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[TaLaR]

Gyphon flagships are broken in experienced player hands.

Usable, but that's about it. Decent dueling potential, but still easy to surround and overwhelm, because it's slow and has no real defenses beside missiles.
Sabots also simply don't work against a Paragon, Fortress Shield is perfect counter.

[Megas]

Gryphon, as a playership, was at its best when was first introduced, when its system drained CR, and when it could solo fleets.  Then again at the time, Aurora had large missile and was a better Gryphon without the nanoforge.

I agree with TaLaR.  I would use other ships if I want to spam missiles (or fighters).

[Igncom1]

To the weapon it's self it is an odd one, but I kinda like it as a kind of anti-capital missile system.

It's second stage in my opinion, could use some minor tracking ability to home in, but otherwise it's a step above torpedoes with it's first phase while still being below other missile systems in their ability to track smaller targets.

Not that I would be opposed to a fully tracking second stage missile for full Macross Missile Massacres.

But I'm not a staunch balance kinda guy if you've read my posts, I am fairly easily to please so perhaps I am not as concerned with it's performance as I should be? Seems fine enough.

[Harmful Mechanic]

Squalls do improve their handiness a bit with a higher terminal velocity - up around 1000-1200 and with slightly reduced HP - so that's a potential fix for it. Another way to make 2-stage dumbfire projectiles more useful is to give them a bit more scatter out of the launcher, so they blanket an area rather than arriving in a narrow stream.

[DatonKallandor]

I've yet to see a Squall underperform in practice. They're great.

[Null Ganymede]

I agree with TaLaR.  I would use other ships if I want to spam missiles (or fighters).

It's not about spamming missiles, it's about building a strong fleet that can plow through flanks and escorts but doesn't need to worry about cracking a capital front line. Then using the Gryphon to delete key ships in the enemy front line so the rest of your fleet can do its thing.

[Megas]

I agree with TaLaR.  I would use other ships if I want to spam missiles (or fighters).

It's not about spamming missiles, it's about building a strong fleet that can plow through flanks and escorts but doesn't need to worry about cracking a capital front line. Then using the Gryphon to delete key ships in the enemy front line so the rest of your fleet can do its thing.

That is what (chained) Afflictor is for.  As a flagship, cheaper and more reliable.  Afflictor is so unfair, almost as much as Harbinger was last release.

As an AI ship, Gryphon (with Steady AI) stupidly approaches the enemy with the rest of my warships and becomes the first casualty every time.  If it hung back with the carriers and lobbed missiles, it would be better.  I do not want to dedicate a Cautious or Timid officer with warship only skills solely to patch AI problems for a single ship type.  The only possible exception to that is if I get one early (by looting one from expedition or named bounty) and treat it like an extra large (disposable) Enforcer.

Piloting Gryphon is annoying.  If it is not using Hammer Barrage or Cyclone Reaper, I rather pilot Apogee (or Conquest) with Expanded Missile Racks.

P.S.  I cannot let AI Gryphons do as they please.  I need to micromanage them so they do not wander to the front line on their own and let the enemy kill them.  (I can generally let conventional warships do as they please because they have the stats to brawl at the front line.)  I also do not want to pilot Gryphon if I have a better ship to pilot.

[Null Ganymede]

Then on deployment, give them an escort order on a destroyer-sized carrier or a slow capital. You can give multiple orders for a single command point, so just deploy in formation and assign escort/attack orders to get stuff to do what you want it to.

[Megas]

So I need to waste a CP every fight to make them behave, during times when I let the rest of my fleet do whatever they want?  Also, that means I must deploy a carrier or civilian.  I do not always deploy carriers.  Capitals will be at the front line, where ships need to brawl.

[Igncom1]

I almost never let my fleet off the leach unless I know I have the advantage.

Simply setting up a 'battle line' across the map seems to be superior to letting ships run amok across the battlefield. Often to be picked off by frigate swarms (this does happen occasionally anyway, but that's just how it be some times.)

Together ships can try to rely on each other. So I almost always use up all of my CP in a battle on various way points and orders.

[Megas]

I almost never let my fleet off the leach unless I know I have the advantage.

That is plenty of fights, especially by endgame.

I use orders when I need to, especially in multi-round combats and any combat with Radiants or phase ships.

Want I do not want is automatic and routine CP sinks in every fight, like spending two to four CP on relay points in every battle in previous releases.  It feels like jumping through mandatory hoops before I get to the combat.

At least fights against AI (i.e., Ordos) have no objectives at all.  All fights should be like that.

[Null Ganymede]

You're missing out on a bunch of tactics made viable by controlling the AI.

Fire support roles like the MRM/LRM Gryphon are just the most obvious.

[Flet]

There should be a way to set default escort assignments. Also the ability to set certain missile type priorities, so your fleet can be told to only use missiles against certain targets, specifiable to the missile type so you can say use some missiles against smaller ships, some missiles only against larger ships, etc.

[Igncom1]

I've seen people do a weird pattern formation with their drovers before, but I do wonder what over kinds of tactics might be possible in battle?

I've never really had much of an advantage with a flanking attack as my flanking destroyers were never quite aggressive enough for my liking unless ordered to execute specific targets, and even then. (Maybe I'll have to start up a tactics thread soon.)

[Megas]

Fire support roles like the MRM/LRM Gryphon are just the most obvious.

Which get sunk by AI that wants to brawl at the frontline unless I take extra special steps to prevent that (or do not care if it dies).  Steps I do not need to take with most other conventional ships in most fights.  Combined with destroyer-level stats, not worth the extra effort just for maybe double missile capacity (assuming AI does not waste the system).  It is okay as a flagship, but there are better ships to pilot.

For similar reasons, I usually avoid fighting phase stack fleets (i.e., pass over the TT deserter with several Dooms and the like for another available bounty with a bunch of Onslaughts, Conquests, or Atlas IIs depending on who owns the fleet instead) because I need to micromanage every AI ship to avoid casualties, not just Gryphon.  Phase fleets are a pain to fight.

It seems Gryphon with default AI is best used in zombie industrial fleet where death is cheap.