Is the FDL rubbish - or is it just my combat skills? ;-)

[Roraima]

I took a break from the Wolf 406 community goal to try my hand at bounty hunting in 'Open'. It wasn't long before I spotted a 'wanted' commander in a Clipper. I was flying my FDL (A-rated thrusters, A rated shields, 1 Class 3 Gimballed Beam, 2 Class 2 Gimballed Beams and 2 Class 2 MCs). I interdicted and he submitted. That is where it got interesting.

Try as I might I could not get an aim on this guy at all. I don't know if he was using FA off or what. My FDL seemed so sluggish that at one point I thought I hadn't put any pips to the engines (I had). No combination of throttle in the blue arc or pips got me anywhere near being able to fire on this commander. He also appeared to be using turrets, so as I was turning and turning trying to get him in my sights, he was hammering me with no effort whatsoever! Pretty soon I realised I needed to get out of there fast or be destroyed, so I boosted away and into SC.

A while later (now fully repaired) I saw the same commander. Against my better judgement I interdicted. This time I turned round pretty quickly and we were travelling towards each other head on. I managed to actually fire on him. I think he had got me down to 2 shield rings. Then BANG! We collided. I can't remember what my forward speed was (probably) high, but the collision resulted in insta-death for me and I was out of pocket by 3.5 million credits.

So - I tip my hat to that pilot, who was obviously pretty good. However, I have to say that I was left a bit disappointed in the performance of the FDL (even allowing for my own shortcomings in combat). Is the FDL just not very good (or is the Clipper just way better?). Any thoughts?

 

[fergal]

I thought a clipper and fdl handled fairly similar, but its been a while since I used a clipper.
FDL certainly doesn't handle like a Vulture.

If you are getting in tight and in a pitching battle with another commander, the fdl isn't great, especially if you don't use flight assist off.

 

[StephenB]

Did you use flares? Flares cripple Clippers since they pretty much need gimballed/turreted weapons on it's wings to be useful.

 

[Synther]

FDL has two types of builds that work imo.

Quad Pulse with Gimbal Cannon/Dual Pulse, Dual Beams (top center), with Gimbal Cannon
Quad MC with Plasma Accelerator.

Using a large hardpoint for the bottom sort of gimps the FDL's damage potential since it cant quite rely on the top hardpoints alone for larger ships. The first style mentioned works if you've tried gimbal cannons on a viper, while the second style is probably more user friendly after you figure out your power management.

 

[Alex Brentnall]

FDL has class 5 thrusters, Clipper has class 6 which means if upgraded and piloted right the Clipper can theoretically outmanoeuvre the FDL.

Flight assist off is amazing if you know how to use it, probably a combination of the two caused your problems. Pips to shields for collisions sir although Clipper again can fit class 7 shields whereas FDL is limited to class 5 so it may not have helped much anyways...

Come to think of it if the hardpoints were placed better on the Clipper it really could be OP.

 

[Pendra]

Flares don't work against turrets.
Have you tried to put your speed into the backward blue? Works every time.
Or boost away and start the turn at 1-1.5 km.

Also, it is possible to have 4 pips everywhere. Cheats are freakin simple in ED.

 

[Loskene]

I'd rather a maxed out clipper than a maxed out FDL personally, all other things being the same. In 1.3 clippers and turrets will go together like ham and cheese.

 

[Derath]

FDL has class 5 thrusters, Clipper has class 6 which means if upgraded and piloted right the Clipper can theoretically outmanoeuvre the FDL.

Flight assist off is amazing if you know how to use it, probably a combination of the two caused your problems. Pips to shields for collisions sir although Clipper again can fit class 7 shields whereas FDL is limited to class 5 so it may not have helped much anyways...

Come to think of it if the hardpoints were placed better on the Clipper it really could be OP.

Thruster class actually doesn't matter, the stats are assigned then the thrusters give the variance within those parameters. There is no overcoming the fact that the FDL has probably 3x the shielding of a clipper, and more and/or better placed firepower.

The clipper also has woeful directional thrusters, whereas the FDL doesn't, however if your flight style is very zoom past then bluezone turn without any thruster control they will behave much the same as each other.