Due to heated discussions in the Defiant thread cts got the idea to test ship to ship combat in FO. Because he wasnt available it was me and hypercube who did the testing. Basically we first tested how ships cope in 1vs1 fight and then 16vs16 fight. Both of us had 2 weapons and 2 shield upgrades done and also special weapons researched.
This time we only tested 2 races, but I think we will continue these tests untill we get all the info about different ship classes.
So first of there was a fight of the Federation Admiral Mayson against the Romulan general Mijural
these are the results:
Levheal vs Akira:
- 1vs1 Akira wins
- 16vs16 Akiras win
This was a suprisingly tough test for the akiras as levheal may be far behing the akira in sheer strenght but it partly makes up for it with its special weapons.
Note: Mayson gives defence bonus to the Akira
Generix Frigate vs Akira:
- 1vs1 Akira wins
- 16vs16 Akiras win
An easier job for the Akiras than vs Levheals, though it was to be expected as Generix Frigates are made to fight small ships with pulses
Generix Dreadnought vs Akira:
-1vs1 Akira wins
-16vs16 Akiras win
An even easier job for Akiras than vs Generix Frigates, which I must say is suprising as I would thought the Dreadnought should do a lot better vs them.
------>Conclusion: I think the Dreadnought should get a little power boost

Cahleal vs Excelsiors:
-1vs1 Cahleal wins
-16vs16 Cahleals win
This was purely because of the Cahleals' special weapon, without it I think Excelsiors would win, by a small margine tho

Generix Frigate vs Defiant:
1vs1 Defiant wins
16vs16 Defiants win
Due to massive difference in ship cost this is the way it should be. We only tested this because of the Generix Frigates suppressive shielding and to see how it will cope with Defiants pulse phasers. Eventhough Defiants won comfortably I think this is the best way to cheaply fight them back

D'deridex vs Defiant:
1vs1 Defiant wins
16vs16 D'deridexes win
A suprising result. Eventhough Defiants pulses do only 60% of their full damage to large ships the Defiant won 1on1 with the D'deridex. This is purely because of the special weapon, as the D'deridex wasnt able to fire for full 21s and that is a BIG BIG advantage for the Defiant. 16vs16 Hypercube was not able to control the special weapon manualy and so they all fired all of their special weapons at a couple of D'deridexes thus wasting their advantage.
Note: Mijural gives defence bonus to the D'deridex.
------>Conclusion: Defiants special weapon really is too strong, it needs to be lowered. But as Optec already said that is already done

Norexan vs Defiant:
1vs1 Defiant wins
16vs16 Norexans win
A similar result to the one with the D'deridex test, it is again obvious that the special weapon really is too strong. However I was expecting the Norexan to cope better against defiants due to its Pulse weapons, it is strange to me.
D'deridex vs Sovereign:
1vs1 Sovereign wins
16vs16 Sovereigns win
Well it was kind of obvious that the Sovereign will win this, it was suprising however that 1vs1 it barely won. 16vs16 was a different matter and the Sovereigns won comfortalby.
Norexan vs Sovereign:
1vs1 Sovereign wins
16vs16 Sovereigns win
Again it was obvious who would win and Sovereigns had an easier time against Norexans than versus D'deridexes and that is the way it is supposed to be

Descent vs Tavara:
1vs1 Tavara wins
Well it was to be expected, however the Descent stoop up to Tavara pretty well and the Tavara had like 50% hull left when the Descent was finally destroyed. I think this is again due to the special weapon which will be lowered

Tavaras vs Defiants:
4vs16 Defiants win
We tested this just for fun since it was pretty obvious who would win. The tavars put up quite a fight thought and destroyed 5 Defiants in total before they were destroyed. They also captured 3 Defiants which were destroyed also. So in total they got rid of 8 Defiants.
-----> The Grand Conclusion:
Nothing too striking about these results except the awesomeness of the critical shot special weapon, which was already agreed to be lowered

Also it is a little strange that Generix Frigates are stronger than the Generix Dreadnoughts, it really should be the other way around. I think Generix Dreadnoughts need to pack a bigger punch

As for the grand question about the Defiant. I think that with its special weapon fixed it will be balanced and defeatable, not easily but nevertheless defeatable. If you are playing as Romulan versus Federation and you have to deal with the Defiants I suggest you build either Generix Frigates and you can easily outbuild them about 2:1 and I think at that ratio the Generixes should win. Or you go for D'deridex or Norexans, whichever you prefer. I like the first option better because it is cheaper and easier to do

My Defiant verdict: I am satisfied with the special weapon fix, however I generally do not agree with the Defiant being so strong for the reasons I have already mentioned, but just to make them clear: The Defiant is not a battleship and should not be able to fight like one, the ship is roughly the size of a Bird of Prey or Bug ship and it is disrespectful to think that the Federation has such superior technology to the Klingons or the Dominion to make such a ship. That said, I will settle for the special weapon fix and a balanced game, even if I do not agree with all of their judgements

This was just the first of many such tests which we will do in the following days, when we will have enough free time on our hands

Expect the results here as soon as we finish

If you want you can of course join when we test it, so we can do more tests at once which would make things easier
Also if you want any particular thing to be tested please just say so in this thread
Thats it from me now, next on the testing line are: Dominion allied with Breen forces vs Federations' Admiral Mayson.