Pilot Archive
Thread: A-wing... not worth it?
Therefore, I expected something similar. I could see they didn't take much mass, but I figured, I could get away with a light reactor, since I only have one gun, and a good engine, and some OK shields, and I'm good to go. And indeed, I was able to outfit it just fine. So I put the same engine in it that I was using in my X-wing -- a 95.5 or so engine (I bought 2 from the same vendor, putting one in the X-wing and saving the other for the A-wing). Now the X-wing, with wings closed (they slow down with them open) does 908 kph with the 95.5 engine.
So I was expecting the A-wing to really cook. Now, imagine my surprise when I got into space, pushed the throttle to the top, and was going... 955 kph.
What gives? Is an A-wing really only 5% faster than an X-wing with the same engine? If so, why even bother with them? They are more maneuverable perhaps, but you give up 40 tons of mass, 66% of your firepower, and probably 50% of your shields and armor, to go 5% faster and be a bit more maneuverable?
From a design perspective this doesn't make sense... and from the perspective of the X-wing games, where A-wings were soooo fleet compared to other ships, it was just a serious disappointment. I thought A-wings were FAST...
Am I missing something? Or does the A-wing just suck, as several of my rebel friends insist?
C
Ill let others fill ya in. Leaph im sure will be all over thread this the instant he reads it
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Message Edited by Duckforce on 08-03-2005 03:33 PM
Chessack wrote:
So recently I finally cracked Tier 4 and got my A-wing. I remember loving these ships in the old X-wing games (and conversely hating having to fight them in TIE Fighter!). They had very little fire power but oh, the speed was wonderful!
Therefore, I expected something similar. I could see they didn't take much mass, but I figured, I could get away with a light reactor, since I only have one gun, and a good engine, and some OK shields, and I'm good to go. And indeed, I was able to outfit it just fine. So I put the same engine in it that I was using in my X-wing -- a 95.5 or so engine (I bought 2 from the same vendor, putting one in the X-wing and saving the other for the A-wing). Now the X-wing, with wings closed (they slow down with them open) does 908 kph with the 95.5 engine.
So I was expecting the A-wing to really cook. Now, imagine my surprise when I got into space, pushed the throttle to the top, and was going... 955 kph.
What gives? Is an A-wing really only 5% faster than an X-wing with the same engine? If so, why even bother with them? They are more maneuverable perhaps, but you give up 40 tons of mass, 66% of your firepower, and probably 50% of your shields and armor, to go 5% faster and be a bit more maneuverable?
From a design perspective this doesn't make sense... and from the perspective of the X-wing games, where A-wings were soooo fleet compared to other ships, it was just a serious disappointment. I thought A-wings were FAST...
Am I missing something? Or does the A-wing just suck, as several of my rebel friends insist?
C
/contain outrage.
Ok..I'm civil now.
There are several reasons why the A-wing is awesome. The fact of the matter is..yours isn't set up right. It's that simple.
I just can't be bothered to sit here typing what has already been said in other posts of mine and in the FAQ etc..so dude, just read more about it and get yours set up right. There is a post of mine in two threads stating how I got mine setup and it shouldn't actually be that hard to match it.
The A-wing is apilots ship, meaning it takes real skill to utilise and do well with in this modern ROTW setting. It's low mass is also pretty demanding too when you're faced with opponents packing lvl 10 guns as well as lvl 8 shields. Not saying there aren't skilled pilots in JSF etc..I'm just saying the A-wing/Standard squint/T/A etc..take a bit more effort to make effective.
You have two choices.
1.Give up and get a JSF or whatever which you'll find much more forgiving on mass and yay..it even has betetr r,p,y acceleration
or...
2. Stick with the A-wing, have a hell of a time trying to make it work...ultimately become a better pilot for it. Then moving from an A-wing to say JSF will seem like christmas.
Your callous flaming of a ship you havn't even seen in action by a good pilot with one is kind of naive. Maybe you should go see the bigger picture and witness what people achieve with a ship before knocking it. Now before anyone says it..I'm not flaming this guy...I'm just fed up of new pilots not even giving the older ships a proper chance. It's always first oppinions which seem to count...
If you want...I'll happily show you what an A-wing can do and you'll change your mind.You can take that to the bank with you.
In fact..just because I don't want to seem to aggressive here...I'll spend time teaching you how to get that A-wing of yours into top form so you too can truly enjoy the benefits of A-wingism.
-Leaph
Message Edited by LeaphChausew on 08-03-2005 03:46 PM
Message Edited by LeaphChausew on 08-03-2005 03:48 PM
MASS MASS MASS
Its the problem the A-wing and the TIE advanced always ran into. They had the better turning stats but a heavier engine with really good stats made up for that easily. In the old days, it was semi-easy to find low mass parts with good stats. Those days are gone now and low teirs=low stats. 
The A-wing is only 65k mass and most of that you will want to dedicate to your engine and weapon loadouts. Shields and armor are something you'll have to downgrade and instead rely on small target profile and flying skill to avoid damage. Although its not very forgiving its an excellent trainer for building flying skill.
Sadly, the new RotW ships outclass the A-wing by alot. The Bel-22 beats it hands down while the heavy X-wing has so much mass that you can stick an engine with uber YPR stats in it comfortably and still have plenty of mass left over to dedicate to weapons, shields, and armor.
Ducimus wrote:
Mass isnt a limitation, just a minor annoyance.
QFE.
"--Michael Stackpole, RS IRC
I'll go back to the TKA and other forums now where people are actually helpful and polite.
C
Yes, the base A-wing/X-wing comparison leaves the A-wing 5% faster. When you start adding engine overloads onto it, though, it gains a lot of ground.
And what did you expect? From the perspective of a veteran, your ship *isn't* set up right, and you're apparently not using overloads. It all makes a huge difference.
Chessack wrote:
So recently I finally cracked Tier 4 and got my A-wing. I remember loving these ships in the old X-wing games (and conversely hating having to fight them in TIE Fighter!). They had very little fire power but oh, the speed was wonderful!
Therefore, I expected something similar. I could see they didn't take much mass, but I figured, I could get away with a light reactor, since I only have one gun, and a good engine, and some OK shields, and I'm good to go. And indeed, I was able to outfit it just fine. So I put the same engine in it that I was using in my X-wing -- a 95.5 or so engine (I bought 2 from the same vendor, putting one in the X-wing and saving the other for the A-wing). Now the X-wing, with wings closed (they slow down with them open) does 908 kph with the 95.5 engine.
So I was expecting the A-wing to really cook. Now, imagine my surprise when I got into space, pushed the throttle to the top, and was going... 955 kph.
What gives? Is an A-wing really only 5% faster than an X-wing with the same engine? If so, why even bother with them? They are more maneuverable perhaps, but you give up 40 tons of mass, 66% of your firepower, and probably 50% of your shields and armor, to go 5% faster and be a bit more maneuverable?
From a design perspective this doesn't make sense... and from the perspective of the X-wing games, where A-wings were soooo fleet compared to other ships, it was just a serious disappointment. I thought A-wings were FAST...
Am I missing something? Or does the A-wing just suck, as several of my rebel friends insist?
C
You're missing something. With one gun, you can actually tune it to handle Engine Overload 4, which few other ship configurations can handle. There's your speed. You've got enough room for a good L6 Reward Engine, a level 7 shield, a level 8 RE gun, and the rest whatever you want and you can make it work.
I'm 3-3 versus JSFs in my A-Wing, and I'll tell you right now, the key to punting a JSF is beating the PILOT, not the SHIP. JSF's are supremely maneuverable, but few pilots can truly use all that agility and still fight effectively. When you engage an ROTW ship, get into your sweet spot and go crazy on evasive, but watch your opponent, see how well he copes with your moves. The odds are you'll sniff out pretty quick just how good this guy really is and you can start to look for openings to come back on him.
You've got to make them come to you on your terms, I get compliments on my A-Wing's agility, not because its got the most uber engine, but because I know how to work the ship within its limits.
The b*tch of the A-Wing is that to make it a good PvP ship, you're really hurting yourself in the PvE department. Unless you can somehow figure out how to squeeze more programs into the flight computer to rebalance it for PvE.