So, how do same class ships differ?
hig scout vs vay scout : quite some differences. first, hig scout speed is 480 static. vaygr can go from 420, 525, 630. though if hig scout is passed to vaygr player and vaygr player upgrades speed, it can go up to 720. but that is only 1 time upgrade. emp research is 1500 for hig but 1000 for vaygr and emp bomb's are released closer from target for vaygr but hig scouts release emp bomb quite far, making it less effective in certain cases. but hig can do pinging to reveal all enemy ship locations, but typically it's only used to find out hyper cloaking losers as the cost is too big and probe and scouts are usually sufficient.
ints vs ac - hig ints have less amount of squadron, being 5 while vay has 7, so vaygr fighter has more chance of surviving but hig ints has more accuracy and can kill cols faster. a lab showed ac still wins against ints though.
hig bomber vs vay bomber - it looks hig bombers has more attack power as it looks to have more accuracy. bigger squadron size by 1 for vaygr but that doesn't make it much better.
pulsor vs missile - they are about as same at killing vettes, except since missiles are harder to upgrade, puslors can win face to face at same amount most time. but since missile has 4 squadron size, it can live better against torps. and the best part of missiles is that it moves slightly faster than pulsors, so they can run off. both can kill cols quite fast. so its quite a must for lasers to get level 2 speed to outrun pulsors. but vettes do die with a single torpedo no matter how good a hull it has. so i typically never get level 2 vette hull for vaygr.
ions vs hmf - attack is slightly better on hmf, the hull is same, but since hmf takes so much ru to get to level 2, it can be a slight problem, but level 1 hmf can still do on par with level 2 ions. hmf tends to rotate a bit slower than ions but since it doesnt have to face right toward target to attack, it's not big problem. also a big difference is, hmf take 45 seconds to capture by marines while ions can be captured only in 30 seconds.
flak vs assault frig - assault frig is built cheaper and faster by a small margin. the hull and speed are same. but i feel flak is better at killing fighters... since assault frigate is like a sitting gunship and the attack can miss. but like other vaygr frigates, it takes longer to capture assault frigates.
marine vs infiltrator - the obvious difference being, infiltrators can be upgraded. marine has 20k health, while infil level 0 has 20k health going up to 32k when on level 2 and the speed is same for marine and level 0 infil and it can go up to 311, which is.. faster than level 0 bombers
and also the amount of marine for 1 player is limited to 4, when infil can be built up to 6. by massing infil, 2 or 3 dd can actually be easily capped...(from my experience...) even better by having cloaked cc around infil to hide them till they attach.
hig cc vs vay cc - obvious part being... vay cc is weak. but the cost is 1100 ru cheaper than that of hig's and since vay cap mod is cheaper than hig's it really encourages vaygr to get extra ccs. also build time is faster as hig takes 65 seconds to build while vay's needs 40 seconds.
hig dd vs vay dd - this is one of rare class that is almost same. the big difference being how it attacks. vay dd has more chance to survive marines, as missiles can keep attacking on attached marines but hig's cannons can kill cols much faster than missiles. they attack just about same, and can kill each others at exactly same time. but the cost of upgrading vaygr dd is making it rather less appealing.
hig bc vs vay bc - quite so different... the way they attack is different, vay bc needs to dive below hig bc to take it fair, since upgrading to level 2 hull is rather impossible in a tight game. i wonder if going level 2 speed is better than getting level 1 hull for vaygr bc as if it can dive completely below hig bc, it takes no damage at all. bc research is much faster on hig as it needs advanced res mod when vaygr doesnt have it. and somehow vay sy costs 4k while hig sy costs 3.5k. it kind of says that vaygr should concentrate on smaller ships...
hig plats vs vay plats - they have almost identical setting but if upgraded vay platforms become stronger. but data says ion platforms are stronger in attacking. but missiles can retarget as the initial target dies while ion beams don't do that.
hig cols vs vay cols - obvious... but vay cols... suck... thus the col transfer strat was born to boost vaygr resource. vaygr cols are rather hard to upgrade with 1200 ru when hig can upgarde it with 400 to save cols from fighters attacking it. mobs are about same except if upgraded vaygr mob can be stronger but no one does it anyway...
probes - they're same, except, vaygr probes can also be upgraded
from 50 health to 75, 100... and hig probes has 100 health from the beginning. so its probably easier for scout to kill vaygr probes.