I'm bad at combat, wrong ship or useless pilot?

[GG7]

My biggest problem is just keeping the enemy in sight, I simply lose track of where they are. Maybe I need to learn more about the radar and target selection?

Gimbaled weapons and Turrets will help a lot. You also need to TARGET LOCK on your opponent. Depending on the range of your scanner, normally he should not get out of range. Focus on one target at a time, and at this early stage, if you are dealing with more than maybe two hostiles at once, I would get the heck out of there!

 

[Morkn]

I've been trying to get into combat, I splashed some of my credits on a Vulture (figuring it would be excellent for combat)
and I added some gimballed weapons and upgraded most of the systems but oh my life, I am terrible.

Yes, I keep the throttle in the blue zone almost all the time but even so, I cannot stay with anyone during combat, I get behind them and get a few shots in and they simply out turn me and I struggle to get them in a firing position and when I do its 1-2 secs of firing and again they out turn me.

Did I pick the wrong ship or am I utterly useless?

I remember that was when I was around "Expert" level in combat that I started to feel that I was starting to have control about all of the aspects of combat in ED, including flight assist off/on tactics.
I was flying a Vulture then. Great dedicated combat ship and one of the best to learn how to combat.
Don´t expect to be an Ace so soon though and meanwhile pick your targets carefully

 

[PS4gamer]

Well, I was going to logon and put in a couple of hours of practice but sadly my PS4 pro has other ideas and Elite keeps crashing on me with error (CE-34878-0)

 

[Ebel]

Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, moms and dads, while I am not a top of the line PvP player I can get you pointed in the right direction for reasonable combat skill. I do not lose in the PvE environment. Pip management is one of the most important things you can get ahold of. Following that is FA off/on and knowing when to use it. A good way to practice the FA off is to "orbit" a station and keep it at your nose the whole time. Also when dropping in to a station, set up a vector that crosses the toaster at a 5 klick distance and the FA off while requesting docking and keep the toaster in front of your nose. Learn to hit the FA on with throttle at 0% to bring you to a standstill at the proper entry vector (ie straight out). Combat is a combination of FA and Pips, no way around it, practice at every opportunity you can devise. All told, once you are not thinking so much about ship functions (it is second nature) you have more time to focus on what is around you and where it is. Working on that now myself with some good success.

 

[MrFailfactory]

I've been trying to get into combat, I splashed some of my credits on a Vulture (figuring it would be excellent for combat)
and I added some gimballed weapons and upgraded most of the systems but oh my life, I am terrible.

Yes, I keep the throttle in the blue zone almost all the time but even so, I cannot stay with anyone during combat, I get behind them and get a few shots in and they simply out turn me and I struggle to get them in a firing position and when I do its 1-2 secs of firing and again they out turn me.

Did I pick the wrong ship or am I utterly useless?

If I had to guess, I would say that most likely:

You are starting your turns too late, and perhaps in a not-optimal direction as well.
You've seen Top Gun and/or Star Wars, and are applying that type of flying, instead of using all of the tools in your bag.
You are not turning on as many axes as you could (and should), an extension of the previous point.
You are maintaining too close of a distance in an atmospheric-style circular turn fight, which can lead to what you describe.

I'm not saying these things to say that you are bad or make fun of you - based on your description, these seem like the most likely reasons, and they are common. Also, the AI is quite adept at using the Thrusters, so if you are not, then they probably are indeed out-turning you. Gimbaled weapons or Turrets will help, but they do less damage, and they are a Band-Aid to the issues you are having. If you want to get better at Combat, you really need to resist using Band-Aid fixes. Get out there, learn, blow up, learn some more. Alternatively - find someone who is good at Combat, and see if you can do a Multi-Crew session with them (or a Wing) as an observer, so you can see what they do, and why.

Is your Vulture stock? I'm not talking about Engineered or not, I'm talking about standard equipment upgrades, or did you just put some better weapons on it and head out? I'm referring to the Thrusters mostly with this question.

Edit to add: If I remember correctly, the PS4 is capable of recording gameplay. Record a few fights, then watch them later. You will be able to see what you missed, and you will also see what actually happened, as opposed to what you think happened. You might be quite surprised at just how far off our memories are from how things actually happened, especially in reference to reaction time. There might be quite a lot of valuable lessons just from sitting back, and watching your own play. This is something that would likely benefit most of the people that play this game, not just you specifically.

Riôt

 

[Captain Willard]

I'm old, useless and just plain wrong, so ye not alone.

 

[Cmdr Nemo]

I've been trying to get into combat, I splashed some of my credits on a Vulture (figuring it would be excellent for combat)
and I added some gimballed weapons and upgraded most of the systems but oh my life, I am terrible.

Yes, I keep the throttle in the blue zone almost all the time but even so, I cannot stay with anyone during combat, I get behind them and get a few shots in and they simply out turn me and I struggle to get them in a firing position and when I do its 1-2 secs of firing and again they out turn me.

Did I pick the wrong ship or am I utterly useless?

First and foremost if your flying sucks, so will your fighting. Secondly, one is allowed to own mutiple ships, no one ship can play as well as one would want in all catorgories of play styles. Wanna be a trucker and haul packages as well as mining cool, but it won't fight for shi_. Wanna be a great greifer, than a t6 is not for you. Depending on play style, pick a ship that majors in that particular style. They can all do at least one thing very well, a t6 fully upgraded is cheaper than a stock t9. Neither are any good at picking a fight. but fulll moded can escape interdictions except by the most experienced griefers in fully upgraded engineered ships with no other purpose be to reek havoc. That's why they can do it. There entire ship is a sole purpose ship just like my t6 is completly upgraded to haul only freight. That also goes for reassignment of control button functions. I' have no hard points, so I can utilize those particular dedicated button in a way that is conducive to hauling freight. I can haul a 100 tons of cargo and still out run an interdiction, with almost no damage. My next ship will be an fully upgraded Orca, and it will be dedicated to only passengers. So, I'll still not need those normal buttons for weapons. If I were to do any mining, I'd have a ship dedicated and fully upgraded to do just that.

Oh, but I'm in my t6, and there's a million cr passenger run. Ok, having a ship brought to you can cost a few thousand cr's. But your gonna make a million, DUH. Do the math. Pick a style, chose an inexpensive ship that when full upgraded (not talking any engineering here) fits that particular style of play. Trucking or hauling passenger doesn't need weapons, or scanners, or even a fuel scoop if upgraded fully for such purpose. On the other hand a pirate or griefer doesn't need any cargo racks for instance.