Ships I absolutely love the diamondback

[GlyphGryph]

The Diamondback. Ah, what a beautiful ship. Everything about it, from the raw experience of sitting in that beautiful cockpit, to the look of the ship, to the way it handles, to the hardpoint convergence, every bit of it is perfect.

It is the ship I never knew I wanted, but I don't think I could live without.

It's got the speed and firepower of a Viper.
It's got the jump range of an Asp.
It's got the maneuverability of an Eagle.
It is just so much damned fun to fly.

The exposed wiring and clearly practical construction of the cockpit, and the fact that it's not super huge like on most ships, makes me feel like I'm in flying a ship in the vein of the Millennium Falcon or Serenity.

And the feeling when you use a railgun with it. The way everything flashes when those size 1 railguns charge up. It's beautiful.

Favorite ship, hands down. Great job Frontier.

 

[Agarthan]

How much was it fully kitted?

 

[Vandaahl]

How much was it fully kitted?

Beta prices, so no one knows. But its cheap, prolly Cobra like.

 

[Kyokushin]

Ship is good, but looks like forklift (sorry i do not like exposed lakon cabins). However i like to fly it.

 

[teaurn]

But what's it for???

Where is it's niche?

What does it do that my other ships don't?

And other deep burning questions....

 

[Starender]

But what's it for???

Where is it's niche?

What does it do that my other ships don't?

And other deep burning questions....

clearly, the cobra and the diamondback are very similar:

the cobra is better to run away/chase, the db to fight (more agility)
the cobra is better at fuel scooping, the db jump a little further
the cobra can trade/smuggle, the db can't

there stats are so close, it's like the diamondback has scarified all his internals and some speed for a little more shield/agility/jump range

 

[Ziljan]

clearly, the cobra and the diamondback are very similar:

the cobra is better to run away/chase, the db to fight (more agility)
the cobra is better at fuel scooping, the db jump a little further
the cobra can trade/smuggle, the db can't

there stats are so close, it's like the diamondback has scarified all his internals and some speed for a little more shield/agility/jump range

The +2LY range on the DB is meaningless compared to a class 4 fuel scoop on the Cobra. The extra and higher class internal compartment slots also give the Cobra an edge in exploring (repair modules) and combat (SCBs), not to mention that the Cobra can actually trade a bit.

 

[Han Brannigan]

It looks like a futuristic gunship ( Helicopter ) to me.

 

[GlyphGryph]

The +2LY range on the DB is meaningless compared to a class 4 fuel scoop on the Cobra. The extra and higher class internal compartment slots also give the Cobra an edge in exploring (repair modules) and combat (SCBs), not to mention that the Cobra can actually trade a bit.

On the other hand, the Cobra has garbage hardpoint placement and handles like a beached a whale, +2ly range actually make quite a difference in fuel efficiency and when stripped specifically for exploration the range on the Diamondback is actually +6ly (and you can still equip a class 4 fuel scoop).

Repair modules don't really help with exploring, so I'm gonna say the diamondback is definitely the best cheap explorer right now.

The internal space for shield cell banks does probably make the cobra a lot tankier, but honestly I prefer to pretend they don't exist and I'm sure the diamondback has enough slots to never ever worry about dying outside of pvp. The diamondback also has twice as many utility slots, allowing it to run double-chaff AND 2 shield boosters, or double chaff and a kill warrant scanner and something else on top of it.

The hardpoint placement on the diamondback gives it an effective 33% increase in damage potential in combat, assuming the pilot is skilled enough to hit with fixed weapons, and actually makes a railgun build feasible.

A wing of 4 railgun diamondbacks is going to be the most terrifying thing in the game short of a Python wing.

 

[puca]

Repair modules don't really help with exploring, so I'm gonna say the diamondback is definitely the best cheap explorer right now.

Repair modules don't help with exploring? You don't know what you are talking about. What is the furthest from Sol you have been? The best cheap explorer right now is the adder -- it easily easily beats the DB in all relevant stats.

 

[who?]

But what's it for???

Where is it's niche?

What does it do that my other ships don't?

And other deep burning questions....

I think it's asking a lot of Frontier (or anyone else) to have 15 / 20 / 30 craft with each of them having a unique purpose / ability (and at the same time keeping everyone happy about balance issues, cost, over-poweredness, nerfing...). It doesn't necessarily have to be unique, or better, just being different is good. (Airbus: "What, an aircraft to fly a few hundred people a few thousand miles? Nah, Boeing's already done that. Let's not bother...")

It's sounds like it's a Viper that isn't a pain to fly across the galaxy.
An Asp that's a lot cheaper and more manoeuvrable and fun to fly.
A cheaper/lightweight Vulture that's a lot faster and with more weapon options.

Can't wait to give it a go.

 

[Ziljan]

+2ly range actually make quite a difference in fuel efficiency and when stripped specifically for exploration the range on the Diamondback is actually +6ly (and you can still equip a class 4 fuel scoop).

Repair modules don't really help with exploring, so I'm gonna say the diamondback is definitely the best cheap explorer right now.

Not trying to be rude, but almost everything you said above is the polar opposite of reality. Check the math a bit more closely, and do some exploring outside the immediate vicinity of the bubble. A class 3 scoop is far worse than a -2LY range. I'm not sure where you are getting +6 from. The hull mass difference is only 10T between cobra and DB. That is roughly 2 LY diff for any comparable spec.

 

[Warrick Ambrose]

I'm sorry that the serious explorers are disappointed, but the rest of us will gladly sell their beloved grandma for this thing. So much fun! It's all about circling around Eagles and Vultures and grinning like a madman

 

[Ziljan]

I'm sorry that the serious explorers are disappointed, but the rest of us will gladly sell their beloved grandma for this thing. So much fun! It's all about circling around Eagles and Vultures and grinning like a madman

Maneurverability can be defeated by boosting, going in reverse, or just clever use of FAoff. It's fun to zip around and hard point placement is quite good, I'll grant you that, but the benefit to combat is vs AI only. Weak guns, weak shields, and limited SCB loadout make this as much of a PvP combat ship as it is an explorer.

 

[drakhyr]

The Diamondback is definitely fun to fly, and feels a lot more nippy and manoeuvrable than either the Viper or the Cobra. It definitely feels like it will replace the Viper as my ship of choice for combat-related community goals, due to the better power supply, much better range, and nippier feel.

As for price - all the ship prices in the beta seem to have been reduced to 1% of their normal values. Thus the Diamondback should end up costing 564,300 credits (give or take 100 credits).

 

[robberer]

Bought my DB Scout today to replace my Cobra for RES BH (Cobra still in my hangar) and I have to say: I LOVE IT.

It's cheaper to build for my purpose, has lower insurance costs, can tank a little bit more, has far more better hardpoint placement and (feels like) it is more maneuverable as my Cobra. It's now my favority *affordable ship for RES BH.

Only drawback to my good old Cobra is it's slighly less top speed but I can still outrun any NPC that i've met so far.

IMO

 

[robberer]

for those who are interested:

My loadouts for Cobra and DB Scout:

Spoiler

[Cobra Mk III]
M: 2F/G Multi-cannon
M: 2F/G Multi-cannon
S: 1E/G Beam Laser
S: 1E/G Beam Laser
U: 0C Kill Warrant Scanner
U: 0A Shield Booster


BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 4A Power Plant
TM: 4A Thrusters
FH: 4D Frame Shift Drive
EC: 3A Life Support
PC: 3A Power Distributor
SS: 3A Sensors
FS: 4C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 16)


4: 4A Shield Generator
4: 4D Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
2: 1E Standard Docking Computer
2: 2A Fuel Scoop

Spoiler

[Diamondback Scout]
S: 1E/G Beam Laser
S: 1E/G Beam Laser
M: 2F/G Multi-cannon
M: 2F/G Multi-cannon
U: 0C Kill Warrant Scanner
U: 0I Chaff Launcher
U: 0A Shield Booster
U: 0A Shield Booster


BH: 1I Military Grade Composite
RB: 4A Power Plant
TM: 4A Thrusters
FH: 4D Frame Shift Drive
EC: 2D Life Support
PC: 3A Power Distributor
SS: 2A Sensors
FS: 4C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 16)


3: 3A Shield Generator
3: 3D Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
3: 3A Fuel Scoop
2: 1E Standard Docking Computer

At both Ships I have Cargo Scoop, DC, Fuel Scoop and AFMU disabled until I need these modules.

 

[Fireclown]

The Diamondback. Ah, what a beautiful ship. Everything about it, from the raw experience of sitting in that beautiful cockpit, to the look of the ship, to the way it handles, to the hardpoint convergence, every bit of it is perfect.

It's a lot of fun for sure.
I like fitting multicannons and dumbfires - totally impractical but I imagine I'm an Apache Gunship in space

 

[Faybs]

A couple nights ago I built a missile bruiser (not a typo ) with a DB Explorer - turreted large cannon and two medium guided missile pods. Needs to fly in a wing so someone else can take care of the target's shields but boy can that do a lot of damage

 

[PhoenicianSon]

How much was it fully kitted?

I bought one too when I garaged my Vulture. I kitted it out for Bounty hunting and it is pushing 6.6 million, fully loaded. It is a sick little beast. I definitely miss my Vulture for Conflict Zones, as the DS in CZs requires a ton of pipp management during battle to support the shields since they are not nearly as powerful as the shields on the Vulture and can take a beating from larger ships, especially multiple ones firing at you in a CZ. However, in any Nav Beacon, RES, or against any large ship one on one, there is nothing more powerful in a smaller ship imho that can hold its own in these scenarios than a DS. Battling the Python, if you are good at flying, you can literally destroy an NPC Pirate Python without it ever getting off a shot since the ship is so nimble you can easily stay behind the Python from above, below or directly and out of the range of its weapons.

As far as the loadout on mine, I am running A everything for the modules, but specifically important are the A shields, at least 2 A Boosters, and an A or B Sheild Cell (either will bring you close to full shields since they kick out what, 110MJ for B and 132MJ for A) are a must for this ship if you are looking to farm High Intensity RES areas or CZs. I am running A Sheilds and 2xA Boosters and I think that amounts to about 148MJ (or close to at shields plus 40%), plus an A SCB. I actually stick with all thermal weapons so I can stay out farming credits longer, so 2x Med Pulse and 2x Small Burst for me, plus a D Interdictor and A Fuel Scoop. It runs at 109%, but dropping priority to the FSD, Cargo Hatch, Interdictor and Fuel Scoop will allow you to run all else with weapons deployed. If you add 3 A Boosters, you will need to set the SCB to 2 or 3 and retract the Hard Points to deploy the SCB, but unless you are hitting a CZ, it is overkill anyway and you will be fine with the 2x A Boosters, A Shields, and an A SCB if you get into trouble here and there with a large ship and Viper/larger wings. I was kicking around the idea of dropping my Small Bursts for Small Pulse to add another D Booster for an additional 8%, but I decided not to go that route to reduce that 1T for the 8% increase. With my setup, I am pushing 421 speeds on full boost, albiet using standard hull - no upgrades, which adds about 13T for the lowest hull upgrade slowing the ship down to about 405 on full boost.

If you are good at flying, this is definitely a great ship to have in your garage of ships. I love the little thing. Oh yeah, even with a fully loaded out DS for battle, I am still jumping 23ly.