Sidewinder > Eagle?

[Katkon]

The Eagle is faster, more maneuverable and has one additional hardpoint for a weapon of your choice.

However, I find that the 3rd hardpoint is really only useful for an occasional use weapon like missiles (which are also fantastically expensive at 10K credits for 12 for a class 2 system). If I fit a 3rd pulse laser I lose weapon power so quickly that I find I do more damage with 2 pulse lasers.

BUT - and this is what has me wondering - it "feels" like the Sidewinder is a heckuva lot tougher. Both the shields and hull seems to be able to sustain more damage. Am therefore wondering whether I should revert back to a Sidewinder until I get a Cobra.

Ironically I made money faster in a Sidewinder than an Eagle, which I attribute to higher shield/hull strength of the Sidewinder (spent less time flying back to a station for repairs).

Am I imagining the superior shield/hull strength of the Sidewinder?

 

[SAB380]

Haven't flown an Eagle, but in Alpha 3 I found that when using the Cobra - which had 4 hardpoints - a great combo was 2 lasers and 2 machine guns.

The machine guns didn't lower the weapon power and had enough ammo that it never felt like too much of an imposition to go back and reload them.

 

[Katkon]

Haven't flown an Eagle, but in Alpha 3 I found that when using the Cobra - which had 4 hardpoints - a great combo was 2 lasers and 2 machine guns.

The machine guns didn't lower the weapon power and had enough ammo that it never felt like too much of an imposition to go back and reload them.

Good to know - thanks!

 

[Cosmos]

In the hands of a skilled pilot the sidewinder out moves a cobra rather easily. The Eagle seems even more agile but I'm still wondering what the optimum weapon configuration for it is.

 

[Aleksej]

Probably, you are imagining a tough Sidewinder.
Equip Eagle with two energy weapons of your choice and multi-cannon, this will give you superior firepower over Sidewinder. It seems to me that Eagle has better weapon's cooling than Sidewinder.

In the hands of a skilled pilot the sidewinder out moves a cobra rather easily. The Eagle seems even more agile but I'm still wondering what the optimum weapon configuration for it is.

This does not apply in case there is a skilled pilot in Cobra as well.

 

[mattyboy1509]

In the hands of a skilled pilot the sidewinder out moves a cobra rather easily. The Eagle seems even more agile but I'm still wondering what the optimum weapon configuration for it is.

I had 2 gimballed pulse lasers with a gimballed multicannon on secondary that was pretty effective. As you need relatively powerful claws as theres lots of swooping in firing and then swooping out. I havent made eagle yet in beta but i loved it in alpha the noises it makes the speed.
I did actually bust back down to fixed pulse lasers as they were more fun though i do think my kill rate dropped. Cobras were chewed up but eagle on eagle was best.

 

[Björn Robèrt]

I might be wrong, but I think the Eagle is supposed to be of the "glass cannon" variety. I e high damage output at the expense of defence. I share the observation that Sidewinders feel thougher with regards to both shields and hull.

 

[ianw]

That's one of the things I really like about the way this game is shaping up.

There is no straight answer.

It depends on pilot ability, weapon loadout, power management and tactics in general.

There isn't a guaranteed "win" ship...

 

[ZZR600]

I might be wrong, but I think the Eagle is supposed to be of the "glass cannon" variety. I e high damage output at the expense of defence. I share the observation that Sidewinders feel thougher with regards to both shields and hull.

As soon as I got in to a fight in the Eagle, I did get the impression that I had to watch my six since I got hammered a lot easier than the Sidewinder. But as soon as I got used to the extra speed and being able to strafe like I did in the Sidewinder it was a more deadly ship for sure.

I definitely noticed a difference in how quick I raked in credits compared as well

 

[Crash_Happy]

Back when I tried out an Eagle I liked having a decent laser on top and two underslung cannons.

Edit: I should add. A really good reason to not mount missiles on the top hardpoint is that you're wasting potential firing arc that seems to be better used by your main weapon.

 

[mattyboy1509]

I might be wrong, but I think the Eagle is supposed to be of the "glass cannon" variety. I e high damage output at the expense of defence. I share the observation that Sidewinders feel thougher with regards to both shields and hull.

Indeed avoid collisions with an eagle at all costs. Won a player on player engagement in a sidewinder with judicious use of the glasgow kiss but could not have done the same in an eagle.

I do really like the fact that the starting ship in elite is not just a crap ship I always enjoy getting busted down to a sidewinder and with the right weaponry its a perfectly capable ship.

 

[Cmdr Snuffler]

This does not apply in case there is a skilled pilot in Cobra as well.

While I agree with most of your posts...this is not one of them.

2 equally matched pilots. 1 in the Sidewinder, the other in a Cobra then the Sidewinder will almost always win. 4 pips on the engines in a sidewinder means you can almost stay behind the cobra at all times.
The cobra is just far to slow and sluggish for really close in tight dog fighting.

Edit: There is only one tactic to counter this...and counter any good dog fighting pilot in any fast ship...just fly backwards...*yawn* boring.
...but if the Sidewinder pilot is quick off the mark this can even be countered to a certain extent.

 

[Aleksej]

While I agree with most of your posts...this is not one of them.

2 equally matched pilots. 1 in the Sidewinder, the other in a Cobra then the Sidewinder will almost always win. 4 pips on the engines in a sidewinder means you can almost stay behind the cobra at all times.
The cobra is just far to slow and sluggish for really close in tight dog fighting.

Well, there are different tactics for combat. Of course if you try to outmaneuver Sidewinder at low speed - Cobra is doomed as it is not as maneuverable as Sidewinder. But Cobra is much faster and have more powerful weapons (2C4 and 2C2) you need to take advantage of this. Cobra can fly away from Sidewinder and return, use lateral and vertical thrusters, reverse - this allows to face Sidewinder head on.

Using vertical thrusters I perform 180 degree turn on Cobra as fast as NPC Federal Fighter.

 

[deusx_ophc]

The Eagle is faster, more maneuverable and has one additional hardpoint for a weapon of your choice.

you need to make the hardpoint advantage count, that is best done by 1 or 2 autocannons, they shred stuff once the shield is gone.

eagle = awesome. it is a bit of a glass cannon but that is the class i like most anyways

 

[Cmdr Snuffler]

eagle = awesome. it is a bit of a glass cannon but that is the class i like most anyways

Glass cannon...haha

If I see an Eagle in my Sidewinder then it's toast Most of the time the Eagle is kitted out with 3 beam lasers....not a good move imo as I know all your energy is into your weapons and thus a sluggish ship.

Cobra can fly away from Sidewinder and return, use lateral and vertical thrusters, reverse - this allows to face Sidewinder head on.

Editing my 1st post to cover reserving before you quoted it.
Just running away, then turning and coming back in for an attack is risky...you can take a pounding until you get to the 2.5km+ mark.

I like the small ships...must more fun and rewarding for me.
Taking a Lakon down in a single sidewinder is fun.

 

[Cmdr Snuffler]

delete

 

[Philip Coutts]

Remember we are really playing around with base models, no upgrades for shields (yes you can change the hull but that's it). The Eagle is a killing machine pure and simple, fast and packs a punch. Although both only have 4 tonnes of cargo space the sidewinder comes across as more of a workhorse, tougher but a bit slower. Once you know how to fly an Eagle it's an awesome weapon.

 

[Aleksej]

Glass cannon...haha

If I see an Eagle in my Sidewinder then it's toast Most of the time the Eagle is kitted out with 3 beam lasers....not a good move imo as I know all your energy is into your weapons and thus a sluggish ship.


Editing my 1st post to cover reserving before you quoted it.
Just running away, then turning and coming back in for an attack is risky...you can take a pounding until you get to the 2.5km+ mark.

I like the small ships...must more fun and rewarding for me.
Taking a Lakon down in a single sidewinder is fun.

I do not mean reverse tactics only. I use it only if I am attacked by more than 4-5 enemies as yesterday, when I was attacked by about 4-6 PCs and 4 NPCs at the same time. I think that getting away and using reverse tactics are the only way to survive such encounter.

Sidewinder will be able to stay at Cobra's six in conventional flying (no lateral or vertical thrust applied). In this case - Cobra has little chances. However, if you use lateral or vertical thrusters you can perform quite a few tricks. E.g. I can easily rotate my ship for 180 degrees while keeping the direction of flight in 5-6 seconds at the speed of 180, i.e. all my weapons will face Sidewinder in 5-6 seconds even it was right on my six.

 

[Daffan]

That's one of the things I really like about the way this game is shaping up.

There is no straight answer.

It depends on pilot ability, weapon loadout, power management and tactics in general.

There isn't a guaranteed "win" ship...

This cannot be answered with such a low ship count and also, 2 days in beta. I'm sure the game, if popular enough will be metagamed.

I could say Pilot ability for anything, you could say biplane vs p51 but the biplane is super skilled.... but what if both were amazing... etc...

 

[Oss133]

Sidewinder has both more syllables and more letters than Eagle, but Eagle does come first alphabetically. It's a close call.