We have a "favorite ship" thread but I'm curious what you think the most improved ships are since 0.8a. I think it goes without saying but Carriers, in general, are a night and day difference since 0.72. Not that you can't nominate one (or all of them!) but the fighter revamp has really changed things. Of the non-carriers, though, what are the ships that you didn't pay attention to before but can't wait to get now?
Frigates - Tempest: It's a surprise but the Tempest got better. The Terminator Drone is now ridiculous with the Ion Pulser and the Active Flare Launcher gives more survivability to an already hard-to-hit craft. It was one of my favorite frigates before but now, I scoop up every one I can find (D-mods or not). It still falls to fighters but its high base speed, decent shields, and very customizable weapon options keep it useful from beginning to end.
Destroyers - Hammerhead: I think this was addition by way of subtraction. The Hammerhead never excelled at anything in 0.72a and was a bottom-tier destroyer that I tested Frigates against in the simulator. Since 0.8a, the extremes of single-ship combat were scaled way back and where Enforcers and Medusas reigned supreme due to combat skills, they're both much more limited. This leaves the Hammerhead in a much better position relative to the other destroyers and its maneuverability and speed remain high even in fleet settings. I've been loving SO Hammerhead builds and have also loved the addition of the Heavy Mortar because its cheap, flux-efficient, and benefits greatly from Accelerated Ammo Feeder. It also doesn't hurt that Hammerheads can put on some decent anti-fighter without losing too much, which is a huge boon in the post-fighter revamp world. It's not the best destroyer out there but I look forward to getting one now.
Cruisers - Aurora: The new Plasma Jet system, paired with an already fast cruiser platform, has made the Aurora a real threat in hit-and-run tactics. Changing the rear medium mount to a synergy also gives Aurora captains some much-needed burst damage in the form of missiles. With other speed boosting skills, the Aurora can keep up with most frigates and can disengage from combat as quickly as it enters. It's a slippery ship to pin down. With a Heavy Blaster loadout, along with some Anti-matter Blasters or Reapers, it can be a capital killer or with a more conservative Pulse Laser/Phase Lance loudout, it can stay in firefights for a very long time due to its deep flux pool and dissipation. It's also slightly cheaper to deploy versus 0.72, which was one major complaint. So far, this has been my favorite cruiser to pilot and the only ship I really fear is a Paragon.
Capitals - Prometheus: This one might seem strange but with the addition of Sustained Burn and far-off lands we want to explore, the venerable Prometheus went from nearly useless to almost priceless. Prior to the patch, its slow burn speed disqualified it from being in any fleet that intended to chase another fleet down but now, they can keep up with everything. The Prometheus is now the go-to tanker if you have a huge fleet needing to travel because its maintenance profile is less than combinations of Phaetons or Drams. I used to never consider getting this behemoth but now they look pretty appetizing when I have a large fleet.
