In my experience going for cheaper dropships does not really make up for the fact that you will die more because of the lower maneuverability compared to the more expensive assault DS. the one fit I had the most success with is a little bit counter intuitive but it works for me. I use the Incubus with 3 voltaics, a light efficient armor rep and 2 shield modules. I know it sounds idiotic to have 2 shields because of the recharge rate but I can take 3 shots of most of what's out there with this build and it is usually enough for me to get away. I find myself dying alot more when I remove a shield for a spawn or whatever.

The fact right now is that things hit too hard within too little time and if you don't have enough HP you won't make it. There are better fits than this but they cost more pg cpu and you need a bigger investment in SP which I am simply not willing to make given the current state of the game.

I think I lose about a ship every 2-3 games which is not enough to make a profit and it doesn't have ANY rewards other than getting your blood pumping knowing that you are what's for diner tonight. You just don't know when they will chop your head off.

The assault ones are far more maneuverable. If however you are just starting out than it will be a costly endeavor to fly the assaults. If you fly anything else than the assaults than I find it mandatory to have an after burner. The problem with the others is that even if you have a spawn inside of them, nobody wants to spawn into a flying coffin. You will see someone get in from time to time but you can't count on it unless all the spawn pads have ran out on the battlefield.

The way I learned was to use a gorgon with 2 passive armor resists, the repper that comes with it, a shield and a scanner to make myself somewhat useful. I would try to take off fast and go drop a few uplinks at strategic places. By doing this alone you will learn which maps are more dangerous and learn to move around out of dodge. The cost is 114 000 which is one tenth of decked out assault. The thing is, I like to shoot **** so I wouldnt go back, but first you have to learn to fly... One thing that made all the difference for me was when I realized that being higher is actually more dangerous because anything from anywhere can hit you. If however you are lower and aware of where the shots can come from, you know exactly where to go to get cover. So my advice is to learn to fly low and cheap for now and learn your craft. Then move on to bigger things.