenger) were as good as Confed's (Arrow, Hellcat, Thunderbolt, and Longbow), the BW didn't have the super fighters like the Excal, Bearcat and Dragon. As for the Hellcat, the only niche it can carve out for itself is as a close air support/ground attack fighter. The reason it was so prevalent in WC4 was that Confed was cutting military spending to the bone.
Best, Raptor
Mekt-Hakkikt
Mpanty's bane
OK, for ground attacks, the Hellcat should be used (I think the other ships would fall like bricks). Although with the upcoming of the Excalibur you have another fighter capable of atmospheric flight, and she is far superior to the Hellcat in this category as well.
Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
Excalibur's seem to be fairly common these days -- in fact, their one of only two fighters Joan's specifically classifies as atmospheric fighters.
Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
They seem to see a goodly amount of use as atmospheric capable fighters in WC3 (G)
For me personally, the ideal craft is the heavy fighter. The lights and mediums lack firepower, and bombers lack the speed and agility to dogfight.
As for the Dragon/Lance though (no AD&D jokes please), I disliked it because it was *too* good. It did everything perfectly, so there was no real challenge in flying it.
Best, Raptor
