I have a new main ship. Where previously, I used to switch between Chieftain and Corvette for my combat needs (one on one, vs one on many).
The Challenger provides enough of what the Chieftain and Corvette provide, at the same time in the same package. Agility, armor and hardpoints.
While having less firepower than a corvette, it is still the second most potent medium ship in the game (second to the Funship, but much faster and more maneuverable), and has enough hardpoints to do it all...full dakka, it's mad. Full frag, it's even madder, but its real advantage is the hardpoint distribution for carrying enough weapons to deal with any situation as well as the superb placement of all hardpoints on the main fuselage, even the two most distant are still closer than the nacelle mounts on the courier, for example.
While having less maneuverability than a chieftain, it has stronger vert and lat thrusters, plus accelerates and stops faster as well. I think this ship may have the best brakes in the game, it can stop on a dime.
The bad point...it takes unusually high module damage with shields down, but still not terrible, just slightly softer than the chief. That's it so far.
It should be good in PvP though I haven't tried it yet, again due to the variety of weapons it can carry...
My go to weapons loadout for the time being is a large G5 efficient thermal vent beam, a small G5 efficient thermal vent beam (I'm considering changing these for long range, or maybe the large at least), 3 medium g5 focused PAs with whatever your preferred special is (for pvp I would go dazzle, TLB, dispersal, for pve I'd go dispersal, phasingx2), and two small G4 long range feedback railguns (go G5 if you like, I rarely find the extra kilometer worth it, ymmv). So these are arranged in two firing groups, the PAs and the railguns in one group, and the lasers and the middle belly PA in the second group. Group one for Asps and larger, group 2 for anything smaller.
Defence is also the best medium ship I've built, with a 508mj biweave that charges in 50 secs and has 50/37/40 resistances (2 HD boosters), and 4600(!) armor with 45% resistances, even with 2 MRPs (one size 5, one size 2)
Lastly...heat...this is the coolest ship in my fleet. I can scoop indefinitely, which was a real surprise I learned last night. I went to change a few weapon specials and couldn't quite make it on a tank so added a 4A scoop. Temp stays at 68% and doesn't go any higher during max scooping (176/s). This also makes it a convenient ship to use in CNBs (cos of star heat), and would no doubt make it an amazing silent runner (I haven;t tried yet).
If you've been umming and aaing about trying it, don't wait, try it. I'm not saying you're guaranteed to love it, but I was genuinely surprised what a complete package it is. Full current build below.
https://s.orbis.zone/-5f
Subjective points on the build, ignore the weapons, fixed dakka was just the last loadout I was experimenting with. Some may prefer a resistance booster in place of one of the HD boosters, as it is lighter, less juicy and gives higher resistances, and reduces recharge, for a very small reduction in EH.
The Challenger provides enough of what the Chieftain and Corvette provide, at the same time in the same package. Agility, armor and hardpoints.
While having less firepower than a corvette, it is still the second most potent medium ship in the game (second to the Funship, but much faster and more maneuverable), and has enough hardpoints to do it all...full dakka, it's mad. Full frag, it's even madder, but its real advantage is the hardpoint distribution for carrying enough weapons to deal with any situation as well as the superb placement of all hardpoints on the main fuselage, even the two most distant are still closer than the nacelle mounts on the courier, for example.
While having less maneuverability than a chieftain, it has stronger vert and lat thrusters, plus accelerates and stops faster as well. I think this ship may have the best brakes in the game, it can stop on a dime.
The bad point...it takes unusually high module damage with shields down, but still not terrible, just slightly softer than the chief. That's it so far.
It should be good in PvP though I haven't tried it yet, again due to the variety of weapons it can carry...
My go to weapons loadout for the time being is a large G5 efficient thermal vent beam, a small G5 efficient thermal vent beam (I'm considering changing these for long range, or maybe the large at least), 3 medium g5 focused PAs with whatever your preferred special is (for pvp I would go dazzle, TLB, dispersal, for pve I'd go dispersal, phasingx2), and two small G4 long range feedback railguns (go G5 if you like, I rarely find the extra kilometer worth it, ymmv). So these are arranged in two firing groups, the PAs and the railguns in one group, and the lasers and the middle belly PA in the second group. Group one for Asps and larger, group 2 for anything smaller.
Defence is also the best medium ship I've built, with a 508mj biweave that charges in 50 secs and has 50/37/40 resistances (2 HD boosters), and 4600(!) armor with 45% resistances, even with 2 MRPs (one size 5, one size 2)
Lastly...heat...this is the coolest ship in my fleet. I can scoop indefinitely, which was a real surprise I learned last night. I went to change a few weapon specials and couldn't quite make it on a tank so added a 4A scoop. Temp stays at 68% and doesn't go any higher during max scooping (176/s). This also makes it a convenient ship to use in CNBs (cos of star heat), and would no doubt make it an amazing silent runner (I haven;t tried yet).
If you've been umming and aaing about trying it, don't wait, try it. I'm not saying you're guaranteed to love it, but I was genuinely surprised what a complete package it is. Full current build below.
https://s.orbis.zone/-5f
Subjective points on the build, ignore the weapons, fixed dakka was just the last loadout I was experimenting with. Some may prefer a resistance booster in place of one of the HD boosters, as it is lighter, less juicy and gives higher resistances, and reduces recharge, for a very small reduction in EH.
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