Anaconda combat tactics advice needed (fighting in a trading whale)

After a thrilling panic stricken 5 minutes spent limping into the nearest station without a canopy, I’ve decided I’m doing it wrong.

Lapsed player. Played from Beta but Left when Wings came out and returned just after Sothis was nerfed, (so I’ve not got 3 billion in the bank).

I’ve been a trader for a while but FINALLY have an anaconda that I’m going to engineer, but I want a nice buffer in the bank first.

Trader build but with 2 x MC and 6 x pulse +3 boosters. All gimballed. I tried turrets but they kept shooting cops. (Is that STILL a thing??).

5A shields, no SCB’s, (yes I know “there’s your problem”:D). Everything else ‘D’ Rated.
So….

Get interdicted by another bloody AI python.
• Submit
• 4 pips to shields
• Boost
• Chaff
• Wait for “D” capacitor to recharge.
• FA Off
• Boost turn
• Throttle to idle
• Target python and open fire….

This is where it’s been going wrong recently. With ‘D’ thrusters, I can’t out turn him so have to fight head on, but need 3 pips to engines just to keep him in my sights and that leaves my 5A shields at his mercy and my laser capacitor dry. By the time I start firing, he’s had 5-10 seconds or so pummelling me from behind and I’m losing.

I’ve not tried any fancy FA-Off lateral thrust + rudder manoeuvre to keep him targeted if he overshoots as once I’m down to ½ my final shield ring I RUN.

Am I being daft to even fight in this setup vs AI? Fighting in expensive ships is WAY more nerve wracking than when I was a carefree cobra bounty hunter back in the day.
 
I just posted this in another thread.. it's more related to interdictions but I think some of it is relevant here
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I find interdiction escape is totally dependant on the ship I am in at the time..

My Asp Explorer has never once been interdicted, because she is so nimble!

My Anaconda has no chance of escaping anything, but she also has A rated everything and an SLF bay, ridiculous amount of shields with 0A boosters, massive amounts of hull defense modules (forget the name) so in those times I target my pursuer, throttle to zero, four pips to weapons, two to engines.. at this point I am chuckling to myself... that pirate has no idea what's coming..

Submit to interdiction, immediately launch my fighter, good old Mara, she is awesome!

Soon as the NPC drops in, immediately target and set my fighter to focus target, FA off, flip the big fat conda about face, boost towards pirate, full speed ahead, missiles launching, pulse cannons blasting away, if you can get that whale slap it's just the icing on the cake.

o7
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Admittedly my Conda is little more pimped than yours from the sound of things, and I'm also carrying around an SLF bay which really helps pull the attention from yourself!

My Conda is fat and slow as hell, I cannot out fly anything, I have zero chance of turn fighting.. my general approach is to zero throttle and keep them focused as much as possible, try to get the odd whale slap in if you can, better shields / hull reinforcements may be needed here
 
Unmodified 5A with 2 boosters minimum is all you need. Not even an Elite Anaconda will get through that with 4 PIPS to shields.

The above configuration gives you around 600mj, an all booster config will give you 1100mj.
 
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Deleted member 38366

D
In the Conda, there is not too much more than preparing to face-tank the enemy. It's not an agile fighter after all, so don't expect to "stay on the 6" of a FAS or Vulture.

Getting and maintaining the Firing Solution quickly and maintain it for as long as possible hence is the only feasible tactic in an Anaconda.
5A Shields is not really combat-ready, by today's Standards this is a "max. Greed" Trade Config. Rather Supercruise or Hyperjump away and avoid the fight then, unless the Target is clearly inferior.

Face-tanking and tracking the enemy becomes far more feasible once Grade 5 Thermal or Reinforced 6A or 7A Shields are used, preferrably in combination with 3-4 Grade 5 modded Shield Boosters.
The Anaconda is one of the Ships that can afford to build massive Shield strength - so one is best off utilizing that big advantage.

With that Equipment, simply ramming the Enemy is often enough.

PS.
If no Engineer access is possible, equipping one or two (smaller) SCBs will help maintain Shields for longer.
As face-tanking doesn't require much turning, 4/0/2 or 3/0/3 Pips will dramatically boost Shields i.e. over 2/2/2 standard distribution.

If I read correctly, the Power Dist is D-Rated? Don't.
Power Distributor should always be A-Rated, just like FSD. No exception, unless one is running a super-max Range stripped Exploration Ship optimized exclusively for absolutely maximum jumprange.
 
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Your thrusters aren't the issue, your PD is. Upgrade it asap or maybe a grade 1 charge enhancement would be enough, actually. Until you do, FA off boost. You have far less speed bleed off between having enough capacity to boost again. Not much else for you to do here other than roll some grade 1 engineer parts. Maybe a grade 1 thermal mod on your shields and 4 or 5 grade 1 shield boosters would be enough. Throw on a grade 1 dirty tune for a little more speed. A trader shouldn't need more than that.

Consider joining The Blue Princess to get prismatics. 20% more shielding for the same slot is great for traders in particular. Don't worry about upgrading from D thrusters until you have nothing else on the ship to upgrade. The difference between D and A thrusters on that ship only matters if you're doing fixed weapon combat. Pitch rate only improves about 10% as I recall because of the weight increase offsetting the advantages.

Fly safe. o7
 
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Once I've got 200m saved, i'm going for this intermediate build and leave my Eddie Stobart days behind;

https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/ana...RkgmEDbSA.?bn= Anaconda (intermediate combat)

then slowly upgrade that when funds permit.

Some sage recommended 7A SCB+6A shields rather than the obvious 7A shield+ SCB, so whichever class i end up deciding on, i'll get prismatics+engineered once i've got the FSD and guns upgraded which are my priority.

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if you're doing fixed weapon combat. Pitch rate only improves about 10% as I recall because of the weight increase offsetting the advantages.

Fly safe. o7

Fixed weapons in a 'conda? Wow. I'm not that good a shot :) I will push the PD upgrade further up my priority list though. Thanks.
 
I don't even outfit weapons on my traders, if they're agile enough I fight the interdiction. If they're big enough I submit, boost and engage SC after 10 seconds. Usually the AI can't do any noticible damage.

I would recommend that you buy an A rated powerplant and A rated distributor.

A rated powerplant will lower your heat significantly (when doing everything), the distributor will let you boost and shoot more often.

You don't even need the max class powerplant on a trader, go down a class or two. 6A, 5A, just make sure you have enough power. Saves you weight, money and they're very heat efficient.
 
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.... but she also has A rated everything and an SLF bay, ridiculous amount of shields with 0A boosters, massive amounts of hull defense modules (forget the name) so in those times I target my pursuer, throttle to zero, four pips to weapons, two to engines.. at this point I am chuckling to myself... that pirate has no idea what's coming..

That dream has kept me trading for the past few weeks. Once i get my 2 x SLF's and decent shields i'm going to adorn my hull with burnt Python fragments and adopt a mad cackle!

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I don't even outfit weapons on my traders, if they're agile enough I fight the interdiction. If they're big enough I submit, boost and engage SC after 10 seconds. Usually the AI can't do any noticible damage.

I did that for months in a T7 then T9. It does something to your soul. Like a bullied kid as school. One day you just have to turn round and say .... RIGHT THEN HAVE SOME!!!

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If I read correctly, the Power Dist is D-Rated? Don't.
Power Distributor should always be A-Rated, just like FSD. No exception, unless one is running a super-max Range stripped Exploration Ship optimized exclusively for absolutely maximum jumprange.

Gotcha. Adding that to my new build will take the conversion cost to about 66 million. I can afford that with a few rebuys for when i do something really stupid.
 
If you are planning on fighting your assailants go with a 6A shield at least. 5A is for running. Of course you will have to take power into consideration.
 
Trader build but with 2 x MC and 6 x pulse +3 boosters. All gimballed.

Here's your problem.

You've got too much laser fire and not enough hull shredding power. Good for burning through shields but won't let you kill bigger ships like that Python that kept coming after you.

Trade in 2 of your pulse lasers and put the remaining ones on your C1 and C2 hardpoints. These are your point defenses and shield strippers. Turrets are preferable but gimbled works fine too if you're comfortable with that. Combined as quad power, smaller fighter class ships will vaporize while larger ships will get their shields stripped.

Your C3 and C4 slots should be reserved for kinetic weapons and these should be fixed as these are your anti-ship guns. MC's are kind of weak in the spool up from my point of view but if you want them, your choice. These slots should be filled with cannons and/or Plasma Accelerators. Basically the things that will blow holes clean through the other guy and expose the chewy center.

When facing bigger ships as you are flying a bigger ship yourself, the most problematic part of killing them lies in chewing through their hull so you need a greater amount of kinetic and explosive weapons to chew through them. You could go the other way around in having large lasers and filling your small hardpoints with missiles for a missile barrage instead which will work just as well.

In your case you've got too much anti-shield and not enough armor punch.
 
I did that for months in a T7 then T9. It does something to your soul. Like a bullied kid as school. One day you just have to turn round and say .... RIGHT THEN HAVE SOME!!!
Ah I see, well that makes things more challenging.. and interesting.
 
Gotcha. Adding that to my new build will take the conversion cost to about 66 million. I can afford that with a few rebuys for when i do something really stupid.

As mentioned, you can throw a grade 1 or grade 2 charge enhanced PD engineer mod on that D grade PD and get by fine. Though I'd also recommend upgrading it to a C then a B when you have the coin.

There is no reason for you to invest in an A or even a B grade PD unless you're looking to turn your ship into a combat ship.

Oh also, dump most of those armaments. You're not going to fight in that ship. At best, through a few mines on it. Save the weight, though. No reason to have all hardpoints full of weapons on a dedicated trading vessel. You're just shortening your jump range. :D
 
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I don't get it, you finally have a ship that lets you ignore the NPC's but you want to fight them? Would it not be more prudent to do combat in a combat ship and in a place of your choosing?
 
I don't get it, you finally have a ship that lets you ignore the NPC's but you want to fight them? Would it not be more prudent to do combat in a combat ship and in a place of your choosing?

he's new to the ship. he's learning the ropes.

But yes you are correct. If he has more than a couple of weapons on it, he's doing it wrong. His build should be about getting AWAY from assailants, not trying to fight them with an underpowered ship with poor shields and no armor upgrades. That's how you see rebuy screens.

Boost and supercruise. That's what his build needs to help him do. 4x mines would be hilarious if he wants to ocassionally take one of those fights, though. Just drop dozens of mines and watch them slowly die.
 
ditch the pulses and fit Multi-canons ( maybe turretted pulses on the class 1 mounts with some exotic effects like scramble spectrum) I tried a pulse build the other day and it's hideous, even with a maxed out A rated power supply. Take a visit to the engineers and turn the MCs into something that hurts shields or dissolves hulls too.

One final thing is that I'm caring less about how light my ship is these days, you can still have a decent jump range and cargo capacity and have teeth and a hard shell
 
ditch the pulses and fit Multi-canons ( maybe turretted pulses on the class 1 mounts with some exotic effects like scramble spectrum) I tried a pulse build the other day and it's hideous, even with a maxed out A rated power supply. Take a visit to the engineers and turn the MCs into something that hurts shields or dissolves hulls too.

One final thing is that I'm caring less about how light my ship is these days, you can still have a decent jump range and cargo capacity and have teeth and a hard shell

Here's the thing. Fitting more weapons is a waste of weight unless he wants to turn and fight. Which is the opposite of what he should be doing given the current level of upgrades his ship has. He shouldn't be looking to deploy his hardpoints ever unless they're mines. Fighting is ill-advised in that ship with those upgrades.
 
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