Ships AX Challenger?

Kayvan

Kayvan
I've been wondering if the Challenger might conduct itself better in AX combat than commonly given credit for.
Of course it has some downsides: it's not as agile as the Chieftain, and doesn't have the PP/PD of a Crate [sic]. Some time last year I build a Chally for mat-farming in RESs, the idea being to carry a lot of limpets to collect the drops. However, I didn't find a weapon setup I was genuinely happy with, so now the hull is sitting in a hangar, cannibalized.

But maybe the Challenger would be suitable for AX instances; especially ground sites. You could pack 1 large AX MC to deal with scouts, and 3 medium Gauss to go at ceptors. Use the smols for TV beams.

However, most of the ship's internal capacity lies in 2 size 6 compartments, which is less than ideal for hull or module reinforcements. So I've been wondering... maybe make it a shield tank, after all?
The idea would be to use one class 6 for the shield generator, and the other just for limpets, which you'd use for repair and decontamination of the inevitable caustic damage.

.Has this been done? What are your experiences? Anyone got a build to share?
 

GroG79

G
Everything has been done/tried/tested.. The problem is that the chieftain is just better at killing Thargoids. Interceptors to be precise.
Having a SLF bay that you do not use is a disadvantage
 

tolm

tolm
I wondered the same since the higher number of medium slots allows for “more” AX firepower.

However, I’ve ended up with a Krait MkII, FAS and Viper MkIV as my AX ships. In many ways, the Viper is probably my favourite but it doesn’t last long!!
 

Northpin

Northpin
You can fly whatever you like.
I've even seen people in Vipers in AX CZ.

Challenger has more hardpoints (3+3+1), Chief has less (3+1+2)
Challenger has 10 optional internals, Chief has 9 - which means the Challenger can be way more defensive or fit repair limpets with less defensive penalty than the Chief/
Challenger is slower (which makes it less suited to kill Basilisks) and less maneuverable (which makes it a more stable fixed weapon platform, but this doesnt matter for AX Pros)
Chief is faster and more maneuverable and because of that is usually preferred for Solo interceptor combat

For AX CZ, in a player rich open environment, you can basically fly anything and rely on heatsinks and well timed boosts to shake the interceptor or the swarm attention
However, when there are not enough players around, you'll be getting attention a lot more often.


My personal preference is either:
  • the shieldless cold build Krait MK2 (for the bigger pp/pd, perma boost with 2 PIPS in Eng, the hardpoints size and placement, and the more flexible internals)
  • or the Cutter with 8C bi-weaves and size 7 ULC and 2x size 6SCB.
 
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