Shield vs. Field Kit for Diamondback Scout
- Thread starter WR3ND
- Start date
The scout doesn't need a shield to be survivable.
Probably doesn't need an AMFU either, if you are even vaguely careful. I'm more than 35k light years and almost 4k jumps into a trip with an FDL, and everything is still well over 90%, despite some recklessness on my part and I haven't used any consumables of any kind yet. The DBS handles heat way better than the FDL.
If you want to be super careful, I'd take heatsink launcher and a pair of small AMFUs.
Probably doesn't need an AMFU either, if you are even vaguely careful. I'm more than 35k light years and almost 4k jumps into a trip with an FDL, and everything is still well over 90%, despite some recklessness on my part and I haven't used any consumables of any kind yet. The DBS handles heat way better than the FDL.
If you want to be super careful, I'd take heatsink launcher and a pair of small AMFUs.
I would definitely go AFMU over shield, if only for the added range (both jump and endurance). As long as you dock at a Scientific Outpost and upload your data in a border system with only NPCs, then CMDR in open shouldn't be an issue.
If you just want to evade CMDRs in a small explorer ship, I'd recommend a Cobra. It has smoother Super Cruise agility, less engine jutter, about the same range, more relaxed speed scooping, and and similar heat tolerance. The slightly longer range on the Scout is nice, but scooping is a bit of a headache imo and not worth the annoyance for most people, nor is the compromised explorer loadouts, or the reduced speed/survivability in human space.
If you just want to evade CMDRs in a small explorer ship, I'd recommend a Cobra. It has smoother Super Cruise agility, less engine jutter, about the same range, more relaxed speed scooping, and and similar heat tolerance. The slightly longer range on the Scout is nice, but scooping is a bit of a headache imo and not worth the annoyance for most people, nor is the compromised explorer loadouts, or the reduced speed/survivability in human space.
I'd also go for an AFMU over a shield, once you're out of the bubble the chances of being interdicted become almost insignificantly small. There are so many star systems that other than at popular destinations such as Sag A*, Maia and HIP 63835 you're only likely to encounter another player if you arrange the meeting yourself.
Even though the murders at Sag A* have received a lot of internet notoriety there's only ever been two murderers, you are far, far more likely to meet another friendly explorer at a 'tourist spot' system than a killer, and in the case of Sag A* you could probably easily arrange an escort via these forums if you wanted a safer open-mode visit (CMDR Metta is often there to greet and protect visiting explorers).
Returning to the bubble (both open-mode and solo) is s little more risky, but as long as you pick a safe station on the way out you should be fine when you return. Or you could arrange an escort: See Ziljan's Safe Harbour Systems List thread, or the Escort Request / Wing thread.
Safe Harbours: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=164893
Escorts: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=145668
As Morbad has said you don't even really need AFMU's if you're careful, but they don't add to your mass so you might as well fill any empty slots with them.
Module damage really is something that you're in complete control of:
As Ziljan says though, the DB-Scout really isn't a great ship to use if you're planning to refuel and jump rapidly.
Even though the murders at Sag A* have received a lot of internet notoriety there's only ever been two murderers, you are far, far more likely to meet another friendly explorer at a 'tourist spot' system than a killer, and in the case of Sag A* you could probably easily arrange an escort via these forums if you wanted a safer open-mode visit (CMDR Metta is often there to greet and protect visiting explorers).
Returning to the bubble (both open-mode and solo) is s little more risky, but as long as you pick a safe station on the way out you should be fine when you return. Or you could arrange an escort: See Ziljan's Safe Harbour Systems List thread, or the Escort Request / Wing thread.
Safe Harbours: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=164893
Escorts: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=145668
As Morbad has said you don't even really need AFMU's if you're careful, but they don't add to your mass so you might as well fill any empty slots with them.
Module damage really is something that you're in complete control of:
- If you plan to zero your throttle during every jump countdown and scoop carefully before deciding whether to survey in detail or jump again then you will likely never take more than a couple of percent module damage (everyone has a run in with a Neutron star sooner or later
). - On the other hand, if you're going to scoop fast and jump ASAP to the next system 'Buckyball Style' as you hurtle between distant destinations, then you'll need some AFMU's if you're out there for a while. Even cool running ships like the Asp can expect to lose 10-20% of module health over a long run (eg Sol - Sag A*) when jumping this way.
As Ziljan says though, the DB-Scout really isn't a great ship to use if you're planning to refuel and jump rapidly.
Thanks for the input, guys. For this trip I've just left the shields on. Might go with the AFMU next time. And yes... scooping at stars is getting old pretty fast. Using the Scout just for the heck of it. The Cobra is a good option, of course, but I had been using it for a while as a rare cargo trader and wanted to mess about in something else for a while.
Cheers.
Cheers.
In that case, check out my fast jumping scooping technique for the Diamondback ships (video with Scout example). You can use it to recoup fuel in the same jump time (45s) as a Cobra/Asp.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=166901
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That's a nice adventurous way to save some time. Seems a bit dangerous for me though, since after several system jumps I tend to occasionally forget the order of what I'm doing, such as charging up the FSD while scooping instead of scanning the system. It's nice that the Scout handles heat well.
My biggest threat is likely nodding off charging the FSD or during a jump.
My biggest threat is likely nodding off charging the FSD or during a jump.