SF Basilisk

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FreeSpace 2 Ships Terran ships Fighters Bombers Transports and freighters Cruisers and corvettes Capital ships Installations Misc ships Sentry Guns Cargo Containers Vasudan ships Fighters Bombers Transports and freighters Cruisers and corvettes Capital ships Misc ships Sentry Guns Cargo Containers Shivan ships Fighters Bombers Transports and freighters Cruisers and corvettes Capital ships Misc ships Sentry Guns Cargo Containers Notable ships of FreeSpace 2

The SF Basilisk is a Shivan-designed heavy fighter first seen during the Great War. While the Basilisk lacks the speed and maneuverability of other Shivan fighters, it more than makes up for this with its superior weaponry, durable shields and extremely large missile banks. A single wing of Basilisks loaded with swarm missiles is capable of posing the same threat to an unarmed transport like the GTT Argo as two wings of assault bombers would to a corvette.

The SF Basilisk

Description:

FS1 Tech Room Description

The Basilisk seems to be a Shivan heavy attack fighter. It is not as maneuverable as other Shivan fighters, but it packs quite a punch, and it is very resistant to our weaponry. Most often they have been used in attacking our supply convoys and transports.

Treat the Basilisk as a Class C threat.

FS2 Tech Room Description

The SF Basilisk is a Shivan heavy attack fighter. Slow but heavily armed and well-protected, the Basilisk targets slower-moving vessels, such as bombers, freighters, and gas miners. Their powerful lasers make them a danger to all such craft, so they must be engaged and destroyed as quickly as possible.

Developer Notes

None

Name origin

In European legends, a basilisk is a reptilian beast that can cause death by a single glance. It is referred to as the snake king and represented the royal power in the Babylonian traditions. The basilisk was demonized by the Bible, making it an unholy beast.

Performance:

Statistics

Type	Heavy Attack
Manufacturer	Unknown
Maneuverability	N/A
Max Velocity	65.0 - 68.0 mps
Max Afterburner Velocity	110.0 mps
Armor	N/A
Hitpoints	100
Shields	950
Length	21.5 m

Armaments

• Gun Mounts

FreeSpace 1			FreeSpace 2
Bank	Guns	Standard Loadout	Standard Loadout
1st	2	Shivan Mega Laser	Shivan Mega Laser
2nd	2	Shivan Heavy Laser	Shivan Heavy Laser

• Missile Banks

FreeSpace 1			FreeSpace 2
Bank	Capacity	Standard Loadout	Standard Loadout
1st	80	Phoenix V	Trebuchet
2nd	80	Hornet	Hornet

Veteran Comments

Please read the Veteran Comments policy before editing this section.

When escorting craft smaller than a cruiser, priority should go to destroying attacking Basilisks before smaller Shivan fighters. If allowed to reach their target, a wing of Basilisks will make one's escort list shorter very quickly.

However, the Basilisk is both slow and ungainly. Between its lack of maneuverability and an afterburner that the AI seems to never use, the Basilisk resembles a heavily shielded target drone (that you should nevertheless refrain from going head-to-head with).

The Basilisk is in fact, the most heavily shielded fighter in FreeSpace 1, that really doesn't matter, however, because of its horrible maneuverability and large target profile.

Despite that they are very slow, they ARE heavily shielded, more so in fact than any other fighter in the game. Once you punch through their shields, however, they're toast since their underlying hull is paper-thin. However, they are not to be ignored if you are protecting a transport, freighter or even light cruiser. It also has a smaller rotation time than the Tauret or indeed the Myrmidon.

I love this ship! Get a Herc with Banshees and Hornets in FS1, spear these ships, serve them on a silver platter, and watch your kill count go up. Nice large target, slow, no maneuverability, and the shields are easy to get through with the Banshee.

Deceptively small, the Basilisk lacks the sheer bulk of a Terran-style assault fighter when seen from a distance. But it packs the firepower; don't treat it otherwise.

I actually find this and the Aeshma hard to hit, for some strange reason. They are at the same time slower than a bomber and as agile as a fighter to me. And watch out, they tend to be loaded with hornets. If you've ever played the Knossos mission in BP, you'll know how deadly an attack run by a wing of these can be. Break them up before your screen fills with yellow streaks.

To be honest: junk. The design is easy to shatter with most fighters and some bombers, and by FS2, later designs with 2 Kaysers, a Maxim and Circe, or 2 Prometheus cannons will make short work of these. They are rather slow and cumbersome, so if you don't want to close in on them, then blast them with a double Tornado or Trebuchet.

This fighter exists for one reason and one reason only: to pummel mission-critical transports like the Argo into scrap. At this task it excels, as they are usually deployed in groups of four to six, and can launch a storm of Hornets unless shot up beforehand. Otherwise, these things are cannon fodder and are easily dispatched.