The reason I like Rangers over Dreadnoughts for some things is that they are faster and have better range, though I'd never use them for defense, since neither advantage applies.

On larger-than-Large maps, there's still anomolies out there when you get Ranger tech, and having one or two of them on auto-survey gives you a way to scoop them up without sending out the really fragile craft.

On the BattleShip side, however, the only advantages to it are a slightly cheaper maintenance cost and lower tech requirements, so I have to agree that either it's that way for a reason, or it needs to be changed.

What I don't understand is why people insist that the galaxy is ever actually *clean* of anomalies. New anomalies generate over time, meaning that it's often a good plan to send out survey ships to pick them up.

Now, the only time I'd buy a ranger is if the Hero was destroyed (as occasionally happens). Otherwise, I'll just keep using the Hero. Still, I often have the Hero picking up anomalies well into the endgame.

~SDC~

How is that Gordeleth? Pheonix's cost as much as Frigates (nearly 7x as much as starfighters), aren't faster then frigates, can't beat frigates in a fight, can't take out cap ships like frigates can. The only thing Pheonix's have over frigates is a slightly higher sensor range.