The Batu is a magnificent light fighter, with good speed and very good armor for its size.
Prime: Excellent all around bird, able to hurt heavy birds at all ranges, those medium pulses coming into play closer in adding four more threshold-capable hits while tailing, and dangerous most medium or light fighters at all angles. All of this for only 4 heat, which for fighters is pretty much the same as zero heat. On top of all that is the TC making everything extremely accurate, to the point that you might actually hit something if you try a strafing run, making such an attack merely suicidal instead of treasonous suicide.
A: Pretty much a dedicated ground attack ship, with the PPC opening holes and the SRMs filling said holes with 5- and 3-pt shots, while the NARC supports ground units(likely targeting 'inferior' conventional units if Zell is in play). Still a perfectly viable dogfighter, with the nose and one wing only putting you up 1 on your heat scale, though centerline or ground strikes would probably be the PPC *or* the missiles, not both unless you're feeling REALLY lucky. Also consider, one of only two Batus costing less than 2,000 BV. This is completely rules legal.
B: Shorter-ranged then the others, but assuming you don't take any game-changing crits on the approach, that many 7-point hits is gonna mess up anyone that isn't sporting reflec armor. Also accurate enough to make suicide actually contribute to a fight (but as always, still a one-way trip). Don't want to fire ALL the forward guns unless you're in space or REALLY mean it.
C: A mix of the A and B that's a bit less terrified of heat-dealing weapons than most. Likely became much more popular when plasma weapons proliferated. This is completely rules-legal.
D: Not really a Dropper-Popper unless the target is very small, but those two big hits make it a lethal threat to the fighters that will be sent after your own ships, so use it as a Dropper-Popper-Chopper. Heat issues mean this wants to stay in space or at least higher altitudes, because you're gonna be making a lot of heat-based random movement rolls.
E: Nasty, evil bird. One of the cheapest Ultra-20s out there, and able to unload that full spread of 15- and 4-pt hits for only 4 heat, albeit just once. Be careful, because while it is very powerful while those weapons last, it is very possible to be left unarmed so have a plan for your return to base.
Z: An absolute beast. Not much hole-punching, but the sheer amount of armor it can scrub off combined with the EW abilities of the Nova make this highly effective in an anti-ship role, and also as a ground-attack unit. Finally, if you can get behind something whose aft is vulnerable to 5-pt hits, you can very easily just END them in one shot. This is completely rules-legal.
