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[Retry]

Is my copy of starsector corrupted or is the Gladius the only fighter that has to deal with the flux of its weapons?

Its armament is theoretically solid with 2x LMGs for shield breaking and an IR Pulse Laser for general purpose, but when I've used it the Gladius alpha-strikes for a good second or so (3-4 laser blasts) and just... stops.  Apparently, the Gladiuses (Gladii?) had topped out on the flux bar and left them just fumbling around with their low-flux MGs the rest of that sortie.  Which is a shame, because main point of me trying out something like a Gladius instead of a workhorse fighter like a Broadsword was specifically to make use of that IR Pulse Laser.

Is that a bug or something?  I do hope it changes by the next major update.  I really want to like the Gladius (both because it looks cool and because it theoretically seems like a good blend of speed, firepower and protection), but its kinda-hidden flux issues make it feel gimped and rather misleading.  Since that IR Pulse Laser isn't ending anything in 1.5 seconds, the Gladius in practice ends up performing like a more expensive, worse Broadsword.

[SafariJohn]

Some fighters have a hidden hullmod that let's them shoot without generating flux. It is mainly intended for shielded fighters so their shields aren't worthless. Other fighters have missiles or flux efficient weapons like LMGs so they don't have to worry about it.

The remaining fighters ought to be balanced with their flux economy in mind (i.e. limiting a flux-hungry weapon's sustained rate of fire), but I don't know if that was actually done.

[Retry]

Ah, you are correct.  Tested it just now, some of the other fighters do produce flux themselves, like the Broadsword and Warthog.  They're not nearly as obvious as the Gladius's case as they don't have 2 different weapon types fighting each other for flux.  Though, while watching the flux levels of the Broadsword and Warthog, they weren't completely unaffected by their flux stats, but they also weren't significantly noticeable effects (thank god).

Still, I think I'd prefer all of the fighters with that hidden hull-mod thing, to have everything consistent between the fighters, especially since the fighter flux stats aren't player-facing in the refit screen.  Plus, you wouldn't have to guess if your fighter's effective firepower was 2 LMGs, 1.5 LMGs, or 2 LMGs and 0.05 IRPLs.

[MesoTroniK]

The Gladius *needs* the IR Pulse Laser to be flux throttled to balance. This setup gives it a good initial burst of damage that then tapers off. Many modded fighters also do similar balance tricks.

[SaberCherry]

Ah, you are correct.  Tested it just now, some of the other fighters do produce flux themselves, like the Broadsword and Warthog.  They're not nearly as obvious as the Gladius's case as they don't have 2 different weapon types fighting each other for flux.  Though, while watching the flux levels of the Broadsword and Warthog, they weren't completely unaffected by their flux stats, but they also weren't significantly noticeable effects (thank god).

Still, I think I'd prefer all of the fighters with that hidden hull-mod thing, to have everything consistent between the fighters, especially since the fighter flux stats aren't player-facing in the refit screen.  Plus, you wouldn't have to guess if your fighter's effective firepower was 2 LMGs, 1.5 LMGs, or 2 LMGs and 0.05 IRPLs.

Or the flux capacity, dissipation, and hullmods it could just be displayed in-game...  along with the weapon arcs and projectile velocities.  It would take out a lot of guesswork.

[Alex]

The remaining fighters ought to be balanced with their flux economy in mind (i.e. limiting a flux-hungry weapon's sustained rate of fire), but I don't know if that was actually done.

They are, yes. This is very much intentional and necessary for their balance. It not being very player visible is a fair point, but, well, you can see how it performs, and fighters are all more about that than gauging their stats at a glance, really - it's just hard to estimate what a fighter will actually do without seeing it, stats or no stats.

[Retry]

The Gladius *needs* the IR Pulse Laser to be flux throttled to balance. This setup gives it a good initial burst of damage that then tapers off. Many modded fighters also do similar balance tricks.

I'm not convinced that an unthrottled Gladius would be overpowered, but perhaps that's just because they've performed so poorly for me thus far.  (I've about sworn off the Gladius as-is, Vanilla or otherwise)

Granted, what *I* think would happen may not be what actually happens.  Hearsay is no way to balance a game.  I did manage to make a "mod" during my recent dabbling that didn't immediately crash, so maybe I'll make a pseudo-Gladius for testing with that flux-free hullmod.  See if that performs fine for its costs, needs a slight OP increase, or murders everything so badly it absolutely needs its throttle back on (which I highly doubt).

Interesting about the mod fighters using similar tricks.  I've been using quite a few mods on my current playthrough, and I just haven't noticed.  Maybe I've somehow avoided the fighters that use that specific method of balancing, or the ones that I use aren't quite an extreme case as the Gladius?  Not that I've been scrutinizing them super closely, as the ones I've used are getting the job done.  (I can't say the same about the Gladius, unfortunately)

Well, the flux thing is good to know in general.  I'm considering making a small Vanilla+ style expansion mod, and a decent chunk of the fighter ideas I had would, uhh, not work.  It's good to discover that now rather than well down the line.

Anyways, I'll try to test a flux-less Gladius soon-ish.  I'll let y'all know if that ends up changing my opinion on that bird.

[MesoTroniK]

The Gladius is great when mixed with other interceptors.

[Thaago]

I feel like Gladius does pretty well as part of an interceptor mixed pair because of its flares. I use it sometimes, though I feel the OP cost is a bit high.

[Embolism]

The Gladius overall feels gimped, not necessarily in a "is it a good fighter" way, but more in a "obvious limiting mechanics" way: it has both very obvious flux throttling of its weapons and poops out a single measly flare instead of multiple flares. Yes it might be necessary for balance, but so many obvious limits just makes it seem... lackluster.

[Megas]

Gladius feels like a gimped Thunder that costs too much.  I might use it more if it costs 8 OP instead of 10.

Still, not as disappointing as Warthogs, which cost more (as much as a bomber) and are so slow that they cannot keep up with enemy cruisers, and during the rare times they catch a target, they do not do enough damage before the target escapes or kills the Warthogs.  Better to use a real bomber instead.

[DatonKallandor]

They are, yes. This is very much intentional and necessary for their balance. It not being very player visible is a fair point, but, well, you can see how it performs, and fighters are all more about that than gauging their stats at a glance, really - it's just hard to estimate what a fighter will actually do without seeing it, stats or no stats.

Just for player facing, it would be far better if fighters either got their weapons reduced to the point where the loadout is actually indicative of their firepower, or they just got dedicated fighter versions of their weapons so there's no wondering if this fighter's hidden flux stat lets it shoot at 100%, 50% or 20% of what the guns it has would normally do.

And yeah I also have found the Gladius so underwhelming as to be essentially useless.

[Megas]

Warthogs is also another fighter that gets flux throttled with its mortars.  Another case of what-you-see-is-NOT-what-you-get.

[Gothars]

I imagine Warthogs with burn drives might be pretty cool.

[Morrokain]

I kind of feel like any fighter with a flare is there mostly for the flare and not really the weapons - those are just a bonus.

Flares contribute a whole lot to wing strikes being effective. From what I've experienced, it's not really because of wings being vulnerable to PD, but more because most strikes use missiles to deal the real damage. A lot more ordinance tends to hit when flares are in the mix.