Ships Anyone have a Hybrid Armor/Shield Tank Chieftain build?

Shadowscream

S
Hi,
I’m looking for a Chieftain build for PvE that focuses on Armor/Resists but also has passable shields (Hybrid). Has anyone got a build to share please?

Engineers available = Martuuk, Farseer, Mcquinn, The Dweller, Qwent, Lei Cheung, Vatermann, Selene.
(so limited to G3 Thrusters, G4 PP and missing some weapon & utility upgrades)

Thanks
🙂
 

Ceekay

Ceekay
Try this https://s.orbis.zone/d8em up the hull to mil grade as I assume you won't have the Guardian stuff and add a few SCB's to prop up the shields, the beam/MC weapon array might not be as cool as PA's and rails but it gets the job done and keeps within the ships power and PD limitations.
 

Kayvan

Kayvan
You've come to the right place, Commander ^^

The Chief is my favourite ship bar none, so I experimented a lot with different setups. I'm sure we can find something for you.
I suppose credits are not an issue? Do you use a docking computer? Do you have any preferences for the weapons? (gimballed, fixed, plasmas, MC...)

Basics:
  • Reactive Armour; I use Lightweight mod / Deep Plating. Heavy Duty would ofc give more hull points and the agility loss is small; so also a good option. Add the smallest possible HRP (so class 1 or 2) with Thermal Resist / Angled Plating
  • we'll have to keep an eye on the power demand; at first you're gonna need an OC power plant but G4 should be more than enough. Never overcharge more than necessary because it increases your heat.
  • shields: Bi-Weaves Themal resist + 4 shield boosters, 1 Heavy Duty, 3 Resistance Augmented -> gets you to around 700. No SCBs.
  • thrusters: always Dirty Drag Drives. Being limited to G3 rather than G5 will probably be the biggest liability of this build, but better than nothing.

Weapons:
  • my newbie starter setup was 2 large MCs, rest lasers.
  • a bit later I switched to large Focused PAs with Plasma Slugs; easiest to aim and practically unlimited ammo
  • my current setup is probably out of your reach right now as I use Pacifier Frags.

So here's the basic outline:

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
s.orbis.zone s.orbis.zone

I left the 2 large slots blank for now but I tested it, you have enough power for anything including Plasma Accelerators.
The small corrosive MC will give you and all your allies a free damage boost of 25% or more (depending on their weapons)
Personally I use a small railgun with Feedback Cascade, you can swap that in for one of the lasers if you want (but watch the power)
 
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Shadowscream

S
Kayvan said:
You've come to the right place, Commander ^^

The Chief is my favourite ship bar none, so I experimented a lot with different setups. I'm sure we can find something for you.
I suppose credits are not an issue? Do you use a docking computer? Do you have any preferences for the weapons? (gimballed, fixed, plasmas, MC...)

Basics:
  • Reactive Armour; I use Lightweight mod / Deep Plating. Heavy Duty would ofc give more hull points and the agility loss is small; so also a good option. Add the smallest possible HRP (so class 1 or 2) with Thermal Resist / Angled Plating
  • we'll have to keep an eye on the power demand; at first you're gonna need an OC power plant but G4 should be more than enough. Never overcharge more than necessary because it increases your heat.
  • shields: Bi-Weaves Themal resist + 4 shield boosters, 1 Heavy Duty, 3 Resistance Augmented -> gets you to around 700. No SCBs.
  • thrusters: always Dirty Drag Drives. Being limited to G3 rather than G5 will probably be the biggest liability of this build, but better than nothing.

Weapons:
  • my newbie starter setup was 2 large MCs, rest lasers.
  • a bit later I switched to large Focused PAs with Plasma Slugs; easiest to aim and practically unlimited ammo
  • my current setup is probably out of your reach right now as I use Pacifier Frags.

So here's the basic outline:

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
s.orbis.zone s.orbis.zone

I left the 2 large slots blank for now but I tested it, you have enough power for anything including Plasma Accelerators.
The small corrosive MC will give you and all your allies a free damage boost of 25% or more (depending on their weapons)
Personally I use a small railgun with Feedback Cascade, you can swap that in for one of the lasers if you want (but watch the power)
Click to expand...
Don’t use docking computer......credits = 160m
What about ditching Lasers and going MCs + Rails? with Incendiary and Corrosive?
 

Kayvan

Kayvan
Hmmmh, ofc technically you can. You just need to make sure you have enough effectivity vs regular hulls (which are thermal-resistant and kinetic-vulnerable). Incendiary MCs are mostly thermal, railguns are mostly thermal (but ofc do module damage) - I'd balance that out with some kinetic or absolute damage.
If you're good at short ranges -- i.e. getting close to an enemy and sticking there, preferably in his blind spot -- then Frags are also an excellent option. I've tried regular (gimballed) Frags for a while before I got the Pacs, and yeah they are fun. ;)

As for @Ceekay's build, I don't like that weapon layout at all -- if anything I'd assign the lasers and MCs exactly the other way round. Small MCs that aren't incendiary (for use against shields) or carry a rider just suck imho -- they only bring 22 Piercing to the table, which means that even with the Corrosive debuff you'll lose about 1/3 of your damage output to enemy armour hardness (against any reasonable combat ship). Usually I use a single small Hi-Cap MC to apply Corrosive and that's it.

If you want MCs and Rails and no lasers, I'd probably try the following:
L: class 3 MC, OC, Auto
MM: class 2MC, OC, Incendiary
M: class 2 Rail *
SS: class 1 Rail *
S: class 1 MC, HiCap, Corrosive

So you'd use the 2 med MCs against shields, the other 2 MCs against hull, and the Rails whenever you get a clear shot.
As for the <*>, the mods for the rails should probably be discussed separately. I'd take at least 1 Feedback Cascade, then maybe 1 SuperPen, or otherwise 2 Plasma Slugs.

But that's just a first draft, haven't simulated any of it in Coriolis or EDSY.
 

Shadowscream

S
Kayvan said:
Hmmmh, ofc technically you can. You just need to make sure you have enough effectivity vs regular hulls (which are thermal-resistant and kinetic-vulnerable). Incendiary MCs are mostly thermal, railguns are mostly thermal (but ofc do module damage) - I'd balance that out with some kinetic or absolute damage.
If you're good at short ranges -- i.e. getting close to an enemy and sticking there, preferably in his blind spot -- then Frags are also an excellent option. I've tried regular (gimballed) Frags for a while before I got the Pacs, and yeah they are fun. ;)

As for @Ceekay's build, I don't like that weapon layout at all -- if anything I'd assign the lasers and MCs exactly the other way round. Small MCs that aren't incendiary (for use against shields) or carry a rider just suck imho -- they only bring 22 Piercing to the table, which means that even with the Corrosive debuff you'll lose about 1/3 of your damage output to enemy armour hardness (against any reasonable combat ship). Usually I use a single small Hi-Cap MC to apply Corrosive and that's it.

If you want MCs and Rails and no lasers, I'd probably try the following:
L: class 3 MC, OC, Auto
MM: class 2MC, OC, Incendiary
M: class 2 Rail *
SS: class 1 Rail *
S: class 1 MC, HiCap, Corrosive

So you'd use the 2 med MCs against shields, the other 2 MCs against hull, and the Rails whenever you get a clear shot.
As for the <*>, the mods for the rails should probably be discussed separately. I'd take at least 1 Feedback Cascade, then maybe 1 SuperPen, or otherwise 2 Plasma Slugs.

But that's just a first draft, haven't simulated any of it in Coriolis or EDSY.
Click to expand...
And how would you fire those weapons?
Do you fire only the Incendiary MCs until the shield is down?
Then switch fire groups & fire all MCs on 1 trigger & rails on the other

or do you just always use that 2nd fire grouping?
 

Ethaidan

Ethaidan
I disagree with the statements and advice about incendiary MCs. I use two large G5 Overcharged/Incendiary MCs on my Krait, and they rip through hills. My wingmate has four G5 Overcharged/Incendiary MCs and he melts hills in no time. We both have an Overcharged/Corrosive as well.

Edit: The only armour with any thermal resistance is Mirrored. Base armour has no resistance vs thermal, but has negative modifier vs kinetic.
 
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Kayvan

Kayvan
With this layout, I'd set up the firegroup like so:

A (vs shields): (1) 2x Incendiary MCs, (2) Rail(s) -- full auto with gimballed MCs and hammer hin some rails when you have a good shot
B (vs hull): (1) Small MC, Large MC, (2) Rail(s) -- dito. Possibly not the same rails as in FG A, depending on your mods.

I feel that with any ammo-dependent weapon, you should use it the way it works best (i.e. against shield/hull) - otherwise you're wasting ammo.
HOWEVER there are exceptions to that, especially against opponents with fast-charging shields -- then it is often necessary to go all in, or you never get them down at all.

BTW, how well or not-well a weapon performs also depends on your own combat rank, bc the spawned NPCs' levels are closely tied to your own combat rank. If you're low-level and you spawn mostly opposition that's just "Competent" or something like that, MCs work fine. When you're higher ranked and spawn more Dangerous and higher NPCs, you'll encounter heaps of Bank Tanks, against which MCs fare very poorly. In your proposed setup, it would be absolutely crucial to cancel enemy shield banks with your feedback rails, and you only have a short time window to do so.

--

@Ethaidan: well I don't know what to tell you. ^^ Incendiary cuts the RoF (and therefore DPS by ~5% and converts 90% of the damage from Kinetic to Thermal. So unless the typical enemy has Reactive Armour without Thermal reinforcements, the guns would be much more effective against hulls without the Incendiary effect. But of course, if you use enough of them they will still solve most problems. :p

Ofc the build philosophy for a Krait will be very different than for a Chieftain or Challenger. Krait has bigger PP and Distro and thus has abundant power for weapons. With a ship that has 6 hardpoints but "only" a class 6 PP and PD you have to think about how you spend your resources.
 

sinisalo

sinisalo
A week ago I could not have replied in the affirmitive, but now I can! Just built this a few days ago, beams and rails Chief

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
coriolis.io coriolis.io
 

Oytis57

Oytis57
By the way I have a Chieftain I have used in the past for Tharg Scouts it was standing motionless (and stripped) in the hangar since long so i decided to use it as a parking spot for modules and weapons leftovers from error & trials in weird experiments you know (and to clear Module space in Outfitting), well I guess it's hybrid as much as it can be and by chance i even tried it in PvE and...wow it works like a charm I was amazed :p
 
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