After I got 1.0.2, I went to redo all the missions again, and thought I would
use my old favorite: Arada. I noticed that a single Azdgari Warship's Azdara
swarm was now a serious menace, but I could handle it. But two or more
Warships, and I was toast. I was doing Igadzra missions and got into a
situation where I simply had to fight a bunch of Azdaras, and I simply
couldn't handle it. They were too fast to avoid.

So I figured that if I couldn't avoid/dogfight them, I would outlast them
through attrition. So I went back to UE space and bought a new cruiser,
named the Azdara Swatter.

I still got my ass kicked.

The Answer was this: take the Azdara Swatter over to Miranu space, and
load up on a few Miranu Defense Systems. Suddenly the Azdgari knew crushing
defeat, and tales of the Azdara Swatter spread throughout the Crescent.

So that's it: The Miranu Defense System is a key weapon in 1.0.2, making
a huge difference against fighter swarms.

I dunno, maybe a Voinian Cruiser (with all it's armor) could win the attrition
game against Azdara phase cannons. But the defense systems makes it so
much easier.

I suppose another solution would be to get a fighter that is so fast that it
can outfly the swarms. An Azdara should be up to the job, and maybe a
generic Crescent Fighter can too (I haven't tried this yet). Anything slower,
even an Arada, is too slow. It may look good on afterburners, but then the
fuel runs out.

Thank you all for your advice on this topic. After trying a number of different tactics, I settled upon the following:

1. To hell with parasite fighters - too much distraction constantly calling them back and ordering them onto fresh targets.
2. Run away as best you can - buy time. You can't Monty Python fighters, but you can spread them out and increase the amount of time it takes them to overfly you. Engine upgrades are vital, and an afterburner (I seldom used one before). One up to speed, turn and face the enemy.
3. Fit three missile launchers of some kind, and lots of ammo, fitted into the space freed up by removing the fighter bay.

I used pursuit missiles, but dispersal rockets, hunter missiles or even Voinian rockets could work. The performance of the pursuit missiles was abysmal - they circled around very vaguely - but it was comforting to fill the sky with so much 'lead' and at least I wasn't distracted by a need to aim. If a hostile fighter got too close to the nose of my ship as I rapidly tapped the 'R' key, kaboom! Just lean on the 'shift' key throughout the battle. Not too expensive; I seldom fired off more than 40 of them, at 2,000 credits each... and the missions in question are worth millions.

I am intrigued by the idea of using a multiple array of Miranu defense pod launchers. Must try that some time soon. It never ocurred to me to fit equipment normally seen only on slow freighters.

Happy flying!

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the voinian or UE cruiser should be able to withstand large swams of azdaras if it has full armour upgrades and maxed neutrons. i still get whupped when i attack kitrak with my voinian cruiser, 1500 crescent fighters can do lotta dmg

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