Cobra Weapons Loadout

[treefidi]

Hi All,

First time post so be gentle! I have a shiny Cobra which seems to suit my play style, pretty much 100% bounty hunting. (Does flying around Nav Points and looking for Wanted characters count as bounty hunting? I haven't tried taking a bounty mission, as I have read they are always up against Anaconda's and I would end up as a puff of smoke in a few seconds).

Anyway, I am looking for advice on weapon loadout. I have fitted two beam lasers (E1) mounted in my medium hardpoints , one E1 Beam Laser the the small hardpoint and a E1 cannon next to it. The Power Plant is A3 and the Power Distributor is also A3. I have had to do a little power management to make sure that my life support does not turn off when I activate my hard points, but all in all it seems to work.

My question is am I going about this all wrong? Would Pulse Lasers be more effective than beam with this set up combined with perhaps some sort of cannon in my small hardpoints?

At present I am saving for the Power Plant upgrade but as it comes in at a little over 1.6 mill credits It might take me a while. Would my hard earned cash go further using a different upgrde path?

Also, while I'm here. do you have to sell your ship components when upgrading, or is there a way to store them? (So if the new ones turn out to be not all you hoped for, at least you can swap them back without having to buy them again!).

Loving the game, brings back happy memories of the first version, although I still prefered my ZX 81!

Anyway sorry if all these seem like dumb questions, but I am a little hazy when it comes to power management and weapons effective power output.

Happy Gaming All

 

[treefidi]

NPC Wings

One other question. Can you form a wing of NPC's in solo?

Cheers!

 

[Krepose Gavayne]

My advice would be to earn enough credits so that you can test run the different weapons, whether this means using your existing Cobra or a cheaper 'throwaway' ship. As everyone's playing style is their own it makes it rather difficult to comment. I just had a Viper so that I could try some different weapons. That was a an eye opener!

My current non-trading ship is a Cobra and I use a Class 2 gimballed laser as primary with a Class 1 turret beam laser underneath. For secondary weapons I have a Class 2 gimballed multi-cannon (I've used non-multi-canon mostly, but decided to try out multi so it's easier to see my projectiles and I might waste less ammo on misses), which is the main secondary weapon. When necessary I switch FG so my secondary weapon changes to a Class 2 HS missile rack. This serves me well. I can try to keep the Class 1 laser on target (my turret mode is set to Target Only) which is not too taxing on power, while moving around so that my Class 2 laser and cannon can be brought to bear. It also helps when the target is dropping chaff. My power is above 100% so I have to set some things to power off when hardpoints are deployed. I have almost all A-rated modules, btw. The three big ones I find essential (plant, distributor and shields) as I'm not that good a fighter pilot, so need these at their optimum performance to make up for my poor performance.

I have only bounty hunted chance targets which I find by scanning them (except for the naval progression kill mission). Before I take on any pirate lord missions I'd consider changing my weapons, maybe going for a rail gun (or just a bigger ship with more hardpoints!).

I tried a pulse laser in the Viper. Not to my liking, but I've seen another player on here say that an all pulse laser config was ideal in the Viper. Not tried a burst laser yet (might have done very briefly when I first started playing but at that point I was not fighting, but I certainly have not used them in a proper fight).

EDIT: to answer the other question, no you cannot store them. However, when outfitting you can buy stuff, check the power levels (and play about turning modules off), then buy back the modules you just sold if you cannot get a working system. This only works whilst you're outfitting. Don't go outside the station to test them, as when you get back in the option to re-buy will not be there.

I have not tried wings yet.

 

[treefidi]

Well at the moment I have about 1.2 million credits which is starting to burn a hole in my pocket. Trying not to waste it!

 

[treefidi]

Thanks for the info, especially the module testing. Nothing like that feeling when you realise that you have just spent half a million on a new Power Plant that turns off your ship in combat!

 

[Astronut57]

If you're bounty hunting at a nav point drop into normal space inside the nav point. Scan your target with a KWS (Kill Warrant Scanner) - this sometimes reveals other bounties from other factions and adds to your total.
As far as bounty missions goes the reward offered is an indication of what you'll be up against - typically 170,000 credits for an anaconda flown by an elite pilot. This may be much higher after the recent update - I haven't checked that out myself yet.
I tried all sorts of weapon combinations on my cobra and finally setted with gimballed class 1 beams and gimballed class 2 miniguns. Experiment - you will find something to suit your style.
'A' rated sensors are a big help when using gimballed weapons. Whatever path you take always make sure your power needs don't outstrip your available power otherwise you'll have to mess around with the module power priorities on the right hand screen. If you don't get this right with an inferior power plant you could find yourself in big trouble when you deploy hardpoints.
If you upgrade any weapon or module you'll get the full price back for the weapon or module you're replacing. You can buy it back if you change your mind but if you leave and come back it's gone.
Better to do all your upgrading from a place where most everything is available - usually high tech, high population systems.

 

[treefidi]

Thanks for that, very useful. Regarding losing the weapons/modules after leaving the station, I would love to see some sort of personal garage scenario, where you can keep your past purchases and fit and remove them as you see fit.

 

[Krepose Gavayne]

Hmm... If it was me in your situation I'd buy a Sidey and have a play. That might be harder now that we've had the 1.2 upgrade, but a quiet RES spot should be safe enough (and it's a Sidey so you can afford the odd 'death' now and again).

I found the rail gun to be good, but against small ships it was too difficult so I kept missing, unless the target was moving away or towards me in a straight line. The plasma weapon was as effective as throwing snow balls at the ships, but again, a big target up close would be better. Weeks ago I tried a fragment cannon. That's another weapon I won't bother with unless I'm hunting big game.

Here's my modules and FGs. When a said "almost all A-rated modules", it was not quite correct. I've gone with the best classes/ratings available to me. I had to make allowances for power consumption so could not ALWAYS get the best (and I hardly ever use the Auto FM Unit, so that was an easy one to downgrade). I'd be interested to know what you eventually decide upon.

Spoiler

 

[Red Kite]

I use a pair of D2 beam lasers at the top and G1 multicannons at the bottom, all gimballed to help my poor aiming! The beams take a lot of power so I fire them in bursts of 1-2 seconds and switch to the multicannons if the lasers are shutting down or making the ship too hot. Remember to tilt your nose up slightly or the lower hardpoints can't fire.

I have A-rated the power plant, distributor, sensors, FSD, shields and thrusters to make a fairly good bounty hunter. I can usually take anything up to an Asp with ease and some larger ships with a bit more effort, even though I'm not the best combat pilot in the galaxy. With advanced and detailed surface scanners for exploring and military grade hull plus a couple of other odds and ends the upgrades have cost me 10 million or so.

The returns on bounty hunting have improved so it should now be a viable career. As mentioned above, try hunting at Nav Beacons or Resource Extraction Sites. Check the scan and beware of ships in wings, the other wing members will attack if you go after one of them. This a new hazard since 1.2!

As already stated, you need to develop your own personal flying style and build your ship to suit.

Fly safe, commander!

 

[treefidi]

I think I may try swapping out my Two Medium Point E1 Beams for a couple of the best burst lasers I can afford, maybe with a couple of multi cannons for the small hardpoints. So far my small hardpoint E1 cannon has proved to be worse than useless. V low rate of fire and to be honest, not alot of damage seems to be being inflicted either!

Thanks for all of your advice and do keep it coming, I suspect with ship prices being what they are my trusty Cobra will be home for the foreseeable future, so I may as may get comfortable!

 

[Astronut57]

Thanks for that, very useful. Regarding losing the weapons/modules after leaving the station, I would love to see some sort of personal garage scenario, where you can keep your past purchases and fit and remove them as you see fit.

I think that's been suggested but I doubt it will be implemented. You get the full price back anyway so if you know where parts are available it's not really a problem. Tip: if you upgrade to a bigger ship later and sell yours in part exchange, sell all your upgraded modules and buy the standard modules, otherwise you'll get shafted on the deal ie. reduced sale prices for all your higher rated modules if they're still fitted before you part exchange.

 

[Astronut57]

I think I may try swapping out my Two Medium Point E1 Beams for a couple of the best burst lasers I can afford, maybe with a couple of multi cannons for the small hardpoints. So far my small hardpoint E1 cannon has proved to be worse than useless. V low rate of fire and to be honest, not alot of damage seems to be being inflicted either!

Thanks for all of your advice and do keep it coming, I suspect with ship prices being what they are my trusty Cobra will be home for the foreseeable future, so I may as may get comfortable!

Yes the cobra is a fine all-rounder. Once you've got all to the 'A' rated modules stage you'll be flying that thing without thinking about it. Enjoy
re. the class 1 multicannons - a little on the weedy side for me - felt like a couple of peashooters after using class 2 versions. Trust me, lasers on 1, multicannons on 2 would be much better but that's just my opinion of course.
Of course most of us know that FIXED lasers on the small hardpoints is NOT the way to go on a cobra - they're just too far apart. As far as laser damage per sec goes: beam > burst > pulse and this is of course reflected in the prices.

 

[Spacefreeker]

Agree, have settled down to the best gimballed Beam lasers on small hardpoints for stripping shields, then over to the best gimbled multicannons on secondary. Got to the stage where all the internal modules are maxed out in class. Reached a limit on power and had to think hard on prioritising the module power. Only limitation I have is having to retract hardpoints to use Shield Cells, no problem, SOP is run away, retract wait a sec and activate the shield cell. Then back into combat, hopefully achievable before the shields drop!
Most of the time I can fry with the lazers and hit with the multicannon at the same time when shields are down, sidewinders toast in seconds!
I use the X52 normal Joystick and have set the pinkie as secondary trigger, love it.