Elite Anacondas - Easy pickings?

[Rall]

Now over the last few days I've seen in claimed by various forums posters, that Elite Anacondas are a doddle in a Viper or Cobra. That it's far to easy they can kill them in 4 minutes, even with Class C shields - all they have to do is spam shield cells.

I've fought Elite beam toating Anacondas, and this was not my experiance. My Cobra is currently all A Class, appart from the Shields which are yet to be upgraded, they're still C. I've taken down Master and Expert Anacondas, but anything Dangerous or above in front of it I'll need assistance from the Authorities to have chance to bring one down. (I did take one deadly Anaconda out, but it was fitted with turreted fragment canons, so It doesn't really count).

I won't even attept to fight Elite Pythons, that's a whole other level. Equiped with Rail Guns they'll one hit me down to 60% Hull if I get infront of them.

I'd like to know everyones expeiance with the Elite Condas, the ships, weapons and upgrade levels and tactics you've used when successfully bringing one down solo with no assistance from NPCs or other players. Is it really that easy for you? Or is this just internet bravado and sabre ratling.

 

[ZephyrDark]

Its pretty easy in my Asp with 2 C2-Gim Beams & 4 C1-Gim Cannons as well as shield cells. The thing is, I think there's a good balance right now. Those missions are fun and decently challenging, as well as decently profitable. I don't see them needing to be any harder since any lack of concentration and you can kiss your ship goodbye. Really what it comes down to is the fact that you can take down an Anaconda at over half hull integrity by destroying their powerplant. That goes for any ship, it is the real weak point. My fights can last between 2 minutes and 10 minutes depending on how well I fly and how well they fly. If these things were any harder, I'd feel that the missions wouldn't be viable and would require you to either get a big ass ship for yourself or to bring a bunch of friends which isn't very practical.

 

[Rall]

Its pretty easy in my Asp with 2 C2-Gim Beams & 4 C1-Gim Cannons as well as shield cells. The thing is, I think there's a good balance right now. Those missions are fun and decently challenging, as well as decently profitable. I don't see them needing to be any harder since any lack of concentration and you can kiss your ship goodbye. Really what it comes down to is the fact that you can take down an Anaconda at over half hull integrity by destroying their powerplant. That goes for any ship, it is the real weak point. My fights can last between 2 minutes and 10 minutes depending on how well I fly and how well they fly. If these things were any harder, I'd feel that the missions wouldn't be viable and would require you to either get a big ass ship for yourself or to bring a bunch of friends which isn't very practical.

See that sound about right to me, I feel they're balance well for me as well. Smaller ships can do it but you need a friend or two along.

I still want to verify if people are killing these easily with Vipers and Cobras, because it's something Frontier will need to address if it really is that easy.

 

[Yodafone]

Now over the last few days I've seen in claimed by various forums posters, that Elite Anacondas are a doddle in a Viper or Cobra. That it's far to easy they can kill them in 4 minutes, even with Class C shields - all they have to do is spam shield cells.

I've fought Elite beam toating Anacondas, and this was not my experiance. My Cobra is currently all A Class, appart from the Shields which are yet to be upgraded, they're still C. I've taken down Master and Expert Anacondas, but anything Dangerous or above in front of it I'll need assistance from the Authorities to have chance to bring one down. (I did take one deadly Anaconda out, but it was fitted with turreted fragment canons, so It doesn't really count).

I won't even attept to fight Elite Pythons, that's a whole other level. Equiped with Rail Guns they'll one hit me down to 60% Hull if I get infront of them.

I'd like to know everyones expeiance with the Elite Condas, the ships, weapons and upgrade levels and tactics you've used when successfully bringing one down solo with no assistance from NPCs or other players. Is it really that easy for you? Or is this just internet bravado and sabre ratling.

I have found the best approach is to firstly crack its shields obviously, but then I sub-target its shield generator to give me the opportunity if needed and time to turn tail and bug out briefly whilst my shields recharge and his cant (saving shield cell potions), then at this point one can tactically make offensive runs, and if at first you dont succeed to finish him off, break off and boost away again and try another offensive attack, whilst all the time he's exposed with his destroyed shield generator.

Lancer

 

[Johnny Cyclops]

I'm in a C Grade Cobra. Got one-shot by an NPC Anaconda which took thrusters down to 0%. I had to self-destruct to reset. Won't be chasing Anacondas again any time soon.

 

[Veldryn]

I fought 2 Elite Anacondas today (Twice each), both for missions. I don't use Shield Cells. Results are:

- 1st Anaconda, first round: Won, after a really hard fight (And backup from the Authorities before I even took his shields down). I didn't get the bounty. 56% Hull Left
- 1st Anaconda, second round: Won, after a much easier fight. I took the advantage early, and took him down to 94% hull before the Authorities showed up. Still had 83% Hull and full Shields when he died

During the second round, I've been able to take his shields down at the same time as mine. Since the Shields is the most difficult part of an Anaconda for me (2 Burst Laser C1 + 2 MC C2), that was a good thing, and I would probably have won even without authority backup (Unlike the 1st one)

- 2nd Anaconda, first round: Lost. Couldn't get behind him. Ran away with 38% Hull and 3:30 of oxygen left. Funny thing: with the Canopy broken, I couldn't target him anymore (The HUD disappears where the canopy is broken). Makes it muuuuuuch harder to aim with MC (Lasers are fine, although it's also much harder to actually see the ship). He had 64% Hull left
- 2nd Anaconda, second round: Lost. I've upgraded my Viper (From B3 to A3 shields, replaced a Point Defense with a second Chaff, replaced a Burst Laser with a Beam Laser, and upgraded to A3 Life Systems). It was even worse than the first fight, I couldn't break his shields. I ran away with 25% Hull left (And only 10% on the Thrusters), and 23 minutes of oxygen. He still had 76% Hull and 50% Shields

Sooo... It depends on a lot of things:

- Your outfit. Not all weapons are good against all oponents. Chaff + PD Turret is good for most cases, but against an Anaconda with 4 Turrets Lasers, 2 Gimballed Lasers, a Plasma and some Missiles, the Chaff is much more important (Especially since NPC only use missiles for long-range target, and miss most of the time, even without Chaff)
- The beginning of the fight. Humans and NPC behave differently when they get the advantage early (Yeah, NPCs too)
- The Authorities back-up (For the second fight, I was wanted in the System, so there was no crime to report when we started the fight, and no backup)

Now, I've never used Shield Cells. But would they make the fight easier? Definitely. I think a single Shield Cell would have helped me win all 4 fights. I don't know the Cooldown between 2 cells, nor how much shield they restore, nor how many cells you have. But I'm sure that with stronger shields, I would be able to push my advantage whenever I get it, instead of running away to recharge my shields. As I said, the Shields are much more difficult for me than the Hull, so each time I have to recharge, so does the Anaconda, and if he can get his shields back, I have to start over again.

 

[Alex988]

Now over the last few days I've seen in claimed by various forums posters, that Elite Anacondas are a doddle in a Viper or Cobra. That it's far to easy they can kill them in 4 minutes, even with Class C shields - all they have to do is spam shield cells.

I've fought Elite beam toating Anacondas, and this was not my experiance. My Cobra is currently all A Class, appart from the Shields which are yet to be upgraded, they're still C. I've taken down Master and Expert Anacondas, but anything Dangerous or above in front of it I'll need assistance from the Authorities to have chance to bring one down. (I did take one deadly Anaconda out, but it was fitted with turreted fragment canons, so It doesn't really count).

I won't even attept to fight Elite Pythons, that's a whole other level. Equiped with Rail Guns they'll one hit me down to 60% Hull if I get infront of them.

I'd like to know everyones expeiance with the Elite Condas, the ships, weapons and upgrade levels and tactics you've used when successfully bringing one down solo with no assistance from NPCs or other players. Is it really that easy for you? Or is this just internet bravado and sabre ratling.

thats how I currently earn my credits. 2 beamlaser + 2 gimballed cannons 3 shield cell banks 2 chaf launchers.
Take out the shields, then a few hits in the powerplant and they are gone. easy. 4-5 mins. If you don't stand still they won't hit you with the plasma accelerator

 

[Don_Von_Hulio]

Its not always 'easy'. What some find difficult to realize is that difficulty is relative to each person.

And since you mentioned the frag cannon, some npcs just have bad fits making them less challenging. Sometimes they do nothing and let you kill them.

 

[bewl]

Not sure why you guys have so many problens to be honest. I have taken out at least a dozen elite anacondas in my Viper and only twice have I ever even gotten to hull damage. Shield cells are a must however, but positioning and sub targeting (power drive) are most important.

 

[Rall]

thats how I currently earn my credits. 2 beamlaser + 2 gimballed cannons 3 shield cell banks 2 chaf launchers.
Take out the shields, then a few hits in the powerplant and they are gone. easy. 4-5 mins. If you don't stand still they won't hit you with the plasma accelerator

How many shield cells do you do through in the average fight?

 

[HeavyGroovez]

Just get behind him and target his drive before hostilities commence.

Condas will just drift around aimlessly until you fire the first shot. Make sure you are in position and everything is ready to rock and then unleash all hell on him.

You need to make the most of the free shots you get before he goes into forward facing pivot mode where he will just hammer you with all he has got.

Once you have the shields down you can concentrate on the drive subsystem. Smash away at the drive whilst spamming shield cells.

Once his drive is gone he will just sit there and pirouette. You can then back off and target the power plant and sit back outside his gimbal/turret range (they mostly use gimballs/turrets at high rank) and just blast it until he goes pop.

Its just practice.

 

[Rall]

Not sure why you guys have so many problens to be honest. I have taken out at least a dozen elite anacondas in my Viper and only twice have I ever even gotten to hull damage. Shield cells are a must however, but positioning and sub targeting (power drive) are most important.

I only carry one A2 class cell pack - 4 charge I think. It's not enough to stand up against an all beam Anaconda for more than a few minutes even with 4 pips to shields, which then renders a Cobra a giant barn door to shot at.

Maybe I'm not spamming chaff liberaly enough.

How many Elite's have you been forced to run from? Or is it always a successful kill.

 

[Dabba]

Forum warriors say a lot of things to inflate their egos. As always, pics (videos) or it didnt happen.

Is it possible to beat an elite conda in a Viper? Yes. Is it too easy? Most definitely not.

 

[Rall]

Just get behind him and target his drive before hostilities commence.

Condas will just drift around aimlessly until you fire the first shot. Make sure you are in position and everything is ready to rock and then unleash all hell on him.

You need to make the most of the free shots you get before he goes into forward facing pivot mode where he will just hammer you with all he has got.

Once you have the shields down you can concentrate on the drive subsystem. Smash away at the drive whilst spamming shield cells.

Once his drive is gone he will just sit there and pirouette. You can then back off and target the power plant and sit back outside his gimbal/turret range (they mostly use gimballs/turrets at high rank) and just blast it until he goes pop.

Its just practice.

This is pretty much what I do with the lower rank Conda's, but I find the Elites shields take a long time to burn down unless I'm really close in. If I'm close in I'm taking a lot of fire and my shield don't last long at all, so I'm forced to withdraw. To stay in the small blind spot, you need pip into engines, which makes taking fire even worse.

If I try to take the shields out at range, I can't do enough damage to bring them down. Still haven't tried using Class 2 Railguns so that may make a differance.

 

[bewl]

I only carry one A2 class cell pack - 4 charge I think. It's not enough to stand up against an all beam Anaconda for more than a few minutes even with 4 pips to shields, which then renders a Cobra a giant barn door to shot at.

Maybe I'm not spamming chaff liberaly enough.

How many Elite's have you been forced to run from? Or is it always a successful kill.

I have killed everyone thus far. There should be 6 charges per shield cell. Make sure to keep your distance (1.5-2km) and always make positioning a priority over dealing damage.

 

[Aracimia]

Forum warriors say a lot of things to inflate their egos. As always, pics (videos) or it didnt happen.

Is it possible to beat an elite conda in a Viper? Yes. Is it too easy? Most definitely not.

Very Much this, Shield cells and Chaff make it easier but I've had some damned close calls and lost my ship at least once. I did a spate of them and three times in a row I was borderline suffocatng with a cracked canopy when I made it back to base

 

[UnknownXV]

Shield cells are ridiculously OP and akin to spamming potions in any other MMO. I avoid them.

 

[Rall]

Forum warriors say a lot of things to inflate their egos. As always, pics (videos) or it didnt happen.

Is it possible to beat an elite conda in a Viper? Yes. Is it too easy? Most definitely not.

This is the general impression I get. But there are people who are much better pilot than I, and it's really helpful to get there feedback.

 

[bewl]

Forum warriors say a lot of things to inflate their egos. As always, pics (videos) or it didnt happen.

Is it possible to beat an elite conda in a Viper? Yes. Is it too easy? Most definitely not.

I don't know man. I remember when I took my first high profile assassination mission and I was legitimately scared. I was blown away by how easy it actually was. There's no "keyboard warrioring" happening here. There's a video floating around of a guy in a resource extraction site who took out 3 anacondas and a cobra in 14 minutes. It really isn't that hard.

 

[Rall]

I have killed everyone thus far. There should be 6 charges per shield cell. Make sure to keep your distance (1.5-2km) and always make positioning a priority over dealing damage.

Thanks for the feedback guys, it's been really informative.

So how do you apportion your pips?

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I don't know man. I remember when I took my first high profile assassination mission and I was legitimately scared. I was blown away by how easy it actually was. There's no "keyboard warrioring" happening here. There's a video floating around of a guy in a resource extraction site who took out 3 anacondas and a cobra in 14 minutes. It really isn't that hard.

I've done something similar, fighting 3 Cobra's and a Anaconda at the same time - took em out in about 15 minutes. They weren't elites though, and at a RES there's other targets for them to be distracted by.