Can somoene comment on my Python PvE build idea?

[Troa Barton]

I used two large beams and three cannons in my PVE build.
two large beams seems to fit the capacitor just right not draining it too fast or overheating your ship.
youre also not running that power through lower class weapons that have a damage penalty.

 

[Rubbernuke]

Of course, but the top PP for the Python is 51mil by itself.

I agree though, even with the top powerplant, large beams are overly power hungry and WEP capacitor-destroying - you're better off using the C3G Pulse lasers for the C3 hardpoints.

I had this until last night, when I finally ground enough RES Anaconda's to buy the 7A Powerplant. Good (Python) bang for buck, resilient and (reasonably) agile.
http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=605,5...,2-BQ9i7_72B69s8I,7Uc50o7ig7ig15O9tk0Ko13q12G

Managing the power on this, you can run all day in a RES, with 8 shield charges as safety net; and with strong shields to begin with. Plenty of melting power and reasonable agility for around 92-97% power usage (and thats just on the 7C power plant). You can run A-class thrusters, a bit better scanners etc too if you have the budget, as well as 5A shield cells for more shield boosting power. Keep resisting the urge to fit large beams...for RES the pulses are where its at.

And, if a CMDR shows up and has a go at you, the extra armour will help. The added 28tons of weight is +210 on top of the base 260 armour, so... ~80%+ more armour, and for a lot less than the 26-tons of reinforced bulkheads (20+mil). Purists will say it slows you down, but really? 28 tons of vs a total 770+ tons of ship mass? No, just no.

Anything you don't need in Supercruise (AFM, FSD, Cargo Hatch, Interdictor, one of the cell banks), set to priority 5 so it all switches off when you drop into a RES.
Easy, and fun.

Best bang for buck still goes to the toy Vulture, but the Python is a stately lady, with teeth.

Armour is pointless PvP as most pilots target the PP and bypass armour. In this case you would have to roll and pitch to make fixed weapons miss modules, and this tactic would not work with turret or gimbals.

 

[Morbad]

Armour is pointless PvP as most pilots target the PP and bypass armour. In this case you would have to roll and pitch to make fixed weapons miss modules, and this tactic would not work with turret or gimbals.

Python PP is pretty well placed, and neither turrets nor gimbals are perfectly accurate. Moving can most certainly cause them to miss more often.

 

[GaryII]

5 Beams will overheat you systems very fast...

I use 3 Beams (I like beams ) and 2 Large cannons for taking out big ships Power plants fast and I like kinetic weapons

and a lot of shield cells - I enable only one at the time and if one runs out of ammo I switch to next...

My current setup:

http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=605,4...,2-BG9Y7_6QB69i8I,7US7k47k47iM7iM7go4zM13q12G

 

[Rubbernuke]

Python PP is pretty well placed, and neither turrets nor gimbals are perfectly accurate. Moving can most certainly cause them to miss more often.

To kill a Python quickly, attack side on, near the heat dissipation vanes on the back. With my beam weapons this seems to be twice as effective as top down attacking. But you are right, a Pythons PP is well placed. My old Asp was a nightmare with no shields for this very reason. Rolling does help, but it makes fighting back difficult as you are not positioning for attack.

 

[Shaamaan]

(...)One fire group has the beams on primary and the scanners on secondary and the other has beams on primary and cannons on secondary. If the target is smaller than a cobra I'll finish them off with the beams. If it's a cobra or larger I'll deal to the shields while scanning and then switch to the other fire group to bring the cannons up for hull/powerplant.

The issue, for me at least, is that I tend to run with an Advanced Discovery Scanner for extra money if I travel somewhere (like a community goal 100+LY away), which must also be placed on it's own fire group. This means I now have 3 fire groups, and switching back and forth tends to get annoying (especially since it's easy to switch to the ADS by accident and make more mistakes from there).

I'll admit, I'm probably being way too lazy at this point. I think I'll try a 3x pulse (C3+C2) (gimballed - with a keyboard+mouse my FA-OFF aiming leaves a lot to be desired) + 2x cannons (C3), and see how that goes.

Also, just to make sure - those of you running with cannons and BEAMS - you pick the beams out of pure personal preference (as in - you could be more efficient with pulse but you choose beams)? Nothing wrong with that, I'm just contrasting this with what was said early in this thread and want to make sure I understand correctly.

 

[Troa Barton]

The issue, for me at least, is that I tend to run with an Advanced Discovery Scanner for extra money if I travel somewhere (like a community goal 100+LY away), which must also be placed on it's own fire group. This means I now have 3 fire groups, and switching back and forth tends to get annoying (especially since it's easy to switch to the ADS by accident and make more mistakes from there).

I'll admit, I'm probably being way too lazy at this point. I think I'll try a 3x pulse (C3+C2) (gimballed - with a keyboard+mouse my FA-OFF aiming leaves a lot to be desired) + 2x cannons (C3), and see how that goes.

Also, just to make sure - those of you running with cannons and BEAMS - you pick the beams out of pure personal preference (as in - you could be more efficient with pulse but you choose beams)? Nothing wrong with that, I'm just contrasting this with what was said early in this thread and want to make sure I understand correctly.

I chose beams for a few reasons.
they melt shields meaning you can get to the next target sooner.
they do more damage when you use them right. Pulses will hit a powerplant through the ship but if you wait for the right angle and nail it with beams you will see the hit points on that reactor plummet faster than you will with pulses.
they also don't sound like you're slapping someone with a wet wash cloth when you're firing them.

 

[DidierDrbois]

they also don't sound like you're slapping someone with a wet wash cloth when you're firing them.

This is why it's a no to pulse from me. It drives me nuts.
_
As far as a PvE Python goes, two large beams, one large cannon. Alternate railguns and multicannons in the medium mounts depending on what kind of fireworks do I fancy.

 

[Shaamaan]

(...) they also don't sound like you're slapping someone with a wet wash cloth when you're firing them.

Good riddance! Your wet wash cloth fights must be epic!

Anyways, thanks for all the responses! Much appreciated!

 

[Quineloe]

I am really not sure if that kind of beam firepower won't drain the Capacitor too fast to raise heat too high Morbad.

I have three fixed beams on mine, and that drains the capacitor really, really fast. Heat is not an issue at all.

 

[TMC]

When I had my Python I used just 2 Class-3 Beams and left the others empty. This worked well for RES hunting. More powerful than pulses, and without the pewpewpew noise giving me a headache. No need for kenetic weapons that run out of ammo.

 

[Farmboy]

The issue, for me at least, is that I tend to run with an Advanced Discovery Scanner for extra money if I travel somewhere (like a community goal 100+LY away), which must also be placed on it's own fire group. This means I now have 3 fire groups, and switching back and forth tends to get annoying (especially since it's easy to switch to the ADS by accident and make more mistakes from there).

Nah, just keep it on the same firegroup as your weapons - in SC, they won't fire. In combat, it doesn't matter if the ADS pings away, other than the muting efffect it has on the sounds (which tbh I think is a bug).

Actually I have two firegroups which are identical except that one doesn't have the ADS on it, and I can swap to it mid kws/combat without issues if the ADS pinging is bugging me.

 

[Shaamaan]

In combat, it doesn't matter if the ADS pings away, other than the muting efffect it has on the sounds (which tbh I think is a bug).

While it doesn't matter for the mechanics of gameplay as such, I think the foghorn going off every few moments would surely drive me quite insane.

 

[SilverbladeTE]

Depending on power plant AND distributor, both are vital
either run with
2 large and 2 medium pulse laser gimballed on top and a LARGE gimballed cannon below (use that on large targets)
Use the cannon on 2nd mouse button or whatever
~

or if that's too much drain
~

2 large pulse laser gimbals, use these on most targets
2 Medium cannon (if doing larger targets) or if want help with smaller faster targets instead use 2 Medium Multicannons
and Large cannon underneath
again the kinetic weapons on 2nd mouse button
~

I found 3 cannons actually lasted a reasonably long time and were absolutely devastating against large enemies, or if need on cobras or vipers provided the smaller ships were literally point blank and flat side on
multicannons would help if you have issues with smaller ships
~
note that good Thrusters are important to a Python build, unless you are pretty good at Flight Assist off
so you want at least C class thrusters