Ship Builds & Load Outs The Eagle Dilemma - or, how to blow things up with smalls-only

If you sacrifice about 50m/s by using full size HRPs, you can squeeze out about 500 more integrity, and run a small biweave.

You’ll still be able to outrun missiles, and you modules won’t be exposed so often.

650 will run down anything in the game beyond other ultra light ships with EPTs.

For sure you can, but I find I have far more motivation to win fights when not flying something tanky.

Same reason I refuse to use the borderline credit exploits.

No risk, no reward.

Something very noticeable after flying small tin cans often is that when you do get in something that can take more than a few hits you're capable of some serious butt kicking and that is just a great feeling.


EDIT: Also you get higher numbers on your movement profiles whilst being lighter. Not all gains are in speed. Hence why tanky ICouriers handle like a bag of spanners compared to the lighter weight ones.
 
Yep, thats why I think engineering was a mistake. The eagle is supposed to be some ultra agile fighter, but because of engineering almost anything can turn and face you pretty quick. I tried giving it the most damage and shields I could, but there isnt really any way to make the eagle very good for anything except fun in wings.

I do wing pirate massacre missions as a solo pilot in my IEagle. I use twin Cytoscramblers and an Imp. Hammer. Mine has size 2 BW shields a 1A Interdictor and the rest Hrp/Mrp. I could make it a lot faster by downsizing some things but I prefer a bit more survivability.

Those twin Cytos obliterate the shields on T10s, Anacondas or any big ships and as a plus all the 'beams' hit a large target. Of course I'm then left with only the Hammer for hull/module damage but as soon as the pirate ship regens its shield the Cytos smash it once again. Most medium ships are no problem either but the 'Scramblers do suffer from horrendous jitter so can miss with more 'beams' than they hit. One salvo takes out the shields of any small ship.

My biggest problem is preventing the target jumping out before I can kill it. My 2nd biggest problem is that I can only reliably fire one Hammer burst at a time otherwise the ship overheats. I might try a multi-cannon instead of the Hammer but I do love the Hammer's triple slug.

There are many different ways to approach small ship combat (not PvP I hasten to add). I like getting up close and personal but I could do a long range assault just as easily with a different loadout. It does sharpen your flying skills (not mine so much, I'm too old) and does require concentration because you're only two mistakes away from getting totalled but it does provide a thrill that you wouldn't get using a Corvette for the same task.
 
I am an Eagle MK 2 enthusiast, this is my current build:

Fast, good firepower for its size (at least against shields the cytoscramblers hit way above their weightclass), and even a bit of shields with the guardian boosters. Most large ships don't get any shots off unless they run turrets, and if my shield ever drops I can easily disengage using boost and silent running and recharge shields.

Rails are better than plasma chargers, but they lack the ammunition to last a conflict zone.
The FSD is essential, downgrade it as soon as you arrive in the target system for a nice +40m/s
small shields because of weight, and they recharge fast. Usually I don't get a lot of damage, unless the others have a wing.

Small Plasma??? Are they effective that much? Wow, your build is interesting... but u left 2 slots 1 empty... any update?
 

Craith

Volunteer Moderator
That build was before coriolis had the extra slots. These two slots are now used for another 1d Guardian Shield Reinforcement and a Detailed Surface Scanner.

The DSS is like the Fuel Scoop just a nice bonus - it is weightless, so doesn't slow me down even further, and it also costs no power (Fuel Scoop does, but is lowest priority since I'll never use it with weapons extended).

I could make the ship a bit more tanky, but survival is not its weak point, firepower is. I rarely lose shields, and if I do I boost, engage silent running and drop a heatsink. The current shields recharge very fast (actually faster than 4 pips to SYS can provide if undisturbed). It can evade most fire from projectiles, outrun any missiles and even throw off turret tracking if you are close enough, to give shields some recharge time in the middle of a firefight.

Rails can be a problem, but NPCs don't hit well enough with them. Laserturrets don't do that much damage and are still inaccurate, but can wear it down by keeping the shield from recharging. Frag turrets could get nasty I guess, never met any yet. Don't get in front of other ships. At least don't stay there. SLFs are nasty with that setup, as are wings.

Flying an Eagle MK 2 is not the most powerfull ship in the game. It is not the fastest (allthough it is fast), but it is the most maneuverable and IMO the most fun to fly. Currently I flew a variant of the above to hunt Thargoid Scouts (less shields, small cargo + small decontamination limpet controller, xeno scanner and small healing pulse turret in case I wing up). Up to 8 at a time are doable - they are quite bad shots - but watch those clouds and missiles. Can't kill a Cyclops on my own though...yet.
 
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There was this discussion a while back but I can't find it in the new forums but found it on Reddit;
https://www.reddit.com/r/eliteoutfitters/comments/789k4p Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/eliteoutfitters/comments/789k4p/eagle_knives

I remember that thread from YinYin. I've tried to find it by looking through my old posts but there's a huge gap - looks like somebody lost 2018!

Here's my build based on the idea Gossamer II

The burst turret is on secondary fire - just hit the button and let it peck at the target while you line up the rails. If you can stay behind the target the small shield is fine; if you get hit just dodge and weave until it comes back up.

It's not a build for long sessions, but it's great fun for a spot of Res hunting.

*ignore the empty slots, I haven't updated Coriolis, and can't remember off the top of my head what I put in the new slots.
 
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I can't find any recent talk on the topic, and I don't want to bother anyone personally, so I'm just going to throw out a question - if you're flying an Eagle, do you have the right destructive power to take down much at all?
Three small hardpoints is barely anything, and the Eagle, at least on paper, seems to lack the ability to effectively attack. Even with a super-pilot who could avoid all damage and land all shots, I'm fairly certain that the Eagle is doomed to failure against anything moderately tanky. It just can't do enough damage.
(I'm not sure if rails would be an exception, but I also don't know if the Eagle can handle triple-rails.)

Is this just an inherent flaw of the Eagle (which I understand is less than 100K credits and very much an early-game ship) or are there some nuances I'm missing out on here?

One of the reasons I never fly small ships like the Eagle is because it takes excruciatingly long to destroy larger vessels. I do not have the patience anymore.
For me the only viable small combat ship that can hold its own against bigger prey is the Vulture.
I do sometimes fly the Viper IV, but I no longer use it to attack Anacondas, like I used to do with the Viper III, back in the day, when I was not yet Elite in combat.
 
What is the most manoeuvrable ship in the game? The sidewinder got a much smaller hit box than the eagle, and I'm wondering if it could be used effectively in PvE or PvP by a skilled pilot against "any" opponent (though I understand killing large ships would take a long time).
 
I think it really depends on where you fly. Pick a place where you can out maneuver and not take on multiple targets - don't think I'd take one into a combat zone!
 
What is the most manoeuvrable ship in the game? The sidewinder got a much smaller hit box than the eagle, and I'm wondering if it could be used effectively in PvE or PvP by a skilled pilot against "any" opponent (though I understand killing large ships would take a long time).

You can't really expect to kill any medium or large pvp ship in a small ship unless we taking about a pro vs a utterly noob pilot.
But you can harass them :giggle:
 
You can't really expect to kill any medium or large pvp ship in a small ship unless we taking about a pro vs a utterly noob pilot.
But you can harass them :giggle:

I was thinking for two equal very skilled pilots who can use all 6 degrees of movement to the fullest ability. If you can out manoeuvre a ship and always stay in their blind spot(s) then you could (theoretically) take them down. I have heard that the Vulture is the "best" small ship, atleast the most firepower. This is largely a hypothetical question, as eventually mistakes are made. But if you can "play" with the enemy until they get bored that could be seen as a victory even if you don't kill them.

For sake of argument assume that you are getting the jump on them as I doubt a sidewinder could survive an interdiction before it got out of their line of fire for example. If this is false by all means correct me.
 
Strap on triple cytos, overcharged and with inertial impact.
Lightshow ;)

Or maybe some efficient phasing sequence cytos to bring true horror to the soulless large ships.
 
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