Ship Stat Change Suggestions

Operator said that there should be separate thread(s) for suggestions and their details, so I’m making this one.

There have already been quite a few suggestions from me, and I want this thread to focus mainly on how ships (from my point of view) could be balanced and adjusted stat-wise to refresh the gameplay meta (short for “most effective tactics available”).

That said, this thread isn’t only about balancing — it’s also about adding new stat features and improving variety. Right now, things like strafe power, impulse speed, cruise speed, and power output are nearly identical across most VHFs, which makes them feel too similar. There should be more diversity in these areas to make ships feel unique and specialized.

My goal is to make most ships — if not every ship — worth flying. Currently, many are overlooked because of poor stats and/or agility, leaving a lot of Crossfire’s ship content unused and unnoticed.

At the moment, it’s usually just the same few ships that dominate: Cayman, Chimera, Quasar, Redemption, Saracen, and Dragonfly.

There are two ways to even out the playing field: either make the strong ships worse, or make the weak ships better. Personally, I definitely prefer the latter.

Azan

The Azan is a unique VHF, as it has only 5200 armor — less than half of what most VHFs have — making it the weakest in terms of durability. Its only real strengths right now are its slightly above-average agility (which does not say much) and 98 bots & bats.

According to its info-card, the Azan is designed as a scout ship, which makes me think it should excel at speed rather than durability. It would make perfect sense for the Azan to have a much higher cruise speed, ideally on par with the Dragonfly, which is also classified as a scout ship. That change would help the Azan fill a unique role without becoming overpowered.

6x Class 10 Ships (Bullpup Mk ll, Ceptyr, Deimos, Hydra Mklll and Seething Fury) and the Redemption

The Redemption is the first ship that comes to mind when players think of 6x class 10missiles/guns — and for good reason. It has several advantages that the other 6x class 10 ships simply don’t:

• It comes with a Champion Shield by default (which also makes it more expensive, but that’s not really the issue).

• It has the highest armor among all 6x class 10 ships.

• It likely has one of the highest agility ratings among the other 6x 10s (I haven’t tested every single one yet).

• And most importantly, it has a strafe power that’s more than double what 95% of VHFs have, which gives it an easier time to fight against stronger NPCs while having a bulky hitbox.

All these combined make the Redemption vastly superior, leaving the rest of the 6x class 10 lineup almost irrelevant.

I think the other ships in this category should have their strafe power increased — ideally to match the Redemption’s — and/or receive an agility boost to bring them closer in performance.

This would make all 6x class 10 ships viable and help break up the current one-ship meta.

Additionally, I think the game could use more 6x class 10 ships in general. It’s an interesting ship category, and expanding it could add even more variety and excitement to gameplay.

Im back! Had a small break from the game

Anyway back to the suggestions:

More “Scout”-Type Ships Like the Dragonfly

If the Azan were to receive the proposed changes, it could easily become another “one-ship meta.” To prevent that, the game could benefit from adding 1–3 more scout-style ships, or adjusting existing ones across ship classes (light, heavy, very heavy) to create more variety in playstyles.

Right now, the Dragonfly — a heavy fighter with 600 cruise speed — sets a great foundation for what a scout ship could be. This concept could be expanded further:

• A Light Fighter scout could have around 650 cruise speed, but be very weak offensively (e.g., limited to class 5 guns and shield).

• A Very Heavy Fighter scout could have around 550 cruise speed, while maintaining some disadvantages (lower armor, reduced power output, smaller cargo hold) to stay balanced.

These kinds of ships could be visually less appealing or underused designs, giving new purpose to models that players usually overlook. Turning the “ugly” or forgotten ships into specialized scout or experimental types would encourage players to try new things and diversify gameplay.

Dark Angel & Hammerhead — Possibly the Weakest VHFs in the Game

Both the Dark Angel and Hammerhead stand out — unfortunately, for the wrong reasons. Stat- and perhaps role-wise, they are arguably currently the two least viable VHFs in Crossfire, and in their current state, they could make more sense as heavy fighters rather than very heavy fighters.

Dark Angel

The Dark Angel is described in its infocard as a “beginner-friendly” VHF, but even for a starter ship, it falls short. Compared to other entry-level VHFs like the Black Eagle, which costs about the same, the Dark Angel is simply outclassed in nearly every area.

• Only 4 guns/missile mounts (plus 1 turret slot, which doesn’t help much)

• Around 8400 armor, similar to lighter VHFs such as the Cayman

• Just 43 bots & bats, lowest for any VHF

• It does however have an above average agility - better than the Black Eagle - which is its only redeeming quality

Given these stats, it feels too weak to be a proper VHF yet still has too much to be a heavy fighter — it’s caught awkwardly in between. With small adjustments it could either be reclassified as a heavy fighter or reworked into a true, better VHF.

Hammerhead

The Hammerhead isn’t much better off. Despite being labeled as a VHF, its numbers fit more with heavy fighters than with other VHFs.

• 7900 armor — the second lowest among VHFs (only the Azan has less)

• 49 bots & bats — well below the usual range for its class, second lowest among VHFs again

• Class 9 weapons max, which limits its offensive capability (fun fact, this is the only VHF with max class 9 guns/missiles)

The Hammerhead lacks any defining advantage — no notable agility, armor, or power output to justify its classification. It could benefit from either being reworked into a fast, lightly armored heavy fighter, or buffed to meet VHF expectations.

SWAT Portal Ship Entries — Often Inaccurate or Outdated

The ship entries listed on the SWAT Portal are often not correct or simply outdated. Some ships have wrong stats, model pictures, missing details, or incorrect purchase locations.

For new players, or even experienced ones looking to compare ships or plan purchases, this can be really confusing.

An overhaul of the ship data on the Portal would help a lot in making it a more reliable and up-to-date reference.

Ship Infocards — Frequently Wrong or Misleading

A lot of the in-game ship infocards are either wrong or misleading.

The Dark Angel is a perfect example: its infocard says it’s “a very small fighter with very good power usage and heavy guns,” but as already established, it has poor power usage and fewer guns than most VHFs.

This isn’t an isolated case — many ships are described as “agile” when they’re really not, or “fast” when almost all ships share identical impulse and cruise speeds.

Correcting the infocards to better reflect the actual ship stats would make the game feel more consistent and grounded.

If help is needed in gathering correct data, verifying ship stats, or rewriting infocards and Portal entries, I’d be more than happy to assist with the process entirely.

I’d really like to hear your own thoughts and ideas about ship balance and stat changes too.

So far I’ve pretty much been the only one throwing suggestions out there for this topic, but I’m sure there are more people who care about it just as much.

Different opinions and perspectives would really help round out the discussion — and show that this isn’t just me nitpicking, but something that many players want to see improved for the good of the game.