Ship Builds & Load Outs Keelback Build

Troutman · Oct 23, 2016

Hello Commanders!

I am still fairly new to Elite: Dangerous, only have about 50 hours logged. After hearing about the Guardians release next week, I asked around for the confirmed fighter bay ships. The Keelback is the only one I could afford, as money is rather scarce at the moment. So, I invested a large sum of what money I have in one and have spent a fair bit on the ship. However, I'm having issues working out a decent build for it.

My main focus of the build, is working out which weapons work best with it. I currently have 2 gimballed burst lasers and 2 heat seeking missiles. Due to the lack of manoeuvrability, I have relied on weapons that have tracking. But I need more firepower. My tactics are mainly built around bringing the shield down and then firing off a barrage of missiles to destroy the enemy as fast as possible. But I'm having a lot of trouble recently.

At the moment, I'm running CGs to try make some money, the couple hundred thousand Im getting for bounties isn't cutting it anymore, and I don't really know how to make decent money as of yet.

I know the Keelback gets a lot of hate, but I've been flying it for about 5-10 hours now, and I do like the ship.. I just need to work out a weapons system and what modules work best with it.

Thanks guys.

Ceekay · Oct 23, 2016

The Keelback in the current game is a bit underwhelming probably as a means of compensating for the additional firepower of the fighter (the fighters are huge fun to fly BTW), the good news is that the 2.2 Guardians Keelback has some upgrades a bit more armour and an internal upgrade see the link for details.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/298958-2-2-amp-Why-I-m-Excited-For-The-Keelback!

As to builds it's never going to be an agile combat ship so I'd fit some small pulse turrets and medium gimballed m-cannon, possibly some additional armour as the shields are average at best so you'll want a tough hull when they go down, with a fighter bay in place and a class 5 shield there's not a lot of space for cargo or SRV bays, perhaps FD will add some additional internals at some point as the Keelback and the FGS lack flexibility when fitted with a fighter bays.

https://coriolis.io/outfit/keelback/0pataFal3das8f427271919030404B2-0202272h.Iw18UA==.Aw18UA==

edit I'd suggest getting on the Waldo CG as the bonus levels are substantial

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/299277-Farewell-to-Walter-Waldo-(Trade)

Troutman · Oct 24, 2016

Thank you for the reply, Commander.

Thank you for the links, I greatly appreciate it. Hopefully the Keelback gets some love, she would be a great ship if it was a little more "tanky".

I have been doing the Walter Waldo CG for 3 days, am in the top 25%, looking at 15m at the moment. That will likely go up though.

goemon · Oct 24, 2016

hey - i'm running acarrier keelback in beta, and will do so, once 2.2. goes live.

If you are planning to pilot the fighter (which is a lot of fun), i can recommend equipping 2 railguns - the AI is great at aiming with railguns, and you are not on the receiving end of it for once.

otherwise, a keelback is truly no fighter - i would recommend a medium beam turret plus a gimballed multicannon, and you are right with two small seeker missiles.

Troutman · Oct 26, 2016

goemon said:
hey - i'm running acarrier keelback in beta, and will do so, once 2.2. goes live.

If you are planning to pilot the fighter (which is a lot of fun), i can recommend equipping 2 railguns - the AI is great at aiming with railguns, and you are not on the receiving end of it for once.

otherwise, a keelback is truly no fighter - i would recommend a medium beam turret plus a gimballed multicannon, and you are right with two small seeker missiles.

Thanks for the reply Goemon!

I have been piloting the Fighter myself, getting a feel for the agile little buggers. It is great fun! Tonight I'm going to let my crew member fly it, see how he goes and maybe gain him a rank or two.

I'll throw the rail guns on though, see how he handles them. Supprisingly, he flies the Keelback really well!

I'll also give those guns a run and see how she goes! I understand the Keelback is no fighter, it's a trading vessel at heart. Am just trying to justify using her on a regular basis to take advantage of the fighter, until I can upgrade to something better. Ideally, my end goal ship, is the Inperial Cutter. It simply looks glorious!

Thank you again for your suggestions, I will give them a try tonight!

goemon · Oct 26, 2016

Troutman said:
Ideally, my end goal ship, is the Inperial Cutter.

i'm not really sure, whether i ever will trust an AI pilot to fly my cutter in live ... the rebuy!

keelback did jut fine for bountyhunting in beta; but same did the beluga

.... basically you just need any carrier for that; probably a t9 would do....

for combatzones you need at least a gunship.

Troutman · Oct 26, 2016

No AI will ever fly my Cutter when I get one. EVER! I don't care what rank they are. Hahaha!

DeRane · Oct 30, 2016

With all the talk, I decided to give this a go.

As a Novice ranked combatant (actual combat skills are really closer to Mostly Harmless) I can only say; Wow! If even I can rake up cash as bounty hunter in this, then anyone can. Applies to all mother-ships, but Keelback is the cheapest.

Just a quick question; Does the crew member pay scale up when he progresses a rank? Could I have 2% pay Elite crew member, if I start with Harmless?

goemon · Oct 30, 2016

DeRane said:
With all the talk, I decided to give this a go.

As a Novice ranked combatant (actual combat skills are really closer to Mostly Harmless) I can only say; Wow! If even I can rake up cash as bounty hunter in this, then anyone can. Applies to all mother-ships, but Keelback is the cheapest.

Just a quick question; Does the crew member pay scale up when he progresses a rank? Could I have 2% pay Elite crew member, if I start with Harmless?

they scale a bit, but still are cheaper, than hiring a new one of the same rank.