Pilots?

[Coldcurse]

the pyramideon is easy to fly since you only have to fly towards your target with a gat/flag combination.
only problem is that you dont want to show your right side to the enemy since there are no guns on that side.

[Squash]

Right but the Pyramidion is slow and has a hard time turning, it's also very heavy, and it's the only ship that obstructs its own gun arcs. It has a big metal nose and ropes that block shots if you're not pointing the ship in exactly the right way, and also going from side to front guns isn't a cakewalk, I think the Pyramidion is definitely a much more challenging ship to fly than a squid.

A squid is much much faster, turns better, it's lighter, elevates and drops faster and doesn't obstruct any shooting angles. A pyramidion also has only 180 degrees covered by guns, whereas a squid has 270 degrees covered.

[Coldcurse]

Right but the Pyramidion is slow and has a hard time turning, it's also very heavy, and it's the only ship that obstructs its own gun arcs. It has a big metal nose and ropes that block shots if you're not pointing the ship in exactly the right way, and also going from side to front guns isn't a cakewalk, I think the Pyramidion is definitely a much more challenging ship to fly than a squid.

A squid is much much faster, turns better, it's lighter, elevates and drops faster and doesn't obstruct any shooting angles. A pyramidion also has only 180 degrees covered by guns, whereas a squid has 270 degrees covered.

the question was, what ship is the easiest to fly.

i am not looking at all the details for the whole crew, im looking at what ship would be the easiest to fly by a new pilot.
since the pyramidion has front guns you can just fly towards your enemy instead of boardsiding like a junker.
it might turn slow but that can be fixed by phoenix claw.
it indeed obstructs your shots if your not flying straight towards your enemy.

the ship can change from close/medium ranged combat to long range by just using the left side on the ship.
the squid cant have 2 snipers since it needs to be fast and quick and that ruins your long range shots.

[Ofiach]

The squid IMO is the hardest the ship to fly because well.... easy way out here, you don't see it in competition. that should say it all.

It's fun to fly once you know how but it is most definitely not "easy" to fly.

[Coldcurse]

the squid is fast but "squashy", easy to take down.

as a squid you need to move around all the time and dont stay at the same spot unless nobody is around.
because it needs to be fast and fly around the enemy its not a good ship in canyon ambush, this is because of the limited space of the map.

[Ofiach]

Sorry to be a dick, but we have extremely derailed this conversation from the OP's intentions maybe we should bring it back to that topic. Just saying.

[Coldcurse]

indeed, lets blame shinkurex.

going to the real question.

what is a pilot/captain.

these are the guys that need skill in flying and being leaders.
they are not some sort of people, they are heroes.
why do i say that they are heroes?
i say this because they keep you alive and make sure the enemy team goes down.

[Kyren]

Goldfish. That's the easiest ship to fly. That's the ship you want to grow strong with. For a pickup crew; wonderful - The layout is very simple, you can reach and point out any component within seconds. Except the main engine at the back, but that's survivable. Then, the Captain's only got to point the heavy gun towards the enemy and bring it in range to be efficient. Once the Captain has an idea about what he's doing, he/she may enhance going straight for the enemy ship with taking cover, changing altitude, making use of the pilot tools - the Goldfish is easy to fly, and very maneuverable. It's a ship that forgives almost every mistake, because you'll be able to turn around reasonably fast, give chase reasonably fast, run away reasonably fast. And it doesn't die in a split second because the Hull  isn't that bad either.

Just flying a Goldfish is easy though - Manticor, throttle forward. Simple. Thinking of what weaponry works well on the sideguns and in which situations you're going to use it, calling your Engineers or Gunner on those spots early enough, knowing how to avoid the sniping pyramidion at the other side of the map while directing your Engineers and Gunner and keeping them motivated to stay aboard after the 0:5 loss, that's where it get's difficult. At the end the Captain always get's the blame (or the glory), and knowing that, it's not easy taking that position in the beginning.

[Squash]

Kyren I you keep talking about captaining the Goldfish, this thread is just about piloting. Which is my point. A squid might be the hardest ship to captain, it also might be the hardest ship to win with in general, but it's certainly the easiest to actually fly.

We really need to break this idea that pilot = captain every time.

[HamsterIV]

I think there are so few captains because Captaining is stressful and scarey. I have goaded a few of my friends into taking the captain's chair when the other team was complaining about my flying being OP. They did well, but at the end of the match they said they were really stressed and did not want to do it again. For most of us the fear of messing up when other people are counting on you is much greater than the fear of messing up when the only person counting on you is yourself. I am like that, but thankfully my messups are getting fewer and farther between.

[-nobody-]

@Squash: The pilot is in the position to look around and see where ships are at. He also has the ability to see where his crew is at and direct broadsides and that sort. If a captain was an engineer or something, he would have to leave his natural state to look around and see what's up, yet the pilot is already in that position. So pilots have to be captains.

I believe that all captains are a bit masochistic, we operate under enormous stress, we shout and yell at people, and we have to fly by the seat of our pants.

[Squash]

The pilot is in the position to look around and see where ships are at. He also has the ability to see where his crew is at and direct broadsides and that sort. If a captain was an engineer or something, he would have to leave his natural state to look around and see what's up, yet the pilot is already in that position. So pilots have to be captains.

So not true at all. On some ships like Galleons, sure, the pilot is the only one with even reasonable visibility. But what about on a Pyramidion? The top right light gun can clearly see the most of the ship and the environment. Goldfish are the same, the pilot sees less than someone who can transition from lower to upper deck. On a squid it doesn't matter, everyone can see everything, except the guy in the hull pit.

[Byron Cavendish]

I love being a pilot, but I did engineer and gun to get experience first. The junker is the easiest and best ship in my opinion.

[N-Sunderland]

I was a level 1 pilot until March. I started playing the game in October. I finally gave in to flying when, as was previously stated, there was nobody else who would do it.

[Captain Smollett]

Man, every once in a while a new player will come onto my ship, never playing with me before, and we'll win a couple of pub games.  After a few wins they'll type in crew chat "you know, you're a good pilot"

Reminds me why I love to pilot, makes it all worth it.