TL;DR - It's a good ship, I'll be buying one flavor of it (probably the Scout), but it needs to be able to fill its own role to avoid comparison to the Cobra/Asp.
My issue is that the ship isn't being allowed to fill its own niche. The original version is kind of a Viper-Cobra hybrid. The Explorer version is kind of a ponderous Asp without the utility (but it has bigger guns!). Hopefully the flight model of the Explorer will get a little massage to at least bring it in line with the Asp, though I'm not sure if I should be hopeful or not at this point.
I guess the real question in my mind is what's
wrong with a ship being a combat-explorer? Mike said that it was never really the intent for it to be an explorer, even though that was part of its description. Min-max explorers have their own set of requirements, as we've all seen in this thread. They would like having a fuel scoop a class larger than the FSD, as many existing ships are capable of. I think the bare minimum for them though is having a scoop that achieves at least parity with the FSD, as ALL ships (up until now) in the game have. A Diamondback of either flavor are the only ships currently in the game that don't have at least 1:1 FSD:Scoop class parity. I also have a feeling that they (and everyone else) would prefer to not have to put scanner modules into oversized slots, especially when that oversized slot could be better used for something else, like an AFMU. They also like jump range. The Diamondback does not fail in this regard, IMO. ~30ly capability in an explorer configuration is great, especially for a stock price of 600k.
So, the positives of the original Diamondback are that it's a fun, fast, agile ship that can pew pew slightly better than a Cobra, and jump at least as far in a similar configuration. The problem is that it can ONLY jump and pew pew. It has none of the versatility of the Cobra. It can't run 40t of rares 20ly per jump while still packing guns and a shield cell (
http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=702,4yG4yG7N77N701Q0_g,2-6Q6u6Q5K5K5K6k,7Re07207203w03w7dg). Not only that, but the Cobra
can pack guns, A-rated components, a shield, a scoop, an SCB, AFMU, and both scanners, and still go 20+ light years (
http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=702,4yG4yG7N77N701Q0_g,2-6Q6Q6Q5K4s5K6k,7RA4_w7go0Iw2jw2UI). That's what I would define as a combat-explorer. So what's the point of the Diamondback again? It looks awesome, at least.
Now we have the Scout's bigger sister, and the same problems persist. The FSD got a boost in size, it got another module slot, AND it had two slots boosted up a class. Great! But first reports say it flies like a brick. Not so great. Maybe this aspect is still in the tweaking phase, hopefully. The most direct comparison now is to an Asp. We get a boost in firepower, but increased weight, reduced armor, and ever so slightly better base shield rating. We're still using oversized slots for scanners, but we can now take an AFMU or a shield cell. That's good. I think it's a valid decision for a pilot to have to make. Do I want something that can repair modules out in the black, or do I want to hopefully prevent those modules from taking damage in the first place if I'm being shot at? That requires some thinking and planning on the part of the Commander. Parity of the FSD and scoop still doesn't exist in this ship.
Instead of two ships, we really only needed to have the original version buffed a little bit. In terms of physical design, if the model needed to be changed to accommodate the modified internal layout, fine (I'd really love to see the behind-the-scenes in what FD uses to model the internal layout to determine number and class of modules, since it doesn't appear to be just an arbitrary thing). They've already done that with the bigger Explorer version (though, they went too big, imo). It could've gained some weight, maybe 10 or 20t because of the larger hull. The 128t (that's TWO Vipers!) we gain from going from the Scout to the Explorer feels excessive. Given an increase of 20-25% more than than the original, it should then be able to run ONE class size upgrade to a module, and allowed that C2 to become a pair of C1s. That's still five module slots (1x C4, 2x C3, 2x C1), but it allows the explorers to have their FSD:Scoop parity, or it allows the combat pilots to have a slightly buffed shield. Having two C1s instead of a single C2 allows both scanners, in properly sized slots, and doesn't force us to sacrifice a primary module slot. The sum of changes gives the ship a defined niche, without stepping on the toes of the Cobra and Asp when those ships aren't configured for combat/range. With these changes, the ship can jump, scan/map a system, and shoot at anything that takes offense to that. The tradeoff is it doesn't have the module versatility of its nearest competitors for cargo running. Boost the base price up to about a million and a half, and I think that it becomes an even trade.
I can dream, I suppose.
