Cobra Mk III > what next and why?

Scarlet Viper

Scarlet Viper
I've been playing on and off since ED launched. I'm not a space billionaire.. yet.. not even close.. I've got 38 million saved after wiping my save a couple of years ago and starting again..

I have been flying my Cobra MK III forever and really enjoy it. She's not the best at anything but allows me to do everything I have wanted to so far. Exploration, combat, mining, collecting materials from planet surfaces, Odyssey ground missions etc..

I have got as far as unlocking Professor Palin and it just clicked that I've been doing everything wrong, well maybe not, but I guess I should have chosen my 'end game' ship before upgrading it this far with the engineers? I'm not a fan of spending all my game time looking for materials but I am trying to push through and unlock all of the engineers, that's 'my story' at the moment in Elite.

The problem is I love my Cobra and everything I have read online says 'get a Vulture next' but I've crunched some numbers and why? See below..
What does the Vulture offer, except better survivability in a battle? I lose 2 weapon slots, 1 cargo slot (or something else) and, apart from armour and shields, what am I missing?

As I'm unlocking engineers and don't have millions to spare, and this is my only ship, I don't see what I have to gain from investing in the Vulture and I seem to be always on the move and haven't found a 'home system' with 20 amazing resource sites, so I don't want to buy a Vulture and be stuck somewhere with it without even a Fuel Scoop.

Should I just wait until I can afford a Cheiftain and then start engineering that instead?

Thanks for any help and tips.. I'm learning slowly and this week it even feels like I'm starting to understand how everything fits together...

The image below compares my dream Chieftain build with my current Cobra MK III build against a potential engineered Vulture build.

spotthedifference.png
 
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Peter Mannion

P
I don't rate the vulture personally, but I don't really do much combat. Mk III is a great all rounder. Chieftain is a great combat ship

If the Chieftain is your dream ship, then you need to ask yourself if an upgrade to a Vulture will speed up the process of getting a Chieftain.

If it doesn't, then I wouldn't bother if I were you, as it will only set you back in money and materials.
 

Riverside

Riverside
IMO keep the Cobra and if you want to try another ship & don't like it you can just go back to the Cobra.

If you want to be more effective at combat a Vulture is a great stepping stone in that direction, it only has two weapon hardpoints but they are class 3 so you'll have more firepower. An Imp Courier is a great compliment to the Cobra too for not too much cash if you have the Imp rank to unlock it.

If you prefer to do other activities (mining, trade, travelling) the AspX is a good choice, again keeping your Cobra.

If you buy a ship & decide you don't like it you can store any modules you have engineered, sell the rest of it's modules at 100% of their value then if you sell the bare hull you'll lose 10% of it's value which isn't too bad.

There are quite a few ships that do some things better than the Cobra (more cargo space, better firepower, faster, whatever) & discovering your preference is part of the fun but the Cobra MkIII is a great all-rounder and there isn't really a ship that does everything better than it.
 

[Diplomacy] Carnegie

[Diplomacy] Carnegie
I'm a terrible pilot - if you're good, listen to someone else...

I love my hulltank Vulture - when the shields go down I just keep fighting until they come back up again.
BUT
The Vulture is a combat ship - if you love the Cobra III you'll miss the versatility with a Vulture.
(Yes, I know someone explores in a Vulture, but he's a lunatic)

If you want a multirole stepping-stone, get an Asp Explorer - it'll do everything a Cobra III does, but more of it.
 

Riverside

Riverside
Frillop Freyraum said:
The next great all-rounder is the Python, but that's already in a different pay grade.
Click to expand...

A decently equipped Python is my ship of choice in the bubble but it's 250mCr worth of ship :)

I understand the Kraits are great all-rounders too, again though, much more expensive than the OP can currently afford.
 

Felix DiCestria

Felix DiCestria
Python or krait would be what springs to mind as a logical progression from the Cobra.
The Asp would fit between as a stepping stone, though it can be horrifically vulnerable.
Don't follow guides, ask what YOU want from your ships.
 

Cmdr. Numa

Cmdr. Numa
As far as multirole ships go: Sidewinder -> Cobra -> AspE -> Python/Krait
Up to that point those ships can all do everything, they can do most of it just progressively better. Beyond that point you have the Anaconda, but lose medium pad access. And then it's of course possible to branch out at every time, diversify the fleet and have a variety of specialist ships. The other main ship lines besides multirole are combat centric and freight centric.
 

Dillon Fallon

Dillon Fallon
I went from my Cobra mk3 to a Courier and didn't look back. Thing is, my main focus has always been combat with other stuff I did in the early game phase being stuff to fund it, so that won't be for everyone. Keep it light though and the thing just dances around opponents.

However, if you're after something not as combat focused. The natural evolution from a Cobra has always been an AspX although I wouldn't discount the Diamondback Explorer either.
 

cmdr chequers

cmdr chequers
Scarlet Viper said:
I've been playing on and off since ED launched. I'm not a space billionaire.. yet.. not even close.. I've got 38 million saved after wiping my save a couple of years ago and starting again..

I have been flying my Cobra MK III forever and really enjoy it. She's not the best at anything but allows me to do everything I have wanted to so far. Exploration, combat, mining, collecting materials from planet surfaces, Odyssey ground missions etc..

I have got as far as unlocking Professor Palin and it just clicked that I've been doing everything wrong, well maybe not, but I guess I should have chosen my 'end game' ship before upgrading it this far with the engineers? I'm not a fan of spending all my game time looking for materials but I am trying to push through and unlock all of the engineers, that's 'my story' at the moment in Elite.

The problem is I love my Cobra and everything I have read online says 'get a Vulture next' but I've crunched some numbers and why? See below..
What does the Vulture offer, except better survivability in a battle? I lose 2 weapon slots, 1 cargo slot (or something else) and, apart from armour and shields, what am I missing?

As I'm unlocking engineers and don't have millions to spare, and this is my only ship, I don't see what I have to gain from investing in the Vulture and I seem to be always on the move and haven't found a 'home system' with 20 amazing resource sites, so I don't want to buy a Vulture and be stuck somewhere with it without even a Fuel Scoop.

Should I just wait until I can afford a Cheiftain and then start engineering that instead?

Thanks for any help and tips.. I'm learning slowly and this week it even feels like I'm starting to understand how everything fits together...

The image below compares my dream Chieftain build with my current Cobra MK III build against a potential engineered Vulture build.

View attachment 306444
Click to expand...

The correct answer is, just buy a Krait MKII
 

Ian Skippy

Ian Skippy
The vulture is the best small fighting ship. It's also the easiest for numerous reasons. Most people will mention it will have two large weapons, and that it has very strong shields.

But there is a bigger reason to me: flight behaviour. In ED, putting pips into ENG improves agiliy and speed. You need four of them for max performance. But you only have six, and you want some in WEP and SYS too. Here is the kicker: how much agility you lose when you remove power from ENG is different for each ship.

Many ships lose 50% of performance, or more, when you have zero pips in ENG. That's a huge amount, so you need to constantly juggle pips for decent performance. Stressful for novice combat pilots! Not the vulture. You can remove all pips and only lose 10%!

If you add two large gimballed multicannons and use a class-A power distributor, you can set your pips to 4-0-2 and just leave them there. Your guns will fire permanently, you will have max shield bonus and only lose 10% flight performance. Without any engineering needed even.

It's the ideal ship to learn the basics of combat: keeping the enemy in sight. :) And with its string lat/vert thrusters nothing turns like a vulture. This is an example why you can't base yourself too much on websites, you need to fly each ship to learn what is different about them.

Beyond that: you typically upgrade to bigger ships so you earn more money for even bigger ships. If you aren't really aiming for big ship, staying in a cobra is great. It's a perfect EDO ship, really.
 

Scarlet Viper

Scarlet Viper
Thank you everyone for your tips, much appreciated! I see the Chieftain as a stepping stone to the Krait Mk II, so I think I'll stick with the Cobra for the time being..

I just don't like the idea of being 'stuck'in a system with a pure combat ship without a fuel scoop or planetary hangar, when I haven't even decided where I want to be based out of.. Appreciate all of your help!
 

HRDiagram

HRDiagram
As everyone have already given plenty of helpful info, I would only add that, whatever you do next, never let go of your CM3!
Other ships might come and go, depending on preferences and finances, but a Cobra is forever!

Additional personal opinion: the Chieftain is an excellent ship, in terms performance, maneuverability and looks.
 

Darkman Returns

Darkman Returns
With credits so easy to earn these days you are better off buying the ship you want and then upgrading it as you go.

I wanted multipurpose and so went Cobra > Krait and have never regretted it. I bought a Chief later to try it out with FA Off but you'll make more money to upgrade with a Krait and it can do everything well.
 
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