I would say the cap ships of the tech, the Marza, and probably the Sova Carrier

Radiance in dark blue. Kick's ass, and looks good doing it

Vulkoras has better looks, but Advent are my favourite race.

i think that each ship is ship has strengths and weaknesses. so no one ship is always good

Dunov for me.

Yeah, it's a clunker / garbage scow, but with it's varied abilities, I feel like the Dunov is throwing everything at the enemy, including the kitchen sink...

"Hey! Stop hurting little friend!"  (Shield restore)

/throws EMP charge "No Shield for you!"

"Pesky Gnats! Activate Magnetron!"  (I can't shake the image of a big tuning fork extending from a weapon bay from the Dunov)

"Flux Field ON!  Keep shooting!  Activate ALL Specials!  Attack!  Attack!  Attack!"

DH

The Egg is probably the best all around ship in the game.  When upgraded, kills planets , caps, and structures  quickly, keeps caps from escaping, colonizes, makes you money, and is reasonably sturdy.  It's almost never a bad choice.

Hmmm this is rpetty hard to say, I have so many ships I love.  But from capships I would say I like the jalapeno the most.  I knwo it's pretty gay, but something about it makes me feel happy.

For me, the best looking ships are

Frigates           Vasari Jarun Migrator/TEC Krosov Siege Frigate/Advent Purge Vessel

Cruisers           Vasari Skarovas Enforcer/TEC Cielo Command Cruiser/Advent Domina Subjugator

Capital Ships    Vasari Kortul Devastator/TEC Sova Carrier/Advent Radiance Battleship

But the one I prefer when playing is the Skarovas Enforcer.

When it comes to looks: TEC Kol class and Advent Radiance class

Concept-wise:  Antorak Marauder, because I like the idea of a sneaky capship that relies on speed and cunning abilities rather than brute force.

(Too bad the concept doesn´t really work out ingame. Now if it just had stealth or a "phasejump to random gravwell"-ability   )

To make your life easy: (sadly) Marza, Egg & carriers are the (only) logical choice.

Sova of Halcon carrier, I have a small addiction to using them.

The most useful, for me, are the Kol and Akkan (both from TEC).

Some people say the proginator is more useful, but I can never get it to level 6 without winning or losing it (or losing the game).

aesthetics wise, I'd go for the advent capital carrier. it just looks so sleak and the side beam weapons just look awesome.

gameplay wise, I'll be totally creative and go for the egg. it can colonise, has a nasty direct attack ability, can stop fleeing enemies from jumping to phase space and the utlimate helps attacking planets, which means less need for the horrible siege ships.

though of course, most, if not all, capships have their advantages and disadvantages.

KOL battleship.  It looks so ruthless and contrasts so heavily with the TEC's other hastily converted ships.

Honorable Mentions.

Radiance Class Battleship.

Skiranrta Carrier.

The Kol Battleship for its Flak Burst ability. The 1 ship that can give the finger to Strike Craft spam