The Federal Dropship VS the Federal Assault Ship?

[CMDR Nef]

Been using the FAS (Federal Assault Ship) the last few days and have been loving it, but I was wondering... I took a look at the FD, (Federal Dropship) and was wondering what one was better? The FD can have size 6 shields, (the FAS's shields are kind of weak, considering it can have a max of rank 5 shields, and the thing weighs a ton, making you go way over the optimal shield weight range for rank 5) and it has more, and bigger internal spaces, along with being cheaper, and around the same level of firepower. (I was told that two mediums equal one large in strength, is that correct?) It just seems to be less maneuverable than the FAS. Seems like it would have a lot more utility. I currently run my FAS with 4 A rank shield boosters, but the shields still drop very fast. I don't want to have to remove all of my cargo space for shield cell banks though. I use the FAS as a bounty hunting/smuggling ship. It's very fast, with around 60t of cargo, and can take out most other ships. Does loose shields against an Anaconda, and loose some hull, (unlike my Vulture) though. My Vulture can take on those wings of 8 sidewinder pirates no problem, but my FAS usually comes out beat up. I am conflicted.

It's like, good, without being good. I feel if it wasn't as maneuverable as it is, nobody would use it. I really like the look of the ship though, and it has nice hardpoint placement, although you have to pitch up a lot so your lower guns can hit the target in gimbled mode. Thought about doing large turrets, to see how that would play out. 360 degree coverage with the two large points being on the top and bottom of the FAS. Mostly run it in a pulse laser and cannon/multicannon role. Kills things pretty fast.

So what do you guys think? FAS or FD?

 

[CMDR Nef]

Bump since my topic is now in the back pages, and as such, would get no responses, as no one goes back 3-4 pages and looks for topics to respond to.

 

[ahiredgun]

The dropship is more multipurpose same shields way less maneuverbly (lot more drifty) but a lot more internal compartments . Dropship better at multipurpose transport the assault ship is better at combat.

 

[L0CI]

First off, I only read the first sentence of your post, don't have a lot of time. Do not, under any circumstances, buy a Dropship. It's nothing like the Assault version. It's slow, steers like a dead cow the shields are awful and the hardpoints aren't well placed. It's a multi purpose ship that's not particularly good at anything.

 

[Snaplord]

What they said. The Dropship's main purpose (personnel transport) isn't a thing yet.

 

[Aleksej]

Federal Dropship has no chances against Federal Assault Ship in combat. FAS is much faster, more manoeuvrable. The difference is shields is very small. FAS has larger jump range.

 

[I PORKCH0P I]

I've only just got my assault and im loving it quick question though whats the best sheild you can buy for it? Never mind its the 5a unless I get the prismatic one which is tempting.

 

[CMDR Nef]

Just switched over to the Federal Dropship. I like it a bit more than the FAS. Better options and hardpoint placement, and a little bit better in combat than the FAS. Also much cheaper parts. This thing is wrecking Condas in CZ's with a fixed large beam and four medium railguns. Honestly doesn't steer like a "dead cow" for me. Didn't notice much difference in handling. Maybe I'm just used to heavy ships or something, but this can keep track of any ship I'm fighting, even an Eagle.

 

[ThriveInDark]

Just switched over to the Federal Dropship. I like it a bit more than the FAS. Better options and hardpoint placement, and a little bit better in combat than the FAS. Also much cheaper parts. This thing is wrecking Condas in CZ's with a fixed large beam and four medium railguns. Honestly doesn't steer like a "dead cow" for me. Didn't notice much difference in handling. Maybe I'm just used to heavy ships or something, but this can keep track of any ship I'm fighting, even an Eagle.

Ultimately we may all like ships for different reasons, I agree with the dead cow statement. Personally I love maneuvering for subs and if I'm not mistaken the beams produce higher thermic damage the closer you are. Sure it may track at 2km, but how about inside 500 without ever losing view of the drives. It may just suit your playstyle but I personally look at every FDS as nothing more than lunch.

 

[L0CI]

Ok I'll rephrase my comment, it's turns just fine. Changing direction of travel is another thing altogether! Against one large target the Dropship does ok, multiple small targets are more of a problem. Each to their own but I'd take the FAS over the FD any day, especially against a human player.

 

[Systolic]

I'll more or less echo what everybody else has said. I've been almost exclusively in a FDS for the last few weeks. I've fitted it for PVE combat. I call it my "War Mop." Here's the breakdown of what its purpose is:

It's not fast so dog fights are a no go.
Get it to at least 6B shields with 3 A0 shield boosters and you'll be fine. I go crazy with the hull reinforcements too just to be safe.
Grab some high DPS stuff. I've been running 1 large beam, 2 med pulses, and 2 med MC's.
FA OFF and FA ON boost turns are your friend if you get in trouble.

Lumber through the battlefield moping up anything injured. Don't bother trying to chase anything down. You'll really only need any sort of speed once you've cleared out a large swathe and need to move to another part of the cz. You should have enough firepower to make short work of anything small. I've been making real short work of the the FAS's i've been up against in CZ's. They just don't have the shields.

At this point, my time in a CZ is basically how long before i get bored. Hours. Had about 4 million in combat bonds last night with 94$ hull left. Finally left after my mc's went dry.


So it depends on your style of play. Both are fully combat viable. The Dropship is more multipurpose capable though.

 

[Sonic401k]

I have played in a variety of ships. Adder, Diamondback Explorer, Imperial courier, Vulture, Imperial clipper, Federal Drop Ship, Fer de lance, and now the Federal assault ship.. The firepower on the Assault ship is great, two large beams make short work of a lot of things. The shields are lacking, but that's the case with the whole dropship line. The speed and maneuverability of the assault ship is great, and compared to the fer de lance, I find it to be a tad more maneuverable.

 

[KayAitch]

I was told that two mediums equal one large in strength, is that correct?

No, two mediums do not always equal one large.

Smaller weapons are nerfed hard against larger ships.

• So against a Cobra (which counts as small) 2 medium = 1 large
• Against a FDL (which counts as large) 2 medium will do a fraction of the damage of 1 large

It works this way because they wanted large guns to be more effective against large ships, but not just ramp up the damage, as that would allow for large guns to one-shot smaller ships. For example, a large beam will do a lot more damage to an Anaconda's shields than a Sidewinder's, as otherwise it would drop the smaller ships shields almost instantly (it will still kill them in a few seconds).

This means that smaller ships that can carry large hard points (such as the Vulture) are all about killing larger ships than them, while larger ships with lots of small hardpoints are about killing small ships quickly. Huge hard points (such as on the FDL) are for killing the largest ships - the guns that fill them tend to not be very cost effective against medium and small ships.

So it depends what you're planning to fight - if you're going to be killing Cobras and Vipers then a stack of smalls and mediums will do grand and give you a great variety of loadouts. If you want to kill Pythons and Anacondas then you want to sacrifice that variety for large guns that will be most effective against the larger ships.

I think this is why a lot of guns aren't available at larger sizes - it becomes cannon and plasma accelerators that suck against small fighters anyway. Still, I'd love to see some large rail guns!

 

[ThriveInDark]

I'd spend my whole fortune for a large rail... My problem with the slow moving projectiles is that my combat style is super high mobility in something like an FAS or Vulture, and while perfectly effective at tracking with rails I've found the slow projectile math equation of my higher average speed than my target paired with how quickly the nose flicks and moves elusive to master and I'm off target far more than on it. I also like using beams or pulses with rails because of their little charge up. Can use it like a tracer and let off early if I'm not lined up, can't really do that for a PA or cannon. 2 pulses and 2 rails on an FAS i absolutely annhialated pythons and condas. But low ammo count means I'm only using them because they're fun, not efficient. And the slow fire stuff feels more like work than fun.

 

[wirelessfetus]

I'd spend my whole fortune for a large rail...

Little confused by this. Are you saying you wish they'd implement a class 3 railgun in the game or have they already and I completely missed that announcement???

Anyways as far as the OT goes: for PVE Id take the FAS in a heartbeart over the FDS. The extra shields dont matter that much to me after you factor in the manueverability. Especially since your modules are far less threatened from NPCs when your shields do go down and the FAS armor is solid.

For PVP im not sure how viable either are. But I guess id you don't want to shell out for an A rated FDL, FAS's aren't a bad budget version.

If they ever introduce class 3 railguns, I think FAS's would make pretty sweet silent running PVPs. Nullify its weakness by not caring about shields. Go c3 and two c2 rails on the bottom and a c3 beam up top.

 

[CentrumSilver]

ANY ship can be a viable combat ship if YOU are comfortable in how she handles. You need to make the best of it, and often times you may like a ship over another even if the "reviews" by other Commanders should clearly state otherwise. For example many Commanders, including myself have bought then almost immediately sold the Fer De Lance for a multitude of reasons (pre-patch FDL), but just as many Commanders have made it work, some like Commander Vindicator Jones are like surgeons with those ships where I was more like a half blind butcher in comparison.

I am biased toward the Federal Assault Ship simply because I have had it so long and have tailored her over time to how I play, I also have the Dropship and Gunship but stat wise, regardless what the numbers say, given the choice I will always default to the Assault over any other ship in the game, ANY. Could be the Dropship is your ship mate, could be you have found the one ship in the game that 'gets you', that makes you think on options and configurations and searching and tweaking this, that and the other just to squeeze a little more out of her.

You like what you like and thats that if the Dropship does it for you, then make her yours and Heaven help ANY Commander who tries to go up against another Commander that is very comfortable in his vessel. Godspeed and see you in space!

 

[Halfpynt83]

FAS, FDS, and FGS all have pros and cons, but all can be combat ships, and can do it well, Dropship can carry the the most armor, gunship the most dps, assult ship the most agility. All down to personal preference.