First of all, I really like the look of the Mamba. It's got a very nice cockpit and a fairly unrestricted canopy. I have tested it last night and found that it needs to be better balanced. The problem is that it competes with the FDL and the killer in PvP will be the slow turn rate. Combat fitted with 5G DD thrusters it has a max pitch rate of only 43°/s compared to the FDL's pitch of 61°/s with near identical loadout. This is a difference of nearly 30%!!! Advertised was slightly less maneuverable, which it clearly isn't. When boosting the Mamba it will pitch at 52°/s which is still almost 20% less than the FDL without boost! Yes, the Mamba has a top speed that is about 40m/s faster than the FDL, but this is only abot 10%more than the FDL. I don't think the Mamba should be any faster than the 600m/s top speed, it's the pitch rate that sucks!
Then there is the overheating problem. It should be dialed down by at least 10-15% IMHO. Also the placement for the 2 small hard points is too far apart to hit smaller targets with rails or aim for specific modules. The hard points should be on the main fuselage, not on the side pods! Also the fuel tank needs to one size larger as well as the FSD drive. The jump range and fuel capacity is just appalling. Then there is also the problem that the hit box for the Mamba is significantly higher than the FDL. All just because of the massive main engines that perform well below expectancy. I won't get into the yaw rate and side thrust capabilities, as I am ready to implode...
As it stands, when it comes to combat it is an easy choice for me, I will definitely always choose the FDL over the Mamba if Frontier isn't going to balance and upgrade the Mamba.
Sorry for the rant, but it is how I feel about the Mamba.
On the other hand FDev have done a great job with the Phantom (finally an equal to the ASP X as an explorer or a very good fighter if outfitted right), and the Q4 update has really great new features, which will add a lot more fun and game play to ED. For this I applaud Frontier. Now please go to work on the Mamba;-)
Then there is the overheating problem. It should be dialed down by at least 10-15% IMHO. Also the placement for the 2 small hard points is too far apart to hit smaller targets with rails or aim for specific modules. The hard points should be on the main fuselage, not on the side pods! Also the fuel tank needs to one size larger as well as the FSD drive. The jump range and fuel capacity is just appalling. Then there is also the problem that the hit box for the Mamba is significantly higher than the FDL. All just because of the massive main engines that perform well below expectancy. I won't get into the yaw rate and side thrust capabilities, as I am ready to implode...
As it stands, when it comes to combat it is an easy choice for me, I will definitely always choose the FDL over the Mamba if Frontier isn't going to balance and upgrade the Mamba.
Sorry for the rant, but it is how I feel about the Mamba.
On the other hand FDev have done a great job with the Phantom (finally an equal to the ASP X as an explorer or a very good fighter if outfitted right), and the Q4 update has really great new features, which will add a lot more fun and game play to ED. For this I applaud Frontier. Now please go to work on the Mamba;-)
