have the elite anaconda missions been buffed in 1.6

I felt I was ready to take on the elite anaconda ---- fully loaded viper, been practicing bounty hunting with 300 kills. my first go, I bailed with 80% hull ---- zipped back to a station for repairs and back out hunting. Found him again and engaged ---still not doing too good can't get on his 6 its a run and gun strafing match then he rams me -----eject eject -----97K ship insurance. neither time did I even make a dent in his shields. I'm using fixed beams and class 2 multi's, but the big issue is my viper should outturn him but no way could I even get behind him ---I'm popping chaff and shield cells like candy and not doing anything to him ----I can see my fire is hitting, but nothing is happening.
I see a lot of posts on the forum where guys are doing these like 4 an hour its so easy---watch you tube vids where it looks easy
So my question is do I really suck that bad or have the elite anaconda's been buffed in 1.6 -----anybody else having problems?
 
I felt I was ready to take on the elite anaconda ---- fully loaded viper, been practicing bounty hunting with 300 kills. my first go, I bailed with 80% hull ---- zipped back to a station for repairs and back out hunting. Found him again and engaged ---still not doing too good can't get on his 6 its a run and gun strafing match then he rams me -----eject eject -----97K ship insurance. neither time did I even make a dent in his shields. I'm using fixed beams and class 2 multi's, but the big issue is my viper should outturn him but no way could I even get behind him ---I'm popping chaff and shield cells like candy and not doing anything to him ----I can see my fire is hitting, but nothing is happening.
I see a lot of posts on the forum where guys are doing these like 4 an hour its so easy---watch you tube vids where it looks easy
So my question is do I really suck that bad or have the elite anaconda's been buffed in 1.6 -----anybody else having problems?


The one I took on just a few minutes ago seemed tougher than usual. Typically I can take one down without loosing one ring on my Python's shields were as this one took two. I'd say yes they have been buffed but then it could have just been me not performing as usual.
 
It's a bad start when they blast you with a plasma accelerator right off the bat.

I've killed some of them without trying, and others left me running away with a repair bill.
 
Then I just suck ----back to practice---- by the way what loadout are you using

I had this same problem. Got an Asp a week or two back. Thought I was the bee's knees and interdicted an Anaconda. A couple of minutes later, I was questioning my piloting abilities back at the station after being reduced to dust.

There seemed to be a big gap between what I had heard about fighting condas and actually doing it.
I am a lifelong gamer but have always been pretty poor at actually playing them.

I didn't get far with Elite in 1984..
 
Warning, cheesy quote coming up!

Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.

Anywho. Don't think these guys are any beefier than before, they're just vastly inconsistent in their dedication to blow you up :) I've seen some that nod off after a while and just take whatever (dumbfires, usually) comes their way. Others seem next to impossible to beat in an ASP, let alone a Viper. They pull off figure skating moves I wouldn't expect from a Cobra and maintain a jousting position forgetting Isaac Newton ever lived.

Also, I read somewhere that these assassination targets ale exclusively Anacondas. Not true. I had a Fed Dropship and an Orca (not a bugged one!). While the D'ship can pull even crazier acrobatics, it's easily brute forced. The Orca is just a joke, it's toast before you think about deploying hardpoints!

It would be good to know what these guys are flying in the mission screen, hm?

CMDR Drbois
 
Well this one I got had a lot of point defense and missiles ----I was able to avoid the missiles but, even with chaff the turreted lasers were tearing me up. This is the 2nd time in 3 days I have lost my ship due to raming. The other was a federal drop ship we were both at 75% hull , but I had let my shield cells to deplete It was only a glancing blow, but I still went kaboom. That one was a little harder to take because I had a lot of unclaimed bounty vouchures
 
Using vertical thrusts helps a lot for keeping on their 6.

Do people not use their vertical thrusts? it must be one of my most used keys. I have to constantly remind me not to use while Supercruising.
 
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Do people not use their vertical thrusts? it must be one of my most used keys. I have to constantly remind me not to use while Supercruising.
Can you use your thrusters in supercruise? I wasn't aware of that ----I know I can't change power settings while in supercruise ----I like to jump with 4 pips on shields and 2 on engines, just in case I need them when I drop out but sometimes I forget before I jump. Then I have to wait till I drop out to make changes
 
Do people not use their vertical thrusts? it must be one of my most used keys. I have to constantly remind me not to use while Supercruising.

I certainly do, they're absolutely essential for combat imho. Boost and FA off for super quick changes of direction too :)
 
I had this same problem. Got an Asp a week or two back. Thought I was the bee's knees and interdicted an Anaconda. A couple of minutes later, I was questioning my piloting abilities back at the station after being reduced to dust.

There seemed to be a big gap between what I had heard about fighting condas and actually doing it.
I am a lifelong gamer but have always been pretty poor at actually playing them.

I didn't get far with Elite in 1984..

Hah! You and me both, and "life long gamer" started, in my case, when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

That said, an Asp is absolutely rubbish for combat untill you invested quite a bit of money in it. A fully upgraded Viper is a lot better and you can get 2 for the price of a default Asp (or the price of a single Thruster upgrade).
That said, once you pack em with a bit of A gear, they're very nice.
 
Dumbfires, chaff and a shield cell bank - all you need to know to take on an Elite Anaconda head on. Once I start firing 4 dumbfire missile pods the Anaconda is gone within seconds.
 
DB Cooper, if you go against a Conda the first time, maybe kiting is the way to go, just to get a feel first before you get into a knife fight... where did I desribe that...gimme a moment...

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=103113&page=2

In entry 18, I describe the "Easy way to kill a Conda - Kiting". Maybe you should give that a try. Be warned though, the challenge is almost gone with that approach.
 
I felt I was ready to take on the elite anaconda ---- fully loaded viper, been practicing bounty hunting with 300 kills. my first go, I bailed with 80% hull ---- zipped back to a station for repairs and back out hunting. Found him again and engaged ---still not doing too good can't get on his 6 its a run and gun strafing match then he rams me -----eject eject -----97K ship insurance. neither time did I even make a dent in his shields. I'm using fixed beams and class 2 multi's, but the big issue is my viper should outturn him but no way could I even get behind him ---I'm popping chaff and shield cells like candy and not doing anything to him ----I can see my fire is hitting, but nothing is happening.
I see a lot of posts on the forum where guys are doing these like 4 an hour its so easy---watch you tube vids where it looks easy
So my question is do I really suck that bad or have the elite anaconda's been buffed in 1.6 -----anybody else having problems?

Only started seriously with them at 1.6 so I don't know, but it doesn't seem to be too difficult. Few things:

1) Their shields are tough, way tougher than the hull. Don't feel bad if it seems to go nowhere. Once you pop the shield, the thing is as good as dead.
2) At the beginning of the fight, don't bother shooting. Just focus on getting in position with 4pips to shield.
3) Use beam lasers to cut through their shields: 4pips to weapons and you can keep the beams going for decades. :)
4) Use gimballed multi-cannons on their powerplant once the shield is down. Pop goes the weasel, often before the hull is at 50%. MC don't need much juice so back to 4pips to shield. Your engines need nothing, you'll outperform the condy anyway.
5) Bring some shield cells.
 
i had 4 fixed MC's, a D rated shield gen and a B2 shield cell bank on my viper, was worth about 1 mill at that point. when flying backwards and keeping 2KM between me and the elite anaconda, and having a lateral thruster permanently going the fights became easy if long winded. the shield cell bank let me get out to range, then the shield gen was able to repair the few hits i took that far out. using a lateral thruster stops those plasma balls from hitting you. if the cops turn up and start to soak up turret fire i'll close back into dogfighting range again and go for a subsystem. take the power plant or FSD to 0% and the ship will blow even if it has a ton of hull left. or take the drives out so they can't run away
 
The elite Anaconda missions have definitely got harder. I used to take these missions without taking hull damage, but now they break my shield (despite shield cell bank spamming), and I end up having to hull tank until I destroy them. My canopy or power plant usually start to malfunction 8/10 times before the end of the fight, despite an A-grade Cobra.
 
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