Yesterday fdev revealed 2 of the pre built ships. A mining ship, and an ax ship. I'm not here to address the mining ship, but rather the AX one as it has many flaws that make it not good at all. I want to express my concerns as it is a complete waste of money, and I don't like the idea of players buying a ship thinking its good because it was made by fdev, and then being disappointed that it doesn't work well/at all and potentially even feeling scammed. And i myself being an AXI Mentor and professional AX player feel qualified to say my thoughts on it.
The build itself includes
Hardpoints:
2x 3C Gimballed Enhanced AX Multi-Cannon
Guardian Nanite Torpedo Pylon
1E Gimballed Beam Laser
2x Small Guardian Gauss Cannon with Anti-Guardian Resistance
This is clearly intended for anti titan gameplay, but it isn't very good for it. The 2 enhanced ax multis do little damage, exerting even a cyclops' 1st heart in 12 seconds, which is equal to around a medusa's first heart using 2m2s gauss loadout. And exerting a Basilisk in 116 seconds. Against scouts, damage will still be poor and won't be very good for the amount of scouts you find.
The nanite Torpedo is fine, makes sense. Just depends on where its placed
The beam laser is also alright if its gimballed and long range Thermal vent.
The gauss is.. it's good, but isn't paired well with the multis and makes it almost impossible to use together. Along with the 20% Damage loss making your total damage output minimal at best.
Utility mounts are all fine
Military:
4D Module Reinforcement Package
2x 4D Hull Reinforcement Package
A module reinforcement should never be in a military slot due to the fact they take damage last out of all MRPs. If you have a c5 in an optional slot and a c1 in a mil slot, the c1 takes damage priority and you have less module reinforcement overall until it is broken.
The hull is fine here.
Everything from core internals are fine too.
Optional Internal:
6C Bi-Weave Shield Generator
5D Hull Reinforcement Package
4E Cargo Rack (16 capacity)
2A Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
1A Repair Limpet Controller
1E Research Limpet Controller
The shield is absolutely unnecessary and is only a detriment overall. Especially on a medium. The reasons for this are (copied from the AXI Discord);
We recognize that a large portion of commanders starting their AX careers will feel more familiar with shielded builds than with hull-based repair builds. However, the nature of Thargoids makes shields more of a liability than an asset in AX combat. In particular:
A) Both Interceptor Cannon and Thargon Swarm fire phase through shields; as a consequence, having a shield does not substitute for reinforcing your hull, and having to split modules and utilities to reinforce BOTH hull and shields greatly diminishes the benefits of doing either.
B) Shields greatly increase your hitbox size. While thargon swarms will mostly miss a shieldless build, most of their shots will hit a shielded one. It is not uncommon to take more hull damage in a shielded ship than in a comparable shieldless one.
C) The lightning special attack of interceptors will make short work of just about any shield, while doing only limited damage on your hull.
D) Quickly refilling your shields in combat requires Shield Cell Banks, which generate a lot of heat and cannot be rearmed in combat (SCB ammo cannot be synthed). Repair limpets, on the other hand, generate no heat and can be synthesized at will (but are slower to repair and their use can be interrupted by taking damage). Limpets also instantly repair your canopy.
E) Shields prevent you from using what is arguably the most effective emergency tactic in AX combat: silent running (as silent running instantly drops your shield when activated.)
F) Shields require SYS pips for resistances and charge; this makes them compete with heatsinks (also need SYS) and with ENG (critical for mobility.) Needing SYS creates great compromises on an AX build
Overall, shields are not worth it in 99% of circumstances. And this ship does not fill that 1%. The shield here should be a max sized repair limpet controller due to the fact that a class 1 repair limpet will repair little to no hull on this ship. It should also be D Rated for weight, as an A Rated does not repair more than a D Rated.
The hull here is misplaced. It should be a module reinforcement.
The cargo rack is completely fine.
The afmu is similarly fine.
The repair limpet should be a module reinforcement. Reasons are stated earlier.
The research limpet is completely irrelevant. It does nothing for combat and has no purpose being on an AX ship.
With the flaws explained, you may be wanting to know what to do instead. That is what I have created multiple build variations using the external tool called EDSY (Elite Dangerous Ship Yard) for easy viewing of the builds and so there is a variety to choose from depending on what is actually wanted.
Krait MK2 with Medium level engineering - https://edsy.org/s/vHlYHd4
Krait MK2 with Minimal engineering - https://edsy.org/s/vqNaP4k
Krait MK2 with No engineering - https://edsy.org/s/vw3xjLd
I have chosen the krait as it provides the best balance between optional slots, hardpoints, and everything you could need.
However, if a chieftain must be picked then I have builds for that too. As much as I protest it.
Chieftain with Medium level engineering - https://edsy.org/s/vAzYUbk
Chieftain with Minimal engineering - https://edsy.org/s/vebB5mu
Chieftain with No engineering - https://edsy.org/s/vkg6gSv (Note: I kept an LRTV beam as literally nothing else works there. Absolutely nothing.)
These builds are highly optimal, with various choices made to get the best out of not only the ship, but the money spent for it as well. For each of these ships I would value them at 16000 ARX at least in my opinion. (For reference, I value the original one at maybe 400-800).
If you have questions about the builds then please do ask. I'm completely willing to help to ensure people get the most out of their money and enjoy their time engaging in activities.
The build itself includes
Hardpoints:
2x 3C Gimballed Enhanced AX Multi-Cannon
Guardian Nanite Torpedo Pylon
1E Gimballed Beam Laser
2x Small Guardian Gauss Cannon with Anti-Guardian Resistance
This is clearly intended for anti titan gameplay, but it isn't very good for it. The 2 enhanced ax multis do little damage, exerting even a cyclops' 1st heart in 12 seconds, which is equal to around a medusa's first heart using 2m2s gauss loadout. And exerting a Basilisk in 116 seconds. Against scouts, damage will still be poor and won't be very good for the amount of scouts you find.
The nanite Torpedo is fine, makes sense. Just depends on where its placed
The beam laser is also alright if its gimballed and long range Thermal vent.
The gauss is.. it's good, but isn't paired well with the multis and makes it almost impossible to use together. Along with the 20% Damage loss making your total damage output minimal at best.
Utility mounts are all fine
Military:
4D Module Reinforcement Package
2x 4D Hull Reinforcement Package
A module reinforcement should never be in a military slot due to the fact they take damage last out of all MRPs. If you have a c5 in an optional slot and a c1 in a mil slot, the c1 takes damage priority and you have less module reinforcement overall until it is broken.
The hull is fine here.
Everything from core internals are fine too.
Optional Internal:
6C Bi-Weave Shield Generator
5D Hull Reinforcement Package
4E Cargo Rack (16 capacity)
2A Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
1A Repair Limpet Controller
1E Research Limpet Controller
The shield is absolutely unnecessary and is only a detriment overall. Especially on a medium. The reasons for this are (copied from the AXI Discord);
We recognize that a large portion of commanders starting their AX careers will feel more familiar with shielded builds than with hull-based repair builds. However, the nature of Thargoids makes shields more of a liability than an asset in AX combat. In particular:
A) Both Interceptor Cannon and Thargon Swarm fire phase through shields; as a consequence, having a shield does not substitute for reinforcing your hull, and having to split modules and utilities to reinforce BOTH hull and shields greatly diminishes the benefits of doing either.
B) Shields greatly increase your hitbox size. While thargon swarms will mostly miss a shieldless build, most of their shots will hit a shielded one. It is not uncommon to take more hull damage in a shielded ship than in a comparable shieldless one.
C) The lightning special attack of interceptors will make short work of just about any shield, while doing only limited damage on your hull.
D) Quickly refilling your shields in combat requires Shield Cell Banks, which generate a lot of heat and cannot be rearmed in combat (SCB ammo cannot be synthed). Repair limpets, on the other hand, generate no heat and can be synthesized at will (but are slower to repair and their use can be interrupted by taking damage). Limpets also instantly repair your canopy.
E) Shields prevent you from using what is arguably the most effective emergency tactic in AX combat: silent running (as silent running instantly drops your shield when activated.)
F) Shields require SYS pips for resistances and charge; this makes them compete with heatsinks (also need SYS) and with ENG (critical for mobility.) Needing SYS creates great compromises on an AX build
Overall, shields are not worth it in 99% of circumstances. And this ship does not fill that 1%. The shield here should be a max sized repair limpet controller due to the fact that a class 1 repair limpet will repair little to no hull on this ship. It should also be D Rated for weight, as an A Rated does not repair more than a D Rated.
The hull here is misplaced. It should be a module reinforcement.
The cargo rack is completely fine.
The afmu is similarly fine.
The repair limpet should be a module reinforcement. Reasons are stated earlier.
The research limpet is completely irrelevant. It does nothing for combat and has no purpose being on an AX ship.
With the flaws explained, you may be wanting to know what to do instead. That is what I have created multiple build variations using the external tool called EDSY (Elite Dangerous Ship Yard) for easy viewing of the builds and so there is a variety to choose from depending on what is actually wanted.
Krait MK2 with Medium level engineering - https://edsy.org/s/vHlYHd4
Krait MK2 with Minimal engineering - https://edsy.org/s/vqNaP4k
Krait MK2 with No engineering - https://edsy.org/s/vw3xjLd
I have chosen the krait as it provides the best balance between optional slots, hardpoints, and everything you could need.
However, if a chieftain must be picked then I have builds for that too. As much as I protest it.
Chieftain with Medium level engineering - https://edsy.org/s/vAzYUbk
Chieftain with Minimal engineering - https://edsy.org/s/vebB5mu
Chieftain with No engineering - https://edsy.org/s/vkg6gSv (Note: I kept an LRTV beam as literally nothing else works there. Absolutely nothing.)
These builds are highly optimal, with various choices made to get the best out of not only the ship, but the money spent for it as well. For each of these ships I would value them at 16000 ARX at least in my opinion. (For reference, I value the original one at maybe 400-800).
If you have questions about the builds then please do ask. I'm completely willing to help to ensure people get the most out of their money and enjoy their time engaging in activities.
