Is my cobra good for piracy?

[Maka Gucci]

Gotta say, the cobra always seemed fairly poor for piracy as far as I am concerned. Poor hardpoint convergence, poor internals - the lack of C3 slot really hurts it.

The Viper Mk IV is much better save for the lower speed, and in PvE that doesn't matter so much.

As this cobra goes though, I would personally recommend a C2 laser and all cannons elsewhere. You wanna be able to take subsystems out. You won't be chasing any targets through systems, so remove the wake scanner in favour of a resistant shield booster, chaff or a PD. Also, them C4 slots can take bigger than C3 cargo racks

I was looking at a new small ship build for piracy, already have 2 Cobras so had inara pages up for both CMK3 and VMK4 to highlight differences. I just couldn't see why I'd go for the Viper, other than it having more shields and a tiny bit more armour. It lacks in almost every capacity, just slightly. But that is as someone who has never actually flown a Viper Mk4.

OP,
Sadly at the moment (for a while), disabling PP does nothing to NPC's and as such the all the cannon thing (along with the brutal over nerfing of HYS, mean) it is not quite as effective as it should be.

For PvE Piracy it's a matter of tanking while you syphon the cargo bit by bit, since you can't disable them (weapons are almost irrelevant) at the moment.
For PvP, you don't really need hatch breakers, but you do need to stop em jumping away, and ideally take down shields super quickly with some kind of high Alpha dmg.
Failing that, take down shields with reverb cas mines, hit em with a poor mans grom bomb as they try to leave an then ask for Cargo again/hit em with some high DPS.

 

[StiTch]

I was looking at a new small ship build for piracy, already have 2 Cobras so had inara pages up for both CMK3 and VMK4 to highlight differences. I just couldn't see why I'd go for the Viper, other than it having more shields and a tiny bit more armour. It lacks in almost every capacity, just slightly. But that is as someone who has never actually flown a Viper Mk4.

OP,
Sadly at the moment (for a while), disabling PP does nothing to NPC's and as such the all the cannon thing (along with the brutal over nerfing of HYS), mean it is not quite as effective as it should be.

For PvE Piracy it's a matter of tanking while you syphon the cargo bit by bit, since you can't disable them (weapons are almost irrelevant) at the moment.
For PvP, you don't really need hatch breakers, but you do need to stop em jumping away, and Ideally take down shields super quickly with some kind of high Alpha dmg.
Failing, that take down shields with reverb cas mines, hit em with a poor mans grom bomb as they try to leave an then ask for Cargo again/hit em with some high DPS.

It does depend on how you're laying your ship out, but in any case the cobra loses some of its internal efficiency as it has no C1 slots or C3 slots, which limpets require. The Viper also has better shields than the cobra using its C3 slot for a shield than the cobra does with C4 shields.

I also require something more bulky, as I used to do PvP piracy or at least take on the harder targets, so having a pirate build with lightweight bulkheads and no HRPs was a 100% no-no for me. The Viper, as it is, gets a military slot for HRPs that doesn't count towards its "max cargo".

Basically, to give you an example to put it in context, assuming I must have at least one HRP:
https://coriolis.io/outfit/cobra_mk...1/kA==.Aw1/kA==..EweloBhBGA2EoFMCGBzANokMK6A=

https://coriolis.io/outfit/viper_mk...18UA==.Aw18UA==..EweloBhBGA2EoFMCGBzANokMK6A=

The viper fits everything in the cobra can, has one spare slot, a C3 HRP instead of C2 on top of a better hull, more shields, more jump range, and only a few m/s standard speed less. Its boost speed is the only thing that gets shafted compared to the cobra, and honestly traders - particularly NPCs - that are going to outright outrun either of these ships are far and few in between.

 

[Maka Gucci]

-snip-

Nice, I didn't realise the Viper had more MJ than the Cobra even at a class below.
Good info, definitely gives me some confidence to try a build out.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Prior to the launch of 3.0, I spent Maniac Monday running around pirating NPC's like a madman.

.
.
.

It was kind of fun, but it did start to get old as well.

However I was able to heist a grand total of 758 tons of Low Temp Diamonds over the course of my play time, and never had to fire a shot. Hatchbreakers worked just fine, collectors.. well... the first couple did go smash against my ship. They don't take well to fast-moving ships, but I got that all sorted before long.

 

[Maka Gucci]

Prior to the launch of 3.0, I spent Maniac Monday running around pirating NPC's like a madman.

.
.
.

It was kind of fun, but it did start to get old as well.

However I was able to heist a grand total of 758 tons of Low Temp Diamonds over the course of my play time, and never had to fire a shot. Hatchbreakers worked just fine, collectors.. well... the first couple did go smash against my ship. They don't take well to fast-moving ships, but I got that all sorted before long.

Yeah man, it's how I bought my first Python, and is still how I relax/make credits today. With the addition of Private Couriers (great), it's a real shame about the PP bug, as they'd be a particularly fun target to disable and drain.
I also think the speed that a ship can move without the limpit/cargo being destroyed should get bumped up a touch. It seems to be capped at 20 m/s, any more than that and it blows.

 

[Deleted member 115407]

Yeah man, it's how I bought my first Python, and is still how I relax/make credits today. With the addition of Private Couriers (great), it's a real shame about the PP bug, as they'd be a particularly fun target to disable and drain.
I also think the speed that a ship can move without the limpit/cargo being destroyed should get bumped up a touch. It seems to be capped at 20 m/s, any more than that and it blows.

And for me it's a crap shoot... somewhere between 10 and 20, and you never know which.

Got me a courier today, but not a lot of loot (ran out of limpets and was scooping when the cops showed up).

They really need to code some self preservation into cargo-hauling NPCs. I'd like a reason to disable and disrupt them more.

I was going to add something but Oub and Vin got here before me

Add it anyway

 

[Maka Gucci]

And for me it's a crap shoot... somewhere between 10 and 20, and you never know which.

Got me a courier today, but not a lot of loot (ran out of limpets and was scooping when the cops showed up).

They really need to code some self preservation into cargo-hauling NPCs. I'd like a reason to disable and disrupt them more.

Courier is such a great ship, but yea the internals are brutally small for cargo hauling. I think I had 8 tons all together, and no hatch breakers when I used it as a pirate ship.

+1 for npc common sense, 1% hull and still face tanking till the end. Drop ya damn cargo already and run.

 

[Deleted member 115407]

Courier is such a great ship, but yea the internals are brutally small for cargo hauling. I think I had 8 tons all together, and no hatch breakers when I used it as a pirate ship.

+1 for npc common sense, 1% hull and still face tanking till the end. Drop ya damn cargo already and run.

No, I mean I snagged a Private Courier, was in my Asp.

I do have a courier, though I don't use it much.

 

[JesusRocks1988]

Way I see it, with PvE piracy you'll need a fairly well equipped PvE ship because while easier than PvP piracy, you'll always be at the mercy of the game's aggro mechanics. You'll always be hostile and be getting yourself into combat.

PvP piracy on the other hand, has IMHO two methods that are effective. The first is to be the hardnut pirate that doesn't take any guff and can remove the cargo by force. For this you'll need a proper PvP spec ship, because your modus operandi will be to use threats seriously and to be able to carry them out if you don't get compliance. The second method is to be an entertaining pirate that doesn't take themselves seriously. This is much easier to do because you can just buy a ship with a cheap rebuy and fit all the piracy modules, and just go for it - ham it up, be entertaining, play the part of the lovable rogue or issue threats that you obviously can't carry out. You can go Cobra Vs Cutter with this method and you might still talk your way into some cargo. I personally prefer this method as I as you're not always going to get into a fight. And if you get blown up, the rebuy is cheap.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

My choice for a thieving scoundrel ship: https://beta.coriolis.edcd.io/outfi...==.Aw18SQ==..EweloBhBmcBYQFMCGBzANokICMF9A===
Armed if I need to be, but never needed to be. Fast enough to get when it's time to go.

 

[Deleted member 115407]

Way I see it, with PvE piracy you'll need a fairly well equipped PvE ship because while easier than PvP piracy, you'll always be at the mercy of the game's aggro mechanics. You'll always be hostile and be getting yourself into combat.

PvP piracy on the other hand, has IMHO two methods that are effective. The first is to be the hardnut pirate that doesn't take any guff and can remove the cargo by force. For this you'll need a proper PvP spec ship, because your modus operandi will be to use threats seriously and to be able to carry them out if you don't get compliance. The second method is to be an entertaining pirate that doesn't take themselves seriously. This is much easier to do because you can just buy a ship with a cheap rebuy and fit all the piracy modules, and just go for it - ham it up, be entertaining, play the part of the lovable rogue or issue threats that you obviously can't carry out. You can go Cobra Vs Cutter with this method and you might still talk your way into some cargo. I personally prefer this method as I as you're not always going to get into a fight. And if you get blown up, the rebuy is cheap.

Good post