Ships How to make my Corvette more fun in combat

[CMDRQuainMarln]

The novelty of the big Corvette has worn off. It's a conventional long range beams and two huge multi cannons set up that I use in CZs and at compromised nav beacons.

It is boring to fight with.

Here is the build https://s.orbis.zone/ksje

I sit waving the mouse around to point the nose of the ship at targets or wait for the chaff to stop so I can hit them. It's not very involving.

What other weapons could I try to win CZs at least as fast that will be more fun than this?
I don't think it's agile enough with good enough hardpoint convergence for rail guns.

A complete change of ship for this role is not out of the question, if that's what it takes.

 

[Aleks Zuno]

The novelty of the big Corvette has worn off. It's a conventional long range beams and two huge multi cannons set up that I use in CZs and at compromised nav beacons.

It is boring to fight with.

Here is the build https://s.orbis.zone/ksje

I sit waving the mouse around to point the nose of the ship at targets or wait for the chaff to stop so I can hit them. It's not very involving.

What other weapons could I try to win CZs at least as fast that will be more fun than this?
I don't think it's agile enough with good enough hardpoint convergence for rail guns.

A complete change of ship for this role is not out of the question, if that's what it takes.

You will be very familiar with my suggestion, although it is a suggestion nonetheless!

The average high Conflict Zone clearing is around twelve minutes; less with allied Spec Ops, more with enemy Spec Ops. The above is fourteen minutes with enemy Spec Ops, a video I actually recorded specifically to demonstrate that the Fragment Cannon loadout can do two of them on one helping of ammunition, but I think it also meets your request.

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

You will be very familiar with my suggestion, although it is a suggestion nonetheless!

The average high Conflict Zone clearing is around twelve minutes; less with allied Spec Ops, more with enemy Spec Ops. The above is fourteen minutes with enemy Spec Ops, a video I actually recorded specifically to demonstrate that the Fragment Cannon loadout can do two of them on one helping of ammunition, but I think it also meets your request.

I thought I'd run out of ammo too quickly for the Frag Mamba to work in High CZs. I have one engineered already though I use huge MC and incendury rounds instead of beam laser so I can have more pips on engines.
I guess I'll have to give it a try....

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

I completed a High CZ this morning with special ops in the same amount of time as it takes me in the Corvette. I had to synthesise ammo a few times, have no crypto scrambler and I think the huge MC is perhaps not as accurate as the beam laser. The other factor is I'm simply not as good as you at fighting with the Mamba. I miss with a lot of frag shots. I don't have VR either, which helps with keeping track of targets. I need more practice.

 

[Morbad]

This has been my general combat Corvette loadout since 2017:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFsY4udVjqk

 

[Northpin]

On one of my accounts i'm using this Corvette build, which i found it quite funny to play with.

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

coriolis.io

In short:

• 2x Huge Fixed bursts lasers, G5 long range with phasing (but add your own experimental flavor) - these are used mainly to snipe the powerplants of enemy ships at range. A laser based SLF (either fixed pulse or fixed beams SLF) helps here with taking agro and shield stripping
• 3x Gimbaled Beams (shield stripping mainly, but also hull damage helped by the corrosive multi-cannon, 1 Large, 2x Mediums)
• 1x corrosive small multi-cannon (hull helper, high capacity, corrosive)
• 1x long range feedback cascade small rail or another small corrosive multi-cannon
• SLF - as mentioned above, fixed pulse lasers or fixed beams, to take agro and help with shield stripping

IIRC i used to run beam turrets instead of gimballed beams for 1L+2M hardpoints, but they're draining my distributer for nothing when the enemy chaffed
Another option would be to disregard the multicannons and use 2x long range plasma slugs small rails on the same trigger with the huge bursts.
Makes a nice combo, short press you fire the bursts, long press, you fire the rails too - but the added value from corrosive multicannons is quite nice to have.

Edit: and another good option (but i usually dont like on relying on ammo dependent builds since i really hate to have to go to rearm between chaining CZ - thus no longer being able to properly chain CZ after a CZ) is to replace the gimbaled beams with 3 multicannons and use long range rails in the small hardpoints.

 

[AlSki]

The novelty of the big Corvette has worn off. ... It is boring to fight with.

You will be very familiar with my suggestion, although it is a suggestion nonetheless!

I completed a High CZ this morning with special ops in the same amount of time as it takes me in the Corvette. I had to synthesise ammo a few times, have no crypto scrambler and I think the huge MC is perhaps not as accurate as the beam laser. The other factor is I'm simply not as good as you at fighting with the Mamba. I miss with a lot of frag shots. I don't have VR either, which helps with keeping track of targets.

I have a different Mamba build https://s.orbis.zone/kssh which uses a Huge Beam, and 2 Large Gimballed MCs, then fills up the small slots with a pair of CytoScramblers. That used to be a lot of fun. The MCs have enough ammo for 2-3 chained CZs and if they run out, you have enough DPS to still finish without a re-arm. Before I had the Cytos, I had small missile racks in there, but maybe a couple of small fixed burst lasers might be almost as good.

But just the same, eventually you get used to never losing, and it stops being fun.
...
So I went down another step (not posting the build because my point here is not about that)
and I'm still working on this. The problem is that by reducing the DPS, I need to work harder on tipping the balance to win the CZ. I've had to find a build with complimentary strengths (Thermal Vent beams chill me right down, so I rarely get picked up by secondary aggressors), and strategies (Will I be out of the fight for too long if I go after that ship with crippled thrusters?).

Low CZs are a now a blast against the clock
Medium CZs are a challenge, so Mediums with SpecOps are only about 95% winnable, even when you are really on it
High CZs.... I'm still searching for a way to complete them more often than not, and its never boring... Occasionally frustrating, but never boring

I wonder if the endgame here is to find the smallest ship you can win your CZ in? And I'm pretty sure no one's doing a High CZ in a sidewinder...

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

I've never done much with PAs before and they come in huge size. I have plenty of materials so did grade 4 focused and plasma slug on them mostly to get the shot speed up. Gives me something to shoot with when targets are using chaff without having to break target lock.
I play with this for a while to see how it goes, but I can't have both my shield cell banks powered at once with these. And this is a max grade 5 overcharged thermal spread power plant. I have a lot of shields ...
I will do more with the Mamba too.

 

[alexzk]

I don't think it's agile enough with good enough hardpoint convergence for rail guns.

You think wrong. I use 2 rail guns on sides and everything else - gimbaled lasers. Rails are used to stop shield banks mostly.

 

[Three Stars]

Huge fixed beams are (obviously) immune to chaff and do egregious damage even when efficient. If you’re good at pointing your corvette’s nose at things then you’ll be rewarded with 102.6 DPS.

I’ve used twin fixed Overcharged Cannons lately. Also immune to chaff, and they run on AAA batteries so you can go stronger and more intense with your other hardpoints. If you’re good with your aim and lucky with your breach chance rolls you can zero out the power plants of just about any ship in 1-3 shots.

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

Huge fixed beams are (obviously) immune to chaff and do egregious damage even when efficient. If you’re good at pointing your corvette’s nose at things then you’ll be rewarded with 102.6 DPS.

I’ve used twin fixed Overcharged Cannons lately. Also immune to chaff, and they run on AAA batteries so you can go stronger and more intense with your other hardpoints. If you’re good with your aim and lucky with your breach chance rolls you can zero out the power plants of just about any ship in 1-3 shots.

I'm going to try out everything that comes in huge size. I'll grade 4 engineer each weapon and go grade 5 in whatever I like enough to keep using. Cannons will be next after the PAs I engineered today but have not used much yet

 

[Three Stars]

PAs are just as usable as cannons, but even with Efficient engineering they kind of take over the whole build. Two Short Range huge PAs is doable if you devote all the other weapons to venting heat on the cheap (lightweight vent beams!), and/or pack a bunch of heat sinks, and/or find a way to use a Low Emissions power plant. A Vette lives and dies by whatever is in the huge hardpoints, so your other hardpoints have to balance out damage types and bring useful utilities.

If you really want to drive your opponents crazy, try mismatched huge hardpoints. One beam and one multicannon. Any opponent that doesn’t die of OCD will probably die from your weapons. It’ll have to be one fixed one gimbaled if you want to hit the same spot simultaneously.

 

[tanner1ie]

...If you really want to drive your opponents crazy, try mismatched huge hardpoints.... It’ll have to be one fixed one gimbaled if you want to hit the same spot simultaneously.

I've spent over two years with an Anaconda as my main ship and have done and really enjoyed doing everything in it, but particularly engaging in combat in it...

I use mostly multucannons and beam lasers on it (though I use missiles on the class one slots, as I always feel like I've peashooters there otherwise), while I've been planning to outfit a Corvette which I bought about a year ago, though have barely flown in a similar fashion...

I was planning to fit a huge gimballed beam laser next to a huge gimballed multicannon, however your post seems to suggest that if both are gimballed, one will miss shots, though if one is fixed and one is gimballed, they'll hit?! - care to elaborate!!

 

[tolm]

I’ve tried various …

2x Huge Efficient Beams with multi cannons on everything else (overcharged/auto load on medium and large, emissive/corrosive + hi-cap on the smalls) is very effective but probably “more of the same” vs what you have now in terms of “engagement”

2x Huge PAs is fun but useless against small targets. Probably good in a CZ if you can pick your targets to be of a decent size but otherwise the size of the other hard points means small targets take way longer to pop than they should - which is why I tend to put lasers on the Huge HPs since that’s the DPS you can take advantage of most often.

I also ran 2 Huge Beams + 2 Medium Beams (all efficient / thermal vent) plus 3x small rails (long range and a mix of cascade / pen) for a while. That was pretty fun but VERY hard on the distro. Yeh, you could do 2 small and 1 medium rail but that’s even harder on the distro and the medium fires out of sync with the smalls which drove me up the wall!

 

[Three Stars]

I've spent over two years with an Anaconda as my main ship and have done and really enjoyed doing everything in it, but particularly engaging in combat in it...

I use mostly multucannons and beam lasers on it (though I use missiles on the class one slots, as I always feel like I've peashooters there otherwise), while I've been planning to outfit a Corvette which I bought about a year ago, though have barely flown in a similar fashion...

I was planning to fit a huge gimballed beam laser next to a huge gimballed multicannon, however your post seems to suggest that if both are gimballed, one will miss shots, though if one is fixed and one is gimballed, they'll hit?! - care to elaborate!!

Sorry, that wasn’t my intention. The only hardpoints that I almost always make gimbaled these days are multicannons, since the amount of fine aiming adjustment required to hit with fixed multis is usually more trouble than it’s worth. So, I was implying a fixed laser and a gimbaled multi so you can steer the hitscan weapon on target, while the multi takes care of itself.

 

[Three Stars]

As far as Corvette alternatives to make CZs fun…

CZ ships are bullet sponges. You definitely need something to peel off shields, but relying on kinetic weapons to ever so gradually kill the hull is a terrible waste of ammo. Learning to hit the power plant will get you kills a lot sooner most of the time.

Along those lines, my favorite ship is the Chieftain, and if you have access to cytoscramblers you can create the equivalent of a huge hardpoint against shields with two small efficient cytos. Just remember not to tank and spank. You’re the Defiant, not the Enterprise. I put a short range PA in the lower large hardpoint and take plant shots until ships explode.

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

PAs are just as usable as cannons, but even with Efficient engineering they kind of take over the whole build. Two Short Range huge PAs is doable if you devote all the other weapons to venting heat on the cheap (lightweight vent beams!), and/or pack a bunch of heat sinks, and/or find a way to use a Low Emissions power plant. A Vette lives and dies by whatever is in the huge hardpoints, so your other hardpoints have to balance out damage types and bring useful utilities.

If you really want to drive your opponents crazy, try mismatched huge hardpoints. One beam and one multicannon. Any opponent that doesn’t die of OCD will probably die from your weapons. It’ll have to be one fixed one gimbaled if you want to hit the same spot simultaneously.

Had some fun with 2 huge PAs grade 4 focused. Can't say I notice the high penetration capability, but the shot speed really helps and its hilarious when you do land both shots. The PAs are too power hungry, so I don't think I will grade 5 focus them and reserve them for occasional sport. Even if I "git gud" and land more shots, needing to switch off a shield cell bank weakens the overall effectiveness of the ship when taking on a wing or 3 or 4 medium ships. I have long range thermal vent beams on the large and medium hardpoints, so the PAs did not give me much trouble with heat.

I think I will try two huge cannons next, which hopefully means I can run the second shield cell bank again.

 

[Aleks Zuno]

Your trade-off with weapons versus Shield Cell Banks reminds me of something which may help—I had been using two of them throughout 3307, but in mid-3308 I replaced one of them with an extra Guardian Shield Reinforcement. After doing so, I noticed an immediate reduction in occasions where I would use a Shield Cell Bank at all, and the exchange also ended up drawing lower total power.

I make no promise that such a change would be appropriate for your heavy loadout, nor that the modest reduction in power draw would give you enough of a margin to run two Plasma Accelerators, only that it may be an option which may be worth investigating.

With Thermal Vent in effect, it is also worth noting that you may overcharge the Power Plant as much as you wish. As long as Thermal Vent causes your heat egress to exceed ingress, the Power Plant efficiency matters little—the higher-heat Power Plant also applies to the cooling effect in the same proportion, so the only impact of low efficiency is that you have a smaller margin before damage occurs. One has to be more careful when fighting that way while close to a star, though.

 

[Three Stars]

Had some fun with 2 huge PAs grade 4 focused. Can't say I notice the high penetration capability, but the shot speed really helps and its hilarious when you do land both shots. The PAs are too power hungry, so I don't think I will grade 5 focus them and reserve them for occasional sport. Even if I "git gud" and land more shots, needing to switch off a shield cell bank weakens the overall effectiveness of the ship when taking on a wing or 3 or 4 medium ships. I have long range thermal vent beams on the large and medium hardpoints, so the PAs did not give me much trouble with heat.

I think I will try two huge cannons next, which hopefully means I can run the second shield cell bank again.

Armor penetration only refers to a weapon’s ability to overcome hull hardness. Once a weapon has 75 or more AP it does full damage to any hull in the game (minus resistances). It’s different from module damage which depends on a weapon’s breach chance and breach damage. Cannons have unusually high breach chance, 60-90% depending on how much hull is remaining, so they’re great module snipers if you can make your shots.

 

[CMDRQuainMarln]

Your trade-off with weapons versus Shield Cell Banks reminds me of something which may help—I had been using two of them throughout 3307, but in mid-3308 I replaced one of them with an extra Guardian Shield Reinforcement. After doing so, I noticed an immediate reduction in occasions where I would use a Shield Cell Bank at all, and the exchange also ended up drawing lower total power.

I make no promise that such a change would be appropriate for your heavy loadout, nor that the modest reduction in power draw would give you enough of a margin to run two Plasma Accelerators, only that it may be an option which may be worth investigating.

With Thermal Vent in effect, it is also worth noting that you may overcharge the Power Plant as much as you wish. As long as Thermal Vent causes your heat egress to exceed ingress, the Power Plant efficiency matters little—the higher-heat Power Plant also applies to the cooling effect in the same proportion, so the only impact of low efficiency is that you have a smaller margin before damage occurs. One has to be more careful when fighting that way while close to a star, though.

Total MJ available is greater with the second 7A grade 4 engineered shield cell bank. I have other Guardian shield reinforcements.
Power plant is grade 5 overcharged already with thermal spread. I fear fuel scooping might become impossible with monstered
I could reduce power consumption other ways, like take out the guardian FSD booster.