FAS vs Vulture for PVE?

[CMDR Rhatigan]

Greetings Commanders,

Recently I've decided to go away from my Annie for a bit for some faster, riskier gameplay. I kitted out a few smaller ships for various purposes and originally chose the Vulture for combat. I'm almost done collecting the materials for engineering, but before committing to the Vulture, I wanted to ask everyone's opinion on the FAS instead of the Vulture? I've recently read some good things about it and heard its maneuverability is still pretty amazing and some have referred to ti as the Vulture's "big brother".

So, from those with experience, which would you recommend? The FAS or the Vulture? please add a reason or two as to 'why' as well please!

Thanks!

CMDR Rhatigan

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Greetings Commanders,

Recently I've decided to go away from my Annie for a bit for some faster, riskier gameplay. I kitted out a few smaller ships for various purposes and originally chose the Vulture for combat. I'm almost done collecting the materials for engineering, but before committing to the Vulture, I wanted to ask everyone's opinion on the FAS instead of the Vulture? I've recently read some good things about it and heard its maneuverability is still pretty amazing and some have referred to ti as the Vulture's "big brother".

So, from those with experience, which would you recommend? The FAS or the Vulture? please add a reason or two as to 'why' as well please!

Thanks!

CMDR Rhatigan

My only advice is to try them both out. That is what I did and decided to go with the Vulture. Reasons where that I just prefered the experience of flying the Vulture over the FAS.

 

[Mohrgan]

I have and love both ships. I have the Vulture set up for pure combat. It can't do much else, so no complaint there. I have my FAS set up as a Combat/BGS Raider. The FAS allows me to do a number of missions for my Faction, and still dominate the NPC's. So, if you expect to use other ships for other tasks, get the Vulture. If you can see some utility in having a more flexible combat ship, get the FAS.

I enjoy the extra flexibility in load outs of the FAS over the Vulture in combat as well. The FAS has nearly the same level of agility as the Vulture, with more firepower and flexibility. There is a bunch of fun involved with building your Vulture within its limitations, just as there is a lot of fun having more fire power, and flexibility.

If you are used to Shield tanking, the FAS will be a shock. If you add the HRP's and MRP's on the FAS, hybrid builds are very effective. As long as you can accept some hull damage during your sorties. If you can't abide some hull/mod damage, stick with the Vulture. On a side note, I have gone back to A grade shields, rather than C-Bi Weaves, on my FAS and use the Reboot/Repair sequence to restore broken shields when necessary.

In the end my best advice is to get both.

 

[babelfisch]

They are both equally ugly!

 

[IndigoWyrd]

The vulture is fast, nimble and starved for power.
The FAS is heavier, slower, and shaped like a door stop.

Only you can determine which better fits your play style.

I tend to be rather heavy-handed and brute-force-ish, so the FAS suits me better - not that I dislike the Vulture (any more, I hated it at first, but that was me, not it).

 

[Mohrgan]

The FAS and Vulture have nearly the exact same speed. The FAS has a slightly higher Boost.

FAS: Speed = 210, Boost = 350 (Base)
Vulture: Speed = 210, Boost = 340 (Base)

 

[GunnerBill]

FAS was my go to combat shipped but it got nerfed so bad a while back that I went back to the V.
Vulture is a fun ship and engineers well.

 

[ToCoSo]

I tried going back to my vulture, from my larger ships, and after a bit of engineering decided to try the Imperial courier. I really like it for the feeling of being more vulnerable but able to have good dog fights and escape things if it all goes wrong. MC and plasma loadout is great. Wakes me up if res sites become too monotonous.

 

[Xious]

I tried both... engineered... it's close but so far, I prefer Vulture.

 

[Mohrgan]

FAS was my go to combat shipped but it got nerfed so bad a while back that I went back to the V.
Vulture is a fun ship and engineers well.

With the addition of MRP's and dedicated combat slots, the FAS has re-emerged as a great combat ship. It was never nerfed, but missiles were buffed and made shieldless FAS's a problem. And, they all become Shieldless at some point. You just have to accept some hull/Mod damage as you go. I am quite successful in an all-'rounder FAS build, even in CZ's and HRES's.

 

[wrmiller]

This is interesting, in that, I just scrapped my Corvette as I am done 'harvesting' NPCs for combat rank for a while, and have no other use for it ATM.

I still want to be able to take on pirates who interdict me when doing missions/cargo runs, and I have my Python for that. But...I want a ship I can drop into a haz res or CNB for a bit and shoot Bad Guys.

I immediately discounted the Vulture for two reasons: Only two hardpoints, and miserable power. To me, managing pips is not a challenge, it's a PITA. Why do that when by just switching to a different ship I don't have to?

So, I built a FAS. Good speed and agility, but I can only get about 560Mj on the shields as I only have access to G3 shield boosters. Ok, so tank up I said. Problem is, with hull tanking once you've taken your threshold of damage (varies), you have to run off to get repairs, unlike a shield which regenerates itself. I got used to having some serious shields in the Corvette, and I'm afraid I got spoiled.

This became apparent last night as I was running around in my Python gathering mats. I'm currently running around with a murder bounty on my head (long story), and got jumped by an Elite Conda. It took a bit of work, but the conda went boom. Not before he took me down to about 65% shields though. Good news was that by the time I reached the next system, I had full shields back.

So I built the FAS with all the important stuff G5 upgraded (G3 shield boosters and G3 DD engines/thrusters), and put three beams under the nose and a PA up top. Did some local testing and it seemed to work out quite well. Took off to go to one of my favorite haz res sites and got interdicted by an Elite Conda again. Perfect. Dropped out and engaged. First thing I noticed was the FAS was quicker and had a better turn rate than my Python. But...the FAS's two large and two medium hardpoints don't do near the damage my Python's three large and two medium hardpoints do, or as quickly. Less damage/longer duration fight means the shields (less than half that of my Python) are pounded on for a longer period of time.

I managed to take out the Conda, but had to head to port for repairs. Not good. Junked the FAS.

My Python is, and my Corvette was a very efficient killer. The Python is not as efficient as the Corvette, but it handles better, has decent shields, and pretty good firepower compared to any ship other than the Big Three. That and it can actually do other stuff.

I was about to build another Python with a more combat focus instead of 'armed trader', when I thought I'd give the FDL 'one more try'. Built one and threw 4 beams and a huge PA underneath to see how that did (I prefer energy weps for bounty hunting as I don't have to leave to reload). Not bad. Better shields than my Python (~1200 vs. ~1600), and good maneuverability/speed that is comparable to that of the FAS. I don't like the seating/view out the cockpit, and the engine noise is quite annoying, but I will try to deal with it.

After a couple of trial runs with it last night, I am going to try a huge MC under the belly as that may do more damage than the PA after the four beams have stripped shields away. If more efficient than the PA, I'll just have to haul around a couple of reloads for the MC I guess.

Some folks enjoy a protracted fight. I'm more interested in killing efficiency so I can get to the next victim. If for some reason the FDL doesn't work out I'll just have to go back to a Corvette.

Sorry, got a bit off track... Long story short: If you want a ship that requires a bit more skill (and maybe a bit of luck) the Viper should give you a challenge. If you want a more efficient killer, the FAS will do the trick if you are comfortable with a hull tank as opposed to a shield tank. Either will get you what you want, they just will get there using different methods.

Just my opinion of course. YMMV. Have fun!

 

[Mohrgan]

I am not trying to evangelize for the FAS, but one fight with a tough opponent shouldn't be your guide. I never advise for the FdL. I hate that thing. Mine is collecting dust. Mostly due to it's flight characteristics. Venturing out of the blue zone murders the agility of the thing. But, if you are married to shield tanking it is the way to go.

My success, even against Elite 'Vetts, and 'Condas stems from circle strafing. Thank you TrueSilver. It is not uncommon for me to finish off an Elite in one of the big ships, one on one, without my shields breaking. When I do end up taking some hull/mod damage, the bounties always make up for the cost easily. For me, the bigger threat is wings of more than two. The death of a thousand cuts is more dangerous than one big threat.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

They are both equally ugly!

My Vulture is not ugly.

 

[CMDR-AD]

I must admit to never having owned a Vulture. Something I should try.

I do have an FAS. I've chosen Bi-Weaves and a hull tank. It moves and fights well. I have to be careful when maneuvering fast on planet POI sites, as the ship's inertia can be hard to overcome, but it still works. Weapons are C2 dumb-fire missiles and C3 pulse lasers.

Downsides are it's 12LY jump range and no fuel scoop... I don't do much travel in it. Perhaps the Vulture is better in this regard.

 

[wrmiller]

I am not trying to evangelize for the FAS, but one fight with a tough opponent shouldn't be your guide. I never advise for the FdL. I hate that thing. Mine is collecting dust. Mostly due to it's flight characteristics. Venturing out of the blue zone murders the agility of the thing. But, if you are married to shield tanking it is the way to go.

My success, even against Elite 'Vetts, and 'Condas stems from circle strafing. Thank you TrueSilver. It is not uncommon for me to finish off an Elite in one of the big ships, one on one, without my shields breaking. When I do end up taking some hull/mod damage, the bounties always make up for the cost easily. For me, the bigger threat is wings of more than two. The death of a thousand cuts is more dangerous than one big threat.

I noticed the blue zone/agility handicap of the FDL last night! I MUCH prefer the handling of the FAS, and maybe I 'jumped ship' too quickly. I had no experience with the handling of a modestly engineered FAS, as my first experience was strictly A-rated, so I am sure I was unable to take advantage of it's strengths. More testing and experience should have been used before I knee jerked I suppose.

I was starting to get the hang of circling my opponent when I finally killed it. I learned to do this adequately with the Python as it is NOT a stand-off fighter. I like to get in real close and mix it up in more of a twisting/turning fight with her.

I may end up back in the FAS yet...

 

[[VR] Enexemander]

The FAS and Vulture are both in line with my preferred style of fighting- out maneuver, stay in blind spots, and frustrate the enemy to death.

In going from a Vulture to an FAS, you are basically trading maneuverability for more firepower and toughness.

You can compare the two ships by the numbers with Truesilver's thread here: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...aw-for-Every-Ship-in-Game-Official-FDev-Stats

For my personal choice? I go with the Federal Assault Ship. I love the cockpit design and brutal industrial look, and I'm a Fed to the core. That said, I take my Vulture out for a spin all the time. It's just super fun to fly.

 

[Dibiase]

Never tried the vulture because of all the stuff I read about power management so I went with the FAS as my combat ship. I really like it for combat and have pretty much everything on it Grade 5 engineered. It will boost to 493 ms and pretty much turns on a dime. I use one large beam and 3 multicannons. Beam is engineered for efficient and my large multi cannon is overcharged with corrosive. One of the smaller multi cannons is overcharged with Incendiary Rounds. I do have grade 5 shields but they still don't last a long time but it is a hull tank anyway. I also find that because it is so maneuverable that if I only engage one NPC at a time they usually can't hit me anyway. If I take on a wing of 3 it's a little harder but as long as two of the ships are smaller I can take them out pretty quick before I move on to the larger ship. I did engineer the FSD so it is able to jump 17 LY which isn't terrible for such a heavy ship but the fuel tanks is so small I can't make more that 3 or 4 jumps so I don't use it for missions. I just use it for high/haz res bounty hunting or combat zones. I will use it for CG as well but I usually fly to the CG in my python and pay to transfer the FAS to me.

 

[ThriveInDark]

I have and love both ships. I have the Vulture set up for pure combat. It can't do much else, so no complaint there. I have my FAS set up as a Combat/BGS Raider. The FAS allows me to do a number of missions for my Faction, and still dominate the NPC's. So, if you expect to use other ships for other tasks, get the Vulture. If you can see some utility in having a more flexible combat ship, get the FAS.

I enjoy the extra flexibility in load outs of the FAS over the Vulture in combat as well. The FAS has nearly the same level of agility as the Vulture, with more firepower and flexibility. There is a bunch of fun involved with building your Vulture within its limitations, just as there is a lot of fun having more fire power, and flexibility.

If you are used to Shield tanking, the FAS will be a shock. If you add the HRP's and MRP's on the FAS, hybrid builds are very effective. As long as you can accept some hull damage during your sorties. If you can't abide some hull/mod damage, stick with the Vulture. On a side note, I have gone back to A grade shields, rather than C-Bi Weaves, on my FAS and use the Reboot/Repair sequence to restore broken shields when necessary.

In the end my best advice is to get both.

I mostly agree here. And would add, if you can get prismatics for it, the FAS has the spare power and can use any extra shields you can give it. I'm currently building one as a CZ sweeper (with a collector limpet controller). Still goes 510 m/s, and jumps 21 LY in a hop too.... If you don't mind trading a bit of hull, then the FAS doesn't have much else going against it. It is a great ship to fly.

https://eddp.co/u/7eB2zfhY

 

[Aashenfox]

As others have said in a roundabout way, the FAS is objectively better, especially with rngineering.

 

[Stealthie]

Never tried the vulture because of all the stuff I read about power management...

FWIW, I think the Vulture makes a good "project ship" because it's so straightforward.
Sure, you're almost certainly going to start off with a ship that struggles for power but at least it should be easy to figure out what direction to go with it.
A-rate the important bits, D-rate everything else, fit (presumably) the best possible shield and a couple of boosters and then think about what weapons you want to fit.
Once you've done all that, get the FSD, thrusters, shield & weapons engineered and then you'll know how much power you actually need and you can go and get the PP sufficiently overcharged.

Fluffy (my Vulture) is currently fitted with a pair of G5 Efficient Beams with Thermal Shock and I only needed to G3 overcharge the PP to get rid of all my power issues.
When I was running one Beam and one MC I only needed a G1 overcharged PP.

Having said that, the Vulture is really a "fighter" rather than a "heavy weight".
It's the ship to fly when you just want to have some yucks in a RES or CZ.