Either make it less expensive or give it the full amount of hardpoints of the AspX.
Analyzing the Asp Scout - Why does it have it's WEIRD stats.
- Thread starter Snarfbuckle
- Start date
Either make it less expensive or give it the full amount of hardpoints of the AspX.
Or give it around 50m/s more speed.
Giving it 50 more speed would make it faster than the Cobra MkIII and i do not think it should be that.
The Asp Scout is not a bad little ship, it just has the wrong price.
A lot of Commanders, when they're looking to make their first big ship purchase out of a Sidewinder or Eagle, are looking for something that they can do a little bit of everything with, light bounty hunting, cargo hauling, exploration, mining, etc, until they figure out what they like most and then buy a specialized ship for it. I was one of those. I call these type of ships Light Multipurpose, and I looked at the Cobra Mk III, the Viper Mk IV, and the Asp Scout. I ended up trying to decide between the Viper and Cobra, and settled on the Cobra because I was uninterested in the Viper's better combat skills and the Cobra was cheaper.
So this is the comparison I made, using a light multipurpose build focused toward long distance trading and beginner's level exploration, with the ability to dogfight my way out of an interdiction.
Cobra Mk III
Viper Mk IV
Asp Scout
Some things that stand out comparing the three in this type of build:
-The Cobra is the fastest in a straight line, and the cheapest.
-The Viper is the best armored and shielded, but is the least maneuverable
-The Asp was double the cargo space of the other two, is the slowest but most maneuverable, is better armored and shielded than the Cobra, and has the highest unladen jumprange of the three.
Now here's the problem. The entry price of the three is:
-Cobra Mk III: 349,720 cr
-Viper Mk IV: 437,930 cr
-Asp Scout: 3,961,150 cr!!!
So when I was looking at these ships, the only thing that deterred me from the Scout was the price tag. When my funds would be at that point, I'd be seriously considering moving on to a Diamondback Explorer, or saving up the funds to upgrade to an Asp Explorer. So to sum up, the only thing wrong with the Asp Scout is the price tag. If it was more competitively priced, I think it could give the Cobra III and Viper IV a little competition.
A lot of Commanders, when they're looking to make their first big ship purchase out of a Sidewinder or Eagle, are looking for something that they can do a little bit of everything with, light bounty hunting, cargo hauling, exploration, mining, etc, until they figure out what they like most and then buy a specialized ship for it. I was one of those. I call these type of ships Light Multipurpose, and I looked at the Cobra Mk III, the Viper Mk IV, and the Asp Scout. I ended up trying to decide between the Viper and Cobra, and settled on the Cobra because I was uninterested in the Viper's better combat skills and the Cobra was cheaper.
So this is the comparison I made, using a light multipurpose build focused toward long distance trading and beginner's level exploration, with the ability to dogfight my way out of an interdiction.
Cobra Mk III
Viper Mk IV
Asp Scout
Some things that stand out comparing the three in this type of build:
-The Cobra is the fastest in a straight line, and the cheapest.
-The Viper is the best armored and shielded, but is the least maneuverable
-The Asp was double the cargo space of the other two, is the slowest but most maneuverable, is better armored and shielded than the Cobra, and has the highest unladen jumprange of the three.
Now here's the problem. The entry price of the three is:
-Cobra Mk III: 349,720 cr
-Viper Mk IV: 437,930 cr
-Asp Scout: 3,961,150 cr!!!
So when I was looking at these ships, the only thing that deterred me from the Scout was the price tag. When my funds would be at that point, I'd be seriously considering moving on to a Diamondback Explorer, or saving up the funds to upgrade to an Asp Explorer. So to sum up, the only thing wrong with the Asp Scout is the price tag. If it was more competitively priced, I think it could give the Cobra III and Viper IV a little competition.
True fans of the Asp Scout know the Distributor is main character of this story. The reasons it wipes the floor with the Cobra and other 2med/2sm setups are the already mentioned maneuverability along WITH the Size 4 distributor. The CM4 has an extra small hardpoint and still packs a Size 3.
The distributor gives the Asp Scout its girth.
The distributor gives the Asp Scout its girth.
Why not?
It's 30t lighter than a Cobra 3 and uses the same thrusters and PP.
Seems like it should, logically, be faster than a Cobra.
The only reason it isn't would seem to be because FDev have applied some kind of fiddle-factor to nerf it.
Course, if somebody has a good reason why a lighter ship should be slower than a heavier one which uses the same thrusters, I'd love to hear it. [blah]
Nobody is going to give you one that gets us there. It doesn't add up. Put on military grade for both, and extra weight for sensors and distributor and you make up the 30, but not nearly enough to explain the 50 speed 
Maybe internals mass vs hull mass would impact thrust, who knows.
Maybe internals mass vs hull mass would impact thrust, who knows.
TBH I'd like to see the ASP-S hardpoints changed to 6 smalls!
I quite the like the ship. It is more flexible that the cobra III and with the class 4 PD, hardness and cool running it does have some really good points. The agility for me is great as I fly FA-off all the time so drift isn't an issue.
I quite the like the ship. It is more flexible that the cobra III and with the class 4 PD, hardness and cool running it does have some really good points. The agility for me is great as I fly FA-off all the time so drift isn't an issue.
![[VR] Deggial](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/47/47252.jpg?1553527110){kind=avatar}
I never owned one, due to all the better suited ships mentioned in this thread.
But I always wanted to try out every ship in the game and now I've bought and (halve-way) outfitted an Asp Scout as my "Light Thargoid-Interaction-Ship".
- The large jump range was one reason for this idea, as I expect the hotspot outside the bubble.
- The class 4 PD was another reason for it, as I wanted to stick to energy weapons (few restock possibilities out there). They will obviously be replaced with dedicated anti-Thargoid weapons when available.
- A class 4 Prismatic Shield leaves room for a class 5 fuel scoop - even faster traveling!
- The class 3 SCB doesn't refill the shield at all, but what can you do?
- I could use a second SCB, but the second class 3 compartment is occupied by an AFMU. It might be needed out there.
- Reinforced Alloy is a compromise between jump-range and protection and will be engineered as soon as somebody finds out how to temper bulkheads against caustic damage.
It's not a heavy damage dealer, but I'll see how well he does - and if he doesen't, at least the rebuy is cheap!
But I always wanted to try out every ship in the game and now I've bought and (halve-way) outfitted an Asp Scout as my "Light Thargoid-Interaction-Ship".
- The large jump range was one reason for this idea, as I expect the hotspot outside the bubble.
- The class 4 PD was another reason for it, as I wanted to stick to energy weapons (few restock possibilities out there). They will obviously be replaced with dedicated anti-Thargoid weapons when available.
- A class 4 Prismatic Shield leaves room for a class 5 fuel scoop - even faster traveling!
- The class 3 SCB doesn't refill the shield at all, but what can you do?
- I could use a second SCB, but the second class 3 compartment is occupied by an AFMU. It might be needed out there.
- Reinforced Alloy is a compromise between jump-range and protection and will be engineered as soon as somebody finds out how to temper bulkheads against caustic damage.
It's not a heavy damage dealer, but I'll see how well he does - and if he doesen't, at least the rebuy is cheap!
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But I always wanted to try out every ship in the game and now I've bought and (halve-way) outfitted an Asp Scout as my "Light Thargoid-Interaction-Ship".
- The large jump range was one reason for this idea, as I expect the hotspot outside the bubble.
- The class 4 PD was another reason for it, as I wanted to stick to energy weapons (few restock possibilities out there). They will obviously be replaced with dedicated anti-Thargoid weapons when available.
- A class 4 Prismatic Shield leaves room for a class 5 fuel scoop - even faster traveling!
- The class 3 SCB doesn't refill the shield at all, but what shall you do?
- I could use a second SCB, but the second class 3 compartment is used for an AFMU. It might be needed out there.
- Reinforced Alloy is a compromise between jump-range and protection and will be engineered as soon as somebody finds out how to temper bulkheads against caustic damage.
It's not a heavy damage dealer, but I'll see how well he does - and if he doesen't, at least the rebuy is cheap!
I know I keep saying the same thing but I reckon another ship worthy of comparing the AspS to is the DBX.
Most people seem to regard the DBX quite highly - and it is a useful, tough, little ship - but the AspS is better at pretty-much everything an up-armored DBX can do.
The only time the DBX does better is if you're stripping it down for jump-range, to use as a bubble-hopper or explorer.
Again, the only problem is the AspS costs a lot more so most people will have already bought a DBX and put that to work doing any job the AspS might be good at.
I used to use a DBX as my scavenger ship and it was okayish at that but, for the times when you dive into a USS and get attacked, the AspS is much better.
With her mass a C4 shield is all you need, you're already below opt. mass.
You'd rather hull tank anyways and want as low power usage as possible to keep heat low, Bi-Weaves are the better option imo.
[Asp Scout Mass: around 220t - 275t (with fuel and cargo)]
[C4 shields: Mass 143/285/713t]
You'd rather hull tank anyways and want as low power usage as possible to keep heat low, Bi-Weaves are the better option imo.
[Asp Scout Mass: around 220t - 275t (with fuel and cargo)]
[C4 shields: Mass 143/285/713t]
But ... but ... I've just spend 4 weeks in the service of the blue haired lady to get my hands on these prismatic wonders!
But yea, power is an issue!
Initially, I used bi-waved shields and everything was fine (power-wise). With the Prismatic shield, I had to engineer my PP, which somehow counters the idea of low-heat. Maybe I should take a step back and limit myself to standard shields; thanks for the advice!
Bi-waves, I am not a friend of. With the new introduction of the reboot-effect on shields, they've lost their main attraction a little bit. And honestly, I want as much protection when facing the 'goids as I can get (Caveat: meduim bulkheads. Bad enough - but shields are even more important now!)
--
Edit: Oh, and the ship is named "Tyr", after the Germanic god of fight and victory. Possibly a bit optimistic, but maybe it helps ...
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To me the issue with is is really that there is no role at all that I can identify in the game for a 'scout' ship that can't be performed equally well or better by even a basic exploration ship. Perhaps if people could define what they mean by 'a scout' it would help; I mean I know what a scout aircraft is supposed to do IRL but there is no gameplay at all in E D that maps to that.
Asp Scout really suffers from having only 2 utility mounts, when both Diamondbacks have 4 and even Keelback and Type 6 have 3. IMO it needs either more speed or third utility mount to be proper upgrade to preceding ships. Or additional small hard point.
Shield strength doesn't care about your fuel and cargo, only about your hull mass, which is 150 in Asp Scout.
Shield strength doesn't care about your fuel and cargo, only about your hull mass, which is 150 in Asp Scout.
In my opinion, a scout should be a little bit more combat orientated than an explorer. It's a military role after all, and even if he shouldn't seek confrontation, he might not be able to avoid it.
The poroposals regarding hard points in this thread therefore seem to be reasonable, imo.
At least, as a theoretical idea. I can't see FDev changing the whole 3D model to implement them, even if they would agree with it.
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Yep,
I think I mentioned that in this thread (or perhaps another one).
Surely it couldn't be that hard to modify some of the current missions (scan missions, item recovery missions etc) to include elements which would favour a "scout" ship?
The main hurdle would be that the game probably doesn't have any specific way to mark "scout ships" as being especially suited to any specific job though.
Perhaps it'd be as simple as adding a "stealth" variable to the ship stat's?
Give the AspS and DBS a high "stealth" rating and they immediately become the go-to ship for any mission where being scanned is an insta-fail.
Or - and here my long-term crusade gets triggered (sorry for that!
) - there could be some new, ship specific modules introduced.In this case: a special scanner, limited to "Scout" ships, that is able to detect otherwise undetectable information. Don't ask me what exactly... maybe hacking board computers, detecting jump-in signatures and find out where ships come from (instead of where they go). Or simply a tool necessary to fulfill the special scout missions without any further explenation. ANYTHING that makes the scouts unique and special in comparison to other ships. (But still optional to outfit, if not desired by the pilot due to other role ideas.)
Except they do not have to change the AspS 3d model to implement them.
While not the exact position of the AspX small mounts it already have 2 more hatches that could hold small mounts.
This is pretty much what I see the role as in most games - essentially a light combat ship primarily concerned with recon and the resulting tactical advantage that it delivers to the main force but able to fight a bit a bit if needed.
That's the entire problem though - there is no gameplay in E D for that role whatsoever, other than whatever is created by a player's own internal roleplay narrative.
If you have any chance at all of combat in whatever you're doing there is no reason not to just fly a combat ship or a combat capable multi-role. There is no recon gameplay whatsoever; the closest you can find is probably having a look at a planetary base before you land to scan it (in the SRV, not your scout ship...) and in those cases you're not going to be attacking anything in your ship so you can in fact just use an explorer build, or indeed anything else.
(Hilariously we did actually have gameplay that was literally perfect for light scout craft - clearing out the skimmers and other defences around a planetary base before landing and heading in with the SRV. It used to be good fun actually, I built a Cobra Mk4 specifically to do it. Unfortunately FDev then decided that 'play your own way' didn't apply here and 'we only want you to be able to kill these things from an SRV because reasons and no it's totally not dumb honest' and decided the way to deal with the issue was to not only make skimmers untargetable by ships (!) but also make them explode with such ferocity that they can take out the shields on an Asp and disable its thrusters, despite the fact that I can shoot one from 15m away in the SRV without a scratch.)
In space, the concept of scouting within the game as it stands is a non-starter because there is nothing to scout to begin with. You can't scout a POI without dropping into it and at that point we're back to my first line - if you have any chance at all of combat there is no reason not to fly a combat ship to begin with.
I guess that's the main reason why the Asp Scout is the least popular ship, it's basically a dog looking for a lamp post. I would really like FDev to have a look at the mess they made of air to ground combat gameplay because I was actually hoping for it to be expanded back when planetary landings first arrived, whereas FDev seem to have just gone 'Oops that was a mistake' and deleted it.
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