I never use fighters

[pandaphil]

Originally Posted by Spartan203

Use rebel fighters. They are awesome. You can make speed 4 dual rocket fighters. Two wings of these will clear pretty much every map of frigates.

I love using those. They're pretty slow so they tend to get wiped pretty easily if the enemy has any sort of anti-fighter defense. But you're still guaranteed to knock down the shields on at least a couple of ships.

I also make it a point to keep a couple swarms of interceptors on hand. Powerful engine, little if any armor, and a single pulse laser. They're great for knocking down enemy fighters, and they do a good job of keeping enemy gunners busy while your big guns sneak up for the kill.