Newcomer / Intro Returned to Elite after 5.5 years! Help with multitask Cobra Mk III build

[yezzer]

Well a fair bit has changed since I last played this!

I returned to where I'd left off, and to my surprise I had a Cobra Mk III with various things fitted. I don't remember buying this at all! But here we are, I'm old and forgetful

I've added a couple of things to the ship (Planetary Vehicle Hangar), but I'd like a build where I can experience a bit of everything, so I can see what I like doing, then focus on that.

My current build is attached, what would you recommend doing so I can try a bit of everything? I've got 3 million credits.

 

[Tyres O'Flaherty]

Hmm, mutlipurposing a Cobra III could be a challenge if you want a bit of everything. What you have there will do you for small cargo runs, a bit of combat and some exploration.

You need a better FSD and other core internals, methinks and you will benefit from some engineering.

What you're missing out on is mining and that's a whole ball game of it's own. I'm also not seeing a detailed surface scanner for exploration which will limit you finding geo sites planetside. With 3m credits, you could buy a new ship and dedicate that one to mining and repurpose the Cobra to, say, combat. A T6 is great for mission hauling.

I'm sure more experienced folk here will correct me and provide more detailed answers!

Good luck and welcome back @@@07

 

[Chris Simon]

Okay, a couple ideas.

I think the only changes I'd do here would be better Frame Shift drive (the best you can afford, always) so you can move around more efficiently, Then some better shields, perhaps, just to be sure, and I'd probably ditch the interdictor. I don't think you should dive into combat in this thing. You will be able to fend off an occasional attack, but I wouldn't try and find trouble intentionally if I were you.
You can put a detailed surface scanner there, instead. There are good money in scanning planets (and generally exploration pays much better than it did when you were last playing)

Other than that, I think this build is "multipurpose" enough and without knowing what exactly it is you want to do, it's hard to advise.
The falacy of multipurpose ships is that "They can do everything". Technically they can, but if you equip her for everything, she'll do everything badly. What "multipurpose" really means is that it can be equipped for any job. But rarely all jobs at once.

So once you get your bearings and play for a bit, you'll probably find out that you will have to specialize your build anyway. Or buy a different ship.

But for now, you can just fly around, trying things. Then you can decide. (And we can help, of course)

EDIT: Ninja'd

 

[A C Ender]

Hmm, mutlipurposing a Cobra III could be a challenge if you want a bit of everything. What you have there will do you for small cargo runs, a bit of combat and some exploration.

You need a better FSD and other core internals, methinks and you will benefit from some engineering.

What you're missing out on is mining and that's a whole ball game of it's own. I'm also not seeing a detailed surface scanner for exploration which will limit you finding geo sites planetside. With 3m credits, you could buy a new ship and dedicate that one to mining and repurpose the Cobra to, say, combat. A T6 is great for mission hauling.

I'm sure more experienced folk here will correct me and provide more detailed answers!

Good luck and welcome back @@@07

While I agree with most of your post, I wouldn't agree that you can't mine in the Cobra. That's what I started out in, though at the time I did deep core vopal mining to make the limited cargo space more valuable. You can definitely mine in a cobra to see if it's something you want to do more. Although mining have been a quick way to bigger ships. I can't advice rushing to big ships however.

I think the cobra is a great ship to start out in, and learn what you want to do.

 

[Tyres O'Flaherty]

While I agree with most of your post, I wouldn't agree that you can't mine in the Cobra. That's what I started out in, though at the time I did deep core vopal mining to make the limited cargo space more valuable. You can definitely mine in a cobra to see if it's something you want to do more. Although mining have been a quick way to bigger ships. I can't advice rushing to big ships however.

I think the cobra is a great ship to start out in, and learn what you want to do.

P'raps I wasn't clear - you certainly can mine in a Cobra; what I meant was you probably can't haul, fight, explore and mine in one

 

[A C Ender]

That's a fair comment! You would have to refit it between the activities!

 

[d8veh]

General purpose ships are generally not a good idea. I think it's much better and safer to optimise a ship for the task in hand. In the old days, you could fight an Anaconda with a multi-purpose Cobra, but now, you'll be lucky to win a fight against an interdicting Cobra using the ship in the OP.

I only ever fit weapons to a combat ship that is fully outfitted for combat. For non-combat tasks, I always make sure that the ship is as fast as possible so that I can run away from any successful interdictions.

Weird things in the build above are the 4E FSD that won't get you anywhere. 3E life support is heavy and will reduce jump range even further - should be 3D for lightness. 3B sensors also are heavy and will cut down jump range - should be 3D for lightness. Manifest scanner is only needed if pirating, but you don't have hatchbrakers to get the cargo, so is a waste of space. 4D powerplant won't get you off the ground because your modules are taking 140%. 1E FSD interdictor isn't going to get anyone, and if you did, your shields are too weak to fight.

If you want to practice some combat in a high resource extraction site with help from the police, something like this if you don't have much money:

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

coriolis.io

or this if you have enough:

Coriolis EDCD Edition

A ship builder, outfitting and comparison tool for Elite Dangerous

coriolis.io

I think the T6 beats the Cobra for everything other than combat and the DBS is the same price and better at combat than the Cobra.

 

[A C Ender]

I love the DBS for combat. Fun little thing to fly, and it runs cold with a long jump range. This let me jump about without a fuel scoop and FSD booster for significant distances. Mine is fully engineered however.

 

[the100thmonkey]

Ditch the kill warrant and manifest scanners. Fit chaff and either a shield booster or a heatsink launcher. The HSL will help you escape by breaking target lock on you.

Do not attempt combat in that ship as it is now. You will be murdered by any ship ranked competent or higher. Run from any ship that engages you - the NPCs are a lot smarter than they used to be; they fly better and have more appropriate weapon loadouts.

Switch the sensors and life support to 3D to save weight for jump range and speed, and to claw back a bit of cash. Switch the FSD to a 4A for jumprange. Switch the FSD interdictor and fuel scoop out for cargo racks. Run delivery and source-and-return missions. If interdicted by pirates, submit, drop a heatsink and run away. The goal is just to survive. You might even consider selling the lasers and multicannons, as you don't want to be tempted to get into a fight you might lose until you've got suitable thrusters and shielding on that ship. Get allied with a faction - that will increase the payouts of missions (but also increase the ranks of ships that are sent to stop you; it's a double-edged sword.)

Your upgrade path should be:

1. 4A FSD straight away.
2. 4A power plant next.
3. 4A thrusters after that.
4. 4A shields last.

Once you have the 4A shields, shield boosters, shield cell banks, and shooting back rather than running away become much more viable. I've configured this build as a cargo hauler/mission-runner. You should use it to either save for a variety of specific-purpose ships (dedicated trader - T6; dedicated combat - Viper Mk. III) or for a solid multi-role vehicle - the Asp Explorer. You can refit a Cobra or T6 for exploration for a minimal credit cost - only Cr250,000 for the detailed surface scanner and a couple of million for the largest fuel scoop you can fit. The Cobra, Asp and T6 will all make good mining vessels (the Asp especially so).

 

[yezzer]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'll go for one of the Cobra builds suggested to start with and make some more money before probably getting an Asp, I really like the look of those.
Also found out I have an Eagle and Viper (stock i think)