Keelback Weapons Suggestions

[Frenotx]

In my infinite quest to try to like the Keelback, I once again find myself outfitting one. I'm pretty settled on the internals (please, FDev, give it at least one more slot!), I'm still having a hard time deciding the weapons. My main use will be haz res combat, with me in the fighter and the NPC piloting the mothership. Naturally I'll be flying the mothership in combat occasionally (like when the fighter is rebuilding), but I mostly intend to be in be fighter.

I like having a long-range rail gun on board. Makes for a great tool for distant targets, where sub system targeting can be easiest. I thought about two small ones on the lower hard points, but found them too far apart to properly converge. That rules out putting twin enforcers there, too. That means my long range rail will be one of the mediums.

I then tried putting gimballed lasers on the small hard points for some reliable "keeping the pressure on"weapons, but found their placement on the ship severely limits their vertical arc. No converging fixed, and no gimballed weapons. Turrets of some variety, I guess, that only work when the target is under you?

For the other medium, I was thinking maybe a pack hound launcher. Something to give the keelback a chance at hitting more nimble craft, especially other fighters. I'm concerned the NPC crew member will foolishly blow through all the ammo, though...

So, what are your thoughts and suggestions?

 

[Kaa Mchorror]

I don't feel the need to use my Keelback in a res when I have other ships that do it better. With that said though I have found the Keelback the perfect ship for base assaults. If you keep your fighter super close to the ground you can use it to take out defenses easily and then mop up with the srv. Hope that helps you on your quest to like the Keelback.

 

[yolomcbobbinz]

I run a medium pulse and multi and a small pulse and multi they're weapons that I had laying around with some petty mods g1 HC and a rapid pulse it works good

 

[Enakaji]

Well, I'm using small gimbaled beams and medium canons on mine and so far it works nicely.

 

[Frenotx]

Well, I'm using small gimbaled beams and medium canons on mine and so far it works nicely.

Does the limited gimbal arc of the small hard points not cause issues?

 

[Old Duck]

Mine has engineered level 2 turreted multicannons on the top, and either rail guns or seeker missiles on the bottom. My SLF has fixed pulsed lasers (most DPS of all the SLFs available at the particular station I outfitted at). I bounty hunt in hi-res and have a blast with it.

BTW, I find the Keelback one of the easier ships to use railguns with since it's slower turn rate allows finer manual tracking (I tend to overcompensate with fast ships like the Viper).

 

[V'larr]

My keelback strategy would likely be to use the Keelback to strip shields with an all-laser Long Range kiting build, and have the MC fighter to do the rest. Pretty brave to let an NPC try and survive in a Keelback....

 

[Rubbernuke]

My Keelback has a medium MC turret on top, hi cap Packhound on the other medium, below a small MC turret and a rapid fire screening shell frag. With a fighter it's fun, the only downside is with opponents with big SCBs.

 

[Frenotx]

My keelback strategy would likely be to use the Keelback to strip shields with an all-laser Long Range kiting build, and have the MC fighter to do the rest. Pretty brave to let an NPC try and survive in a Keelback....

I don't know if "brave" is the word I'd use. Unfortunately, FDev has not seen fit to give the condor lateral thrusters befitting a T9, much less a fighter, nor have they seen fit to grace any other fighter with MCs. I'll probably be using a plasma taipan because I'm a masochist, it fits the lakon theme, and the fun factor.

I noticed that in most fights, the NPC in my conda takes very little damage. I've set it up with a respectable shield, but nothing outrageous. I think with a good setup (and careful avoidance of wings of large ships), the keelback should hold up ok for a decent length sortie. My big concern, and the thing that has thwarted me in the past, is if something surprises me and wipes the fighter. Then I suddenly find myself in the keelback, alone, facing an angry ship.

 

[goemon]

for my keelback with a similar usecase, i have two plasma slug G1 longrange medium railguns - higher ranked AI is really good with railguns. i have a small turreted ammo increased corrosive MC, to apply the special - 20% damage bonus can't be beaten. and a small turreted efficient burst, again just to apply specials - either with heat or with scramble special. heat helps with scb spamming of npc, scramble helps once shields are down; depends on the type of fighter i intend to fly.

 

[Frenotx]

for my keelback with a similar usecase, i have two plasma slug G1 longrange medium railguns - higher ranked AI is really good with railguns. i have a small turreted ammo increased corrosive MC, to apply the special - 20% damage bonus can't be beaten. and a small turreted efficient burst, again just to apply specials - either with heat or with scramble special. heat helps with scb spamming of npc, scramble helps once shields are down; depends on the type of fighter i intend to fly.

On the occasions that you have to use the keelback yourself, do you feel the rails converge enough to use at long range?

 

[Stealthie]

BTW, I find the Keelback one of the easier ships to use railguns with since it's slower turn rate allows finer manual tracking (I tend to overcompensate with fast ships like the Viper).

That's an interesting point.

A while back I was asking about NPC weapons usage because I was thinking of buying and outfitting a ship specifically for my (now sadly-departed) SLF pilot to fly in combat while I pilot the fighter.
With it's fighter bay and more straightforward weapons options, added to the fact that it can be built into a tough little ship, I reckon the Keelback might make a good ship for playing around with this idea.

 

[Enakaji]

Does the limited gimbal arc of the small hard points not cause issues?

Not really, or maybe I'm just used to it and compensate by positioning my ship so that I can get my guns to shoot at my target. Like you have to in a cobra mkIII or eagle if you run gimbals in the lower hardpoints wich also can't shoot at targets that are above the nose of your ship.

 

[goemon]

On the occasions that you have to use the keelback yourself, do you feel the rails converge enough to use at long range?

the only time i pilot the keelback itself is to run, when its shields are down. So basically it isn't build to be used by me in combat, i'm not sure whether i even fired the railguns myself once. i just use it as a carrier/support for piloting the slf, which is good fun - more fun than having a fully engineered gunship on your side, as in that case you can sit back in the slf and watch. With a keelback, you have to draw aggro in the slf, and really pilot the fighter well. i either use an imperial fighter with fixed beams, or a imperial fighter with fixed pulses. or a federal fighter with MCs.

 

[Rubbernuke]

With the layout I use, I let the fighter attack with energy weapons, I keep the pressure up with the multicannons while shotgunning with the frag. When shields drop I let loose with the Hounds which normally either kill outright or severely damage the hardpoints. In a PvE context this works well on most ships with weak or medium shields. Its SCBs that are a problem as the DPS output is not stellar and strong shields are a sponge.

 

[V'larr]

I don't know if "brave" is the word I'd use. Unfortunately, FDev has not seen fit to give the condor lateral thrusters befitting a T9, much less a fighter, nor have they seen fit to grace any other fighter with MCs. I'll probably be using a plasma taipan because I'm a masochist, it fits the lakon theme, and the fun factor.

Pretty sure Fdev has adjusted the Condor lateral thrusters? Boom'n'zoom is fun too.

I noticed that in most fights, the NPC in my conda takes very little damage. I've set it up with a respectable shield, but nothing outrageous. I think with a good setup (and careful avoidance of wings of large ships), the keelback should hold up ok for a decent length sortie. My big concern, and the thing that has thwarted me in the past, is if something surprises me and wipes the fighter. Then I suddenly find myself in the keelback, alone, facing an angry ship.

Yeah but...a Keelback is peanuts compared to a 'Conda...I wish you luck with it though.

Personally I think that ship exists for a niche career that, really, is currently non-existent in elite: piracy/cargo-liberation-missions targeting ships of T-6 size or smaller. 'Tis one of the things I hope Fdev works on: making piracy (of NPCs mainly) a viable way to progress through the game (whether nefarious piracy or liberation of slaves and whatnot).

 

[Stealthie]

Personally I think that ship exists for a niche career that, really, is currently non-existent in elite: piracy/cargo-liberation-missions targeting ships of T-6 size or smaller. 'Tis one of the things I hope Fdev works on: making piracy (of NPCs mainly) a viable way to progress through the game (whether nefarious piracy or liberation of slaves and whatnot).

Uhuh.

My own Keelback was a bit of a vanity project, built as a cool-running smuggling/covert passenger ship - even though there's nothing much to do with it in the game. [sad]

It's what Han would have wanted though.

Spoiler

 

[Enakaji]

Uhuh.

My own Keelback was a bit of a vanity project, built as a cool-running smuggling/covert passenger ship - even though there's nothing much to do with it in the game. [sad]

It's what Han would have wanted though.

Spoiler

https://i.imgur.com/i5pHWnj.png

Thats quite similar to mine. I use mine as a "cargo requisitioning craft" for running "hot" cargo to black markets (usually stuff that I either found in USS, that was dropped from ships that I engaged or simply running illegal goods). I see the Keelback as the ship the cobra MK iv should have been, stats wise. The KB has over twice the amount of armor of both cobra variants, has almost twice the shield capacitiy, with being able to utilize a class 5 shield, has the same jumprange as the MK III and even though the agility bar in the shipyard suggests otherwise, it can actually outmaneuver a Cobra MK IV due to better roll and way better yaw rates while only having a miniscule slower pitch rate than the cobra MK iv (about 0.6 to 0.9 seconds slower pitch over a 360° turn than the MK IV). Also the Keelback runs insanely cool, even when flying at full speed as close to a star as possible while fuelscooping my heatlevel never raises above 67%. I regularly use this ability to fight of possible interdictions by circling close to the star and having the npcs drop out of SC when trying to get into the interdiction position due to them getting too close to the star while doing so.

 

[Mrat13]

I don't know if "brave" is the word I'd use. Unfortunately, FDev has not seen fit to give the condor lateral thrusters befitting a T9, much less a fighter, nor have they seen fit to grace any other fighter with MCs. I'll probably be using a plasma taipan because I'm a masochist, it fits the lakon theme, and the fun factor.

I noticed that in most fights, the NPC in my conda takes very little damage. I've set it up with a respectable shield, but nothing outrageous. I think with a good setup (and careful avoidance of wings of large ships), the keelback should hold up ok for a decent length sortie. My big concern, and the thing that has thwarted me in the past, is if something surprises me and wipes the fighter. Then I suddenly find myself in the keelback, alone, facing an angry ship.

You'd be surprised how much of a beating the keelback can take when fitted properly, and I'm not just talking engineers. Shields are average at best but the hull tankiness is immense. Combine the two and safe to say you have plenty of time to jump away.

However for a haz rez take a gunship. You won't regret it.

 

[Old Duck]

I have a special affinity for the Keelback. I prefer flying it and allowing my NPC to take the fighter out; I have an engineered Viper III (and an Eagle for that matter) when I'm in the mood for "fast and furious" combat. I take the Keelback out when I want to feel more like a proper CMDR on a command deck.

I've got "attack my target" programmed right on my controller, so I send out the SLF to soften up targets of opportunity as I bring the "mothership" in to bear the "big guns". Since I'm normally using turrets and seeker missiles, it's a very different feel to combat as I don't have to wrestle to keep more maneuverable ships in my forward view. In fact, combat feels a bit more like a game of chess, where tactics matter over turn-radius.

People mention other ships being superior to the Keelback, but right now the Keelback is the only ship with SLF that I can afford. Speaking of afford - let's compare rebuy costs of a Keelback to a Gunship or Anaconda, and you'll see why non-billionaires like me love it so. Yep, love, that's what it is - I just love this under-appreciated outcast of a ship [heart]

Spoiler