Favorite Arena ships

ck9791

Rear Admiral
I unlocked the Rapier Cavalier last night while earning my navigator achievement and i think it is my new favorite ship. It seems to have decent maneuverability in battle and I feel comfortable dueling in both lighter and heavier ships with it. The Cavalier also has good firepower and incredible armor. There were many times last night when i thought i'd been destroyed and was giving up and going to wait for the ship selection menu only to have the smoke clear and see my cavalier intact.

Before the Cavalier, my favorite used to be the Dralthi Rhino. I'm not sure if its just my perception, but the Cavalier seems to be a little better than the Rhino in terms of survivability and maneuverability. Still the Rhino is a good if you can get a light fighter in your sights for a powerful barrage, or for engaging other medium fighters or bombers.

I also like the Dralthi Striker and the Arrow Guardian.
 
I'm a big fan of the Rhino and Mauler. Rhino for its HS missile salvos (rack up those kills!) and the Mauler of its all around ass kicking ability, especially in Capship mode.

I agree with you about the Cavalier, it certainly feels like a tank, but with agility of a smaller fighter.

I've done the same thing a lot, figured I was dead only to see the explosions wash away and my ship still there, barely. Although usually because I'm waiting for the ship selection screen someone comes by and blasts me anyways.
 
I'm a fan of the "medium" ships on either side, though I have little problem using a bomber either.

Arrows and Darkets, while fun to fly, don't have much staying power in a battle since so many games turn into close-quarter brawls.
 
I am still missing the Rhino and Behemoth, both contestants for being quite powerful, but up to now I favour the Cavalier. It has an excellent missile loadout, good guns (fast firing) and very good protection while still being reasonably fast and manoeuverable.

I can't do anything with light fighters.

Overall I prefer the Terran ships, mostly because of the ridiculously weak shields of the Kilrathi counterparts which don't even regenerate faster, as I have the impression. And Confed ships are the only ones to mount IR missiles.
 
Rapier Cavalier all the way, baby! :D
I usually end up flying the Cavalier, sometimes switching to a Broadsword Executioner during capship matches to get the dirty jobs done. Gotta love that tractor beam! (Don't underestimate the range of the Cavalier's laser cannons when it comes to taking out those pesky missile turrets, though!)

On the furry side of life, I prefer the Paktahn Phantom or the Darket...um...is it Raptor? (The third variant of it, anyway.)

I still lack the Broadsword Behemoth, as well as the Dralthi Rhino and the other two Paktahn variants. (That's the price I have to pay for choosing Confed most of the time...)
 
I still need to unlock the Rapier Vanguard and the Broadsword Behemoth. I started playing as the kilrathi first until i unlocked all their fighters and now i am concentrating on the confed side.
 
I usually fly either the Paktahn Phantom or the Rapier Blade.

I'm still missing a Rapier,a Paktahn, and a Dralthi though.
I haven't played Arena much lately though....I've unfortuantally relapsed into my Guitar Hero II addiction:(
 
I don't really like paktahns much so far, and lean towards broadswords if I need to fly a bomber (though I don't have either of the heaviest bombers yet) But All around I think I like the Darket Raptor the best. It got a good gun combination, heat seekers that seem to track better than the Rhino's, a sheild core device and good shield stregnth, as well as the thing is FAST.. I can evade and fly circles around pretty much everything. The Rhino is ok. Its decently armored and it's 3 HS spread is deadly (though firing 3 HS at a time means you run out fast). But it's a bit too slow for my taste. At least it's armor and sheilds give it staying power.

On the Confed side I like the Cavalier in capship mode but would rather use a blade on most melee and Free for all maps.
 
(...)

On the furry side of life, I prefer the Paktahn Phantom or the Darket...um...is it Raptor? (The third variant of it, anyway.)

(...)

Third variant is the Darket Stalker - my least favourite Darket I have to say. The Neutron guns are just too slow for my taste.


I don't really like paktahns much so far, and lean towards broadswords if I need to fly a bomber (though I don't have either of the heaviest bombers yet) But All around I think I like the Darket Raptor the best. It got a good gun combination, heat seekers that seem to track better than the Rhino's, a sheild core device and good shield stregnth, as well as the thing is FAST.. I can evade and fly circles around pretty much everything. T

While I welcome that there are fans of light fighters (adds to the internet diversity) and while I like the Darket Raptor best from the Darkets as well - I fail to see how you can rate its shields as "good". 130 cm? Less than the lightest Arrow.

Though you'll probably beat me, regardless of what I fly. :)
 
Yeah, it seems like both the Rapier Cavalier and Dralthi Rhino are positioned as the best overall ships. Heavy hitting and well armored while retaining much of their maneuverability.

I try to start out in something lighter like a Rapier Blade or Dralthi Raptor. It's good practice to get better with the lighter ships. The Rhino's FF salvo is pretty crazy - some of those frequent Rhino flyers should try more variety. :)
 
Third variant is the Darket Stalker - my least favourite Darket I have to say. The Neutron guns are just too slow for my taste.

Which is why you save using secondary guns when you got the target already hammered. Mesons give a pretty good bang/buck ratio, as long as you aren't going against someone who has good long-range aim with Tachyons or other "reach out and hurt someone" guns... and even then the Darket Raptor's speed lets you zip out of the way a lot easier.

I still prefer my Dralthi Rhino, though, even if it does attract way too much attention for the same reasons I like it in the first place. :D
 
That's probably a good strategy with the Shank but with the Stalker (and Vanguard) it leaves you with a pair of Laser cannons...unless you are very good at evasion you're going to have a hard time. :)
 
Argh, I just now realized you said Stalker, not Raptor. Talk about lack of attention to detail... :(
 
Okay, now that I unlocked the Dralthi Rhino, I like it almost as much as the Rapier Cavalier. Those FF missiles could maybe save my sorry newbie ass in some situations... :p Like Chris said, the two of them seem to be the best-balanced fighters in the game.
 
Okay, now that I unlocked the Dralthi Rhino, I like it almost as much as the Rapier Cavalier. Those FF missiles could maybe save my sorry newbie ass in some situations... :p Like Chris said, the two of them seem to be the best-balanced fighters in the game.

They are actually HS's for the second missile not IFF. But yeah they help me rack up kills pretty quickly as well. :)
 
Okay, now that I unlocked the Dralthi Rhino, I like it almost as much as the Rapier Cavalier. Those FF missiles could maybe save my sorry newbie ass in some situations... :p Like Chris said, the two of them seem to be the best-balanced fighters in the game.

Hey, I unlocked it too- what a coincidence! :p

Anyway, while I agree that the trio of HS missiles is great (especially since they keep tracking even if the target is destroyed), I still like the Cavalier, at least in single play, better. And for multiplayer - only 2x20 DF on the Rhino? That's really weak, especially in Arena.

Still, the Rhino is one the best, certainly.


Argh, I just now realized you said Stalker, not Raptor. Talk about lack of attention to detail... :(

No problem. After I thought of it, I have to say that laser cannons aren't bad in Arena. Fast firing and since they do not drain much energy, you can keep a steady flow of energy death up!
 
Yes, the Arrow Guardian is quite impressive. If it had a gun energy core or gun battery, she would definately be in my top 5 list. Even if I suck in light fighters.
 
I find the Rhino and the Behemoth to be the two "best" fighters in that you can wade in and score a mess of kills with them... but at the same time I find the combination of surprise and speed (ie - 'someone actually chose an Arrow?!') can let you dominate with the light fighters if you really put some effort into it.
 
The Arrow Guardian is a good ship. I used her to win my hibernation achievement in the bearpit. I could get in and attack with everything from the side or behind of my opponent then move away when they tried to turn to face me and attack again from a different direction. Her speed was also good for grabbing the powerups after defeating one opponent and waiting for the next to spawn.
 
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