Newcomer / Intro Specs on Viper Fighter?

[aioun]

Hey all,

In a previous post, I talked about my difficulty in learning combat and keeping a target in front of me on my ASP or Conda.
So I've decided to buy a Viper (IV), and put some good weapons, shields and thrusters on it. And use that to learn some basic combat skills. That way if I get toasted, it's not so expensive to replace, and I don't need to worry about cargo or an amped up FSD. Maybe just a basic FSD And Fuel Scoop to get me around, but FSD speed or distance for jumps won't really be a consideration at t his point.

What would you all recommend for:
power plant
power dist
shields
thrusters
and weapons (gimbaled or turreted), etc?

I've got the credits to play around with it, so that's not really an issue. I don't want to throw away my money, but I'd like to be able to have as good of a little ship to practice fighting as I can and possibly someday, maybe upgrader it further and try bounty hunting or something.

Thanks.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Hey all,

In a previous post, I talked about my difficulty in learning combat and keeping a target in front of me on my ASP or Conda.
So I've decided to buy a Viper (IV), and put some good weapons, shields and thrusters on it. And use that to learn some basic combat skills. That way if I get toasted, it's not so expensive to replace, and I don't need to worry about cargo or an amped up FSD. Maybe just a basic FSD And Fuel Scoop to get me around, but FSD speed or distance for jumps won't really be a consideration at t his point.

What would you all recommend for:
power plant
power dist
shields
thrusters
and weapons (gimbaled or turreted), etc?

I've got the credits to play around with it, so that's not really an issue. I don't want to throw away my money, but I'd like to be able to have as good of a little ship to practice fighting as I can and possibly someday, maybe upgrader it further and try bounty hunting or something.

Thanks.

Some tips:

1) Use http://beta.coriolis.edcd.io/ to design your ships
2) Dont use turrets on fighters. They have much less damage, and you should be agile enough not to need them.
3) On small ships, use bi-weaves. They have a bit less strength but regenerate much faster.
4) Initially, use a mix of lasers and kinetics. Pulse lasers and multi-cannons are a good starting point. When attacking the hull, weapon size matters, so put the multis in the medium slots and the lasers in the small slot.
5) Always go for A-rated power distributor.

 

[Ashnak]

If you want to fight, take the Viper without the IV. The IV is slower and heavier than the original, but has the same hardpoints. While it will withstand being shot at somewhat better due to its stronger hull, it'll also desperately neeed that capability.

As for the loadout: do you have Felicity or Elvira unlocked? They sell the 3A enhanced thrusters, which can give even that lump some boost.
3A distributor, and with the enhanced thruster, you'll need the 3A power plant. Depending on which guns you want to use, you may slap a low emissions mod on it.
Shields 3C bi-weaves.
Weapons - what do you prefer? I like the projectile weapons, since they use very little power. On the other hand, they are less effective against shields. No turrets, and try to use no gimbals on the small fighters - gimbals just lose too much weapons power.
The rest depends on how you want to play it - if you use the enhanced thrusters, you'll want as little additional mass as possible, since that'll bog you down rather severely. So if you want to tank it (hull or shields), you may as well skip the enhanced thrusters.

Play around with the loadout on coriolis (but perhaps not on the beta )