Now it's starting to get fun ...

[NW3]

4% would have given me heart palpitations for days. :O

OP, I'm glad you survived your harrowing experience. [up]

Single-digit health isn't for the faint of heart. On my way back from the Distant Worlds Expedition, I was at 6% hull for weeks, from the core to the bubble. I had many millions of credits worth of exploration data to protect, so I took it very carefully. I have never been so relieved to finally dock at a station.

Spoiler

 

[Stealthie]

Ah, a glimmer of hope ... the cops turn up and distract the Dropship and one Anaconda.

So I'm now slowly drifting away from them, but with the other Anaconda still popping away at me ... hull dropping ... 80 .. 70 .. 60 .. 50 .. 40 .. 30 .. 20 .. 10 .. re-buy screen, here we come [knocked out]

But the cops have finally taken out the Dropship and first Anaconda, so the final Anaconda luckily turns and leaves me alone....

Wait, what?

SysSec managed to take out an FDS and an Anaconda which you, a human being in an Anaconda, couldn't? [where is it]

On that note, can we assume that SysSec level-up in the same manner that enemy NPCs do?
I've never really paid much attention to them but presumably they must, right?

Must say, I hate it when my ship's hobbled in some way that prevents me acting in a way that I'd like.

My Cutter, for example, was designed to withstand (hopefully) CGs in Open so it's pretty tanky but I always kept telling myself that it's "only" a trader so I deliberately didn't pay a lot of attention to the weapons as an incentive to run when I'm attacked.
Eventually, though, I got sick of being interdicted by NPCs and having to run instead of giving them a good spanking so eventually I relented and fitted it with weapons at least sufficient to pass the "HazRes with a gold bar" test.

 

[mpfj]

Wait, what?

SysSec managed to take out an FDS and an Anaconda which you, a human being in an Anaconda, couldn't? [where is it]

Yes, I'm in a Tradeconda (limited shields, PP, etc) whereas there were maybe 8 cops (including a Conda).

Not sure if the "pirates" were engineered in any way (not sure if that's been implemented), but they took down my shields and various modules within the 10 secs it took for SysSec to arrive.

 

[Actionman2222]

Love gems like this that the game throws your way.

Thanks for sharing. I wonder what state the ship would truly be in at 4% hull though lol.

 

[mpfj]

New loadout ... LINK

So this is still not quite good enough.

Was interdicted by a pair of FdL pirates this evening ... managed to evade too much damage before the cops arrived, but even then I was down to 40% hull.

No problem as I waited till my shields were back up and continued to my destination.

But only a few seconds before I was arrive, I'm caught by an Anaconda who launchs an SLF.

My shields are gone and I'm on about 15% hull by the time the cops arrive, so I fly towards them.
This distracts the Conda, but the SLF finally manages to get me.

Rebuy screen

So I'm thinking I need to look at better shields or maybe a better hull ?

Any thoughts ?

(I've 850M in the bank so cash isn't an issue)

 

[lecorsobreton]

So this is still not quite good enough.

Was interdicted by a pair of FdL pirates this evening ... managed to evade too much damage before the cops arrived, but even then I was down to 40% hull.

No problem as I waited till my shields were back up and continued to my destination.

But only a few seconds before I was arrive, I'm caught by an Anaconda who launchs an SLF.

My shields are gone and I'm on about 15% hull by the time the cops arrive, so I fly towards them.
This distracts the Conda, but the SLF finally manages to get me.

Rebuy screen

So I'm thinking I need to look at better shields or maybe a better hull ?

Any thoughts ?

(I've 850M in the bank so cash isn't an issue)

You could upgrade that class 4 hardpoint to a gimballed pulse/burst and fill the C2 with weapons as well. You could also sacrifice a C5 internal for a fighter bay or better shields.

 

[fu9ar]

I had a similar fight on a smaller scale on Saturday. I scooped the salvage they sent me to snag and the pirates that showed up to hassle me got mad and started shooting. I run size 3 Biweaves on my DBX. Right as my FSD kicked in, my shields dropped and I got the notification that missiles were heading my way. Wew!

 

[Stealthie]

How much engineering are you willing/able to do?

I wouldn't bother upgrading the hull unless it's going to be a "proper" combat ship. A lightweight alloy hull is okay once modded for Heavy Duty.
I'd swap the 7D PP for a 7A unit to improve thermal efficiency and provide more power.
I'd also bung in an 8A PDist, simply cos they're not terribly expensive and minimises any bottleneck - and then mod' it for Charge Enhanced to recharge lasers quickly.
I'd also go for either a 5A shield or a 6C bi-weave (depending on whether combat is to be a one-off or a continuous thing), modded for thermal resistance and supported by a PD top & bottom and Resistance Augmented shield boosters.

My own Anaconda's weapons consist of the following:-
1 x C4 fixed M/C, modded G5 Efficient with Corrosive Damage effect.
1 x C3 fixed Beam Laser, modded G5 Efficient with no special effects.
2 x C3 turreted Beam lasers, modded G5 Efficient with no special effects.
2 x C2 turreted Frag Cannons, modded G5 Double shot with Incendiary effect.
2 x C1 turreted M/C, modded G5 Efficient with Thermal Shock effect.

I start blasting with the lasers, switch to laser+M/Cs once shields are stripped and switch to lasers+M/Cs+Frag Cannons if my target gets closer than 1km.
The turreted beams are on the top of the ship to fire on anything that moves above me, the turreted M/Cs are underneath to fire on anything that moves below me and the Frag Cannons punish anything that gets close to me.

TBH, most of those weapons are stuff that I happened to have lying around so it may not be the optimal configuration but it's the sort of thing that I go for by choice anyway.
I don't think I've ever met a combination of NPCs who caused me much trouble.

I think the main problem you're having is that your ship is hobbled by it's small shield.
Your weapons can't kill stuff quickly but your shield means you can't stay in a fight for extended periods either.
If you're determined to maximise cargo capacity you need to upgrade your weapons so combat will be finished before your shield dies.
Alternatively, fit a bigger shield so you can keep the fight going long enough to finish it.
Ideally, fit a bigger shield and more powerful weapons, for that warm fuzzy feeling of complete domination over stupid NPCs.

 

[Spacecat]

Haha, npc cops saved my butt a few weeks ago in my Python. Left it in SC on the way to a fairly distant destination and took a break. As I returned, I heard *sounds*. Not good. Turns out I'd been interdicted by an npc and he'd got me down to 30% hull before the cops showed up and distracted him. I simply left them to deal with him and flew off to my destination.

 

[mpfj]

Cheers for all the advice.

Tried engineering once and hated it, so going to stay with stock modules for now.

Just been messing with load-outs and think I might try this https://eddp.co/u/k8e7eawx

PP : 7D -> 8D
PD : 8D -> 8A
Shields : 4A -> 5A, lose a shield booster
Weapons : 3F -> 4A, plus fill the unused slots with 2F

Takes me to 99.9% of the PP when deployed (26.97 / 27.0)