Chieftan Love

[DDastardly00]

New Chieftan ship kit and paints:
https://www.frontierstore.net/game-...-game-extras/alliance-chieftain-ship-kit.html


I don't normally post threads about cosmetic stuff, I'll give feedback with comments in other people's threads, yes, but I don't post my own. Anyway, with that out of the way, I was looking at the Chieftan kit this morning and I even took the time to compare it to the Challenger ship kit. It's not a copy paste kit, the two are distinctly different. In fact I like the Chieftan kit a lot more, this might be the best ship kit to date. And with the operator paint pack, it could be a very stunning looking ship.

At the moment though, I only own the Crusader out of the Alliance ships and I'm in the midst of engineering it. I do hope they give the Crusader the same treatment some day. Now pardon me while I go fight off the urge to buy a Chieftan....I need to finish with the Crusader first

 

[Fray]

Wait, are you implying the Chieftain kit is new? I must've willed a super-secret beta version into being since last year, then...

I'll avoid focusing on how I still resent that the ships themselves amount to little more than lazy palette swaps... but yeah, I quite like the Chieftain's kit, though so far I much prefer the default paint to any microtransaction skin (which is the same for a few other ships, T9 and Mamba being two).

Even though I rarely ever use the Chieftain, I kitted it out to more or less be my primary mats/resources harvesting ship, and the sensor pylons suit that nicely.

The Operator pack looks okay, though it's a no-no for me as it's just too dark/murky. Unless that's the aesthetic you're going for, I don't think most darker hues or designs work for spaceships, given it just makes them vanish into the void, and hides the distinguishing features of their hulls.

 

[DDastardly00]

Wait, are you implying the Chieftain kit is new? I must've willed a super-secret beta version into being since last year, then...

I'll avoid focusing on how I still resent that the ships themselves amount to little more than lazy palette swaps... but yeah, I quite like the Chieftain's kit, though so far I much prefer the default paint to any microtransaction skin (which is the same for a few other ships, T9 and Mamba being two).

Even though I rarely ever use the Chieftain, I kitted it out to more or less be my primary mats/resources harvesting ship, and the sensor pylons suit that nicely.

The Operator pack looks okay, though it's a no-no for me as it's just too dark/murky. Unless that's the aesthetic you're going for, I don't think most darker hues or designs work for spaceships, given it just makes them vanish into the void, and hides the distinguishing features of their hulls.

It popped up in the store on top so I assumed it was new, maybe it is just the operator pack that is new? I guess I need to pay more attention....

Thanks for your take on the Chieftan, I was wondering what uses it was good for. I have a combat build on the Crusader, well, half of one, it's still a work in progress at this point. I would like to get one of the other Alliance ships at one point so it's either going to be the Challenger of the Chieftan.

I hear you on the default paint, I like the default paint so much on the Crusader that I won't change it,

 

[fishgotnosole]

I have all three of the Alliance ships. The Crusader IMHO, is just utter pants. Even with a good build and G5 engineering.
The Chieftain is certainly a hardy and nimble little thing that can dole out some solid DPS if you fit it right.
But again, IMHO, the Challenger is the star of the show. It's got that balance just right.

Kind of agree that the brighter colors seem to suit these three more aptly. My Chief is vibrant yellow, Crusader Tactical white and the Challenger vibrant blue. This latest skin pack offering seems something of an after thought. Just a straight camo pack would have done well. Won't be buying.

 

[Fray]

But again, IMHO, the Challenger is the star of the show. It's got that balance just right.

The balance in terms of combat? I got the Chieftain when it was added simply because I liked the design, but had no real use for it (as I wanted to stick to the FAS and Gunship's for med ship combat), hence why it was relegated to hunting for mats. The ship kit helped sell that idea, though, so that was a happy accident.

It popped up in the store on top so I assumed it was new, maybe it is just the operator pack that is new? I guess I need to pay more attention....

Yeah, only that paint pack's new.

Thanks for your take on the Chieftan, I was wondering what uses it was good for.

Me using it as a mats hunter does not mean it's good for that. ; -) It just gave me an excuse to use it. I want to avoid sourcing for Engineering as much as possible, however, so I'm not sure I'll ever bother to get around to playing with the identikit siblings, especially as I don't bias towards combat, and when I do it's for the FAS, Gunship, FDL, and Corvette [when it's refitted after its trip to A*].

 

[fishgotnosole]

The balance in terms of combat? I got the Chieftain when it was added simply because I liked the design, but had no real use for it (as I wanted to stick to the FAS and Gunship's for med ship combat), hence why it was relegated to hunting for mats. The ship kit helped sell that idea, though, so that was a happy accident.

More in a global sense. Speed, base armour, maneuverability, hard points. The whole shebang. It's ship kit is NTB either. But of course, none of the ships are locked to any kind of role specifically. My first Chieftan was an armed 64t trader. I'd imagine it'd make a fine mats collector too.

 

[Fray]

More in a global sense. Speed, base armour, maneuverability, hard points. The whole shebang. It's ship kit is NTB either. But of course, none of the ships are locked to any kind of role specifically. My first Chieftan was an armed 64t trader. I'd imagine it'd make a fine mats collector too.

I did some comparisons between all three yesterday - in the context of what I was using the Chieftain for - swiftly eliminating the Challenger, aaaaand then I bought a Phantom instead. ; -) I never quite clicked with the Krait II, but I prefer the exterior and interior of the Phantom, I don't really need a fighter hangar, and the added jump range suits my needs. So yeah, using one of the Alliance ships for materials was just stubbornness on my part, whereas the Phantom does the job so much better (it also doesn't have three internals taken up with military slots).

Ended up gutting the Chieftain and Krait II to outfit the Phantom.

Seems a waste to have bought a ship kit for a ship I now have no role for, but the Chieftain was/is a great looking ship, especially - I reckon - with those added sensor pylons.

 

[fishgotnosole]

I did some comparisons between all three yesterday - in the context of what I was using the Chieftain for - swiftly eliminating the Challenger, aaaaand then I bought a Phantom instead. ; -) I never quite clicked with the Krait II, but I prefer the exterior and interior of the Phantom, I don't really need a fighter hangar, and the added jump range suits my needs. So yeah, using one of the Alliance ships for materials was just stubbornness on my part, whereas the Phantom does the job so much better (it also doesn't have three internals taken up with military slots).

Ended up gutting the Chieftain and Krait II to outfit the Phantom.

Seems a waste to have bought a ship kit for a ship I now have no role for, but the Chieftain was/is a great looking ship, especially - I reckon - with those added sensor pylons.

Ooo, er. Slipping off topic slightly there. Hope a mod doesn't notice or something.

The Phantom is indeed a splendid little thing. Originally bought it & a Mamba with the view of engineering one as a brawler as I was intending to rank up combat. Fully expecting the Mamba to be scrapped, stripped out & sold and the Phantom taking up the baton. As a reduced re buy ship that could flit around doing interesting things while dishing out reasonable damage, as rank gain was the focus over cashing in bounty pay.

I was quickly shown by testing in ED that the Mamba had the qualities I was looking for. Then it was the Phantom that got stripped out and scrapped to get the Mamba up to speed. I did end up buying another for the same task as yourself. It remains unfinished parked up next to the Fer-de-lance in the "to do" bay of the hanger.

I'd recommend a phantom to anyone, for any role. Glad to see it has found another appreciator, has a rather pleasing boost sound too. Enjoy.

 

[dreampage]

I have a Chieftain but I haven't used her in a long while. At one point I tried outfitting her to be an AX combat ship but I realized she's just too weak for that. I admit the new Operator paint pack looks awesome, especially the blue-yellow one. It alone almost makes me buy the pack. I may have to look for a new purpose for this handy ship.

 

[Rebel Yell]

I have a Chieftain but I haven't used her in a long while. At one point I tried outfitting her to be an AX combat ship but I realized she's just too weak for that. I admit the new Operator paint pack looks awesome, especially the blue-yellow one. It alone almost makes me buy the pack. I may have to look for a new purpose for this handy ship.

It's a viable ship for piracy (if you dare to fly shieldless it works as well), quite tanky and I do like a lot how it slides vs. the Phantom (my second good-to-go in that size).

 

[DDastardly00]

A lot of good info on the Chieftan, since I've been away, and other ships as well, I may have to get one soon.

 

[Fray]

I was quickly shown by testing in ED that the Mamba had the qualities I was looking for. Then it was the Phantom that got stripped out and scrapped to get the Mamba up to speed. I did end up buying another for the same task as yourself. It remains unfinished parked up next to the Fer-de-lance in the "to do" bay of the hanger.

The FDL's one of my favourite ships in the game...

...and I don't use it for combat, so ultimately my opinion on it is fairly irrelevant. But my first impressions of the Mamba weren't that positive. It's a great looking ship, with one of the best designed interiors in the game (seriously, with stuff like the Chieftain, the Krait's, and the Mamba, most of the older ships need another pass at their interiors. the Corvette's bridge would be ugly as sin, if it wasn't quite so boring... ), but then there was the landing gear visual bug, and then the fact that the ship seems to be built for drag racing. In space. With no racing opportunities...

I've not seen detailed comparisons between the FDL and Mamba, so I'm not what the real verdict on them is. But despite its looks, I saw no reason to stow the FDL and start working on the Mamba. The FDL has a slight edge on internals, so for my general purposes that's a better fit.

I'd recommend a phantom to anyone, for any role. Glad to see it has found another appreciator, has a rather pleasing boost sound too.

Sound is very important. ; -) Weirdly if I made a list of Favourite Sounds In Elite, a handful would most likely be the simple sound of a ship decelerating. The FDL has an almost turbo whine/rattle to it when you throttle down, and the Phantom has a very distinct, er, fluttering/phasing accent. Tricky to describe it without sounding like I'm trying to give tasting notes on a single-malt...

But yeah, the Phantom sounds great in general. There are many legit criticism of FDev, but their sound department is more or less impeccable. I get the impression they're a talented group who are enjoying their work.

...and given this is a Chieftain flavoured thread; it has a great boost sound as well.