Fighters are broken. Can we fix them?

Alneyan · #1 October 18th, 2005, 03:56 PM

I believe the problem isn't that PDC is too strong(*), but fighters are too weak, and, more specifically, have a very hard defence vs damage balance. Those fighters are also expensive (particularly to research to high levels), and logistics for are a nightmare. Since you must gather thousands of them in any serious battle, getting enough Fighter Bays to do that is going to be tough. They make a very nice defence taskforce when set at a wormhole ward, though.

* PDC has a mere 3.5 damage ratio (damage/kt), where most other weapons are around the 1.5/2 mark, and aren't restricted in their targetting. PDC cannot be mounted, unlike those other weapons, so a heavy-mounted APB XII deals exactly as much damage per kt as PDC, and is always useful. PDC does get a +70 bonus to targetting however, whereas a ship will standard training and components will only fire at 65% accuracy. I am assuming the fighters are in a fleet of their own (seems reasonable enough), but that they also have ECM III: that seems less likely, given how much research is needed for those things.

So yeah, PDC is very strong when you don't have anything else, but I think it is pretty much balanced in the middle game: it is better than the APB at taking down fighters, but it doesn't do anything against ships. Seems fair enough to me.

Suicide Junkie · #2 October 18th, 2005, 04:17 PM

The biggest factor that makes PDC way too strong is the autofiring.
Even if your fighters get the jump on the enemy, they will still get raped before they can start to fight back.

For good fighters, try Carrier Battles mod! (Humans only, see PBW for open games)

narf poit chez BOOM · #3 October 18th, 2005, 04:18 PM

That +70% PDC bonus stacks with the +65% CS, I think.

Alneyan · #4 October 18th, 2005, 04:27 PM

Quote:

narf poit chez BOOM said:
That +70% PDC bonus stacks with the +65% CS, I think.

Yup it does, but anything over 99% isn't going to be helpful. Ships have a +55 bonus in training/components against Fighters (with best training and components), negated by the Fighters own defence bonus: +80, +70 or +60, depending on the hull used for the fighters.