Ships A Thought: The 'Cobra Problem' and Engineer-adding Hardpoints

[WrenchTheGoblin]

Maybe I'm alone. If so, I'll slink back to my little hole in the galaxy.

I'm the sorta player that has one or two ships and that's my ship, you know? I especially felt this way about the Cobra Mk III. I love how it looks, I love how it handles. I love everything about it. I love that you can engineer it to be pretty awesome. But what I can't seem to do.. is make it good enough to go into threat 3+ areas and expect to live. Even with a ton of engineering, I haven't been able to get it right. Maybe I'm a bad pilot. Maybe I'm not doin somethin' right. I dunno. In my mind, I call this the 'Cobra Problem' .. where I have this wonderful ship that I do everything in.. but I then I hit this plateau in just this one area.. and I can't seem to figure it out.

If the Cobra had a second set of hardpoints on top of it, and the bottom and top were grade 2s like the front, I think that would make it perfect. Now I know that just adding that to the base model might make it too strong out of the gate. So what if we were able to engineer either upgrading hardpoint quality or quantity, or both?

Anywho thanks for reading and I appreciate all of you commanders out there. o7

Edit: I know some of this has definitely been said by others and I read up on it before posting, but I'd like to hear fresh thoughts on it anyway.

 

[Gamsir]

While I understand your pain the problem i simple: the power distributor can’t sustain that amount of firepower. Mind you, if the two small could be converted to mediums.

the solution for you could be to learn to master railguns or plasma accelerators.
Fragment cannons (when upgraded) are devastating inside their optimal range.
There is a huge learning curve though

 

[Frankymole]

I think hardpoints are a function of the basic structural construction of the ship. They're literally strong points in the hull of the ship that can bear the different directional energies required by the weaponry, without damaging stress or weaknesses being introduced. In Traveller, the game Elite was originally based on, there is a limit to the number of hardpoints (and class of weapons) based on the (unvarying) hull tonnage of that model of ship. To "engineer" them would require your ship to be redesigned and rebuilt from first principles. Might as well just buy the next ship size up from that manufacturer and modify that.

 

[Para Handy]

Cobra Mk IV

The Cobra Mk IV is Faulcon deLacy's development of the famous Cobra MkIII. It's a heavier and bulkier ship than the MkIII, but packs an extra punch and its better weaponry placement makes it a more effective combat vessel. It's tougher, to improve survivability, and allows better upgrading, but...

elite-dangerous.fandom.com

 

[WrenchTheGoblin]

While I understand your pain the problem i simple: the power distributor can’t sustain that amount of firepower. Mind you, if the two small could be converted to mediums.

the solution for you could be to learn to master railguns or plasma accelerators.
Fragment cannons (when upgraded) are devastating inside their optimal range.
There is a huge learning curve though

I’ll see about mastering the rail guns / plasma accelerators. If it’s something I can do to keep flying the Cobra, I’ll do it

I think hardpoints are a function of the basic structural construction of the ship. They're literally strong points in the hull of the ship that can bear the different directional energies required by the weaponry, without damaging stress or weaknesses being introduced. In Traveller, the game Elite was originally based on, there is a limit to the number of hardpoints (and class of weapons) based on the (unvarying) hull tonnage of that model of ship. To "engineer" them would require your ship to be redesigned and rebuilt from first principles. Might as well just buy the next ship size up from that manufacturer and modify that.

I guess that makes some sense. Although you might consider that in our modern world, we mount things to sturdy points all the time in construction and, in the absence of that, we create sturdy points in places we want them by dispersing weight and force across an area.

For example, we might be able to use sturdy points on the top to disperse weight to areas that aren’t sturdy, by bracing against ones that are. I drew a small diagram that I’ll try to upload when I get home from work that shows how this might be possible on the Cobra Mk III

Cobra Mk IV

The Cobra Mk IV is Faulcon deLacy's development of the famous Cobra MkIII. It's a heavier and bulkier ship than the MkIII, but packs an extra punch and its better weaponry placement makes it a more effective combat vessel. It's tougher, to improve survivability, and allows better upgrading, but...

elite-dangerous.fandom.com

I might give the Mk IV a try if I could, but I wasn’t lucky enough to have played when this was made available.

 

[Para Handy]

.....

I might give the Mk IV a try if I could, but I wasn’t lucky enough to have played when this was made available.

I was only teasing, sorry.

BTW - The Quattro could benefit greatly from having another utility slot, both it and its little cousin could do with one up-top.