FGS builds!

Hey there, I'm new to PVP and I'm going to make some FGS builds. I know, I know.....they're not FDLs. But I dont care I like the Gunship and I want to have fun with it. See what i can learn and pull off (and die).

Here's what I've got so far. https://s.orbis.zone/3ag7

As you can see I'm making something kinda true to o7o7o7 daka build with reinforcements to core internals to help with the pull-out game (faster reboot or armoured FSD? Hmmm). If I armour core internals are the 2x2 MRP + 1 MRP enough? I've gone long-range to compensate with how I won't (can't) chase people, so might as well get them at a distance!

I play with HOTAS in VR with a low-tier thrustmaster, so gimballed is what I'm doing atm. I can use fixed on NPC's but lets face it, they're not very evasive and I struggle with that even (rubbish HOTAS).

Post your FGS builds or suggestions or maybe, "lol FGS" comments.

o7
 
Here’s how I’d build it, if I was inclined to do so (which I doubt).


I am no specialist on FGS, but I build most of my heavy hybrids this way. Maybe cmdr Replicant will give you a more precise suggestion, he is resident FGS maestro.

Main criticisms of your build - no speed, squishy shields exposing modules earlier than necessary, unbalanced (low) kinetic armor, 0.0001 DPS, low module protection, wrong power distributor. Other than that, it’s fine!
 
Wooo...where to start...from the top I guess...

You will never want mirrored bulkheads. Always reactive, although the FGS can also get away with Military due to its copious numbers of HRPs. The mod should be lightweight or heavy duty, NEVER a resistance mod, UNLESS you have only 1 HRP. You have lots, so we fall back on standard logic, reactive heavy duty, deep plating.

While it might seem like a good idea to strengthen your drives, it actually isn't. The lost speed will make it easier for people to shoot them. Thrusters are a difficult module to take out, even with super penetrators, as they are at the back of the ship and you should never let your enemy see your back.

Frame shift drive...why fast boot? Are you planning on turning it off or facing FSD reset missiles? They are SUPER rare. Also double braced as a special doesn't add enough health to prevent the module snipe so its wasted. Either go protection (shielded, mass manager), or go for reset possibility (fast boot, mass manager), or go for normal range (increased range, mass manager).

Life support...can be hit by lucky shots, but cannot be targeted. So it is rarely worth reinforcing. However in this case you have so much weight, it's probably not worth going lightweight either. Bear in mind though, to get g5, you'll be going to Colonia.

Distributor - Always, ALWAYS Charge enhanced, and usually with super conduits, unless you need the larger caps offered by cluster caps. If you can't use your weapons without weapon focused, change your weapons, not the disti (unless you are a master player and know exactly why you want to do this)

Sensors are a heavy unit in most ships and again, while they can be hit, they cannot be targeted. Either go D rate long range for the lower power if not weight sensitive, or just go A rated lightweight. You have to be mega-unlucky to lose your sensors in a battle, it's never happened to me and I've only done it to someone else ONCE.

Biweave shields...you rarely want a thermal resists biweave, unless you are deliberately trying to keep the recharge time as short as possible or don't want to carry a lot of boosters. In most cases, you get far more effective health from using a reinforced biweave and making up the resistances on the boosters. This will leave you with a small thermal deficit, but that's fine for the extra mj in this PA meta that we live, you need a few mj to mitigate those absolute damage shots.

Fighter hangar...consider if you really want this. Firstly if you take a fighter into pvp he will be killed, sooner rather than later, so you don't take one you've trained, you take one you buy, as an expert. If you do that, they are ok, but they aren't very good. They also require management and steal your combat experience if you are not yet combat elite. I stopped using them a loooong time ago as they are just a liability really. The FGS particularly does not need the extra 'hardpoint'.

Module protection...3 small modules provides high resistance to hardponts and canopies, but overall is less actual module health than a single size 4. The main problem with stacking small ones is that the first will be gone very quickly, losing a chuck of resistance and then the second even quicker, losing you more resistance and then you're screwed. One large and one small is the way to go, because this give you the resistance of the two, for as long as the large one lives. MRPs are consumed in the order in which they are displayed on the right panel of your ship, so make sure you always put your big MRP high up the order, you don't want the smaller one getting eaten first.

Hull reinforcement...witht he change to heavy duty deep plating reactive bulkheads, we need to make up the small thermal deficit by making the smallest HRP a thermal resist one. This is optional, as the majority of damage in pvp is kinetic and absolute, so you can go heavy duty for the extra raw armor against PAs f that's preferable.

You need an interdictor or it's not a pvp ship.

Weapons I'm not going ot comment on, they are a personal choice. Just make sure you are using weapons that you are comfortable with and enjoy using, rather than copying the builds of your heroes. One thing I will say though, is that short range is a far superior mod for gimballed multis than overcharged, and with long range, you will need to land every bullet or do a lot of synthing, which isn't easy in an FGS cos you can't get away to do so.

Utilities...now that we are reinforced on the shield, your mandatory booster setup is eitehr two thermal boosters if you think you'll face lasers and railguns, or a thermal and resistance aug, if you think you'll face more multicannons and frags. 2 chaff is great against gimbal scrubs, but will not affect most decent players. Frags are virtually immune, and you see a lot of PAs and railguns. Personally I would incerase the size of the shield (slowing the recharge, but that's ok, we have plenty of hull), and carry one chaff.

Hope all that helps, here is my revised build for you...


Happy to answer any questions...
 
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The Replicated Man

T
What Aashenfox said^^

Here is a link to my FGS build:
https://s.orbis.zone/33iw

This is the heavy variant with 475mj shield and 4900 armor

Feel free to change some guns around. I sometimes run the quad rail 3 plasma setup as well.

You can also get away with running 2 boosters and throw a heat sink on there.

Only thing to watch out for with the triple booster setup is shield distro draw. Fast Charge and 3 boosters will drain your systems capacitor rather quickly.

Link to my Youtube Channel for FGS PvP Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6oaFe_zHpl1wgU9juE0wxA?view_as=subscriber

If you need any tips or advice feel free to hit me up as I am one of the last Pilots who main a FGS.
 
Wow thanks for the awesome advice CMDRs.

I had this idea of an armoured gunboat and that’s why I went with core internals like that but from the sounds of it, it was only a good idea on paper and not practice.

Here’s how I’d build it, if I was inclined to do so (which I doubt).


I am no specialist on FGS, but I build most of my heavy hybrids this way. Maybe cmdr Replicant will give you a more precise suggestion, he is resident FGS maestro.

Main criticisms of your build - no speed, squishy shields exposing modules earlier than necessary, unbalanced (low) kinetic armour, 0.0001 DPS, low module protection, wrong power distributor. Other than that, it’s fine!

Thanks for the help. I can't believe 7 multicanonns are considered such low dps :0. It's a shame, I love multicannons, they feel awesome to use. Dakka Dakka. What are the better solution for gimballed weapons?

A metric ton of awesome advice!


Happy to answer any questions...

I dont have any questions....I think you covered it all! That was really in depth and I appreciate the time you took to write it. Thanks!

What Aashenfox said^^

Here is a link to my FGS build:


This is the heavy variant with 475mj shield and 4900 Armor

Feel free to change some guns around. I sometimes run the quad rail 3 plasma setup as well.

You can also get away with running 2 boosters and throw a heat sink on there.

Only thing to watch out for with the triple booster setup is shield distro draw. Fast Charge and 3 boosters will drain your systems capacitor rather quickly.

Link to my Youtube Channel for FGS PvP Videos:


If you need any tips or advice feel free to hit me up as I am one of the last Pilots who main a FGS.

Wow that's some sweet flying CMDR. Gotta respect the loyalty to the FGS. Also I like that build it looks super strong, especially with that many plasmas.

Personally though, I do wonder if my low dps is better than plasmas on the backwards notion that I can hit with gimballed but not fixed plasmas lol. I mean for sure, plasmas are better, but my aim with the HOTAS isn't very good. It’s a cheap one at the moment with means it's not very sensitive and its either pitch/roll/yaw slowly.........or HOLY HELL PTICH/YAW/ROLL AT THE SPEED OF SOUND. That my excuse at least.......

I know it sounded stupid in my head too :p


Well I've got a lot to work on then! If you see me flying about, gimme a pull and say hi (with gunfire). I've got a lot to learn and could use the experience.
 

The Replicated Man

T
Wow thanks for the awesome advice CMDRs.

I had this idea of an armoured gunboat and that’s why I went with core internals like that but from the sounds of it, it was only a good idea on paper and not practice.



Thanks for the help. I can't believe 7 multicanonns are considered such low dps :0. It's a shame, I love multicannons, they feel awesome to use. Dakka Dakka. What are the better solution for gimballed weapons?



I dont have any questions....I think you covered it all! That was really in depth and I appreciate the time you took to write it. Thanks!



Wow that's some sweet flying CMDR. Gotta respect the loyalty to the FGS. Also I like that build it looks super strong, especially with that many plasmas.

Personally though, I do wonder if my low dps is better than plasmas on the backwards notion that I can hit with gimballed but not fixed plasmas lol. I mean for sure, plasmas are better, but my aim with the HOTAS isn't very good. It’s a cheap one at the moment with means it's not very sensitive and its either pitch/roll/yaw slowly.........or HOLY HELL PTICH/YAW/ROLL AT THE SPEED OF SOUND. That my excuse at least.......

I know it sounded stupid in my head too :p


Well I've got a lot to work on then! If you see me flying about, gimme a pull and say hi (with gunfire). I've got a lot to learn and could use the experience.
Hit me up in game CMDR R E P L I C A N T

We and do some sparring!
 
Hit me up in game CMDR R E P L I C A N T

We and do some sparring!

Will do! I'm going to be a little bit focused on getting the ship engineered to your guys suggestions, but that shouldnt take me too long. What's Elite without a little grinding? I think we all know how to grind quickly at this point lol.

General PVP question at anyone, why the hate for missles? Missles are awesome! The lock on sound and the visuals are so satisfying.
 

The Replicated Man

T
Will do! I'm going to be a little bit focused on getting the ship engineered to your guys suggestions, but that shouldnt take me too long. What's Elite without a little grinding? I think we all know how to grind quickly at this point lol.

General PVP question at anyone, why the hate for missles? Missles are awesome! The lock on sound and the visuals are so satisfying.
Generally because they are a click to win feature against hulltanks and hybrid setups.
A fight without missiles usually lasts longer and you can have a more enjoyable fight. Usually a hulltanks guns will be shot out long before the hull depletes down to critical levels.

You can run them, it's not taboo or anything, it all comes down to player choices. The defense vs offense of missiles vs countermeasures is laughable at best right now.
 
Wow thanks for the awesome advice CMDRs.

I had this idea of an armoured gunboat and that’s why I went with core internals like that but from the sounds of it, it was only a good idea on paper and not practice.



Thanks for the help. I can't believe 7 multicanonns are considered such low dps :0. It's a shame, I love multicannons, they feel awesome to use. Dakka Dakka. What are the better solution for gimballed weapons?



I dont have any questions....I think you covered it all! That was really in depth and I appreciate the time you took to write it. Thanks!



Wow that's some sweet flying CMDR. Gotta respect the loyalty to the FGS. Also I like that build it looks super strong, especially with that many plasmas.

Personally though, I do wonder if my low dps is better than plasmas on the backwards notion that I can hit with gimballed but not fixed plasmas lol. I mean for sure, plasmas are better, but my aim with the HOTAS isn't very good. It’s a cheap one at the moment with means it's not very sensitive and its either pitch/roll/yaw slowly.........or HOLY HELL PTICH/YAW/ROLL AT THE SPEED OF SOUND. That my excuse at least.......

I know it sounded stupid in my head too :p


Well I've got a lot to work on then! If you see me flying about, gimme a pull and say hi (with gunfire). I've got a lot to learn and could use the experience.
If you want gimballed multicannons, the mod is a no-brainer...short range blaster G5. And they ARE very effective. Long range is very low dps for ultra reliable hits (usually for applying corrosive or thermal shock). You also want to use your multis in the following configuration...in the large slot, you want the corrosive, this is because bigger multicannons have a slower rate of fire, so the bigger the hardpoint you put corrosive on, the less the ammo debuff matters. In two of the mediums, you want incendiary, in the other 2 mediums you want autoloader, and in the two smalls you want another autoloader and an emissive (emissive makes sure the rest of your gimbals are not affected by stealth effects by the other ship, such as dropping heatsinks). One thing to bear in mind is that Short range multis do make a bit more heat than overcharged, but they draw less weapon capacitor. So this menas that running two medium incendiaries and a small emissive, will probably generate a fair amount of heat. You can either learn to handle that (it isn't too hard to know when to stop firing without losing masses of dps), or go overcharged on those specific 3. :)

One last point on why short range is the best mod...it makes more damage than overcharged, for only a little more heat (which apart from incendiary and emissive is a total non issue for multicannons), and restricts your firing to 2km. This is a 'GOOD THING' because you won't hit much with multis at more than 2k away, so you get automatic firing discipline AND a damage buff, AND a reductoin in capacitor usage compared to overcharge.
 
Start with missiles, give yourself and edge against seasoned vets. When you’ll feel you’re becoming competent, try rails. They are immensely helpful when fighting shield tanks (feedback cascade). Also, if PAs are hard at this point consider frags or pacifiers for ease of use-high DPS low energy temporary solution. Or SRB MC’s as fellas suggested.
 
Start with missiles, give yourself and edge against seasoned vets. When you’ll feel you’re becoming competent, try rails. They are immensely helpful when fighting shield tanks (feedback cascade). Also, if PAs are hard at this point consider frags or pacifiers for ease of use-high DPS low energy temporary solution. Or SRB MC’s as fellas suggested.

What would be the best engineering for missles? High cap I bet but what experimental?
 

ryan_m

Banned
Hey there, I'm new to PVP and I'm going to make some FGS builds. I know, I know.....they're not FDLs. But I dont care I like the Gunship and I want to have fun with it. See what i can learn and pull off (and die).

Here's what I've got so far. https://s.orbis.zone/3ag7

As you can see I'm making something kinda true to o7o7o7 daka build with reinforcements to core internals to help with the pull-out game (faster reboot or armoured FSD? Hmmm). If I armour core internals are the 2x2 MRP + 1 MRP enough? I've gone long-range to compensate with how I won't (can't) chase people, so might as well get them at a distance!

I play with HOTAS in VR with a low-tier thrustmaster, so gimballed is what I'm doing atm. I can use fixed on NPC's but lets face it, they're not very evasive and I struggle with that even (rubbish HOTAS).

Post your FGS builds or suggestions or maybe, "lol FGS" comments.

o7

Definitely take any advice that Replicant gives you around the outfitting and flying of the Gunship. No one else in the game is even close to his skill level with that ship.
 
So I've been busy, having a lot of fun. This is what I got to now!


I had to put rails on. I found that the short range multis do very very good for gimbs but when they pop those SCB it was frustrating. And I guess I had to git gud with fixed stuff at some point. And to be fair hitting rails on ships of FGS or larger isn't impossible to me atm. So yeah stopping them from recharging helps a lot lol.

What do you guys think about the build now?
 
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