What's the most time-efficient RES/CZ method?

[sb413197]

I would like to up my combat rank, and my current method in CZ/RES is effective but very very slow and rather boring - I fly in my halfway engineered anaconda and head towards something, shoot at it, it tries to get behind me and I FA off turn and hit it again and it gets out of range before going back towards me, and so on and that repeats itself a few times until it dies...more runs for smaller ships and less for bigger ships strangely. Slow. Safe - I rarely lose much shield strength - but slow and rather boring. Takes me at least 2 hours to rack up more than 100 kills. I usually run out of ammo around 50 kills and need to restock.

Should I be stacking cargo to attract pirates so I don't have to chase them and if so what should I bring - mission rewards? Platinum? OR is my choice of ships wrong...maybe a smaller ship like an engineered clipper or even vulture would be a faster choice so that they can't run away from me, increasing the time that my guns are hitting them, and so I can actually dogfight instead of FA off turn (drift fighting)? Maybe I should be using long range pulse lasers in a big ship instead of multicannons so I can hit them when they back off? (My multicannons aren't engineered ATM though, maybe that would speed things up)

I know a FDL might be best on paper but I just don't like that thing, it feels like it's trying to be a big ship but just isn't, and it sounds like a lawnmower and has an ugly windshield (not the most objective measure but...yeah)

 

[Minoo Minou]

Big ship combat is rather boring imho, if you want adrenaline pumping go for a small ship... but it's not the most time-efficient...

 

[goemon]

the fastest way for ranking are compromised nav beacons, as the pirates there don't have as much armour as navy ships in a CZ, and you have zero downtime, as they are in empty space. that said, you'll want to shoot elite eagles, adders and cobras there, which is where a FDL "shines". it's no challenge, though - a pure numbers game (how many rank increase can i do per or?). the 4 medium hardpoints of a FDL (better tracking as gimbals than large) help with that. if you don't like a FDL you can give the FAS, a clipper, a a python or a corvette a try. but generally you want a ship that can take down small ships fast. it isn't challenging, though.

the conda isn't a hunter. you want either speed or manouverability or both for farming rank.

when i did combat elite at comp nav beacons, i switched between FDL (efficiency) and gunship (piloting the fighter for fun) and DBS/courier (good fun).

after doing my share, i'm back to flying eagle and cobra for high res, courier for haz res, and dbs for combatzones.

 

[SteveWithaD]

if you just want straight combat rank find a compromised nav beacon, there is more dangerous,deadly and elites there than anywhere you will find, there will be virtually no challenge and you will have to kill alot of not wanted cargo ships. if you want to do it right though, cz's are the way to go, at least in my opinion.

 

[Chris Simon]

This is just my personal preference, but I like faster, more agile combat ships more when comes to RES and CZ. If you don't like the FdL, fair enough, try FAS or FGS, Clipper, Vulture, DBS,...

First thing I would do if I were you, would be try and employ a fighter. It can be incredibly handy and speeds up the fights quite a bit.

 

[sb413197]

Big ship combat is rather boring imho, if you want adrenaline pumping go for a small ship... but it's not the most time-efficient...

What about a maxed out vulture? I have to think a vulture with an incendiary overcharged MC and a corrosive overcharged MC could cause some problems for most ships...? The DPS wouldn't be far off my current un-engineered MC anaconda...

- - - Updated - - -

This is just my personal preference, but I like faster, more agile combat ships more when comes to RES and CZ. If you don't like the FdL, fair enough, try FAS or FGS, Clipper, Vulture, DBS,...

First thing I would do if I were you, would be try and employ a fighter. It can be incredibly handy and speeds up the fights quite a bit.

I'll try that, thanks. Do you fly it, or have a crewman fly it? I would like to fly it but am afraid my crewman would put 0 pips in shields or drain all my ammo or something stupid, can they fly a big ship ok?

- - - Updated - - -

the fastest way for ranking are compromised nav beacons, as the pirates there don't have as much armour as navy ships in a CZ, and you have zero downtime. that said, you'll want to shoot elite eagles, adders and cobras there, which is where a FDL "shines". the 4 medium hardpoints of a FDL (better tracking as gimbals than large) help with that. if you don't like a FDL you can give the FAS, a clipper, a a python or a corvette a try. but generally you want a ship that can take down small ships fast. it isn't challenging, though.

the conda isn't a hunter. you want either speed or manouverability or both for farming rank.

when i did combat elite at comp nav beacons, i switched between FDL (efficiency) and gunship (piloting the fighter for fun) and DBS/courier (good fun).

after doing my share, i'm back to flying eagle and cobra for high res, courier for haz res, and dbs for combatzones.

Is CNB faster than RES - more pirates etc? I like the asteroids in RES, makes it more exciting and less heat there too...?

- - - Updated - - -

if you just want straight combat rank find a compromised nav beacon, there is more dangerous,deadly and elites there than anywhere you will find, there will be virtually no challenge and you will have to kill alot of not wanted cargo ships. if you want to do it right though, cz's are the way to go, at least in my opinion.

Why kill non wanted - to make pirates spawn?

 

[The Wallet Inspector]

Anyone need more proof that this games PvE experience involves not combat.. but FARMING.

 

[Chris Simon]

I'll try that, thanks. Do you fly it, or have a crewman fly it? I would like to fly it but am afraid my crewman would put 0 pips in shields or drain all my ammo or something stupid, can they fly a big ship ok?

Heh, I like my fighter pilot, but giving her control over the mother ship? Hell naw.
She's a fighter pilot, so she pilots a fighter.

Btw. They suck, when you first hire them. You have to rank them up to at least Master or Dangerous and give them some high-DPS fighter. Then they can be really useful!

 

[Faded Glory]

Anyone need more proof that this games PvE experience involves not combat.. but FARMING.

Nope...

But no-one has to farm, it's entirely optional, and presumably FD believe there is a need / market for it. <shrug>

I rarely do it, and find the game more fun (my personal opinion, obviously) as a result.

 

[AceFlares]

What weapons are equipped to your Anaconda? Carrying any cargo will attract the pirates to you and as it's likely you will be targeted by more than one ship, slightly more interesting.. only slightly though.

I find the Python is sturdy enough (6A thermal resistant shields G5), quite hard hitting (all fixed 3xMC energy efficient weapon G5 2xmedium rails Short range blaster G3) and a little faster (385m/s boost)with Dirty Drives G3.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Hmm, I like to go for the suicide approach.

Just take some high value cargo to your CNB or High/Haz RES of choice.
Then roll in the money and rank that pours off the NPC's. Lol

Assuming you're not flying a shieldless T7 that is. (Kudos if you can pull that off though!)

Not only is it non-stop action, it's also highly entertaining, and can be quite challenging.

 

[goemon]

I have to think a vulture with an incendiary overcharged MC and a corrosive overcharged MC could cause some problems for most ships...?

nope, as you are mainly going for small ships at CNB. the vulture shines against medium/large ships. if vulture, you'd probably better off with two efficient beams or overcharged pulses or beam + MC...

I'll try that, thanks. Do you fly it, or have a crewman fly it? I would like to fly it but am afraid my crewman would put 0 pips in shields or drain all my ammo or something stupid, can they fly a big ship ok?

at higher ranks they totally do fine. but to migitate the risk they are flying a keelback or gunship, while i pilot the fighter.

Is CNB faster than RES - more pirates etc? I like the asteroids in RES, makes it more exciting and less heat there too...?

the density of pirates is higher, as they have no reason to spread out and scan miners 7 km from you. and there are more smaller higher ranked pirate ships.

as said - if you are going for fun (and a beautifull haz res can be visually stunning and a lot of fun in a small ship), you don't go CNB. but if you are asking for the most efficient way, CNB is the way to go. so - i'm just replying to your original question. is CNB in a engineered FDL with gimballed weapons the most fun to do combat? no. but it is the fastest way to gain combat rank. when i was doing elite in combat (the last of my three elite ranks), i did 30 minutes CNB before going to work, 30-45 minutes after, and another 60 minutes before going to bed. stupid? grindy? farming? sure thing.

 

[sb413197]

Anyone need more proof that this games PvE experience involves not combat.. but FARMING.

Well, I've spent most of my time in deep space exploration. Is that wrong somehow? I find it enjoyable and it's made me rich from long range passengers. But yes I like combat too and would like to do more of it and up my combat rank (currently master) hence this thread asking for advice.

 

[goemon]

Anyone need more proof that this games PvE experience involves not combat.. but FARMING.

you hit any skill ceiling some time before the final rank. same goes for all three ranks. the final rank in any of them isn't about skill or mastery, but stubborness and time investment. still, working out the most efficient way can bring you through the first quarter of the final rank... at least that was my experience with exploration, trading and combat. after that, you either screw it or do it. i did. of course, you can also simply play the game and you'll get there just some time later.

 

[goemon]

Well, I've spent most of my time in deep space exploration. Is that wrong somehow? I find it enjoyable and it's made me rich from long range passengers. But yes I like combat too and would like to do more of it and up my combat rank (currently master) hence this thread asking for advice.

hey, fellow explorer

if you want to learn combat, and you are not in it for the rank increase, I'd suggest high ranked assasination missions (1 vs. 1), comvoy attacks (1 vs. many) and combat zones (tactic). i had a lot of fun battling an elite conda yesterday for 20 minutes in my mission running cobra (and winning!).

 

[duckofdeath]

I agree with others that you should find either a compromised nav beacon or a "broken" Haz RES. Some Resource Extraction Sites are procedurally placed in the empty space between rings. This means you get the same effect as a compromised nav beacon, a lot of ships converging around an imaginary centre point. Back in the old days, before 2.0, Conflict Zones used to be the best way to gain Elite. The hull buff and the added "A.I." features like chaff spamming and running away, for the small military ships ruined that. These days CZ's are borderline broken as they often end up getting spread out across 30-40 kilometres because of those ships running away in a cloud of chaffs.
I wouldn't discount the Anaconda as a worse choice than an FDL though. You get almost 50% extra pew pew power per second with the Conda. That is really useful when you grind kills in the thousands.
One more thing that works better in a RES/Nav Beacon. You can actually use a ship launched fighter in one of those locations and not see it get blown up by a horde of NPC's after 2 seconds, like it happens in a normal CZ.

 

[Macros Black]

I would image the most time efficient method would be to go to a CNB in a wing of 4 engineered Federal Corvette's, you in one of them with some 'tasty cargo' as bait, and all with SLF's. Cannot imagine anything more deadly than that.

All ships in that killzone would last 10 seconds at most. All ships. Except maybe an Imperial Cutter. Which would last 12 seconds. Come to think of it, never saw an Imperial Cutter in a CNB.

 

[Chris Simon]

ICome to think of it, never saw an Imperial Cutter in a CNB.

NPC pirates don't use Cutters

 

[sb413197]

Thanks for all the tips guys! I flew a SLF for the first time (fixed pulse - WOW the dps!) and I don't think I'm gonna buy a vulture or clipper after that - it was awesome - I was sitting right behind the anacondas shredding them!! I also lost a few fighters when I handed them to the crewman but hey my anaconda carries 16 of them so it's fine haha. I had an expert crewman I hired and he seemed to do ok flying my main anaconda, better than he did the SLF anyway.

The point about lasers was a good one, I hadn't used them since early game and WHOA do they ever shred small ships fast, even un engineered gimballed pulses were amazing against viper mk3, eagles etc which I couldn't hit before with full multicannons. The dps isn't so hot against other anacondas but it's more than enough for my purposes still, with efficient mods it would be great fun, possibly just using huge mulicannons because they are so insanely powerful, with the rest lasers. AAAAAND now I want a corvette haha

 

[d8veh]

For RES farming with an Anaconda, you need level 5 dirty drives for speed, and all lasers engineered with level 5 efficient to make them run cool and continuous. A charge enhanced distributor helps as well.

It's best to start with a harmless crew because they soon rank up and will take 7% less money when elite.