Ares Ion vs Inferno: Choosing Your Size 7 Fighter

The Ares looks as though Crusader designed a gun and then worked out how to fly it. That is a large part of the attraction. Both variants put a single Size 7 weapon beside the cockpit, giving a lone pilot a fighter built around attacking much larger targets.

The choice is between the Ion’s SF7E laser cannon and the Inferno’s SF7B ballistic Gatling. It is a choice you make with the ship: these are bespoke weapons, not two interchangeable loadouts for the same hull.

Ion: the laser-armed Ares

The Ion brings the laser version of the Ares concept. Its weapon does not depend on a stock of ballistic rounds, which makes it appealing if ammunition management is the part of the Inferno you would rather avoid. That does not make firing limitless in every practical sense: an energy weapon still has its own firing and recharge behaviour, and exact performance changes with balancing.

Visually, the pale hull and enormous cannon make a striking combination. More usefully, the ship has a clear role in a group attacking larger vessels. It gives one pilot a specialised weapon platform without requiring them to crew a gunship.

Inferno: the ballistic alternative

The Inferno commits to a Size 7 Gatling. If the appeal of the Ares is the spectacle of a heavy ballistic gun firing from a compact fighter, this is the variant that delivers that identity. The trade-off is a finite supply of ammunition and the need to account for rearming during a longer outing.

For a pilot who already returns to base between engagements, that may fit naturally into the routine. For one who wants to remain out for as long as possible, ammunition is another constraint to weigh alongside fuel, damage and the rest of the group’s needs.

The same specialised airframe

Neither Ares has a walkable living interior, cargo capacity or a turret seat for a friend. These are single-seat combat ships. The hull dimensions and broad role are shared, so the decision should not be presented as a choice between a fast light fighter and a large bomber.

The original design brief placed Ares handling closer to the Vanguard and Freelancer than the Sabre or Hornet. That is useful context for its purpose, not a promise about today’s exact turn rates. A large gun still needs to be brought onto target. A pilot primarily interested in chasing nimble opponents should consider a fighter designed around that work before choosing an Ares for its weapon size.

Which would we choose?

Take the Ion if you want the laser platform and prefer to avoid ballistic ammunition as a constraint. Take the Inferno if the Gatling is the reason you want an Ares and rearming fits the way you fly.

We would not choose either on a claim that one fighter can reliably erase a capital ship on its own. The Ares makes much more sense as a specialised contribution to a fight than as a promise that weapon size will overcome every shield, escort and defensive turret. Nor is this a current-patch DPS ranking: without matched build-specific evidence, declaring a numerical winner would be misleading.