PvE FdL as a new ship on my tiny steps toward combat Elite

Rock Hunter

Rock Hunter
I’ve been using a Chieftain and Corvette in CNB’s as I search for higher ranked npc targets to push me toward Deadly and eventually Elite but the Corvette is so dull that I’ve been using the Chieftain pretty much exclusively for a while now. For a more fun time I enjoy Res Sites and CZs in my Viper, Courier and Vulture but I’d like another medium ship to go alongside the Chieftain.

I’m a little reluctant to use another Alliance ship as I’m looking for something different, hopefully something like a larger version of my fun giving Viper and Vulture so thought about the FdL, pure Elite meta I know.

I’m currently sitting at 81% Dangerous and have decided I’m happy to ‘grind’ to Deadly but once I hit that, for my own sanity, it will be best to back off and just do the shooty shooty stuff for fun and let time and lasers run their course. So, hopefully I can put a dust sheet on the Corvette and be left with the Chieftain and FdL to compliment my small fighters for some easy going fun in the near future.

As such I’m asking for advice from some of you FdL enthusiasts and those of you who just know your combat, and every other opinion is equally welcome;)

This is what I’ve come up with in Coriolis. Thinking of double banking the SCBs when necessary to avoid dropping my shields completely (with scurrying off being my ‘go to’ if they are about to go) as I realise I’ve truly shielded this and skimped on any HRPs.

FdL build

Any advice, experience and opinion is gratefully received.

Cheers
 

Mxpower76

Mxpower76
You have a thermal resist shield so no need for the thermal booster as well. Switch it to another resistance augment with force block. Gets that kinetic resistance above 50%
 

jnTracks

jnTracks
For what it's worth.
I was coming up from Vulture in my path, and chose the Chieftain on various recommendations.

I haaaaaaated it. I realize now that I hate hull tanking. I really don't want my shields to ever go down and I hate module malfunctions. Also the hardpoint size just wasn't working out for me, I thought.

So I bit the bullet and spend the money on the FDL. All shields and speed. It's a monster and I love flying it. It also seems a lot more responsive than the Chieftain. Chieftain maneuvers well, but feels like it's sliding more like a puck on ice; and the FDL I can "feel" the hit when I push the thruster.

I started out using Pulse lasers in the rear size 2 and the size 4, with rails in the forward size 2 hardpoints. This was ok.
I then realized that while I can aim great in FDL, and while I love not needing to lead the target with rails, but the touchy fast handling almost makes it too hard to deal with the rail gun trigger lag. So just today I swapped it around. Pulse lasers in all the size 2s and size 4 plasma accelerator in the nose cone. It's brilliant. Much easier to aim the lead indicator and get that instant trigger response. Plus the damage is higher.
Now I need to get over to the engineer and teak out this new PA for even better balls of pure murder.

So that's my setup. Get out there and have some fun! (I know you will)
 

Ceekay

Ceekay
@ OP try pirate activity zones (civil unrest systems) if you want more challenging targets as the ships will be engineered to varying degrees depending on the threat level.

I really like the FDL abilities but that cockpit frame is hugely annoying that coupled with the off centre seating means I don't fly the FDL all that much, although the Mamba isn't quite as capable the central seating position and lack of annoying frame makes it more fun to fly.

I've tried several builds and found this one to be quite effective

https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/mam...UwIYHMA28QgIwV3fEQA==&bn=Mamba fragger beam 2
 

Phisto Sobanii

Phisto Sobanii
Bob Lighthouse said:
Good read w/ builds here: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/how-to-build-a-pve-combat-ship.459859/
Click to expand...

Read. Ryan's. Guide. His PvE and PvP guides are very good. They're required reading for my squadron. Strongly recommend watching FAoff and PvP videos of top tier players to get an idea of how to best fly this beast. Myself and others can recommend some if you're interested.

Regarding your own build here's what I came up with: https://s.orbis.zone/2p7d

Your build wasn't bad! My build is closer to the meta and I'll try to explain why. First thing you need to know: the FDL is about leveraging its ridiculous agility to avoid fire while at the same time dishing out withering punishment. PIP management is crucial. You never want to be static! Keep pips in ENG and WEP (0-4-2 or 0-3-3 is popular while 0-2-4 is great for when you get excellent positioning and can rock and roll) unless you know you're going to take damage (or you need to recharge SYS).

1) Shields and defenses: biggest change here. Agility lets you avoid fixed weapons. The chaff is for gimbals and turrets. The heat sinks allow you to double bank if needed, fire one SCB at a time, or have heat sinks available in case your shields drop and you want to go cold while your shields recharge. Again, I can't empathize enough the idea here is to not get hit but if you do you've got enough shields to take it and then get them recharged (either with passive bi-weave or the SCBs).

Made the SCBs Rapid Charge because it's faster. Good to have in case you ever run into players with Feedback Cascade railguns as well.

Don't be afraid if your shields drop. The Reactive Armor, Thermal HRP, 70 armor rating, and MRP will give you excellent quality protection. A shieldless FDL also is much harder to hit and you'll be surprised how fast your shields return. Push it to the limit!

2) Core Internals: you've got tons of extra power so I went with a Low Emissions plant. A cooler FDL will be really nice with those lasers and OC multi you're using. Go Armored Grade Five if you plan to ever put more power hungry weapons on there in the future (rails or PAs). You'll get better thermal performance and ridiculous integrity (especially if you run into players).

3) Weapons: lasers + OC corrosive MC is lots of fun. Made one laser Scramble Spectrum so you can enjoy the laughs of a lucky malfunction on your target. :)

The FDL is amazing ship to fly. The best players in the game use it for a reason! Good hunting out there, Commander.
 

Mohrgan

Mohrgan
My two cents on the FdL, stay in the blue zone. The two ships I generally make recommendations for are the aChief and/or FAS. But, I tried diligently to learn the FdL, and never got jiggey with it. And, that all comes down to the Blue Zone on the throttle. It was beyond me to keep the throttle in the middle, so I am much happier in ships that don't react so definitively to the throttle.
 

Iron Golem

Iron Golem
Ive had this question for awhile and Im going to slip it in here while the FDL knowledge is flowing and it may help OP.

When doing sharp turns in the fdl it seems to stall badly for me, is there a way to overcome this?
 

Rock Hunter

Rock Hunter
A quick thanks for all the suggestions so far. There’s lots to read and take in so I’ll digest that before asking the inevitable raft of questions.

Cloud Breaker, glad you chipped in with a question of your own. Having never used the FdL it’s good to know what questions others who do use it have.
 

Iron Golem

Iron Golem
Rock Hunter said:
A quick thanks for all the suggestions so far. There’s lots to read and take in so I’ll digest that before asking the inevitable raft of questions.

Cloud Breaker, glad you chipped in with a question of your own. Having never used the FdL it’s good to know what questions others who do use it have.
Click to expand...

Ive been using it awhile but when you whip it around it bogs speed even going into the negative sometimes, Im not very advanced or use fa off, or maybe my controls are bad I dont know. Drives me crazy sometimes. Ive been wondering about it for years and always look at fdl posts but never really seen it mentioned. Figured it was time.
 

jnTracks

jnTracks
Cloud Breaker said:
Ive been using it awhile but when you whip it around it bogs speed even going into the negative sometimes, Im not very advanced or use fa off, or maybe my controls are bad I dont know. Drives me crazy sometimes. Ive been wondering about it for years and always look at fdl posts but never really seen it mentioned. Figured it was time.
Click to expand...
I think the issue is that it turns so fast that you can end up in a reverse (as though you did FAO or boost turn) without doing either of those things.
I make up for it with lots of thruster moves, but I'm still pretty beginner.
 

Phisto Sobanii

Phisto Sobanii
jnTracks said:
This is completely bonkers. I'll watch this a few more times...
Click to expand...

Pay close attention to deZpe's PIP management. You can hear it more than see it, unfortunately, but when you see his capacitors ENG is always completely full. Always got boost available to keep his ship on the move when needed.
 
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