Everything you need to know about ship launched fighters
##Fighter Hangars##
The following ships can equip fighter hangars : Keelback, Federal Gunship, Type 9 Heavy, Anaconda, Federal Corvette, Imperial Cutter, and the Beluga Liner.
Each of these ships can launch one fighter at a time. It was originally planned for the Cutter and Corvette to be able to launch 2, but this was changed for balance reasons, as fighters can hit rather hard, on par with a huge hardpoint for the fixed weapon variants.
Fighter hangars come in classes 5, 6, and 7.
| Class | Loadouts | Rebuilds | Mass | Power | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 1 | 6 | 20t | 0.25MW | 505,130cr |
| 6 | 2 | 8 per loadout (16 total) | 40t | 0.35MW | 1,640,350cr |
| 7 | 2 | 15 per loadout (30 total) | 60t | 0.35MW | 2,079,090cr |
The Keelback only has class 5 compartments, and so can only equip the class 5 hangar. The Gunship and Beluga only have class 6 compartments, and thus are limited to the class 5 and 6 hangars. The Anaconda only has one class 7 compartment, so using the class 7 hangar on it would require downgrading the shields.
For the class 6 and 7 hangars, the two loadouts you select can be any combination of the below. You can have a Taipan and a Condor, or two of the exact same loadout or any other combination you like. If a fighter is blown up, there is an 80 second delay until you can launch that fighter again. This is per-loadout, so if you have a class 6+ hangar, you are able to launch the other fighter while that rebuild is happening.
You can only equip one fighter hangar per ship.
##Fighters##
There are 3 ship launched fighters - The GU-97 Imperial Fighter, the F63 Condor Federal Fighter, and the Independent Taipan. Each is purchased in their respective areas. The Imperial Fighter in Imperial-aligned systems, the Condor in Federation systems, and the Taipan in Independent and Alliance space. This is only to purchase the fighter for the hangar, restocking of the fighters can be done anywhere.
Each fighter has 2 weapons hardpoints and a single utility hardpoint.
Each of the three fighters have 5 loadouts available, which determine what weapons and utility equipment they have.
Restocking destroyed fighters costs 1,030cr per fighter and is done at the restock screen same as any other ammo or consumable like chaff or SCBs.
GU-97 Imperial Fighter - Most manoeuvrable thing in the game, pitch rate of 78 degrees per second (for comparison, an Eagle with enhanced thrusters can get 65), yaw rate of 36 degrees per second, and roll rate of 144 degrees per second. In exchange for that manoeuvrability, it is extremely fragile with only 15MJ of shields and armour.
| Build | Weapons | Utility | Speed | Boost | DPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aegis F | 2x fixed pulse laser | point defence | 312 | 540 | 44 |
| Rogue F | 2x fixed plasma repeater | chaff | 312 | 540 | 36 |
| Gelid G | 2x gimballed beam laser | heat sink | 312 | 540 | 25 |
| Rogue G | 2x gimballed pulse laser | chaff | 312 | 540 | 12 |
| Gelid F | 2x fixed beam laser | heat sink | 312 | 540 | 45 |
F63 Condor - Middle ground in manoeuvrability, pitch rate 53 degrees per second (54 for the Aegis F), yaw rate of 23 degrees per second, and roll rate of 115 degrees per second. 25MJ of shields and armour. Is the only fighter with the option for kinetic weapons, but it doesn't have a variant with fixed beam lasers. The Aegis F variant is used in the fighter training mission.
| Build | Weapons | Utility | Speed | Boost | DPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gelid F | 2x fixed pulse laser | heat sink | 316 | 536 | 42 |
| Aegis F | 2x fixed plasma repeater | point defence | 327 | 554 | 38 |
| Gelid G | 2x gimballed beam laser | heat sink | 316 | 536 | 25 |
| Rogue G | 2x gimballed pulse laser | chaff | 316 | 536 | 12 |
| Rogue F | 2x fixed multi-cannon | chaff | 316 | 536 | 42 |
Taipan - Least manoeuvrable of the fighters, with a pitch rate of 40 degrees per second (41 on the Aegis F), yaw rate of 18 degrees per second, and roll rate of 88 degrees per second. Slowest fighter when not boosting, but fastest when it is. Toughest fighter with 30MJ of shields and 45 of armour.
| Build | Weapons | Utility | Speed | Boost | DPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aegis F | 2x fixed pulse laser | point defence | 273 | 564 | 44 |
| Rogue F | 2x fixed plasma repeater | chaff | 263 | 544 | 36 |
| Gelid G | 2x gimballed beam laser | heat sink | 263 | 544 | 25 |
| Rogue G | 2x gimballed pulse laser | chaff | 263 | 544 | 12 |
| Gelid F | 2x fixed beam laser | heat sink | 263 | 544 | 45 |
The plasma repeater is a unique fighter weapon. Despite the name, it is not the same weapon as the SRV has, though it is somewhat similar. It functions like a rapid-fire plasma cannon, though with somewhat faster projectiles (they're still quite slow, meaning they need a lot of lead and are difficult to hit anything with at anything other than short range. You can try this out in the fighter training mission.). It has a 30 round magazine and unlimited ammo. Damage type is unknown, but may be thermal-kinetic based on the name.
The multi-cannon version of the F63 Condor (Rogue F) also has unlimited ammo. They have 36 round magazines.
The heat sinks on the beam laser variants are not to counter heat buildup, but rather to use as a damage buff. Energy from the weapons capacitor is not used to power the weapon, but rather it is used to cool the weapon. Thus when a heatsink is being used, you are able to fire the beams without draining the capacitor. This allows you to pull out a sustained burst of damage when you need it. Unfortunately, your crew members aren't smart enough to do this, so if you want to take maximum advantage of this, you need to do it yourself and leave your main ship in their hands, at least until multi-crew comes in 2.3.
##Crew##
- You are able to hire up to 3 crew to pilot your fighters. One of these crewmembers can be with you at any given time, while the remainder cool their heels. You can switch out the active crewmember at any station by selecting the Crew Lounge at the station menu.
- Crew members are available in skill levels from Harmless to Expert.
- Hiring crew members has a one-time cost depending on their skill level, going from 15,000cr at Harmless to 150,000 at Expert.
- Your crewmembers take a cut of any profit (trade, bounties, combat bonds, whatever) you make, dependant on their skill level. At Harmless, they get 2%. At Expert, they get 12%. They get their cut regardless of whether they're active or inactive.^2
- Crewmembers rank up as they get combat kills, same as you do, though at a much faster rate (more than 10x faster from my experience)
- If your ship gets destroyed, your active crewmember goes with it. You're apparently a horrible boss who doesn't provide escape pods for your employees.
- It is possible to use a fighter without a crewmember. In this case, your ship is left unmanned. In this state, it is capable of following you and firing turreted weapons^3, but nothing else. The same applies for the fighter if you switch back to your ship. The fighter is not capable of docking itself when unmanned.
- Crew members do not appear on your ship. All the extra seats on the bridge of your big ships will remain empty for now.
##Combat##
When you launch a fighter (done via the #3 (bottom) panel that used to be just for SRVs), you can select either to have your crewmember fly it or you can fly it yourself. If you choose to fly the fighter, your crewmember will takeover the main ship. You can switch between these at any time.
You can give orders to your crewmember via the #3 panel or by setting a binding ("fighter orders" in the controls).
Attack orders
- Defend - They will only attack if you or they are fired upon. This is the default order when the fighter is launched.
- Attack target - They'll attack whatever ship you're targeting. This includes neutrals and friendlies (this may be a bug). Use this order with caution.^1 When the target is destroyed, they will switch their order back to "Defend".
- Engage at will - They will attack any hostile target they feel like attacking.
- Maintain formation - They will stay in formation with you and ignore any attacks.
Movement orders
- Follow me - They will follow you. This is the default order when the fighter is launched.
- Hold position - They'll stay where they are.
- Recall fighter - They'll bring the fighter in for landing (only available if you're controlling the main ship).
- Switch - Switch roles with your crewmember.
##Miscellany##
- You are not allowed to dock with a station when you have a fighter deployed. When you request docking, you'll be told you have to stow your fighter first. If your fighter is unmanned, you will have to move out of the station's no-fire zone to be able to switch to the fighter to dock it.
- You are not allowed to deploy a fighter within a station's no-fire zone.
- Jumping to supercruise or hyperspace while you have a fighter deployed will cause the fighter to self-destruct. You'll be warned of this when you start charging your drive.
- If your fighter get further than 26km away from the main ship, you will receive a warning from your crew member that you're getting out of range. They will then automatically switch their movement order to "follow me" and try to catch up with you. If you outrun them or re-order them to hold position and move beyond 30km, the fighter will begin a 10 second self-destruct countdown. If the fighter gets back in range before the time runs out, the countdown will end, otherwise, boom.
- It is not necessary to being your ship to a halt for the fighter to dock. As long as the fighter can overtake you without boosting (NPCs won't boost when trying to dock the fighter), they will be able to bring it in.
- Thanks to u/CMDR-REB3L for bringing this to my attention.
- Thanks to u/Shanaeri for bringing this to my attention.
- Thank you to u/Captain_Starkiller for this information.
Posted Oct 21, 2016, 10:58 PM UTC · edited