The Cobra MKIII - Discussion Regarding combat loadouts.

[BACKER#50040]

Got really bored with trading after just an hour or so, so I sold off the ASP and jumped straight back into the trusty Cobra MKIII -The ship model that took me through more than 1300 systems going all the way out to NGC6357, survived neutron stars and black holes. Truly an epic ship with an iconic design, as sleek as it is deadly.

I had quite a lot of cash to spend on it. So I chose the following:

Spitting Cobra
Internals

• Military Grade Composite
• A4 Power plant
  
• A4 Thrusters
  
• E4 Frame Shift Drive (to be upgraded)
  
• D3 Life Support
  
• A3 Power Distributor
  
• C3 Sensors
  
• C4 Fuel Tank
  
• E4 Cargo Rack
  
• E4 Cargo Rack
  
• A4 Shield Generator
  
• E1 Sheild Cell Bank
  
• A1 Hatch Breaker Limpet Controller
  
• E2 Frame Shift Drive Interdictor

Hardpoints

• B2 Rail gun (Fixed, Medium)
  
• B2 Rail gun (Fixed, Medium)
  
• E1 Beam Laser (Fixed, Small)
  
• E1 Beam Laser (Fixed, Small)
  
• E0 Cargo Scanner
  
• D0 Frame Shift Wake Scanner

Power grid capacity deployed is 16.01 while the available power is 15.60. The jump range is really horrible at 9.32LY unladen and 8.39 laden but this is an in-system interceptor. A pure bred killing machine, designed to be able to apply kinetic damage with surgical precision. Great for shooting out drives and subsystems.

Shields and armor (=survivability) is excellent due to the A rated shield generator and military grade composite. This was also why I didn't bother with chaff or point defense. Some modules are deliberately not A rated due to the lower power requirements of the lower ratings. This allows me to run a dual beam and rail setup whilst maintaining tank and agility. I tried running this with small seeker missiles, it was very good but ran out of ammo too fast. Vipers were easily dealt with by reversing while firing. Currently, I believe that high powered ballistic weapon systems are gimped due to the inability to use cargo hold to store additional ammo. I therefore chose 2x small beam lasers. They play along nicley with railguns as both weapon systems are hit-scan.

I'm very interested in seeing other peoples builds regarding the Cobra MKIII.

 

[Baker]

I have a similar load out, except I have auto repair and a fuel scoop, instead of your Hatch beaker and Interdictor. I have standard bulkheads and a B4 FSD, so my jump range is 18lyr.

Weapons, I have 2x class 1 gimbal beams , and 2x class 2 gimbal multi-cannons. I set up lasers with cell bank on one group and multi-cannons and cell bank on another group. I can strip the shields of an Anaconda with a continuous beam (4 pips weapons, 2 pips engines), recharging my shields as necessary, and then finish it off with the multi-cannons, for which I can pop 2 pips back to shields as the power draw for multi-cannons is less.

I intend to get Military Grade Composite when I get an A4 FSD.

 

[Rockspider]

I have 3 gimbal pulse lasers 1 gimbal multi canon , Chaff, warrent scanner Military armour + the usual and "NO SHIELD BANKS"
Fun set up for me

 

[Kyle Brennan]

Mine had Max A for all modules, 2 x 500k beam lasers 2 x missile pods (guided) 2 x B3 shield cells, Take Elite Anacondas with that lot.

Those 500k Beams are devastating, Eagles don't make it through the first pass!

 

[lefty1117]

How are missiles, anyway? I thought they were quite expensive to use.

 

[Skillet]

•Mirrored Surface Composite
•A4 Power plant
•A4 Thrusters
•A4 Frame Shift Drive
•A3 Life Support
•A3 Power Distributor
•A3 Sensors
•C4 Fuel Tank
•E4 Cargo Rack
•E4 Cargo Rack
•A4 Shield Generator
•A2 Sheild Cell Bank
•D1 Intermediate Discovery Scanner
•C1 Detailed Surface Scanner

Hardpoints
•F2 Multi Cannon (Gimbaled, Medium)
•F2 Multi Cannon (Gimbaled, Medium)
•E1 Beam Laser Overcharged (Gimbaled, Small)
•E1 Beam Laser Overcharged (Gimbaled, Small)
•00 Chaff Launcher
•00 Point Defense

 

[Katkon]

How are missiles, anyway? I thought they were quite expensive to use.

500 for heat seekers, 250 for dumbfire. The latter are great for big and slower moving targets. The former are often - but not always - mitigated with silent running, point defense turrets and ECM. I find that having one missile bank on hand works for me.

 

[vonvonbraun]

I was running with d2 beams and b1 rails

 

[Drathmar]

•E1 Beam Laser Overcharged (Gimbaled, Small)
•E1 Beam Laser Overcharged (Gimbaled, Small)

Overcharged? Where do you find overcharged weapons and what do they do?

 

[vonvonbraun]

Overcharged? Where do you find overcharged weapons and what do they do?

more damage, but since release is impossible to find the special weapons

 

[Drathmar]

more damage, but since release is impossible to find the special weapons

Thats disappointing.

 

[Skillet]

Overcharged? Where do you find overcharged weapons and what do they do?

Lost track as to where and when I found these. Either the last couple of days of Gamma or the first day after release. Didn't really take note as I thought they would be common finds. I think they has since been removed and are not currently available in the game. But I don't know this for sure. Anyone?

They cut through titanium like a hot knife through soft butter.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Got bored of trading so went to bounty hunting.

Currently running 2x Multicannons in the medium slots and 2x of the stock Pulse Lasers in the small slots. Its getting annoying going back for ammo after every engagement.

Should I buckle down and keep trading for better lasers? I feel like I'm throwing rocks at these ships with the pulse lasers but money's tight.

 

[Baggy MacDouche]

•Mirrored Surface Composite - Reinforced Alloys
•A4 Power plant
•A4 Thrusters - C4 Thrusters
•A4 Frame Shift Drive - B4 FSD
•A3 Life Support
•A3 Power Distributor
•A3 Sensors
•C4 Fuel Tank - C3 (Capacity 8)
•E4 Cargo Rack
•E4 Cargo Rack - B4 Shield Generator
•A4 Shield Generator - A4 Shield Cell Bank
•A2 Sheild Cell Bank - E1 Basic Discovery Scanner
•D1 Intermediate Discovery Scanner - A2 Fuel Scoop
•C1 Detailed Surface Scanner - D2 FSD Interdictor

Hardpoints
•F2 Multi Cannon (Gimbaled, Medium)
•F2 Multi Cannon (Gimbaled, Medium)
•E1 Beam Laser Overcharged (Gimbaled, Small) - Not overcharged
•E1 Beam Laser Overcharged (Gimbaled, Small) - Not overcharged
•00 Chaff Launcher
•00 Point Defense - D0 Kill Warrant Scanner

Running almost the same loadout with differences in red. Looks like you're fitted for bounty hunting, but with more emphasis in trading/exploration on the side. I'm pretty much kitted for full on bounty hunting.

Still need to get Class A Thrusters, Shields, and FSD. Not sure if I want to upgrade the bulkheads beyond reinforced. They start adding a lot of mass. My goal is to try and never let my shields go down with cells, or disengaging before taking too much hull damage. It's a tradeoff.

I halved the fuel tank to save mass, and even then usually only keep a half tank going. The A2 Fuel Scoop saves a lot on fuel costs and scoops pretty darn fast. Just nice not worrying about fuel at all. Even with the smaller tank, making long trips is faster because I don't have to dock for fuel.

I took out one of the 16t cargo holds so I could bump up my Shield Generator and free up another Class 4 Internal for an A4 Shield Cell Bank(7 cells). It gives me 2 more cells than a Class 2. I'm not doing much trading and 16t is plenty for the occasional cargo required mission, or found goods.

I put in a Basic Discovery Scanner mostly because there was nothing else I could really put there at the moment. I used to have another Shield Cell Bank there, but I was running low on power until I got my A3 Plant. I may put it back in once I get my A4 Thrusters and FSD installed and see where I'm at power-wise. Same goes for the FSD Interdictor.

I recall seeing the Overcharged Beams awhile ago. I didn't equip them because I was mining then. Haven't seen them since. I also used to have a Point Defense, but opted for a KWS. I just didn't see it being used all that much, even when going against elite anacondas. I figured it was better to try and collect as much bounty as I can.

I've been very happy with this loadout and feel equipped to handle most encounters.

 

[PAPA_AB]

Almost the same as me also, with a little diference.
B4 Shield Cell Bank has 11 charges, more than the A4. They fully charge the cobra's shield, so that's my pick.

Cheers

 

[Tacyon]

On this loadout that I've worked up .. the power plant being at 99%. Does this mean that as I take damage (oh noes) that systems will start shutting down due to lack of surplus power ?

 

[A Titan]

That mean you are good to go. As long as you are 100% and below you are fine, heat is whole different matter and has more to do with your power distributer and power plant.

Oh and all the stuff in the thread from Jan are no longer valid due to Shield Cell nerf.

 

[lefty1117]

I know that fixed weapons have the higher damage output, but I've found that my fighting style is closer in, and in my mind keeping weapons on target seems to trump higher burst from fixed. To me it seems that fixed weapons are ideal for jousting combat styles, I just prefer staying in close and keeping the pressure on target. Against ships with turrets it can be a problem, but chaff helps a lot (as does lots of lateral thrust!).

Just my .02

 

[Taylor]

Background
Just started playing again last week after giving the game a break during Beta so experience is limited but my current load-out is listed below



Purpose
In-System Fighter. (Collecting bounties on NPC pirates in a RES area as I save for an ASP)



Internals

Military Grade Composite
A4 Power plant
A4 Thrusters
A4 Frame Shift Drive
D3 Life Support
A3 Power Distributor
A3 Sensors
C4 Fuel Tank
A4 Shield Generator
D4 Hull Reinforcement Package
D4 Hull Reinforcement Package
A2 Shield Cell Bank
A2 Shield Cell Bank
E2 Auto Field-Maintenance Unit
​

Hardpoints

D2 Beam Laser (Gimbal, Medium)
D2 Cannon (Gimbal, Medium)
E1 Cannon (Gimbal, Small)
E1 Cannon (Gimbal, Small)
A0 Shield Booster
C0 Kill Warrent Scanner​

Summary

Power Use Deployed	18.41 MW	( see below )
Power Use Available	15.60 MW
Cargo Capacity	0
Jump Range Unladen	17.88 LY
Jump Range Laden	17.88 LY

Weapon Choices
I'd prefer an All-Energy-Weapon configuration because I don't like having to reload ammo but the issues of taking on larger ships prompted me to try out Cannons.

I've tried different combinations of Cannons and Lasers but dropping down to a Single Medium Beam Laser has proved sufficient and allows me to bring more Kinetic ammo for the larger hulls

I find it easier to track with the Primary weapons so for me it was better to have 1x Med Beam rather than 2x Small Beams. There is also some satisfaction in orbiting a target with a near continuous beam painted on it. The smaller targets often die before I'm in danger of thermal overload.

Next test will be switching the Cannons to Fixed mounting rather than Gimballed.



Hull Reinforcement
Some may not like the extra weight but I find 360 points of Military Grade Composite Armour a lot more comforting than 120 points of Aluminium Panels.

Dropping them would increase Jump Range to 19.85 LY

(Unless you replace them with 32T of cargo which equates to the same Mass)



Shield Cells
Shield Cell Banks were only added to the load-out recently as an experiment but I do not regard them as a cost-effective solution because while they are certainly cheaper than re-buying a whole ship, replacement Shield Cells are still more expensive than repairing the hull.

Yes, that's rather penny-pinching, its only a difference of a few thousand credits, but it's still more and it's still another one of those Ammo things that I don't like having to fly back to restock.

Whereas if I'm ever down to 50% hull then I'm rather keen to get back.



Power Use
Prioritising modules allows full use of all systems even though I'm nearly 3MW over the threshold.
I do however need to close the gun ports when using the Shield Cell Banks.

 

[tanthil]

For combat i use following setup:
[Cobra Mk III]
M: 2C/F Plasma Accelerator
M: 2C/F Plasma Accelerator
S: 1F/G Pulse Laser
S: 1F/G Pulse Laser
U: 0I Point Defence
U: 0B Kill Warrant Scanner

BH: 1I Military Grade Composite
RB: 4A Power Plant
TM: 4D Thrusters
FH: 4A Frame Shift Drive
EC: 3D Life Support
PC: 3A Power Distributor
SS: 3A Sensors
FS: 4C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 16)

4: 4E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 16)
4: 4E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 16)
4: 4A Shield Generator
2: 2B Fuel Scoop
2: 1C Detailed Surface Scanner
2: 1C Advanced Discovery Scanner

I dont consider myself as v good fighter pilot and fight usualy PvE

My combat pipes are 2 systems 1 engine 3 weapons
For armor i decided to use military composite to survive disengaging when shields were dropped
A4 shields are sufficient to stand with anything up to ASP
A grade power plant and power distirbutor

For weapons i use small gimbaled pulse lasers - strip shields and deal with everything up to cobra
For bigger ones i use medium plasmas - they are superior to get rid of Asp, Dropship, Clipper and Python [i stay on the tail in short range and point to Power Plant i have 80% accurancy] few shots and enemy melts in hot plasma - priceless
Only isssue are Anacondas as medium plasmas are not so efficient so i had to stay longer on Conda's tail and be more focus

I tried to avoid anyone who has railguns as i had few fight that i need to disengenage becouse my front window was broken [ two shots and i have big hole ]

With 3 pipes in weapons i can shoot plasma every 3 sec