So I love the Eagle, but I need something more...

[Arvel Yael]

I'm lucky enough now to be in the position to (at least with inexpensive ships) go "I've never flown one, I'll buy it and see what it's like. I won't keep it, I'm just curious".

Bought an Eagle and completely A-specced it. Some power management issue fixing later and it's a nimble, fast and sexy little dagger of a ship.

But it's got tiny shields and hull armor made of recycled soda cans. Its small hardpoints are effective at blowing the leaves off my driveway, but not much else.

Is there something that's similarly nimble and sexy, but more resilient and with better weapons? Or am I just comparing apples to oranges (I usually fly Vultures for combat missions).

 

[fademist]

if u fly vulture isnt point to go to eagle..

 

[Riverside]

If the Vulture is discounted because you are already familiar with it, consider a FAS. Good rotation & speed, drifts a fair bit. Have you considered engineering another ship to improve it's handling?

 

[metatheurgist]

Your choices are Imperial Eagle, Viper 3, Diamondback Scout, Imperial Courier. These are all fast and manueverable. You have to be careful with the Courier though, it's easy to weigh that down and lose all the benefits.

 

[Pville_Piper]

Give the Diamondback scout a try... She's as fun as the eagle with more punch.

 

[GraXXoR]

You want something insanely nimble but with decent shields and enough firepower to do stuff?

Corvette with grade 5 Dirty Drives is as nimble as a stock Vulture and has somewhat better firepower than the Eagle. ;-)

But seriously, the FAS might have a face like the end of a bus crash but it is insanely nimble given that it weighs as much as an Anaconda.

 

[Arvel Yael]

Is it the case then that the mid-end game really is a case of "bigger guns, more armour, stronger shields, more bulk"?

I haven't engineered the Vulture at all, I might, but I'm new to all the engineering stuff. Though that video of [dude] absolutely murdering that corvette while flying an FGS made me want one of those too .

Problem with that is I'm stuck. I'm allied to the 2 main factions in my home system, which are aligned with the federation. But no matter how much money I earn, no matter how many missions I run for them, I'm still stuck on 76% friendly to the federation and 33% ensign in the fed navy. Have been for aaaaaaaages.

 

[Hooplah]

With the exception of the dockable SLFs per Coriolis EDCD the Eagle is the most maneuverable ship in the game with an agility of 188, followed by the Vulture with 169 and the Sidewinder at 168. The Dianondback Scout comes in at 157, the Imperial Eagle is down to 155 and the Viper even lower at 140. Those are the nimble.

The Imperial Courier comes in at 144 and has a hull slightly better than the Eagle tissue paper. But with 6 optional internal slots, 3 medium hardpoints, 4 utility mounts, boost to 441 and a 21LY jump range it is the F-16A of the ED world. This is the sexy with better weapons plus can be made much more resilient with hull and module reinforcements and still have a 17LY jump range stock. With the addition of the Engineers it is the go to fighter approaching 800m/s boost and can out maneuver the Eagle.

I went Viper, Vulture, FAS and finally the Imp Courier using the skills I learned flying the other three.

- - - Updated - - -

...Problem with that is I'm stuck. I'm allied to the 2 main factions in my home system, which are aligned with the federation. But no matter how much money I earn, no matter how many missions I run for them, I'm still stuck on 76% friendly to the federation and 33% ensign in the fed navy. Have been for aaaaaaaages.

Get aligned with more factions which are aligned with the Federation. I'm aligned with 6 out 7 in my home world plus many more in nearby systems just by trading (thus everyone is happy). The more one deals with the faster the ratings increase.

 

[Spacecat]

The Eagle Mk II is useless. I traded mine for an Imperial Eagle. It's slightly less (but still very) maneuverable, but has 2 c1 and 1 c3 hardpoint that hits harder and is just as fast if not faster.

 

[metatheurgist]

Is it the case then that the mid-end game really is a case of "bigger guns, more armour, stronger shields, more bulk"?

I use whatever ship I think is going to be most fun for the job I'm doing. Sometimes that's a Corvette, most times it's the Viper 4. Unless you're 100% PvP'ing I don't think there's a end-ship.

 

[mp4x]

Ship Lauched Fighters have become more fun than my Eagle. I still take my Eagle to buzz canyons and explore planets, low flying, but my Anaconda can produce 16 fighters to burn through and they're fuuuuuuun.

Give that a go

 

[clivewil]

I haven't engineered the Vulture at all, I might

a fully engineered Vulture is incredible and made me fall in love with it all over again.

 

[Arvel Yael]

a fully engineered Vulture is incredible and made me fall in love with it all over again.

Sounds promising, might give that a go

 

[Alex Brentnall]

Imperial Courier is a nice step up from the Eagle, or diamondback scout. For firepower as others said though, Vulture is king.

 

[Craith]

The Eagle MK II is a marvellous piece of beauty, and with a (hefty) dose of engineering primer there are few things (in PVE) that it can't take on. Mine has seen more engineers than my corvette, at the moment I run with 2 rails to be able to punch above my weight class, and one healing pulse turret to do it while keeping my teammates alive. If solo, a gimballed MC with corossive helps to up the damage. I want to try a cannon with drag ammunition, but didn't have the chance yet.

I run with enhanced drives, boosting up to 600 with a grand total of 98 points of shield ... so accidents do happen from time to time. But, even though I like the SLFs, none comes close to the feeling of flying my Tea-Interceptor. A jump range of 27 lys doesn't hurt either, allthough I normally replace the 3A with a 2D once I am at the target destination - I use it mostly in my home systems, where I get by with <6 lys jump range

 

[Serpentis Ictis]

I love the eagle, have to admit, i even bought paint jobs for it! However, their are better options in the small fighter range, like the Imp Courier.... greater survivability and firepower... (think 3 x class 2 rail guns).....

 

[Noddie]

I have to say I love my engineered Cobra MKIII. With dirty drives, thermal shields and built for speed it's fast, agile and surprisingly tough.

Nice handling, too.

 

[tafkabb]

Viper III.

 

[Dutchman141]

The Viper is incredible fun and the rebuy costs is laughable.
When you engineer the living daylights out of it, it becomes a mini master of death, nimble, nice punch and can take some.

Plus with the right kit it looks like a mini Python...........

 

[Arvel Yael]

Plus with the right kit it looks like a mini Python...........

Haha it does, doesn't it. Awesome!