Ships Python How to quickly disable attacker (and survive) in Open?

Go'Gen

Go'Gen
What would be the most effective weapon loadout to quickly defend a transport Python in the Open?

I'd very much like to try to move from Solo to Open while doing (boring) transport missions and experience some extra lore, wouldn't even mind to get interdicted and share a ton of beer... but am wondering what'd be the deadliest response to those who'd interdict just to kill you?
The idea is not necessarily to destroy, but merely disable and/or make them go away, while retaining my 218 cargo capacity. If that's even possible in this game.

So far I have this, good for NPCs:
3x [3C] Multi-Cannon (Gimbal) - Efficient Weapon (Grade 5) + Auto Loader
2x [2D] Beam Laser (Gimbal) - Efficient Weapon (Grade 5)
Worth mentioning:
Hull: [1I] Lightweight Alloy - Heavy Duty (Grade 5)
[7A] Power Distributor - Charge Enhanced (Grade 5) + Cluster Capacitors
[6A] Shield Generator - Thermal Resistant (Grade 5) + Stripped Down
[7A] Power Plant - Armoured (Grade 2) + Stripped Down

Please no Guardian suggestions, only local shops + bubble engineers.
Thanks!!! o7
 

Bigmaec

Bigmaec
A transport ship will always lose against a dedicated PvP vessel so your best bet is to fit the biggest shields possible and high wake away from an enemy.

Thermal resistant shields + stripped down are suboptimal, as reinforced + high cap nets you way more mj which is multiplied by shield boosters afterwards (add 4).
 

CMDR Cknarf

CMDR Cknarf
You could cover it in plasma accelerators or frags. Kill most NPCs before they can even think about dropping your shields.

Against a player, they’re gonna have good shields, and armor, so you’ll probably be debris long before they’re even close to being disabled.

Trade builds should be built with only survival in mind, nothing more.
 

dm06

dm06
There's neither "I'm just a trader and want just disable the attacker and not kill him" weapon nor damage type in the game. (what will prevent the attacker to use same against you?).
NPCs use mines and runaway tactics - that will interfere attacker in chasing you.
 

Go'Gen

Go'Gen
Bigmaec said:
A transport ship will always lose against a dedicated PvP vessel so your best bet is to fit the biggest shields possible and high wake away from an enemy.
Click to expand...
Cknarf said:
Against a player, they’re gonna have good shields, and armor, so you’ll probably be debris long before they’re even close to being disabled. Trade builds should be built with only survival in mind, nothing more.
Click to expand...
dm06 said:
There's neither "I'm just a trader and want just disable the attacker and not kill him" weapon nor damage type in the game. (what will prevent the attacker to use same against you?). NPCs use mines and runaway tactics - that will interfere attacker in chasing you.
Click to expand...

I was afraid you're going to say that :)
Guess there's no half-solutions. If you want to "chat" and "socialize in space" you better be in a tank.
Thank you for quickly bringing me down to earth!
 

CMDR Cknarf

CMDR Cknarf
Honestly though, having a 6A Shield is more than most people are willing to put on their trade python, so you aren’t in a terrible spot defensively if you throw on a couple stock boosters. It should put you around 600mj, more if modified a little, and that’s plenty enough for survival if you don’t dally.

Four pips to sys makes that 600 stretch much farther than you’d think.
 

Northpin

Northpin
As long you will fill your ship with cargo racks and them attackers will fill their ships with hrp, mrp and guardian shield boosters, you will lose any engagement.
So as long you dont fly a pvp ship, your only chance is to high wake - if you survive that long
 

Ethaidan

Ethaidan
Go'Gen said:
I was afraid you're going to say that :)
Guess there's no half-solutions. If you want to "chat" and "socialize in space" you better be in a tank.
Thank you for quickly bringing me down to earth!
Click to expand...

Sure, you're not going to disable/destroy a fully armed death ship flown by a decent pilot in your trade Python (unless you're a spectacular pilot), but you can easily kit yourself out to wreck any NPCs that dare interdict you, survive against most player attacks, and even possibly smack some less experienced pilots around. But you'll need to build an armed trader... here's my lazy-netflix post-pub trade Python as an example: https://s.orbis.zone/3a8a

It's served me well enough. I threw 3 large PAs and 2 medium Rails on it when I started with fixed weapons, and you could always gear up 5 overcharged Frags on it and take a few pops at any player who attacks you while you do a fly by before waking out. 😇
 
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Berpol

B
Out of my experience:
I have a Krait II with 6C bi-weave shields + 2 boosters and a PK with a FDL or a Mamba (it was a total of 4 of these in the squadron) removed my shields with one shot. It still managed to leave before the next barrage.

So as the others say you can't destroy or disable them but your shields should be enough to leave in (mostly) one piece.
 

Go'Gen

Go'Gen
Ethaidan said:
Sure, you're not going to disable/destroy a fully armed death ship flown by a decent pilot in your trade Python ...
Click to expand...

Not being into PVP at all, I naively thought there's maybe some combo which would do what I expected in hopefully rare ocasions, like, you know, full 5x torpedo salvo or similar.
Just for 1-2 attacks, not something to endure a whole HazRes or CZ.
But, well... you're all right :( and again thank you for your comments... (y)
 

Northpin

Northpin
you can try to drop some reverb cascade mines while you run, but most probably:
  • they will not fall for it
  • you will get killed in the process (that is wasting time to deploy mines instead of focusing on jumping out in one piece)
 

Melanthes

Melanthes
Go'Gen said:
What would be the most effective weapon loadout to quickly defend a transport Python in the Open?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't dismiss the idea totally. But you should be aware, that you are playing the hare, not the hunter. I tried that for a while and it can be interesting gameplay.
If you are willing to invest a few rebuys, to try things out and learn how to do it, there are ways to cripple an attacker. But that massively depends on the attacking ship. For example pack hounds are capable of partially disabling a pure hull tank, but they won't enable a kill alone. There are other combinations, which can make it annoying to fight against you, force shell turrets for example, if the attacker flies FA off. Mines can be hidden within other attacks, so reverberating cascade mines can also be useful, especially against larger attackers. I would also try out the Krait Phantom instead of a Python, because it will allow you to get away, if needed. Reverse flying with long range phasing lasers takes time, but will also discourage some attackers.
 

CMDR Cknarf

CMDR Cknarf
You aren’t going to out-reverski much in a Python.

Mines might work on some of the lowest level gankers who don’t know about lateral thrust.

By the time you get a lock on a hostile ship with reverb torpedoes, you’ll probably be in rough shape already. Even then, what do you do if there’s hull under their shields? Die because you wasted your time? That’s assuming they even hit the target

Frags or plasma will absolutely dump your **** if you waste time playing around.

Either build to fight, or build to escape.
 

Agony_Aunt

Agony_Aunt
Probably not very effective, but what might cause some problems for an attacker or at least make them have to move a bit and possibly lose targetting for a bit are mines.

Mines can have a number of effects that can be detrimental to an attack (should they hit them, and most competent people would avoid) including shutting down their FSD, damage shield generator (even if shield up), and really nice, disable thrusters for a short while. Then there are shock mines which can disrupt their flight/aiming.

If you can get an attacker to boost after you, then it is technically possible to catch them off guard and catch a face full of mines.

However, probably the best defense is simply to run, which in the Python's case probably means shields and armour, sacrificing cargo space. The other option is to go for speed and fly a Clipper or Orca and just leave them eating dust.
 

CMDR Cknarf

CMDR Cknarf
Once you escape a few times, there’s a chance they won’t bother with you anymore, and move onto someone else.

In most cases, If I know your ship is sturdy enough, and you know how to escape properly, I’m not going to waste my time if you keep jumping away.
 

Hank

H
I've used mines before on NPCs with good results. I don't know how ppl pilots would do against a hail storm of mines. I had them on my Beluga very similar mix to Troopi's setup. I would think a mix of regular and shock mines could give any pilot problems while I'm getting ready to jump. But I'm bad at combat so take my words with a spoon of salt.
GL HF
 
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