Ships FdL and SCB's

Bakerloo

Bakerloo
Hello there, quick question.

I've just upgraded from a Vulture to a FdL and I'm wondering about fitting SCB's. I used a 4A SCB on the Vulture with a 5A shield and it worked well, but I did need to use heatsinks to prevent heat damage to modules.

I've been looking at some FdL builds in this sub-forum and I've noticed quite a few have SCB's fitted without heatsinks. Is the FdL able to handle this? I would like to use the same shield and SCB combo. I'm curious because initially I had 4 medium beams fitted to it but switched them out to pulse lasers due to the amount of heat they generated. So it doesn't seem like a ship that handles heat that well.

Cheers.
 

Ceekay

Ceekay
The current FDL heat dissipation is about average but the major issue with using SCB's is the high shield strength (over 800 MJ with stock 5A + 4x0A boosters) a 4A SCB will regen a total of 552 MJ, using engineered parts makes the problem worse as the shields strength increases even more.

I just don't fit them on an FDL, after all you've nearly double the shield strength of a Vulture and a lot more firepower and speed and if some of the proposed beta changes make it into the game the faster regen could make SCB's unnecessary most of the time.
 

Cmdr Bernard

Cmdr Bernard
In general I find heat tolerance in Fer-De-Lance to be mediocre. It's okay, but if you overdo it with beam lasers and/or engineering, you run into heat issues quickly. With a reasonable engineered build, heat is manageable.

Class 4 SCB don't run that hot, so it's actually possible to use them without heat sinks. Last time I tried them I got a few percent module damage, nothing horrid. However, since the shield cell patch I find class 4 SCBs in the Fer-De-Lance useless. The ship has very strong shields, and in comparison the 4A SCB restore such a tiny amount it is in my opinion not worth it. I tried a build with modded prismatic shields and SCB, but the cells effect was so tiny and the shields too slow to regenerate, so I trashed that setup. Might be good for PVP, but that is not my area of experience.

Meanwhile I run modded bi-weave shields without any SCB and am quite happy. Yes, you cannot shield-tank like in a Python or one of the big ships, but the FDL is agile enough to stay behind the big ships and fast enough to get away if in trouble.
The Bi-weave shields also help against heat and power issues. Even without SCB, I still have one heat sink launcher installed as life insurance.

I've been a Fer-De-Lance fanboy since the ship was released, so I won't say anything bad about the ship. :) However, I am not sure if I would call it an "upgrade" to the Vulture. It's rather a different ship, good on it's own, but I would not consider it a "Vulture++". My wife recently re-bought the Vulture and engineered it, what a beast. Still, I personally like the FDL better, but that's more a matter of personal taste.
 

Bakerloo

Bakerloo
Thanks for the responses :)

Cmdr B, I think I was referring to the FdL as an upgrade as I spent a lot of credits on it. I'm not a rich Cmdr. I love the Vulture; it's an absolute beast of a ship for the price. I'm new to the FdL but I'm really enjoying it so far. Very different flight model.

So you both think the SCB wouldn't be worth it and I tend to agree. Cheekay, do you run with 4 boosters? Currently I'm running with two four plus chaff and a PD.

So I guess then, what do you fit in the internals? I've put HRP in the 1 and 2 slot. The two 4 slots I can mix and match for missions and stuff but do you guys recommend HRP for this ship in general? It seems to be somewhat pointless as it's quite clearly a shield based ship.
 
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Cmdr Bernard

Cmdr Bernard
With my "upgrade" comment I basically referred to the fact that the FDL is about 5-6 times as expensive as the Vulture, but not "better" by this factor, as other Commanders in the past have expected, so this was leading to some disappointment (I went through this as well). The Vulture is the best combat ship you get for the money.

I also needed some time to get adjusted to the Fer-De-Lance flight model, though having had experience in a Viper Mk III helped. Compared to the Vulture, the FDL is more difficult to fly, but in my opinion more fun. Admittedly, after buying the FDL I was close to selling it again, but it grew on me over time.

My current build.

The interdictor and fuel tank in the internal slots 1/2 can be replaced as needed. The military armour can be debated, so far I havn't really needed it and it's mostly extra weight. But perhaps some day I will be glad I have it, might be the difference between getting away and a rebuy. :) With the military armour, I think further hull reinforcements are overkill.

The 4A sensors are in preparation for the upcoming patch. A chaff launcher might be an idea. Class 4 Fuel Scoop is a must for my sanity. Relatively big cargo space is nice to have for the occasional mission and for engineering.

Everything is engineered. While I do not fully engineer all my ships, the Fer-De-Lance as one of my two favorite ships got a lot of love and time investment.
Increased FSD range is a no-brainer. Dirty Drives 4 or 5 are great, put at least 3 on it for now (you can fly out to Maia with an Asp for the final tuning, same thruster size). Shields and Shield Boosters are resistance enhanced. Weapons are all grade 5 rapid-fire (might need to evaluate that again with the next patch), MC got corrosive effect (highly recommended), lasers have no experimental effects (was unsure what to take and couldn't be bothered going through the experimental effects grind).

I experimented with many weapon loadouts. A huge beam laser with thermal vent and 4x overcharged multi-cannons ripped everything apart but the overcharged MCs boiled my ship too fast. With different engineering, this weapon setup would probably still be very good.
A big plasma accelerator seems less effective, but is a lot of fun and offers some satisfying moments.
Unlike the Vulture, the Fer-De-Lance invites for experimenting with many different weapon loadouts. My current loadout is pretty standard, very effective but a bit boring. Thanks to module storage, trying out something new is much more convinient now.

If you can do it, fixed weapons are possible in the FDL. I just suck with fixed weapons other than the plasma accelerator, so I run all gimballed.
 

GammaZ

G
I would not use anything smaller than class 5 scb, as they seem to use too much power/weight/space for what they give. If i really wanted SCB in FDL for some reason i would go with class 4 shield and class 5 SCB. And same for vulture.
You can also try to activate 2*class4 at the same time, with 1 heatsink, but you will need a lot of power.
 

StiTch

StiTch
PvP build will typically use C4 prismatic shield and C5 SCB, if you are not worried about feedback rails.

If you're not worried about PvP then...it frankly won't make much difference.
 

Bakerloo

Bakerloo
Thanks Cmdr Bermard! Your build in the end isn't that much different from what I have put together so far. I can't afford the Armour though.

I understand what you mean with maybe people being disappointed with the FdL after forking out so much for it. If it was 5 times more powerful than the Vulture then it would be totally unstoppable. The flight model I'm still getting used to. I need to be more more 'on it' with pip management; the Vulture was basically switch between WEP and SYS. With this ship I need to use ENG as well to make it turn well. Also getting into FA OFF with it as well.

I've not done much with the Engineers but I did put a decent roll Grade 5 FSD Range Upgrade on it to take the range to ~19ly. The shield has a Grade 3 Upgrade and the Shield Boosters are Augmented Resistance. Thrusters will be next when I get around to it - they have Grade 3 Dirties taken from the Vulture. I have the Rapid Reload Effect on the Huge MC with Short Range Blaster. Only low level though. Seems to work Ok. I'd like to get the Corrosive effect. I have it on one of my Cobra's small MC's and it is noticable how much more damage it does.

Thanks for the input GammaZ. I don't think I'll be using SCB's in the near future.
 
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