Newcomer / Intro First blood - need some help

[CMDR Memphis]

I was mining near a RES minding my own business, when an NPC cobra picked a fight with me. Oddly, he also picked a fight with some other miners, so we ganged up on him. As he did not focus on me, I picked up the rest of the gold before dealing with him. With my newly upgraded beams his armor fell quickly and I got 22k bounty. My mining run has started to not be fun anymore (Filling up 36t cargo takes a lot of time), so I went back to the station, maybe the Cobra a bit more combat worthy, and headed back.
*Big mistake* Picked a fight with a wing of 3 sidewinders, and they taught me a lesson in humility. Of course, the cobra ran away.

Question: Am I just that bad of a pilot, or is it a bad idea to pick a fight with more than one sidewinder. Basically, I got one of them down to 28% before I had lost him out of sights (first mistake) while his friends must have taken my (4 pip) shield down in less than a minute?

Currently, I am doing some trading to better fit my cobra - better shields and shield boosters required.

 

[NikodemusDSD]

Don´t attack wings if the wing isn´t attacked by other pilots too. Exept you are in a verry superior ship or are you have made a lot of combat experiance.

 

[quickr]

There is no way of me telling you if you are a good pilot or bad without actually seeing you fly. While BH in RES you can always team up with someone in a wing or wait for security ships to soften up your enemy before stepping in for a kill. There is no shame in that. Upgrading your ship is always a good choice and it will definitively help you out. But the more you fly, the more you fight the better you'll become and you'll find it gets easier and easier to shoot down wanted/pirate NPCs.

CMDRs are different story

 

[the100thmonkey]

Well, that's 6 weapons sapping the shield. The Cobra's is weak too, comparatively, so if you can't dispatch the first ship quickly, I'd expect you to have some problems.

 

[kingchub]

picking a fight with a wing of 3 when ur in a cobra is a bad idea yes. its not impossible but u need to run away a lot and u better have an SCB.

do it in a vulture and ur laughing.

 

[willowfan]

If you can kill one of the sideys quickly the other two will scarper.

If you can't - well it's x6 pulse lasers pounding on your shields.

Hehe - yeah in a Vulture it's "bring it on" - takes about 5 seconds to melt a sidey into so much space slag.

 

[Stahll Amatin]

My first week in and i find the best ships at this level to be a well upgraded eagle or Viper for combat. The cobra just can't turn with the smaller guys and wont be able to face tank the damage on those missions that pit you against an NPC 'conda. (at least the viper can avoid a lot of the damage with its superior handling and speed)

The cobra is a little more generous with outfitting initially however, and if you load'er up with gimbaled or turreted guns and some shields you can teach those annoying NPCs that interdict you during trade runs a good lesson. as a direct combatant tho it is outclassed by a well equipped viper in every way- the viper is just clearly built for fighting where as the cobra is a versatility compromise. as always, dealing with other CMDRs is a total crap shoot. you may get a newbro in a sidey who can't fly or aim worth a crap or you may get some top tier baddy who could take 3 of you by himself. problem is you won't know till its too late and your committed to the fight.

 

[UnKle]

As everyone else has pointed out 3 ships hitting you together is a lot of 'ouch' at once, even a 'sidey'. Try 'maiming' using a high-speed "Boom and Zoom" approach i.e don't get tangled in a furball.

Assess which one is most dangerous - does he have shields etc and engage that one first.

Approach them at speed and focus all of your firepower on 1 target SMASH HIM - then fly past and extend a bit by boosting away. Turn around and do it again, hit the same one again with everything you have and avoid the fire of the others, don't slow down and dogfight - speed past with boost when they fire on you and recharge your weapons after each 'run' as you extend. Once you have killed one of them you can get a little closer with the other two but keep an eye out for more.

There is a knack to doing a 180 Degree turn in a Cobra using Flight Assist off too which helps you with a slashing attack like this.

 

[CMDR Memphis]

Alright, thanks for confirming that I am just an idiot taking on a wing, which is difficult in a Cobra. I guess I still remember doing that kind of thing in the old Elite games... Although in none of the other games was killing enemies as easy as the original elite.
I have to admit I have dabbled a bit with FA off, but I still need to invest some time there. I will keep upgrading the Cobra and go at it again when I need a break from trading.

 

[MrNooby]

I took on a 3 wing once, with my sidey.

I'd like to think I did pretty well for a new player, I took out one, and then made a run for it after I dropped to 50% hp. Still, got one though

 

[Stahll Amatin]

Alright, thanks for confirming that I am just an idiot taking on a wing, which is difficult in a Cobra. I guess I still remember doing that kind of thing in the old Elite games... Although in none of the other games was killing enemies as easy as the original elite.
I have to admit I have dabbled a bit with FA off, but I still need to invest some time there. I will keep upgrading the Cobra and go at it again when I need a break from trading.

just to reiterate, the cobra isn't the horrible boat some make it out to be (Given you re-fit for a specific role), but it's no dogfighter, especially in it's 'out of the box' configuration. if you really enjoy dogfighting/bounty-hunting/combat missions i would strongly suggest getting a viper. trading in my cobra for a viper is the best decision i made

 

[CMDR Memphis]

CMDR Memphis licks blood again. Mmmm, tasty.
What a mixed day it was. Trying his luck on the silk road, but finding it picked over... Someone even took the tobacco before him, which made him very mad. Off he jumps many LJs to the old stations with their many rare supplies. Finally making some money, he asks himself - is that it...? ... and crashes into the mailslot while being overcocky and underattentive.
But then he sees that there are some res sites - would he dare to join the fray?
Entering, he immediately sees an anaconda being swarmed by systems security. Could I? Should I? I only ever managed a cobra, this is the biggest beast yet. "Target shields are fine... aaah down.. yes down" his b*tching betty announced. Well, you only live once. With four pips to weapons he powers his craft in, beams converging on the anaconda, slowly ticking away the percentage. "Hah, I will get you just yet"... "Hmm, this thing like it turns towards me - oh sh*t. Boost, boost" "Shields are fi... down". The heart now racing, blood pumping he evades the cannon fire, full pips on shields until they are up. Firing away, the conda is finally getting down in percentage. "Friendship dr... Ah, you know what I mean" b*tching betty mumbled. Systems security and Commander Memphis kept on the conda's tail and finally, within seconds to spare, finished it off in a satisfying *boom*. CMDR Memphis spit out his now completely tasteless tobacco, letting out a sigh of relief.
And then, there was the next conda waiting around the next asteroid.

I just managed to get 300k in probably less than an hour in the cobra. It was fun. The rares run was more efficient, but not as much thrill. I even managed, together with system forces, to take on a wing of an Adder, an Anaconda, and a Clipper? Well, maybe they were not all in the wing. The AI Clippers fortunately a relatively easy to take down if you stay out of their sights.

just to reiterate, the cobra isn't the horrible boat some make it out to be (Given you re-fit for a specific role), but it's no dogfighter, especially in it's 'out of the box' configuration. if you really enjoy dogfighting/bounty-hunting/combat missions i would strongly suggest getting a viper. trading in my cobra for a viper is the best decision i made

No, I enjoy the mix. I might get a later combat ship (like a vulture, dunno yet), but for right now, I like my Cobra. And man, it still needs upgrading. Got pretty good boosters and power distro, just upgraded the power plant. Need a second B2 beam (the other is like an E1 oops), a better FSD for trading. I think I might stay in the Cobra until I can buy an ASP or vulture and get them decent components.

 

[Blaubart]

If you want to keep the cobra for BH remember two important things: it's Yaw is terrible. all ships have bad yaw but this is one of the worst. (at least in that size) so always try to roll to follow the target. also: your lower lasers have a very small field of action when gimbled. They can barely shoot above the middle of the screen . Which is why I recomend using fixed beam lasers there to save money and energy while still having a punch. Upper weapons are up to you. I like gimbled multicannons

Have fun... ps. I went the same way. I'm currently going BH with my vulture saving up for a decent trader so i can alter my playstyles in case i get into trading mood

 

[Jackie McMackie]

its a numbers game

3 well equipped eagles could take down a modest anaconda with ease

 

[the100thmonkey]

Actually, if you take the time to learn the foibles of your ship, the Cobra is very effective at bounty-hunting in RESes. 300kcr/hr will soon seem very low. You can make three times that.

 

[quickr]

or buy a vulture and make 3M credits in an hour

 

[CMDR Memphis]

If you want to keep the cobra for BH remember two important things: it's Yaw is terrible. all ships have bad yaw but this is one of the worst. (at least in that size) so always try to roll to follow the target. also: your lower lasers have a very small field of action when gimbled. They can barely shoot above the middle of the screen . Which is why I recomend using fixed beam lasers there to save money and energy while still having a punch. Upper weapons are up to you. I like gimbled multicannons

The Yaw is bad. But I have gotten used to it quite well. My lower lasers are gimballed, because I need them just for the last couple of mm on the screen to hit. It actually turns out that I usually keep the enemy in the lower half anyway, which works quite well. I am not using upper weapons yet, I still need to upgrade a bit.

Actually, if you take the time to learn the foibles of your ship, the Cobra is very effective at bounty-hunting in RESes. 300kcr/hr will soon seem very low. You can make three times that.

It was probably more. I did not check the time exactly. Also, I calculated time to RES and time to station. If I stayed longer, it would be better. But my ship was down to 80%, and I was tired anyway.

I think the cobra and I will become good friends - for nostalgic reasons as well as others.

Thanks again for all the advice.