Best M Class Ships in X4:Foundations in 2024 (v6.xx)

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[sirdave_thegreat]

Best Trader 0:40 / Best Miner 3:30 / Best fighter 5:10 (final thoughts 13:55)

[orchard]

id say when comparing M combat ships you need to stick to their subclass aswel, no point comparing a Thresher Gunboat vs a Cobra Frigate, should compare the Thresher to the Jian and Peregrin. And then the Hydra to the Dragon and Katana

[EmperorTyrael]

Cobra is Frigate-class which mainly uses consumables like missiles and laser towers. That's why it can carry more missiles.
Hydra is a Corvette-class which focuses on forward guns.

[simonmoberg]

Man, I still like the Dragon Raider as M class fighters, when they get close with all flaks it's fun to see the sky light up!

[akumasu]

Gunboats should be compared with gunboats, Frigates with Frigates. Gunboats speed is secondary or even tertiary stat. Gunboats primary is turret firepower, then hull and shield and then speed. Its fleet support ship not interceptor.

[Draidis]

I really think the Kuraokami should be in this conversation. I absolutely LOVE it!

I do think when talking fleet level tactics that is doesn't make a lot of sense. It's too well rounded and not specialized enough to serve a designated purpose that you should be using an m-class ship for when buying for your fleet... but it's probably my pick for the best player ship. Defensively (shield and hull) it does get a little outclassed by the cobra, but it meets or beats the hydra and thresher in this category. The speed, maneuverability, and number of forward facing guns (5, just one below best in class) as well as actually decent cargo space in a pinch (shouldn't be used as a trader but sometimes you just need to grab a few things quickly to complete a build order) make it, in my opinion, the most versatile ship in the game which is exactly what the player should be flying when they aren't trying to do something specific but just dealing with "whatever comes up" as they fly around and explore or complete story missions.

Also when considering just how rare they are to encounter, with it's super cool "modded" aesthetic. It really makes you feel like you are flying around a unique custom ship.

[peudo]

I just got into X4, and your videos have been extremely helpful. I found the interface and some of the game mechanics overwhelming and confusing. So your content has made an immense difference in my appreciation for this awesome game.

[krivdaa]

a more strange comparison is with Thresher.
I can't understand why it's being compared to Dragon, when it should be compared to best-in-class gunboat - the Peregrine Vanguard. (There's no reason for a gunboat to be the player ship.)
Let's make rules for a compassion.

- we should not loose ships. Never.
- gunboats should not be used for assaults' on Xenon sectors. Rattlesnakes do much better job in point-defense in target-rich environments. Two additional Rattlesnakes will do much better and safer job that 20 gunboats.
- gunboats should perform great in OOS combat and at least decent in In Sector combat
- we won't mod (at least - heavily mod) gunboats

and PV really outclasses the Thresher.
- First and most important: Thresher cannot be equipped with Boson Lances. So, it cannon be used solely for gate-keeping roles. A single K destroyer will cause losses in 20 gunboat fleet without Bosons in OOS.
- Thresher has no advantage in shields (if TER Mk3 are used on PV). If you use green shield mod on PV - they will be virtually invincible. (remember: green shields mods are near mandatory, cause they are free to reroll on your warf. They use 1/1 components, so there is no cost implied to reroll, which gets you to +~20% shielding, and as this is a % bonus, the higher the base value was - the more flat advantage you get)
- As Bosons really suck in In Sector - gunboats can rely only on turrets. And so for are vulnerable in IS.
- Thresher arc turrets are great in In Sector.

So as for me - a perfect gatekeeping fleet in 6.0 changed from 15 PV to 10 PV (Boson + Arg Flak) + 5 Threshers (Arcs). This composition obliterates anything in OOS and doesn't take a big punch in In Sector

Frigates (like Cobra).. well, there's no point in them. Hangar for S makes no sense, as they don't repair ships. Gunboats do much better job. The only role is to be a heavy hitting torpedo boat.. but 20 Mambas will do much better.

[AndrewLabelle]

Love the Hydra, the agility makes such a huge difference for M class ship survivability.

[Selandr]

Kuraokami feels much better than katana imo, would be comparing it against the hydra when I get time to play 6.0

[ZephyrusAsmodeus]

Awesome, I'm glad I was onto something with my dolphins, only just started a couple weeks ago and theyve been my go-to for backround and personal trading.

[Shinarock]

not to mention that Dolphin can use turret that slows enemy down :P

[AaronStanczak]

the purr-poise sounds like a very confident cat

[KalisaFox]

Personally love the astrid for allot of stuff as well, though like the hydra regal your greatly limited on how many you can get. the astrids laser turrets are actually reasonably stronger then L laser turrets, and if you throw on a shield regen mod you can get more shield regen then a baseline syn destroyer, its just not the most agile ship but it does have insane speed, survivability, and reasonable damage output, with a really solid cargo capacity, its like a suped up prometheius.

[darkshadow-saffer]

Nice comparison!
While watching this I was wondering what would be the best OOS M class ship for reaction fleet? Guess one with the best hull, shield and dps combo?

[Teiwaz]

This list is a bit weird IMO - why is it based on the guide from Dec 2020 instead of the Jul 2022 version?

Couple notes from me:
- Dolphin is nice if you go for stock/faction only, more on the expensive side though (roughly 1.7x the price of a Demeter Sentinel). If you min-max or mix parts you have to go TER engines - they reach top speed in no time which beats anything for traders and miners, even if their top travel speed is rather low, it's average speed that matters. Also the big weakness of BOR engines, they take forever to reach their top travel speed - more useful for player piloted ships.
- The Hydra is an insane OOS ship - if you equip it with those very expensive Ion Railguns (8.8km range! High damage. Also 1 million a piece...). A single Hydra shreds a XEN K to pieces easily, most of the time taking very few or even no hits at all. Can't handle being swarmed though.
- Boron shields are awesome!
- Don't use the Porpoise if you don't have to - IMO it's among the worst miners in the game, go Plutus instead, or go anything as long as it's not Porpoise or Bolo.
- Did I mention the insanity that is the Hydra?

[hydraxthefirst]

Hi Cap. Just wondered if you found the abandoned boron miner it was in top left of either watchful gaze or baron shores. Can't exactly remember which one. I found it on my first attempted play through. Then started again and it was still there. Not seen it mentioned anywhere.

[IGhengisKhanI]

my favorite M-class ship by far is still the Nemesis Vanguard. equipped with split combat engines. 5 front beam emiiters MK2 and Terran shields and beam turrets. with all upgrades, it has like a 640 m/s top speed, i think close to 6k m/s travel speed, sturdy shields and good maneuverability.

[HupfderFloh]

13:28 maybe you want to reconsider your choice of words, but don't overthink it!

[neogoterra]

Love the hydra it gives the same feel as the vidar from X3, anything that it cant fight it can out run and anything it cant out run it can very much so out fight.
And with careful flying and the right loadout it can take on most any enemy your end up encountering.
The way the ion weapons in the turrets will allow you to effectively out maneuver ships half your size makes it one of my favorite space superiority vessels.