Horizons If you're a bounty hunter with less than 100m, the FAS is the best ship in the game

[Samoth]

If you're a mainly PvE bounty hunter who can fly and chew bubblegum at the same time, it's seriously the ship for you. If you're trying to make money efficiently in RESes and have enough flexibility to do other things without gimping your ship, I can't think of a better alternative for such a low price. I've been flying an FDL for the last six months or so, and before that a Python, and with the new updates to ED they're practically useless for bounty hunters. I flew the FAS when it first came out when I was on a more stringent budget and it worked very well, but I had no idea JUST HOW ABSOLUTE GARBAGE THE FDL is by comparison now that large multicannons are a thing. The Python, meh, it's a multi-purpose ship so it's not really a pure bounty hunting vessel, but the FDL...ugh, shame on you Frontier for gimping what could be such a great ship.

Here's the deal: you either need to change the FDL's firepower to 2 medium, 2 large, and 1 huge hardpoint in order to justify such a ridiculous price for what you're getting, or you need to drop the price by about 20 million credits. Sure, it's pretty, but it has garbage fuel capacity, meh maneuverability, and that huge hardpoint isn't worth the awful price tag of 50m credits for a ship that's supposed to be THE bounty hunting vessel but instead ends up being a niche ship for masochists.

 

[Devari]

I don't fly the FdL as I can't stand the ugly cockpit strut that would be constantly blocking my vision, but I can tell you that the FAS is no longer what it once was prior to 2.1 due to the massive nerfing of hull tanking. When I flew the FAS prior to 2.1 I didn't care if my shields went down, most NPCs couldn't take more than 10% hull off of my FAS before I killed them. This is just not viable any longer in 2.1 and even with upgrades the FAS shields are sub-par at best. I currently fly a Python and it's working great both for bounty hunting and trading, but I have no real interest in going back to an FDS as my Python has better firepower and much better shields. I suppose the Federal Gunship may become relevant again with ship-launched fighters in 2.2, but we really have no idea how those are going to work and it would still be a very niche build.

 

[Straker]

I found the FAS good for ramming, as a finisher. Had lots of fun BH with the FAS.

 

[Samoth]

I don't fly the FdL as I can't stand the ugly cockpit strut that would be constantly blocking my vision, but I can tell you that the FAS is no longer what it once was prior to 2.1 due to the massive nerfing of hull tanking. When I flew the FAS prior to 2.1 I didn't care if my shields went down, most NPCs couldn't take more than 10% hull off of my FAS before I killed them. This is just not viable any longer in 2.1 and even with upgrades the FAS shields are sub-par at best. I currently fly a Python and it's working great both for bounty hunting and trading, but I have no real interest in going back to an FDL as my Python has better firepower and much better shields. I suppose the Federal Gunship may become relevant again with ship-launched fighters in 2.2, but we really have no idea how those are going to work and it would still be a very niche build.

The FAS is so maneuverable you shouldn't even be losing your shields in the first place. There's not a single ship in the game that can get inside your turning radius enough to bring your shields down. They did nerf the hull tanking part of it, but it's no factor because it's just so maneuverable. It's like a Vulture with better hardpoints and more flexibility. Put two gimballed medium beams and two gimballed large multicannons on the FAS and nothing in any RES can stop you, unless of course you take on an entire fleet of Anacondas or something.

 

[Cat_Astrophe]

OP, the FDL is possibly the hardest ship to fly well and the FAS is easy in comparison. What I have noted is that the best control in the FDL requires partial inputs to the thrusters and it does not tolerate ham fisted maneuvering very well at all. The FAS is much more tolerant of sudden control inputs. That said, I'm happy with either one, as both work well for me.

 

[Dimensions]

The FAS is very good. I've flown FAS and FDL extensively, and settled on the FDL, because at the time they lowered the FDL's thermal load and incresed the power limit, so it just about won out. But since they nerfed the thermal efficiency of the FDL that advantage has almost gone. Compared to the FAS the FDL is like steering a expensive cow. I would flip back to the FAS now if there wasn't a weakness to hull tanking now compared to shield tanking. Missiles will ruin your internals quickly, and if they re-introduce more modded npcs those hull strikes will hurt much more.

 

[Eternal Acacia]

I don't fly the FdL as I can't stand the ugly cockpit strut that would be constantly blocking my vision, but I can tell you that the FAS is no longer what it once was prior to 2.1 due to the massive nerfing of hull tanking. When I flew the FAS prior to 2.1 I didn't care if my shields went down, most NPCs couldn't take more than 10% hull off of my FAS before I killed them. This is just not viable any longer in 2.1 and even with upgrades the FAS shields are sub-par at best. I currently fly a Python and it's working great both for bounty hunting and trading, but I have no real interest in going back to an FDL as my Python has better firepower and much better shields. I suppose the Federal Gunship may become relevant again with ship-launched fighters in 2.2, but we really have no idea how those are going to work and it would still be a very niche build.

Better shields? FDL has some of the strongest shield scaling in game. Prismatics and a few boosters and your shields are never going down in the FDL. I guess the extra firepower is nice, but Ichated flying a python in combat.

Also, a quick trip to the engineers and my FDL is flying like a vulture, I fly it the same way I flew my Vulture and I dominate HazRes with the FDL. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

 

[Dimensions]

Better shields? FDL has some of the strongest shield scaling in game. Prismatics and a few boosters and your shields are never going down in the FDL. I guess the extra firepower is nice, but Ichated flying a python in combat.

Also, a quick trip to the engineers and my FDL is flying like a vulture, I fly it the same way I flew my Vulture and I dominate HazRes with the FDL. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

I doubt that very much. In a Vulture you can fly with 0 pips to engines and lose hardly any agility. Try to do that in an FDL, modded or not. Also the Vulture doesn't suffer from very noticeable inertia.

 

[Sealurk]

I used to love my FAS and just sitting in a Haz RES until my hull hits 20% or my canopy gets breached, whichever came first, but since 2.1 it's really not been worth flying since after each engagement my weapons and modules are just so much swiss cheesed nearly-molten scrap metal. My Vulture and my trade-fitted Python actually do better in combat due to the way NPCs fight now and the way that hull tanking has more or less stopped being a viable strategy (that said, the FAS may have been just a little too tough pre-2.1).

Maybe I just need to adjust the loadout - currently I run with a large fixed Beam, two medium fixed Pulses and a large fixed Plasma Accelerator. I've not really found gimballed weapons work all that well on the FAS but maybe that too has changed since 2.1.

 

[Eternal Acacia]

I doubt that very much. In a Vulture you can fly with 0 pips to engines and lose hardly any agility. Try to do that in an FDL, modded or not. Also the Vulture doesn't suffer from very noticeable inertia.

I never said it is a Vulture, but a smart pilot can use the FDLs mass/inertial drift to their advantage and fly it very close range quite easily by proper pip management and thruster toggling. The FDL rewards the pilot for smarter flying and punishes you hard if you over do it. Its really not the big space brick that OP likes to make it out to be.

 

[Devari]

The FAS is so maneuverable you shouldn't even be losing your shields in the first place. There's not a single ship in the game that can get inside your turning radius enough to bring your shields down.

No, that's just a ridiculous claim. There are many ships that can maneuver well enough to reliably get weapons on an FAS (even fixed weapons) and carry enough firepower to take down the FAS shield in one pass, including the Vulture. The FAS is also far too large to be able to reliably evade fire the way you're describing. Even larger ships can fight FAS effectively using a combination of turrets and/or FA-off maneuvering.

They did nerf the hull tanking part of it, but it's no factor because it's just so maneuverable. It's like a Vulture with better hardpoints and more flexibility. Put two gimballed medium beams and two gimballed large multicannons on the FAS and nothing in any RES can stop you, unless of course you take on an entire fleet of Anacondas or something.

Sorry, but that's just not how the FAS works. I routinely fight Elite FAS, including prior to the 2.1.03 patch when we had the turn rate bug that allowed NPCs to maneuver using unrealistically small turning circles, and they were nowhere near the challenge of a much slower and less maneuverable Anaconda. With the AI nerfs we have in 2.1.05 I don't consider FAS a challenge because I can easily outmaneuver them and can take their shields down very quickly and they can't hull tank reliably anymore. I find a SCB-spamming and chaff-spamming FdL much more of an annoyance than a FAS.

Better shields? FDL has some of the strongest shield scaling in game. Prismatics and a few boosters and your shields are never going down in the FDL. I guess the extra firepower is nice, but Ichated flying a python in combat.

Also, a quick trip to the engineers and my FDL is flying like a vulture, I fly it the same way I flew my Vulture and I dominate HazRes with the FDL. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

My mention of "FDL" in the last sentence was a typo, I've fixed it now, it was supposed to read FAS. I was referring to not having any reason to go back to an FAS in 2.1, I've never actually flown an FdL at all due to the annoying off-centre cockpit view and cockpit strut (which isn't really an issue in the Python), not to mention that prior to 2.1 there was really no good class 4 weapons to use so the class 4 hardpoint was "wasted". Now with the class 4 multicannons the FdL is now closer to the Python in terms of firepower but the Python still has a notable edge in firepower as well as much stronger hull. The shields on an FdL are decent but still not quite Python-level, basically once an FdL's shield is broken it needs to run immediately while a Python can take a bit of fire in that situation.

 

[piercehead]

The shields on an FdL are decent but still not quite Python-level

Just saw this and had to reply. What you've typed is just false, and clearly isn't another FAS typo. The FdL has better shields than a Python, and it has more utility slots meaning even higher potential.

 

[rrobes]

The FAS is good semi-starter ship until you can get a Python.

I flew the FAS exclusively prior to the engineers it was fully tanked and a-rated. If got into the belly or six of just about anything it was toast. After the engineers, the need for versatility put it out of business. It sat at first because I had cargo and the FAS had no cargo modules (it was purely a fighter). I tried it after installing cargo capacity but the need for mining, exploring and bounty hunting just made it a pain to use. I put it away and used my Python for everything.

The Python has been slowly upgraded to level 5 mods, still ongoing, and now it is a beast. Fly it within its envelope, with F/A off/on, and with a good weapons loadout, and it can fight everything except those psycho/ramming elite Anacondas one on one and lesser ships in wing (based on their ratings). In RES, I get within 700m of my target, then open up full battery, medium to smalls lose their shields in seconds and then they're done, deadlies and elites take a little more work.

My FAS (Durin's Bane) was stripped and used as module storage, but the recent acquisition of a Corvette basically made it superfluous and I sadly sold it off.

 

[Devari]

Just saw this and had to reply. What you've typed is just false, and clearly isn't another FAS typo. The FdL has better shields than a Python, and it has more utility slots meaning even higher potential.

I don't fly the FDL so I based my information on the base shield strength listed on the Elite Wiki but looking at the shipyard default build for the FDL this was based only a size 4 shield generator for the FDL rather than the size 5 that you would put on it with a proper combat fit. So yes, it looks like the FDL actually does have a significant edge in shields over the Python, especially with the larger number of shield boosters you can put on the FDL. This explains why I found Elite FDL shields annoying to take down, I assumed it was just the shield cell use but it looks like the shield strength itself is actually quite a bit higher for the FDL than I had thought. If it wasn't for the terrible cockpit view I would be really tempted to try the FDL, it sounds like it would fit my preferred playstyle of high alpha strike dps and shield tanking that has been working well for me so far in my Python.

 

[Cmdr Chaos]

Think this one comes down to purely flight model preferences for me, both are great ships and very characterful. FAS is quite balanced all in all, great armour, OK shields, FDL is a shield tank par excellance. FAS aggressively pitches and turns, FDL swoops n glides. I have no real problems being lazy and flying my FDL no pips in eng though with a bit of FA, only fighting the little guys requires a bit of eng management I find to get the nose turning better, and those shields can make one very lazy.
The huge hardpoint is totally worth it in my eyes, large multicannons are indeed awesome though (and putting two on a FDL would be a bit too much. If it had those this thread would probably never have been written, choice is good). A huge MC with no spin up time is simply beastly (and makes it very noticable how long the small, medium and large take to start firing, great for those opportune shots. We all know to pull the trigger before the target is aquired with normal MC's to allow for the spin-up, but you can never take those snapshots you can with a huge. An Overcharged level five one is just pure nastiness too).

I love both ships but what would I bring to the last decent scrap I had trawling for trouble; a Python and then two Conda's that dropped in moments after at a Distress call? FDL every time for me, you point it at something, that something is going to die, very quickly. Not sure I'd have come out with my shields still intact and not hull damaged. Or even to the rebuy screen, in my FAS though, but at least the old bill would've had time to arrive I expect.

Both ships definately put me in a different mindset when flying; hunt in the FDL, brawl in the FAS. Work in a FAS, lurk in a FDL. So perhaps a FAS could work better for me in a Res or Nav Beacon, interesting . I'm really not sure the earning potential differs though, either way, not sure the earning potential would be that different flying a Viper. I know it's highly unlikely my FDL would need it's hull repaired afterwards though.

I think I maybe paid so much for mine because it's red... Even skimmers bow to it's awesome paintwork, I see them bob their little heads you know . So maybe a ship for show-offs not just masochists. Engineers can reduce the bill from the procologist considerably too... Felicity makes you smile, Lei makes you near invincible, Tod makes you grin like a Tiger that's just seen a newborn lamb dipped in mint sauce, and The Dweller, "hedger Bob" to me, knows how to roll-em! (and makes sure everything can fire, non stop, with only two pips...)

Love em both for different reasons (which is purely RP). I'd never sell my FDL though.

Thing is though I wouldnt fly the FDL outfitted for less than 100mil either, ever... So OP you are 100% correct in your assertion that the FAS is indeed possibly the best sub 100mil combat option, because it can be combat optimised for less than 100mil (but then I'd get a Vulture, because I'm cheap )

 

[rrobes]

It should be noted that the FAS does have an overheating issue. A thermal vent laser would probably resolve that. Also, you should go with an overcharged PP as well as I remember it would run in the 90+% power usage when fully equipped.

 

[Devari]

A huge MC with no spin up time is simply beastly (and makes it very noticable how long the small, medium and large take to start firing, great for those opportune shots. We all know to pull the trigger before the target is aquired with normal MC's to allow for the spin-up, but you can never take those snapshots you can with a huge. An Overcharged level five one is just pure nastiness too).

Wait, what now? I had no idea that huge MCs have NO SPIN UP TIME. The spin-up time on the large MCs on my Python is quite substantial (2-3 seconds) to the point that I now pull the trigger several seconds before I even get an opponent in front of me so I don't waste the small window of fire waiting for the MC to spin up. I have no idea why they removed the spin-up time completely on the huge MCs but that is game-changing. MCs are my favourite weapon and now I'm tempted to buy an FDL simply because of how amazing the huge MC sounds.

 

[Wylie28]

I would like the FAS, but the hardpoint placement sucks. I tried it for weeks but I cannot hit things with a PA so I just went back to a vulture.

 

[5miley]

I tried out a FDL with grade 5 dirty drives last night ..... flies like an unmodded Vulture

This will be my second choice BH ship (first choice is a Corvette )

 

[Dimensions]

I tried out a FDL with grade 5 dirty drives last night ..... flies like an unmodded Vulture

Can you now fly with no pips to engines and still out manoeuvre almost any ship? if not then it is no Vulture.