A question for the Anaconda pilots out there

[Pbj time]

When piloting your Anaconda's and fighting against Npc elite and dangerous Anacondas how easy are your fights, and how do you fight .... I could imagine that, because of the size it you don't bother trying to get behind it and you just face em down and tank it out ... like two battle ships broadside attacking each other

What type of load out do you use ... do you even bother loading shield cells ... do you use all turrets or gimbals or a mix of such give me... ideas, theory, and tactics. When it comes to your anaconda vs everything else

 

[777Driver]

When piloting your Anaconda's and fighting against Npc elite and dangerous Anacondas how easy are your fights, and how do you fight .... I could imagine that, because of the size it you don't bother trying to get behind it and you just face em down and tank it out ... like two battle ships broadside attacking each other

What type of load out do you use ... do you even bother loading shield cells ... do you use all turrets or gimbals or a mix of such give me... ideas, theory, and tactics. When it comes to your anaconda vs everything else

1.1 I would mainly use turreted beams & two PACS, no real need for shields cells unless fighting a cmdr, FA OFF and circling the target. Feels more like Naval warfare. I would hold off till Tuesday when 1.2 goes live. Battles are very different now, and shield/hull boosters change the whole dynamic of the battle.

 

[Vandaahl]

Best thing to know is, there isn't much that can mass lock you. So I usually go in head first, because there is always a way out.

I'm using gimballed pulses and gimballed canons on mine. On the small hard points are missile racks. I never bothered about the huge hardpoint. It is only deadly when you take it of your ship and manually beat someone to death with it. My current setup is a sort of multi purpose setup. With this, it can do everything, but hard core combat remains tricky. Elite Condas with heavy beam lasers still hit like a truck, but they can be dealt with if you keep the initiative.

If you want it to set it up for combat only, then prepare to pay. An A8 power plant costs more than the Conda itself.

 

[Jorlin]

When piloting your Anaconda's and fighting against Npc elite and dangerous Anacondas how easy are your fights, and how do you fight .... I could imagine that, because of the size it you don't bother trying to get behind it and you just face em down and tank it out ... like two battle ships broadside attacking each other

What type of load out do you use ... do you even bother loading shield cells ... do you use all turrets or gimbals or a mix of such give me... ideas, theory, and tactics. When it comes to your anaconda vs everything else

Just using my anaconda for trading at the moment.
Wouldn't take one into battle without investing at least 300 million on top of the ship. Like every other ship it doesn't shine in minimum configuration.

 

[EddyRockSteady]

Get behind them and stay behind them, targeting the power plant specifically. Usually blows at 50% hull. Yes you can duke it out but then you're probably going to need shield cells and if you're not quick enough and he knocks your shields out then the repair bill WILL reduce you to tears. One thing with Elite Conda is they love to extend and engage from far: Don't allow that - close in on him and pummel him from behind.

Edit: Oh yes, invest in the C4 plasma -ball-dispenser. They always run at you at the outset from full frontal aspect so full-reverse and shove a ball down his throat at the outset. It hurts and makes knocking his shields down a lot easier. Then use selectively throughout the engagement.

 

[RipperJack]

Weapon wise you can essentially choose anything you want. Theres so much power and firepower you cant really have a "bad" loadout.

If you dont want to spend money on ammo, full energy weapons on all points melt everything so damn fast that in warzones, they fit perfectly.

I've tried a ton of combo's my personal fave was all mining lasers "just 'cos".

For a standard setup -

firegroup set 1 -
1 large pulse laser (middle bottom)
2 small beam lasers
fire group set 2 -
1 huge fixed cannon
2 large fixed cannons

and 2 medium beam turrets for the 360 rotation if your chasing something nimble (seriously things like eagles etc get melted by these turrets sometimes as your lining up).

I find that setup destroys near enough everything in seconds. Going head on with another anaconda elite bounty hunt, you'll usually destroy the other ship before they even pass, aiming for specific points like the power plant and killing targets in warzones and anaconda's barely go below 50% hull before they're dead.

There is a wierd thing i notice about them though in warzones. The shield is very...."fluxy". I keep 2 A6 shield banks incase and never let my third ring go red (I have them both in a seperate firegroup so i alternate and use both if things go wrong) but sometimes randomly either an anaconda or python while passing will just rip the shields off. Its also the same with ramming other ships. You can slam an anaconda and barely lose half a shield ring, other times you can slam a python and lose all your shield and 15% hull...

As Driver777 said though, things are changing, keep a note of what he says, he knows his stuff.

 

[Kolato]

2x gimballed medium beam lasers
2x large turret pulses on the huge and large hardpoint on the underside.
Stay behind it and always turn facing your belly to the anaconda.
Take out the drives and you are pretty much done with it.

 

[Pilot Mark]

I use mine mainly for trading, but do frequent the odd nav beacon just to break the monotony. I don't have the best shields but do have 5 turret beams and three stacks of guided missiles. My tactic is to shove a few missiles down their throat which turns them hostile, then let the beams do the rest. The 'Conda isn't the most manuverable of ships so the turrets come in handy, just being there for long enough is sufficient. It is not so much of a challenge, but is a bit of fun and a break from trading. I normally have 432 tonnes of gold on board during all this, so only go for low risk engagements and retreat if I am about to lose shields. Problem with the turrets is police like to fly into them thus making me wanted, at which point I depart. It is fun, but not as much fun I had in my Python (RIP).

 

[Elpapo]

Not really had problems against elite Anacondas with my own Anaconda even when it was outfited with D class modules at most and 7A PowerD. Kinda "cheap" setup for anaconda, but it was enough for any NPC. Having myself grinded LOTs npc's at rings with python before 1.1 patch, so I know how to handle any Npc. They always fell for same tricks. Even now. My tactics had not changed, but ship was.

My setup it was 4 c3/G pulses(gonna try fixed when I max its thrusters), and 2 c2/F plasma acc. Worked like charm. 2 plasmas are good enough, as they just are for addtional firepower against bigger ships. Main weapons are quad lasers. They alone can handle even another Anacondas. Beam turrets at c1 hardpoints, not for destroy, but rather for keep shields from rechargin of my tagets. And yup, small beam turrets can handle sidey and eagles with no problems alone. Still gonna test this setup with better power plant, thusters and that sweet 8A PD for 28 mils. wich gonna buy when I cash my journey to Sagittarius A*, and hundreds of black holes, neutron stars along. Only 20k ly left to sol.

Have yet to test that Huge plasma ball of doom. But i might stay with 4th c3 laser as well.

Like against any other larger ship, despite what I fly, I go for its modules. Boost much as possible, FA off etc. Usualy I go for Thrusters, as they are really easy to destroy in Anacondas... Like 2 or 3 hits from twin plasmas and they are gone. Next is FSD or PP, or just shoot it do death with pulses. Free to chose. My favorite way was makin them crash into asteroids when had encounter 'em at rings when drives was gone. Also tried Teeth to Teeth battle against Elite Anaconda from Assasin BBS mission, but it required some Cells used. Still was fun, felt like Capitan of some battleship instead as a fighter pilot.

Killed few Anaconda Cmdr before 1.1 in Python, yet have to test myself against another Anaconda Cmdr with mine. Look foward to result.

 

[ChubbyBunneh]

Use the huge plasma ball to get their shields down. Then use 3 fixed beam lasers to destroy their drives, their hitboxes are so big they can be hit from any angle.

You can take your time after that.

 

[Pbj time]

Thanks a lot for the great info guys!
Currently am 30 mil short from purchase and another 40 mill out from safe trade outfitting =( 6a shield gen, 6a fsd and 400t cargo ) I was thinking of going with 4a shields but with 1.2 coming I will stay manufacture outfitting's and then work my way up to combat worthiness

 

[Roycie]

I can't seem to find the table for shield strengths vs size...

How big is the gap between
6A shields (16,179,531)
5A shields (5,103,953)
4A shields (1,610,080)

in terms of strength, obviously.

 

[Fian]

For trading I would go 4A + shield boosters in 1.2. Otherwise you are better off sticking in T9 imo. 4A shields seem pretty robust to me, hard to tell.

As regards combat: I just run. If i want combat i will bring a combat ship, repair costs in anaconda are too damn high.

 

[777Driver]

For trading I would go 4A + shield boosters in 1.2. Otherwise you are better off sticking in T9 imo. 4A shields seem pretty robust to me, hard to tell.

As regards combat: I just run. If i want combat i will bring a combat ship, repair costs in anaconda are too damn high.

Repair costs are insanely cheap now. a bit too cheap in my opinion, doesn't feel like you are maintaining an expensive ship anymore.

 

[Serenitie]

I run a trade anaconda and a combat anaconda.

Mostly just running pulse lasers (gimballed) with 2 class 1 cannons and a class 4 canon. My trade conda is unarmed though

 

[Pyrion]

I use 5D shields, a smallish reactor (size 6 i think) and some basic weaponry, mostly turrets. The FSD is A-rated and everything else D. With such a trader anaconda you don't really want to go to conflict zones, but the occasional interdictor should be no problem. My jump range is a tad above 19LY fully laden and that's what counts. Outfitting an anaconda for *real* battle is a nightmare, costs go thru the roof. But its astonishingly cheap to outfit a trader anaconda, main thing is that 16 mio FSD, everything else is just a few millions.
With the 2 new ships approaching i really don't feel a need to grind another 300 million just to make the conda battle ready.

 

[Pbj time]

you have 2 anaconda's

 

[Trinity Star]

My experiance with other NPC Anacondas:

1. Interdicted, submitted, fought and destroyed it but ended up with 1.2m repair bill after takeing 32% hull damage.
2. Interdicted, submitted, boosted away, no damage.
3. Interdicted, submitted, boosted away, no damage.
4. Interdicted, fought and destroyed it without taking damage.
5. Fought a wanted Elite Anaconda a Nav point, destroyed it but 1.8m repair cost after hull was reduced to 58%.

http://s20.postimg.org/528khec8t/Anaconda.jpg

 

[Serenitie]

you have 2 anaconda's

I do indeed have 2 anaconda's