Ships The Federal Dropship: Is It Any Good?

[nosleepdemon]

This thing seems like a turd, thanks to its low jump range, shields, speed and lack of decently sized internal compartments to compensate. It's also a bit expensive when upgraded due to the high class modules.

That said, I've not actually flown one, and never seen one in the hands of a player. Fighting NPC Dropships doesn't really endear me to them - while they do have decent hardpoint placement in so far as they are able to shoot in all directions, the Dropships tend to pop before they can do much damage.

Does anyone use these things effectively? Are there any videos floating around that showcase them? I've looked about on youtube and I'm having difficulty finding anything. There's the odd "Federal Dropship Review" video but that's just silly youtube "personalities" nattering on about how much they love their egos.

I'd be especially interested in players using it effectively in PvP, I've seen a few posts on the forums about high bounty players murdering would be assassins in their Federal Dropships.

I don't know why I seem interested in the thing, but it would be a nice counterpoint to my FDL - sort of like owning a Ferrari and the local double decker school bus at the same time. However I wouldn't want to go through the trouble of paying off the local school-board for their bus if I can't effectively mow down pedestrians and anyone coming to help.

 

[shadragon]

However I wouldn't want to go through the trouble of paying off the local school-board for their bus if I can't effectively mow down pedestrians and anyone coming to help.

Remarkable how closely we think.

The Dropship is on my to buy list once I get back from exploring. It has a good balance of features, but I suspect the hard points will have turrets as the maneuverability is not great.

 

[Soda Popinski]

Based on the name, I'd expect it to better when planetary landings gets instated.

 

[Calrissian]

I like it but I think it's only really useful mainly as a gunboat. At least, that's the way I would kit mine up if I could afford one and get one. I don't favor the Federation.

Here's a good video.......
[video=youtube;WjjtyRoBtvw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjjtyRoBtvw[/video]

 

[nosleepdemon]

Yes I imagine like the Orca, there isn't much content available for which the Dropship would have a use case. Speaking of the Orca...

 

[shadragon]

Yes I imagine like the Orca, there isn't much content available for which the Dropship would have a use case. Speaking of the Orca...

Orca has more cost and fewer hard points. It carries more cargo but not a lot more. Here's two comparisons with similarly kitted ships.

Orca - http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=60p,4zi4yS4yS01Q0Ga0mI3wA,317_9Y7_9Y8S6Q6k,0AA08c08c7Sk0724zM7dg2Uc (1 large, 2 medium HP)

Dropship - http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=604,01Q3wA0mI0mI4yS4yS4zi4yS4yS,319YA07_7_A06Q6k,0AA08c7Sk07205U4zM7e8 (1 large, 4 medium HP)

More bang for the buck with the Dropship I think at 60% of the cost.

 

[Surround]

I have it and I like it! The most awesome looking she in the game with lots of good HP. You can trade with cargo a only because NPC doesn't really do damage to your hull.

PC on the other hand can destroy your powerplant quickly. Haven't fought against PC player yet, but the amount of drop ships I have destroyed I can say it's pretty easy.

But with powerplant b you have more health for PP and you still have 23,5 mW to use any outfit you want.

My only wish is that turret would generally have the ability to shoot forward with the same arc as gimballed. Damn, I really wish for that.

 

[Frenotx]

I'm flying the dropship, right now. The thing is an absolute blast to fly, but not because it's particularly "good". The hardpoint selection is nice, and the pitch + yaw rates are decent (with a rated thrusters), but mother of god, the acceleration is so hilariously bad. From what I've seen, no other ship slides around nearly as much as the "federal driftship", as I've seen it called before. I don't even fully understand why it slides around as much as it does. I mean, if you hit the booster, the thing will go from full out backwards to full out forwards in about a second. It's like the ship just doesn't bother to try and align it's movement vector with the orientation of the ship. All the sliding around is troubling at first, but once you get a feel for it, it's a ton of fun.

My current weapon selection is gimballed cannons on the belly mounts (1 large, 2 medium), and gimballed beams on the side mounts. VERY entertaining build. Drop the shields with the beams, then go full power to shields and engines and just joust with the cannons. I find myself laughing at the sheer ridiculous-ness of the situation quite a lot. I'm considering swapping the medium cannons to the side mount, and fitting fixed beams instead of gimballed on the underside mediums, but that's a low priority change.

P.S. I would suggest a b-rated powerplant. Despite the overall decent durability of the dropship, its shields are not great. There's a pretty good chance you're going to be using the copious amount of armor the dropship has, and thus you want a beefy powerplant. The thing has plenty of power as it is, so you should be able to do without the few extra MW the A-rated plant offers.

P.P.S. Despite the aforementioned "meh" shield, the dropship is pretty good at ramming stuff. Probably something to do with its incredibly large mass.

 

[S~P]

Don't see the point of getting dropship when you have the Python with extra large mounts and more agility, a no brainer if you ask me.

 

[EUS]

Don't see the point of getting dropship when you have the Python with extra large mounts and more agility, a no brainer if you ask me.

Personally speaking, 2 reasons:
1) to not feel like an idiot for ranking in Federation
2) It's waaaay less expensive than a Python

 

[ChubbyBunneh]

Rather have an Orca. Fit it for exploring and tour the galaxy in style.

 

[Rykzon]

Personally speaking, 2 reasons:
1) to not feel like an idiot for ranking in Federation
2) It's waaaay less expensive than a Python

I don't know, I would love to represent the Federation as military commander, but I would certainly feel stupid bringing the Dropship into battle. For now im flying an Anaconda and waiting for the corvette.

 

[Midnight_Sun323]

I love my Dropship, with the reduced cost its a stepping stone from the asp to a python. It is truly a decent gunship. 3 powerful beam lasers and 2 medium multi cannons to chizzle away at another ship's power core. It's got about the same cargo capacity as the asp, so I load up on rares along my bounty hunting routes.

 

[LawHunter]

I want to try it. The clipper too.

Just never offered the Baron or Ensign mission. Been lots of stations, done lots of missions.

Stuck on the Navy rank just under on both.

 

[CMDR Holycow]

From what I've seen, no other ship slides around nearly as much as the "federal driftship", as I've seen it called before. I don't even fully understand why it slides around as much as it does. I mean, if you hit the booster, the thing will go from full out backwards to full out forwards in about a second. It's like the ship just doesn't bother to try and align it's movement vector with the orientation of the ship. All the sliding around is troubling at first, but once you get a feel for it, it's a ton of fun..

haha.. the clipper does something similar, but with it's vertical thrusters. I remember the first time I landed it... I was falling towards my landing pad... and "at speed", it took like 6 or 7 seconds it seemed before it could slow down enough before smashing into the landing pad. It's pitch rate is great, so is it's foward thrusters.. but slow speed lateral and vertical thrusters is just flat out comical. Probably partially because I just came from a vulture. lol

 

[Deleted member 38366]

-- Deleted --

 

[Sgt Doom]

Flying it at high speeds in RES is always a bit of a brown-trousers moment for me due to the drifting, but at least with it's rather good armour it'd probably win against an asteroid.

 

[Bertrand Du Guesclin]

I love my Dropship. It is probably my favorite ship in the game.
IMO it looks amazing, the cockpit is fantastic and comes with 2 coffee machines, the ship sounds great, handles nicely, and packs a decent punch (C2 beams on the sides, fixed C2s and C3 cannons under the belly).

However its stats aren't great : small jump range when fully loaded for combat, slow normal speed (boost speed is good though), average cargo capacity, somewhat weak shield, it has to rely on shield cells to keep the shields up in brawling fights, even against NPCs. I had one PvP encounter against a Cobra and it was even worse. I felt bad for having to spam so many shield cells. However thanks to the sheer firepower of the Dropship, the Cobra didn't have time to activate his shield cells, and had to run away.

It used to be hugely overpriced, now it is just fine. It is still expensive to upgrade.

To sum up, if you like the piloting style of the Asp, you'll probably enjoy the Dropship. It is basically a slower Asp, with the same shield, more drifts and more firepower

 

[saulysw]

I like how most of the ships in this game have subtly different handling characteristics.

You get into a new ship and it feels a bit odd for a while, and your first takeoff/landing is always a bit off - but you put it down to the new ship feel. Over time you get used to it, and confident in how it handles.

Then you go back to the original ship, think "I got this!" as you used to know this ship like the back of your hand and ... whoops - you are slightly off again.

 

[Jeeves]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the ship that can carry the most stuff, while still fitting on a Medium sized landing Pad? I know the Type-7 can't dock at outposts, and I'm pretty sure (though not certain) that this is the same case with the Python.