Mostly upgraded Adder or mostly stock Cobra, which is better?

Fugenchutenz · Mar 2, 2015

So I've finally decided to delve into a brave new world of pirate shenanigans. I had a hard time choosing between the Adder or the Cobra and went with the Adder because I had enough to upgrade it more than the Cobra, although not fully. Still need class A thrusters and FSD. It's slow though, so my question is would a (mostly) stock Cobra beat an Adder in terms of speed? I know it's already tougher and it would carry more cargo which are nice bonuses.

Also, how do these FSD interdictor things work? I'm soo tired of taking damage almost every time I interdict another ship. >.<

QorbeQ · Mar 2, 2015

I couldn't fly an Adder. Toblerone-chunk powered by an engine made entirely of angry bumblebees.

Anyway, I've found the Adder to go pop much more easily that the Cobras I've faced. Is it really tougher?

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Oh, and regarding the interdictor - if they submit (zero throttle) then (usually) neither of you take hull damage as you ostensibly both drop out of SC at 30km/s.

If they fight to avoid it, you both take damage. It's a penalty for interdicting folk.

Fugenchutenz · Mar 2, 2015

QorbeQ said:
I couldn't fly an Adder. Toblerone-chunk powered by an engine made entirely of angry bumblebees.

Anyway, I've found the Adder to go pop much more easily that the Cobras I've faced. Is it really tougher?

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Baahaaa angry bumblebees!!!! awesome! It is a funky sounding engine ain't it?

But no I was saying the Cobra was tougher and carries more cargo. I'm just wondering if it has enough of a speed increase stock over the adder to make it a better choice. I may very well go that route. I do ok against some NPCs in the Adder, but when push comes to shove, it can fold quick, and I like having the ability to of Dodge when it does.

Gramps · Mar 2, 2015

So what happens when your target wins the interdiction battle, do you then drop out of sc and take damage yourself?

Fugenchutenz · Mar 2, 2015

Dave c said:
So what happens when your target wins the interdiction battle, do you then drop out of sc and take damage yourself?

As far as I can tell, yes

Gramps · Mar 2, 2015

Fugenchutenz said:
As far as I can tell, yes

That's good then I'm glad they don't get off scott-free

QSL · Mar 2, 2015

Sell your Adder, buy a Cobra. Without any hesitations. Cobra in D-grade wich is not expensive is much better whatever Adder.

skazz · Mar 2, 2015

The Cobra not only has way more cargo space (which increases trading earning capabilities hugely), it also has two medium gun points, better shields, and better speed if you just want to boost away from a fight.

I ditched my Adder as soon as I hit 500k credits net worth, grabbed a Cobra, upgraded the cargo bays and jumpdrive slightly. Then did one very sluggish rare trading run and doubled my net worth (36T cargo space with a full load of rares from the Lave/Leesti cluster earns you over 500k credits at the end of a 160 lightyear run). Suddenly life becomes a lot nicer once you do a few runs, upgrade your jump drive and fuel scoop, etc...

In the end the Cobra is better in pretty much all areas and offers vastly improved earning capability while still having room for discovery and surface scanners, fuel scoop, better guns, etc... A much better all-rounder.

....And two rare trade runs in a Cobra will earn you a million credits to buy a decently kitted out Viper if you want to do some combat.

Fugenchutenz · Mar 2, 2015

Dave c said:
That's good then I'm glad they don't get off scott-free

I'm not 100% sure on that, but the main thing is the VERY long cooldown on their FSD. I haven't actually timed it but it's got to be something like 20 or 30 seconds, long enough for you to be long gone by the time they get back into supercruise.

QSL said:
Sell your Adder, buy a Cobra. Without any hesitations. Cobra in D-grade wich is not expensive is much better whatever Adder.

Dave c said:
That's good then I'm glad they don't get off scott-free

skazz said:
The Cobra not only has way more cargo space (which increases trading earning capabilities hugely), it also has two medium gun points, better shields, and better speed if you just want to boost away from a fight.

I ditched my Adder as soon as I hit 500k credits net worth, grabbed a Cobra, upgraded the cargo bays and jumpdrive slightly. Then did one very sluggish rare trading run and doubled my net worth (36T cargo space with a full load of rares from the Lave/Leesti cluster earns you over 500k credits at the end of a 160 lightyear run). Suddenly life becomes a lot nicer once you do a few runs, upgrade your jump drive and fuel scoop, etc...

In the end the Cobra is better in pretty much all areas and offers vastly improved earning capability while still having room for discovery and surface scanners, fuel scoop, better guns, etc... A much better all-rounder.

....And two rare trade runs in a Cobra will earn you a million credits to buy a decently kitted out Viper if you want to do some combat.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking, and I'm well above the million net worth. Even if I figure out how to do some rare trade runs for a day or so that should be enough for me to tweak it out well enough for whatever I want to do with it, and have the speed to run away from anything I don't want to fight in the mean time.

Troa Barton · Mar 2, 2015

Trust me get the cobra and do rare runs. I was able to go from an eagle to an adder with bounty hunting did one rare run and got a cobra did one more and found myself in a type 6. Check me out on YouTube if you want to see that progression.
if you don't want to go to the t6 you will have a lot of credits to upgrade that cobra quickly.

another great tip that I think it was 777Driver pointed out to me in an error I made assuming you would always take damage from interdictions. When you interdict someone keep your throttle at 3/4 in the blue zone and you shouldn't take any damage.

happy pirating

BarFly · Mar 2, 2015

Hello,

from Sidewinder to Hauler to Adder to Cobra - the Cobra ist he best. My 'D' outfitted Cobra for a bit over 600.000€ had 44 tons for luggage, all my wifes stuff just fitted in, more speed.... its simply a different and <imho> much better, ship.
On the other side - i went back to the Adder, but just because a Cobra outfitted for exploring, is to expansive for me.

Dash · Mar 2, 2015

You should get a Cobra. Why? Because the game is designed around it. Anything bigger gets disproportionately expensive to run, anything lower has to compromise in capacity or power.

As for what you should get now? Why not go with the Adder for a while and then upgrade to the Cobra later? You lose 10% when selling a ship, but if you flog off your upgrades first you don't lose any money there.

TriumphANT · Mar 2, 2015

I upgraded from the Adder to Cobra when (a) my Adder was worth around 1.2M, and (b) when I had around 250K in cash. From stock, you need to upgrade the weapons, power supply, power distributor and cargo bays immediately, and getting some other C class modules, exploration or chaff/point defense is a good start. I reckon that totals about 1.15M, and you need to buy some cargo to make more dosh quickly. If you've got a Founder's World permit, closer to 1M. It's a good time to stop relying on loans for insurance, so try to always keep your buy-back cost in cash. It's only about 60,000KCr to start with (assuming the same basic loadout as the Adder at 1.2M or so), but A-class with decent weapons is closer to 300KCr buy-back. Flying with under 500K is dangerous. Two bad bangs and you're either unable to squiggle back all your nice upgrades. Or Sidewinder. *shudder*

skazz · Mar 2, 2015

This is the rare trading assistance site you want: http://eliteraretrader.co.uk/

The Cobra isn't remotely expensive to run. Sure, an Adder is cheaper but so much less earning potential, and the goal early in the game is to reach a net worth which then lets you specialize in different tasks. And besides, I was interdicted more and with greater irritation in the Adder than in the Cobra: That 400 speed when boosting away from pirates lets you escape with ease.

My take: Head straight to Leesti (high tech world in the Lave cluster) and start from there. Buy the Cobra, upgrade it to maximal cargo space and a better jump drive. Then head to the local stars with other rare goods until you have all 32-36T cargo space filled. Then pick a clump of stars with rare goods as destination 160+ light years away and head on over. If you are interdicted, submit immediately, but with 2 pips in shields and 4 pips in engines you can boost away and jump on to the next destination without serious risk.

I did my first few rare runs taking a different route each time and scanning stars on the way for a bit of extra cash, but in reality heading straight over with just a fuel scoop to keep you going quickly is most efficient.

Jex =TE= · Mar 2, 2015

The adder has a maneuverability rating of 8 - better than a cobra or viper but reading replies here it would seem that's no the case?

Fugenchutenz · Mar 2, 2015

Thanks for the tip Troa, I'll try that.

Yeah I've kinda noticed that too Dash. They really need to come out with a bigger selection of ships with more specialized interests.

Skaaz I have that site saved to my toolbar, but I'm not entirely sure on what to make of it. Is that just a map of the systems that sell rare goods? So basically I fill up in 3 or 4 systems on one end and then fly to the other and sell then repeat process there?

Jex Yes the adder may be more maneuverable (not with D rated thrusters I'm afraid) but in pirating speed trumps maneuverability. You're not looking to outfight resistance as much as you are looking to outrun them. Although having some decent toughness while being pounded on while scooping cargo is a nice plus, I had no problems last night getting beat on by 2 system security vessels and the type 6 I had popped in the Adder, so a Cobra should handle it even better.