Newcomer / Intro Cobra Mk III or Viper Mk III or Viper Mk IV

Kingster8400

K
I have been playing Elite Dangerous for a while now, and i absolutely adore the game.

However, after the 3.03 patch, doing very easy Wing Boom Time is no longer stupidly profitable (Damn you Frontier!).

And after selling my T6, having a terrible experience with the Vulture and finding my calling in Exploration, I would like to get a nice, cheap but good combat ship to do something else when i'm not going to black holes.

So i would like to know how each of them differ in their strengths, weaknesses and what the more experienced and much wiser player's opinion is.
 
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Kingster8400

K
Kingster8400 said:
I have been playing Elite Dangerous for a while now, and i absolutely adore the game.

However, after the 3.03 patch, doing very easy Wing Boom Time is no longer stupidly profitable (Damn you Frontier!).

And after selling my T6, having a terrible experience with the Vulture and finding my calling in Exploration, I would like to get a nice, cheap but good combat ship to do something else when i'm not going to black holes.

So i would like to know how each of them differ in their strengths, weaknesses and what the more experienced and much wiser player's opinion is.
Click to expand...

P.S I didn't add the Cobra Mk IV in this thread because i have been informed it's not worth it.
 

Strangepork

Strangepork
Kingster8400 said:
I have been playing Elite Dangerous for a while now, and i absolutely adore the game.

However, after the 3.03 patch, doing very easy Wing Boom Time is no longer stupidly profitable (Damn you Frontier!).

And after selling my T6, having a terrible experience with the Vulture and finding my calling in Exploration, I would like to get a nice, cheap but good combat ship to do something else when i'm not going to black holes.

So i would like to know, how each of them differ in their strengths, weaknesses and what the more experienced and much wiser player's opinion is.
Click to expand...

If you want a multipurpose ship, that is still a rewarding experience even if you can have all the ships, the cobra mkiii is an amazing bargain and still the best ship in the game for a few activities.
 

EvoBeardy

EvoBeardy
As above, Cobra if you want a good multipurpose ship.

Viper if you want to engage in pure combat.

The Viper III has great speed (can also throw on Performance Enhanced Thrusters too) and manoeuvrability. The IV turns like a bus in comparison (still good though I think), but hull tanks like a boss.

If you can handle the minor grind, an iCourier is also fun. It's insanely fast (again Performance Enhanced Thrusters can be applied, but need to keep an eye on your weight IIRC), has 3 Medium Hardpoints (as oppose to 2xM + 2xS on Cobra/Viper) and 4 Utility mounts (2 on Viper/Cobra).

What was your terrible experience in the Vulture? The Vulture is considered the best combat ship for it's price category and size, it's a jump up from the Cobra/Viper and the jump afterwhich would be the Dropship/FAS/Clipper/Chieftain.

The right loadout for your personal needs and fighting style is essential with the Vulture, more than others, I'd say.
 

Kingster8400

K
In every fight i was on my own, generally against Viper's, Cobra's and Imperial Eagles I would take his shields down and shave half his hull off, however then he takes my shields down after his has gone back up and my canopy would be destroyed and as i could not flee I shortly would be destroyed. And only when i had help that would not happen, generally from a friend who owns an Imperial Clipper.
 

EvoBeardy

EvoBeardy
Kingster8400 said:
In every fight i was on my own, generally against Viper's, Cobra's and Imperial Eagles I would take his shields down and shave half his hull off, however then he takes my shields down after his has gone back up and my canopy would be destroyed and as i could not flee I shortly would be destroyed. And only when i had help that would not happen, generally from a friend who owns an Imperial Clipper.
Click to expand...

This is why it's important to consider your loadout, dependant on the Ship's strengths and weaknesses. If your Shields drop, either work on preventing them from dropping (higher MJ, Higher Resistances or a balance of both) and/or a backup strong hull. Minimum of two MRPs and HD HRPs, also HD your stock hull with Reflective Experimental. You could save up for Reactive Surface Composite on the Vulture, but it's nearly 3x the cost of the Vulture itself, and once you've got that kind of money (unless you love the Vulture), you're gonna want to move onto the next lot of Combat Ships.

Typical Weapons for the Vulture are Dual MC's (One Corrosive, One OC with Loader or even Incendiary to help strip the Shields). Dual Lasers of some sort. Offset Shield Stripper/Hull Stripper with MC+Beam. Dual PA or Single PA+whatever. Dual Frag or offset.

Also pip management is key, now I don't have the innate ability (or hardware) to manage pips on the fly like some of the pilots you'll see on YT vids, however know when to alter your pips is key.
The more Pips to SYS, the stronger your shields are. It doesn't simply affect recharge rate with Shields.
Also, I believe they made it so the more pips to ENG, the better your manoeuvrability (not just key to staying in the blue zone, but definitely do so unless trying to run the F away).

So, if you're taking a pounding, strengthen those Shields until you can get on your opponents tail, depending on your weapons requirements, you should usually be able to get away with 3,1,2 for general combat.

You'll find similar results with most ships and combat scenarios (PVE) these days, with most things, the more you actively engage in it, the better you'll get at on-the-fly judgement calls and actions.

I suggest grabbing yourself a Viper (assuming you've flogged the Vulture and/or don't have the rebuys) and playing with the loadouts until you're satisfied, and then move up taking your knowledge with you.
Don't kill off the Vulture based on that experience though, it really is a great combat ship when used right. :)
 

Kingster8400

K
Ah ok, I had a feeling it was that I had no clue what i was doing XD.

And as I do want to into combat and get better (as GJ51 seemed to suggest), and through past gaming experiences, i will just get the Viper Mk IV as it seems to be able to tank, which is good for a noob like me helps with target practice.

Now I have 5 mil credits (I just got back from an exploration run with my Asp that i got after selling the Vulture) after buying the Viper Mk 4 so what would be the best of the best build?
 
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Hooplah

Hooplah
Interesting the similarities of a Viper to a Cobra Mk III with the big deal is that they both have the exact same hard points reversing their positions. Class 2 weapons on the Viper are on the bottom of the ship. On the Cobra they are on the top. The Cobra is faster and more maneuverable but a larger target than the Viper going in harm's way. Still 2.4 million credits to outfit an A-rated Viper and 9 million plus for the Cobra only adds a 40 unit cargo hold. 36 if one uses a Docking Computer to reduce the workload. I'm lazy.
 

Captain Thea Kreutzer

Captain Thea Kreutzer
Kingster8400 said:
I have been playing Elite Dangerous for a while now, and i absolutely adore the game.

However, after the 3.03 patch, doing very easy Wing Boom Time is no longer stupidly profitable (Damn you Frontier!).

And after selling my T6, having a terrible experience with the Vulture and finding my calling in Exploration, I would like to get a nice, cheap but good combat ship to do something else when i'm not going to black holes.

So i would like to know how each of them differ in their strengths, weaknesses and what the more experienced and much wiser player's opinion is.
Click to expand...

Cobra MK 3 is good mulipurpose ship. But if you want only combat id recommend Viper MK 4
 

EvoBeardy

EvoBeardy
Kingster8400 said:
i will just get the Viper Mk IV as it seems to be able to tank, which is good for a noob like me helps with target practice.

Now I have 5 mil credits (I just got back from an exploration run with my Asp that i got after selling the Vulture) after buying the Viper Mk 4 so what would be the best of the best build?
Click to expand...

Honestly you can't go wrong starting with something like this:-

http://www.edshipyard.com/new/#/L=C...kPcaxCpBJm0Bb60,22K0,7RW023u04zW012G012G010i0

It'll cost you just shy of 5m, or if you travel out 100ly or so, you can get it for just under 4.3m. I highly suggest getting the 15% discounts on the A Class Thrusters, Power Plant, Scoop and whatever you feel is worth saving 15% on.
You can Engineer everything on this boat as-is, as the stuff you are upgrading is only going G1-G3, just remember, once you've Engineered the modules and levelled up the Engineers, to pin the Blueprints. Then when you go to get your A Class Power Plant say, you can sell your B-Class (or exchange), put your A-Class on and remote Engineer it there (less the Experimentals).

Typically people will load up 2 Multicannons on the Mediums, and two Beams on the Smalls, but I prefer this loadout.
Smaller MC has HC/Corrosive, Medium has OC/Loader, however high you can grade them. Both beams run Long Range Grade 2 with Thermal Vent (can run G1 LR or Efficient, but LR will help against smaller ships. (Tod "The God")
Max G1 OC the Power Plant, run Thermal Spread for now. (Farseer)
G3 Dirty Drives with Drag Drives. (Farseer)
G5 (Or as high as you can) the FSD, Mass Manager has fractional less range than Deep Charge, but Deep Charge consumes more fuel, so you can get further with Mass Manager in the long run. (Farseer)
D-A Life Support, whatever you feel most comfortable with. D is lighter and consumes less power, both can be lightweighted when you unlock the Engineer, so go with comfort (as the Power allows).
3A Distributor. Try and Charge Enhance this with Super Conduits whenever you can (engineer Beams at same time). (The Dweller)
3A Sensors with Lightweight, or 3D with G2 Long Range, power/weight preference.
2XA-Class Boosters with G1 Resistance Augmented/Force Block (Farseer). G3 Them when you visit Lei Cheung for your Shield mods G4-5.
4C Bi-Weave Shields (They regen much faster than 3As and the increase in Strength isn't worth it, 'cos with these MJs, if your Shields are gonna drop, they'll drop, so you want them recovered faster) with Thermal Resist and Multi-Weave. (Elvira Martuuk for G3, then Lie Chueng for G5)

Post-Engineering and maxed Modules you end up with something like this:-

http://www.edshipyard.com/new/#/L=C...Pc4zmfAqpDEqpDIqpD10iG5G50wPc4zmfAqpDEqpDIqpD

If I had to prioritise, I'd get all done with Farseer first, then The Dweller, Elvira Martuuk, Tod The Blaster and then Lie Chueng.
Then work on the Hull/Armour Heavy Duty

You can of course, swap the Fuel Scoop out for another HRP when you're in the System you're gonna hunt in, and of course you can get much better Hull, but you really want those Module Reinforcements when your Shields get hammered, trust me. You also may want Chaff in place of the second Booster, but it's something you tend to forget you have quite frequently so it goes unused, so stick with passive assistance while you focus on the rest maybe.
Obviously you can play about with the weapons loadout (2xM MCs +2x S Beams will be cheaper and you may prefer that), but these are good as you get used to the feel of the ship and combat in general.

Hope that helps!
 
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Robin of Spiritwood

Robin of Spiritwood
The Viper IV is able to do some multirole stuff if you re-equip it. It's very solidly built, and with G5 Dirty class A drives, it flies passably well. In battle config, mine can boost to over 500 m/s which is fairly decent.

I put in an Armoured Power Plant, which gives enough wattage at G5, and runs the ship a bit cooler.

Many reccomend a Reactive Armor hull with a Thermal mod. It's pretty expensive. But good for combat.

If you just stick a class 3 HRP in the military slot, the ship will be plenty tough enough for running most missions with the basic lightweight default armour.



Video:

[video=youtube;dlmtnPCD6wo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlmtnPCD6wo[/video]
 
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d8veh

d8veh
Viper III is best for combat. Any multi-role ship results in compromises. I don't believe that there's such a thing as a multirole ship that includes combat. For combat, you want a combat ship. Using a multi- role ship to fight enemies is a good route to the rebuy screen.
 

EvilestKhan

E
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Paidtodrive

P
You already have an asp? That's probably the best small/medium multi-role ship. I have a cobra 'cos I'm old-school but I also have an asp and really like it.

The vipers are better for combat but there isn't much in it. The layouts of the asp and cobra make them more flexible I think.

Fly each one, they do feel slightly different. Go with the one you like most. Some don't like the off-centre cobra cockpit.
 

the100thmonkey

the100thmonkey
Kingster8400 said:
In every fight i was on my own, generally against Viper's, Cobra's and Imperial Eagles I would take his shields down and shave half his hull off, however then he takes my shields down after his has gone back up and my canopy would be destroyed and as i could not flee I shortly would be destroyed. And only when i had help that would not happen, generally from a friend who owns an Imperial Clipper.
Click to expand...
You were doing something really wrong then.


  • Putting pips into shields makes them stronger. 4 pips is about 2.6 times stronger than 0 pips.
  • Use the thrusters - the Vulture has brilliant acceleration on all axes. The Viper Mk. III, for example, is hampered by its pitchrate.
  • Put the throttle at 50% for best turning performance. There's a sweet spot where all the thrusters on the ship work at their peak - it's at 50% of maximum speed.
  • Use gimballed weapons initially. Sure, fixed weapons are more powerful, but only when they're striking a target. Gimballed weapons are about 25% weaker than their fixed variants, but if they're on target more than 25% more often, they're a net gain to your DPS.
  • Practice - the Vulture's shields are easily double that of either Viper variant or the Cobra. You shouldn't be losing them at all to those ships. Not losing your shields has the added benfit of ensuring your canopy doesn't get shot out.
  • If your shields go down, it's time to leave - only NPCs hang around when their shields go down. Eagles, Vipers and Cobras will not be able to masslock you so you can just enter supercruise.
  • Don't go at your enemies face on. The Vulture is faster and more manoeuvrable than Vipers, and more manouevrable than a Cobra. If you facetank them, they're just going to shoot you at close range, usually with high DPS weapons like railguns or plasma accelarators. You should always be on the move. Boost is your friend.
 
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