Small Ships are often overlooked

[Mersozz]

I think we either have an affinity with a ship or not, nothing too silly about that notion, so put the effort into getting the best from those we like.

The Mamba is another ship I really like, but is going to take me a while to actually fly well, although I blame the FDL for that.

A couple of players in my squadron in Carcosa fly anacondas really well - but they have been flying them for a very long time!

I don't fly my Mamba alot. But when I do, I think, "I really should fly this more!".

The biggest adjustment I needed to make with my Mamba is accepting that it wasn't meant to be a turning combat ship.

It's a ship that can outrun anything that can hit nearly as hard as it does. If it were a WWII plane, it would be a Corsair. It sets the terms of the engagement.

 

[Achtung-Goomba]

I think the 'funniest' bit of the tanky Viper IV is the fact that it is shiledless... Mine is called "That's Bait..."

Cover it in kinetics and a seeker rack and I’ve got a BSG Viper, sounds like a win to me!

I think we either have an affinity with a ship or not, nothing too silly about that notion, so put the effort into getting the best from those we like.

The Mamba is another ship I really like, but is going to take me a while to actually fly well, although I blame the FDL for that.

A couple of players in my squadron in Carcosa fly anacondas really well - but they have been flying them for a very long time!

I really really want to like the Mamba, which is why I didn’t sell it with my Crusader when I stripped the hulls down for lack of an idea of what to do with them... but, I just can’t work out what I was it to be. I’ve said before I wanted to take advantage of the multicrew potential of that luscious bubble cockpit, but I imagined it as some sort of Boulton Paul Defiant turret fighter and until I can get a totally impractical C4 turret for the ‘primary’ hardpoint it’d be a complete waste of a huge slot. It looks so Star Wars as well, it’s a shame I can’t decide on a character for it. Some sort of boom ‘n’ zoom heavy fighter, for sure, but what pewpew? What dakka?

I’ve never been a fan of the Cobra since my childhood fumblings on FE2, and I’ve been dead against offset cockpits since I left my Startwinder for my first Adder... but, there’s another big but here, since I’ve got back in the Adder post-engineers it’s been an absolute dream, and the offset cockpit is a playful quirk now. So I’m open to reconsidering... so pirate Cobra next?

 

[Mersozz]

I’ve never been a fan of the Cobra since my childhood fumblings on FE2, and I’ve been dead against offset cockpits since I left my Startwinder for my first Adder... but, there’s another big but here, since I’ve got back in the Adder post-engineers it’s been an absolute dream, and the offset cockpit is a playful quirk now. So I’m open to reconsidering... so pirate Cobra next?

Yeah....I can't stand off-center cockpits. It's the biggest reason I don't fly Cobras or FDLs, even though many people love those ships.

 

[M00ka]

Interesting you should mention the MkII. I use that for mining as well. I kind of flip between the MkII and the Anaconda for that task. From a handling standpoint, I prefer the MkII. From the "I can nuke anything that bothers me while I mine" standpoint, I go with the Anaconda, because I can toss 2 mining lance lasers and 2 class 2 mining lasers in there and still have enough hardpoints to defend myself.

If I had to rank my favorite ships:

1 - DBS
2 - Phantom
3 - Chieftan
4 - Courier
5 - Krait MkII

I have a rather obscure reason for liking the Krait as a miner. Mine is configured for 128T so that, with 8 full bins in the refinery total 136T maximum. Which is about the limit of my endurance when mining, I find when I get around the 120T + mark I have had about enough of mining as I can stand so the cargo limit is the perfect break time. As for being interdicted/attacked, I can comfortably claim that I have never been interdicted nor attacked by an NPC whilst mining or returning home after mining. Same when in open, but I would have to see another Commander first and I guess I just manage to pick the right rings where no one else goes (or at least isn't instanced with me).

 

[Rat Catcher]

Are you sure you aren't my brother? lol

I'm starting to wonder!

My Mamba is one of my most preferred ships, it is the only ship I truly enjoy combat with. Since getting it and finally settling in on a weapons loadout I like, I haven't flown my FdL. It has got that bad that I have stripped the FdL of most of the modules to outfit a couple of other ships and one day soon will sell the hull off.

For me the reason I like flying the Mamba is the central cockpit (great views to be had with no offsets) and the simple fact of all the hardpoints being on the upper surface. That suits my flying style perfectly, never really utilise hardpoints that are below the centre line in any ship (looking at the Large Hardpoint on the Corvette, you useless piece of wasted machinery). I must be a terrible pilot because I didn't experience much difference in flying between the Mamba and the FdL, even with both engineered to near identical specifications.

I was getting really quite good at chucking the FDL around - then got busy with the Corvette (and to some extent the Cutter) so the 'small' ship skill suffered.
Returning to the FDL recently was 'interesting' to say the least, but it all started coming back to me. What I'm finding with the Mamba is that it is different enough from the FDL (for me) that I need to think about flying it. As I only very recently dug it back out of storage I think a little preseverence may be needed.

just as a total aside, the FDL cockpit in VR is really different to flat screen (that offset bar isn't such an issue for a start) and the Mamba in VR is delightful, that huge window above the cockpit...

 

[Achtung-Goomba]

I don't fly my Mamba alot. But when I do, I think, "I really should fly this more!".

The biggest adjustment I needed to make with my Mamba is accepting that it wasn't meant to be a turning combat ship. It's a ship that can outrun anything that can hit nearly as hard as it does. If it were a WWII plane, it would be a Corsair.

Good show, old boy! THAT’S exactly how I see the Mamba, but being a patriotic fan of weird and wonderful British engineering I wanted it to be a Defiant but for a turret on the huge hardpoint. Totally impractical, never going to work... BUT now I’m so glad I kept the hull because it can totally see it as a torpedo bomber, I just can’t enjoy torpedos.

Dual-classing as a history and space nerd gives you advantage on ship thematically skill checks. Fixed multicannon Eagle Spitfire?

 

[Arry]

Thinking about it. For playing with 'big ships'. Lots of bulk and fire power, then EVE makes Elite look stupid. In my Rattle Snake, I could target and fire upon 5 different targets. This game, even with turrets, we can only fire upon, one target at a time. Which is why, I wonder, that apart from bulk carrying. Big ships here, are pointless.

Bulk still means I can still get the Cutter, with all those hard-points.

 

[Rat Catcher]

I really really want to like the Mamba, which is why I didn’t sell it with my Crusader when I stripped the hulls down for lack of an idea of what to do with them... but, I just can’t work out what I was it to be...

I've kitted out my Mamba with all Multi's - as far as NPC's go it is like a mincing machine on rails... That C4 above your head going boom, boom, boom, boom like a pom-pom gun on a WW2 warship, and the remainder combining to make a noise similar to a very malevolent chainsaw...

It is just how easy it is to stall on a turn that I'm struggling to beat, but had the same with the FDL when I first started to fly one, so it should be a learnable skill!

Between now and Odyssey alpha is my 'learn to fly again' time, I think!

 

[Deleted member 121570]

I tried to love the mamba cos it looks great and the cockpit is pretty cool. I just found it way too fat and meh on the vert/lat revectoring under boost, without rotations to enable it to work what it's got properly. Bit of a wallowing barge and not fast enough to make up for it, sadly.
FDL totally outclasses it in agility imo, even if a bit slower.

I'd still rather fly small tho. Stripped em both and sold em.

 

[Mersozz]

Good show, old boy! THAT’S exactly how I see the Mamba, but being a patriotic fan of weird and wonderful British engineering I wanted it to be a Defiant but for a turret on the huge hardpoint. Totally impractical, never going to work... BUT now I’m so glad I kept the hull because it can totally see it as a torpedo bomber, I just can’t enjoy torpedos.

Dual-classing as a history and space nerd gives you advantage on ship thematically skill checks. Fixed multicannon Eagle Spitfire?

Haha!

There's been times I've taken on elite assassination missions in my DBS, gotten my hat handed to me, and thought..... "OK, Mamba time."

 

[Rat Catcher]

Thinking about it. For playing with 'big ships'. Lots of bulk and fire power, then EVE makes Elite look stupid. In my Rattle Snake, I could target and fire upon 5 different targets. This game, even with turrets, we can only fire upon, one target at a time. Which is why, I wonder, that apart from bulk carrying. Big ships here, are pointless.

Bulk still means I can still get the Cutter, with all those hard-points.

Sadly in ED turrets are certainly the poor relative when it comes to damage, maybe Frontier didn't want to make turret ships overpowered, but, in comparison to Fixed or Gimballed they really do under-perform!

 

[znôrt]

then EVE makes Elite look stupid. In my Rattle Snake, I could target and fire upon 5 different targets

eve is a space themed combat sim.
elite is a combat themed space sim.

both have their strong points. in terms of combat mechanics they don't even compare, elite doesn't even qualify.

 

[Mersozz]

I have a rather obscure reason for liking the Krait as a miner. Mine is configured for 128T so that, with 8 full bins in the refinery total 136T maximum. Which is about the limit of my endurance when mining, I find when I get around the 120T + mark I have had about enough of mining as I can stand so the cargo limit is the perfect break time. As for being interdicted/attacked, I can comfortably claim that I have never been interdicted nor attacked by an NPC whilst mining or returning home after mining. Same when in open, but I would have to see another Commander first and I guess I just manage to pick the right rings where no one else goes (or at least isn't instanced with me).

I can totally see that. Usually after 100 tons of mining I'm ready to cash in. And the MkII can dock at outposts, which sometimes are paying the highest prices, or are the closest locations to my personal painite fishing hole. I think you put your finger on why I seem to alternate between the MkII and the Anaconda when it comes to mining.... I guess it's usually a question of Time v. Tonnage.

 

[M00ka]

I've kitted out my Mamba with all Multi's - as far as NPC's go it is like a mincing machine on rails... That C4 above your head going boom, boom, boom, boom like a pom-pom gun on a WW2 warship, and the remainder combining to make a noise similar to a very malevolent chainsaw...

It is just how easy it is to stall on a turn that I'm struggling to beat, but had the same with the FDL when I first started to fly one, so it should be a learnable skill!

Between now and Odyssey alpha is my 'learn to fly again' time, I think!

I have gone a different route with my Mamba, one that should make all the purists scream blue murder and want to hang me from the nearest lamp post lol

I have a Gimbled Beam in the Huge HP, engineered for Overcharge with Thermal Vent.

The rest of the HP's are all turrets Frags, all engineered to HiCap, two with Corrosive experimental (one M, one S on opposite sides), one with Incendiary and the final one with Dazzle.

For me the Beam does 90% of the work, the rest are just there to add additional pain when I get close. I found that even just a couple of salvos of the frags will destroy an Conda's hull and it is comical how quickly smaller ships turn into debris. (yes talking about NPCs here, just to stop those boast how their ship could stand flying into a star and thus would destroy my Mamba by just being in the same instance). It does help that I always tend to fight nice a close too, which suits my weapon layout perfectly.

 

[Arry]

eve is a space themed combat sim.
elite is a combat themed space sim.

both have their strong points. in terms of combat mechanics they don't even compare, elite doesn't even qualify.

Do you think that you could not, go down the no-combat role, playing EVE? There was a lot more to Eve than just, 'look at how bad my ship is.' stuff.

Planet harvesting to ship manufacturing. Combat sim? Oh, don't get me wrong, played the game for about 5 years; but hate it.

 

[znôrt]

Do you think that you could not, go down the no-combat role, playing EVE? There was a lot more to Eve than just, 'look at how bad my ship is.' stuff.

Planet harvesting to ship manufacturing. Combat sim? Oh, don't get me wrong, played the game for about 5 years; but hate it.

yes indeed, eve is huge. what i meant is that they took the combat aspect seriously from the get go, a lot of thought and experimentation went into it and they have kept monitoring it. as opposed to elite which is the pretty standard rock/paper/scissors approach with bombastic names, but really minimum viable product. it looks good but doesn't really stand the test. imo elite is all about the stellar forge, the rest is decor.

 

[Starshot_Jigawatts]

yes indeed, eve is huge. what i meant is that they took the combat aspect seriously from the get go, a lot of thought and experimentation went into it and they have kept monitoring it. as opposed to elite which is the pretty standard rock/paper/scissors approach with bombastic names, but really minimum viable product. it looks good but doesn't really stand the test. imo elite is all about the stellar forge, the rest is decor.

You gotta be kidding me. There's ZERO skill to combat in Eve. And I played Eve off and on for years so don't even debate that with me. Order ship to auto-orbit a guy while your guns auto-fire on guy. Zero skill or engagement.

Rock paper scissors? You can fire a thousand missiles at a small ship in Eve and it will take no damage because the weapon spreadsheet says so. Just... You can't be serious.

Eve is a graphical spreadsheet running on a math-engine dressed up like a game. Nothing more.

 

[znôrt]

so don't even debate that with me.

don't worry, they way you are coming across i won't debate anything with you ;-)
stay safe.

 

[Starshot_Jigawatts]

don't worry, they way you are coming across i won't debate anything with you ;-)
stay safe.

There's no debate to be had frankly. There's zero comparison when it comes to combat skill and depth between the two games.

 

[myothershipisacobraiv]

sidewinder go biddydiddydiddydiddybiddydiddy