Newcomer / Intro Noob sidewinder question...

[War Kitten]

Greetings All,
I hear am new...bought the game in April on sale ($10), but RL hasn't let me get to it until a few days ago. I am currently doing the training over and over, trying to tweek the M+KB setup (can't seem to figure out if roll or yaw is better with the mouse), anyhow, I was wondering is the sidewinder worth making it an 'A' rated ship and using it until I get bored or things get too tough, or should I just save up and jump to something better? (I have heard the Cobra MKIII is a good step up from the Sidey and I like to do combat, but will probably try all aspects of the game for variety.)
Also, in one of the advanced training missions, I am given missiles, if the target is just the slightest bit off center they quit locking. Are all missiles this way for locking or is it just the lower end ones?

Thanks for any help!

See you all in the Black, fly save Commanders!
War Kitten
"Capt Stern has never done anything immoral....unless, maybe the preschoolers prostitute ring!"

 

[aRJay]

Personally I would say stick with the Sidewinder and upgrade it from time to time as that will make it better at whatever activities you like, then when you have (a) decided to try something different and (b) have enough cash on hand to buy the new ship at least 3 times over (to allow for buying better modules and higher rebuy) then get the new ship and upgrade it straight away.

Note some love the Sidewinder and use it all the time.

As far as I know all the missiles have pretty similar angles and times for locking on.

Welcome to the game and forums.

 

[Para Handy]

First things first - welcome.

Don't be too fixed on getting enough money to buy and outfit a Cobra MkIII too quickly. The sidewinder is good for lots of stuff and you can have fun trying different things in it whilst earning money to buy and equip a specialised combat craft like Viper MkIII or something like a Hauler for cargo, missions and exploration. The Cobra can follow when you are ready.

Mainly though - just have fun.

P.S. I never bother with missiles these days.

 

[avow555]

Winder is good fun A rated but certainly an extremely limited chassis.
Last commander I started with I went Sidewinder, Viper, Cobra, AspX, Krait Phantom.
No need to rush though, have fun.

 

[GeoJase]

Welcome
A-rate your Frame Shift Drive (FSD) so you can travel further.
Missiles come in dumbfire (shoot straight ahead) and seeking varieties.

 

[d8veh]

I did triple Elite in a Sidewinder, so it's a perfectly capable ship and in some circumstances it has advantages over any other ship. As a beginner, you can go to a high resource extraction site and help the police kill the pirates. The Sidewinders class 1 pulse lasers mean that you're always the lowest risk, so the bad guys will not shoot back at you as long as the police are shooting them first. That means that you can get a lot of bounty money to get started. You can upgrade everything except the weapons to make your ship even better (faster, stronger, etc) to carry on doing that until you have enough credits to finance your next activities.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlg8qZqpvGY&t=2s

 

[War Kitten]

I did triple Elite in a Sidewinder, so it's a perfectly capable ship and in some circumstances it has advantages over any other ship. As a beginner, you can go to a high resource extraction site and help the police kill the pirates. The Sidewinders class 1 pulse lasers mean that you're always the lowest risk, so the bad guys will not shoot back at you as long as the police are shooting them first. That means that you can get a lot of bounty money to get started. You can upgrade everything except the weapons to make your ship even better (faster, stronger, etc) to carry on doing that until you have enough credits to finance your next activities.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlg8qZqpvGY&t=2s

Thank you everyone for your replies, is there a reason not to upgrade the weapons (too much power draw/heat/whatever)? Also is there a preferred laser to use?
Thank you for the help and you d8veh, for the video!

War Kitten

 

[badibeat]

Been there a short while ago, and I would give the same advice as GeoJase: A-rate the Frame Shift Drive first. Then maybe upgrade some modules to D-Rated to reduce weight, or A-Rate everything. It was amazing how I could jump almost nowhere with the original load out. I earned my Asp Explorer (was long considering a Dolphin as my next step) in the Sidewinder and had it even a bit engineered. Keep your first high tier engineering for a ship and modules you want to keep a bit longer, which can also be the Sidewinder. But even low grade engineering can benefit a lot and uses only little, very common materials (grade 1 long range on lasers, jump range on the Frame Shift Drive etc.)
Special tip: Buy ships and modules (especially the ones you engineer) as cheap as possible (Li Yong-Rui controlled Systems have a 15% discount on both), as it keeps also repair, transport and rebuy costs lower. You can sell modules without loss to get the cheaper ones. For the same reason keep the free sidewinder. It can also be a handy, inexpensive taxi.

 

[Para Handy]

Thank you everyone for your replies, is there a reason not to upgrade the weapons (too much power draw/heat/whatever)? Also is there a preferred laser to use?
.....

The premise is that if you are just using small pulse lasers then you will effectively seem like less of a threat when combating NPCs alongside security - therefore the NPC will (in general) engage with the higher threat and not you.

Secondary consideration - if a small pulse laser shot hits a security ship by accident then you will probably not get a fine and almost definitely not get a bounty (and have everyone then turn on you). This is die to the damage thresholds for the various levels of infraction.

 

[d8veh]

Thank you everyone for your replies, is there a reason not to upgrade the weapons (too much power draw/heat/whatever)? Also is there a preferred laser to use?
Thank you for the help and you d8veh, for the video!

War Kitten

If you get more fire-power, there's a higher chance that you won't be the lowest risk to the ship you shoot. They're programmed to prioritise the ship that's doing the most damage. A Sidewinder with any weapons can't do much damage to these ships, so you don't really gain anything with higher power weapons anyway. Even with your pulse lasers, you must never be the only ship shooting, so if the others pause while they're manoeuvring to get in a better position, you should stop as well.The technique is to let the police do all the work. All you need is to tag the bad guys within 20 seconds before they explode to get the bounty.

When you've figured out everything with the Sidewinder; what goes on there, how to deal with ship launched fighters, how to deal with wings of three, how to escape when you mess up and get a bounty on you, how to clean your ship when you're wanted, etc; then you can upgrade to a Viper, then Vulture, then FDL and start learning to fight for real. that's if you want to carry on bounty hunting as a career.

 

[Patrick_68000]

And welcome to the great family of the Elite ! Cmdr

Fly safe.