Whats so great about the other ships?

[DrFaroohk]

Howdy there! DrFaroohk here! I love the GSF. I'm not really very good at it - usually I'm around the middle of the scoreboard on all stats, except I tend to have a lot of assists. I've got a few characters I've really leveled up some fighters and scouts on. They do alright.

 

What I'm curious about is these other ships you can buy with cartel coins or the GSF currency, and what is so great about them? Do they have higher stats like more armor or +10% damage at all times or something? Or is it just the combinations of upgrades you can add?

[tommmsunb]

Howdy there! DrFaroohk here! I love the GSF. I'm not really very good at it - usually I'm around the middle of the scoreboard on all stats, except I tend to have a lot of assists. I've got a few characters I've really leveled up some fighters and scouts on. They do alright.

 

What I'm curious about is these other ships you can buy with cartel coins or the GSF currency, and what is so great about them? Do they have higher stats like more armor or +10% damage at all times or something? Or is it just the combinations of upgrades you can add?

 

They're really nothing special, if anything they're bugged because there's an icon bug that doesnt show which weapon is equipped when in a match specifically. They just come with the 10% extra ship req bonus from mastering a ship.

[zaskar]

The cartel ships are just different skins with a 10% boost to ship requisition earned.

 

The "other ships" you can buy with fleet requisition are all somewhat different from their siblings. Some better some worse. Each one has different components available to upgrade and buy. They offer different play styles because of the different mixes of components. Just so you know, barring the subscriber Gunship, all the *free* ships have others in their class that out perform the free ships my several magnitudes.

[Verain]

Everything posted so far is correct, but I can add some detail.

 

There are 12 ship types in GSF. Some of them have clones in the cartel market. If you get a cartel ship, it has a different skin (exactly as Zaskar says). The ship "counts as mastered". When you master a ship (by maxing out at least one of every component spot, which costs right around 150,000 requisition) it, from that point on, gains an extra 10% bonus to requisition earned by that ship. The cartel ships don't start with any extra requisition or anything, but they DO begin with this 10% bonus.

 

Note that:

> This bonus only applies to requisition earned by flying the ship, not requistion earned by tokens. When you click tokens, you normally get a bunch of requisition on all your unlocked ships- this is not boosted by this value.

> Because every ship eventually gets the bonus, it really amounts to an extra 13.5k requisition earned. It can't be more than that, and is usually a lot less.

 

 

Also, there is an icon bug that effects some of the ships. The fleet requisition ships that switch components (with the 1 button) all have an icon that switches along with it, so you can tell which weapon you are using by looking down. On the cartel ships, the icons don't ever change, so you can't do this. This is actually a pretty annoying thing on a couple of them.

 

 

Here's the ships:

 

Type 1 Scout: Novadive / Blackbolt: This scout has components available that make it very good at having a lot of engine power. It is generally considered an ok ship. All characters begin with this ship.

Type 2 Scout: Flashfire / Sting / IL-5: This scout has a lot of good components for dogfighting. It is generally considered the best dogfighter, and an excellent ship. This ship costs 5000 fleet req (for the Flashfire or Sting) or cartel coins (for the IL-5). Make sure you get the correct IL-5 for your faction, and note that you can put both on your bar, and requisitioned earned on one is entirely separate from req earned on another. Because this ship has several great builds, having a second one on your bar is not a bad idea at all!

Type 3 Scout: Spearpoint / Bloodmark: This support scout has some utility powers, and the excellent group buff Tensor Field. It doesn't have the strong primary weapons of the other scouts. It's generally considered a weaker ship, but tensor is still strong. This ship costs 5000 fleet req. There's no cartel variant.

 

Type 1 Strike: Starguard / Rycer / TZ-24: This strike can switch between two types of primary weapons, including the shield erasing ion cannon. It's considered a pretty poor ship. All characters begin with this ship. You can get a second copy for cartel coins, the TZ-24. Be sure to get the version that matches your faction. This ship has a bunch of diverse builds, but none are so amazing that you would want to queue two of these ships at the same time normally.

Type 2 Strike: Pike / Quell: This strike can switch between two types of missiles, and even if one is on cooldown, the other can be used. It's considered a pretty poor ship. This ship costs 5000 fleet req. There's no cartel variant.

Type 3 Strike: Clarion / Imperium: This strike has more support powers, including a group heal. It has a system component on its 1 button instead of a weapon-switcher, and it has a few more defensive abilities than the others, but lacks some offensive options. It's considered a pretty good ship. This ship costs 5000 fleet req. There's no cartel variant.

 

 

Type 1 Gunship: Quarrel / Mangler / VX-9: This gunship can switch between two types of railguns (out of three total that can be equipped). It's generally considered the best ranged support, and an excellent ship. It costs 2500 fleet req, but if you were subscribed on a certain date, then all your characters begin with one. The cartel variant lacks the ability to tell which railgun is active at a glance, which is very frustrating. This ship is really good, but there's not many different builds for it. I often run both of these on my bar in serious games, but it's not that common to see that.

Type 2 Gunship: Comet Breaker / Dustmaker / K-52: This gunship has access to two railguns and two torpedos. It's generally considered a poor ship. It costs 5000 fleet req. The cartel variant was released in packs, and appears on the GTN on most servers. The icon never changes, but the ammo marker does, so if you pick one railgun and one torpedo, you can tell at a glance which is active. You wouldn't normally queue two of these ships.

Type 3 Gunship: Condor / Jungoran: This gunship only has one railgun to choose, but can switch to close ranged missiles. It is more maneuverable than the other gunships. It is generally considered a very good ship. It costs 5000 fleet req. There's no cartel variant.

 

Type 1 Bomber: Rampart / Razorwire: The minelayer has several mines to choose from, and is very good at defending a node in domination. It can also drop a hyperspace beacon, that your allies can spawn from. This ship is much less likely to be played in Team Deathmatch. It is generally considered an excellent ship. It is specialized, however. It costs 2500 fleet req. There's no cartel variant.

Type 2 Bomber: Warcarrier / Legion / G-X1 : The dronecarrier has three drones to choose from, each of which defends an area by targeting anything in range. It can also select a mine as a secondary weapon, and can deploy a repair probe. It is generally considered a good ship. It costs 5000 fleet req. There is a cartel variant. This is a ship where having a second copy is a pretty cool thing, because what your ship is good at varies a lot with your component choice, and there's a few good variations.

Type 3 Bomber: Sledgehammer / Decimus: The fighter / bomber can select a drone or a mine, but mostly relies on missiles. It has more maneuverability than the other bombers, but a lot less defense. It is generally considered a decent ship. It costs 5000 fleet req. There is no cartel variant.

[Nemarus]

Everything posted so far is correct, but I can add some detail.

 

There are 12 ship types in GSF. Some of them have clones in the cartel market. If you get a cartel ship, it has a different skin (exactly as Zaskar says). The ship "counts as mastered". When you master a ship (by maxing out at least one of every component spot, which costs right around 150,000 requisition) it, from that point on, gains an extra 10% bonus to requisition earned by that ship. The cartel ships don't start with any extra requisition or anything, but they DO begin with this 10% bonus.

 

Note that:

> This bonus only applies to requisition earned by flying the ship, not requistion earned by tokens. When you click tokens, you normally get a bunch of requisition on all your unlocked ships- this is not boosted by this value.

> Because every ship eventually gets the bonus, it really amounts to an extra 13.5k requisition earned. It can't be more than that, and is usually a lot less.

 

 

Also, there is an icon bug that effects some of the ships. The fleet requisition ships that switch components (with the 1 button) all have an icon that switches along with it, so you can tell which weapon you are using by looking down. On the cartel ships, the icons don't ever change, so you can't do this. This is actually a pretty annoying thing on a couple of them.

 

 

Here's the ships:

 

Type 1 Scout: Novadive / Blackbolt: This scout has components available that make it very good at having a lot of engine power. It is generally considered an ok ship. All characters begin with this ship.

Type 2 Scout: Flashfire / Sting / IL-5: This scout has a lot of good components for dogfighting. It is generally considered the best dogfighter, and an excellent ship. This ship costs 5000 fleet req (for the Flashfire or Sting) or cartel coins (for the IL-5). Make sure you get the correct IL-5 for your faction, and note that you can put both on your bar, and requisitioned earned on one is entirely separate from req earned on another. Because this ship has several great builds, having a second one on your bar is not a bad idea at all!

Type 3 Scout: Spearpoint / Bloodmark: This support scout has some utility powers, and the excellent group buff Tensor Field. It doesn't have the strong primary weapons of the other scouts. It's generally considered a weaker ship, but tensor is still strong. This ship costs 5000 fleet req. There's no cartel variant.

 

Type 1 Strike: Starguard / Rycer / TZ-24: This strike can switch between two types of primary weapons, including the shield erasing ion cannon. It's considered a pretty poor ship. All characters begin with this ship. You can get a second copy for cartel coins, the TZ-24. Be sure to get the version that matches your faction. This ship has a bunch of diverse builds, but none are so amazing that you would want to queue two of these ships at the same time normally.

Type 2 Strike: Pike / Quell: This strike can switch between two types of missiles, and even if one is on cooldown, the other can be used. It's considered a pretty poor ship. This ship costs 5000 fleet req. There's no cartel variant.

Type 3 Strike: Clarion / Imperium: This strike has more support powers, including a group heal. It has a system component on its 1 button instead of a weapon-switcher, and it has a few more defensive abilities than the others, but lacks some offensive options. It's considered a pretty good ship. This ship costs 5000 fleet req. There's no cartel variant.

 

 

Type 1 Gunship: Quarrel / Mangler / VX-9: This gunship can switch between two types of railguns (out of three total that can be equipped). It's generally considered the best ranged support, and an excellent ship. It costs 2500 fleet req, but if you were subscribed on a certain date, then all your characters begin with one. The cartel variant lacks the ability to tell which railgun is active at a glance, which is very frustrating. This ship is really good, but there's not many different builds for it. I often run both of these on my bar in serious games, but it's not that common to see that.

Type 2 Gunship: Comet Breaker / Dustmaker / K-52: This gunship has access to two railguns and two torpedos. It's generally considered a poor ship. It costs 5000 fleet req. The cartel variant was released in packs, and appears on the GTN on most servers. The icon never changes, but the ammo marker does, so if you pick one railgun and one torpedo, you can tell at a glance which is active. You wouldn't normally queue two of these ships.

Type 3 Gunship: Condor / Jungoran: This gunship only has one railgun to choose, but can switch to close ranged missiles. It is more maneuverable than the other gunships. It is generally considered a very good ship. It costs 5000 fleet req. There's no cartel variant.

 

Type 1 Bomber: Rampart / Razorwire: The minelayer has several mines to choose from, and is very good at defending a node in domination. It can also drop a hyperspace beacon, that your allies can spawn from. This ship is much less likely to be played in Team Deathmatch. It is generally considered an excellent ship. It is specialized, however. It costs 2500 fleet req. There's no cartel variant.

Type 2 Bomber: Warcarrier / Legion / G-X1 : The dronecarrier has three drones to choose from, each of which defends an area by targeting anything in range. It can also select a mine as a secondary weapon, and can deploy a repair probe. It is generally considered a good ship. It costs 5000 fleet req. There is a cartel variant. This is a ship where having a second copy is a pretty cool thing, because what your ship is good at varies a lot with your component choice, and there's a few good variations.

Type 3 Bomber: Sledgehammer / Decimus: The fighter / bomber can select a drone or a mine, but mostly relies on missiles. It has more maneuverability than the other bombers, but a lot less defense. It is generally considered a decent ship. It costs 5000 fleet req. There is no cartel variant.

 

All accurate. Tell your friends!

 

Generally, the wisest thing to do at the start is to pick up the "Introduction to Starfighter" quest from the Fleet PvP terminal. This will reward you with 5000 Fleet requisition after your first match.

 

What to do with your 5000 Fleet Requisition? Well first, never spend it on ship upgrades! Always use it to buy more ships, unless you have them all.

 

Second, use the 5000 to get a Mangler/Quarrel and a Razorwire/Rampart. These are the archetypal Gunship and Bomber respectively. Both are very strong even without upgrades. They are cheap (2500 Fleet Requisition each) and will let let you then be able to have one of each class on your bar.

 

Your second step is to make sure none of your ships have Rapid Fire Lasers equipped, as they are just bad. Anything else is an improvement.

 

After that, you will want to save up another 5000 Fleet Requisition, and either get a Sting/Flashfire, Legion/Warcarrier, Jurgoran/Condor, or Imperium/Clarion, depending on your playstyle preferences.