Newcomer / Intro Realised last night I am rubbish at combat :-(

[wigwam12]

Have been trading away until now and decided that instead of just buying a T6 (as well as my Cobra) I may as well have a go at Missioning up to get some permits and Feb/Imperial Rep.
Cobra is all D modules except A-rated power management (not power plant though IIRC)

Gimballed Class 1 Beams and Gimballed multicannon
When to the Nav Point in Wolf 1301 (I note there is some conflict going on in this system as of last night).
Well first up was a T7 pirate who came to ram me as I opened fire on him (after he told me to give him my cargo).
I managed to kill him but not before my hull was down to 32%
Went to spaceport, got patched up and came back.
A Sidey just battered me. My shields get going offline and in the end I legged it with thrusters damaged and hull down to 13%

I found it took a while for the beams to fix on the target and start firing and I did struggle when they get behind me (probably need to change my key mapped and pitch and "p" and my rolls are q/e so opposite end of KB

Might try gimballed Burst lasers instead?
Will getting C/B/A shields help?
Probably should spend the 0.5M on the A power plant too when I can find it

Clearly need more practice and it was exhilarating but darn it I could do this...20 years ago!

 

[Ian Skippy]

1) practice the combat tutorials extensively.
2) get better shield and a shield cell bank
3) be awesome

 

[Aleksej]

You need to use all the manoeuvrability that you can get out of your ship. Stay in the speed blue zone, use vertical thrusters as required.
The best power plant you can equip on Cobra is Class 4A power plant and it costs 1.6M Cr.

 

[Sams]

I was at a nav beacon last night and a high intesity zone and in the NPC ships in both were constantly trying to ram me.

Having strong shields and 4 pips to system will help but it is mostly the case of watching them carefully and try to avoid the rams. They all seem to be doing it a lot more recently.

 

[wigwam12]

Thanks for the advice chaps - I forgot about the blue band out of SC!
Will try to find nearest place to me selling the Power Plant and shield bank.

Any views on Beam vs Burst lasers (they will be Gimballed)?

 

[nazartp]

Some basic tips:

Anyone behind you and attacking - boost away, strafe, only then turn. Otherwise you are presenting one big target to the opposing shooter.
Manage your power - in disadvantaged position - give power to engines and systems. In advantaged position - give power to weapons.
Beam vs. burst - beams WILL overheat even with A-rated power distributor. But I still prefer those to burst. Do not see much difference between pulse and burst. On a Cobra put 2 gimballed C1 beams and 2 C2 gimballed multicannons. Use only beams to bring opponents shields down, then open up with multies along with beams. Once beams overheat, just use multies.
Your Cobra is one of the fastest ships in the game, use it to your advantage. Neither Type-7 nor Sidey should be able to outrun and outturn you.

Try that. Not a gospel, but serves me OK.

 

[wigwam12]

Neither Type-7 nor Sidey should be able to outrun and outturn you.

Try that. Not a gospel, but serves me OK.

Thanks for that - I feel much better reading that bit

 

[wigwam12]

I learned last night Class 2 beam lasers rock!
Swapped out to bigger beams and smaller multi cannon, A-rated power plant.
Still not upgraded shields yet or added cell.

Much more satisfying. Took out 3 ships without any hull damage before I called it a night.

BUT I have not had any bounty for any of them.
I do have a D kws but it seemed to take an age and never completed any scan.
So I need to find money down back of sofa to fund shields (with drop in jump distance) but would appreciate insight about the no money bit.

Going to pause trading and find federal systems to mission in around Lave to up rep so money from navpoint kills would help

 

[Xebeth]

BUT I have not had any bounty for any of them.

You need to hunt 'Wanted' ships, these are the only ones that give a bounty in your present system, 'clean' ships may have a bounty in another system (your kws tells you this), but attacking them when they are clean will get you wanted.

If you are in an Anarchy system the kws needs to finish to give any bounty, but the ship won't show up as wanted so you need to check your contacts in the comms panel, then you need to go to the system (or faction) where the bounty will be paid.

 

[the100thmonkey]

For a bit of an extra damage boost, consider switching gimballed to fixed lasers. An enemy dropping chaff will mean that you land no shots on target for 30+ seconds; way too long.

Additionally, the Cobra's shields aren't very good. Upgrade them to A4 as a matter of priority.

 

[wigwam12]

You need to hunt 'Wanted' ships, these are the only ones that give a bounty in your present system, 'clean' ships may have a bounty in another system (your kws tells you this), but attacking them when they are clean will get you wanted.

If you are in an Anarchy system the kws needs to finish to give any bounty, but the ship won't show up as wanted so you need to check your contacts in the comms panel, then you need to go to the system (or faction) where the bounty will be paid.

Thanks. I sat at the Navpoint with the hardpoints open until they scan me and only then fired but yep will try to be a little more patient and get a kws read.
Decided until I improve I will stick to local Anarchy system

For a bit of an extra damage boost, consider switching gimballed to fixed lasers. An enemy dropping chaff will mean that you land no shots on target for 30+ seconds; way too long.

Additionally, the Cobra's shields aren't very good. Upgrade them to A4 as a matter of priority.

Chaff is on my list to get; I don't think I am currently good enough to switch to fixed tbh.
Shields are on the list

Thank you both

 

[the100thmonkey]

Well, you won't get much better with gimballed weapons - they'll hit anything within a 90° cone if your ship is pointing in the right direction.

 

[wigwam12]

hehehe slowly slowly catchy monkey!

 

[CrispyLeper]

Some basic tips:

Anyone behind you and attacking - boost away, strafe, only then turn. Otherwise you are presenting one big target to the opposing shooter.
Manage your power - in disadvantaged position - give power to engines and systems. In advantaged position - give power to weapons.
Beam vs. burst - beams WILL overheat even with A-rated power distributor. But I still prefer those to burst. Do not see much difference between pulse and burst. On a Cobra put 2 gimballed C1 beams and 2 C2 gimballed multicannons. Use only beams to bring opponents shields down, then open up with multies along with beams. Once beams overheat, just use multies.
Your Cobra is one of the fastest ships in the game, use it to your advantage. Neither Type-7 nor Sidey should be able to outrun and outturn you.

Try that. Not a gospel, but serves me OK.

+1

Good tips!
One I would like to add...
If you come against an NPC that likes to get right in your HUD (particularly Eagles) get in the habit of switching to reverse impulse as they fly by, using the same blue zone but backwards. You can usually flip the situation of them constantly getting in your face and find yourself on the attack. Switch back to forward impulse if you see their thrusters and take them down, Hunter becomes the hunted! Boom!!!

 

[lolanon]

I was at a nav beacon last night and a high intesity zone and in the NPC ships in both were constantly trying to ram me.

Having strong shields and 4 pips to system will help but it is mostly the case of watching them carefully and try to avoid the rams. They all seem to be doing it a lot more recently.

I was just at a nav beacon and was getting rammed by this Asp too. Took my hull down to 50% from full shield! His 50k bounty paid for the repairs though .

 

[lolanon]

hehehe slowly slowly catchy monkey!

Not too slow though otherwise they frame-shift away! Thats what happened to the first few i tried to kill back in my Sidey.

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For a bit of an extra damage boost, consider switching gimballed to fixed lasers. An enemy dropping chaff will mean that you land no shots on target for 30+ seconds; way too long.

Additionally, the Cobra's shields aren't very good. Upgrade them to A4 as a matter of priority.

I'm just having trouble finding somewhere selling A4 sheilds!

 

[lolanon]

Ok, i've found A4 shields. I searched for a federal high tech station, and they have loads of decent stuff. Went off to nav point to test the shield out though and high fired my first laser and life support shutdown!!!! 5 secs of oxygen left!

Now i've adjusted my power priorities and learnt another import lesson about power management!

 

[Johnny Cyclops]

On the Cobra I've stuck with a pair of class 2 gimbal pulse lasers. With 4 pips to weapons I can continuous hold and fire 27 seconds.

I've tried both bursts and beams gimballed but find they wander off target more frequently than the pulses.

I've tried gimbal cannon and multicannon in the Class 1 slots. I know I read that lasers take down shields and cannon do damage, but I just find they have to reload so frequently it's a game of shoot and pause, meanwhile those Class 2 pulses could be on perma-fire.

That said, I've recently read for gimbals in the Class 1 slots that they are slung under the Cobra's body and won't gimbal fix-lock properly unless the nose of the ship is tilted up on the target/crosshairs. I'm not sure if the weapons targeting is that sophisticated, but I'll give it another go and fiddle with weapons.

Summary - Class 2 gimbal pulses (on an A-grade Cobra, so may help with Power Plant, Power Distribution, Shields, etc) can take down anything, including an Anaconda (if I'm feeling brave and get lucky!). Certainly kills anything up to Asp, and all the Lakon cargo cows.

 

[the100thmonkey]

You heard correctly, Johnny Cyclops. You need to raise the nose slightly to ensure maximum firing effectiveness. You'll notice it when one gun fires but the other refuses, because the firing solution involves firing through your own hull.

The primary advantage with gimballed weapons, in my experience, is that you can target subsystems with them. This is really useful for the big ships. Elite Anacondas (the ones you have to kill in the assassination missions) pack a hell of a wallop, so taking out their thrusters (confusingly labeled "drive" in the targeting menu) is a priority - they won't be able to jump out if you disable the thrusters, and they lose all control over attitude and momentum, which renders their weapons platforms largely ineffective.

It's much harder to consistently hit the systems with fixed weapons.

Hence I always recommend fixed lasers with gimballed multicannons. The cannons do much more damage per shot, but missing with them is expensive, and gimballed weapons miss quite often, especially when they're leading the target at range.

Another point to raise it that switching flight assist off increases maximum speed and reduces the turning circle - you can drag your ship's ass around so you're effectively flying backwards while thrusting forwards. Toggling it on and off gives you much better maneuverability without sacrificing too much stability.

 

[risa2000]

Might try gimballed Burst lasers instead?
Will getting C/B/A shields help?
Probably should spend the 0.5M on the A power plant too when I can find it

Clearly need more practice and it was exhilarating but darn it I could do this...20 years ago!

All D parts are good only to lighten the ship, so good for trading or exploring. For combat however, each upgrade gives you more freedom.
- Power distributors : faster shield recharge, weapons last longer, have more "margin" for anything
- Thrusters : give you agility you need, for turns and strafing
- Shields : well, you know
- Power plant : to actually power all the upgrades above
With each upgrade (to A rating eventually) I saw an improvement on my Viper, I would guess for Cobra, it should help too.

For what concerns weapons, I settled on C1 Beams and C2 multicannons on my Viper. C1 Beams do not draw so much power, so I can usually sustain fire longer, than I can keep the target in the view, and C2 multis give nice punch, once the shields are down, and are not power hungry either.