I thought I'd start a thread to allow Asp Scout commanders to post some of their builds and uses for the Asp Scout. I searched and couldn't find a thread dedicated to Asp Scout pilots since the forum switch that didn't turn into a debate of what it isn't. I welcome all the naysayers as well but hopefully this thread can help shed light on what the ship is capable of with some love.
My journey to the Scout was purely by chance. I progressed from my sidewinder, to the cobra and stayed there for a while until i could afford an Asp Explorer. Took her out to a neutron star without a rebuy and immediately lost the ship after getting stuck in the exclusion zone. This was sometime right after the Asp Scout internals buff. I decided to give the 'discount asp' a try and fell in love with the ship. It has since earned my first half billion. While i have a fleet of dedicated ships for specific roles the Asp Scout is my workhorse. Its my mission runner, my bounty hunter and my combat ship.
The Collector
My go to role for the ship is collector and general mission runner:
s.orbis.zone
Hull
Lightweight Reactive Surface Composite with Deep plating is standard. The one interchangeable piece here is the HRP which can be either fitted with whats shown or replaced with a Class 3 Thermal Resistance HRP. In this build I've elected for increased absolute hull points.
Power and Drives
The PP is G4 Low Emission monstered. G5 produces too little power for a flexible build and I've been forced to engineer a second G3 Low Emission to handle some other unique setups. The G5 dirty drives are fitted with thermal spread to take a bit of the edge off of my heat. This allows my signature to stay under 20% in most cases with shields and booster online while still at full throttle. Otherwise with drag drives my heat settles around 22%. When I need to smuggle and make sure i'm under threshold the shields, booster, FSD, power distributer, cargo hatch and limpets go offline and I sneak into stations with a 16% heat signature.
NPC's, even elite ones, don't seem to over engineer their drives so i've found that none can maintain a speed of greater than 320 m/s. This puts the asp scout right at the edge for being faster than anything that can chase it in PvE. roughly speaking in terms of straight line speed against a G5 DD PvP build the biggest threats to the scout are medium ships that can fly faster: the python, krait, chieftan, FDL, mamba, asp explorer, DBX and clipper (notice its faster than all of the federal ships thought the FAS does have better top boost). because of its superior agility (only the sidewinder, eagle and vulture are better) it can be 'faster' by turning into an opponent gaining distance while its opponent lumbers in turn. because of this the python, aspX and DBX cease to be threats who can dictate a fight which leaves the Krait, FDL, Chieftan and Mamba as its main threats. The deadliest ships in the game in my opinion. Regardless, in PvE you will be able to dictate every battle.
The FSD
This changes depending on the mission. Normal mission running will see a G5 shielded double braced FSD fitted, replaced with a long range unit when i need to shovel across the bubble quick or explore.
Additional Core Internals
PD is what you expect. Charge enhanced on a wonderful Class 4 PD. I've played around with weapon enhanced to great effect but I love the perma boost charge enhanced offers. The life support is A rated since this build is unable to maintain life support, thrusters and FSD under 40%.
Lastly a scout needs to see, so the long range class 4 sensors give me visibility up to 12km out.
Optional Internals
The staples of this build are the 4C thermal resist bi weave, 3D guardian shield reinforcement, 3D HRP and 2D MRP. The rest are replaceable depending on the mission.
Hardpoints
This changes quite a bit but is driven by the need for high engine pips to maintain the ships superior agility. Because of this kinetic weapons dominate my weapon builds coupled well placed overcharged laser/absolute weaponry to take advantage of the Class 4 PD.
What I'm looking for here is the ability to engage any opponent and present a threat. I keep a bounty with the empire, always have valuable cargo and are typically running several missions. So my targets are primarily small dangerous+ bounty hunters and dangerous+ medium/large ships as mission targets. Elite Vipers are my nemesis because of their zoom and boom and never flying in a straight line. Because of this I've recently settled on 2 overcharged fixed small beams, which is like having a single efficient or G1 overcharged class 3 beam laser and 2 short range medium cannons with auto loader. strip shields, then target the power plant. when i'm against a large elite conda i can typically widdle it down but i mostly bait them into high sec systems to have them face a crowd. often a bounty hunter will drop in while i'm fighting a pirate and they go at each other which also helps.
some other loadouts i've had fun with are...
(M)2xMCs gimballed short range w/ corrosion & incendiary + (S)2xSeekers high cap w/ drag & overload
4xMCs short range w/ various effects
4xCannons short range
(M)PA overcharged + (M)Packhounds high cap w/ drag + (S)2xBeam fixed overcharged w/ thermal vent
(M)2xPackhounds high cap w/ overload + (S)2xSeekers high cap w/ drag & overload (fun but expensive and requires a lot of synth).
As you may be able to tell my fighstyle is close range dog fighting. This is where the scout excels. Basically, fly it like a vulture. In PvE if the target gains distance i close the gap. In PvP if the target gains distance i disengage and jump out as its unlikely i'll be able to close as easy.
Utilities
This changes but since i don't immediately run when shields drop the PD is standard against pesky NPC missiles as well as hatch breaker attempts. if i'm in a heavy human trafficked area i may replace the booster with chaff but i use the ships agility to dodge fire as best i can. large ships with gimballed cant keep a bead on me on and small ships with gimballed aren't strong enough to be an immediate threat. medium combat ships are the scouts biggest threat. no surprise. the FDL hurts all!
***
With only keeping 32 tons of cargo space its important to maximize the profit of the cargo i can carry. Black Box missions with allied factions fit this bill nicely. In peak circumstance 8 BB missions at ~3 million per mission with several mission targets of 4 foes each at typically 350,000 - 500,000cr per kill (i always get at least 1 set after me and typically 2 with being a deadly pilot), plus local bounty rewards turns a tidy profit - about 25 million per run. Add on top of that some scan missions for allied factions at 2 million per and some liberation missions and I can flip 30 - 40 million per hour. not top honors but nothing to sneeze at either. Two max runs can easily fund a Python with some module upgrades.
When I don't have valuable aid cargo to fetch I fill the hold with LTD's and AI Relics. The Scout does well here. Without an interdictor i tail my targets until they drop and i follow their wake signals in. i don't bother trying to disable them choosing to immediately send a hatch breaker, good for up to 10 tons. collect then move on to the next. Elite couriers are my other target for the AI relics. security of the system doesn't matter and the high sec systems are best fun.
I'll share a little trick - you can scoop cargo at speeds of up to 120 m/s with targeted limpet collection. So if you plunder a ship in a high sec system just boost around to keep security chasing. target a canister, boost towards it, fire a limpet, as you get close throttle down and open your cargo hatch this should take you to around 100m/s and dropping. collect, close the hatch, boost out and target the next canister. I've gotten good collecting 10 tons of AI Relics with 3 cops and the transport ship firing at me. It takes practice, but if you don't fire back you are likely only to face a few competent or expert cops in small ships and should be able to handle it. if your shields drop don't run, you have another 1300 hit points to soak up and an MRP to protect modules. I will fly this mission in a 4/2/0 pip configuration.
The Fighter
s.orbis.zone
The Asp Scout is a capable fighter as well. Similar to the vulture in speed and agility. Not like the lumbering wastes of space you find the NPCs flying. To reach its full potential you need to keep at least 3 pips in engines and preferably 4 - since unlike the vulture the asp scout is heavily dependent on pips in engines to maintain its agility - and be in constant motion boosting with lateral thrusters as much as possible. This restriction dictates your combat build. Please don't look at how an NPC chooses to fly this ship and think that is its ceiling. NPC's make every ships look bad.
what it lacks in shield strength it makes up for in armor. this little ship has survived many high intensity CZ's with ease.
The Build
the low emission power plant is replaced with an armored variant and the optional internals are filled with more HRPs and a class 5 SCB. I've dabbled with an all HRP build but i've found a flight style that is very survivable in war zones so i've drifted toward a more balanced defense. my role is to gang up on large targets with the beams to help take down their shields then target power plants on any unshielded large targets or take out their engines then target their plant. with small targets i take out engines then pick them off as they drift helplessly. works great with enemy correspondence ships. 2 medium G5 short range cannons will destroy a power plant on a large ship in no more than 5 well placed hits and can typically take out engines on small/medium ships with 2 hits.
The Explorer
s.orbis.zone
Yes. It can explore also.
So give it a spin. You may be surprised at how fun and capable this little ship is. If you are worried about investing in useless engineering know that only the armor is non-transferable. The Thrusters, FSD and Power Plant fit a host of common ships including the cobra and the PD fits the Asp Explorer, DBX and Type 7.
If there was only one thing I could add to this ship it would be the front Utility mount to give it 3. It is the only ship over a million credits with only two utility mounts. This and a drop in price by a million may be all that is required.
link to previous discussion thread: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/discussion-for-asp-scout-lovers.280600/
Fly Dangerous CMDRS
o7
My journey to the Scout was purely by chance. I progressed from my sidewinder, to the cobra and stayed there for a while until i could afford an Asp Explorer. Took her out to a neutron star without a rebuy and immediately lost the ship after getting stuck in the exclusion zone. This was sometime right after the Asp Scout internals buff. I decided to give the 'discount asp' a try and fell in love with the ship. It has since earned my first half billion. While i have a fleet of dedicated ships for specific roles the Asp Scout is my workhorse. Its my mission runner, my bounty hunter and my combat ship.
The Collector
My go to role for the ship is collector and general mission runner:
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
s.orbis.zone
Hull
Lightweight Reactive Surface Composite with Deep plating is standard. The one interchangeable piece here is the HRP which can be either fitted with whats shown or replaced with a Class 3 Thermal Resistance HRP. In this build I've elected for increased absolute hull points.
Power and Drives
The PP is G4 Low Emission monstered. G5 produces too little power for a flexible build and I've been forced to engineer a second G3 Low Emission to handle some other unique setups. The G5 dirty drives are fitted with thermal spread to take a bit of the edge off of my heat. This allows my signature to stay under 20% in most cases with shields and booster online while still at full throttle. Otherwise with drag drives my heat settles around 22%. When I need to smuggle and make sure i'm under threshold the shields, booster, FSD, power distributer, cargo hatch and limpets go offline and I sneak into stations with a 16% heat signature.
NPC's, even elite ones, don't seem to over engineer their drives so i've found that none can maintain a speed of greater than 320 m/s. This puts the asp scout right at the edge for being faster than anything that can chase it in PvE. roughly speaking in terms of straight line speed against a G5 DD PvP build the biggest threats to the scout are medium ships that can fly faster: the python, krait, chieftan, FDL, mamba, asp explorer, DBX and clipper (notice its faster than all of the federal ships thought the FAS does have better top boost). because of its superior agility (only the sidewinder, eagle and vulture are better) it can be 'faster' by turning into an opponent gaining distance while its opponent lumbers in turn. because of this the python, aspX and DBX cease to be threats who can dictate a fight which leaves the Krait, FDL, Chieftan and Mamba as its main threats. The deadliest ships in the game in my opinion. Regardless, in PvE you will be able to dictate every battle.
Side Note: one of the most nimble ships in super cruise. its greatest defense in open is its ability to fend off interdictions. its speed and fire power deficiencies against monster PvP builds becomes moot if they cant win interdiction. and because its so nimble in SC its hard to get behind an aware Asp Scout pilot in the first place.
The FSD
This changes depending on the mission. Normal mission running will see a G5 shielded double braced FSD fitted, replaced with a long range unit when i need to shovel across the bubble quick or explore.
Additional Core Internals
PD is what you expect. Charge enhanced on a wonderful Class 4 PD. I've played around with weapon enhanced to great effect but I love the perma boost charge enhanced offers. The life support is A rated since this build is unable to maintain life support, thrusters and FSD under 40%.
Lastly a scout needs to see, so the long range class 4 sensors give me visibility up to 12km out.
Optional Internals
The staples of this build are the 4C thermal resist bi weave, 3D guardian shield reinforcement, 3D HRP and 2D MRP. The rest are replaceable depending on the mission.
Hardpoints
This changes quite a bit but is driven by the need for high engine pips to maintain the ships superior agility. Because of this kinetic weapons dominate my weapon builds coupled well placed overcharged laser/absolute weaponry to take advantage of the Class 4 PD.
What I'm looking for here is the ability to engage any opponent and present a threat. I keep a bounty with the empire, always have valuable cargo and are typically running several missions. So my targets are primarily small dangerous+ bounty hunters and dangerous+ medium/large ships as mission targets. Elite Vipers are my nemesis because of their zoom and boom and never flying in a straight line. Because of this I've recently settled on 2 overcharged fixed small beams, which is like having a single efficient or G1 overcharged class 3 beam laser and 2 short range medium cannons with auto loader. strip shields, then target the power plant. when i'm against a large elite conda i can typically widdle it down but i mostly bait them into high sec systems to have them face a crowd. often a bounty hunter will drop in while i'm fighting a pirate and they go at each other which also helps.
some other loadouts i've had fun with are...
(M)2xMCs gimballed short range w/ corrosion & incendiary + (S)2xSeekers high cap w/ drag & overload
4xMCs short range w/ various effects
4xCannons short range
(M)PA overcharged + (M)Packhounds high cap w/ drag + (S)2xBeam fixed overcharged w/ thermal vent
(M)2xPackhounds high cap w/ overload + (S)2xSeekers high cap w/ drag & overload (fun but expensive and requires a lot of synth).
As you may be able to tell my fighstyle is close range dog fighting. This is where the scout excels. Basically, fly it like a vulture. In PvE if the target gains distance i close the gap. In PvP if the target gains distance i disengage and jump out as its unlikely i'll be able to close as easy.
Utilities
This changes but since i don't immediately run when shields drop the PD is standard against pesky NPC missiles as well as hatch breaker attempts. if i'm in a heavy human trafficked area i may replace the booster with chaff but i use the ships agility to dodge fire as best i can. large ships with gimballed cant keep a bead on me on and small ships with gimballed aren't strong enough to be an immediate threat. medium combat ships are the scouts biggest threat. no surprise. the FDL hurts all!
***
With only keeping 32 tons of cargo space its important to maximize the profit of the cargo i can carry. Black Box missions with allied factions fit this bill nicely. In peak circumstance 8 BB missions at ~3 million per mission with several mission targets of 4 foes each at typically 350,000 - 500,000cr per kill (i always get at least 1 set after me and typically 2 with being a deadly pilot), plus local bounty rewards turns a tidy profit - about 25 million per run. Add on top of that some scan missions for allied factions at 2 million per and some liberation missions and I can flip 30 - 40 million per hour. not top honors but nothing to sneeze at either. Two max runs can easily fund a Python with some module upgrades.
When I don't have valuable aid cargo to fetch I fill the hold with LTD's and AI Relics. The Scout does well here. Without an interdictor i tail my targets until they drop and i follow their wake signals in. i don't bother trying to disable them choosing to immediately send a hatch breaker, good for up to 10 tons. collect then move on to the next. Elite couriers are my other target for the AI relics. security of the system doesn't matter and the high sec systems are best fun.
I'll share a little trick - you can scoop cargo at speeds of up to 120 m/s with targeted limpet collection. So if you plunder a ship in a high sec system just boost around to keep security chasing. target a canister, boost towards it, fire a limpet, as you get close throttle down and open your cargo hatch this should take you to around 100m/s and dropping. collect, close the hatch, boost out and target the next canister. I've gotten good collecting 10 tons of AI Relics with 3 cops and the transport ship firing at me. It takes practice, but if you don't fire back you are likely only to face a few competent or expert cops in small ships and should be able to handle it. if your shields drop don't run, you have another 1300 hit points to soak up and an MRP to protect modules. I will fly this mission in a 4/2/0 pip configuration.
The Fighter
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
s.orbis.zone
The Asp Scout is a capable fighter as well. Similar to the vulture in speed and agility. Not like the lumbering wastes of space you find the NPCs flying. To reach its full potential you need to keep at least 3 pips in engines and preferably 4 - since unlike the vulture the asp scout is heavily dependent on pips in engines to maintain its agility - and be in constant motion boosting with lateral thrusters as much as possible. This restriction dictates your combat build. Please don't look at how an NPC chooses to fly this ship and think that is its ceiling. NPC's make every ships look bad.
what it lacks in shield strength it makes up for in armor. this little ship has survived many high intensity CZ's with ease.
The Build
the low emission power plant is replaced with an armored variant and the optional internals are filled with more HRPs and a class 5 SCB. I've dabbled with an all HRP build but i've found a flight style that is very survivable in war zones so i've drifted toward a more balanced defense. my role is to gang up on large targets with the beams to help take down their shields then target power plants on any unshielded large targets or take out their engines then target their plant. with small targets i take out engines then pick them off as they drift helplessly. works great with enemy correspondence ships. 2 medium G5 short range cannons will destroy a power plant on a large ship in no more than 5 well placed hits and can typically take out engines on small/medium ships with 2 hits.
The Explorer
Coriolis EDCD Edition
A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous
s.orbis.zone
Yes. It can explore also.
So give it a spin. You may be surprised at how fun and capable this little ship is. If you are worried about investing in useless engineering know that only the armor is non-transferable. The Thrusters, FSD and Power Plant fit a host of common ships including the cobra and the PD fits the Asp Explorer, DBX and Type 7.
If there was only one thing I could add to this ship it would be the front Utility mount to give it 3. It is the only ship over a million credits with only two utility mounts. This and a drop in price by a million may be all that is required.
link to previous discussion thread: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/discussion-for-asp-scout-lovers.280600/
Fly Dangerous CMDRS
o7
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