Need combat advice.

[Northpin]

First, I'd recommend getting comfortable in HazRES before doing CZ.

Cannons are garbage, seekers are weak. You'd be better off with MCs/Rails for the Mediums. If you're not all that skilled at combat, an FDL isn't gonna be great. You'd be better off with a Krait II.

This ^

Ok I am doing conflict zones in solo and I am nearly always getting my butt kicked every time.

My Epic Alt used this Krait Mk2, totally unengineered

The trick is never to engage enemies alone. Stay near the green pack, see what they're attacking and help them, but only after their shields are down
IF you somehow get some attention, just dont fight back. Just make sure you are near the green pack, help them kill their current target and they will turn on the one attacking you.

 

[CMDR D Noize]

Remember that not all ships suit everybody and the FdL has its quirks. the Mamba has a similar price and weapons fit except they are all on top of the hull so might suit you better but again it isn't necessarily easy to fly well.

This is why I prefer the Mamba over the FDL.

On the Mamba all the weapons are level with or above the centre of your field of view so it's much easier to keep them on target and your target in view.

On the FDL they're all below or underneath and that huge hard point can have issues tracking your target if they're too high up.

Also the Mamba is sexier...

 

[fu9ar]

I have a weird asymetrical Mamba loadout that I've flown with some success. Huge MC, Large PAC, Large Beam turret, two small laser turrets. It is a fun little ship.

 

[Winterwalker]

Lots of advice in thread on loadouts which is fair enough but if you're getting into CZ's for first time would also think about tactics myself. In fact, if I was to make a recommendation I'd say take an Eagle or iEagle in a few times, not only will this get you sharp any rebuy/repairs will be WAY cheaper. In fact it's a ton of fun, even though you might only last a couple of minutes before you need a repair the first time in. Staying in five minutes, then ten gives achievement points and by the time you can last indefinitely in an Eagle you'll probably be good in any ship, with bigger guns to start working on your kill rate. Knowing how to defend yourself is probably goal one though (imo) and an assited credit for a Corvette, in an Eagle, is just sweetness.

I suggest pick your next target on a situational basis rather than cycling next available without thinking and work your way in from the periphery of the battlezone to the centre. Ideally in a CZ you'll have other ships on your side and if they're attacking someone I say assist them, for easy credits. If you start taking fire from a ship or ships that are not the target, recommend disengage immediately (even if your target is about to pop) and deal with them! Getting whacked from behind is THE danger in CZ's imo. Leading your target towards allies can also be helpful as CZ ships tend to be pretty hardened and can take a long time to take down in small or medium ships depending but subtargetting to take down their FSD can stop them escaping. Watch your six. o7

 

[Lev -Shadow- Arris]

CZ's aren't friendly places, and as said by others most ships in them (even NPC's) have some engineering applied. If SpecOps come out, those are highly engineered. You need to be prepared for advanced tactics, and know your limitations (meaning when to run). I did the last CG (Jupiter Rochester) in a minimally engineered Krait MKII (only had Farseer unlocked at the time) and was it ever a learning experience (managed top 10% so I did OK ). Fighting in those made me start really perusing the engineering tracks. Others' have advised working with the NPC's on your side, and I Nth that sentiment. Practice in the HazRES sites or CNB's, and be comfortable with all combat aspects, like adjusting your pips on the fly (I'm considering VoiceAttack & HCS Voice Packs to help, but so far all K&M).

From everything I've read about the the FDL (I don't have one, yet anyway as I want to unlock more engineers first), if you don't plan on engineering it you're going to miss out on what it can do.

Good luck, CMDR! o7

 

[Bantha]

Lots of good advice in here.

For my 2 cents worth, I would consider the following:-

• Avoid CZs for now. Hone your skills in a HazRes first, and improve.
• An unengineered FDL is a bit meh, and is trumped by an unengineered Krait II or Chieftain. So if you’re not going to engineer, switch ship
• But do engineer! Even Grade 1 engineers are a big upgrade. You will notice the difference. G3 is excellent. G5 superlative.
• An engineered FDL is like a formula 1 car. It’s the meta. But if you’re not a good driver, you won’t get a tune out if it, and it will not hesitate to kill you!

Almost everything I’ve read above in the other posts is very good advice...

 

[Gwyther]

Thanks everyone.
It seems like I will have to at least grind my arks off to open up engineers then.
I also have an Alliance Challenger which is virtually all A rated, but even it's weapons are sometimes completely useless against a npc.

I may have to pay Tod 'the blaster' a visit.

 

[Michael Whatever]

FWIW I use the FDL in CZs regularly (albeit highly engineered) and find it great fun.
For non PvP CZs I found a combination of gimballed burst lasers and MC a reasonable combination.

I assume you are in the "low" risk CZ rather than "medium" and "high" as this will keep the opposition ships and scenarios more basic, until you feel comfortable.
Tactics are paramount, especially the initial entry in to the CZ and avoiding being targeted by multiple enemies.
Suggest you initially try to pick out a straggler damaged by your side and help finish him off. Then find a powerful ship on your side, target him (DO NOT FIRE) and target his target! Then do the same again. Hopefully this builds an unstoppable and growing "snowball" of green ships rolling through the CZ destroying the enemy and not leaving you singled out.

Good luck.

 

[Starshot_Jigawatts]

Thanks everyone.
It seems like I will have to at least grind my arks off to open up engineers then.
I also have an Alliance Challenger which is virtually all A rated, but even it's weapons are sometimes completely useless against a npc.

I may have to pay Tod 'the blaster' a visit.

An FDL with all Grade 5 Multicannons is a very popular setup. It's a meatgrinder. Do indeed pay him a visit!

 

[ElectricFactory]

All of this. I too resisted engineering as long as I could until I relaized that the game almost demands you do it to make any progress in certain areas ( combat for one). Start small as Riverside said Grade 1-3 isn't that hard to figure out even though some of it is a pain to achieve un-engineered.

FDL isn't easy to fly, it rewards smoothness, as you observe with your blue zone comment.

Fit 4x C2 frags & get in close, or 4x multi-cannons if you are a little further away. Gimbals are fine. Stick a C4 gimbaled multicannon in the C4 slot for low power high (ish) DPS unengineered.

I agree with the Krait MkII & Chieftain comments, they are much easier ships to fly with a bigger distributor it's easier to equip them too.


Strongly suggest you try engineering though, grade 1 is easy & gives significant improvements, grade 3 is plenty enough for PvE & grade 5 will make mincemeat of everything

 

[here_it_comes]

I also have an Alliance Challenger which is virtually all A rated, but even it's weapons are sometimes completely useless against a npc.

I recommend you consider swapping your Challenger for a Crusader. You can drop your Challenger's A modules into a Crusader, and the SLF will be a great help by drawing fire, in the least. This will give you lot of breathing room as you gain proficiency in combat.

 

[Lev -Shadow- Arris]

I assume you are in the "low" risk CZ rather than "medium" and "high" as this will keep the opposition ships and scenarios more basic, until you feel comfortable.

One thing to consider is that the High CZ's have more ships, which means more allies to team up with and less chance of being targeted by multiple NPC's. This also means it's easier to fly back towards friendlies and get them to assist you if you've got a tail you can't shake. They last longer too, so more of a chance to win the battle (which is very good for your rep). To be fair, they will have a higher spawn rate for advanced SpecOps ships, Capital Ships, etc. so weigh the risk.

Good luck, have fun, and remember that Brave Sir Robin did survive!

Brave Sir Robin ran away.
("No!")
Bravely ran away away.
("I didn't!")
When danger reared it's ugly head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled.
("I never!")
Yes, brave Sir Robin turned about
And gallantly he chickened out.
("You're lying!")
Swiftly taking to his feet,
He beat a very brave retreat.
Bravest of the brave, Sir Robin!

 

[Schmack]

You aren't required to engineer but you're facing engineered ships in CZs. It would make sense to go in capable of tanking as much as they can, since you don't have aimbot like they do.

 

[Gwyther]

Ok after a few changes to my ship, I now see why commanders like MC's so much.
I am using a pair of gimballed MC's to take out hulls and a beam to take out shields.

I'm now off to see Tod to get them engineered.

Thanks for all the advice CMDR's

 

[Florenus]

I'm now off to see Tod to get them engineered.

Remember to give one of your MC's "corrosive shell" experimental. Makes chewing through hulls much easier.

 

[Gwyther]

Remember to give one of your MC's "corrosive shell" experimental. Makes chewing through hulls much easier.

Oh ok, thanks.

 

[Slange Lands]

Like Florenus wrote, the most helpful weapon engineering for czs is some sort of multicannon with the corrosive experimental. You can put experimentals on grade 1 engineering.

The corrosive buff adds a 20 damage buff to your weps and all your allies once the target's shields are down.

Like someone said previously, you want to find "spider webs" of allies firing at a hostile center. I try to never engage a hostile by myself, even in a fully engineered fdl.

If you must engage a single target by yourself, go for an asp explorer or asp scout.

But yeah, engineering is key.
I hated the grind, too. But man I love the results.

 

[Starshot_Jigawatts]

Oh ok, thanks.

Corrosive adds a flat damage increase, but more importantly, gives all your existing weapons increased penetration against NPC hulls. Without corrosive your small and medium hardpoints will do little to no damage in a lot of cases because enemy hull hardness means these hardpoints can't penetrate much to do their full damage.

I personally feel weapons are not in a great place, there are things like cannons and turrets that basically nobody uses, but the existing meta forces you to have at least a single multicannon with the Corrosive debuff even if you want to use all lasers or whatever - you're just leaving way too much damage potential on the table otherwise.

 

[Riverside]

Corrosive adds a flat damage increase, but more importantly, gives all your existing weapons increased penetration against NPC hulls. Without corrosive your small and medium hardpoints will do little to no damage in a lot of cases because enemy hull hardness means these hardpoints can't penetrate much to do their full damage.

I personally feel weapons are not in a great place, there are things like cannons and turrets that basically nobody uses, but the existing meta forces you to have at least a single multicannon with the Corrosive debuff even if you want to use all lasers or whatever - you're just leaving way too much damage potential on the table otherwise.

You can put the corrosive special on frags too (probably others too, idk).

 

[Starshot_Jigawatts]

You can put the corrosive special on frags too (probably others too, idk).

True but I figure the OP isn't quite ready for the glory of the all Frag De Lance lol.