[MaxOMan]

As for how the improved fighters available in the full game will change things . . . well, I'll have to wait and see, or take the input of the beta-testers, to know about that. It might well change the whole balance issue but somehow I doubt it unless they are really *much* faster.

I agree that fighters should have some modification to make them harder to hit (in the same vein as small ships are harder to hit), but I think we also have to consider that the final Version of the game will have medium AND heavy fighters. If they follow the same design patterns as ships, the systems they use will be the same as the ones used by light fighters, but they will of course have more "space". Thus they should have more room for more (and better) weapons and, more importantly, more engines. This in turn would make the larger fighters most likely as fast (maybe faster?) than the ships they fly off of.

Even the light fighters would seem to have their place as cheap and expendable "extra" weapons in the battle field. The heavy fighters on the other hand might be used more like PT boats or small ships in their own right. And they'd have the advantage of being grouped into squadrons, thus allowing for more concentration of fire.

QUICK NOTE: Does anyone know if the fighters are more limited in the number of engines they are allowed to have than a conventional ship (i.e., max 6)? I don't remember right off hand what the limit is on fighter engines.