Rolling around Beronii today doing my thing popping NPC bounties in my brand new Diamondback Explorer. Everything is going fine as I'm still learning to fight with the Yellow Brick Ship. Then I spot a Python that I figure I should try my luck against. Pythons were typically too big of fish to fry in my Viper and Eagle, but my Diamondback has a Big Freaking Beam Laser, so what the hell.
The Python apparently is fitted with a good mix of turrets, and I can't get a blind spot to get into with the Yellow Brick Ship. I can deal with this though, and just Trust in the Chaff as I pull a reverse-flying slugfest with the Python.
All in all, things are going pretty well. Getting some canopy warnings, but his hull is dropping faster than mine, so I'm still confident I can drop him and make a tidy Noob Profit from this.
Then it happens. The Canopy collapses, Life Support kicks in. I'm now without a HUD and on a 5 minute timer to not just finish him off, but also get back to a station. I didn't even know the Canopy could fail in that manor before this fight. I don't know how to deal with the situation except to keep doing what I'm doing and finish the slug-fest and hope I have enough time to make it back to Howard Dock. Fear is the Mind Killer, so I trust in my Gimbals and fly by instrumentation and limited visual.
He Pops. I have 4 minutes left.
I've never timed my transits and simply Pray to Bob that I have enough time to jump, navigate to Howard, coast down to < 1 Mm/s and dock. No HUD still, so I'm flying by instrumentation again. Set destination, line myself up, and just... go.
Alright, I know I ought to be closing in on it, so I bring down my throttle for the Coast down.
Oh, no. I've misjudged and dropped early. 2 minutes left. I wait out FSD cooldown and throttle back up and reenter supercruise.
Next time I make sure I'm at the correct range and drop onto grid with the station. Afterburner, all power to Engines, I need to get into the station ASAP. I get docking permission, verify which side of the station the entrance is on, and slide in. This is easy enough visually as long as I know which Landing Pad I'm assigned and I'm now just dropping landing gear and lowering.
I have one minute of oxygen left at time of docking.
I prioritize repairs, rearm, and refuel. Then I take the first serious look at Life support systems better than the Default that comes with the ship to sort out which one to invest in.
I love this game.
The Python apparently is fitted with a good mix of turrets, and I can't get a blind spot to get into with the Yellow Brick Ship. I can deal with this though, and just Trust in the Chaff as I pull a reverse-flying slugfest with the Python.
All in all, things are going pretty well. Getting some canopy warnings, but his hull is dropping faster than mine, so I'm still confident I can drop him and make a tidy Noob Profit from this.
Then it happens. The Canopy collapses, Life Support kicks in. I'm now without a HUD and on a 5 minute timer to not just finish him off, but also get back to a station. I didn't even know the Canopy could fail in that manor before this fight. I don't know how to deal with the situation except to keep doing what I'm doing and finish the slug-fest and hope I have enough time to make it back to Howard Dock. Fear is the Mind Killer, so I trust in my Gimbals and fly by instrumentation and limited visual.
He Pops. I have 4 minutes left.
I've never timed my transits and simply Pray to Bob that I have enough time to jump, navigate to Howard, coast down to < 1 Mm/s and dock. No HUD still, so I'm flying by instrumentation again. Set destination, line myself up, and just... go.
Alright, I know I ought to be closing in on it, so I bring down my throttle for the Coast down.
Oh, no. I've misjudged and dropped early. 2 minutes left. I wait out FSD cooldown and throttle back up and reenter supercruise.
Next time I make sure I'm at the correct range and drop onto grid with the station. Afterburner, all power to Engines, I need to get into the station ASAP. I get docking permission, verify which side of the station the entrance is on, and slide in. This is easy enough visually as long as I know which Landing Pad I'm assigned and I'm now just dropping landing gear and lowering.
I have one minute of oxygen left at time of docking.
I prioritize repairs, rearm, and refuel. Then I take the first serious look at Life support systems better than the Default that comes with the ship to sort out which one to invest in.
I love this game.