Viperism

[Reidquat]

I love my Cobra but I should buy the Viper and give it a try since people seem to think so much of it.

I haven't tried it yet for sentimental reasons, the Eagle looks like an Eagle (admittedly not the mk3), the Sidewinder is unmistakable, the Type 6/9 are new and fine as such, the Cobra is everything I loved about it ever, but the Viper just isn't Viperish enough, the railling landing gear, the focussed, pointy, dangerous looking craft that it once was it is no more. I've no doubt its a great ship in its own right, its just not a Viper to me.

So if I do go for one, what do you recommend for loadout? I currently have C2+C4 pulse lasers on the cobra and gimballed multicannons (C1+C3) with military armour, KW scanner and heatsink launcher.

 

[Jenner]

I have 2 class 4 multis and 2 gimbled pulse lasers on my viper, plus the K-scanner and cargo scanner.

Pretty happy with it as far as NPC bounty hunting goes.

 

[DeGrimmy]

My Viper's kitted out with 2 C2 pulse lasers and 2 C2 cannons. It does a great job of destroying NPCs without sacrificing a lot of jump capability on C4 weaponry.

 

[Unknown Terror]

In terms of guns I'm using 2x C4 Pulse Lasers and 2x C2 Pulse Lasers at the moment.

I haven't the money for anything extra special yet. Making sure I keep some insurance money spare should the worse happen.

But I like it, it's eating through ships quite well, maneuverability and speed are also very nice. Can't knock it.

 

[Iskariot]

I've no doubt its a great ship in its own right, its just not a Viper to me.

The new viper will make you forget the old viper. It is a beast in combat and a looker.
I am not too hung up on the original viper shape myself, but I completely understand your nostalgia. I have the same thing with what I presume is the new Panther Clipper. The Frontier shape looked like a flying fortress and I spent a lot of time with that impenetrable monster. I would have loved to see something in ED that looked a bit more like that classic shape. There was a ship that looked much more like it in some of the older ED concept art. I am still hoping that perhaps... I will just have to wait and see I guess.

 

[HeavyGroovez]

The Viper is the ultimate combat ship.

It will hit over 500 boosted and handles sublimely - watch out for blackouts...

The hardpoints all converge into an ultra tight firing group meaning you can run 4 fixed weapons (the Cobra requires gimballed weapons on its C2 hardpoints because they dont converge)

I run my Viper with 2 C2 weapons, empty C4 hardpoints and a k-warrant scanner.

This gives me excellent fuel economy and solid jump range. It has such awesome speed and handling that with only 2 C2 weapons you can win fights in Solo mode without any problem. It does take a while to take out a Type 9 or Conda though.

This setup enables me to go bounty hunting around a large area of the beta bubble.


If im playing in Open Play i will put weapons in the C4 slots and add armor. This reduces your jump range massively limiting you to a few core systems.

With this loadout though it is the apex predator capable of taking out anything - Big wallet Condas, Cobra interdiction gang bangers, Lairy Vipers. It wrecks.

Be warned, once you have flown it you will not feel the same way about your Cobra. The Cobra turns like a barge in comparison.

 

[desposa]

I tried the Viper a few weeks back. As a fighting ship it is the best out there imo, because of the weapons it can carry, but it's jump capability is severly limited. If you lighten the load by either using only two hard points or just C1-C2 weapons on all, the range gets a little better but not much.

Now I'm back to the Cobra, mainly for the range and the cargo capacity.
I urge you to check it out, the game is in beta and now is your chance to try everything. Enjoy.

 

[tifosi]

And don't forget that the Viper's exhausts seem to pop on the "overrun" like a sports car. I giggle like a kid every time I hear that.

Great ship. If it weren't for the jump range and small cargo capacity, I'd want it as my long term ship. But addressing those 2 things would unbalance things to much since it's so good at the other stuff.

 

[Reidquat]

The Viper is the ultimate combat ship.

It will hit over 500 boosted and handles sublimely - watch out for blackouts...

The hardpoints all converge into an ultra tight firing group meaning you can run 4 fixed weapons (the Cobra requires gimballed weapons on its C2 hardpoints because they dont converge)

I run my Viper with 2 C2 weapons, empty C4 hardpoints and a k-warrant scanner.

This gives me excellent fuel economy and solid jump range. It has such awesome speed and handling that with only 2 C2 weapons you can win fights in Solo mode without any problem. It does take a while to take out a Type 9 or Conda though.

This setup enables me to go bounty hunting around a large area of the beta bubble.


If im playing in Open Play i will put weapons in the C4 slots and add armor. This reduces your jump range massively limiting you to a few core systems.

With this loadout though it is the apex predator capable of taking out anything - Big wallet Condas, Cobra interdiction gang bangers, Lairy Vipers. It wrecks.

Be warned, once you have flown it you will not feel the same way about your Cobra. The Cobra turns like a barge in comparison.

Okay you totally convinced me I'm going to give her a go!

 

[Elan]

Quad cannons all day long. Light ships are shredded in 2-3 volleys, Anaconda / T-9 shields are dropped in a similar amount of time.

I can't imagine these weapons will remain in their current form for too much longer before they are balanced so enjoy them while you can!

 

[Stressfest]

I've spent the day faffing about between the various ships I've missed on the way to the Anaconda. The Viper is something special... fully laden is an issue though. Barely enough juice to get it to the corner shop for a Cornetto

 

[insanephoton]

I can sort of see where the OP is coming from, but I was old school original Elite where your didn't get a choice of what to fly. Beta is the time to try things when you get the chance. The Viper is certainly worth trying now while it's still good. I fear it might get nerfed to irrelevance, which would be a shame.

I'm probably not going for a combat orientated character in the full game, but I gave the Viper a try, simply because I could, and this was the ship that stole my heart. Instead of grinding out the trade missions to buy a 'conda I spent far to long playing with the Viper because it is that much fun.

 

[Sgt Doom]

I would've spent more time with the Viper if not for the jump range when fully equipped meaning you're essentially isolated into little islands of systems. Went with the Cobra instead for that reason, despite not being as manoeuvrable or fast.

 

[Toumal]

I want to take my Viper out to dinner and then into bed. That's how much I like that ship.

It's a total beast. If anything, I think it needs a little bit more fragile because it kinda feels like such a huge step up from everything else, including the mighty Cobra.

 

[Philip Coutts]

All the cool kids fly Vipers.......and me.

It's the best fun you can have in the game at the moment. Frighteningly quick, armed to the teeth and beautiful to handle. The jump range is an issue but for having a blast nothing beats a Viper.

 

[Dead Fred]

If the weapons and handling are good and the jump range/ cargo space is rubbish, then I think that is a fair compromise...

 

[Sgt Doom]

If the weapons and handling are good and the jump range/ cargo space is rubbish, then I think that is a fair compromise...

Imo it just needs an ever so slight boost to jump range, enough that it doesn't get isolated into a cluster of 3-5 systems. As compared to other ships that can quite simply skip a number of systems in one long leap, the Viper would be balanced enough if it needs to take the long route to any destination and refuel frequently, rather than simply never being able to go there.

 

[Kastor]

Imo it just needs an ever so slight boost to jump range, enough that it doesn't get isolated into a cluster of 3-5 systems. As compared to other ships that can quite simply skip a number of systems in one long leap, the Viper would be balanced enough if it needs to take the long route to any destination and refuel frequently, rather than simply never being able to go there.

This is a problem for a lot of ships though, rather than try and "fix each ship" hopefully they will add slave driving in such a way that you can tag along with a friend or hire a ship hauler service.

If you have a problem with jump ranges, join me in the push for weight/range average slave driving (rather than the current proposal of worst range).

 

[en1gma]

The viper is just badass and I'll be very sad come the next wipe to give up that crackling exhaust. For now I'll just keep angering the authorities on my murderous spree

 

[jjacobsson]

Gank Boat.

2 x C4 Railguns
2 x C2 Missile Launchers
2 x Heatsick Launchers

Sneak up behind someone, unload everything -> target destroyed. Reload costs are steep though.