Welp, it probably won't be an especially popular choice, but after thoroughly looking into the Viper III and the IV as well as the Diamondback Scout, I went with the mrk.IV. All three represent a compromise at their price ranges, but in the end the jump potential, baseline armour and number of internals counted in the IV's favour.
Is it a poor choice? It might turn out that way, but across vids and forum posts I saw advocates for all three ships, as well as critics of all three, so ultimately the only way I can know whether one will be good or bad [for me] is to just buy and upgrade the damn thing.
Not finished upgrading it yet, but I installed class 1 beams and class 2 cannons, both gimballed as I've not tried either weapon types till now. Yes, it pitches a little slower than my Cobra, but it's not as bad as I expected or as sluggish as it sometimes looks in vids. The only real adjustment is the speed - the Cobra doesn't need power shunted to engines to be effective, but the Viper IV does feel like it needs almost the full allocation, especially as boosting becomes more important.
I appreciate the responses though, and I know more now than I did before I started the thread.
The Viper III, IV, and D/Scout and Explorer are all discounted at Ohm City, in LHS 20, btw. Ditto larger traders, the Anaconda, and the Federal Corvette, though all of those are way out of budget for the time being...
Is it a poor choice? It might turn out that way, but across vids and forum posts I saw advocates for all three ships, as well as critics of all three, so ultimately the only way I can know whether one will be good or bad [for me] is to just buy and upgrade the damn thing.
Not finished upgrading it yet, but I installed class 1 beams and class 2 cannons, both gimballed as I've not tried either weapon types till now. Yes, it pitches a little slower than my Cobra, but it's not as bad as I expected or as sluggish as it sometimes looks in vids. The only real adjustment is the speed - the Cobra doesn't need power shunted to engines to be effective, but the Viper IV does feel like it needs almost the full allocation, especially as boosting becomes more important.
I looked at both, but the [relatively pricey] Explorer would be an upgrade from the Cobra as an explorer, and the Scout's shields and small number of internals counted against it.DBE too. It's not quite as nimble as the DBS (and is a bit glass-jawed), but it DOES pack a size 3 hardpoint
The IV could never have a 'huge' range, but right now 15's more than serviceable. So far I've retained the 16T tank (I might drop that to 8 if I need to shave off some mass), as I like having several jumps available without ever considering fuel.
The thing is, once fitted for their roles, surely ships cease to be multi-roles - at this price bracket between these three ships I saw no clear winner as a fighter specialist. I arguably went with the 'easiest' choice with regards to a first time combat build, given it's never going to be too pricey to fully outfit or switch out parts, and with its internals there's plenty of choice if I want to more drastically modify it.
I appreciate the responses though, and I know more now than I did before I started the thread.
The Viper III, IV, and D/Scout and Explorer are all discounted at Ohm City, in LHS 20, btw. Ditto larger traders, the Anaconda, and the Federal Corvette, though all of those are way out of budget for the time being...
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