Ships The Keelback Club

Madrax573

Madrax573
Ceekay said:
I think mine is competent + ATM and seems useful enough, I use the fighter for pursuit and shield attack and the Keelback for hull killing so I use frags and rails currently (almost 10 x your DPS) and about half your hull strength, although there's a fair bit of high level engineering in my build in thrusters, hull, shields, weapons etc.

https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/kee...2727.Iw18UA==.MwBhCYy6YFlkQ===.&bn=Combat hvy
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Do you let your crew fly the fighter or KB? Or do you fly the fighter to take down the shields then swap to the KB for the hull?

Currently I'm letting the crew hang in the fighter most of the time.

I thought about small rails as I loved them on my Cobra MK IV but the KB really does handle like a whale and I haven't so far been able to get fixed weapons to work for me with it yet. Haven't tried frags before but given I'm often out run I wouldn't have thought they'd be as useful as say cannons or MC's. Willing to give it a shot though :) I have enough for a few rebuys.

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mossfoot said:
You really gotta hold their hand until they get to expert, but it's worth it in terms of money saved in the long run, and feels more like an accomplishment. To me anyway. If money isn't a factor, then get an expert right away. I have mine up to Deadly.
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Yeah I might bite the bullet and get a higher level one until I get some engineering done to the KB then train one up a bit.
 

SushiCW

SushiCW
In a defensive situation, I generally let my crew fly the fighter because I don't want to be blind and shot at during the 5-15 seconds it takes to transition.

In a RES, where I've got complete control over what I engage and when, I stay in the fighter and let the crew fly my Keelback.

In a CZ, I usually have my copilot "Hold Position" 15km out in the mothership while I fly the fighter. I'll also sometimes wade in from the Keelback with the fighter supporting, but I'm not comfortable leaving my NPC flying the Keelback in a hot warzone because they don't let me know they're in trouble until it's too late to do much about it, and switching in an emergency takes unacceptably long.
 

mossfoot

mossfoot
Madrax573 said:
Do you let your crew fly the fighter or KB? Or do you fly the fighter to take down the shields then swap to the KB for the hull?

Currently I'm letting the crew hang in the fighter most of the time.
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As much fun as flying the fighter is, I admit I tend to let the NPC do it. Why? Because they only have one thing to worry about, hitting with fixed beams. Well, that and not dying.

But my loadout on the keelback means I need to tactically. Currently I have thermal loads on my missiles, so rather than just "dump DPS on them" I have to consider - Do I risk overheating by firing off my full clip in order to bring down their shields faster? Do I stagger firing so that I have a couple of shots to launch as they escape my gimble's range? Once the shields are down, what external weapon is best to target (on some ships hard points are close together which is a bonus, but on others, do I target the heaviest weapon, or a weapon clustered close to other weapons?)

And when I get back to the bubble I'm considering an alternate setup involving an engineered fixed C1 beam and a gimbled overcharged pulse or laser. In that case it becomes a matter of just tapping the trigger to fire off a gimbled shot over and over until I have a lock with the fixed beam, something the NPC pilot probably wouldn't do. And if I change my pack hounds from Thermal to Drag, that again adds more consideration as to when to fire.

So, yeah, I don't see the choices in flying a fighter as being all that complex - it basically boils down to take down shields ASAP, and help with the hull as approrpriate.
 

Ceekay

Ceekay
Madrax573 said:
Do you let your crew fly the fighter or KB? Or do you fly the fighter to take down the shields then swap to the KB for the hull?

Currently I'm letting the crew hang in the fighter most of the time.
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Depends on the situation TBH if the target is Cobra level or smaller I'll use both ships, Asp and above I'll be in the Keelback not that I'm a better shot but with more dangerous targets different tactics other than all guns blazing (crew) may need to be employed (like running away! ;))

I also have an FGS with 7 x rapid fire MC and watching it open up on a target from the fighter is pretty awesome, the Keelback just needs a bit more care in it's usage after all it's a sub 10 mil ship compared to the 70 mil FGS, for the outlay I reckon it does brilliantly!
 

Julio Montega

Julio Montega
Regarding fighters and crew:
Generally i do both, fighter and KB.
When pirating i first disable the prey temporarily,
then work on disabling it permanently with the fighter (because of weapons-choice).

Doing the BH or CZ run,
i generally try to park my cold ship some KM from the site and jump into the fighter.
The challenge and rush of adrenaline just speaks to me, while my crew does "hold position"
and prepare the coffee injection for round 2,3,4......finale;)
 

Manticore

Manticore
Manticore said:
I've just done 40,000LY's in my girl Amazon arriving in Colonia last weekend.

She's a fine and sturdy ship and served well on that long exploration. The ability to fit a 4A Fuel Scoop really made the journey way easier.

This is what 40,000LY's does to your paintwork:

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/354/32152121671_c3c4003929_b.jpg

My weekly Travelogue is here:

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/248418-Cmdr-Pingmonster-s-Interstellar-Travelogue
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Unfortunately I got destroyed the other night (first time in m any months that's happened!).

It was my own stupid fault for dropping down to check on a USS (Degraded Emissions Threat Level 0) and got ambushed by some NPC Anaconda's; I was caught napping.

The rebuy has fixed my paintwork now (dang)!
 

Kaybe

Kaybe
As with most ships with the two light, two medium setup, I tend to put two small gimballed beams to melt the shields, and two medium multicannons to attack the hull. Mind you, I don't generally use her as a combat ship, so the more combat minded among you may have better ideas.
 

to_boldy_go

to_boldy_go
Kaybe said:
As with most ships with the two light, two medium setup, I tend to put two small gimballed beams to melt the shields, and two medium multicannons to attack the hull. Mind you, I don't generally use her as a combat ship, so the more combat minded among you may have better ideas.
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Hi use turrets. 2 T1 Beam and T2 Burst. If you position and enemy behind they get a surprise!

I only gt interdicted successfully twice in a KB out of a 100 or so attempts. Seems that it is good ship in that way. One of those times I got away easily second time I had 24% hull damage. HE had powerful weapons.

I went BH in my KB once and got 1.2 million creds. With good shielding and hull upgrade it takes a beating!

I have only just sold it to help me buy an Asp that has 92t cargo capacity plus heavier firepower so I use this for trading while I save up for upgrades (I refuse to use what I think are stupid exploits ln the gane to get rich quick). The KB is a great ship though I do miss its cockpit view!
 

Julio Montega

Julio Montega
to_boldy_go said:
Hi use turrets. 2 T1 Beam and T2 Burst. If you position and enemy behind they get a surprise!

I only gt interdicted successfully twice in a KB out of a 100 or so attempts. Seems that it is good ship in that way. One of those times I got away easily second time I had 24% hull damage. HE had powerful weapons.

I went BH in my KB once and got 1.2 million creds. With good shielding and hull upgrade it takes a beating!

I have only just sold it to help me buy an Asp that has 92t cargo capacity plus heavier firepower so I use this for trading while I save up for upgrades (I refuse to use what I think are stupid exploits ln the gane to get rich quick). The KB is a great ship though I do miss its cockpit view!
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I do not think the KB is a good ship to be used
with high wep-cap-drain weaponry.
The power distributor just is too weak
for a full energy based weaponry,
thus i am a fan of mixing.

Funny stuff is, my loadout has high dps,
due to special weapons :D it outdamages my
Python loadout.
 

Madrax573

Madrax573
How would seekers go in the smalls do you reckon?

I have an expert crew member to see how they work with a laser fighter to take down shields and I was thinking gimballed Med MC's and a couple of small seekers....
 

SushiCW

SushiCW
Madrax573 said:
How would seekers go in the smalls do you reckon?

I have an expert crew member to see how they work with a laser fighter to take down shields and I was thinking gimballed Med MC's and a couple of small seekers....
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That's close to what I run, although I have just one small seeker and one small railgun to go with the gimballed medium MCs. The railgun is for module sniping and supplementing shield stripping, missile is for rapid hull blasting and hardpoint disabling.

Probably not the most optimal setup but along with the fighter (fixed beam Taipan) it's flexible and does the job well enough.
 

Encvel

Encvel
So I got my new Keelback, I'm part of the club now. :) Took her to the Bounty Hunting CG going on in Fedmich right now for a test flight. She's slower than the ships I'm used to, but still feels pretty capable even with an amateur like me at the stick.

[video=youtube_share;0InRz_rCfEA]https://youtu.be/0InRz_rCfEA[/video]

I do have a couple questions regarding fighters though. I'm currently using the Taipan Gelid F (Fixed beams w/ heatsink) but I was curious what fighters you guys use. Can point defence on a fighter be used to protect the mothership? Because if that's the case, I might swap it out for the one with fixed pulse and point defence. According to the game, fixed pulses have the same DPS as fixed beams on fighters.
 

SushiCW

SushiCW
Encvel said:
Can point defence on a fighter be used to protect the mothership?
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I don't believe so, no. It does protect the fighter from one threat it's otherwise super-vulnerable to, but I'd stick with the fixed beams & heatsink combo. While that heatsink is running you've effectively got an infinite WEP bar and can just pour firepower into the target, it's quite glorious. :)
 

SushiCW

SushiCW
If you're going out looking for a fight, it wouldn't hurt to pack a bank of 3A SCBs (to avoid overheating, swap the PD out for heat sinks). The SCBs give you a nice buffer for those "oh crap I'm getting pounded" moments.

And definitely dirty-drive those thrusters, it pays huge dividends in terms of agility and get-out-of-dodge speed.
 

Chris Simon

Chris Simon
Encvel said:
Can point defence on a fighter be used to protect the mothership?
Click to expand...

SushiCW said:
I don't believe so, no.
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Why not? Point defense simply shoots at every (enemy) missile in its range, doesn't matter at which ship they are aimed.

And while we're at combat, this is my fun machine: https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/kee...2727.Iw18UA==.Aw1+gLJxA===.&bn=General Duties
I'm using Taipan. Fixed beams, of course, my pilot is Deadly so she actually hits things, now. :)
 
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