The Scythe is one of the very first of the Escort class ships that players can choose when they have reached level 10. It costs only 600,000 Tylium to buy, which, by the time a player has reached level 10, should be very cheap for them. By design, the Scythe is made for speed and manueverability, a perfect Interceptor of the Escort class. Its sleek build also gives it a defensible advantage in that it makes a rather narrow target when faced from the front. Of all the escort ships, the Scythe is the smallest, but also the most manueverable, and the fastest, allowing it to perform lightning strikes to help rescue beleaguered allies or to intercept targets, until a slower moving Maul can come by to mop up.  Its increased speed gives it a huge advantage against strike craft, who usually attempt to run when faced with escorts.  If enough drive overchargers or turbo boosters are installed, the Scythe becomes the ultimate anti-strike weapon.

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For all its impressive speed and manueverability, the Scythe is not without a few significant disadvantages or weaknesses. All those engines take up virtually all available space there is, with over half the ship being its tylium reactors and drive assembly, meaning there is very little space for computers, hull armor, or even weapons. With 4 Engine Slots and 4 Weapon Slots (the advanced version has 5 Engine Slots and 6 Weapons Slots), there is only enough space for 2 Hull Slots and 2 Computer Slots, which do not increase when advanced. This unfortunately means that the Scythe is also one of the weakest of the escort ships, and can't take a lot of punishment. A few well placed hits from medium to capital grade weapons will see to its demise. While other ships of its size can't match its speed, expierienced players in strike crafts, like a Cylon Raider, Cylon Heavy Raider, or a Cylon War Raider, can attempt get into the Scythe's blind spots and tear through what little armor the escort ship has and make short work of it. While the high turn rate can deal with one or two, a swarm of strikes can decimate it quickly.  So even though it's so good on speed, it's best not to travel alone and have other Escort class ships like the Glaive, the Maul, and/or the Halberd to back up. Strike craft would be the best protection to have, while leaving the Escort to deal with larger ships.The Scythe is one of two colonial escort ships that costs 600,000 tylium.