I have to disagree with those who liked the Vindicator the most in WCIV. I think the Avenger is better. Here's why:
(I play on Ace or better, and so it is more important what ship I fly and the armor)
1. Better shields and armor. One missile hit severely damages the Vindicator. One missile hit knocks out shields and does minor armor damage to the Avenger (I'm assuming these are FF missiles)
2. Better guns. I thought that the laser was next to useless on the Vindicator, on the front or the rear turret. It was better just to use the tachyons. On the Avenger, if you set your power settings right (no damage, lock engines, transfer all damage to weapons/shields), the photons and mass drivers fire for awhile before running out (compare this to the Dragon/Lance, or the Hellcat- these guns run out quickly). The photons and mass drivers only do like 20 less damage per salvo than the Dragon's plasmas and tachyons. Both ships have the stormfire, which is fun to use when attacking a single craft.
3. More missiles. Some would consider this trivial, but I like having 8 IMRecs on the Avenger, instead of 6 on the Vindicator. This is very important on higher difficulty.
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
Woohoo, 50th post!
[Edited by Hobbie on 03-16-2001 at 21:29]