I wanted to pilot a big ship so I got myself an Anaconda, and I'm having a blast with it.
The space whale body slam landing is glorious
The space whale body slam landing is glorious
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Is there any reason to go bigger than the Vulture?
- Thread starter dead_rock
- Start date
There are also a lot of bad Vulture pilots who are carried by the ship, fine for pve but against a competent commander they're fodder. Scout is good fun for pvp and people actually engage you
Agreed, it is really robust and dependable in a conflict zone or RES, and perhaps I was generalising a bit about pvp, but the question 'Is there any reason to bigger than the vulture?' did provoke me to defend the amazing capabilities of the FDL, Clipper, and Python, and conversely state that not only is there a reason to go bigger, there is a reason to go smaller: the scout and courier and even the viper in the hands of 'old pros' (a strange term for such a new game) seem to be more than a match for the vulture in pvp combat.
Sure, but if you imagine that Size 3 outputs 300Mj energy and Size 7 outputs 700Mj. Then take into account that the formula for surface area of a sphere is 4 × pi × r², meaning that as the radius of the sphere increases the surface area increases by **a lot more**. The clipper is a much bigger ship than the courier, even if it were just twice as big that would double the radius which would increase the surface area 4 times .. meaning you would need 4 times the power to get the same coverage.
Yeah, most likely you're correct. Game balance sometimes requires that we ignore physics/maths in order to make a game fun.
I like my python a bit better than the vulture except for it not being as maneuverable. It generally does not have any overheating issues with most weapons, can be upgraded power wise to not be desperate for power (you don't need to sacrifice thrusters/frameshift drive/life support/sensors/etc to get the bare minimum amount of power to run weapons), it can easily run with 4 shield boosters and still have power for shield cell banks, and it can multipurpose as a decent cargo/trade ship.
I currently run with 7B power plant (don't currently need the extra power of 7A, especially with it costing 34.2 million credits more than the 7B), 6A thrusters, 5A frameshift drive, 7A power distributor, 6A sensors, 6A shield generator, 6A shield cell bank, the default 5C fuel tank, 4C fuel scoop, advanced discovery scanner, detailed surface scanner, 1x 6E 2x 5E and 1x 3E cargo racks (136 T total cargo capacity), 3x Class 3 gimballed pulse lasers, 0C kill warrant scanner, 3x 0A shield boosters, and 4D life support and with only cargo hatch disabled run at 93% power capacity. with the 3 class 3 gimballed pulse lasers I can maintain rapid fire with all 3 laser indefinitely at 4 pips in weapons, with 2 lasers indefinitely at 3 pips, and 1 laser indefinitely at 2 pips. I can generally withstand attacks from a medium to large ship (asp, vulture, python. dropship, imperial clipper, anaconda) and up to 2 escorts of small and annoying size (sidewinder, eagle, adder, and to a lesser degree vipers and cobras) without exhausting all my shield cells in one battle. Unless I am near a star, my heat levels do not reach 80%.
Against PVE targets I generally find I can chain fight (one directly after another with little down time) large targets (dropship, imperial clipper, vulture, python, anaconda) longer than I could in my Vulture before needing to let my shields recharge on their own. In terms of bounty hunting at RES sites I find in general that I consistently earn more per hour in my python that I did my vulture. Also if I need to flee, my python suffers less from mass lock effects of nearby ships than my vulture does.
However, this is just my opinion that upgrading to the python is worthwhile, and ultimately its up to a players personal preference and play style on if its worthwhile. I have yet to try piloting a dropship, imperial clipper, Fer-Der-Lance, or anaconda so I can not attest to whether or not it is worthwhile to change to them. Personally, I do not sell my old ships and wait to accumulate the funds to buy a new ship, decent modules for it, and its insurance re-buy costs before I try out a new ship.
I currently run with 7B power plant (don't currently need the extra power of 7A, especially with it costing 34.2 million credits more than the 7B), 6A thrusters, 5A frameshift drive, 7A power distributor, 6A sensors, 6A shield generator, 6A shield cell bank, the default 5C fuel tank, 4C fuel scoop, advanced discovery scanner, detailed surface scanner, 1x 6E 2x 5E and 1x 3E cargo racks (136 T total cargo capacity), 3x Class 3 gimballed pulse lasers, 0C kill warrant scanner, 3x 0A shield boosters, and 4D life support and with only cargo hatch disabled run at 93% power capacity. with the 3 class 3 gimballed pulse lasers I can maintain rapid fire with all 3 laser indefinitely at 4 pips in weapons, with 2 lasers indefinitely at 3 pips, and 1 laser indefinitely at 2 pips. I can generally withstand attacks from a medium to large ship (asp, vulture, python. dropship, imperial clipper, anaconda) and up to 2 escorts of small and annoying size (sidewinder, eagle, adder, and to a lesser degree vipers and cobras) without exhausting all my shield cells in one battle. Unless I am near a star, my heat levels do not reach 80%.
Against PVE targets I generally find I can chain fight (one directly after another with little down time) large targets (dropship, imperial clipper, vulture, python, anaconda) longer than I could in my Vulture before needing to let my shields recharge on their own. In terms of bounty hunting at RES sites I find in general that I consistently earn more per hour in my python that I did my vulture. Also if I need to flee, my python suffers less from mass lock effects of nearby ships than my vulture does.
However, this is just my opinion that upgrading to the python is worthwhile, and ultimately its up to a players personal preference and play style on if its worthwhile. I have yet to try piloting a dropship, imperial clipper, Fer-Der-Lance, or anaconda so I can not attest to whether or not it is worthwhile to change to them. Personally, I do not sell my old ships and wait to accumulate the funds to buy a new ship, decent modules for it, and its insurance re-buy costs before I try out a new ship.
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Hi All,
Agree with the thread posters - the vulture is a great combat craft, if that is your game there is really only the FDL next.
I use my Vulture for conflict zones and occasional assignations, it really is fun to fly, not sure I will ever give it up. It does take a bit of effort to kill Anacondas and other large ships with 2 x Pulse Lasers, but fun and safe doing it for about 20Mcr. I spent the majority of my time outside civil wars in a Python, 156tons of cargo with good enough combat capability, all the scanners etc - do not think I will ever give up my Python either.
Simon
Agree with the thread posters - the vulture is a great combat craft, if that is your game there is really only the FDL next.
I use my Vulture for conflict zones and occasional assignations, it really is fun to fly, not sure I will ever give it up. It does take a bit of effort to kill Anacondas and other large ships with 2 x Pulse Lasers, but fun and safe doing it for about 20Mcr. I spent the majority of my time outside civil wars in a Python, 156tons of cargo with good enough combat capability, all the scanners etc - do not think I will ever give up my Python either.
Simon
There really is a point in upgrading to Python.
Yes, it's not that fun because of the lower maneuverability, but it has twice the firepower, coupled with higher energy output and more shield cells. A decently upgraded Python is able to melt Anacondas in half the time compared to a vulture, so, if you're looking for efficiency, there is a definite bonus in upgrading.
I'd even say the Python is more efficient than an Anaconda. The 'conda suffers in damage output as it can't point its lower guns to the enemy easily, so most of the time you're just using the 3 class 3 and 2 class 2 weapons on target. The only increase over a Python is 2 class 1 weapons and, if lucky, the class 4, which is quite hard to use in such a slow moving ship. On paper it seems a lot more powerful but in the heat of battle it's not that good.
So, if you're looking for fun, keep the Vulture, but if you want to be the king of PvE, you need a Python.
Edit: I've purposedly kept away the FLD. It's very demanding in PvE, and it's not that fast killer compared to a decently upgraded Python. Even when using the Class4 weapon to its full potential, it's still slower than a full gimballed pulse Python in PvE.
Yes, it's not that fun because of the lower maneuverability, but it has twice the firepower, coupled with higher energy output and more shield cells. A decently upgraded Python is able to melt Anacondas in half the time compared to a vulture, so, if you're looking for efficiency, there is a definite bonus in upgrading.
I'd even say the Python is more efficient than an Anaconda. The 'conda suffers in damage output as it can't point its lower guns to the enemy easily, so most of the time you're just using the 3 class 3 and 2 class 2 weapons on target. The only increase over a Python is 2 class 1 weapons and, if lucky, the class 4, which is quite hard to use in such a slow moving ship. On paper it seems a lot more powerful but in the heat of battle it's not that good.
So, if you're looking for fun, keep the Vulture, but if you want to be the king of PvE, you need a Python.
Edit: I've purposedly kept away the FLD. It's very demanding in PvE, and it's not that fast killer compared to a decently upgraded Python. Even when using the Class4 weapon to its full potential, it's still slower than a full gimballed pulse Python in PvE.
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