Preference imo, its more of a sidegrade kinda thing, more tank and firepower in the Challenger, more manuverability and speed in the Chieftan.
Both are good with a variety of loadouts as they boast arguably the most versatile hardpoint layout on any medium ship bar the Gunship.
I will say though the biggest downside for them is easy to target drives, I feel like the issue is somewhat more pronounced on the Chieftan due to the extra thrusters upfront but still, its a problem they both suffer. They are both a hell of a lot of fun though.
Both are good with a variety of loadouts as they boast arguably the most versatile hardpoint layout on any medium ship bar the Gunship.
I will say though the biggest downside for them is easy to target drives, I feel like the issue is somewhat more pronounced on the Chieftan due to the extra thrusters upfront but still, its a problem they both suffer. They are both a hell of a lot of fun though.
I bought the Chieftain because I wanted the maneuverability as mentioned by Voracity_T. I called her ChiefScalphunter and rigged her for combat. I PvE and loved it's ability to stay on the tails of other medium and bigger ships and do very well against smaller ships. All this just got better with engineering.
I did though use module reinforcement almost from the get go because of what I read in posts.
I did though use module reinforcement almost from the get go because of what I read in posts.
I've had good times in both. The Challenger has less in the way of concentrated firepower because it trades the large hardpoint up top with two underneath. I wasn't able to find a loadout I really liked even though putting three racks of pack hounds on the bottom was great fun. I think it would make for a great AX multicrew ship with turreted flak in the bottom to keep the thargon swarms at bay, but until Multicrew and Wings can work at the same time... meh.
The Chieftain can concentrate hella fire with its top hardpoints. It wrecks face. I have been doing PvE in a multirole, installation and megaship hacking/piracy build and having a grand time.
The Chieftain can concentrate hella fire with its top hardpoints. It wrecks face. I have been doing PvE in a multirole, installation and megaship hacking/piracy build and having a grand time.
The Challenger edges it for me TBH it's just a bit more tanky, fit the smalls with rails for high DPS and you've got a serious amount of firepower. I must get round to upgrading the thrusters (the 6D was in storage already engineered so....) but you don't get huge increases with a 6A.
https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/all...hBGA2EoFMCGBzANokMK4fiIA==&bn=Challenger B3R4
https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/all...hBGA2EoFMCGBzANokMK4fiIA==&bn=Challenger B3R4
I have both fully A rated and engineered. I love the Cheiftain the most because of the speed and maneuverability. Get a bi weave thermal resistance shield with resistance augmented boosters and its almost unkillable by npc's.... almost.
The challenger I use to fight thargoid interceptors since I need more armor for that, though the current meta every is using is the krait 2. I like to be different.
The challenger I use to fight thargoid interceptors since I need more armor for that, though the current meta every is using is the krait 2. I like to be different.
I just added a Chief to my fleet. I can't attest to its performance dogfighting yet but after watching some vids and reading here I could not resist. I wanted a non-SLF combat ship to keep at the base I don't have my FDL docked.
What flying I've done has be very fun. I plan on some combat the next few days ... when RL gets the hell out of the way.
GL HF
What flying I've done has be very fun. I plan on some combat the next few days ... when RL gets the hell out of the way.
GL HF
Challenger all the way, just a bit higher dps, shields and hull (by a margin).
The Challenger has slightly less pitchrate but it’s hardly noticible.
The chieftain is more drifty, especially doing tight turns. It’s better than a FAS or FDL, but you will lose speed.
The Challenger is the best non drifting pitch turning ship in the game in my experience.
With dd3 drives or above you’ll pith at a rate about 54/sec which is quite good - without drifting or loosing speed! The Chieftain can’t do this.
You can even preset thrust to 75% (above the bluezone) and you’ll still have a non drifting pitch-rate just above 50/sec. Doing this will keep your combat speed above whatever the chieftain can achieve in the bluezone - in a comparable manouver the chief would loose momentum and speed.
The Challenger keeps flying at same speed
The flightmodel is astounding. I didn’t even care for fa/off when manouvering this ship.
It’s basically like a large vulture with a little less manouverability, same shields, higher hulls, better internals and the ability to add 3 rail cannons.
The Challenger has slightly less pitchrate but it’s hardly noticible.
The chieftain is more drifty, especially doing tight turns. It’s better than a FAS or FDL, but you will lose speed.
The Challenger is the best non drifting pitch turning ship in the game in my experience.
With dd3 drives or above you’ll pith at a rate about 54/sec which is quite good - without drifting or loosing speed! The Chieftain can’t do this.
You can even preset thrust to 75% (above the bluezone) and you’ll still have a non drifting pitch-rate just above 50/sec. Doing this will keep your combat speed above whatever the chieftain can achieve in the bluezone - in a comparable manouver the chief would loose momentum and speed.
The Challenger keeps flying at same speed
The flightmodel is astounding. I didn’t even care for fa/off when manouvering this ship.
It’s basically like a large vulture with a little less manouverability, same shields, higher hulls, better internals and the ability to add 3 rail cannons.
I didn't really like the flight model of the Chieftain. But I really like the Vulture, so perhaps the Challenger is the way to go.
Felt the same way - came from the FAS, which was way too drifty, especially when landing. The Chieftain was a step up in every way possible, but flightmodel was off still (especially the sharp turn stalling).
The Challenger was the answer.
After skme time I could finally afford a fdl. This also has stalling issues, but it’s more manageble. And the dps+shields was very op for any pve engagement.
This led me back into my beloved vulture which I fly now (I really prefer small ships for some reason). But the Challenger is my preferred medium combat ship for sure. Especially for how it handles
It is that simple:
Chieftain has more large slots, so if you have a favourite Large gun, and go all for bursting and then drifting on, Chiefy is good.
If you want a more toolbox approach and a more controllable flight model the challenger is great.
The Chally also has great hardpoint positions for mines (medium).
Chieftain has more large slots, so if you have a favourite Large gun, and go all for bursting and then drifting on, Chiefy is good.
If you want a more toolbox approach and a more controllable flight model the challenger is great.
The Chally also has great hardpoint positions for mines (medium).
So this thread got me reconsidering my ships. I recently finally unlocked Palin for those super engineered dirty drives. So I made a Challenger from scraps an the experience felt more or less like the same.
Some orher ships that I’ve tried with dd5 acutally got ambig performance boost so I made a chieftain also.
And I must say wow. Returning from a vulture and a fdl - a dd5 Chief is a blast to fly. It doesn’t really loose momentum any more unless you apply lateral thrusters at the same time, but this actually gives some pretty cool manouvers (tight turn on the spot) chich I hadn’t anticipated.
so I loaded it up with all pulselasers and 2 small fragcannons and it’s a beastmdoing assassination missions and hazres sites.
compared to my challenger build I get better manouvering and speed with less pip to eng, more cargospace and better weaponplacements but at the loss of 5 LY of jump-range and a loss of 2-3 % shield and hull.
so far quite worth it.
Some orher ships that I’ve tried with dd5 acutally got ambig performance boost so I made a chieftain also.
And I must say wow. Returning from a vulture and a fdl - a dd5 Chief is a blast to fly. It doesn’t really loose momentum any more unless you apply lateral thrusters at the same time, but this actually gives some pretty cool manouvers (tight turn on the spot) chich I hadn’t anticipated.
so I loaded it up with all pulselasers and 2 small fragcannons and it’s a beastmdoing assassination missions and hazres sites.
compared to my challenger build I get better manouvering and speed with less pip to eng, more cargospace and better weaponplacements but at the loss of 5 LY of jump-range and a loss of 2-3 % shield and hull.
so far quite worth it.
i'd go for the Chief, all frags, hands down. but I'd mind using the Challenger as a secondary combat vessel. The Challenger has a very nice hard point flexibility.
Personally i don't have much to tell about the Challenger besides my pvp encounter against a cmdr piloting the Challenger. He was pounding my Krait with five or six railguns and later on I ate a number of seekers he was launching from dual racks.
Imporatnt notice - in combat watch out for your thrusters those are kinda sensitive to five and you can lose them easily :/ That is the majonr con of Chief and his two other brothers.
Personally i don't have much to tell about the Challenger besides my pvp encounter against a cmdr piloting the Challenger. He was pounding my Krait with five or six railguns and later on I ate a number of seekers he was launching from dual racks.
Imporatnt notice - in combat watch out for your thrusters those are kinda sensitive to five and you can lose them easily :/ That is the majonr con of Chief and his two other brothers.
Sadly the Crusader is just gathering dust in my hangar.
It lacks hardpoints and internals to be useful, the initial idea
of creating a MC fighter carrier for piracy sadly migrated to the Krait.
I was wondering what your "piratey" loadout is
Sadly the Crusader is just gathering dust in my hangar.
It lacks hardpoints and internals to be useful, the initial idea
of creating a MC fighter carrier for piracy sadly migrated to the Krait.
I was wondering what your "piratey" loadout is
I have 3 of those Cytoscramblers lasers on the small hard points to lower shields of non-compliant vessels, 1 large cannon for module snipping, 2 medium multi-cannons and a fixed missile rack with FSD Interrupt. Optional internals include 64 tons of booty-space, Class 6 shield, Class 3 interdictor, a couple of module reinforcements, one hull reinforcement, the usual collectors, hatch-breaker and I've added a recon-collector in the additional Class 1 slot, plus a Class 2 Fuel Scoop to help evade the law. All wrapped in military armour (heavy duty).
A couple of heavy duty shield boosters in the utility slots, plus chaff and manifest scanner. Plus some engineering on FSD Drive, thrusters etc.
She's a bit of hull tank, ready to take punishment while robbing the rich to feed.......well, me.
I wouldn't call myself a pirate expert but the Challenger seems quite good at it, in PvE anyway.Your assesment of the Chally is spot on,
it is a very good pirate ship for PvE and can also endure a lot in PvP due to those mil-slots.
Weapons are tools and the choice always is personal, i prefer more tools,
to be able to stop targets completely without bump-stopping and then easily robbing them.
it is a very good pirate ship for PvE and can also endure a lot in PvP due to those mil-slots.
Weapons are tools and the choice always is personal, i prefer more tools,
to be able to stop targets completely without bump-stopping and then easily robbing them.