Quote Originally Posted by jasmin-jade View Post
helps a lot in ship selection
They shouldn't actually... The difference between the ships is so small and rather insignificant.

The only significance of thrust: how fast you accelerate after a crash/hit or from a standstill. Does not matter so much when exiting turns, as often there is a speed pad nearby and it is balanced out as ships with higher thrust have lower top speed and therefore "stall" when accelerating (acceleration "slows down", hard to explain) faster because they reach their lower top speed quicker than the ships with lower thrust and higher top speed. And every ship now looses speed in turns at the same rate (Guessing here, because there was this bug in WipEout PurE and now hopefully it's fixed )
Top speed virtually has no importance during races with other opponents. Only significance is time trial/speed lap/similar modes. From testing it also doesn't affect speed pad boosts (Which by the way are cumulative, obviously) or turbo boosts. Every ship receives the same boost.
Shield makes no difference if you're good at managing weapons/pickups (When to shoot, when to absorb) and driving (Not hitting walls/other ships.)
Handling affects how fast and agile the ship is, but every single ship is able to do the turns perfectly well. So if you're a good pilot, you can drive any ship on any track with slight adjustments required.


Then, why choose a specific ship if there is virtually no very significant difference between them?
Well, let me try to be more precise. The differences are not significant in the sense that there is no super ship, or best ship, or whatever. All the ships are balanced, and can perform equally well on the track. The exception to this is in speed lap and time trial modes, where certain ships will make achieving a specific time a little easier due to advantageous characteristics for this particular track. In any other circumstance, like single race or tournament, the advantage these characteristics would provide are negated by the lack of a free turbo each lap and by the presence of weapons and other ships.
However, these differences are still important, for a simple reason: the feeling. Every ship has a different feeling when driving, some will be more agile and quick off the start, while others will be more heavy and slower off the start, or a combination. And this is important because you must choose the ship you like the feeling of the most.

For example, I am currently using Goteki 45 as my ship, for these two characteristics:
Goteki 45 is fast of the start line and after crashes/weapons. It is the fastest in this area. While AG-Systems Mark II (Fury) comes very close, and admittedly I could switch to it, I don't for this other reason (following).
Goteki 45 has lower handling. Yes, it's an advantage, at least for me. Let me explain. Ships with better handling tend to be more jumpy, agile. Steer a little too much and you go into complete over-steer and crash into walls or if you're better as a pilot, wobble along the track because you're constantly airbraking left and right or adjusting your steering. With Goteki on the other hand, in long turns like Chengou Reverse's replacement to the sloped turn, or Amphiseum, etc. Not much airbraking is required, though pressing the D-Pad constantly is. It allows for a more stable trajectory through the turns and in general.
Of course this only applies to me.