Rank GSF Fighters based on appearance alone!

[Nemarus]

Simple silly thread! Rank as few or as many as you like.

 

Here's mine:

 

1. Bloodmark

Aggressive, sleek and predatory.

 

2. Clarion

A gorgeous X-wing ARC-170 mash-up.

 

3. Jurgoran

A cross between the Assault Gunboat and the Dragon from WC4.

 

4. Blackbolt

Not as cool as the Bloodmark, but still great.

 

5. Dustmaker

I may be an outlier here, but I really think the Dustmaker is nice. It's exotic without looking impractical.

 

6. Razorwire

Not your daddy's TIE Bomber. This thing looks tough-as-nails and dangerous.

 

7. Pike

One of the best examples of creating a new silhouette while keeping in the Star Wars aesthetic.

 

8. Sledgehammer

It's not Star Wars without a funky asymmetrical ship. I love how my HLC's fire from below and to the left of my cockpit.

 

9. Flashfire

As close as we can get to an A-wing. It only loses points with me because of a lack of interesting vertical features, and because some of the cannons look wonky.

 

10. NovaDive

A nice looking Z-95. Not offensive in any way, but a bit vanilla.

 

11. Sting (without BLC's)

Put BLC's and Cluster Missiles on a Sting and it starts to remind me of this. But with rocket pods and any other cannon, it looks like a sinister ancestor of the classic TIE Fighter.

 

12/13. Mailoc / Redeemer

A nice homage to a Lambda shuttle.

 

14. Quarrel

Especially with Barrel Roll, I love the way this ship looks like some sort of hybrid Y-wing crossed with a Naboo fighter. It's a great, interesting silhouette.

 

15. Comet-breaker

A compact, slightly less exotic model than the Quarrel, it still looks pretty formidable, especially with torpedoes and HLC's.

 

16. Spearpoint

I'd actually rank the Spearpoint higher than the NovaDive, since it is a little less "vanilla", except I'm really not a fan of the fuel tanks on the wings. They make it seem bottom heavy.

 

17/18. Firehauler / Onslaught

This is a really nice, solid looking ship. I like the workmanlike build, though I wish its vertical mass wasn't quite so condensed in the middle.

 

19. Mangler

So close to being neat, but the extreme length of the wings just makes it look a bit too goofy.

 

20. Star Guard

A nice design, but with the wings angled downward, it just feels barren above the cockpit, unlike the Pike.

 

21/22. Gladiator / Enforcer

Another nice example of asymmetry, though I wish there was more variation in the component appearances. Also the flat , almost featureless bottom of the fuselage has always struck me as a bit weird.

 

23. Strongarm / Demolisher

A strong shape, but the engines aren't really that interesting despite taking up so much of the visual weight.

 

24. Rampart

The Rampart gets points for its extreme width alone. You really do feel like you're in a flying-wing Bomber. That being said, the X-wing-like cockpit sitting in the middle of the wing is very strange, and for a Bomber it looks a bit flimsy.

 

25. Quell

The Imperial Strikes are all pretty terrible. But at least the Quell has an aggressive, predatory, forward-sweeping profile. It still looks like a fancy shuttle or tug, not an air superiority fighter.

 

*** It's at this point in the list that, for every ship below, I dislike the appearance so much that it interferes with my willingness to fly said ship on a regular basis. Everything above this point is at least a mild thumbs up. Everything below is a thumbs down. ***

 

26. Condor

It looks like someone stuffed a Quarrel into a tube. It's just too compact, too long, and too boring on the bottom. It looks like some sort of boat.

 

27. Legion

It's okay, but completely lacks the intimidating menace of the Razorwire. With the solar panels only folding down, it feels bottom heavy, and the little fin winglets are silly.

 

28. Imperium

Read the entry for the Rycer below, first. The Imperium only ranks slightly above the Rycer because it's not top heavy.

 

29. Rycer

Is it a shuttle? A tug? What inspired this thing? Way too top heavy. This is the Imperial's space superiority fighter. It should look aggressive and predatory, with forward sweeping elements like those found on the Blackbolt, TIE Interceptor, or Sith Fury. Instead we get a bunny... thing.

 

30/31. Decimus (would rank higher if Power Dive didn't look so dumb for it)

If Power Dive were not pretty much mandatory on this ship, it'd rank much higher. But Power Dive looks plain ridiculous. It looks like there was a nice looking ship that someone slapped a component on... a component that came from an entirely different model. They have entirely different textures and shapes. The Decimus is all angles and symmetry--both vertical and horizontal. Power Dive has sleek curves and top heavy mass. And while this component model could also be found on the Razorwire, on that ship its hugeness was at least somewhat offset by the Razorwire's panels. But here... the Decimus' solar panels look like they almost clip with the Power Dive model.

 

32/33. Ocula / Skybolt

A beehive with wings. Some may like it, and I don't think it's a flawed design. It's just not my cup of tea.

 

34. Warcarrier

For all the asymmetrical success of the Sledgehammer, somehow it just doesn't work on the Warcarrier. It looks like a Rampart that got mangled/atrophied on one side. Like a body builder who works out too much with one arm.

 

Of course, I will have a new number one as soon as BioWare allows me to buy it in the Cartel Market.

Edited July 7, 2014 by Nemarus

[TrinityLyre]

10. NovaDrive

 

NovaDive damn it. NovaDive!

[Nemarus]

NovaDive damn it. NovaDive!

 

OMG, I had no idea.

[TrinityLyre]

Bad@ss ships

Bloodmark - May I make love to you, my pretty?

Clarion - ARC-170 and X-wing. What more could you ask for?

Pike - Just awesome.

Blackbolt - Can I have your sexy little foils back, please?

Mailoc/Redeemer - Cool.

Razorwire - I strike fear into the hearts of bad players.

Sting - I'm like a weird TIE Interceptor but I still look cool!

Spearpoint - Z-95?

NovaDive - Z-95?

Jurgoran - This one should be named after a bird of prey. Looks like it.

Mangler - Many missiles that it doesn't shoot!

 

Questionable at best

Legion - Goal posts. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sledgehammer - B-wing.

Star Guard - Red-headed stepchild of the Pike/Clarion.

Flashfire - A-wing that looks bad.

Rycer - GGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAA.... wait, I got nothing.

Quell - Goal post with random wing that isn't attached to the main fuselage. OK?

Imperium - Now with more goal posts!

Gladiator/Enforcer - I got nothing.

Decimus - It could look cool if someone beat the stuffing out of its wings?

Quarrel - Retarded Y-wing knockoff or something.

Rampart - Flying brick.

 

Do you really expect me to fly this?

Comet Breaker - If there was a way to make the Quarrel look any worse, they succeeded...

Condor - ... twice.

Warcarrier - Brick that seeks platonic relationship.

Strongarm/Demolisher - I honestly have nothing on this, again.

Dustmaker - FROCK! IT HAS A FROCK! SERIOUSLY!

Firehauler/Onslaught - Detached some various bits of metal from the shipyard and called it a ship.

Ocula/Skybolt - Testic... yeah.

Edited July 8, 2014 by TrinityLyre

[dancezwithnubz]

hehe, now here's a fun thread. 100% total subjectivity for a change!

 

my $0.02, best looking:

1: Blackbolt: I flat out love the design of this ship, especially with MLCs hanging off the wings. kinda reminds me of a Cylon Raider from BSG.

2: Clarion: Isn't she gorgeous? sleek lines and fitted with quads, actually looks almost like an X-Wing.

3: Bloodmark: stylin looking little boat, again the MLCs look sweet.

4: Sting: Almost a TIE-Fighter, looks totally dorky when fitted with bursts.

5: Razorwire: totally ****** looking boat.

6: Spearpoint: Dunno why, but I like the lines and the huge engines at the back.

 

Worst Looking:

1: Rycer: what a flying monstrosity that boat is.

2: Mangler: Kind of Rycer looking but not quite as many hits from the ugly-stick (note: it's looks in no way turns me off flying it).

3: Ocula/Skybolt: Shudder. There's three scouts in my hanger, guess which one is missing (bleagh). Looks like a ***** with wings.

Edited July 8, 2014 by dancezwithnubz

[-Amazara-]

Ships that always look good

Rampart - Now that's what i think of when i hear the word "bomber". The four engines make it appear very large and heavy. Even though the canopy/cockpit design tells a different story about the Rampart being that large...

Warcarrier - I've dubbed it "the surfing board" . Interesting asymmetric design. What i find intriguing about it is the fact that as a bomber it should be quite heavy and still only needs one single engine. Looks best with seeker mines and shield converter.

Flashfire - An A-Wing, you can already see from its arrow shape and small size how fast and agile this thing is. Looks best w/ quads and barrel roll (but unfortunately i can't play this build well).

Blackbolt - The blade-like wing design makes it look fast and dangerous. Perfect attributes for a light fighter. Looks best with Power Die and standard lasers.

Quarrel - Even if i'm really bad with it (and thus don't play it), this hybrid between Y-Wing and Naboo starfighter still looks quite impressive...

Firehauler - Either the engines are too big or the exhaust trails too narrow... Other than that i like the way it looks.

Enforcer/Gladiator - Not that beautiful, but sturdy and durable. In conjunction with my T1 strike build which uses heavy and rapid fire lasers, you have the interesting effect of switching between a "normal" mode where the cannons fire alternating and a "heavy impact" mode where they fire simultaneously. While this is also true for "ordinary" strikes, i notice it much more here.

Demolisher - I like how the fuselage has a bit of an "insectoid" shape. The cannon models are also chosen and located well.

Redeemer/Mailoc - In Rogue Squadron i already liked flying an imperial shuttle. This one looks quite similar. I like the republic version a bit more because of the laser cannon model.

 

Ships that need a specific (most of the time useless) build to look good

Jurgoran (no BLC, no Power Die) - Somehow reminds me of a stealth plane. Looks best (and also plays well) with standard lasers, slug and retroes.

Legion (Heavy, Shield Converter) - XXL version of the Blackbolt. Heavy lasers on imp bombers really do justice to the word "heavy"!

Clarion (Quads, Thermites or Ions, Power Die or Shield Converter) - The one and only authentic X-Wing!! (With folded wings...)

Pike (no light laser, no K-Turn) / Starguard (Heavy or Quad, no Barrel Roll) - Theres a bit of an X-Wing in every rep strike... at least when they have quad lasers.

Bloodmark (Rapid, EMP, Interdiction) - You can never have enough engines on your Blackbolt... Some variations look odd though (K-Turn, Power Die).

Rycer (Heavy, Clusters, Weapon Converter) - Clusters and weapon conv. engine give it a sleek and compact look, while the long heavy laser cannons add a third axis to the design, it's pretty flat otherwise.

Spearpoint (Standard Laser, Ions, Power Die) - Improved Novad®ive (). Now 50% more impressive...

Comet Breaker (Heavy, Thermites, Interdiction) - An A-Wing on steroids. While this build looks really awesome, it doesn't even closely play that good...

Imperium (Rapid, Proton, Shield Converter) - Quite decent looking hybrid between Rycer and Quell and unlike the Rycer, the Imperium's best looking build is actually playable.

Sting (Quad or Light, Clusters, K-Turn) - Can look nice, but if you build it to perform well, it's just fugly. BLC's long protruding cannons ruin it.

Mangler (Light, Slug, Weapon Converter) - The weapon converter engine adds some weight on the back so it doesn't look "chopped off", while the light lasers provide nice simultaneously firing "quads"...

 

"OK, but not good"

Onslaught - While the overall G-X1 design looks good, i dislike the corner-mounted "Sting BLCs".

Strongarm - Again, the laser cannons don't look good. Imp variant looks way better.

Novad®ive - Just an ordinary fighter plane. Nothing to see here, move along...

Ocula - Dubbed "the Wind Egg". On the imperial version, the large missile launchers make it look decent. And since my T2 scout build doesn't look good on a Sting either, i use this one on most of my imp chars. At least its look doesn't change.

Decimus - Power Die makes it look ridiculous.

Razorwire - It doesn't look too different from the Legion, but the top panels are just a bit too much imo. Looks exaggerated.

Sledgehammer - "Just a bit too much" applies here too. Imo they could have scrapped the "bottom wing". Would have been interesting to have heavy lasers that only use one cannon...

Ships that don't look good no matter what you put onto them

Condor - If equipped with "party poppers" (retroes, watch the 2nd Riddick movie for reference ), it looks somewhat decent. Like some sort of Y-Wing prototype. But the placement of the engines slightly above the main body is still odd. Besides that, it has clipping issues if you put standard lasers and clusters on it.

Skybolt - Unlike its imperial counterpart, small missile launchers make it just "an egg with wings". Doesn't look good but i'm still using it on my smuggler for "rp" reasons (getting ships from the black market rather than the Republic Navy).

Quell/Dustmaker - Not much to say about these, except that they don't look good to me.

[Zoom_VI]

Bad@ss ships

Bloodmark - May I make love to you, my pretty?

 

ow, mental image

Comet Breaker - If there was a way to make the Quarrel look any worse, they succeeded...

Condor - ... twice.

^^this

[Mathemagica]

Awesome Ships

 

Clarion - obviously

Jurgoran - Anybody remembers the eagle from Freelancer?

Flashfire - Awesome A-wing feeling

Condor - Yep, I like the look of this ship

Quarrel - This one is probably here, because I only use it with Barrel Roll. With Barrel Roll it reminds me of a Y-wing though.

Razorwire - My personal TIE-bomber!

Bloodmark - Everything just works with this design. The angles, the lengths, everything.

Blackbolt - Yes, the wings are closed, but I still love it.

Imperium - If the wings were a little broader, it would be my personal TIE-fighter.

 

 

 

Nice ships

 

Rampart Mark Four - If the engines didn't look so weird...

NovaDive/Spearpoint - NovaDive is lacking something to really look great and the Spearpoint got... not what was lacking.

Firehauler - One of the two Cartelships that I actually like to look at.

Redeemer/Mailoc - The other of the two Cartelships that I actually like to look at.

Warcarrier - If the ship was rotated by 90 degree *dream*

Starguard/Pike - Both very Star Wars-y without being directly associated to any of the ships from the movies.

Mangler - Looks ok, but not amazing

Dustmaker - Looks ok, but not amazing

Sting - For some weird reasons, I don't like the top-bottom symmetry here. The Laser Cannons also point out too far from the actual fighter.

Quell - I don't understand why one would build a ship like this - I'm talking about the 'ceiling' over the cockpit - but it looks ok.

 

Not so nice ships

 

Sledgehammer - Having an 'arm' to the left and one to the bottom is one arm too much.

Legion - The top-bottom assymetry disturbs me

Decimus - Too vertical for my taste

Rycer - The cockpit would have to be attached to the vertical 'wings' in the middle. But like this... no.

[arkanone]

The Best:

Blackbolt/Bloodmark--Easily the best looking ships on the Imp side

 

Pike/Clarion/Starguard--Love the classic X-wing looks

 

Not too shabby:

Mangler

Legion--looks like a Tie bomber should

Flashfire--nice A-wing look

Sting--"I'm on the leader"

 

Waaaay at the bottom:

Rycer--this ugly tug is the reason why most newbie Imps fly the Blackbolt and have probably lost many matches as a result

Quarrel--being a gunship puts a couple strikes against it already and then looks like something out of the Tatooine cantina

[arkanone]

The Best:

Blackbolt/Bloodmark--Easily the best looking ships on the Imp side

 

Pike/Clarion/Starguard--Love the classic X-wing looks

 

Not too shabby:

Mangler

Legion--looks like a Tie bomber should

Flashfire--nice A-wing look

Sting--"I'm on the leader"

 

Waaaay at the bottom:

Rycer--this ugly tug is the reason why most newbie Imps fly the Blackbolt and have probably lost many matches as a result

Quarrel--being a gunship puts a couple strikes against it already and then looks like something out of the Tatooine cantina