So I bought the FDL. Best combat ship in the game seems to be the accepted opinion. Not enjoying the experience so far. That whiny engine noise is grating for a start. The class 4 hard point is awkward. It handles well enough and is certainly efficient. I have it mostly engineered, but a few things to do and had to use some MC’s I had for the class 2 slots and put a TV beam on the class 4. Took it to a HazRes and racked up 250k of bounties in a few minutes, so no complaints there, but dammit it is just not as much fun to fly as the Vulture! So guys and gals anyone had a similar experience and grown to love this bird or is not for me? Any suggestions for a good build also welcome.
It's awkward to fly and you need to get used to the hardpoint placement, but the combo of base high shield value, high firepower, six utilities and a very high speed and maneuverability makes it still the best combat (medium) ship in the game.
PvP build
https://s.orbis.zone/43mr
HazRes/PvP bi-weave build
s.orbis.zone
PvP build
https://s.orbis.zone/43mr
HazRes/PvP bi-weave build
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
s.orbis.zone
I too prefer the Vulture. The engines don't care about blue zone or pips, and the distributor keeps up better with lasers. Also I find my shields hold up better, presumably due to it being a smaller target and more manouvrable.
That said the hardpoint spacing is very nice on the FdL, and it flies okay once you've got into a groove.
I loved it from the moment I got in the cockpit. And from quite a bit before then I guess. It's one of the classic ships from the first iteration of Elite, and I guess I've always wanted to fly one, rather than just blowing them up for the bounties on them.
Although that's still quite satisfying.
Mine currently has 2 medium pulses with rapid fire, 2 efficient beams with thermal vent, and a huge overcharged multicannon. It shreds (almost) any npc in seconds flat. Pretty much everything on it is g5 engineered, with experimental mods where applicable.
I got my FDL before I got a Vulture, and I guess that's kind of ruined the Vulture for me.
It took a lot of engineering to get the Vulture to a state where it's not constantly lacking power to one or more systems, and I can't say I like its handling, or how long it takes it to kill anything with just 2 size L slots.
I like the Mamba, Krait MK II, FDL, Imperial Courier, Chieftain, and Krait Phantom a lot better for PVE combat. But that's just me. Now, I wonder if it's possible to learn to love the Vulture...
Although that's still quite satisfying.
Mine currently has 2 medium pulses with rapid fire, 2 efficient beams with thermal vent, and a huge overcharged multicannon. It shreds (almost) any npc in seconds flat. Pretty much everything on it is g5 engineered, with experimental mods where applicable.
I got my FDL before I got a Vulture, and I guess that's kind of ruined the Vulture for me.
It took a lot of engineering to get the Vulture to a state where it's not constantly lacking power to one or more systems, and I can't say I like its handling, or how long it takes it to kill anything with just 2 size L slots.
I like the Mamba, Krait MK II, FDL, Imperial Courier, Chieftain, and Krait Phantom a lot better for PVE combat. But that's just me. Now, I wonder if it's possible to learn to love the Vulture...
What experimentals do you use on pulses and MC? Fixed or gimballed? The Vulture I loved the moment I got in. Yes it needs engineering. I have mine to the point I am not short of power. It is a dog fighter and great for up close and personal which I like. It takes a bit longer to kill stuff. Mine has 2 efficient TV beams, but kills Deadly Condas and pirate lord Vettes with no problems.
I have several weapon sets I swap out as needed, so right now they're all fixed, but I have a similar set of gimbaled guns for when I feel lazy.
I have multi servos on the rapid fire pulses, and my current MC has Corrosive as its experimental effect, though I sometimes swap it for a Rapid Fire MC with Auto Loader.
That gun is on my Cutter at the moment though.
I have multi servos on the rapid fire pulses, and my current MC has Corrosive as its experimental effect, though I sometimes swap it for a Rapid Fire MC with Auto Loader.
That gun is on my Cutter at the moment though.
Yeah the FDL is and interesting ship. Personally, I don't like either but I'm kind of forced to use it in some of the PvP my squadron and I do.
I much prefer the FAS or Chieftain or even the Phantom.
The FDL is amazing though but you've got to learn how to fly it.
Here's the current PvP meta
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
coriolis.io
Here's the 6 booster biweave variant with my own personal hardpoint setup.
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
s.orbis.zone
Edit: Bigmaec beat me to it apparently
Edit 2: this is the SRB rail with recharging biweaves
This is really for advanced pilots. If you watch Hazzmangos YouTube channel, this is the build he used in his video from a couple months ago.
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
coriolis.io
Last edited:
Ah. Nice speed linked variant of PA/forceshell * takes_notes *Yeah the FDL is and interesting ship. Personally, I don't like either but I'm kind of forced to use it in some of the PvP my squadron and I do.
I much prefer the FAS or Chieftain or even the Phantom.
The FDL is amazing though but you've got to learn how to fly it.
Here's the current PvP meta
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
Here's the 6 booster biweave variant with my own personal hardpoint setup.
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
Edit: Bigmaec beat me to it apparently
Mine aren't meta builds though, I like the gimbal approach and don't like SCBs.
Yeah I feel you. This is why I prefer the Chief and FAS. Forgot how good the FAS was until I finally used it again last night in a 4v4 against Neo, Exigeous and Picard. We almost won until me and my wing mates chaff malfunctioned and got pelted by Exigeous.
Last edited:
I haven’t unlocked the FAS yet, but people I know who have say it is like a Vulture on steroids and great fun to fly. It is on my list of ships to try. I will persevere with the FDL. See if it grows on me.Yeah the FDL is and interesting ship. Personally, I don't like either but I'm kind of forced to use it in some of the PvP my squadron and I do.
I much prefer the FAS or Chieftain or even the Phantom.
The FDL is amazing though but you've got to learn how to fly it.
Here's the current PvP meta
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
Here's the 6 booster biweave variant with my own personal hardpoint setup.
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
Edit: Bigmaec beat me to it apparently
Yeah, you should definitely keep it. Mastering it will make you a better pilot overall.
I wouldn't really compare the FAS to the Vulture. The Chieftain is closer comparison. The FAS suffers from poor lat/vert thrusters which the Chief and Vulture excel at. A really good comparison I heard once is that the FDL and FAS fly like airplanes and the Chief and Vulture fly like helicopters.
But, even though the FAS has a similar flight style to the FDL, it's much more forgiving.
Do you happen to have a good chief build around?
Can you learn to love the FDL?
Yeeeessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!
It's an awesome ship once you can unlock at least some of it's potential. I build one the first time I was in Colonia and hated it, one hazres later I was in a Challenger and the FdL was sold. After I resettled to Colonia a few months later I started building ships, the FdL was never on my radar. I still had the reactive armor from it and I hated seeing it in storage so I build a new FdL with all the "wisdom" I thought I had, in the end it was a gamer-de-lance
. Once I started flying FAoff and used much more thruster manipulation the FdL came into it's own and something clicked. I still stall it and fly it with to much boosting, but every time I get a little better, I hope. I have 7 of them now.
The meta serious fighting FdL, same as Sir Gankalot's, just that I only have 1 rail as I can't yet use PAs and rails symbiotic yet.
2-booster bi-weave for fun, it's my 2nd favorite. A little spicy with the srb huge PA, but I don't have the mats for an eff one and it kinda works.
2-booster bi-weave srb rails. Also spicy and very hard to fly, but I see the potential. I just need to git gut a lot for that one.
shieldless silent running FdL. This is my favorite and a lot of fun if no emissive or missiles are around.
another shieldless FdL, old-school dakka-fun, the Z4
a PvE hazres and CZ build, it's a reused meta, but built for long staying power.
And the last one the bgs runner. It's main purpose was that I fly it daily and get used to the flight model. I do mainly assassination and scan missions with this one, but it also defeated CMDR bounty hunters already. This was original the gamer-de-lance.
I have some ideas for some other builds so I think 7 will not be the final number. Interestingly I also rebuild my Chally into a srb rails res site hunter with plasma slugs and 80t of fuel. I have to relearn to fly as at the moment I fly like a noob with it.
Yeeeessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!
It's an awesome ship once you can unlock at least some of it's potential. I build one the first time I was in Colonia and hated it, one hazres later I was in a Challenger and the FdL was sold. After I resettled to Colonia a few months later I started building ships, the FdL was never on my radar. I still had the reactive armor from it and I hated seeing it in storage so I build a new FdL with all the "wisdom" I thought I had, in the end it was a gamer-de-lance
. Once I started flying FAoff and used much more thruster manipulation the FdL came into it's own and something clicked. I still stall it and fly it with to much boosting, but every time I get a little better, I hope. I have 7 of them now.The meta serious fighting FdL, same as Sir Gankalot's, just that I only have 1 rail as I can't yet use PAs and rails symbiotic yet.
2-booster bi-weave for fun, it's my 2nd favorite. A little spicy with the srb huge PA, but I don't have the mats for an eff one and it kinda works.
2-booster bi-weave srb rails. Also spicy and very hard to fly, but I see the potential. I just need to git gut a lot for that one.
shieldless silent running FdL. This is my favorite and a lot of fun if no emissive or missiles are around.
another shieldless FdL, old-school dakka-fun, the Z4
a PvE hazres and CZ build, it's a reused meta, but built for long staying power.
And the last one the bgs runner. It's main purpose was that I fly it daily and get used to the flight model. I do mainly assassination and scan missions with this one, but it also defeated CMDR bounty hunters already. This was original the gamer-de-lance.
I have some ideas for some other builds so I think 7 will not be the final number. Interestingly I also rebuild my Chally into a srb rails res site hunter with plasma slugs and 80t of fuel. I have to relearn to fly as at the moment I fly like a noob with it.
I just rebuild my second FdL after seeing Ganks' cannon setup.
https://s.orbis.zone/75qq
Definitely still struggling getting used to the stall, and the pip management, but I dish out relatively more because I fracking hit with the cannons in FAoff, which can't be said of my dual ImpHammers...
https://s.orbis.zone/75qq
Definitely still struggling getting used to the stall, and the pip management, but I dish out relatively more because I fracking hit with the cannons in FAoff, which can't be said of my dual ImpHammers...
I have a few
Main build
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
coriolis.io
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
coriolis.io
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
coriolis.io
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
coriolis.io
Last edited:
Actually that's what I'm about to switch my build too because I learned the other day that the game has a hard time processing more than two force shell effects.
This is what I'd highly suggest using instead for PA engineering for a much harder hit. A TC proc'ed shot will hit like a freight train.
Also make sure to put the cannons in the two mediums on the left side of the ship and the PA's on the right side.
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
s.orbis.zone
Why that grouping? With rails I can see it, but with cannons/PAs I tried to spread the effects.Actually that's what I'm about to switch my build too because I learned the other day that the game has a hard time processing more than two force shell effects.
This is what I'd highly suggest using instead for PA engineering for a much harder hit. A TC proc'ed shot will hit like a freight train.
Also make sure to put the cannons in the two mediums on the left side of the ship and the PA's on the right side.
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
Also I didn't run hot once with my (non-SCB) build, so TC is useless for my build I think.
Why aren't we friends yet? Let's fight some time.Can you learn to love the FDL?
Yeeeessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!
It's an awesome ship once you can unlock at least some of it's potential. I build one the first time I was in Colonia and hated it, one hazres later I was in a Challenger and the FdL was sold. After I resettled to Colonia a few months later I started building ships, the FdL was never on my radar. I still had the reactive armor from it and I hated seeing it in storage so I build a new FdL with all the "wisdom" I thought I had, in the end it was a gamer-de-lance
The meta serious fighting FdL, same as Sir Gankalot's, just that I only have 1 rail as I can't yet use PAs and rails symbiotic yet.
2-booster bi-weave for fun, it's my 2nd favorite. A little spicy with the srb huge PA, but I don't have the mats for an eff one and it kinda works.
2-booster bi-weave srb rails. Also spicy and very hard to fly, but I see the potential. I just need to git gut a lot for that one.
shieldless silent running FdL. This is my favorite and a lot of fun if no emissive or missiles are around.
another shieldless FdL, old-school dakka-fun, the Z4
a PvE hazres and CZ build, it's a reused meta, but built for long staying power.
And the last one the bgs runner. It's main purpose was that I fly it daily and get used to the flight model. I do mainly assassination and scan missions with this one, but it also defeated CMDR bounty hunters already. This was original the gamer-de-lance.
I have some ideas for some other builds so I think 7 will not be the final number. Interestingly I also rebuild my Chally into a srb rails res site hunter with plasma slugs and 80t of fuel. I have to relearn to fly as at the moment I fly like a noob with it.
The two SRB PA's will proc TC. Either way, I'd suggest using at least one SRB PA in there somewhere.
Well the idea with the build is to knock your opponent of their target just before they fire so you want to keep your cannon shots as close together as possible and fire them first before the PA's. Also, have having the PA's lined up like that will make landing all 3 of them easier.
@Bigmaec here's another cannon velocity match you might not be aware of.
coriolis.io
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
coriolis.io