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[NinjaPirate]

I've been sticking with independent, but I'm used to just playing mod factions.  Can anyone suggest a good vanilla faction to join up with that has great ships?

[Schwartz]

Depends on what you like. Going with a Technology build I'd say Tri-Tachyon are potentially the strongest since good shields and flux stats give you an edge in duels. Phase ships are killer, the new Tempest is borderline overpowered and you could substitute an Astral for a couple of cruiser carriers if you can't find Herons. The high tech ships do have a more demanding supply profile, and phase ships have short peak times. Odyssey is also a very nice capital that is a bit of an underdog. I always enjoy flying it more than an Onslaught or Paragon because you still have to put some effort into it.

Enforcer and Dominator are the classic bad boys, but they're so slow now. And without SS+ and the shield override hullmod you need to trust the AI to handle flux well. Which against even or overpowering odds I'm reluctant to do.

[NinjaPirate]

Depends on what you like. Going with a Technology build I'd say Tri-Tachyon are potentially the strongest since good shields and flux stats give you an edge in duels. Phase ships are killer, the new Tempest is borderline overpowered and you could substitute an Astral for a couple of cruiser carriers if you can't find Herons. The high tech ships do have a more demanding supply profile, and phase ships have short peak times. Odyssey is also a very nice capital that is a bit of an underdog. I always enjoy flying it more than an Onslaught or Paragon because you still have to put some effort into it.

Enforcer and Dominator are the classic bad boys, but they're so slow now. And without SS+ and the shield override hullmod you need to trust the AI to handle flux well. Which against even or overpowering odds I'm reluctant to do.

I actually just picked up a salvaged Enforcer.  I'm still unsure of what faction to pledge.  I'm at the point in the game now where I need to be careful not to get too big a fleet until I'm ready.  Especially running long range analyze missions.  I need lower maintenance ships for the time being.

As for my playstyle I always enjoyed Blackrock ships, so I may go Tri-tachyon for vanilla.

[StarGibbon]

Tri Tachyon are generally the "I Win" ships in most of the ways that matter if youre looking for a player ship.  Speed  matters, especially in a player ship, and the TT ships have it.  It's actually sort of frustrating for me, because while you can be successful with lots of different ships, I always kind of feel like I'd be "better off" with a TT option in any situation, and find myself pursuing the same ships in playthrough after playthrough.

The question of which vanilla faction fields the most effective fleets is a different one, though. Personally, I hate fighting the Lions Guard.

[ChaseBears]

i like the medium tech ships, so i tend to gravitate towards Sindria and the Persean League.

Hammerheads are fun to use, and an excellent choice for low end flagship

[Megas]

The biggest problem with high-tech is shot range (aside from new and improved Paragon).  The best of the best may still be a bit overpowered (I do not know for sure on this), but more mundane high-tech like Wolf and Medusa have real problems with shot-range, and probably flux management if blasters are used.  Medusa is not as fast as it used to be, and if it uses heavy blasters, it has flux problems.  Wolf cannot use kinetics and will lose the flux war if forced to trade shots with kinetic users.

If I try kite-and-snipe (with destroyers) like I did in 0.7x, I have the best success with Hammerhead or Drover.

EDIT:  I want to try skilled Medusa with Converted Hangar.  Having a cheap wing of fighters could mitigate the shot range problem.  Same thing for Hammerhead.

[StarGibbon]

The biggest problem with high-tech is shot range (aside from new and improved Paragon).  The best of the best may still be a bit overpowered (I do not know for sure on this), but more mundane high-tech like Wolf and Medusa have real problems with shot-range,

Beam weapons generally have the longest ranges in the game, outside of missles. You sacrifice burst damage for sustained DPS, but Speed+Range generally equals GG in most cases.  Most of the higher tech ships are designed to efficiently melt ships while hovering out of their effective range and hiding behind quality shields, then quickly moving in for the kill with shorter range burst weapons.

Pair that with abilities that are lethal in player hands like phase tech and speed, and its no contest. I generally feel like slow ships are a non starter for a player ship.  Speed just affects everything in ways difficult to quantify, from quality of life, to tactical flanking, to the ability to project your will where and when you want.  A theoretical firepower  or armor advantage of a slower ship rarely measures up to the practical, intangible benefits of a faster one.

[TaLaR]

Player ship needs to have heaviest possible impact on battle flow, which usually means killing stuff fast. So beamboats (too low damage unless Paragon) or carriers (AI does that alright, so player piloting has much less effect) are out.

To concentrate on uncompromised DPS I also delegate everything that can be delegated to other ships in fleet (like fighters or PD, in some cases). So my standard Medusa layout (with 10% OP from skill) is:
2x Railgun 2x IR Pulse 2x Heavy Blaster
24 vents
UI, ITU, RFC, Flux Distributor. (Flux caps instead of unavailable hullmods)

Railguns because I have only 2 kinetic-capable slots and they have higher DPS than needlers. Plus they are decent against frigate/fighter armor. And near impossible to intentionally armor tank, unlike needlers.
IR Pulse because the only other hard flux energy is AM Blaster. Which will overload me in combo with Heavy Blasters. Also IR pulses can kill a few fighters when needed.
Heavy Blasters are the only real option for main weapons. Phase Lances or Pulse Lasers can be used if no Blasters are available, but they are much worse.

EDIT:  I want to try skilled Medusa with Converted Hangar.  Having a cheap wing of fighters could mitigate the shot range problem.  Same thing for Hammerhead.

Which is why I think you overvalue Converted Hangar. It's not for player-piloted ships (unless solo, and dubious even then).

[Megas]

The main reason why I go Railguns over Light Needlers for Medusa is OP cost, and the extra range is a bit wasted if Medusa needs to approach the target to use blasters.

I would try the needler and phase lance combo that was effective in 0.7x, if I had Advanced Optics.

Which is why I think you overvalue Converted Hangar. It's not for player-piloted ships (unless solo, and dubious even then).

Solo is exactly why I want the Hangar.  I do not want to deploy a big fleet in every fight if I can get away with deploying a ship or two.  If a Hangar will let my Medusa solo a cruiser, I will take it!  Currently, Medusa trying to solo a cruiser is too hard - outranged and outgunned!  (Hammerhead on the other hand, can sometimes kite-and-snipe bigger ships with some success.)

Also, trying to kill Remnant frigates with Medusa is annoying because of poor shot range and limited mobility.  Now, I just deploy Condor or Drover and make them go away fast.  If Hangar will let my Medusa sweep a couple Remnant frigates much more efficiently, so much the better.

The hangar is a substitute for missiles.  I tried Salamanders, but they are much easier to stop than before.  I tried a wing of fighters, and they are more effective than any puny little Salamander pair my ship can mount.  Fighters would fill the improvised Salamander role.

Before 0.8, I posted that I would experiment with Hangar as a substitute for missiles.  Results were better than my expectations (which were low).

Beam weapons generally have the longest ranges in the game, outside of missles. You sacrifice burst damage for sustained DPS, but Speed+Range generally equals GG in most cases.  Most of the higher tech ships are designed to efficiently melt ships while hovering out of their effective range and hiding behind quality shields, then quickly moving in for the kill with shorter range burst weapons.

Midline ships do that job better, because they can back up long-range beams with long-range ballistics for devastating effect.  Eagle has always been good at this.  So was Falcon.  Now Hammerhead joins Eagle and Falcon at effective long-range beam-and-ballistic sniping.  Even Sunder can use HIL effectively because they can mount light needlers to put hard flux on the shield.

[TaLaR]

@Megas

I guess I just don't solo that much. I mean cleaning up few remnant frigates or small drones - sure, single SO Lasher is enough. But beyond that  I deploy at least some ships in addition to player-piloted one. Even if just a single distracting frigate.

[Megas]

Because my Lashers are unskilled clunkers, I do not think I can trust it to kill a Remnant or two single-handedly without getting mauled badly.  Plus, I need that Lasher at full CR for any bigger fight I have for distraction.

[TaLaR]

Because my Lashers are unskilled clunkers, I do not think I can trust it to kill a Remnant or two single-handedly without getting mauled badly.  Plus, I need that Lasher at full CR for any bigger fight I have for distraction.

Remnant frigates have no kinetics to really threaten it. And single deployment, of course, means I pilot it. I doubt there is any cheaper way to handle small, predictable fights.

[Igncom1]

I have been enjoying collecting the hegemony special fleet ships, even with just a few i'd love to have a full collection of that special hegemony founding fleet!

And while I have been looking to starting a new save where I work for the tech corporate guys I'm really struggling to get a new game off the ground without running out of supplies or running into a pirate fleet and getting wiped.

[StarGibbon]

Player ship needs to have heaviest possible impact on battle flow, which usually means killing stuff fast. So beamboats (too low damage unless Paragon) or carriers (AI does that alright, so player piloting has much less effect) are out.

The AI can't benefit from skill tree passive stacking as well as a player can (officiers too random, wont get everything you can get with a player focused build). The leadership tree has quite a few, very efffective fighter buffs. Im rolling right now with a specialized, heavy leadership all carrier fleet. It murders everything and is quite profitable because it requires fewer ships to deploy than I typically require. It's true that situation doesn't benefit from player pilot ability as much, but just by sitting in that seat I magnify the already formidable power of carriers in this build many times over. I can just fly around beam-popping frigates and destroyers all day in a Heron, and keeping the shields down on priority targets so my bombers can eat them alive.

I hate to admit it, but you can give me the most lethal dogfighting gunship, and I wouldn't come close to matching the kill numbers I put up just by sitting in that chair and filling the sky with death. I haven't even touched the combat and technology trees tree yet.

[Megas]

Meanwhile, I did a sim test with all combat skills maxed, and my solo ships did not do significantly better than unskilled ships.  Ships with shot range disadvantage were still outranged and outgunned, and they were not fast enough to avoid getting shot at.  They may have lived a bit longer, but the end result was the same.  (I have not tried Hyperion or Paragon yet, but I think conventional ships will suffer.)  I hate to say it, but fleet action, especially with carrier support is probably the best combat power in 0.8.  Player should delegate the combat stuff to officers, and player should focus on fleet skills, and maybe a few campaign luxuries.