Ships The Keelback Club

[mossfoot]

At some point I'll need to shed the "golden handcuffs" of the Krait and go back to the Keelback. Still my favorite ship in the game.

I still have a soft spot for the KB, and if it had a couple more module slots I'd probably come back to it sooner. That's the main reason I'm still with the Krait - it's a true Jack-of-all-Trades.

I'd love to use the KB as an explorer, and designed one in Coriolis that was pretty good, but I was stuck with either having an FSD Booster or a Fighter hanger... but couldn't have both.

 

[Old Duck]

At some point I'll need to shed the "golden handcuffs" of the Krait and go back to the Keelback. Still my favorite ship in the game.

I too was tempted by the Krait as a replacement for my Keelback. Very tempted. There are three things that kept me in my Keelback, which I'm currently using for exploration:

1) I hate those floodlights that shine in my face on the Krait.
2) The Keelback is way cheaper than the Krait (I can afford it, but I'm a minimalist).
3) The Krait is too popular, and I wish not to be just another soccer mom in a cookie-cutter minivan.

I do own a Krait for mining, and I love it for that, but it hasn't replaced the Keelback, yet.

 

[Madrax573]

This looks good!

 

[mossfoot]

I too was tempted by the Krait as a replacement for my Keelback. Very tempted. There are three things that kept me in my Keelback, which I'm currently using for exploration:

1) I hate those floodlights that shine in my face on the Krait.
2) The Keelback is way cheaper than the Krait (I can afford it, but I'm a minimalist).
3) The Krait is too popular, and I wish not to be just another soccer mom in a cookie-cutter minivan.

I do own a Krait for mining, and I love it for that, but it hasn't replaced the Keelback, yet.

Now, point 3 is definitely true. I came to the KB because it had everything I wanted at the time, and made it into a fine multipurpose ship. The fact it was the redheaded stepchild of Elite only added to the appeal to me.

So it kinda sucks that the Krait really does have everything I want in a multipurpose ship, but is also popular with the community in general. Nobody is going to say "You came in that thing? You're braver than I thought."

The floodlights don't bother me too much, but I do wish I could turn them down or off.

Cost is a problem. I tend not to hold onto money long unless I have a reason to (dump it into charity at stations since your rep is permanent with them). And I do miss my low rebuy cost on the KB.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

This looks good!

Mighty fine.

Not Faulcon DeLacy fine though.

 

[Madrax573]

Mighty fine.

Not Faulcon DeLacy fine though.

Well I do have a Viper IV as well... is that ok for you

 

[DB GUARDIAN]

Keelback maneuverability questions for you folks ...

What engine thruster setups have you settled on, that makes the Keelie the most responsive for you? Is it mostly dirty drives with drag experimental or is it something else?

That appears to be the best for me. Dirty drives with drag seem to work best on almost every ship in the game, when it comes to maneuverability.

I would like to know if anyone has experimented with any other combinations ... to get the best maneuverability, based on a mix of engine mods for your Keelie.

 

[Ozram]

Keelback maneuverability questions for you folks ...

What engine thruster setups have you settled on, that makes the Keelie the most responsive for you? Is it mostly dirty drives with drag experimental or is it something else?

That appears to be the best for me. Dirty drives with drag seem to work best on almost every ship in the game, when it comes to maneuverability.

I would like to know if anyone has experimented with any other combinations ... to get the best maneuverability, based on a mix of engine mods for your Keelie.

That’s what I’ve gone with as well. Pretty much the go to. I think some viper builds and def some courier builds benefit from that other experimental, but drag does it for most ships.

 

[DB GUARDIAN]

That’s what I’ve gone with as well. Pretty much the go to. I think some viper builds and def some courier builds benefit from that other experimental, but drag does it for most ships.

I've just read that the only time "drive distributors" is a good choice (for speed/maneuverability) is only on the EPT thrusters, and only within certain ship weights. On size 3 EPTs, if your total ship tonnage is between 64-120 tons, you will get more speed/maneuverability with the "drive distributors" experimental effect. On size 2 EPTs, the tonnage range is 45-76 tons. (I've tested that out on a few small ships and seems to be accurate.)

Just wish there was some way to make the Keelie a little more maneuverable (the pitch seems horrid with 2 pips or less). After looking at a few research charts by prominent commanders, it sure seems like the Keelback is overly lethargic ... especially when compared to some much larger ships that have much greater firepower. (or even the type-6). Ed Lewis seems to have experienced that lethargic maneuverability, and kind of commented on it, when his livestream debuted multicrew for the Keelback.

I really don't understand why Frontier seems to have severely handicapped such a ship with character like this (even with it having a fighter bay) ... when it really only has the firepower of a cobra or viper.

 

[Ozram]

I've just read that the only time "drive distributors" is a good choice (for speed/maneuverability) is only on the EPT thrusters, and only within certain ship weights. On size 3 EPTs, if your total ship tonnage is between 64-120 tons, you will get more speed/maneuverability with the "drive distributors" experimental effect. On size 2 EPTs, the tonnage range is 45-76 tons. (I've tested that out on a few small ships and seems to be accurate.)

Just wish there was some way to make the Keelie a little more maneuverable (the pitch seems horrid with 2 pips or less). After looking at a few research charts by prominent commanders, it sure seems like the Keelback is overly lethargic ... especially when compared to some much larger ships that have much greater firepower. (or even the type-6). Ed Lewis seems to have experienced that lethargic maneuverability, and kind of commented on it, when his livestream debuted multicrew for the Keelback.

I really don't understand why Frontier seems to have severely handicapped such a ship with character like this (even with it having a fighter bay) ... when it really only has the firepower of a cobra or viper.

Yeah agreed on all fronts, especially as Keelback has those movable thrusters. You’d figuire that would translate to some maneuverability.

 

[DB GUARDIAN]

Yeah, it really rolls like a fighter jet (and looks ultra SPIFFY doing it!) ... but no pitching up with any speed out of the blue zone!

I'm guessing if the developers were forced to fly these little gems for a whole week ... it would at least get a little "pitch" love. LOL



Any comments on how they fly with flight assist off ... i don't really fly that way too often. Was wondering if any seasoned Keelie Aces have any thoughts on that.

 

[Ozram]

Yeah, it really rolls like a fighter jet (and looks ultra SPIFFY doing it!) ... but no pitching up with any speed out of the blue zone!

I'm guessing if the developers were forced to fly these little gems for a whole week ... it would at least get a little "pitch" love. LOL



Any comments on how they fly with flight assist off ... i don't really fly that way too often. Was wondering if any seasoned Keelie Aces have any thoughts on that.

When I fly it I use fa off on it a bit as helps stay cool to use fewer thrusters. From memory, nothing special.

 

[Madrax573]

Don't try to do the roll/pitch to get changes in vector in the KB. Add some yaw in there as well and you'll get much quick vector change times....

 

[Old Duck]

Yeah, it really rolls like a fighter jet (and looks ultra SPIFFY doing it!) ... but no pitching up with any speed out of the blue zone!

I'm guessing if the developers were forced to fly these little gems for a whole week ... it would at least get a little "pitch" love. LOL

Any comments on how they fly with flight assist off ... i don't really fly that way too often. Was wondering if any seasoned Keelie Aces have any thoughts on that.

I would be disappointed if the Keelback handled like an Eagle... When I fly a heavy ship, I want it to feel heavy. I engineer my drives to G3 Clean, which gives it just the right amount of maneuverability for the ship that it is, IMO of course. I just jump into my SLF if I want to fly a 'fighter jet'.

 

[3m@nnon]

Yeah, it really rolls like a fighter jet (and looks ultra SPIFFY doing it!) ... but no pitching up with any speed out of the blue zone!

I'm guessing if the developers were forced to fly these little gems for a whole week ... it would at least get a little "pitch" love. LOL



Any comments on how they fly with flight assist off ... i don't really fly that way too often. Was wondering if any seasoned Keelie Aces have any thoughts on that.

Flight assist off she handles well. I'm one of those knuckle dragger FA off pilots that uses a controller and not much finesse. I use boost turns for a lot of dog fight situations as the Keelie has very good rotations when within her boost envelope (2 second boost duration, short compared to most other ships but useful for turns, of course knowing when 'not' to boost is also an important discipline). Her modest speed can be an asset as you will find it very difficult to overshoot your opponent which is a common mistake when flying boost heavy ships. Many pilots toggle fa off to boost turn, a Keelie pilot can eke out extra performance by doing the exact opposite. Not easy to do as you can stall the ship and the manoeuvre is situation dependent. A charge enhanced dizzy is your friend. She can knock on the door of 3000 armour and still maintain a 300/450 speed performance with G5 thrusters. Great
ship.

 

[Madrax573]

My current 'war build' has just under 2500 absolute hull points, 4k with resists and still pulls 443m/s in boost. Great ship when I'm not in my Cobra IV!
With some tweaks to the engineering you can pull in 3300 hull armour for tharg killing duty with AX/Guardian weapons/SLF's

 

[Torrigwynt174]

I know what you mean about overshooting, I'm going to have to learn more discipline in FA off manoeuvre. I get in a jousting match and I always overshoot by a good 3 or 4 km.

Still a lot to learn, but that how I like it.

 

[Ozram]

Took my stealth keel back for a ride in VR now I have a Vive. What a fantastic cockpit. In fact lots of ships look fantastic in VR, and the keelback is among them. That big canopy is fantastic. I did my usual thing. I parked about 15 k from the center of the haz and went hunting in the slf. Sure, I leave it parked near a rock most of the time, but just knowing how hard it is to spot is great. Buddy and I did a small ship sortie at a haz res and it was so much fun. I think we will be doing more. I’ll take my keelback and he’ll bring his modded up Sidey and another friend has a battle hauler and another wants to bring a cobra. Anyway, small ships for the win, with the bonus that if anything big shows up to push us around, I have a chance to strip it of it’s shields at which point those little ships are no longer so harmless.

 

[Torrigwynt174]

Optimistically, I took my general duties KB to the current CG to do some light BH. I was doing alright in the high Res with help from the cops. I was on my way back to hand in about 1MCr worth of bounties when I was interdicted by a corvette. "Oh sugar!" I said as my shield lasted 5 seconds and lots of alarms started. Quickly I set FA-off and silent running and flew erratically and set a high wake destination. Made it out with 18% Hull. Docked to repair and tried again to hand in the bounties. This time interdicted by another corvette. Again managed to high wake.
3rd time lucky I think and try again to hand in bounties. Almost at the station when a murder-de-lance interdicts me. He\she's a lot better and manages to take out my drives quickly before I could high wake. Well there I was, FA-off spinning with no drives, so I reboot\repair hoping against hope that they don't finish me off. I manage to shake off a volley of those swarm missile thingies with silent running, when I get this message from them;

http://imgur.com/a/zJwrYbu

I think this ship's a keeper!

Fly safe o7

 

[Ozram]

Optimistically, I took my general duties KB to the current CG to do some light BH. I was doing alright in the high Res with help from the cops. I was on my way back to hand in about 1MCr worth of bounties when I was interdicted by a corvette. "Oh sugar!" I said as my shield lasted 5 seconds and lots of alarms started. Quickly I set FA-off and silent running and flew erratically and set a high wake destination. Made it out with 18% Hull. Docked to repair and tried again to hand in the bounties. This time interdicted by another corvette. Again managed to high wake.
3rd time lucky I think and try again to hand in bounties. Almost at the station when a murder-de-lance interdicts me. He\she's a lot better and manages to take out my drives quickly before I could high wake. Well there I was, FA-off spinning with no drives, so I reboot\repair hoping against hope that they don't finish me off. I manage to shake off a volley of those swarm missile thingies with silent running, when I get this message from them;



I think this ship's a keeper!

Fly safe o7

What’s the message? Anyway nice job getting out of so many kill attempts.