I've been bounty hunting since before the Horizons update and I know I wasn't the best in combat, but I did alright. I killed my way up to a maxed out Vulture before restarting out of boredom. Now I'm working my way back up, but I can barely get a single kill in. I've been using a modded Viper Mk4 and just get torn to pieces by just about everything. I lost 70% hull integrity just trying to get a 30k bounty. Are there any resources for combat after the 2.2 update? Its nowhere near the same as before. thanks.
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It hasn't changed, at least I haven't noticed. Where are you hunting? RES are great... Hazard, if you are feeling feisty. You can pick your targets at your leisure.
CZ are trickier without a truly well-equipped ship -- if you are unwary, enemies may gang up on you.
Do not carry cargo into a RES, that is like putting a "kick me" sign on your back. Learned that lesson the hard way...
CZ are trickier without a truly well-equipped ship -- if you are unwary, enemies may gang up on you.
Do not carry cargo into a RES, that is like putting a "kick me" sign on your back. Learned that lesson the hard way...
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I feel the same as OP the shielding and hull tanking has changed as well as NPC has engineered weps now, so i had a fully kitted FAS with 4 hull reinforced on it %a shields and got stripped in seconds by a cobra , something not quite balanced there i feel, in fact it was so bad that I ended up giving up on combat and selling my pride FAS, just no credits in it anymore, which was my top earner
disappointed FDEV...
disappointed FDEV...You don't mention if you have modded shields, standard shields are mostly useless. I used to run an FAS but since the engineers dropped it just wasn't versatile. Do level 3 mods on everything you can and you will be surprised at the difference, dirty drive and heavy duty shields are most effective.
Not really no, standard shields are as good as they have always been, especially since npc's don't use modded weapons anymore.
In 2.2 that is not true! I was destroyed in about 3 seconds by an engineered NPC with super-weapons. Tore through my shields and 50% of my hull in a single shot - the next shot destroyed my ship. I didn't see what actually killed me (I didn't even have time to react).
I currently have a ticket open with FD about it! My shields were 1800 MJ, and 1800 units of hull using HRP.
Stock ships should be mostly adequate (if A rated); it should NOT be a requirement to have an engineered ship just to survive.
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I feel the same as OP the shielding and hull tanking has changed as well as NPC has engineered weps now, so i had a fully kitted FAS with 4 hull reinforced on it %a shields and got stripped in seconds by a cobra , something not quite balanced there i feel, in fact it was so bad that I ended up giving up on combat and selling my pride FAS, just no credits in it anymore, which was my top earner
I think the shields are weaker - try A rating a ship then crashing into a station on purpose at 150 m/s and watch the shields drop!
I also think the stock weapons are less effective than before. The Vulture felt almost impotent.
I'm not sure but it seems that MC might be slightly less effective? Anyone have any data on this?
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I agree with OP.
The same has happened to me when attacking lesser ships at Competent Level Pilot that I used to wipe the floor with. Even when I get the drop on them and fire on their shields for 8 seconds before they can turn, they take my shields out in 2 shots, cause heat damage and module malfunction and take 40% hull away.
By doing this FD are saying we can no longer play our way but must visit Engineers, must grind Engineer mats and figure out blueprints or recipes or whatever.
Pilot rating and ship type alone are no longer indicative of the relative deadliness of the NPC. The weapon loadout can make a huge difference.
One solution would be for FD to come up with a way to indicate relative ship modding on the HUD, like some emissions scans or something. If things are to stay the way they are, that would be a help.
Ok, you must be having a completely different game experience than I am having since engineers dropped; try staying in a CZ in combat with plain Jane a-class shields for an extended period of time. NPC's have impulse, heat and kinetic weapons, you get the warnings over your ship's computer.
Non modded weapons have always had small impulse, heat, and kinetic effects. There just wasn't a message popping up before 2.1.
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I'm slightly confused by what we're apparently seeing in 2.2.
I thought NPCs were supposed to have had engineered weapons taken away? Was this only temporary due to super-weapon problems?
I think the level of NPC engineering should reflect our own. If we are not flying engineered ships, then the NPC should not be engineered. If we have 1 engineered weapon, so too can the NPC. If have 2, they have 2, and so on...
Right now it seems the balance has been tipped too far in favor of the NPCs (again).
I get that FD want engineered NPCs, and so do I, but when they seem maxed out whilst we're flying stock...no.
I thought NPCs were supposed to have had engineered weapons taken away? Was this only temporary due to super-weapon problems?
I think the level of NPC engineering should reflect our own. If we are not flying engineered ships, then the NPC should not be engineered. If we have 1 engineered weapon, so too can the NPC. If have 2, they have 2, and so on...
Right now it seems the balance has been tipped too far in favor of the NPCs (again).
I get that FD want engineered NPCs, and so do I, but when they seem maxed out whilst we're flying stock...no.
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My experience is the same than OP. Came back to the game after 8 months, and the ships that were doing fine in RES now have to flee from everything. Same pilot, same ships, same loadout.
I don't know what has been changed, but vanilla shileds, even A rated, are way less powerfull.
Now to make efficient PVE you pretty much NEED your ship to be engineered. Maybe not to lvl 5 with everything min-maxed, but still Vanilla ships and combat are things not to be put in the same sentence.
I don't know what has been changed, but vanilla shileds, even A rated, are way less powerfull.
Now to make efficient PVE you pretty much NEED your ship to be engineered. Maybe not to lvl 5 with everything min-maxed, but still Vanilla ships and combat are things not to be put in the same sentence.
That may be true but their effect is much greater now than before, I've killed over 12k NPC's and they indeed have changed to their present level. They weren't able to destroy class A shields as they do now and they can also affect modded shields.
I suspect that some of this is down to context. (Also, some are talking about coming back after a long hiatus, and for sure, NPCs got 'better' with 2.1.)
In my experience, and I'm most definitely no top gun fighter ace, if you are in a 1v1 with an NPC, they are generally far from unbeatable. That obviously depends on their rank and ship.
However, if you get into a situation where you are taking on multiple NPCs, then that is a different thing. NPCs shoot at you now, and they hit you. Prior to 2.1 I could happily take on a wing of 7 NPCs, and they lined up dutifully to let me shoot them, that no longer happens, and any NPCs in a wing will all go at you at once, and if you are being shot at by two or three lots of weapons at once, then your shields take a battering.
As to them having engineered weapons, I am pretty sure they don't. Perhaps the odd Elite one will, but in the main, they simply now pack better, more powerful weapons like PA's and rails, and they are able to hit you with them.
I do have modded shields on most of the ships I expect to do combat in, but only up to maximum grade 3, so not overly strong, and I find that they tend to hold up fairly well 1v1, but if I find myself outnumbered, then I generally get out.
In my experience, and I'm most definitely no top gun fighter ace, if you are in a 1v1 with an NPC, they are generally far from unbeatable. That obviously depends on their rank and ship.
However, if you get into a situation where you are taking on multiple NPCs, then that is a different thing. NPCs shoot at you now, and they hit you. Prior to 2.1 I could happily take on a wing of 7 NPCs, and they lined up dutifully to let me shoot them, that no longer happens, and any NPCs in a wing will all go at you at once, and if you are being shot at by two or three lots of weapons at once, then your shields take a battering.
As to them having engineered weapons, I am pretty sure they don't. Perhaps the odd Elite one will, but in the main, they simply now pack better, more powerful weapons like PA's and rails, and they are able to hit you with them.
I do have modded shields on most of the ships I expect to do combat in, but only up to maximum grade 3, so not overly strong, and I find that they tend to hold up fairly well 1v1, but if I find myself outnumbered, then I generally get out.
Perhaps you just had a bit of bad luck?
I have had my moments too
.I just came from a HiRes in my Vulture (Just bought the ship kit).
Hadn't done combat in a smaller, pure combat ship for a long time.
I had to adjust a bit, but I was surprised at how enjoyable the fights are and how good this ship still is at taking out big ships like the Anacondas.
I didn't notice an increase in difficulty myself.
A Viper might be somewhat more vulnerable.
Perhaps you could make better use of the cops? Get them involved in the fight.
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The reason I bring this up is that there was a noticeable spike in difficulty without a break from playing. For the 2 weeks before the 2.2 update, I made 1M in credits just bounty hunting with the exact same Viper Mk4 in the same system (LTT15574). Bounty hunting and other combat missions aren't really worth now it since I can make so much more money doing passenger missions for much less risk.
I'm not sure if the NPC's are engineered, but they are WAY tougher now. With dual 2A Burst Lasers and dual Heat Seekers Missiles, I could barely knock the shields off a Diamondback. Even with 4A shields and Military Grade Hull, I got torn apart. They also don't fly in dumb loops anymore or freeze in place, which is good, but now that the NPC's have better maneuvers, it means the players need better maneuvers too. All of the tutorials I've found are still going off of the old dumb NPC's and not the newer, tougher ones. Its a lot harder to keep the ship's nose trained on the target and once equipment starts failing, its pretty much game over. (Though the NPC's never seem to have any breakdowns as bad as mine. Not sure if that's intended.).
That said, its not impossible to win a bounty, but it isn't worth it anymore. I played for a couple of hours last night and got 2 kills. One only gave me 600CR and the other only 60K, and then I had to restock, repair, and refuel. I took on a Fer-De-Lance the day before and almost took it down with only 20% hull left and one laser working. Ended up dying because I crashed into it. On the other side, I can run passenger missions for one hour and come out with 200k in credits, no repairs or ammo needed. I hesitate to say that the game is broken, but the fact that flying from A-to-B is more lucrative than taking out wanted criminals is a little odd to me.
I'm not sure if the NPC's are engineered, but they are WAY tougher now. With dual 2A Burst Lasers and dual Heat Seekers Missiles, I could barely knock the shields off a Diamondback. Even with 4A shields and Military Grade Hull, I got torn apart. They also don't fly in dumb loops anymore or freeze in place, which is good, but now that the NPC's have better maneuvers, it means the players need better maneuvers too. All of the tutorials I've found are still going off of the old dumb NPC's and not the newer, tougher ones. Its a lot harder to keep the ship's nose trained on the target and once equipment starts failing, its pretty much game over. (Though the NPC's never seem to have any breakdowns as bad as mine. Not sure if that's intended.).
That said, its not impossible to win a bounty, but it isn't worth it anymore. I played for a couple of hours last night and got 2 kills. One only gave me 600CR and the other only 60K, and then I had to restock, repair, and refuel. I took on a Fer-De-Lance the day before and almost took it down with only 20% hull left and one laser working. Ended up dying because I crashed into it. On the other side, I can run passenger missions for one hour and come out with 200k in credits, no repairs or ammo needed. I hesitate to say that the game is broken, but the fact that flying from A-to-B is more lucrative than taking out wanted criminals is a little odd to me.
Exactly this. All I ever see is people saying "you have to have engineered everything to do this that and the other." That defeats the whole point of engineering. Engineers should be used for special, deadly dangerous or highly important missions or operations. It shouldn't be a requirement to have to rely on them to play the basic mechanics of the game.
Yeah, I assumed that the Engineers stuff was for players who wanted to get really serious and have special unique equipment. Especially since getting something from them requires so much work.
Yeah, I used to be able to take on wings of ships by myself. Now, I always wait until they are all occupied with other ships, then you can usually sneak in and kill one without the others noticing.
Yep, I'm finding them harder to deal with too. I have been doing lots of passenger missions and I am getting interdicted a lot. As I don't have an "A" rated Anaconda, I would be in real trouble without the fighter bay. I get interdicted, I drop chaff kick a taipan out the hatch and have at them. The NPC's really do like chasing/being busy with the fighter and while they are doing that I can unload on them or run. If they ignore the fighter then I have their shields down pretty quick and the fighter adds quite a bit of damage which will get their attention. Can be a bit of a problem when the fight starts moving quickly away. I am not very fast. This evening I was interdicted 4 times trying to get into a station. Kill one NPC, jump for station rinse and repeat. Fighters make a huge difference for large ships. Not very helpful with the smaller "hunter" type ships though. My "A" Python has no difficulty chopping up and roasting NPC's. In both cases I have found that I am spending far more of the fight with FA off than I was with 2.1. I usually get upto speed first thing then FA off for the duration. Might flip on for a moment if chasing and want to hold heading, but as soon as its the gnat ball it's FA off.