Ships Need help and tips for my first Anaconda fully engineered build

[ZeroisVOID]

Hello Commanders , this is me again (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...-tips-for-my-first-FDL-fully-engineered-build + my actual FDL Ultimate™ : https://s.orbis.zone/1ein) ; i've been playing (grinding *cough*) a lot of the new deep core mining stuffs and i have enough money for a fully engineered Anaconda (i have already bought everything to the max , A rated for combat and i still have 1.4 billion credits left so money is definitely not an issue (i have enough money for a fully upgraded Federal Corvette and several rebuys)) , materials are not a problem i can gather plenty like when i built my FDL , can you give me your tips to build an Ultimate™ Anaconda ?

This build is a bit different since i chose to keep a fighter hangar (i put 6D but i'm fine with only have 1 bay instead of 2 , i use a Taipan Rogue F or a Gu-97 Aegis F) , a planetary vehicule hangar bay (i'm fine with downsizing it to have only 1 or none at all) and a fuel scoop (i'm fine with downsizing but i still want to keep one to avoid being out of fuel like a noob) , the cargo racks and the limpets controller can go as i don't need them in combat situation and they take up space , the life support is A rated for now because i feel that considering the size and speed , 7:30 minutes for D rated is a bit low to dock such a slow and expensive ship , i also need hard tips on shield cells engineering (what effect to use and most of all what experimental effect to use).

The weapons are not yet decided (although i have a preference for lasers , low heating (using thermal vents sometimes like on my FDL that never gets hot but i'm feeling adventurous with pulse lasers) and i don't like MC's) , i'm going for full gimballed weapons except for the two small hardpoints that will be turreted (for maximum efficiency because otherwise they are useless) , i prefer having pulse lasers over beam lasers (because beams empty my WPN bar way too fast) , i need two hardpoints for missiles (i'm thinking of aquiring 2 Pack-hound missile racks for fun on the medium hardpoints , what do you think ?).
I can't use Railguns or PA's with it because it's too damn slow.

For the utilitary slots , i need 1 heatsink and 1 point defense (i already had the debate wherever POI is useful or not and i found it very useful on my FDL so i'm keeping one on top of the ship) all the others will be shield boosters.


The ship should be able to function without going beyond the maximum energy limit while the cargo hatch is closed and the fuel scoop inactive.


This will be a combat Anaconda Ultimate™ mainly for PVE and eventually PVP (but considering the size and speed , probably not).


Engineered rough plan:
https://s.orbis.zone/1ei6

Unengineered rough plan (different modules because of lack of energy):
https://s.orbis.zone/1ei8

Let's try to make the Ultimate™ Anaconda with absolute power (means going for consistent damages instead of instantly emptying the WPN bar) , shield and protection (for these two we need the "Absolute" stat to the max on both)!


PS: Not an anti-thargoid ship build , keep them safe[alien].

 

[Ceekay]

This is what I use (although it's currently configures as a passenger ship) but the usually it's an armed trader, the four lasers are more that enough for Python level targets and for anything larger the cannons will remove the hull fairly quickly.

The shields are built to rebuild/regen quickly but if you wanted adding some B grade SCB's (specialised + boss cells) would allow some top up as required.

https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/ana...BmUEY4BYQFMCGBzANikI4SEhQlA==&bn=Conda 4 x 0A

 

[ZeroisVOID]

I changed the loadout a bit for more armour (absolute value went up by a lot) and changed the shield cell effects as you said (since rapid charge is a bit useless for a non-pvp ship) : https://s.orbis.zone/1exl
I'm trying to up the shield absolute value but i don't know how to do it , if i try to up the thermal resistance , the absolute stat goes down.

What should i do for other mods ?
Should i lower the fighter bay to 5D , the fuel scoop to a lower grade ?
Do i have the right module protection (or is it too much ?)

 

[dm06]

7:30 minutes for D rated is a bit low

If you have enough mats you always can replenish life support in the synthesis tab.

I'm trying to up the shield absolute value but i don't know how to do it , if i try to up the thermal resistance , the absolute stat goes down.

Please check heavy duty shield boosters.

 

[ZeroisVOID]

I put the life support to D grade again (i forgot about synthesis lol) , and changed to heavy duty + super capacitors.

https://s.orbis.zone/1ey6

the absolute stat went up by a lot but the thermal resistance is absolute crap (0.3%!) , should i worry about putting the three "resistance" value to a common ground or only worry about the "absolute" stat ?

changing to heavy duty + thermo block instead of super capacitors gives this :
https://s.orbis.zone/1ey9

15% thermal resistance but it's not that good either.


the old build looks like that resistance wise : https://s.orbis.zone/1eyb
the absolute stat is quite low however.

 

[dm06]

15% thermal resistance but it's not that good either.

For pve this is really low, consider to revert to thermal shields but use heavy boosters. When shield is on NPCs almost always attack with thermal weapons.

Also you do not need more than one scramble spectrums (they do not multiple themself), unless you attack multiple shieldless targets with turrents in "fire at will" mode.

Also seems that we can use one 4D mrp, they do their job when shields are off, just check mrp (and rest modules) state by yourself after battles.

 

[ZeroisVOID]

Reverted main 7C Bi-weave shield to thermal resistance + thermo block instead of reinforced + thermo block (kinetic is at 20.5% now) , shield boosters are still heavy duty + super capacitors , changed one of the small turreted pulse laser experimental from scramble spectrum to emissive munitions (idk if emissive munitions is the best though) , changed one 5D HRP to one 5D MRP (went from 94% module internal protection to 97% (from 575 module raw protection to 925) and from 5589 absolute armour to 4851).

https://s.orbis.zone/1eyq

if i change heavy duty + thermo block , it gives that :
https://s.orbis.zone/1eyt

I'm also thinking about changing the beam laser to pulse lasers (because beams empty the WPN bar too fast) , what do you think ?
And what about changing missiles to pack-hounds ? or cannons ? is it worth it ?

 

[dm06]

I'm also thinking about changing the beam laser to pulse lasers (because beams empty the WPN bar too fast) , what do you think ?

This is the question I'm asking myself from time to time. Fighting in ED is basically converting energy from wep into damage, so DPE - damage per energy is important weapon parameter to consider.
Taking too much care about fast wep drain could lead to non-stop firing but low at offence builds. Especially that your power distributor with all pips to wep will fully charge empty wep in a couple of seconds.

And what about changing missiles to pack-hounds ? or cannons ? is it worth it ?

imho:
- Seek missles just perfect at destroing external modules: engines, weapons and utilities after enemy shields gone.
- Cannons are very powerful once hit into the target but "slow" which makes them useful at short range only.

Never used pack-hounds, can't say a word.

 

[ZeroisVOID]

Honestly idk , for fast ships i think sustained DPS is the best and for bigger ships a mix of both , that way i can deliver a massive blow to fast ships that are using the "jousting" technique and also deal good damages to bigger ships on 1v1 frontal battles.
I don't pup 4 pips to WPN all the time because my shield could fall if the battlefield becomes too hot.

Are cannons decent enough ?
I've tried seeker missiles but i run out of ammo pretty quickly ; my idea would be to use a weapon to directly deal huge damages to important modules like the power plant , normally Railguns with super penetrator would do the trick but i doubt the target can stay long enough in front of me before i can fire and either railguns or PA's takes way too much energy per shot.

Also about my 2 latest setups in my previous post , are the hull/module protection/shield stats good enough , which setup is the good one or should i find something else to make it stronger ?

 

[Innocentius]

I think that the main problem with that build is that you lose your whole weapon capacitor in 5 seconds even with 4 pips to weapons. Just minor changes to the weapon outfit would bring the weapon capacitor drain to sustained level:

https://s.orbis.zone/1f5n

If you want to use more long range lasers (which are good) then you need to divide substantial part of your weapon outfit to kinetics and then I would really go for MCs if you are looking into sustained dps. If going for burst you could look into overcharged pacifier frags. If you use gimballed kinetics I have generally myself loaded the whole bottom of anaconda with those because that C4 MC is just so nice.... but it maybe smarter to use the top of anaconda for kinetics especially if using gimballed as then the leading for top and bottom is easier to so that both hit at the same time.

You currently have those missiles there. They will not do much in pve fight, but maybe fun for pvp. Nug has been making many high burst damage anaconda and gunship videos. It is a specialized loadout mainly great against big ships in assassination / pvp scenarios:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhdQgxzzEgk

Basically fragmentation cannons to the win in those situations.

You really would need to specify a bit more on what you want: pve CZ & BH madness or PvP build?

EDIT:
I don't know. If you eschew MCs, maybe something like this can be fun to fly:
https://s.orbis.zone/1f79

If you do not fly in wings, you can drop the healing experimentals from lasers and just put in LR beams with thermal vent instead. At that point you could probably also lose the heat sink. If you do not like plasmas or if you put pvp experimentals on them, then the fuel tank can be dropped.

 

[dm06]

Are cannons decent enough ?

Yep. Class 4 fixed if not missed )

Also about my 2 latest setups in my previous post , are the hull/module protection/shield stats good enough , which setup is the good one or should i find something else to make it stronger ?

As for me last one is quite ok, consider to replace one heavy duty booster with kinetic thermo block - this will make all resistance almost equal and increased kinetic one will help against rail guns.

Also not sure if you need so much emission lasers... You can check how much emission weapons you really need paying attention how long persists increased emissions icon on your target.
And as far as I got the point the emission effect adds thermal load which is in percents of the weapon's thermal load, so applying it to bigger weapons will mark target same way but will produce more heat to your ship.

Not really sure if you need grade 5 long range, it won't hit because of gimbal floating, especially on beams with thermal vent - it generates more heat if missed. Eventually you just won't use it at long range but using grade 1 or 2 instead you can save some power and weight.

 

[ZeroisVOID]

I think that the main problem with that build is that you lose your whole weapon capacitor in 5 seconds even with 4 pips to weapons. Just minor changes to the weapon outfit would bring the weapon capacitor drain to sustained level:

https://s.orbis.zone/1f5n

Interesting choise of effects , efficient is good but there's still the 0.6km or 0.5km damage fall-off , is the build still playable ?

Gives this if i put the new shield changes :
https://s.orbis.zone/1fid

I also tried this , long range is grade 3 and damage fall-off isn't bad :
https://s.orbis.zone/1fig

Or this with pretty bad damage fall-off but very fast rate of fire :

https://s.orbis.zone/1fii


What do you think ?
Also i checked your video , i'll probably do the build one day but i need to unlock the two weapons lol

I did a build where i replace the missile racks with 2 gimballed cannons , is it good ? what effects and experimental do you suggest ?
https://s.orbis.zone/1fim

 

[Innocentius]

There is a value in the coriolis called TTD. It shows how long your current capacitor can fire that loadout with 4 pips to weapons. When making PVE ships, I aim for that value to be at around 1 minute range or more if I intend to fire all those weapons at the same time. That generally means that I most often can finish that one fight before capacitor drains out, and at times I need to recharge it there in between while maneuvering. On many of those long range/rapid fire builds the TTD value is just 7 seconds. You will never kill ships in that time.

Efficient does more damage per second than long range until at around range of 1300 meters.
Efficient does more damage per ENERGY than long range (including fall off) until around the range of 2000 meters.
Here are some calculations with old values for efficient blueprint:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/321868-Damage-falloff-mechanics

So basically if your fights have ranges on average of over 2000 meters then go for long range. In my experience most pve fights are pretty close quarters. Gimballed lasers will eventually have issues even hitting targets at very long ranges. There are valid reasons to use long range lasers, but just make sure that you use them for the correct reasons and that your capacitor is able to supply ample power for the whole loadout.

 

[ZeroisVOID]

There is a value in the coriolis called TTD. It shows how long your current capacitor can fire that loadout with 4 pips to weapons. When making PVE ships, I aim for that value to be at around 1 minute range or more if I intend to fire all those weapons at the same time. That generally means that I most often can finish that one fight before capacitor drains out, and at times I need to recharge it there in between while maneuvering. On many of those long range/rapid fire builds the TTD value is just 7 seconds. You will never kill ships in that time.

Efficient does more damage per second than long range until at around range of 1300 meters.
Efficient does more damage per ENERGY than long range (including fall off) until around the range of 2000 meters.
Here are some calculations with old values for efficient blueprint:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/321868-Damage-falloff-mechanics

So basically if your fights have ranges on average of over 2000 meters then go for long range. In my experience most pve fights are pretty close quarters. Gimballed lasers will eventually have issues even hitting targets at very long ranges. There are valid reasons to use long range lasers, but just make sure that you use them for the correct reasons and that your capacitor is able to supply ample power for the whole loadout.

so i'll go with efficient then or should i try rapid fire on some weapons (not all) ? (since the fall off mechanic should work about the same and because of the very fast fire , maybe it deals more damages ?)

EDIT : the build would look like that with efficient : https://s.orbis.zone/1fuh

 

[Innocentius]

so i'll go with efficient then or should i try rapid fire on some weapons (not all) ? (since the fall off mechanic should work about the same and because of the very fast fire , maybe it deals more damages ?)

Efficient for lasers (rapid fire has no benefits to it at all these days). Maybe have long range or focused on some of the smaller if you put turrets there - just make sure those do not hog your whole capacitor as they will do very little damage to hulls. And do keep an eye on the total capacitor drain value so you do not end up with an unplayable combo. Do put in some kinetics. Even one class 1 corrosive multicannon boosts the damage (to hull) for all of your other weapons. You said that you do not like MCs, so you can also look into other options, some builds have been presented above for your consideration, but it really is up to you on what you like. Do remember that the different sizes of MCs behave very differently. The C4 MC has instant damage and feels more like a rapid fire cannon. The C3 has a long feeling delay when it starts to fire after you press the fire button. I often put autoloader on MCs to avoid many cumulative spinup periods. It changes the feeling that MCs have.

I have made one full lazers boat (corvette) which basically mostly just had efficient bursts with different specials for most of the hardpoints. I have had much success with it in PvE, but it is the only laser boat that I have truly liked. I have had much more success with mixture of kinetics and thermals (or just absolute damage PAs) on my other ships.

 

[ZeroisVOID]

ok i'll put efficient then , long range or focused on small turrets lower the ttd a bit too much (from 1:17mn to 0:47s) so i'm fine with this , thanks a lot for helping me , soon i'll have one of the meanest ships in the area and i won't have to reload too often

EDIT : forgot to ask , what experimental effects to put on my cannons ?

 

[Bob Lighthouse]

Fyi, the ability to kill faster offsets needing to reload somewhat.

 

[Innocentius]

Fyi, the ability to kill faster offsets needing to reload somewhat.

Indeed.

And for cannons. Overcharged is the way to go. On the experimental I do not truly have many opinions. Cannons do not have corrosive and most npcs are not affected by most of the other experimentals. Autoloader and oversized give some dps benefits so I personally would lean towards them, but if you have many cannons, then you can throw in stuff like dispersal field which acts like a chaff to a single opponent etc.

 

[ZeroisVOID]

Ok , so i think i finished my build , it looks like that now :
https://s.orbis.zone/1g3k

I also changed the power plant experimental from monstered to thermal spread because i can.

Is this the Ultimate™ Anaconda build ? (without counting the weapon preferences)

 

[Innocentius]

I would arrange shields&boosters like this instead
https://s.orbis.zone/1gtu
I would also add second class 6 bank instead of this huge fuel scoop (if you prefer, you could also just switch it there once you get to where you want to fight in).