I'm a lover, not a fighter, so is there such a thing as a "run away!" ship build?

Prometheus 1962

Prometheus 1962
Hi folks,

I'm coming back to Elite Dangerous after a long break, so I'm learning the game again. I have just got myself a Diamondback Explorer (I like playing with a small ship that can do exploring and cargo/passenger stuff). But here's the thing: I don't like dogfighting or shooting, or any of that combat stuff. If someone pulls me out of supercruise, I try my best to evade, and I'm fairly good at it, but if I am pulled out, I'd much rather run than fight. So can anyone advise me how to make a ship build that automates firing, while I spend my time boosting to evade pursuers until I can engage supercruise again? I would prefer to build a ship that can run away faster than anything else, but if all I can do is make it annoying and time-consuming for an attacker to get me, I'd like to do that.

Any ideas?
 

SteveWW57

SteveWW57
Prometheus 1962 said:
Hi folks,

I'm coming back to Elite Dangerous after a long break, so I'm learning the game again. I have just got myself a Diamondback Explorer (I like playing with a small ship that can do exploring and cargo/passenger stuff). But here's the thing: I don't like dogfighting or shooting, or any of that combat stuff. If someone pulls me out of supercruise, I try my best to evade, and I'm fairly good at it, but if I am pulled out, I'd much rather run than fight. So can anyone advise me how to make a ship build that automates firing, while I spend my time boosting to evade pursuers until I can engage supercruise again? I would prefer to build a ship that can run away faster than anything else, but if all I can do is make it annoying and time-consuming for an attacker to get me, I'd like to do that.

Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Dump the weapons, you are running.

Thee are a number of fast ships, for small the Dolphin is probably best for exploration. Especially as if caught around a sun you can have the enemy follow and burn up!

Steve
 

Rubbernuke

Rubbernuke
Remember flying in a straight line makes shooting you easier with fixed microgimballing. In small ships that are tuned for speed (which have severe penalties for added weight) you really want to fly evasively and learn some escape techniques as weak shields will be pelted.

Also forget about weapons if you intend to run. Turreted weapons (which I assume you'll be using) are generally weak and a waste of mass / Mj.....better put that into better shielding.
 

Helmut Grokenberger

Helmut Grokenberger
[VR] Mad Mike said:
I believe the imperial courier is the family favourite for baiting PvPers. you will need to engineer it however
Click to expand...
Vasquess said:
ICourier with enhanced performance thrusters + engineering I'd say
Click to expand...
There is a reason I named my iCourier "Brave Sir Robin". It is kind of a trash build from spare parts, but in its current form it boosts to 744 while being somewhat sturdy. Granted, it has no use apart from wheezing around, but that's enough for me. If you make it heavier by adding useful gear it quickly gets slower, but with a decent outfit for at least short range exploration it can still go 600+.
 

Shabine

Shabine
Prometheus 1962 said:
Wow! Super fast replies! Thanks folks! Sounds like I'll have to rethink my choice of a Diamondback, grab myself a nice shield, and dump all those weapons.
Click to expand...
You don't need to sacrifice firepower to have an uncatchable ship. The build I linked boosts to 830 (885 if modified further) and allows you to keep frags and a hammer. It's entirely possible to be ungankable and retain functionality.
 

nanothargon

N
Sounds like you want a cobra mk iii. Even without engineering, it’s pretty quick.

Otherwise. Phantom or Mamba for Medium, Cutter for large, Cobra, Viper or Courier for small. iEagle and viper mkiii with engineered enhanced thrusters can hit 932 m/s (but can’t do much apart from run fast.

600+ is probably fast enough to run away from almost anything. Small ships can break 700 and still be useful, 800 if you’re willing to go bare bones. A fast mamba hits 642, a fast phantom is 591 but has amazing flexibility. The fastest a fer de lance (peak ganker ship) is 591.
 

Willyum-71

Willyum-71
At a time, I was so focused on building my ships to try to protect against gankers, that they lost utility. If you can't do the things that You want to do in your ship, eventually you won't fly the ship.
I-Courier is probably the best at running so here are the 2 builds that I use (the only difference is the chang out of SRV bay (806m/s) to Hull reinforcement (843m/s)). I use this ship for canyon running, gathering materials, scanning wakes, bounty hunting at res sites. So for canyons I have repair limpets and my beam is regeneration. I get to use the repair limpets when I crash, but I haven't really had a chance to regenerate anyone else's shields yet.
With SRV bay

with hull instead of SRV

Edit just realized this is showing the heat sink instead of the Wake scanner. last time I used it I might have been when I went to the Malstrom to take a look.
 
Last edited:

goemon

goemon
dolphin as above. t6 speed is often overlooked - but it needs a medium pad.

another obvious choice would be a cobra mkIII. even unengineered there are not many NPC ships that can keep up with it, and any grade 1 thruster engineering will push it beyond the speed any npc can get. in terms of cargo/passengers it is comparable to a DBE.

i personally fly a DBE a lot - my extremely engineered multipurpose build (which can win conflictzones when necessary) boost to 477 m/s - which is above the 440 m/s a npc can potentially have: https://s.orbis.zone/m0gv ... but yeah, to get there you'll have to do a lot of engineering. so i recommend looking at the dolphin or cobra.
 

Alaska Sædelære

Alaska Sædelære
I started out dreaming of only flying a Cobra for the nostalgia, but since I went on the first long trip with a DBX because it can fit the double-engineered size 5 FSD, I somehow can't go back... It's a bit like riding a donkey, low prestige but the advantages are just too many and you grow to love it like a good companion. Acceleration isn't tops but sufficient, have never had a situation I couldn't escape even though I was tame when engineering the thruster only clean. I'll do them dirty next time I get around to it. The ship has one of the best jump ranges out of the box and doesn't need a guardian extender to make great strides, which simplifies the upgrade path. All this while it's still small so it can land anywhere. Not sure if this sounds like something you want, of course I'm not exactly seeking danger with it which is why your title resonates with my style, too. As others have mentioned there are faster options, but you always need to compromise on some part. If getting jumped is not your thing, just stay out of open. The rest can be dealt with without having to take your build to extremes.

Good luck!
 

varonica

varonica
Any ship with no weapons is a runaway ship build, my T6 can hit over 550 boost, probably more if I tweaked it a bit, never been caught or destroyed.
 

Moriarte

Moriarte
Another voice in support of Cobra mk3.

It can be hard to hit - slim combat profile.

Can carry some cargo without sacrificing speed to much.

FSD jumps pretty far, good for relaxed bubble cruising.

Handles rather well in super cruise, due to good pitch rate.

Can have SRV on board, on top of other goodies. Again, at little speed penalty.

Love the courier too, btw.

These two are my go to for small versatile. (Courier is a bit harder to get right, especially if you want cargo racks)

Cobra iii bubble cruiser: https://s.orbis.zone/m0m0
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom