Am I the only one that feels like it’s a downgrade? With maximum upgrades there’s a 2% survivability increase, and 4% energy increase. Energy regen goes from 78->80
Now to bonuses
lvl 2=15% bonus energy regen for both.
Axe lvl 4:
33.3~% railgun spread reduction and 35% railgun projectile speed increase.
Axe-X S lvl 4:
Energy consumption of command modules decreased 20%
There’s only 2 command module slots and total 2 possible command modules on these. Both are 16e per second. -20% is 12.8. So you’re saving 3.2E per second on one, or 6.4 per second on 2 with a total of 95-98 regen at max level. Given the special module energy is clearly important, but 3.2-6.4 as important as railgun bonuses? I don’t think so anyways, I even think it’s worth the sacrifice on the 2% survivability to go Axe over Axe-X S.
Anyways wondering if others agree here. Personally though I only run Aegis at that tier since these ships have more shield than hull, and allies who have lost the shield will generally get focused down quickly, so I want to keep them from getting to that point but not sacrifice too much energy of my own doing it. Anyways haven’t played in a while am I way off base here?
As far as Hercules I tried it out and with its special it absolutely shreds Jericho fighters with their special. Between the Axe and Hercules I think there’s a good balance though. With the Hercules I’m able to as mentioned focus and shred a guy almost instantly but it can at times cost my life. As Jericho I don’t have that problem and generally kill slower but survive MUCH more which is really important and can land me more overall kills in a game sicne I don’t have to wait on respawn and fly back in WITH less deaths. Haven’t tried the Lynx though, it looks unimpressive at best.
Side by side: 
Target lock time difference is from implant. Between the minor differences and implant the X S still just seems not quite what the Axe is. Again maybe it’s just me but I prefer the Axe.