What is the sturdiest Dogfighter?

[Frienby]

I have had a lot of fun in my Barracuda, being able to maneuver in bursts and still have enough shields to take a stray shot from much larger ships has been a blast. I am wondering if I am missing out on some other good heavy fighters tho, since I am newer to the game. I did alright with the Chimera, but the split fighting method of reckless charge and fly-bys is a bit stressful and I don't think I understand how to build a Gladius well. At least, I did not have nearly as much success with Velvet Thunder as I have had with my boron fighter.

[Doom]

For S class the hands down best fighter craft is XPerimental Shuttle. It is stupidly powerful.

Past that you've already tried one of the best fighters, which is Chimera. Beyond that things become muddled, and basically you could just head to roguey's site, sort ships by number of guns and pick one you like. Moreya is punchy, but already quite fragile. There are few even more fragile ships (Asp Raider, Quasar), ad someone mentioned liking Split ASP. I guess balaur could be worth considering, but I don't actually recall flying it.

There is also M class. For M class you could try Cobra and Dragon Raider. Katana used to be crazy good, but right now it seems to have become heavier and some people were unhappy about it. There's also Nemesis Vanguard and Kuraokami. There's also Falx, which someone enjoyed, as long as you do not mind overlooking landing dock from the cabin.

That's the rough idea of it, in my opinion.

[Frienby]

Thanks! That's a lot to look at. Haven't tried the Dragon, but I have enjoyed the Cobra. I have the split S miner in my docking storage and it is very funny to me that the split S miner is faster than many fighters. Only problem I have with the Cobra is same with most frigates, small numbers of guns means it can take a long time kill some things. As far as M class, I think I like the regal hydra more than the katana, but I have had some fun in the katana. It's just sturdy enough to take a stray graviton and take out a K's engines.

[conrado.lacerda]

The HOP Ares is a heavy fighter with 4 weapons and 3 shields, and flies like a brick. :-)

[🎮 PalkoVvodets 🔑]

Balaur indeed might be a good fighter, perhaps better than Chimera by considering pure stats. Amazing acceleration of both engine and thrusters may surpass Chimera's advantages. In theory... As I didn't fly it myself

Shih is a good shield tank. On the first look, direct upgrade for Ares. Not enough speed and strafe acceleration for my taste, but considering Barracuda's slowboating you may like it.

My personal S choice before Timelines was Moreya. Fast, quite sturdy as for hull HP, 4 weapon slot. With purple shield recharge delay 1 shield slot is enough.
Xperimental shuttle is OP, but lacks the ability to mount regular weapons, especially shield-piercing ones. What doesn't make the ship the perfect one for personal use.

Originally posted by Doom:

There's also Falx, which someone enjoyed, as long as you do not mind overlooking landing dock from the cabin.

Its definitely not about Falx, pilot cabin sits after landing pad, in the front. I won't tolerate spreading pesky rumors about my M love around
I presume its about either Paranid or Argon frigate.

[Urm the Mad]

It's an M class but it doesn't feel like one. Get you a Nemesis. I run mine with five Thermal Disintegrators and there isn't much your size that can stand up to more than three volleys.

[Frienby]

Thanks everyone, glad to have some direction on what to look at. Nemesis sounds fun. Same with the Shih, buuut, I don't really know about the kind of weapons they use.

[🎮 PalkoVvodets 🔑]

Originally posted by Frienby:

Nemesis sounds fun. Same with the Shih, buuut, I don't really know about the kind of weapons they use.

Commonwealth weapons + Terran pulse laser. Nothing Boron's allowed.

[Doom]

Originally posted by Frienby:

Only problem I have with the Cobra is same with most frigates, small numbers of guns means it can take a long time kill some things.

Dragon Raider is a natural alternative choice then. Six front facing guns. "Raider" version is faster but has less hull.

Originally posted by 🎮 PalkoVvodets 🔑:

Shih is a good shield tank. On the first look, direct upgrade for Ares. Not enough speed and strafe acceleration for my taste, but considering Barracuda's slowboating you may like it.

For me Shih was quite slow and heavy, though I guess one could try modding it. It is a bit unfortunate, because I like junkyard ship aesthetic. Maybe I'll try again.

If we're considering Shih, then Odachi/Cutlass are a possibility. They're functional, but even with mods they're not top in terms of any stats, IIRC. So it is more matter of taste.

Originally posted by 🎮 PalkoVvodets 🔑:

Its definitely not about Falx, pilot cabin sits after landing pad, in the front. I won't tolerate spreading pesky rumors about my M love around :roflanFace:
I presume its about either Paranid or Argon frigate.

Yup, mixed it up with Cerberus. Apologies.

Originally posted by Frienby:

Thanks everyone, glad to have some direction on what to look at. Nemesis sounds fun. Same with the Shih, buuut, I don't really know about the kind of weapons they use.

Nemesis is a solid Corvette, its only problem is that it lacks copilot seat. There's some useless gadget where that seat could've been. So not usable if you like flying passenger.

[joeball123]

Given that you like the Barracuda and are ambivalent towards the Chimera, I might suggest trying the Kalis. It's probably the third most maneuverable heavy fighter overall, after Barracuda and XPerimental Shuttle, and with four shield generators it's arguably also one of the toughest despite its relatively low hull strength. On the other hand, it's fairly slow (especially if you keep the Terran engines that it comes with when you buy it from the Pioneers; still, this might be more of a positive in your book since you don't seem to like the Chimera), it only has two weapon mounts, and if you want to take full advantage of those weapon mounts being Terran High-Energy compatible you'll need to take it somewhere to get it refitted because the Segaris Pioneers don't have Mark 2 Proton Barrages or Meson Streams and the Terran Protectorate doesn't sell the Kalis.

I will add that the classic 'dogfighter' is a highly maneuverable fighter, which strikes me as at least somewhat at odds with your question's focus on durability and heavy fighters as well as with pretty much all of the suggestions for medium ships. If I were to pick out dogfighters from the game's roster, I'd be looking at the Elites, Falcons, and Novas, the Mako, Cutlass, Asp Raider, Irukandji, and Kukri, the Barracuda and the XPerimental Shuttle, probably the Takoba, and maybe the Perseus Vanguard, Nodan Vanguard, and Jaguar - not necessarily the fastest, best-armed, or most resilient fighters, but certainly the most agile. Ares, Eclipse, Gladius, and Shih, which have firepower and durability at the expense of speed and maneuverability, are much more of a classic heavy fighter archetype than a dogfighter archetype while Chimera, Balaur, and Pulsar, which lean more towards firepower and speed at the expense of maneuverability and durability, are more of a classic interceptor archetype.

[Frienby]

Originally posted by joeball123:

- A lot of useful info-

I will add that the classic 'dogfighter' is a highly maneuverable fighter, which strikes me as at least somewhat at odds with your question's focus on durability and heavy fighters and pretty much all of the suggestions for medium ships.

Fair! I should explain why I like the durability and ability to dogfiight then, maybe how I'm using the fighter might make more sense at what I'm looking at. I love M/L's, but sometimes I get into situations where nimble fighters swarm me or stick stubbornly to my rear in my Hyperion. So I love to then hand the ship over to my crew, jump into a fighter and take off while explosions and fire are happening around me. The extra durability like with the Barracuda's shields, lets me survive getting out and getting my bearings before clearing away the pests that were difficult for my larger ship to handle.

[Urm the Mad]

Originally posted by Frienby:

Thanks everyone, glad to have some direction on what to look at. Nemesis sounds fun. Same with the Shih, buuut, I don't really know about the kind of weapons they use.

Literally anything will work on the Nemesis, but the Split have a weapon they'll sell you once you get friendly called the Thermal Disintegrator which is basically a pulse laser with worse aim and range but a damage over time effect that bleeds through shields. Given that you have five of them and they're all medium sized that is a ton of damage on a very sturdy and maneuverable ship

[Cellar_Cat]

At high enough speeds like a Moreya with mk4 Split engines, shields matter a lot less in a fighter. During the flight change beta I started a couple times in one of those with everyone in the universe hostile and just kept fighting continually until I got bored.

[Frienby]

I'm helping the Zya and have a little experience with the disintegraters on my Cobra, but six of them sounds wild. Going to look for a Nemesis next time I'm on. Kalis also sounds right up my angle. As long as it has good acceleration, I can handle a slower speed fighter in a dogfight, just need to be able to position myself right.

I struggle with pretty bad arthritis, so I cannot do speed alone for long, I need something that can take a hit when my hand cramps or I shake and double tap bobbing when I mean to weave.

[Cellar_Cat]

In terms of things that launch from a Hyperion a Shih might be a better overall fighter unless you specifically want Mesons or something. Essentially a better version of a Gladius or Eclipse.

[aFF3_M!T_WaFF3]

Chimera -> hands down -> very good punch and high hull
if you want to use mods and dont want an total-OP fighter: Chimera Sentinel -> a little slower that normal Chimera and 2 shields => the best (non op) fighter ;)