Fer-De-Lance Worth it?

[CATPAIN KIRK]

Missiles? why are people using missiles again all of a sudden? I've still never been killed by missiles. Came close once--before they nerfed them to little fluffy puffballs that gently poof your shields while making a pop noise. It was also a Python firing them, before they nerfed those.

Ohhh, I know what it is. New players that came in after the missile nerf and haven't seen the old threads about how useless they've been since then. That's why I see people talking about missiles everywhere; we've got a generation of ED players that don't know any better.

Missiles are just not an efficient or economical weapon for any ship in this game. Too little endurance, too little damage. And the reload prices are an absolute ripoff.

Oh sure - they suck, but they're also fun - besides I can't fit anything else on the Couriers nacelles - convergence is too poor for my taste, I don't like asymmetric loadouts, gimballed crosshair wobbling makes me want to throw up within seconds of having them deployed and turrets are too low DPS and unsatisfying to use.

Besides after using the same weapons over and over again for 14 months now, I am desperate for something different. I'm not super-rich, but own all ships I'm remotely interested in (Eagle, Viper, Cobra, Courier, DBS, DBX, Asp, FdL, Python, Anaconda) A graded and have enough cash in the bank to buy any ship FD release in the near future, so I really don't need to worry about ammo cost, making credits or "economical" builds.

But yeah - you're right - I'm from the generation that doesn't know any better.

 

[Hanatarashi]

That's my current setup. Will try tinkering around with the 5D.

For an extra 10t weight (which should still be okay, as 50% below the thrusters' optimum weight is apparently the maximum performance you can get out of them) and a 4A fuel scoop instead of a 5A, you could set it up like this, which would give you significantly better shields, and wouldn't require cutting your life support.

 

[Saool]

This is the set up I use for Bounty Hunting/War zones

For PvP I would drop the discovery scanner (I feel naked without one), down size the fuel scoop and put on another offline Shield Cell bank. However I am not an authority of PvP at this time.

 

[znôrt]

a class 4 shield generator

5d will save you 2t and 1mw for a barely noticeable drop in shields (with 0d boosters)

unless I'm building a stealth craft that fights without shields.

that sounds pretty badass!!

 

[Kingston@#]

I've been watching videodisc, and have seen it for sale in a few systems, but am unsure of to buy it or not.

Is its extravagant price worth it?

wait and get a python !

 

[HeavyGroovez]

FdL is my goto PvP ship.

Faaaast, good shields, strong firepower, solid convergence, loads of utility mounts, handles well.

Best all round combat ship you can buy. Worth every penny.

 

[Morbad]

that sounds pretty badass!!

Haven't tried a stealth FDL yet, but I posted a video in this thread that has me flying a stealth Clipper during a PvP encounter.

 

[tetra]

Just picked up one today to add to my fleet, been eyeing one up ever since release but it seemed a little redundant sitting next to an A-class python. Saying that though I took it out for a short spin today and so far I love it! 403 top boost, kills nice and fast, pretty decent manoeuvrability (after a python anyway). Need to take it to a res or CZ next to put it through it's paces properly. Dropped the huge hardpoint for a large pulse instead. If anybody has any suggestions to tweak it a touch I would welcome any feedback:

http://coriolis.io/outfit/fer_de_la...40700000m4a5e5e2o66.Iw1-ADG3EA==.IwBhrSuzmI==

 

[Psycho Romeo]

Four frag cannons and a PA. Cannot go wrong. Anything small enough to give you trouble is small enough to ignore.

Not even kidding.

 

[tetra]

The Large pulse I would replace with a large PA. Even PvPers who like pulse or mc builds usually have a PA; most of them swear by huge ones, but I find that huge PA bolts travel too slow, and unless you're at point-blank range and getting gutted by turrets, even a 'Conda is going to have changed direction, and your PA round goes off into the wild blue yonder. Large doesn't have nearly as much of a problem with that.

The bolt on the huge PA travels a lot slower than large? Thanks for the info had no idea, used to run a large PA on my python and was looking forward to trying the huge, but if its even slower than large I might not bother.

 

[Morbad]

I'd say 80% of the time I have a large fixed beam laser in the huge hardpoint. The remaining 20% of the time is equally split between large pulse laser, huge fixed cannon, and huge PA.

The bolt on the huge PA travels a lot slower than large? Thanks for the info had no idea, used to run a large PA on my python and was looking forward to trying the huge, but if its even slower than large I might not bother.

I never got the impression it's velocity was substantially slower, but I may have to compare the again. It's still much faster than a huge cannon projectile, and does enormous damage per shot.

It's a decent weapon against AI, but very few people can leverage PA of any kind particularly well in PvP. Even the advanced accelerators, which have a solid rate of fire and projectile speed, when used against my FDL by a good pilot, miss more than half the time. I can probably dodge 50-70% of large and huge PA shots. I've encountered dual PA Vultures who ran out of ammo before I was at risk of shield collapse.

Four frag cannons and a PA. Cannot go wrong. Anything small enough to give you trouble is small enough to ignore.

Not even kidding.

I had a pair of medium gimbaled frag cannon on my Mk II stealth Clipper. They were pretty potent at point blank range, but they were almost uselessly ammo hungry.

 

[tetra]

Thanks Morbad, will give it a try. Could you possibly post your combat FDL loadout ?

 

[taicho]

i have been using this loadout for a while http://coriolis.io/outfit/fer_de_la...ADG3EA==.CwBh1MCYZhGBMDMIESA=?bn=fer de lance

 

[Morbad]

Thanks Morbad, will give it a try. Could you possibly post your combat FDL loadout ?

I swap between several configurations, but this is what saw the most action, and was most successful in the action it saw, in Bast: http://coriolis.io/outfit/fer_de_la...g===.CwBhoRjBmXYJgvRTHGEA?bn=Morbad's War FDL

 

[Blue Viper]

Holy crap I didn't expect this much feedback! This just shows what a dedicated community we are, thanks guys!

 

[CMDR Reza Malin]

Do you like the Viper?

Do you want a giant Viper?

Are you comfortable using thrusters, as well as rotational axes, to move?

Are you willing to set aside any potential mental defect or disorder that would prevent you from being willing to mount a large weapon in a huge hardpoint?

Can you tolerate sitting 1m off the center-line of a 30m wide ship?

Do you know how manage power priorities?

Do you have at least 80 million credits?

If you answered "yes" to each and every single one of these questions, you will probably love the FDL.

Couldn't have said it any better. Basically the FDL sorts the chaff from the wheat. People that don't understand how to get the most out of their ships, or don't have any inclination to spend time learning their pros and cons. These are the people that dislike the FDL. By all accounts its a sizeable portion of the playerbase, or at least the ones i see berating the ship on the forums.

The fact is, like a lot of things in life, the herd will always follow the path of least resistance for the most part. The FDL is a fantastic ship, if you take the time to understand why. If not, you will just sit in it for 5 minutes wonder why you cant fit A class everything and all beam lasers on it, and then go and sell it to come to the forums and complain.

The most laughable argument i hear about it is its jump range. You don't buy a combat ship with jump range anywhere near the top of the list of priorities. Again its down to people that are used to being in every ship that has a 20+ jump range. If you actually use an FDL for any time, you will realise its not actually that bad. A4 fuel scoop and its fine. But yeah, let people keep telling you this is a bad combat ship, because of its jump range.....lol.

EDIT: Oh wait i forgot the off center pilot seat. People who struggle with this, boggle my mind. Does it obstruct your view? No. Does it obstruct your gunsight? No. After 30 seconds i stopped noticing it. Just shows how pandered to some gamers can be these days.