Ships Good Salvage Ship?

[marlowe221]

The salvage missions have always been one of my favorite mission types in Elite Dangerous. With some of the 3.0 changes, it's become even more attractive given the increased values of various salvage types, not to mention the Guardian stuff you can find out there.

But what makes a good salvage ship? Despite enjoying the salvager gameplay, I struggle with that question.

There's something to be said for a ship with a good boost, so you can get the hell out of Dodge once you scoop up the goods. Or a cold running ship that go unnoticed for longer, pop a heatsink and high wake. Then again, maybe it's better to tank up a large ship and drop into the USS with a bunch of limpets buzzing around.

What are your thoughts?

 

[XOSHI]

I did a few salvage missions in 2.3 and 2.4 with different ships, and most effective was my Cobra3. The Cobra has a lot of speed and enough cargo space if I find something interesting, but the iCourier or the Viper should be good alternatives with much higher speed. Seek the goods, scoop them up and if a 'Conda come's along, boost away with over 500m/s.

I tried the more bulky variant in my Python - with some trouble - my Corvette - funny, but you still have to wait for your limpets, before fighting back - and during my T10 Test, with this beast. IMO the T10 would be the most interesting variant, due to it's turret optimized hardpoints, which let you fight back without crushing the turrets with your maneuvers. Also the T10 also has a good bulk, but you're slow as hell and if your opponent has the superior ship, or they're just to many of them, running is quite difficult.
I remember a Mission where I had to deal with a Wing of a Elite-'Conda winged by 2 Viper4s a Vulture and an Eagle, and for sure my engineering saved me that day. (But their bounties was a nice bonus on the Mission reward °L°)

The cool running version would be something like the DBX? I'm not sure if this would work, but the DBX isn't that expensive, you could easily find out if this works.

The one thing that made the Cobra3 my favorite salvage ship, is that it's also a excellent ship for surface missions and I often mixed these mission types for a bit variation. I liked the salvage missions in the T10 or the 'Vette, but landing for recovering from a crash-side is not fun in these Giants.

 

[Gamsir]

The new chieftain?

Good manouverability and speed. Decent shields. Strong hull. Strong offensive capabilities and at least 16t of cargo in a combat configuration with a SRV.

You can survive most things and deal a lot of damage without running.
I was jumped by two anacondas (one master rated and one dangerous) and defeated them with 84% hull left.

 

[marlowe221]

I did a few salvage missions in 2.3 and 2.4 with different ships, and most effective was my Cobra3. The Cobra has a lot of speed and enough cargo space if I find something interesting, but the iCourier or the Viper should be good alternatives with much higher speed. Seek the goods, scoop them up and if a 'Conda come's along, boost away with over 500m/s.

I tried the more bulky variant in my Python - with some trouble - my Corvette - funny, but you still have to wait for your limpets, before fighting back - and during my T10 Test, with this beast. IMO the T10 would be the most interesting variant, due to it's turret optimized hardpoints, which let you fight back without crushing the turrets with your maneuvers. Also the T10 also has a good bulk, but you're slow as hell and if your opponent has the superior ship, or they're just to many of them, running is quite difficult.
I remember a Mission where I had to deal with a Wing of a Elite-'Conda winged by 2 Viper4s a Vulture and an Eagle, and for sure my engineering saved me that day. (But their bounties was a nice bonus on the Mission reward °L°)

The cool running version would be something like the DBX? I'm not sure if this would work, but the DBX isn't that expensive, you could easily find out if this works.

The one thing that made the Cobra3 my favorite salvage ship, is that it's also a excellent ship for surface missions and I often mixed these mission types for a bit variation. I liked the salvage missions in the T10 or the 'Vette, but landing for recovering from a crash-side is not fun in these Giants.

I've had the most success with a Cobra mk.3 as well. The internals are a little awkward though - you have to use up a class 4 slot if you want a 3A collecter controller, which really limits cargo capacity. I usually use a 1A controller in one of the class 2 slots instead. It does mean I have to hang around the USS for a longer period of time though.

I haven't actually tried a DBX/DBS yet. I was just theorizing that since they run so cool anyway, it might be possible to purposefully aim for a cold ship and escape detection a little longer than an average temperature ship might. It's not a cloak, of course, but it might buy me a few seconds sometimes? I'm not sure. Just spitballing.

The new chieftain?

Good manouverability and speed. Decent shields. Strong hull. Strong offensive capabilities and at least 16t of cargo in a combat configuration with a SRV.

You can survive most things and deal a lot of damage without running.
I was jumped by two anacondas (one master rated and one dangerous) and defeated them with 84% hull left.

Chieftain is interesting. I haven't tried one out yet for anything, much less salvaging. But it would be a good candidate for the "stay and fight" model of salvaging I suppose.

But how does NPC spawning work? If I bring a medium or large ship to the USS aren't I more likely to have bigger NPCs spawn in with me?

 

[57thStIncident]

I'm going to just spitball a bit here too, since I think most ships are capable of basic scavenging.

Lately I'd been using my Adder (with advanced enhanced thrusters) for salvage missions (as well as planetary scan/skimmer/power grid missions, etc.) as so many of these missions are uneventful and I can pluck goods unopposed.

However, a recent mission had three pirate ships drop in as soon as I went to try and scoop the first of 4 required items, so I had no choice but to bolt immediately. This has given me another idea that I will probably try out in the next day or two: Keelback + SLF.

My thought is to equip my Keelback with the fighter hangar, 32T cargo rack along with its class 4 shield. I plan to bring along class 3 collector limpet controller as well. This is not exactly a proven idea but I'm thinking in that aforementioned NPC gank scenario I might try deploying the fighter to defend me while I use the collector limpets to speed along collection, then I'll see if I can't (with the fighter's help) take out the ganking NPCs. At the very least, the fighter cover should help cover escape.

One problem I've found is that even if I manage to kill the NPCs, sometimes the fight takes me too far away from the goods that I can't relocate them, this is why I'm thinking it would be best if I can get at least half the goodies before I have to focus on self-preservation.

One other difficult salvage situation I've found is when the goods are very close to a planet -- sometimes they're moving quite quickly and can be very difficult to scoop, often resulting in the destruction of the goods. This is another reason I'm thinking having some collector limpets on board might be a 'good thing'.

I have also used one of my favorite ships, the Asp Scout in the role. The agility and decent capacity for its size/price are good, and it's reasonably tough, IMO tough enough to make up for its less than impressive escape speed. If escape is the goal, I imagine a Dolphin might work well too. I am of course somewhat predisposed towards using ships that I 'like' for whatever arbitrary reason. Good logical arguments could be made for the DBS, DBX, Viper III or Viper IV or even a Vulture or AspX or Type 6 as scavengers. If especially interested in fighting rather than surviving NPC ganks likely most will need to up their game, maybe with a Chieftan or Fed ship.

For salvage missions you often want the advanced discovery scanner so you don't need to visit the nav beacon...if you want your scavenger to be planetary-capable you'd need SRV hangar as well so I would tend not to want the otherwise-likeable DBS as with only 4 internal slots it's hard to bring everything you'd probably want. You can make the argument that slightly more than minimal cargo is also nice so you can pick up more goodies like lifepods or if more cargo than anticipated is found.

 

[Robin of Spiritwood]

Tried a super cold DBX for this job. Runs at 14-15 % heat, lower without shields.
It's lacking internals to scoop much.

The problem is the NPC's spawn in close by, and they (visually) see you right off, or are within min distance for sensors to do their pickup. Even with a heat sink and silent running, you cannot continue to salvage, and have to run. So might as well run hot and fast.

I like the Keelback idea above.

 

[Madrax573]

How about ASP-E? Plenty of internals with 64t cargo and class 5 shields. Decent turn of speed with modded thrusters as well.....

I've kind of rediscovered the ASP-E again and quite enjoying it if I'm honest.

 

[Jackie Silver]

I liked to salvage in a Fer-de-Lance and simply boil any uninvited guests. The only trouble is hanging on to the position of the salvage objects during a running fight.

 

[marlowe221]

How about ASP-E? Plenty of internals with 64t cargo and class 5 shields. Decent turn of speed with modded thrusters as well.....

I've kind of rediscovered the ASP-E again and quite enjoying it if I'm honest.

It's funny you mention that - I feel like I've rediscovered the AspX a couple of times in my time with Elite Dangerous.

I've got one sitting in the hangar with engineered thrusters and FSD (G3 and G5 respectively). I should probably refit the optional internals for some salvage missions and give it a whirl.

What do you think about having weapons on a salvage ship? I'm starting to think it might be a waste of weight on the build.

Last night I took an elite rated salvage mission in my Cobra3 with military bulkheads and 4C biweave shield. NPCs spawned into the mission USS, at least an Anaconda and a Python (and a couple of other ships too). My shields were basically vaporized as soon as they opened fire. I boosted away, of course, but I was already down to 75% hull. If it wasn't for my engineered thrusters pushing 530 m/s, I would have been looking at the rebuy screen. Having weapons seemed kind of silly at that point.

I know some people in this thread want to stand and fight in a salvage mission, but 4v1 are not my kind of odds.

 

[Cavindar]

For salvage mission's I use my DBX which I some times use for stations that come under attack, works perfectly for me.

 

[XOSHI]

I know some people in this thread want to stand and fight in a salvage mission, but 4v1 are not my kind of odds.

If I'm sitting in My Cobra I won't fight either. But if I'm sitting in a fully engineered Battleship, why not use it?

 

[marlowe221]

For salvage mission's I use my DBX which I some times use for stations that come under attack, works perfectly for me.

Would you mind sharing your build for a salvage DBX?

I thought about the DBX more from a point of view of a semi-stealth salvager build, though now I don't think that would really work.

 

[marlowe221]

My deep and abiding love for the Type 6 comes into this as well.

What do people think of this build? https://eddp.co/u/RNwVnfZp

Of course the speed, boost, and jump range numbers will be higher under Engineers 3.0 since Coriolis isn't updated yet.

 

[XOSHI]

My deep and abiding love for the Type 6 comes into this as well.

What do people think of this build? https://eddp.co/u/RNwVnfZp

Of course the speed, boost, and jump range numbers will be higher under Engineers 3.0 since Coriolis isn't updated yet.

Damn, that's a pretty interesting build tho. Maybe I have to take a look back on this little brick, I didn't used it since about 2 years.
Couldn't remember It was that fast. And it has more than enough cargo capacity + enough space for a 4A fuelscoop and a SRV Hangar.

I really shouldn't overlook this ship I guess.

 

[57thStIncident]

An update on my Keelback + SLF idea which I tried a little last night.

Fun, and somewhat successful. I did manage to kill an FAS with it.

However it was still overwhelmed by 2x eagles + 1x Anaconda, but it was fun and I *almost* made it...so I am probably going to give this another try (the mission is still open).

Dealing with multiple collector limpets and multiple bogeys simultaneously is a bit demanding. I am wondering whether I should try to take out one or both of the fighters first. I was also using the 'defend' SLF order, possibly a more aggressive order might have actually been able to take out some of my opponents.

My KB doesn't have its shields or armor engineered yet. I may throw on a second shield booster as well. I kind of want to try the build for BH as well to practice and increase my familiarity with using the KB+SLF together, though for this I'd probably swap out the cargo rack for HRP and the SRV for MRP or even AFMU.

Some of my trouble is also relative unfamiliarity with collector limpets -- I was sort of 'waiting for them' ... just how well will they cope with me trying to fly more aggressively while they're active?

I know some people in this thread want to stand and fight in a salvage mission, but 4v1 are not my kind of odds.

I have to wonder what FDev is really intending with these missions. You can do like 10 very similar-looking of these missions in a row without any opposition at all, then all of a sudden you hit one with a nasty wing of three (THAT escalated quickly!!) -- and it seems attached to the mission because revisiting the same signal source will spawn similar opponents. Unless you're flying a real battle-wagon, soloing a 3-ship wing including an Anaconda is a pretty tall order...but who normally uses a battle-wagon for salvage? Sometimes you can scoop 1, maybe 2 things and escape before it gets too hairy...but if its a scoop-4 mission, that means you have to the same 2-4 times, which means you may need to go make repairs, need to annoyingly re-locate the mission signal source, etc. This is also pretty high-risk so if I was purely about profit rather than fun & challenge I'd be MUCH better off aborting that mission.

 

[marlowe221]

An update on my Keelback + SLF idea which I tried a little last night.

Fun, and somewhat successful. I did manage to kill an FAS with it.

However it was still overwhelmed by 2x eagles + 1x Anaconda, but it was fun and I *almost* made it...so I am probably going to give this another try (the mission is still open).

Dealing with multiple collector limpets and multiple bogeys simultaneously is a bit demanding. I am wondering whether I should try to take out one or both of the fighters first. I was also using the 'defend' SLF order, possibly a more aggressive order might have actually been able to take out some of my opponents.

My KB doesn't have its shields or armor engineered yet. I may throw on a second shield booster as well. I kind of want to try the build for BH as well to practice and increase my familiarity with using the KB+SLF together, though for this I'd probably swap out the cargo rack for HRP and the SRV for MRP or even AFMU.

Some of my trouble is also relative unfamiliarity with collector limpets -- I was sort of 'waiting for them' ... just how well will they cope with me trying to fly more aggressively while they're active?



I have to wonder what FDev is really intending with these missions. You can do like 10 very similar-looking of these missions in a row without any opposition at all, then all of a sudden you hit one with a nasty wing of three (THAT escalated quickly!!) -- and it seems attached to the mission because revisiting the same signal source will spawn similar opponents. Unless you're flying a real battle-wagon, soloing a 3-ship wing including an Anaconda is a pretty tall order...but who normally uses a battle-wagon for salvage? Sometimes you can scoop 1, maybe 2 things and escape before it gets too hairy...but if its a scoop-4 mission, that means you have to the same 2-4 times, which means you may need to go make repairs, need to annoyingly re-locate the mission signal source, etc. This is also pretty high-risk so if I was purely about profit rather than fun & challenge I'd be MUCH better off aborting that mission.

The thing about a Keelback +SLF build is that seems like an expensive way to do these missions. You have to pay the NPC, gotta buy fighter re-fills, etc.

I don't know about you, but I never see a salvage mission that pays over 1M cr.

 

[rekurzion]

I don't know about you, but I never see a salvage mission that pays over 1M cr.

i get them regularly from 1.5 - 3.

 

[rekurzion]

Some of my trouble is also relative unfamiliarity with collector limpets -- I was sort of 'waiting for them' ... just how well will they cope with me trying to fly more aggressively while they're active?

if you are collecting materials then your only limitation is that you do not outrun the max range of the limpet. but collection will succeed at top speeds. with any canister you need to be at a speed less than 10m/s and that is risking it if the limpet needs to maneuver around to the cargo hold (it can explode if it hits your ship at the wrong angle). at higher speeds the canister will explode. learned that as i watched 2 hostages explode under the belly of my ship. it was tragic.

but with the higher ranked salvage missions you need limpets for time reasons. especially with the new aggression model in salvage missions since 3.0.

now that i can mark certain canisters for ignore i no longer have to target black boxes for pickup, i can drop limpets immediately on dropping from SC and only have black boxes to pick up or whatever i'm looking for (although it would be nice to have a static list somewhere i can unselect what is ignored or not at my discretion).

i've been running with the ASP-S for reference and i always collect.

 

[marlowe221]

i get them regularly from 1.5 - 3.

Please tell me where...

now that i can mark certain canisters for ignore i no longer have to target black boxes for pickup, i can drop limpets immediately on dropping from SC and only have black boxes to pick up or whatever i'm looking for (although it would be nice to have a static list somewhere i can unselect what is ignored or not at my discretion).

i've been running with the ASP-S for reference and i always collect.

How do I get my limpets to ignore stuff?

 

[rekurzion]

this may be very situational because of the bgs so i'll do my best describing my scenario...

my home system is an extraction / industry economy. these seem to have a large amount of salvage. i'm allied with fed but not pledged and allied with several factions in the area. the factions are also aligned with the fed. i'm dangerous combat, ranger exploration and broker in trade.

the missions started off around 100K. i noticed some of them had difficulty ranks of exploration, some were combat. the more i completed and the higher i ranked the rewards increased. i think the key really is being allied to a faction who is allied to a power that you are allied with and successfully completing missions.

after a while i was getting the higher payouts.

but be warned. those salvage missions are tough.

wars / civil war salvage also seem to increase payout.

also the harder missions add bounties to collect. some send 4 elites after you at 100K each if you can manage to kill them (that's not including local bounties for the kill which are usually upwards of 200K).

as with anything in elite you'll need to play around with it and don't give up. but stay in the same system with the same faction. working the bgs is the best way to maximize mission payout.



to get your limpets to ignore stuffs - look in your contacts lists and you will notice a box to the left of canisters / materials. select it and you now have the choice to ignore a certain kind of canister / material. i'm not 100% confident on this method yet. i haven't ignored any materials yet so if salvage missions start dropping materials then i'll need to manage. it's still better in my opinion to target the canisters you want as soon as you drop from super cruise and send limpets. all in all you should be able to target pickup 4 canisters by the time your FSD has cooled down.