Best fighter to fly YOURSELF, or best fighter to have as an ESCORT, or toughest fighter to beat when played by the AI ...?
FLY YOURSELF -- haven't flown too many ... just the Azdara, I think
ESCORT -- Azdaras are the best (inside the Crescent), so long as you have them with you as part of a mission. Naturally, you can't capture them, so that limits availability. Otherwise, I'd vote for the Voinian Heavy--they're very tough, in UE space, Voinian space, and in the Crescent, and are the easiest to pick up should one of yours wind up broken. Zidagar fighters are only good for quick surgical kills (i.e., there's a specific ship you need to be dead inside of three seconds, so you launch your 2 fighters and press "F"); they're horrible at keeping you from getting creamed by enemy fighters, and don't last very long against capital ships.
AI -- Voinian Heavies are the easiest AI-driven ships to flatten, followed by Kraits and UE, IMO. Then Crescent, Zid, Azdara. Azdaras are the worst to face, bar none.
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