Ships Need Build Advice on Frag Cannons

[Daniel Cloudsifter]

I found a build on Reddit for a Mamba that I just love (1 Huge PA, the rest Frag Cannons) and modified it to also have an SRV bay (Scorpion). I use it for planetary missions where I can also take on the occasion all ship assassination mission. Here is a link to the build.

My question is this: for the size 3 cannons, would they be better off as Incendiary or should I leave them as Screening shells? I'm still not that great with the PA, so I could use the help getting the enemy shields down faster. However, switching the Frags to thermal damage - how much will that hurt my killing their hull?

This is purely PVE, but PVP input is also welcome.

Thanks.

 

[Dillon Fallon]

I'd say either is fine. Screening will chew through the ammo faster but you'll cut through anything unshielded like butter. Incendiary gives more longevity and more of a punch on shielded targets.

Either way though, get close and unload everything and you making a mess of whatever you hit.

 

[Esteban]

I'd say either is fine. Screening will chew through the ammo faster but you'll cut through anything unshielded like butter. Incendiary gives more longevity and more of a punch on shielded targets.

Either way though, get close and unload everything and you making a mess of whatever you hit.

I'm trying to understand. Longevity to what?

 

[Dillon Fallon]

With screening you fire every 2.5 seconds, with incendiary it's every 5 with the same ammo reserve. You'll go through one faster than the other.

 

[Daniel Cloudsifter]

Thanks for the quick responses. I was wondering if switching to Incendiary if the tradeoff between lessened hull damage vs. increased shield damage wouldn't be worth it. I may just have to engineer a second pair of class 3 frags and test myself.

 

[Three Stars]

I’ve done both. If you’re using the frags exclusively as your anti-shield option and you have another strong source of anti-hull or anti-modules, then go ahead and make them incendiary. They’re great anti shield weapons because shields are big bubbles, and that makes it much easier to hit with most of the frag’s spread compared to the various narrow hull shapes.

If they’re going to be for general use and you don’t have another strong anti-hull option, then I’d keep them kinetic. Most NPC hulls are either unengineered or poorly engineered, so they take the most damage from explosive and kinetic.