I see far more Whispers than Echos in the builds people mention here. I tried the search function and couldn't find anything explaining why, so:

Why do people seem to prefer Whisper to Echo?

PS 9 turrets are common enough.

better defense capabilities. Echo is harder to fly for one, and almost requires a recon spec to be as effective on defense. (of course, echo theoretically won't need it but theory isn't real play in my experience)

since whisper gets a free focus if her attack hits, you can throw rebel captive on to be more restrictive on hans or other phantoms

Probably a combination of more straightforward decloaking and higher PS.

The topic has been discussed before and if I remember correctly it all comes down to PS. With ACD you really want to be able cloak before someone shoots back, and since the highest PS a Phantom can have is 9, Whisper becomes the better choice.

I prefer Echo because I enjoy the unpredictability of the decloak bank, and I don't worry about PS, which is the most common concern I see on here about flying Phantoms.

I think the possible PS 9 is the main reason I see people on here preferring Whisper.

Higher Ps is what it counts down too. Echo can do do not to an unprepared foe, but she checks under her bed at night for wedge and soontir.

I prefer Echo because of the unpredictable (for my opponent hehe) decloaks. It gets me into positions where I am more defended than I would be with a straight decloak.

I am slowly trying to learn to use straight decloaks effectively, but I'm using them on a Sigma, not Whisper.

In tournaments you need whisper because of PS, in casual play echo is alot more fun your opponents going to have a hard time pinning her down.

Flown both and prefer echo myself.

I prefer Echo

I prefer Echo

I tried using Whisper but she's a lot more linear than her sister. Echo is one of my favorite pilots in the game. I know she's vulnerable to Han and a few others, but she's still a menace and the solution is to just keep her away from those 9 skill pilots

Whisper also has that slight defensive bonus against turrets with the free focus token after shooting as PS 9.

Whisper also has that slight defensive bonus against turrets with the free focus token after shooting as PS 9.

It's a great bonus but if your not flying against a turret echos moves make it easy to stay out of arcs, but it's personal preference end of the day both ladies are winners.

They both fill different niches. Echo at 37 points out can solo kill any number of sub PS8 ships. Whisper at PS9 kills other Phantoms and poses a sufficient threat to Falcons to allow your Echo to kill them.

Chances are small of missing but, Whisper has to hit to get the extra focus token, Echo gets two (Recon Spec) for an action.

Due to the bank decloak however, I prefer Echo.

Echo

o o

With Echo you can arc dodge and hit and run a lot more effectively once you figure out how to fly her. She is much harder to use, but the reward is much greater. Plus she doesnt NEED VI like Whisper. Echo can get by with Outmanuever which makes her gross. Just throw an Intelligence agent on her to look at where higher PS ships will be, then decloak accordingly.

I think some of it is that Echo's just harder to fly than Whisper. Lots more calculations to make, more options of where she ends up. Whisper's more survivable with her ability. I love both, and frequently fly both in a list with a Sigma.

I prefer Echo

I prefer Echo

I see what you did there

Whisper is simply easier to play powerfully.
Echo requires an insane amount of finesse, and still fares worse against the apparently popular Han Solo.

Echo with perfect play is far more devastating, but far more difficult to get online.

I can see how Echo could be very powerful and effective, but Whisper is easier to fly well. The few times I've flown Echo, he's died really early, so I haven't gotten the chance to really wrap my head around how he moves. I started off flying Sigmas and Whisper's movement felt more natural for me.

Echo, Whisper's PS and ability are nice, but Echo has carried me through to many tournament and regular games, especially against turrets and the new hotness of HLC Dash. Whisper is good for people that aren't comfortable with movement mechanics and out of the box thinking.

Yeah, I was one of the many who posted the question, and now that I've played more, I fully understand why (which has been said already).

I find Whisper too "limiting" and "predictable", now that people know how to fly against phantoms and can easily block or predict where she goes. But her ability to get a focus for defense and potentially take an evade as an action (using D4rkt3mplar's winning build) makes her more of a jouster than an arc dodger. But ultimately I've been caught too many times by my wily opponents (flying Whisper) that I'm fully back to Echo and learning how to fly her well.

The hardest decision with Echo is still with the EPT and Crew
.

VI vs Outmaneuver

Intel Agent (when using Outmaneuver) vs Recon vs Weapons Engineer (a must if you use Vessery) vs Rebel Captive (good against Whisper and Soontir)