Planning for launch day. A few questions?

[wire2k]

I havent been part of the beta or gamma so have only had the pre order combat demo. Ive been trying to get a plan in my head of how im going to go about things when launch day comes so have a good idea of how the game is from the forums and youtube vids but still a bit fuzzy on a few things.

There isnt much coming from the gamma peeps lately about the state of the Eagle as i guess they all flying cobras/vipers.
1. Pre order comes with free eagle, is the freagle still spawning far from where you start?
2. I know the eagle has only 2t cargo but im assuming you can upgrade that a bit?
3. Ive seen people saying the power on the eagle is rubbish and to stick with multi cannons and others running burst and beam lasers, does it still have power problems or is it a case that to start the power is naff but if you upgrade it a bit running lasers is viable and makes it a nice little fighter?
4. Im mainly trying to get an idea of wether to keep the eagle or sell it and stick with the sidewinder? Ideally id want to keep both and fit out the sidewinder toward trade and exploration and the eagle for combat and switch between the two but if the eagles naff id like to know before i waste all the time upgrading it.
5. I know the sidewinder and eagle dont have great jump range is this a huge issue at the beginning? Do you sort of get trapped in a local cluster of systems you cant escape until you scrape the cash together to upgrade the drives range to reach other clusters?

Thanks
wire2k

 

[McCloud]

I've mainly been flying the Eagle because my Viper is parked in another system far away. I've upgraded it pretty nicely so I'll try and answer your questions.

1. No its relatively close to where you are, nearby in one of the surrounding systems.

2. Yes you can upgrade the cargo, but you'll sacrifice either your Shield Generator or the Basic Discovery Scanner. I'm not sure if you can replace the 2t cargo with a 4t one. I would assume yes but I'm using two 2ton cargo slots.

3. I've upgraded both my power plant module and the power distributor module to about as high as I can go. I'm running 2 fixed beam lasers and 1 gimballed beam. Heat will build up pretty quickly if I'm firing all 3 but its not a big problem. Firing the 1 gimballed beam by itself won't build up any thermal power at all.

4. Eagle is better at combat at the cost of cargo space. I've been using my Eagle for exploration as well (before I traded out the Discovery Scanner for more cargo.) I've kept both but I prefer the Eagle. Stock Sidewinder doesn't have any selling value so I've got it parked with my Viper.

5. I think the stock Eagle has greater jump range but I might be wrong. I've upgraded the FSD module and I can to 10LY+. Pretty good range for me. But yes at the start I was trapped in my local clusters (It was a pretty big cluster but I could only go so far without upgrading).

Hope that helps!

 

[wire2k]

Thanks for the info McCloud.
Sounds like my plan will be to keep the freagle for combat (thinking 1 fixed beam, 2 gimbled multis or 1 gimbled multi, 2 fixed burst) and fit the sidey for trading/exploration.
I will likely stick to whatever cluster i spawn in on 16th (fingers crossed no launch server overload issues) and try to carve it out as my home, get the lay of the land, what good trade routes there are and where to go for bounty hunting/mining etc.
Eventually ill want to switch the eagle for a higher combat ship cobra or viper (though the viper sounds like it has little advantage over the cobra despite being the dedicated combat ship of the two) and switch the sidey for a hauler/type6/adder. Hopefully by that time they will have sorted out something for transporting ships to other locations and i can start branching out to other clusters.

 

[acegadgets]

I would stick with your sidewinder and do a bit of trading until you can afford a Hauler or Adder. You are just gonna die loads of times and end up with no money if you get into fights when you are new to the controls of whatever ship you fly.

 

[Thunderguts]

Liking the eagle, mine was upgraded because I backed elite weapons and shields. Even so very nice to fly
upgraded cargo to 4t and got intetdiction, gimbled beam lasers x2 and gimbled multicannon. Works just fine.

 

[HipToss]

Thanks for the info McCloud.
Sounds like my plan will be to keep the freagle for combat (thinking 1 fixed beam, 2 gimbled multis or 1 gimbled multi, 2 fixed burst) and fit the sidey for trading/exploration.
I will likely stick to whatever cluster i spawn in on 16th (fingers crossed no launch server overload issues) and try to carve it out as my home, get the lay of the land, what good trade routes there are and where to go for bounty hunting/mining etc.
Eventually ill want to switch the eagle for a higher combat ship cobra or viper (though the viper sounds like it has little advantage over the cobra despite being the dedicated combat ship of the two) and switch the sidey for a hauler/type6/adder. Hopefully by that time they will have sorted out something for transporting ships to other locations and i can start branching out to other clusters.

Just remember that projectile weapons need ammo, and ammo costs credits. When I first started bounty hunting in my Eagle, I had 2 gimbled beam lasers and 2 gimbled multi cannons (mid range I think C's). I was getting good kills and decent bounties, but when returning to reload the cost was rather high for a beginner. You may want to take that into consideration. I would get 4 or 5 bounties maybe 7k made, but had to pay between 2-3.5k to reload. I switched to all lasers and upgraded power and that seemed to work well. Make sure to hone you piloting skills, ammo isn't cheap in the beginning. A calm trigger finger beats out any weapon. You don't want to just start throwing lead at them hitting them 3 out of 10 times.

On a side note: Was checking out my new Lakon 7, when I was interdicted by a pirate sidewinder. I chose not to deploy hard points, instead I took this opportunity to test the shield capabilities. I rammed him at full boost! He went poof

 

[EtherDragon]

If you're halfway decent at combat and want to make bigger money - make sure you find room in your Eagle for an FSD Interdiction device. This allows you to scan other ships while they are in Supercruise and pull them out of supercruise to claim their bounty one on one - way better than looking for bountys at Unidentified Signal Sources or Nav Beacons.

 

[adoredtv]

I've got a near-fully pimped Eagle and I'm not really having any issues with power though I only have a single beam laser. Still I believe I'd be ok with 2 given how long I can fire it for.

I've reached Sol with both my Eagle and Sidewinder, it's not that hard really. The Eagle is pretty ridiculous when pimped with thrusters and distributor, it has so much manoeuvrability you can easily dance around larger ships until they pop. I did just get humbled by a Deadly Viper though, can't really deal that well with turrets when I don't use the Chaff launcher.

The biggest issue is that 1 Utility slot really pigeon-holes you into a single role at one time. If you're going to be doing anything illegal you basically want to have the heat sink launcher, meaning no chaff launcher or no cargo/warrant scanner. It's very restrictive.

I never fully pimped out the Sidewinder but I might give that a go before I "wipe" on the 16th to start proper.

 

[Valcrow]

The eagle is a great little ship. It's small, fast and hard to hit.

The biggest thing going for the eagle is it's maneuverability and hard-point placement. The bottom mounts are really close together which makes it perfect for fixed guns. If you tried fixed guns on a cobra, you would almost always miss 1 of the two guns unless you're shooting a ship bigger than you. No such problem for the Eagle. In general, fixed weapons are cheaper, more powerful and more efficient but harder to use. So good for the cash strapped harmless pilots.

I would keep the eagle if I were you. Drop a few low cost weapons on it and a new powerplant and you can go pew pew some criminals for money. It is capable of taking out anything ASP and smaller comfortably. I would be careful of duel railgun vipers or cobras though.

You can upgrade your cargo to 4t without sacrificing anything since the 2t cargo slot can fit a 4t if you can find one.

Just fly it around when you get it. you'll love it. It's got nice sounds and a big unobstructed cockpit view.

 

[wire2k]

Thanks for the info guys, i was a little iffy on the eagle as couldnt find much recent info and most the old was 'sold it straight away' and 'no power for weapons' but you guys make it seem worth sticking with and upgrading it to a good fighter.
Ive been playing around with the combat demo and the incursion scenario can usually get up to the 3 sideinders at once before i get blasted. I find a can do quite well with fixed lasers and gimbled multis. Fixed multis are ok but find can waste a bit of ammo on stray shots. So id probably want a mix for eagle with fixed lasers for distance and shields and gimbled multis for hull and close range.
Sounds like you have to compromise a bit as either way multis cost ammo while lasers cost upgrades to keep running.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

No no no guys! You're missing the most important elements of preparation for launch day.

1) Smoke a lot the night before (even if you don't smoke), get your voice really husky.

2) Call your boss, with your bad throat, explaining you must have a terrible virus and you are on the verge of death. It is for the good of the company you are not coming into work!

3) If you have a SO, make sure they are at work or else you buy them tickets to somewhere nice. A relaxing day at the spa or sauna or whatever. Generally speaking, the further away the better. Siberia optimal.

4) Beer... lots of beer.

5) Enjoy the game.

As for in-game tips, meh! Just get in there and do stuff.

 

[EtherDragon]

The Eagle is finely tuned as delivered. It doesn't have hardly any extra capacity for power hungry upgrades such as bigger lasers or a third gun. In order to get there, you need to find a better power-plant and power distributor before you think about heavier weaponry.

This is in contrast to the Sidewinder which has some overhead for the owner to play with. The stock Cobra Mk 3 - has tons of overhead in the form of extra power for upgrades and stuff before needing to worry about a reactor upgrade, but the Eagle does not. So be aware that your upgrade options on the Eagle may seem limited.

Now, that said, the Eagle running so hot is very efficient! It's a premium piece of equipment right from the factory which is part of why it's so maneuverable and packs the punch it does. The Stock Eagle runs at 98% power consumption fully deployed, compared to the Stock Cobra Mk III which runs about 88% fully deployed.

 

[wire2k]

No no no guys! You're missing the most important elements of preparation for launch day.

1) Smoke a lot the night before (even if you don't smoke), get your voice really husky.

2) Call your boss, with your bad throat, explaining you must have a terrible virus and you are on the verge of death. It is for the good of the company you are not coming into work!

3) If you have a SO, make sure they are at work or else you buy them tickets to somewhere nice. A relaxing day at the spa or sauna or whatever. Generally speaking, the further away the better. Siberia optimal.

4) Beer... lots of beer.

5) Enjoy the game.

As for in-game tips, meh! Just get in there and do stuff.

Ah already sorted, as luck would have it Monday is my last night on shift and then have 4 straight days off work so will stock up on beer and smokes (or maybe patches so dont have to leave the PC) and be ready to spend the next 4 days in my pjs