I've been playing for a while now so in order to find new ways to enjoy the game I usually try to experience new things, but this time I decided to try something old. But in a new way to see how the game feels from a starting perspective. The best way to accomplish this was jump back into the most challenging little all rounder in the game: the Sidewinder. I plan on doing this until 2.1 comes out. In Open 
I figure that any skills I gain in survival will transfer over to any better ship. Once I master the Sidey, I'll try the same fixed kinetic build in all the small ships. Though I am thinking I'll probably settle on either the Viper III or the DBS for open PVP.
The fun hurdles for Sidey:
-slow, which makes it hard to control your distance
-weak shields, which means the only way to avoid damage is by controlling range (see above!) Or by heavy use of chaff
-weak hull, this can be somewhat over come by having a small hit box, and adding armor and hull packages
Advantages:
-maneuverable, which makes dodging fire slightly easier than most ships, and makes aiming/sniping with fixed weapons more doable, if less steady
-small hit box, which makes the shields last much longer at >1.5km
-extremely cheap
So here is my sidewinder build, souped up a little but with a few extra challenges added on top. Fixed kinetic MCs weapons only. A basic Bi weave shield, and 2 chaff.
http://coriolis.io/outfit/sidewinde...52f.Iw1-EA==.Aw1-EA==?bn=Sidewinder Challenge
With this build, fighting any other ship is a actually quite a challenge. Dangerous Cobras become a serious threat and can require a hasty retreat. Faster ships are quite difficult to flank and ships with turrets are a special kind of treat.
This build will definitely help you learn how to aim, how to kite, and how to evade fire.
WHY A SIDEWINDER?
Well any ship above a sidewinder starts to become just easy enough that winning is almost a forgone conclusion. ED spawns ships based on the class of ship that you're flying. Some ships are at the top, some are in the middle, and some are at the bottom of their class. Apart from the Hauler, the Sidewinder is at the rock bottom of its class, and this means that any fight you encounter will be epic by definition.
WHY FIXED MULTICANNONS?
This makes fights last longer which creates tension and allows AI time to enact their full suite of moves. It also gives you time to study the AI's evasive maneuvers (which we can use also btw!). But most importantly, it really helps for working on aiming with fixed non-hitscan weapons. And if you can hit with these, then hitting with rails or fixed beams should be a cake walk.
Hope you try this too and let me know what you think. If you have already done this please post your build and share your experiences, explaining why you picked that build and what you learned from it.
I figure that any skills I gain in survival will transfer over to any better ship. Once I master the Sidey, I'll try the same fixed kinetic build in all the small ships. Though I am thinking I'll probably settle on either the Viper III or the DBS for open PVP.
The fun hurdles for Sidey:
-slow, which makes it hard to control your distance
-weak shields, which means the only way to avoid damage is by controlling range (see above!) Or by heavy use of chaff
-weak hull, this can be somewhat over come by having a small hit box, and adding armor and hull packages
Advantages:
-maneuverable, which makes dodging fire slightly easier than most ships, and makes aiming/sniping with fixed weapons more doable, if less steady
-small hit box, which makes the shields last much longer at >1.5km
-extremely cheap
So here is my sidewinder build, souped up a little but with a few extra challenges added on top. Fixed kinetic MCs weapons only. A basic Bi weave shield, and 2 chaff.
http://coriolis.io/outfit/sidewinde...52f.Iw1-EA==.Aw1-EA==?bn=Sidewinder Challenge
With this build, fighting any other ship is a actually quite a challenge. Dangerous Cobras become a serious threat and can require a hasty retreat. Faster ships are quite difficult to flank and ships with turrets are a special kind of treat.
This build will definitely help you learn how to aim, how to kite, and how to evade fire.
WHY A SIDEWINDER?
Well any ship above a sidewinder starts to become just easy enough that winning is almost a forgone conclusion. ED spawns ships based on the class of ship that you're flying. Some ships are at the top, some are in the middle, and some are at the bottom of their class. Apart from the Hauler, the Sidewinder is at the rock bottom of its class, and this means that any fight you encounter will be epic by definition.
WHY FIXED MULTICANNONS?
This makes fights last longer which creates tension and allows AI time to enact their full suite of moves. It also gives you time to study the AI's evasive maneuvers (which we can use also btw!). But most importantly, it really helps for working on aiming with fixed non-hitscan weapons. And if you can hit with these, then hitting with rails or fixed beams should be a cake walk.
Hope you try this too and let me know what you think. If you have already done this please post your build and share your experiences, explaining why you picked that build and what you learned from it.
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