Personally I hated the WC1 Rapier. Those damn laser cannons just took all the fun out of it, I was much more effective with the Raptor.
That said
The Dragon is the best fighter or bomber ever, because it cloaks, it has torps, it has unlimited afterburners, and as good a cannon layout as you could possibly get. No other fighter comes close.
I'll bet that, in the hands of a good pilot, an Arrow, a Vampire or a Wasp would give a Dragon a good run for its money any day.
That said, I'll bet that, in the hands of a good pilot, an Arrow, a Vampire or a Wasp would give a Dragon a good run for its money any day.
In the WC4 novel, Arrows in the hands of experienced veterans are swatted like flies.
And if I remember that novel correctly, just as in the opening for the game, there's not much of a chance when you're jumped by a bunch of cloaked ships. Surprise changes the landscape quite a bit, as does confusion, and noncoordination in your flying tactics while trying to recover from both of those is going to be prevalent. With a start like that, a lot of vets would be susceptible to going the way of Kaboom.
I've been looking into the conditions in the Wing Commander Universe in 2639 and I think the Raptor must have been an extremely dominant fighter for that era. Even in Wing Commander I (2654), I wasn't sure I preferred the Rapier over the Raptor.. I might choose the Raptor even then given that choice. In the 2639 environment (that's the first year I know of where this fighter is referenced from books/games/manuals), it would seem this fighter was very dominant. Fast, maneuverable, a huge missile loadout, mining capabilities.. this ship allowed so many tactical possibilities: it arguably had the advantage over any ship in a dogfight, it was great for capship strikes, and it worked well for creating mine fields.
Keep in mind you're thinking of the Raptor as you knew it in 2654. Earlier Raptor variants may have had different gun loadouts, missiles, speed and maneuverability ratings. They were probably similar, if not the same, but fighters can change quite a bit over the years.
I liked the fact that the Rapier is almost as fast as the Hornet
The best fighter : Centurion from Privateer, with It's quad fussion cannons,two more on the rear turret, twenty FoF missiles, excellent speed and turn rate, infinite afterburners, jump capability and all the upgrades avaible in Righteous Fire. What could possibly beat that ?
As for confed craft :
Fighter : Vampire (WCP) imo the most durable in long-lasting combat.
Bomber : Vindicator (I always liked those Stormfire cannons )
EDIT : well, I've forgotten about the Steltek drone. That was really something! too bad It was impossible to fly that thing
Edfilho said:~~~, the pros all fitted their Centurions with Tachyons + 1 powered Steltek gun, and 20 ImRecs.
Tachyons had the best dmg/sec and dmg/energy ratings.
LeHah said:Ditto the Banshee from Armada. I never really bothered making other fighters in the campaign mode.
Not the Gladius? Since only one torpedo was needed, I thought the Gladius' speed and smaller price outweighed the the better armament of the Banshee.
The Rapier is faster than the Hornet.