The M7 class Hyperion, one of the rewards for completing the tedious Bala Gi missions in X3: Reunion, seems like a godly craft. The frigate boasts of 3 1GJ shields, multiple main HEPTs as well as turreted HEPTs on a frame that’s as speedy as a heavy fighter. To put all that gobbledegook in proper perspective, I jumped back into that sector with the jillion Pirates and blew them all away. I did this a few times. For fun.
If all that offense and defense wasn’t impressive enough, the Hyperion also has two hangar bays capable of docking M3 heavy fighters (including the new M3 Plus heavy fighters). Though the M7 is impressive enough that you wouldn’t actually need M3 heavy fighters for escorts, I like to keep one docked with the Hyperion to automatically salvage goods in a sector after a battle. Salvaged missiles, once installed on the Hyperion, come in handy when swatting pesky fighters flitting about. The missiles are by no means necessary but they speed things up.
It’s been suggested that the Hyperion is a bit game-imbalancing but there’s always a bigger fish — the M2 class Xenon K destroyer is one example — and even smaller fish can cause a threat if there are enough of them. One of my Pirate-harassment jaunts went awry, resulting in a 14 million credit repair bill after I took on one too many Pirate patrol in quick succession.
