Titan vs

[McNeo]

my votes you can guess too.

But I will point out things as to why each ship wins over the Titan.

This analysis assumes that skill level is equal and each are fighting with a generic style. This is because, if you put myself in a Titan versus a new player in a Sabre, the outcome is a foregone conclusion. Also, the Titan, flown correctly, can hammer the Sabre. BUT, this is easy enough to counter if the Sabre pilot knows how to slide.

Such variables must be removed for an accurate analysis to take place.

The Sabre got much more than a 'slight' boost in this mod version, it was elevated from near-Titan maneuverability to on-par Eagle maneuverability. I know this, because I can turn as hard, if not harder than an Eagle in a Sabre. But leaving style aside, here we go.

The Sabre turns a lot faster than the Titan in terms of time to maximum turn.
The Sabre has less mass than Light Fighters (75 as opposed to 100) and half that of your typical VHF (150).
The Sabre has a forward firing turret.
The Sabre is less of a target, albeit not by much.
The Sabre is more responsive, both in turn and in strafe, due to the smaller mass number (twice as responsive, which counts for a lot when you're dealing with a heavy dodger).

All of that, in exchange for, 2.5k base armour at the maximum?

I will agree that some of those things are vanilla, but the others, such as the increased turn rate (which is the focal point that tipped the balance).

The Blood Dragon. It was nerfed this mod version, and I actually have no problems with its use by the NovaPG or even the GC. But when you start seeing Outcasts in them, not to mention Catamaran bombers (You know who you are, get a Falcata like a real Outcast). If this ship was exclusive to the Blood Dragons, like its supposed to be on the infocard, then there wouldn't be a problem. But this is about ship balance, so here we go.

The BD turns faster than the Titan, to a slightly lesser extent than the Sabre.
The BD has the same mass as the Titan.
The BD has no forward firing turret.
The BD is tiny compared to the Titan. (If you dodge in this like you mean it, you take no hits)
The BD loses no guns when it loses its fins.

It loses more base armour than the Titan, around 4k I think. Doesn't really make the difference if you can't hit it, I'm sure you'll agree.

Lastly, the Raven's Talon. This took a small nerf, contrary to popular belief, in the last mod version. However, it kept its hit box which does not include the back of the engines, which is also paper thin from the front and sides. Vertical strafe means that you don't get hit, boxing makes you impossible.

The RT turns only slightly faster than the Titan, but it is noticeable. Razr, who I train with, usually gets around half a second head start on me before I see him in my front view when its his RT vs my Titan.

The RT turns slightly faster than the Titan.
The RT has the same mass as the Titan.
The RT has no forward firing turret.
The RT is paper thin compared to the Titan.
The RT loses no guns and is not susceptible to missiles.

This time, it loses 3.5k armour. But that doesn't change the fact that it can survive a cannonball, whereas the others in this test cannot.

So you see, all these ships have one or two major advantages over the Titan. These advantages make the gain in armour that the Titan receives negligible to the outcome of the battle. I will list these advantages for you, what they are now, and what they were in vanilla, but I will include the Eagle in the Trio of vanilla VHFs.

Eagle: High maneuverability.
Sabre: High strafe speed.
Titan: High armour.

Now, this is it:

Eagle: High maneuverability.
Sabre: High strafe speed, high maneuverability.
Titan: High armour.

The other two cannot be compared as they were not present in vanilla.

I think we are all in agreement that everyone here prefers VHF's that are fast, over Tank VHFs. This is the reason the QCRF do not have the Templar as their main fighter in terms of usage, choosing instead the Hussar.

Indeed, I would like to extend a deal to the Outcasts, to those of you who are convinced that the current situation is balanced.

The stats on the Titan and Sabre can be switched.
You can have the Colada and Tizona and Rapier and Borroco in exchange for the Inferno.
You can have the Salamanca II and I, and the Angelito's in exhange for the Krackens, The Wyrms, The Pyros and the other ones, which escape my name.

Trust me, if I weren't a hardcore Corsair, I would have an Eagle or Sabre with my perfect loadout. Which would be this, actually.

Eagle/Sabre (makes no difference to me).
6 Black Widows/Krackens (and in the case of a Sabre, a Kracken Turret).
1 Inferno.

My style entails maximum damage in the minimum time. To achieve this, you not only have to be skillful, you have to have the right ship. My style simply doesn't work as well as it should in a Titan, but I could compensate for it when the divide wasn't so big, hence I was less outspoken. Now, I can't compensate for the Titan being one of the least desirable ships.

It doesn't live up to its name in terms of statistics. Not even close.

The ones listed, in that order (Sabre, BD, RT) are the ones I would most prefer to fly. In RP, I love the Titan, it is the shining example of what a ship should be. OORP, I would leave that for the Templar.