How many fighters, should one have?

[thinkinTom]

Just curious to know based on others experiences, as to what a suitable number of fighters one should have. Will 2 do it? or will I need more than that.

[ZakaryX]

1 is barely enough to keep rogue drones from shooting it down so make sure you use it to support your PD turrets. 2 can take on just about anything as long as they take some time to repair between waves.
3 will obliterate just about everything coming your way.

If I was attacking a ship I would want 3+ at minimum to quickly take out a single PD but I would be leery about sending them against a target with 2 or more point defense. Your fighters are flimsy and kinda expensive to replace (especially early on).

[Viral]

For the starting systems and my first hyper jump into the next systems 1 fighter was enough to deal with rng bots and the occasional flying rock.

Once you begin getting in hugging parties with Vs 2 or Vs 3 enemy ships their fragility seems a waste. I like to focus on assault teams for taking out ship crews quickly and every person i cant put on an assault shuttle is a waste to me (or put in a counter boarding party, fire supremacy counts for a lot with rng shooting). I like to take ships as intact as possible. So early on, every pawn counts.

Having bees buzzing around my ship looking pretty but not actually being useful in a fight is a waste of resources imo. I know they can be recalled, but that takes time, as does moving those people to a place they needed to be sooner.. A lot can go wrong in a very short period of time. Anyone who`s played this game knows that.

Now it could be argued, having 4+ fighters can maybe destroy an enemy boarding craft before it latches on.. This is true, but ive seen enemy boarding forces of 1 and 2 people. Dont get me wrong, it could be 4 enemies, but again, 4 people taking out 2 or 1 is a waste of resources to me as is potentially taking out upto 4 future prisoners who could be sold or crew one day... Everything comes down to profit / loss and a good potential recruit is priceless. Wiping out boarding parties every single time seems, while funny, counterproductive to long term survival.

It maybe someone has experienced something where multiple fighters is a must and my current experience just hasnt got there yet. Always willing to admit no battle plan ever survives contact with the enemy.

- I always play brutal difficulty for reference.

Saying that, i may attempt to try out a pure carrier build ship at some point. Maybe 8 fighters early on will net me stupid profit instead of a mix of miners/builders/fighter if i turn on the civies and merchants. *Must resist flying jolly roger...

[Luzilyo]

I usually have 4 Fighters (two on each side to keep things symmetrical and looking nice) and they seem to handle everything pretty well so far.

[thinkinTom]

Thanks everyone for your replies, I appreciate, your insight, to what might be the best way to go about my ships defences. thanks again. :)

[craig234]

Just one, if flown by Luke Skywalker:)

[thinkinTom]

LOL!