What's the most OP weapon?

[Jaffz]

After engineering?

I did the community goal last month and did some PVP for the first time in years - I have an engineered FDL with prismatics and loads of boosters, enough for hours of NPC murder - a human player comes in with a Python 2 strips my shields and kills me in about 20 seconds. It was so fast I didn't even get time to look at his loadout. I think they were frag cannons but I'm not sure.

So without getting into a discussion about shields, what's the best fast murder weapon for PVP?

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Frags will do more on-paper damage in a short space of time than anything else. And in some situations that on-paper damage can be translated very effectively into actual damage.

In certain circumstances relating to things you don't want to discuss here, plasma accelerators might be more effective, however.

 

[Dillon Fallon]

If it's pure damage you're after, SRB PAs, but efficient are easier to pip manage.

Although I'd be curious about your build if you're running that setup you mentioned and got blown up quickly.

 

[Oh Seven Commander]

Below are hard hitting weapons that usually are used in gank builds.

• Frags - High DPS - Downside is wide spread that makes range a problem, and slow shot speed that also makes range a problem
• Pacifier Frags - Tight spread and 1,000m/s shot speed make these overall better for fast kills. The issue of these is they are fixed weapons, but once you learn fixed, these are pretty incredible DPS at OC g5. The biggest downside right now is getting them through Powerplay.
• Short Range Blaster Rails (SRB) - SRB Railguns have hilariously high DPS, and the primary downside is the rang stops at 1.5km iirc, and the heat generation is about as high as the damage.
• SRB Plasma Accelerators - Same idea as the rails just with PAs. These will hurt!

If you're trying to survive a ship using these, I would build out a Python MkII or Corsair using these weapons above and then note the DPS and damage sources and compare that to your own ship. P2, Krait, FDL, and Corsair are the most popular gank ships right now.

 

[SlickPBW]

“There are no dangerous weapons; there are only dangerous men.”

- Fleet Sergeant Charles Zim

 

[Jaffz]

Cheers for the responses

• Pacifier Frags - Tight spread and 1,000m/s shot speed make these overall better for fast kills. The issue of these is they are fixed weapons, but once you learn fixed, these are pretty incredible DPS at OC g5. The biggest downside right now is getting them through Powerplay.

I haven't done PP for years. I pledged to Space Daenerys last time because I wanted the prismatics, who do I pledge to to get these frags?

 

[Dillon Fallon]

Cheers for the responses



I haven't done PP for years. I pledged to Space Daenerys last time because I wanted the prismatics, who do I pledge to to get these frags?

Doesn't matter. You get all modules regardless of power and there's no merit decay. Once unlocked, it's permanent until you unpledge.

Archer has the earliest unlock however.

 

[Oh Seven Commander]

Cheers for the responses



I haven't done PP for years. I pledged to Space Daenerys last time because I wanted the prismatics, who do I pledge to to get these frags?

Powerplay is massively different now. Basically, everyone can unlock everything, through everyone, just in different orders. Jerome Archer (replaced President T-1000) is the fastest way to get them, but it's still some work either way. This google sheet lists all the powers, their bonuses, and the Rank Rewards tab shows the levels you can unlock things at per power. Note the orders of unlock and levels required. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...joRUgECLIyMw/edit?gid=342020404#gid=342020404

I would watch some videos and do research before you pledge for 1 gun, though, because each one has different areas they get bonuses in. If you're just trying to fight more effectively, you want to build a real PvP ship rather than try to out-gank the ganker. That probably won't end up well.

 

[Dillon Fallon]

I would watch some videos and do research before you pledge for 1 gun, though, because each one has different areas they get bonuses in. If you're just trying to fight more effectively, you want to build a real PvP ship rather than try to out-gank the ganker. That probably won't end up well.

Also joining up with a PvP oriented discord group would be useful here. There's no substitute for practice.

 

[Screemonster]

If it's some guy in a py2 that killed you that fast, it was most likely overcharged screening shell pacifiers, maybe incendiary (screening shell has a much shorter reload allowing for for higher DPS, incendiary takes advantage of the thermal hole most shields have if the target hasn't specifically and deliberately fitted thermal boosters to close it)

Notably, you mention that you're good for hours of NPC murder - generally the outfitting and engineering for staying out for a long time popping relatively weak NPCs isn't suited for a single engagement with a single tough opponent, as is the case with PvP encounters where you're more liable to meet someone who's as buffed as you are.

 

[Dillon Fallon]

If it's some guy in a py2 that killed you that fast, it was most likely overcharged screening shell pacifiers, maybe incendiary (screening shell has a much shorter reload allowing for for higher DPS, incendiary takes advantage of the thermal hole most shields have if the target hasn't specifically and deliberately fitted thermal boosters to close it)

Notably, you mention that you're good for hours of NPC murder - generally the outfitting and engineering for staying out for a long time popping relatively weak NPCs isn't suited for a single engagement with a single tough opponent, as is the case with PvP encounters where you're more liable to meet someone who's as buffed as you are.

Still think seeing the OPs build would help. There are many ways of engineering shields and boosters, not all of them good. No mention of how much hull was put in there either.

Did it look anything like this, for example?

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

s.orbis.zone

 

[Jaffz]

Notably, you mention that you're good for hours of NPC murder - generally the outfitting and engineering for staying out for a long time popping relatively weak NPCs isn't suited for a single engagement with a single tough opponent, as is the case with PvP encounters where you're more liable to meet someone who's as buffed as you are.

I get that

Still think seeing the OPs build would help. There are many ways of engineering shields and boosters, not all of them good. No mention of how much hull was put in there either.

Did it look anything like this, for example?

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

s.orbis.zone

I've had ED since the day it came out and still don't know how to upload ship configs to these type of sites. Can this be done through Inara?

[edit] Just figured out how to do it, ignore the weapons, I'm trying out new ones, it was all PAs before

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

s.orbis.zone

 

[Dillon Fallon]

I get that


I've had ED since the day it came out and still don't know how to upload ship configs to these type of sites. Can this be done through Inara?

Yep, there's an export function on the bottom of the page of the ship you're looking at on Inara.

 

[Neilski]

If it's some guy in a py2 that killed you that fast, it was most likely overcharged screening shell pacifiers, maybe incendiary (screening shell has a much shorter reload allowing for for higher DPS

I've never tried screening shell, sounds interesting... EDSY is indicating that rapid fire beats overcharged for sustained DPS but I suspect there's a catch there somewhere...

I've had ED since the day it came out and still don't know how to upload ship configs to these type of sites. Can this be done through Inara?

Yes, you can click on the ship in your Inara fleet and get the buttons below, which will let you (e.g.) open the ship in EDSY and save it there, then share a link to the build. EDSY tends to warn though that "Inara builds may have small inaccuracies in engineered module attributes".

In fact though, if you get the data into Inara through EDDiscovery (which I recommend) then you can just click on the ship there and export it directly to EDSY or Coriolis, with a perfect match to what's in your game journals.

 

[Dillon Fallon]

EDSY is indicating that rapid fire beats overcharged for sustained DPS but I suspect there's a catch there somewhere...

The catch is you'd need to keep the weapon on target. Not easy against another player who potentially could have target lock breaker, dispersal and of course, chaff, (only relevant to regular frags those last two though, not pacifiers). As well as the fact that you never really know where another player is going.

 

[Oh Seven Commander]

I've never tried screening shell, sounds interesting... EDSY is indicating that rapid fire beats overcharged for sustained DPS but I suspect there's a catch there somewhere...

Yes, you can click on the ship in your Inara fleet and get the buttons below, which will let you (e.g.) open the ship in EDSY and save it there, then share a link to the build. EDSY tends to warn though that "Inara builds may have small inaccuracies in engineered module attributes".
View attachment 429787
In fact though, if you get the data into Inara through EDDiscovery (which I recommend) then you can just click on the ship there and export it directly to EDSY or Coriolis, with a perfect match to what's in your game journals.

As Dillon pointed out, you need time on target to get the DPS, but even if you do have time on target, all it does is empty your ammo, that's what Rapid Fire does. It doesn't buff your damage, just your ROF.

 

[Dillon Fallon]

As Dillon pointed out, you need time on target to get the DPS, but even if you do have time on target, all it does is empty your ammo, that's what Rapid Fire does. It doesn't buff your damage, just your ROF.

Although with a semi automatic weapon like pacifiers, it's questionable how much of a practical increase in damage you're getting from the RoF being faster

 

[Ashnak]

Depends on what you want

• rapid fire depletes your ammo fast and decreases the reload time to get highest (on paper) sustained DPS. Good for lazy pilots against a small number of NPCs, not so good if you are up against a buffed player
• double shot is similar to rapid fire in terms of damage and ammo throughput, with fewer trigger pulls and without the reload bonus
• overcharged gives you the most punch per magazine load, but also doesn't do anything for the reload speed

 

[Vardaugas]

Although with a semi automatic weapon like pacifiers, it's questionable how much of a practical increase in damage you're getting from the RoF being faster

For Pacifiers use High Capacity. It doubles your clip size, meaning you can dump twice the pellets on a fly by and even increases RoF by a bit.

 

[Mohrgan]

I don't really know where Cannons stand on the +/-OP matrix, but they are worth considering. PP sniping is super efficient and cannons do that trick great. I use Overcharged w/ Thermal Cascade for the larger HPs, and I like to include something with Caustic on it. Thermal helps splash some heat damage on those that would thwart me with SCBs (it might just be in my mind, but that is the rational anyway).

My Corsair uses one c3 Cannon with a c2 frag along with 4x Pulse, and it is murder out there. 105 rounds total seems limiting, but part of the fun is stripping shields and popping modules, conserving ammo to take the most bounties. My Python Mk2 has two...