Fun Fight in the Taipan

[Frenotx]

I adore the look of the Taipan. It's got an awesome cockpit, and the folding wings are nifty. That said, it's a bit of a pig of a fighter. I've been trying to get more comfortable flying the thing. It still feels sluggish for an SLF, but I feel like I'm starting to get the gang of it. Had a really exciting dogfight with a viper III NPC earlier today and figured you guys might enjoy watching some small-ship action.
[video=youtube;DGG_GNINjsM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGG_GNINjsM[/video]

 

[yolomcbobbinz]

eew, plasma. I prefer fixed beams or multi on my taipan, but good fight was exciting to watch

 

[Frenotx]

eew, plasma. I prefer fixed beams or multi on my taipan, but good fight was exciting to watch

My other fighter runs with the fixed beams + heatsink setup. The amount of damage it can put out is pretty amazing. When you don't want to use a heatsink, though, the amount of time spent firing vs. the amount of time spent waiting for your capacitor to recharge is... dissatisfying. I've really been enjoying the plasma because you have a lot more up-time with the guns, they're better at damaging modules (and the hull in general), and the added requirement of lead makes the fights a little more exciting imo. Overall, is the plasma "better"? Probably not. Is it fun? You bet.

(Plus, you get those excellent "I have you now" moments, when you finally get a good bead on that lead indicator)

 

[Wasp0]

Another vote for fixed Beam + Heat sinks... It is fairly easy to bring down an Elite (NPC) Conda with this setup, without help from the Mother ship. Also in PvP fights it gets the attention of the Cmdr!!

 

[GoldenSilver484]

I use both the fixed beam and plasma, though I tend to use the beams more often. By only firing one you can maintain fire for quite a long time, then pulsing the second when you want a bit more damage. At one time I was using dual fixed beam Taipans due to this, but then remembered how fun plasma repeaters are. (FD please make C1 plasma a thing) There's not much in the game that feels like a true David vs Goliath moment than flying the fighters against a ship that can instantly delete you if you slip up.

Watching a fully engineered Conda controlled by a harmless pilot annihilate a wing of Elite ships is quite amusing too. An Elite pilot can also own a CZ reasonably well, you just need to watch out for when a death ball spawns.

 

[Morbad]

Taipan is my most used SLF. It's a bit of a bigger, heavier, target than the others, but it's essentially the only SLF that will survive a hit from a class 2 rail, or two missiles. It also has the largest heat capacity and highest boost speed.

I don't use the plasma variants much as a lot of my SLF use is to counter SLFs launched by other CMDRs and the fixed beam variants are far and away the best at this. The plasma repeater Taipan is a solid pursuit ship though, as it's the fastest variant with the highest damage falloff distance, and there is no CMDR accessible MC variant.

the amount of time spent firing vs. the amount of time spent waiting for your capacitor to recharge is... dissatisfying.

Move the weapons to different triggers and only use both of them together when you're guaranteed to hit and need the damage.

I've really been enjoying the plasma because you have a lot more up-time with the guns, they're better at damaging modules (and the hull in general)

Last time I checked, plasma repeaters on SLFs had no penetration chance and couldn't damage modules at all. They must have finally fixed this.

 

[UnhappyDev]

Really nice fight, thanks for posting. I wish the SLFs were available as standalone purchases, I usually end up tanking mine into the side of the mothership.

 

[Frenotx]

Taipan is my most used SLF. It's a bit of a bigger, heavier, target than the others, but it's essentially the only SLF that will survive a hit from a class 2 rail, or two missiles. It also has the largest heat capacity and highest boost speed.

I don't use the plasma variants much as a lot of my SLF use is to counter SLFs launched by other CMDRs and the fixed beam variants are far and away the best at this. The plasma repeater Taipan is a solid pursuit ship though, as it's the fastest variant with the highest damage falloff distance, and there is no CMDR accessible MC variant.

Yeah, the plasma is hella awkward when trying to take down another SLF. The fixed beams are worlds better at that, though I wonder if the gimballed beams would be better yet... That DPS cut is hard to swallow.

Move the weapons to different triggers and only use both of them together when you're guaranteed to hit and need the damage.

That works fine in fights like the one shown, since there's already a lot of downtime between shooting while trying to line up the next shot. Where I get annoyed is when I'm taking down bigger targets. I can usually get into and stay in position for a long against less maneuverable targets- hitting the ship isn't really a question. When I'm in those long, constant-firing-soultion situations, it's just aggravating to spend so much time waiting for the guns to recharge.

Last time I checked, plasma repeaters on SLFs had no penetration chance and couldn't damage modules at all. They must have finally fixed this.

I managed to kill an anaconda's power plant well before its hull failed (30%+) later in that very outing, so it definitely has been changed. Don't worry, though, there are still plenty of other SLF bugs still around from the 2.2 beta.

 

[EUS]

Don't have sound at work, are you using macros or voice attack for pips management?

 

[Frenotx]

Don't have sound at work, are you using macros or voice attack for pips management?

Macros. I have a 4-way hat switch on my right stick that does max to sys on left, max to eng on up, max to wep on right, and balance on down. Holding the shift button makes each one of those only move one pip, like the arrow keys normally do. I find that I rarely need that, though. Usually I roll with 4 in one capacitor and 2 in another, balanced, or 1-4-1. All of those are easy to do quickly without individual pip movement.

I think voice attack would be worlds too slow for my tastes.

 

[Spacecat]

They are surprisingly tough. I remember a fight with one thinking "when is this thing finally going to die?", being pummeled by the Anaconda mother ship the whole time.

 

[Morbad]

I wonder if the gimballed beams would be better yet... That DPS cut is hard to swallow.

SLFs are small enough that the gimbal wobble is problematic even at short range, so if you can aim at all, or are using a Master or higher ranked NPC, the fixed beams are almost always better.

I managed to kill an anaconda's power plant well before its hull failed (30%+) later in that very outing, so it definitely has been changed.

Good to know, will have to give it a shot again.

 

[Zeeman]

Macros. I have a 4-way hat switch on my right stick that does max to sys on left, max to eng on up, max to wep on right, and balance on down. Holding the shift button makes each one of those only move one pip, like the arrow keys normally do. I find that I rarely need that, though. Usually I roll with 4 in one capacitor and 2 in another, balanced, or 1-4-1. All of those are easy to do quickly without individual pip movement.

I think voice attack would be worlds too slow for my tastes.

Really wish FD would allow for pre-defined pips settings, rather than having to set up macros.

I remember when a Condor used to be a single shot kill with a C3 pulse back before they we SLF's. Then, one day, they grew shields, and actually became annoying enough that I find I have to kill them before I engage the mothership. They went from mosquitoes to wasps. Overnight..
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