Elite: Game talk

Shg56
21 Mar 2024, 6:26pm
What would be a better ship for 4x2A Modified Guardian Shard Cannons Challenger or MKII? Thanks
Kasumi Goto
21 Mar 2024, 6:58pm
Personally, I prefer the Krait. It has better convergence(as opposed to three hardpoints on the Chally which converge well and then the offset C3 at the top of the ship, which... takes a bit of mental adjustment - I tried one once, haven't taken it back out so far), and slightly higher boost speed. It does trade off for less good maneuvering thrusters but it's not that much of an issue, I find.

Chally was also a little too twitchy on the pitch for me, even if appreciable for those times an interceptor decides to head straight at you.
Meowers
21 Mar 2024, 7:14pm
Shredding 'em on a FDL with four Shards and hells it does feel awesome! :p
Shg56
21 Mar 2024, 8:40pm
Chally would have a stronger hull, vent and better agility. So I am wondering would it compensate for its slower speed vs. MKII? I love my MKII with 4 Enhanced MCs which allow to take down Medusas but MCs are not the weapons against Hydras if I still would want to get the 5th star for goids. For FDL you need a taxi that's why I am not considering it though I blue-printed your ship Meowers. Thank you for your replies.

Last edit: 21 Mar 2024, 9:17pm
Meowers
21 Mar 2024, 8:58pm
Yeah, the jump range is a bit meh, though I have long-range engineered FSD too, for 16-something as far as I remember. Might start using it actually, since I can't go always under 20% flying with 0-4-2 more often than with 0-2-4, you really need those engines fighting near the surface.
Duck-Billed Plotopus
21 Mar 2024, 10:19pm
Hi, pretty new pilot here. I saved up almost a billion creds doing Exo so far in about a month of learning the game and exploring. I'm currently out in the black about a 1,000 ly away from the bubble. I haven't done much combat, but I would like to come back and sell my latest exo trip data and help out on the next Titan. It sounds like so much fun, but I need some direction. Can anyone point me to a good ship and loadout that I could buy fairly soon without having to engineer anything? I know I need some AX weapons. Do I just search where to buy them on Inara? Or am I too new to be able to contribute, and will just get destroyed? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!

Last edit: 21 Mar 2024, 10:25pm
Meowers
21 Mar 2024, 10:36pm
Without any combat experience, on a non-engineered ship... I doubt it's going to be as fun as it sounds. Doing AX on non-engineered ships exists, as a sort of challenge. For experienced players, obviously. Titan-bombing... You can do that stuff without fighting them at all, yet, you do need like 500+ speed in boost to leave the shutdown field safely before it activates, otherwise you'll take damage, much damage if unlucky. There's also an option of hiding real close to the Titan but it isn't 100% safe too. Also, you need some good speed to light up enough vents with torpedoes, otherwise you won't be able to clog enough of them for the main vent to appear. Consider late-game combat-intensive content unplayable without engineering, I highly doubt they even take players with anything less than G3/G4 seriously when balancing their stuff.
Duck-Billed Plotopus
21 Mar 2024, 11:41pm
Bummer, thanks Meowers. How long do you think the Titans will last? Will I have enough time to engineer anything between now and when they are all destroyed? I could get some combat experience along the way as well...
Kasumi Goto
22 Mar 2024, 12:26am
The Titans are gonna be there for quite a while still. Even Oya will probably last a good while - time scale for them all is months, minimum, in total. A few more weeks(2 or 3) before it is even remotely feasible to assault Oya itself, rather than the surrounding control sphere(which, thanks to Frontier's poor balancing choices, is getting removed via killing transport craft at weirdly undefended production sites and, blergh, "probe the probers" [tissue sampling Thargoids]).
Shg56
22 Mar 2024, 12:47pm
MeowersYeah, the jump range is a bit meh, though I have long-range engineered FSD too, for 16-something as far as I remember. Might start using it actually, since I can't go always under 20% flying with 0-4-2 more often than with 0-2-4, you really need those engines fighting near the surface.

FDL operations: How much restocking of repair limpets, afmu, heatsinks do you have to do on average while you are in goids engagement area? Thanks
Meowers
22 Mar 2024, 1:00pm
Shg56FDL operations: How much restocking of repair limpets, afmu, heatsinks do you have to do on average while you are in goids engagement area? Thanks
Depends on where the engagement takes place and my, well... Shape, at the moment, phah. At my best, I'm able to bag a Medusa without repairing anything at all, 1v1, without NPCs around. NPCs make that somewhat easier but sometimes you can't get a good shot because damn do they like to keep the bugs turned the worst side possible to you. Normally, in case of a starport defence scenario (both space and surface), I don't need limpets and synthing either, maybe except for occasional heatsink top-up to finish off a Hydra because those NPCs like to steal kills. AXCZs, however, are more synth-heavy, several rounds of heatsink synthing, maybe one or two packs of limpets (4t cargo hold makes it... sub-optimal. not taking any damage is certainly better, lol), one ammo refill (four, one per each cannon) because damn those Hydras are thick and I'm definitely not the most accurate shooter in the game. And up to like three, maybe five AFMU refills, and I use tier 2 refills since they don't ask for the damned Nickel.

Also, a note: I don't have a thermal vent laser in that loadout, relying on heatsinks entirely, so I burn them like no tomorrow. The reason is, well... I hate juggling fire groups when shooting Shards in pairs, and adding more buttons on top of the existing two per group is a very, very complicated coding task I can't even ask of completing. And sometimes I need that FULL HATRED mode of discharging all four at once (imagine closing in fast or trying to destroy a heart while passing by: you have quite a limited window for a firing solution).

(I have a laser, in storage, tier 4 vent/long range, I use it for Titan bombing runs for example)

So, no surprise that I prefer those new station defence things. First, you take off and you're in action already, second: you don't have to bother about grindy materials and wasting an entire evening to get them (was, actually, a reason for my almost two years long pause in the game).

Btw, my playstyle and tactics are pretty non-standard, and, honestly, there's always something to improve. So I discourage you from comparing it to anything else or using as a 'measurement/reference/etc.'.

Last edit: 22 Mar 2024, 1:14pm
Shg56
22 Mar 2024, 2:07pm
MeowersBtw, my playstyle and tactics are pretty non-standard, and, honestly, there's always something to improve. So I discourage you from comparing it to anything else or using as a 'measurement/reference/etc.'.

Do you ignore scouts?
Meowers
22 Mar 2024, 2:24pm
Shg56Do you ignore scouts?
Mostly. If they're becoming too annoying, I end them. Actually, discharging all four Shards at close range and seeing them go to 0% instantly is a kind of 'in your face' fun too. But for sure I'm not taking them for a serious threat, mostly there are many other interesting things to do, like boosting from one interceptor to another and fighting them.

The latest vid in my gallery is a kind of 'upper end' of my actual performance (like exerting and destroying Hydra's heart with 100% or at least 90%+ remaining, so I'm thinking of making a 100%-no repair-Hydra attempt one day maybe) but mostly it's just a slideshow of blasting their hearts with some brutal metal soundtrack. Since the game itself isn't so dynamic when you watch it. But certainly it's fun. And FDL on 0-4-2 with G5 dirty/drag provides enough of that kind of fun.

Last edit: 22 Mar 2024, 2:33pm
P O W E R L I N E
22 Mar 2024, 6:22pm
i use a fdl with 4 modshards as well. Much prefer it to the challenger or mk2. Flies way better and is way faster.

But if i wanted something with more hull id put them on my chally, its a great platform for them also.
Shg56
22 Mar 2024, 9:32pm
I will try first with MKII since it is ready available to see how it behaves with MS if I don't like it then I will build FDL or/and Chally both require armour upgrade and maybe some HRPS. Thank you all of you for the input...

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