How To Build A PvP Capable Ship

Status
Thread Closed: Not open for further replies.
Nice, I have a similar set-up that gets a lot of lys.
I'm using c3 reinforced prismatics, but off hand I think my shields are slightly lower than that with 2 boosters.
Are you using a c5 generator?

Yes, C5 prismatics - heavy, but can take a beating, with a GuardianSR and two boosters.

If I want to haul more cargo, I've got a Python and a shiny new (untested/finished) T-9.
 
It's a trap!

Next time add this to your post...Visuals always get a better response.

875.gif
 

Goose4291

Banned
As many saw my post yesterday, I threw together a PvE combat outfitting guide over the weekend. With some additional help, I also put togethera beginner PvP guide that will hopefully make Open more accessible to people that are interested.
What is in the guide?


  • How to survive in Open
  • Situational awareness
  • Survival outfitting
  • Evasion
  • PvP-focused builds
  • PvP ship tier list
  • Engineer effect guide
  • PvP hotspot list
Just like with the guide posted yesterday, this is meant to be a very high-level view of this information and is in no way comprehensive. There are generalizations, and if you plan on really learning PvP, go out there and join some servers. A LOT of the knowledge you need is very, very specific depending on what you're planning on flying, so ask questions and get fighting.

Solid foundation level guide.

As a primarily open mode trader, Im happy to say this is absolutely on the nose.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

ryan_m

Banned
Greetings,

TL;DR...ryan_m's post is a positive way to interest players in PvP. If not players will have an awesome PvE ship.

OK, I'm impressed. PvP rebuild from a PvE Fer de Lance version. Here's my initial PvP build and it will constantly change. It is a goal and I'm not there yet.

I dusted off my FDL I thought was pretty good with NPCs, ripped out the gear and rebuilt it per his meta FDL design. Then off to the engineers (grand fathering some of the old core modules) per his specs. It's about 90 percent complete less the optional internals which for now a fuel scoop, fuel tank and Guardian FSD booster gets me around to complete the build. I'll fly an Asp Explorer to engineer the optionals with SCBs, HRMs etc then have them transported home. I will also have to redo the overcharged power plant to armoured. That wasn't wise but I also didn't realize that armoured also adds additional power which covers his basic build. Probably doesn't matter if all your enemies are NPCs.

I went G5 charge enhanced distributor which drops 5% capacity but adds 45% recharge. Then I went with cluster capacitors which adds 8% capacity and drops 2% recharge. The end result from stock is all in the blue with 42.1% recharge and 2.6% additional capacity. Seems like the right way to go.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Combat Test with NPCs

Heading home I hit a USS threat level 1. Well, why not. It's a viper. Three plasmas on fire 1 and two rails on fire 2. One plasma volley and the viper disappears. Another USS threat level 1 with an anaconda. Target the power plant, three plasma volleys and it disappears. Heat only went to 55% then quickly cooled off while the weps pips recharged in 3 seconds. Fire again. No additional heat.

Oh, a USS threat level 5. I'm getting a big head now. With a fast moving FDL and am pretty good with fixed weapons (but never engineered them correctly) I take out the smaller ships and then concentrate on the hard one. It's an Asp Explorer that knows a lot more about shields and SCBs than I do at the moment. Still while I am manuevering and firing it's weapons never hit me and had problems turning around. Maybe effects work on NPCs. Back at a local station collecting my bounties I found replenishing my ammo for a few hits cost 15,000 credits. Don't miss a lot!

The only hits were with multiple ships attacking and I wasn't engaging them. With the meta design and moving fast the shields only lost one ring and recharged almost immediately. I probably should have brought the long range rails online but it is a brand new ship to relearn.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Reality

Note, I'm not anywhere close to engaging in PvP combat with any competent pilot who has been doing it for years and probably has several ships past the FDL specifically designed to take my build out. But as a starter meta FDL I have a great training build. Now it is up to me to take advantage of it and practice, practice and practice until I dial it all in without thinking. Maybe it will or will not happen. Like anything in the game dedication and persistence often yields positive results.

Thanks to ryan_m posting a positive thread with a few answers for those who might be interested in PvP (or not) if they had some knowledge to start with. ryan_m provided that. Nor was it about his promoting PvP at times or even his ship builds. ryan_m provided ship builds and the equipment to engineer and install. The major difference was he told you WHY you were installing every component in your ship and what it does and does not do in the overall design for a specific PvP encounter. That is so much more important than any specific ship build getting the player to understand their builds and how they work. Thus I came up with my distributor cluster capacitors effect.

That is a positive PvP moment we need more of versus other posts that want to make current aspects of the game as Open mode only for a quick solution. Find a solution that interest other players taking a look at PvP then invite them to it. Never force them into it.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

A best seller book?

ryan_m said he could do 30 pages on PvP combat. Maybe he should write a book inviting other expert players to add chapters to it. But it cannot be an actual hardcopy book. Who knows the direction Frontier will take Elite Dangerous with the next update and a hardcopy could be obsolete plus expensive with all the pretty pictures! Make it an online yearly subscription at a very low cost. Don't get an EGO! Of course per my EGO I'll only take 1% of your profits on the second year after suggesting it. :)

ryan_m did it the right way. We need more posts like this.

Regards to All

A couple of things on your build definitely need to be tweaked.

Drag drives are a requirement. There's no reason to take anything else with this ship because speed is how you stay alive. 533 m/s is abysmally slow for a PvP FDL, with most boosting around 560. I have one that goes 583.

Cluster capacitors seem like an alright choice but think about it like this: you're sacrificing 8% higher recharge rate for 8% capacity. That extra cap only matters if your weps are too thirsty to shoot on a full cap, and 3 efficient PAs are just fine. The recharge rate is MUCH more valuable here because of how often you're going to be shooting your weapons. Quicker recharge means more damage out.
 
Interesting read. I always wondered what people meant by a PVP build, and how that would differ from any other ship configuration. Turns out this is how I do most of my builds anyway.
 
Good guide. Question on frags - overcharged vs double shot. People say that with double shot you run down the ammo faster, and sure, but doesn't it increase the DPS? And for ammo cap problem, synthesis could be done if necessary?

Is overcharged that much better than double shot?
 
Ouch. lol. OK, I'm thinking about reproducing it in my own words, it was a good guide. But let me point out to anyone, that reading a guide to building a ship correctly is no substitute for the 'real' advice and experience you can get from being in a pvp squadron and doing regular practice. (y)
 
Ouch. lol. OK, I'm thinking about reproducing it in my own words, it was a good guide. But let me point out to anyone, that reading a guide to building a ship correctly is no substitute for the 'real' advice and experience you can get from being in a pvp squadron and doing regular practice. (y)
I just bought a very expensive camera and my pictures will be gorgeous, right? ;)
 
Ouch. lol. OK, I'm thinking about reproducing it in my own words, it was a good guide. But let me point out to anyone, that reading a guide to building a ship correctly is no substitute for the 'real' advice and experience you can get from being in a pvp squadron and doing regular practice. (y)

It wasn't just a guide to build though. Some of it's greatest value was towards the beginning when it talked about situational awareness, such as simply leaving a system when you see 4 FdLs 2 chiefs a vette and an FGS.

I agree the practice of PvP is required to progress to the point where one is an actual threat to other PvPers.

However the guides allow folks to leapfrog a lot of trial and error and inefficiency of figuring it out yourself. They also can be found more quickly than making friends with an appropriate group of PvPers.

When I first started dueling PvPers, I (usually) wasn't immediately stomped because I built using this and similar guides and practiced Truesilver's circle strafing and other drills for many hours. In the end my calendar time playing ED was actually quite short and my hours-in-game below average (for PvPers) but I was able to punch above my weight largely due to guides like this.

FDev has cast out one of the most publicly helpful players currently in the game and it was unwise.
 
Last edited:
It wasn't just a guide to build though. Some of it's greatest value was towrads the beginning when it talked about situational awareness, such as simply leaving a system when you see 4 FdLs 2 chiefs a vette and an FGS.

I agree the practice of PvP is required to progress to the point where one is an actual threat to other PvPers.

However the guides allow folks to leapfrog a lot of trial and error and inefficiency of figuring it out yourself. They also can be found more quickly than making friends with an appropriate group of PvPers.

When I first started dueling PvPers, I (usually) wasn't immediately stomped because I built using this and similar guides and practiced Truesilver's circle strafing and other drills for many hours. In the end my calendar time playing ED was actually quite short and my hours-in-game below average (for PvPers) but I was able to punch above my weight largely due to guides like this.

FDev has cast out one of the most publicly helpful players currently in the game and it was unwise.
Yeh, no question about the quality of Ryan's guide, it was valuable on many levels, and my version will be too, we all bring our own unique bent to such things. It's not my style to talk about such fluid things as what to expect in the game, I'll probably throw in a passage about shinrarta and a few blatant adverts for GARD ;) But mainly I'll stick to certainties around the rock scissors paper system and specifically shipbuilding as that's my speciality. Already started thinking about the format. And this is in no way meant to take away from Ryan's protest, I'm not gonna pop it in my sig or anything, it's also going to be self serving as I find myself repeating the same basic tips to new recruits over and over. Something which I don't mind doing, but it would be nice to have a reference and then fill in any blanks.
 
Status
Thread Closed: Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom