The F8C Lightning, a highly anticipated ship, has finally been released after 10 years of waiting. Originally a high-tier backer reward, it is now available to the general public through the acquisition of golden tickets. However, there is no denying that the ship is incredibly overpowered, surpassing all other heavy fighters in every relevant category. The ship is likely to be nerfed severely in the future, even more so than the Ion and Inferno ships. The ship has caused a significant controversy, raising over $17 million in crowdfunding. Many buyers are in for a rude awakening once the inevitable nerf arrives.
Comparisons to other heavy fighters highlight the Lightning’s superiority. Its weapon burst damage from a single pilot alone reaches 4,000 DPS, surpassing the Vanguard, Hurricane, Scorpius, and Aries series. The only heavy fighter with higher DPS is the Starf Fighter Inferno, but it still falls short when considering factors like reduced damage due to its ballistic nature. Overall, the Lightning outshines every heavy fighter in terms of performance.
It is clear that the Lightning needs to be nerfed to bring it in line with other ships. The ship’s current PTU version already shows a reduction in shield generators to size one, a significant change. The ship’s classification as a heavy fighter is now being questioned, as it lacks the minimum requirements of size two shield generators and a crew. The ship’s controversy stems from the disappointment of backers who had waited for years for its exclusivity, only to have it released to the general public. The ship’s release strategy and subsequent nerf have caused dissatisfaction among customers and backers alike. Overall, the handling of the ship’s release and balancing could have been better, with more consideration for customer satisfaction.
Its weapon burst damage from a single pilot alone reaches 4,000 DPS, surpassing the Vanguard, Hurricane, Scorpius, and Aries series.
That’s… factually incorrect. The Vanguard can achieve 4828 burst DPS with a full kinetic loadout. The F8C can manage 5472. A hurricane’s six total guns can achieve 4800. The Ares Inferno does 4740.
The F8C still beats them, but by a considerably smaller margin than you imply, and the Ares Inferno can sustain that for a lot longer than the F8C can.
If switched to full laser loadout, the Vanguard surpasses the F8C by a slim margin. The F8C currently only packs two S3s, and six S2s. The Vanguard’s single S5 alone is almost half of its DPS.
Secondly, ballistic damage has greater damage potential due to its shield piercing chance. And as stated above, the Inferno has the ammo to sustain, whereas nothing else does- only the Vanguard could potentially sustain, as the S5 slot can be loaded with an AD5B which has more than a small squirt of ammo. Commenting on a PTU version is also not very useful as it is sent to PTU specifically to see if it needs changes. The F8C does not use S1 shield generators, so there is no significant change. It has two S2 generators as expected.
The ship’s classification as a heavy fighter was never in question. It was stated to have all hardpoints and modules downsized by one compared to the military version. This remains true- it has one size less on all hardpoints, and S2 shields instead of S3 shields.
Compared to the PTU version, it has not been nerfed- it has instead been buffed to its correct S2 shields. There is also no controversey over the F8C. It was never exclusive. It was, since its inception, always going to be available to all players who had finished SQ42. The Exec Edition, however, is exclusive. However, you did not state this critical difference. The Exec Edition, though, has not been released to the general public, so it would not have been a true statement even if you had specified.
Lastly, the meta is still light fighters- the F8C handles slightly better than a Vanguard, but even an F7C handles far better. It is balanced as a heavy fighter, which means it will still get obliterated by anyone in an Arrow who knows what they’re doing and never gives you a chance to get nose on.
Update: It was also stated to not be in Gold Standard, as it was not going to come with Master Modes and such, because it was almost a direct rip from the NPC version, and it was only flyable as a temporary thing to commemorate how many people steal the damn thing on a regular basis. It is not finished, so it is pointless moaning about it, and especially with such misinformation.
1 Like
Thanks @Linebreaker (love the username btw). Welcome to StarZen.
My post was actually a summary of the content of the video, I should probably make that more clear.
I agree it’s a little early in the life of the ship to draw conclusions. I think the Ares took some time to have stats fall and then rise a bit (recently).
I guess if there are low difficulty settings on Squadron 42 we are likely to see a lot of F8’s then? lol
The executive edition looks well done, I love the muted mat gold highlights (I wish the same muted gold was used on the Chairman’s RSI armour but that’s another discussion!!)
Ah, summary is fair enough, my bad.
Ares was a bit of a muddy mess, I agree, and I can see how it would get a lot of people antsy and expecting history to repeat itself.
I’d imagine SQ42 would at least have the regular 3 difficulties, but even if it were hard, nothing’s impossible (barring bugs lol) and as a function of time, everyone who owns it should find themselves completing it one way or another, so everyone will have access to the F8C eventually. As I recall it will be rep locked so there will be that hurdle in the PU, but that’s also just time, too.
Muted gold colours on the armour would be great, but you know what’d be even better? If all that shit was transmog instead of bespoke items. Then we wouldn’t even need a Lost & Found function, because you could have your Concierge-themed armour, Arclight, etc, but it would be an account bound ‘paint’ which can’t be lost to a bug. (And we would end the Era of the White Flightsuit Legion and return to the before times when people actually wore sub flair)
1 Like