Well, it seems like I'm not such a tryhard as Despon, seeing I'm only submitting one Domination Overall Damage Stravix (Mical) - S-13 Sting - <N/A> - The Harbinger - 124,543 damage Domination Scout Damage Stravix (Mical) - S-13 Sting - <N/A> - The Harbinger - 124,543 damage Domination Scout DPS Stravix (Mical) - S-13 Sting - <N/A> - The Harbinger - 247.6 DPS

My main problem with suggesting nerfs is this: The current meta works decently well considering that NOTHING has been done since 2.8, albeit slightly restrictive. Now the devs that abandoned the game to its fate (well not exactly the same devs) come along and say "HEY COOKIES AND CAKES". Obviously my first reaction is, "Is the cake a lie?". Assume the cake is a lie -> This entire thread doesn't get acted upon, GSF resumes its normal duties of surviving until the game goes down. Assume the cake is not a lie -> What is to say we'll get more cakes? The problem with nerfs is that they immediately impact the meta whereas buffs do not have the same far-reaching effects unless they are wildly broken. The hope of a buff is always to introduce new options to a meta whereas the point of a nerf is to remove something's impact on the meta. In the case of a game with rock-paper-scissors, I would rather introduce lizard and spock by making them more powerful than reduce the usability of paper. Bottom line: nerfs introduce the possibility of wildly shifting the meta to the point of unplayability and there's no more cake until two and a half years later.

Not going to respond point-by-point here since most of my sentiments align with those presented by DakhathKilrathi. I would like to add that in general, there's a (possibly huge?) friction between the GSF community and the I-played-GSF-once-or-for-conquest-week community, and within the GSF community itself. Across the GSF and non-GSF community, the chasm stems from the game having a steep learning curve as a result of multiple smaller issues such as the lack of a good tutorial, the lack of good UI feedback etc. Other sentiments generally include "GSF PVE", where GSF players would happily play a PVP game, whereas SWTOR, being firstly an MMO, has a class of players who prefer playing PVE content. Within the GSF community there are usually two schools of thoughts: 1. The current meta consisting of the Scout - Gunship - Bomber triumvirate is balanced. 2. Ship class X is broken. I personally belong to the former camp, having flown many flights and have a twitch stream dedicated to GSF, as do most veteran pilots that I know of who produce content for GSF. There are multiple reasons I can think that causes GSF-ers to belong in the latter camp: Perceiving/Desiring GSF to be a platform for space dogfighting. This group usually decry Gunships for their long-range damage potential. Unfamiliarity with ships of other classes. Even with hundreds of hours under ones belt, it is possible to not fly another ship class at all. Bombers complaining that scouts can kill them in one-two seconds don't realize that the opposite is also true. A scout wondering into a minefield can be plucked out of the sky if it sets of mines. Similar things can be said about gunships crying about scouts, or scouts about gunships etc. GSF is an unforgiving game in that in two-three seconds you can get 100-0, regardless of your ship type and regardless of what ship type the opposing ship is. Unfamiliarity with game mechanics. Unless exposed to or extremely observant, a pilot won't realize certain important mechanics of the game such as Strafing, Crit, Damage Overcharges on TDM and what they do to a Scout/Gunship's damage output, and Evasion. Imbalance of queues. A new pilot going against a veteran/ace pilot is like a new chess player going against an Expert. When a scoreboard lists a player as having 30+ kills out of 50 in a TDM, some pilots will default to questioning the ship class' overpoweredness.

1. Over-powered ships: None. Underpowered ships: All strike fighters. They aren't as mobile as scouts and do not fare as well in close-quarter combat against scouts due to their lack of turning speed. Their range is mediocre at best, and gunships are better at long-range snipes. They aren't as tanky as bombers and do not have similar denial-of-area control that bombers have (due to the lack of mines/drones). So basically, they suck at everything that needs to be done -- node control, long-range sniping potential, close-quarter combat. They were designed with as a jack-of-all-trades ship, so being inferior to a certain ship class in all those areas make sense, but they need a buff in some other area, for example damage output or primary/secondary weapon range, to be worth fielding. On top of that, the following are additional areas each of the strike fighter classes are lacking: F-T6 Rycer / FT-8 Star Guard / TZ-24 Gladiator / TZ-24 Enforcer. Their unique weapon is the ion cannon, and its range is too short. F-T2 Quell / FT-6 Pike. With two secondary weapons this ship seems to be designed with that playstyle in mind. Perhaps give them Rocket Pods and buff their secondaries by improving range or reducing lock-on time. FT-3C Imperium / FT-7B Clarion. The lack of the Engine Thrusters component hurts. 2. Over-powered components: In general I think the other components are underpowered. Underpowered components: Quick-charge Shield. In order to avoid damage in GSF, you either need to be tanky or you need to have high evasion to avoid the shot in the first place. This component offers neither. Since this competes for the spot of Distortion Field and Directional Shields, either of that are usually taken for evasion or tankiness respectively. Plasma Railgun. Gunships and Scouts like to stack evasion in the current meta, so the fact that this component does not have an accuracy/tracking upgrade compared to Slug Railgun or Ion Railgun means the probability of landing a shot on an already evasive target is even lower. Rapid-Fire Laser. In order to get the damage potential out of this thing, one would need to apply continuous fire on the target. Practically, that only works for stationary targets. Since this component has such a short range and pilots usually fly around the map, it misses easily. Add to the fact that this is the default component on all ships that have it and you have new pilots scoring 7% for their shooting accuracy (and that's usually good). Secondary lock-on weapons that aren't Cluster Missiles, and maybe Concussion MIssiles. Their lock-on times are usually too long when compared to the impact they have. With Distortion Field and Engine Maneuvers being able to break missile locks and missiles having reload cooldowns, it is very easy for a good pilot to avoid missile contact for the duration their cooldowns are up before finding structures to LOS missile lockers.

Unfortunately I'm neither.

Scout TDM Solo Kills: Kao'cera (Mical) - Flashfire - The Jedi Council - The Harbinger - 22 Solo Kills http://imgur.com/a/GbctL (Two screenshots) http://imgur.com/a/sL3ZS (Screenie with total req) Scout DOM Medals: Notanace (Mical) - Flashfire - <Unguilded> - The Ebon Hawk - 19 medals http://imgur.com/a/ugpHg (Two screenshots) Scout TDM DPS: Mical - Flashfire - Swarm of Locusts - The Harbinger - 250.01 DPS http://imgur.com/a/IXDx9 Gunship TDM DPS: Trymage (Mical) - Quarrel - Retrocide - Jedi Covenant - 250.51 DPS http://imgur.com/a/rwpTP Gunship TDM Damage (T3 GS): Mitth'raw'nuruodo (Mical) - Jurgoran - <Unguilded> - The Harbinger - 130179 Damage http://imgur.com/a/2cyqt Overall TDM Damage and KA: Kao'cera (Mical) - NA - The Jedi Council - The Harbinger - 185626 Damage Kao'cera (Mical) - NA - The Jedi Council - The Harbinger - 44 Kills + Assists http://imgur.com/a/JjlGi

Hmm, the second screenshot snapped the amount of ship req and fleet req earned for the Skybolt. It matches that recorded in the first screenshot (hidden behind the DPS popup), I thought this matched criteria #1. Other things to note of are: bottom right corner computer clock time and date. Second screenshot shows Balrogwalker self-destructing just before requisition numbers, a player part of the match. I submit my application for an appeal.

Scout Domination DPS. Mical - IL-5 Skybolt - Swarm of Locusts - The Harbinger - 241.46 http://imgur.com/a/wLdh6 Edit: Seems like it also qualifies for overall domination DPS.

Wait first say people aren't leaving their comfort zone, then you state something that isn't your comfort zone and you don't want to venture into it "unless it's for an event"? As for fact versus opinions, check the galactic starfighter records thread (you brought it up yourself in one of your posts too). Siraka has already mentioned this already but there's a reason the Scout and the Gunship way out-dps T<any> Strike. And their offensive power makes them useful for taking out high-hull low-mobility ships. In addition, if the OP is having problems with Ion railgun I think the OP should first focus on the "easy counters" as you claim. The King's Gambit Defense is a fun weapon and all, but it's rarely used in Grandmaster level games for a reason -- that does not mean none of the Grandmasters know how to play them. And if you're a beginner chess player, your coach isn't going to teach you KGD as one of your starter openings. No, he's going to tell you to practice your tactics, and play a solid and safe opening. Likewise, if one is a novice flier, one should grasp the basics first -- LOS, using engine abilities that are less punishing with ion drain, use abilities that allow you to counter ion drain, before adding another unnecessarily layer of difficulty to an already challenging learning curve.

Have you checked out PowerDive? It's a ten-seconds-no-engine-cost engine maneuver which allows you to escape getting ioned half the time, and provides you a realiable way of self-destructing the other half.

I agree. I've also had problems with CP bombers since I cannot armor pierce them, and while I won't die immediately to the mines, being grounded as a scout is definitely a huge nono, and it's a matter of time until another ship comes along and I die from the area denial the bomber brings.

I prefer BLC scout with pods and retros in this scenario (Quad + Pods work too but the lack of armor pen might be annoying against CP bombers. If you can afford the cartel scout having both builds are fine, but I would prefer BLC clusters PD on the second one. Basically I think that if you want quad + pods for this scenario using the T1 with LC + pods fulfills the same purpose). I blow TT and Wingman and then fly towards them. The pods usually clear the mines (definitely want to clear the seismics/concs/interdictions if they are there). If a seeker latches on burn DF. You want DF burned anyway since some bombers are going to fire back, and you expose yourself to peripheral fire (if those exist). By the time you're within 2km range you should have at least half their hp gone. If you need more fire time, or if you find yourself in proximity of more seekers (tick bombers rarely tick solo), retros and finish the idiot off. As to order of operations: 1. Peripheral mines and drones blocking your entry to 2. 2. Defense turrets (these hurt a ton if they hit you, and you don't want to blow DF for them if they are seekers nearby). 3. Railgun drones (you can probably eat one shot and survive). 4. Interdiction drones & missile drones. Use retros to reposition if you have to as it has a shorter CD than DF and will possibly be up if you need a second time. 5. The tick and all of its pets. If you're around the sat and can strafe or move towards the tick and need to recharge your shields, use F2. Otherwise, fly off the sat and attack at the angle that's necessary. Didn't realize this post was so old! I think Despon might be planning a "how to kill ticks" video as part of GSFSchool. We could probably do T1 scout/T2 scout/Ion gunship/CP bomber variants. Also Krix's strategy is pretty novel and funny IMO. I would definitely try it some day just to test how many ticks will panic and start unticking. Although I still think ioning/scouting/cp bomber-ing are better options as those are more geared towards "how to unlodge a bomber from a sat" in general.

Well that was the shortest retirement plan ever! Real life decided to postpone changes for two months (or maybe more?) so I'm back. Currently flying on TEH for winter break but I'll be showing up on harbinger for events/periodically.

That means slug railguns right

Can't wait for when this line of code needs to get updated...