Which is the better combat vessel: Dolphin, Orca or Beluga?
Orca will boost 642 even when its loaded down, DD drives ofc
I use dirty drives on mine w/ drag drives, it boosts above 650 or so, which makes it a good ship to run illegal passengers around in. Its sleek design make it a premier ship for fast docking to avoid scans. That's mainly what I use mine for. I don't run guns on it simply because of the placement under the ship, I have to raise my nose in order to fire most times, which makes it difficult to keep your eyes on the target. Guess the only alternative would be to put turrets on them. But don't need them if you get a good ram in before they agro you.
I splashed out (with free ARX) on a Pathfinder Blue .....
As a bit of an expert here, let me weigh in.
Dolphin - 2 small hard points leaves you only two viable combat options:
1. A pair of class 1 Guardian Plasma Chargers
Great output at full charge for their size, but slow to fire.
2. A pair of Shock Mine launchers with Reverb Cascade.
Requires flying in reverse, FA off to have a hope in Hades of scoring more than one hit. Devastating damage potential.
Orca - 2 medium, 1 large hard point. Great precision shooter. An Advanced Plasma Accelerator and a Pair of Imperial Hammers earned this ship the title of “ Sniper’s Dream”.
Combined with a solid build and high maneuverability, the Orca is a seriously scrappy cruise ship.
Beluga - 5 Medium Hard points.
Not much more should need to be said. This liner packs a (pun fully intended) whale of a punch. I’ve used one in hundreds of Bounty Hunting CG’s, and have never been disappointed. Add to that support for a Fighter bay, and you’re in for a seriously stylish good time.
Of the three, hands down, the Beluga is the combat king.
Dolphin - 2 small hard points leaves you only two viable combat options:
1. A pair of class 1 Guardian Plasma Chargers
Great output at full charge for their size, but slow to fire.
2. A pair of Shock Mine launchers with Reverb Cascade.
Requires flying in reverse, FA off to have a hope in Hades of scoring more than one hit. Devastating damage potential.
Orca - 2 medium, 1 large hard point. Great precision shooter. An Advanced Plasma Accelerator and a Pair of Imperial Hammers earned this ship the title of “ Sniper’s Dream”.
Combined with a solid build and high maneuverability, the Orca is a seriously scrappy cruise ship.
Beluga - 5 Medium Hard points.
Not much more should need to be said. This liner packs a (pun fully intended) whale of a punch. I’ve used one in hundreds of Bounty Hunting CG’s, and have never been disappointed. Add to that support for a Fighter bay, and you’re in for a seriously stylish good time.
Of the three, hands down, the Beluga is the combat king.
Well, we can rule out the Dolphin. Even though it's agile and fast, the best offence it can possibly mount is two small railguns. Anything else suffers the low armour-piercing penalty and/or runs out of ammo too fast. Regardless of how you engineer it, the Dolphin can't fight because it overheats even before you add weapons to it.
That leaves the Beluga and the Orca, and it's down to personal preference. Do you want a slow ship with a huge hitbox, weak shields, and abysmal handling, or something faster at half the size, stronger shields, better handling and with the added bonus of a large hardpoint?
I feel that anyone picking a Saud Kruger ship for combat is doing it to make a statement, not to make an effective fighter, so I'd go with the absolutely awful Beluga. If you're going to fail anyway, at least make it entertainingly epic.
That leaves the Beluga and the Orca, and it's down to personal preference. Do you want a slow ship with a huge hitbox, weak shields, and abysmal handling, or something faster at half the size, stronger shields, better handling and with the added bonus of a large hardpoint?
I feel that anyone picking a Saud Kruger ship for combat is doing it to make a statement, not to make an effective fighter, so I'd go with the absolutely awful Beluga. If you're going to fail anyway, at least make it entertainingly epic.
You havent flown these ships have you?
Its a little known fact that the beluga actually handles better than the orca, no its not as fast but its much bigger and handles better. and it also has far more firepower.
5 medium hardpoints outdamages 1 large and 2 medium. The dolphin actually has great heat last i tried it.
Oh and the beluga isnt slow, mine goes 400ms pretty easily.
Shields arent all that matters. Dont forget that the beluga can have 6k hull easily, without resistances being counted.
Y’all brought this on yourselves:
(SBS 3D)
A B rated Battle Beluga is great
This leads me to the question: which one is the better knife: the spoon, the fork or the plate?
Depends on what you're going up against. If it's a boiled egg I'd have to say the plate can't lock the target, the fork always gets stuck and with spoons the correct size is important. Desert and Table class spoons are just overkill in this scenario.
Then let's ask OP if he's going against boiled or scrambled eggs ingame. Maybe even a thin plastic spoon would do the trick.
The Beluga reminds me of certain Star Trek Federation ships, minus the saucer section and nacelles.... I think it would be fun someday to build one with beams and PAs (phasers and photon torpedoes), but I'm waiting for my NPC crew first. Otherwise I'm just Beverly Crusher in a collapsing warp bubble on a ship that size 
