I've spent some cash getting all my internal stuff to A or D now (including an A8 power distributor), but the weapons loadout feels wrong, and I thought I'd ask anyone else out there with an Anaconda how they went about it.
I have a huge hardpoint plasma accelerator and gimballed beam lasers in the rest (2xS, 3xM and 2xL). Obviously, this means both the lasers and the Anaconda goes hot quickly, and I'm exposed to chaff. On the other hand, anything Viper-sized or smaller pretty much insta-vaporizes, so it does really only matter against Pythons/Anacondas or a fully upgraded ASP I suppose.
I'd rather keep the huge plasma accelerator, as what it does to the hull (though not shields) of a Python or another Anaconda is rather amazing. Going for fixed lasers feels rather dangerous, as trying to keep a smaller ship in my sights with something with the turn rate of an Anaconda seems almost impossible. 10 seconds of chaff effect (and 10 seconds unprotected while reloading) makes things more difficult, but with many gimballed lasers, the 10 seconds my opponent is reloading is often all I need.
Still, it feels like I should have more cannons or multicannons, perhaps in the 3xM and 2xS hardpoints, and then have two weapon groups, one for taking down shields and one for taking down hull. However, getting down the shields of a Python with shield banks does require a lot of lasers, so I'm uncertain what is the best combination. Any Anaconda pilots out there willing to share their experiences from PvP, particularly against Pythons?
PS: I'm assuming that a) dumbfire missiles are a lot less useful now that point-defence can get them and that they are about to become less effective against shields, and that b) Pythons will have nerfed turn rates soon
I have a huge hardpoint plasma accelerator and gimballed beam lasers in the rest (2xS, 3xM and 2xL). Obviously, this means both the lasers and the Anaconda goes hot quickly, and I'm exposed to chaff. On the other hand, anything Viper-sized or smaller pretty much insta-vaporizes, so it does really only matter against Pythons/Anacondas or a fully upgraded ASP I suppose.
I'd rather keep the huge plasma accelerator, as what it does to the hull (though not shields) of a Python or another Anaconda is rather amazing. Going for fixed lasers feels rather dangerous, as trying to keep a smaller ship in my sights with something with the turn rate of an Anaconda seems almost impossible. 10 seconds of chaff effect (and 10 seconds unprotected while reloading) makes things more difficult, but with many gimballed lasers, the 10 seconds my opponent is reloading is often all I need.
Still, it feels like I should have more cannons or multicannons, perhaps in the 3xM and 2xS hardpoints, and then have two weapon groups, one for taking down shields and one for taking down hull. However, getting down the shields of a Python with shield banks does require a lot of lasers, so I'm uncertain what is the best combination. Any Anaconda pilots out there willing to share their experiences from PvP, particularly against Pythons?
PS: I'm assuming that a) dumbfire missiles are a lot less useful now that point-defence can get them and that they are about to become less effective against shields, and that b) Pythons will have nerfed turn rates soon
