Best ship in CF 2.0

Quote from AZ09

Give me a Warblade any day and ill be happy and rich from pods

I'm surprised you don't pick the Deathblade instead, then, since it has even more cargo space (the hull bonus seems... negligible when you consider how quickly good pod targets will eat through it.) Actually an awesome series of ships, though, and probably not getting as much love as they deserve, AND their design is awesome.

I wish I were a good pilot, because then I could totally go with the Bullpup Mk III, use its large amount of armament, AND enjoy a massive cargo load... even trade with it on the side! As is, though, I'd probably just get picked off...

@'Daverin: Practice, practice. Spend some time with the Bullpup Mk III in the quieter systems learning how to fight it, get the thrusters from the CG's and practice the engine Kill. get someone to help you get it outfitted and while its slow turning, w/engine kill and those thrusters you have the ability to dash away at over 300, turn and bring all 9 weapons to bear pretty quickly. I do trade with it every so often. It is DesertRat10. See config pics in gallery.

Be careful, this is a Freighter. This means you cannot 1:1 use your gear like shields, shield upgrades. I aslo had a ship like this before the reset, it is fun. But also very big annot too agile, gets a lot of punishment.

What do you think I use to catalog wrecks?

can any pilot tell me the name of the freighter with 360 degrees turning turrents please
kermit

Do you mean other than the Bullpup MK III? It has three. Maybe the Armored Transport?

Quote from Gearhead10

Do you mean other than the Bullpup MK III? It has three. Maybe the Armored Transport?

i have flown both, armoured is like b/s sluggish and bulky and the bullpup 3 great but massive drain on power generator and i used to de activate the turrents so save power so to no advantage ,oh the dual thrusters too short of burn leaving the pilot stranded in a fleet attack.
kermit

Also, how is the APC Freighter? Pictures on Lexi would suggest it is somewhat smaller profile to the Bullpup, which often can be good for agility.

And Ramses has a point, the Freighter does not get as good of shields, for example, as a VHF. So although the hull can be good, it is inherently more reliant on it. Good thing both APC and Bullpup have a generous repair unit allotment.

There is one exception to the "freighters get no good shield" rule - Haidar. (Though Haidar is usually listed as VHF, Lexicon had it under 'Freighters' for some time)

Hmm, interesting... I imagine it must be really sluggish, because it otherwise looks like a really good VHF/Freighter hybrid.

How about when looking for a freighter and being kinda disappointed in the defense equipment which comes with it, looking for a mercenary to protect you while you are hauling around whatever is of high value for you?
I mean, look at it. You can not get a high end freighter with the agility and weaponry of a fighter. From my understanding, the freighter is made to haul goods in larger quantities, while the fighter is made to fight, defend, protect, escort ect. pp.

Somehow your response seems like it has a vested interest...

In all seriousness, I'd be checking out that Haidar now, just because it at least will have good stats for a VHF, including VHF shields, while having a strong 330 cargo. No way in hell could it be agile because balance, but otherwise fills out that role better than other options...

Its true, though... don't expect to get a freighter as good at fighting as a VHF, because that'd be broken. Still though, finding a "reasonable middle ground" doesn't sound like the worst plan in the world. And frankly the Bullpup and I'd bet the APC are closer to that than one might think. Still have the hull to make up somewhat for lack of shields, after all. Plus allotment of repair units.

.... and in general : hull strengh seems much more important in CF than in other mods (mainly to Big Daddys mod, one of my favoured - after CF - can't remember its balance in "vanilla" actual ).

In fights, PvE as well as PvP, shields are most of the time down pretty fast, as "nice to have" in some situations and they can recover, but bringing them up again ist more "costly" as it seems than bringing up up shields again (in terms of bots and bats).

Quote from Daverin

Hmm, interesting... I imagine it must be really sluggish, because it otherwise looks like a really good VHF/Freighter hybrid.

2 of my char have haidars and they are great.330 cargo bay and weapons and equipment stands off fleet attacks and great for exploring and belting the big fish too. also for a long time used apc and sometimes bullpup. haider everytime especially with it,s LVL 10 SHIELD. chimera and saracen as fighters but remembering every pilot has his own favourites
kermit

Very true, Kermit. Right now, my favorite is the new Redemption, but my original love has been, and in some ways always will be, the Deathblade... probably has something to do with my first "endgame tier" VHF, combined with being from Oasis, which is where I always go to bring up a new character to the point they can make money. I love that secluded little system, with its brilliant green star and single outpost...

I WILL check out the Haidar again sometime, though. Sounds promising for any more enterprising traders.

Actually, speaking of good VHFs, was anyone... I don't know, almost disappointed? At the Royal and the CSF equivalent? I always remember seeing them and thinking they'd be awesome to pilot, but now that this is an actual possibility, I find they are just too damn big and slow, moreso than I thought they were based on interacting with them as enemy ships in 1.9...

EDIT:

Quote from NucNuc

.... and in general : hull strengh seems much more important in CF than in other mods (mainly to Big Daddys mod, one of my favoured - after CF - can't remember its balance in "vanilla" actual ).In fights, PvE as well as PvP, shields are most of the time down pretty fast, as "nice to have" in some situations and they can recover, but bringing them up again ist more "costly" as it seems than bringing up up shields again (in terms of bots and bats).

I actually have to disagree, here... my experience has been that you will only survive by evasive action or clever shield use, constantly letting it restore as needed, because I haven't found any hull that was really good enough to make up for the inevitable balance in less agility. It seems having the most repair units possible is best, followed by knowing how to avoid hits, especially to let a shield recharge to full to get maximum "effective hp".

Quote from Daverin

by ...knowing how to avoid hits...

THIS basic knowledge I took as ... natural

Well in which case, hull matters little because either you should only take shield scratches, or hold out for it to regenerate.

Basically hull damage, to me, implies a kind of failure at the actual techniques you use to survive and win a dogfight. At that point its a matter of it giving you as much emergency leeway to get back shield and reassert course as you can take, but in general if you are taking enough hull damage that it is "meaningful", then you already are too prone to getting hit for it to save you.

Again, just personal experience so far. Guess there is a reason ships like the Cayman are the big names in PvP.

To play until mission 13, the Elder (the new) is pure fun.
With the forward gun (like a mini Ragnarok).
The Geko is also looking good but looks can be deceiving.

The new Geko is like the new Raptor and they look good for my taste.

Have some experience with new Raptor and can say its perfect ship for podding, and can stand on its own also in PvP.

p.s.: in wiki were updated some from above mentioned ships.