This looks good. One tip to do better: use a 7D instead of 5A PP. You get 2MW more for 3,5m credits less (but more weight). Allows to use a secondary SCB (one is not enough for a triple boosted shield) which costs 500k, so -3m to pay for better performance
This works if you are multi purpose as more MW means more equipment which further equals better performance at multiple tasks. The thing a lot of people don't think about when they recommend people do this however is that the powerplants rating, A, B, C, D, E... Directly correlates to the powerplants heat efficiency. What this means is that regardless of class, the higher grade your powerplant is, the better heat efficiency your ship will have. This means you will essentially be able to dissipate heat more efficiently which means your ship doesn't run nearly as hot. Heat is a VERY big concern for those focusing purely on combat.
Recommendations for Combat Python build?
How much over the initial hull price should i save up for the initial upgrades to get it to a reasonable degree of performance?
Strategies/Tips for these bigger boats? Ive seen people talking about things like stacking SB and SCBs obviously i wont be out-running or out maneuvering most of my opponents in this beast..
When it comes to SCBs, regardless of the shield you use the Python only needs a 1x4A and 2x3A SCB's. I currently have a 6A shield and can fill almost the entire shield with a single pop from the 4A, and two 3A's do the same. For power concerns I only keep either the 4A on by itself, or the 3A's on together with the 4A off. This is a total of 8 shield boosts which gets a little obscene.
For the powerplant, I can't stress enough that you pick one of the A-Grade powerplants based on whether or not it supports the fit you decide on. If you are going pure combat remember the Python has 5 weapons mounts, 3 of which are large. Heat buildup happens very fast in the Python and if you don't account for that in your powerplant selection you will severely limit your potential in terms of damage output.
Weapons are up to personal taste. Personally I use 2 large beam turrets (About 40M of my ships value is just from these) for knicking at shields, and have 2 medium rails and a single class 3 plasma accelerator. I can kill large ships very quickly if I manage my power settings properly. Without maxing out the powerplant of the Python however you will not reach the maximum damage potential of this ship without sacrificing greatly in other areas.
Do not underestimate the Pythons need to be tanked. The popular combat ships most people fly in open from my experience are all faster than the Python. Usually when a ship forces me to flee in my Python, it's because I know if I keep fighting I'm guaranteed to lose. The better my tank is, the longer I can wait in a battle before being force to retreat. This staying power is actually a really important staple of the Python and isn't to be neglected.
My Python is essentially as maxed out as you can get it at the 284m price point. A lot of that however is luxury. Such as a 6A Fuel Scoop, Milspec armor and a 7A power plant. Not to mention the 40m spent on two simple beam turrets. If I didn't have those luxury items and was building my Python fit for as affordable as possible but still combat ready...
then this would be how I'd fit it.
