I don't know if there is a comprehensive list of quality starfighters out there (other than Star Wars Wiki), but I was wondering if anyone had an opinion of the best starfighter BBY (X-Wings excluded).

I have looked through the wiki, and it's hard to find anything unless you have already heard of it. Plus, different measurements are used for ship speeds (sometimes atmospheric speeds are given at KM/H and at other times, sublight speeds are given at MGLT). This makes it difficult to determine which ships are faster.

Does anyone have an opinion on this, or a link to a site with more comprehensive information?

 

Hi Farsox, welcome to the Roleplaying Forum.

I am definitely with you on the differing measurements used, such as MGLT and suchlike, and had a similar query, but with heavier subjects, elsewhere on the Resource forum.

Ordinarily, I would have linked you to SW wiki, but you say you have tried there.

What I would suggest, if you can, is find old roleplaying sourcebooks for Wizard of the Coasts; or check Amazon, or book store for The Essential Guide to Vessels and Vehicles (ISBN number when ordering, 034539299X), where all the stats are consistent.

My own all-round pre-Yavin favourite fighter though, is the [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/ARC-170]ARC-170[/link] Aggressive ReConnaissance-170 fighter, by Incom-Subpro, which you see in Revenge of the Sith.

Heavy shields, heavily armed, its own hyperdrive, good endurance, three seater so you can take passengers.

There are other candidates, but not as all-round, in my eyes.

I love the look of the Eta-2 Actis-class light interceptor, that Anakin and Obi-Wan use to gatecrash the Invisible Hand, but I think you need hyperspace rings with them.

Anecdotally, Y-Wings were supposed to be pretty rugged in their day, able to take a pounding, a mainstay of many Alliance campaigns, but screen canon doesn't show that at all! Probably nice for long-range recon though, with the "Longprobe" design.

Thanks to the Star Wars: Starfighter video game, I'm partial to Naboo N-1s, since it is the only fighter I have actually "been in".

If you are willing to go a bit heavier than a starfighter, and you don't mind breaking and entering onto a star destroyer to get it, try a [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Gamma-class_assault_shuttle]Gamma-class assault shuttle[/link] by Telgorn Corporation.

 

Thanks for the reply, Sith. I appreciate the welcome.

I had looked at the Arc-170, and it is definitely a standout ship. I guess I was looking for more of a one man machine. Plus, what do the deflector shields do to add so much atmospheric speed? It jumps from 1000 km/h w/o to 44000 km/h w/ the shields on.

The Eta-2 looks pretty good. It does require a booster ring, but it's a fast one with decent armament.

I might just have to check into the sourcebook to see what else is available.

 

Hey there Farsox.

Off the top of my head I would say the reason the speed jumps up with deflector shields in atmosphere is due to friction. In space there is no friction to effect the ship but in an atmosphere the air would cause the ships skin to heat up, in proportion with the speed of the ship, to the point of structural failure. Theoretically deflector shields could keep the atmosphere from compromising the ships integrity, allowing the ship to go faster.

BTW welcome to the RPF , hope you enjoy it here as much as we do.

 

Anvil - thanks for the suggestion.

Initially, I had a very similar thought. It makes sense that an increase in speed would cause some concern in atmospheric conditions. However, if that was the only reason, it seems that all of these ships should have an identical base speed. If they could go faster, but choose not to for safety reasons, there should be a common velocity ceiling that a pilot would know not to go over.

On another line of thinking, I recently read on the star wars wiki that shield generators put out a tremendous amount of thermal energy that needed to be absorbed or re-radiated. Some of the energy was absorbed by the shields or heat sinks and the rest was handled by neutrino radiators. There is not a lot of description as to what the neutrino radiators do, but it is stated that they disperse excess energy. I assume it is possible that this excess energy could be utilized for propulsion.

Also, I don't know how I overlooked it before, but the Eta-2 is not equipped with shields. I've seen on multiple sources that it is unwise for anyone short of a Jedi to attempt piloting one into combat. The wiki states that there are variants which include shields, but I haven't found many statistics. There is [link=http://rpggamer.org/page.php?page=2993]this site[/link], which gives a variant for a tabletop game, but all of the stats are in dice (I am not sure how that would translate.)

 

No shields?

Well that knocks the Actis off my favourite starfighter list then. I'm quite partial to my shields.

Still, looks nice though.

 

Pen&Paper stats d6 Edition. Well, ´that shields are patetic, to be truthfull. A 2d hull puts it into one class with a TIE Fighter only that a common Interceptor outperforms that ETA-2 by far. So, these stats make it a pretty outdated fighter, I´d say . . .

 

So I am working on limited research, but I put together a list of 20 starfighters that were around BBY. I know that Tie Fighters were around, but I didn't feel the urge to throw them into the mix. If there are other decent ships that you are aware of, feel free to add them to the list.

1) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Y-wing]Y-Wing[/link] - Despite it's on-screen frailty, this ship seems to be pretty sturdy. It's not terribly slow and it has a vast arsenal, which would make it a valuable addition to any squadron.
2) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Aggressive_ReConnaissance-170_starfighter]Arc-170[/link] - Successor to the Z-95. It is a fairly well rounded fighter.
3) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Aurek_tactical_strikefighter]Aurek Tactical Strikefighter[/link] - This is an early prototype for the A-wing. It is fast, and though there isn't much info on shields, they are equipped. It also has a decent armament.
4) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Z-95]Z-95 Headhunter[/link] - Much like the Arc-170, it is a resilient and well rounded ship.
5) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/R-41]R-41 Starchaser[/link] - This one seems pretty frail, but it has good speed and a fairly good set of weapons to play with.
6) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/S-250_Chela_class_Starfighter]S-250 Chela[/link] - more speed and weapons.
7) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/S-100_Stinger-class_starfighter]S-100 Stinger[/link] - Not quite as fast, but still decent weapons.
8) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Havoc_%28starfighter%29]Havoc Starfighter[/link] - I am hesitant to include this one, as it is also listed as a light transport, but it has an impressive armament.
9) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Naboo_N-1_Starfighter]Naboo N-1 Starfighter[/link]
10) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Cloakshape_Fighter]CloakShape Fighter[/link]
11) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/M12-L_Kimogila_heavy_fighter]M12-L Kimogila Heavy Fighter[/link]
12) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/MorningStar-C_starfighter]Morningstar-C[/link] - Is this thing a joke?
13) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Porax-38]Porax-38[/link] - Described to be resilient enough for more arduous missions.
14) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_viper]StarViper Class Attack Platform[/link]
15) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Cutlass-9_patrol_fighter]Cutlass-9 Patrol Fighter[/link]
16) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Eta-2]Eta-2 Actis[/link] - Jedi daredevils only!
17) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Alpha-3_Nimbus-class_V-wing_starfighter]Nimbus class V-Wing[/link]
18) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/NovaSword]NovaSword Space Superiority Fighter[/link]
19) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Belbullab-22_starfighter]Belbullab-22[/link]
20) [link=http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Delta-7]Delta-7 Aethersprite[/link]