Ships The Viper MKIV Owners Club.

[marlowe221]

I thought I would give this ship a try since I read so many good things about it in this thread. I like a little bounty hunting in a RES every now and then.

So far, the ship feels a bit sluggish to me even with G3DD thrusters. I took on a "dangerous" Cobra Mk 3 and he was flying circles around me.

It's possible it's a function of my loadout though? I went with medium bursts and small rails. I think I wasn't keeping enough pips in engines in an effort to power the weapons adequately. I should probably either engineer the power plant or go with a less hungry small thermal, medium kinetic setup so I can keep more pips in engines.

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out what the best small ship in the game is (for me, at any rate). I seem to go back and forth between the Cobra 3 and DBX. But maybe it's the Viper IV?

Any thoughts or advice greatly appreciated!

 

[BigF]

In mine I run Pulse lasers and Multicannons, with modded thrusters Higest rated to start with and a modded power plant . Everything else is hulltank and shields and boosters. With FA off on a button it flys loops round most everything.

I have visited the engineers for darned neareverythibg on the ship but the most useful by far is the power and thruster mods.

 

[marlowe221]

In mine I run Pulse lasers and Multicannons, with modded thrusters Higest rated to start with and a modded power plant . Everything else is hulltank and shields and boosters. With FA off on a button it flys loops round most everything.

I have visited the engineers for darned neareverythibg on the ship but the most useful by far is the power and thruster mods.

Yeah, there's only a certain level of engineering I find that I am willing to do. G3DD is about as far as I am willing to go on thrusters, due to unlocking engineers, finding mats, etc. I'll try a more power efficient loadout and see if keeping an additional pip to engines does it for me.

Otherwise, I may need a ship with more inherent agility. I enjoyed the DBS for bounty hunting quite a bit. The Vulture is ok but the engine sounds in that ship drive me nuts. I can't stand them!

 

[Darkslayer]

Show us your Viper 4's
Azuls Fang
https://i.imgur.com/FQF80i5.jpg
Damocles
https://i.imgur.com/fw0QLm1.jpg

 

[Darkslayer]

Yeah, there's only a certain level of engineering I find that I am willing to do. G3DD is about as far as I am willing to go on thrusters, due to unlocking engineers, finding mats, etc. I'll try a more power efficient loadout and see if keeping an additional pip to engines does it for me.

Otherwise, I may need a ship with more inherent agility. I enjoyed the DBS for bounty hunting quite a bit. The Vulture is ok but the engine sounds in that ship drive me nuts. I can't stand them!

Charge enhanced Power Distributor is the key to keeping weapons firing with only 2 to 3 pips. Also use FA off to turn, re engage it and fire. If they are facing you by then boost past and repeat. The V4 base agility is what turns folks off but it really just requires a different style to master. The V4 may not be the absolute best combat ship but can be very competent while still being multi role outfitted. Way more multi capable than a Vulture or FDL. Vipers are definitely hard to hit and harder to kill.

 

[satakuua]

I have G3 dirty drag drive thrusters. Yes, high level Cobras are more agile. Still, I have not had any real problems shooting them down. And I am no top gun. Two long range pulse lasers, and a pair of overcharged auto loader cannon are my weapons of choice. If I hunt bigger prey, I sometimes use medium railguns (I have a G1 overcharged power plant).

 

[Madrax573]

If you want to out turn small ships get rid of that damn flight assist computer!!

Whilst the Viper IV on paper has worse turning it has a much better thruster profile. So use it and switch to FA-off and you can out manoeuvre most things pretty easily.

 

[Gamsir]

FA/off when pitching, use the incrdible strong lateral thrusters a lot when behind/above/below target with the target in front of you will make ‘more agile’ targets feel like easy. Use small efficient beams with thermal vent (good burst damage for shields and keeps heat down) and medium MC’s (overcharged or efficient per your liking with corrosive and whatever you like for the second).

In my experience, it takes a little while to learn how to fly the Viper 4, using any non-gimballed weapon is a lesson in pain and frustration.
A highlevel ‘more agile’ foe will not stay in your sights for long, so use burstdamage weapons like beams and OC MC’s until you learn the quirks of the ship. Couple this with charge enhaced power distributor. This way you don’t need to put too many

When mastered it’s easily on of the most versatile small ships that can fight anything the game throws at it (human npc’s).
Surely a vulture is a better small combat ship, but the Viper 4 is imo the second best and is able to multirole at the same time.

 

[gpcustoms]

Incredible little boat. Have been flying about in a maxed out Chieftan but seem to always gravitate back to the FGS or Viper. Just all around good for dodging big boats at a RES or NAV site and pinging them until death do us part. Picks up those mats left behind faster than a jack rabbit and looks good from all angles. Just wish the DEV team would clean up the interior or give us the option to clean it up. Man is it scuffed and in need of a good detail :O

 

[MK Regular]

The Viper IV is a great little ship. For under half a million credits, you get a ship that (when fully upgraded) has good armour and shields, decent cargo capacity, good jump range, is fast, and has excellent lateral thrust and hardpoint placement. It is probably the best early-game ship to experiment with different careers in, simply because it can teach ALL of them at least somewhat effectively:

• It is a great ship to learn to do combat in, as it well suited to teaching players how to use lateral thrust, fixed weapons, and FA-Off
• It has enough internal space to be an effective trader, while also being able to hold its own in a fight
• It has a decent jump range and enough internal compartments to work as a decent entry-level explorer
• It is fast enough to be a good smuggling vessel

If you have just started playing the game, I cannot recommend this ship enough. While it is true that you can learn any skill in the game in your starting Sidewinder, the Sidewinder is nowhere near as capable as the Viper IV when it comes to actually using those skills. Yes, the Sidewinder can haul cargo and kill Anacondas, but the Viper IV will always be better at doing both of them.

TL;DR: The Viper IV is versatile enough to do anything in the game, and capable enough to teach you many of the more advanced skills that will serve you well no matter what you decide to do in the game.

 

[Darkslayer]

Been thinking about prismatics. Anybody else using them on a Viper 4?

 

[dekot]

You can not agree with it as much as you like, but it is objectively a correct statement.

Stock (Non-Engineered) Python pitches at 34 degrees/second.

Stock Viper IV pitches at 33 degrees/second.

Stock Cobra III pitches at 45 degrees/second.


A Viper with a God Roll Dirty Drives 5 is less agile than most stock small ships. When they made the Mk4s and most of the ships that patch they balanced a full engineered New Hull vs a stock Old Hull and it shows.

I know this post is a few months old but with the new engineering system, a DD5 viper mk4 has better pitch than A-rated viper mk3 and cobra mk3. I haven't directly tested with other ships but with what I know about viper mk3 vs. other small ships, a DD5 viper mk4 has better pitch than most A-rated small ships barring vulture (obviously) and possibly DBS.

Obviously, since the bar has been raised for everyone, viper mk4 agility is still a liability in pvp even with DD5. However, it has more than enough agility to run circles around most NPCs. And it does this with 2k armor while cruising around 400 and boosting around 500.

And to answer one of the questions in a previous post, DD5 viper4 does not drift at all. It stops on a dime, by far the easiest ship to pilot that I have flown and I've tried out practically all the small ships. I had always stayed away from Viper 4 because of all the negative talk around it but I'm so glad I gave it a chance. Without engineering, it is a complete slug though.

 

[satakuua]

Viper Mk IV is far better than what people give it credit for. I have now upgraded to Federal Gunship, which feels somewhat similar. Still, I would love if there was a ship between the Viper and Gunship. I really hope Krait will fit the void between light heavy and proper heavy.

 

[Darkslayer]

No one talks about its acceleration in relation to agility. 0 to 512 in 1 boost and just over a second. I don't think any other ship can do this.

 

[Madrax573]

No one talks about its acceleration in relation to agility. 0 to 512 in 1 boost and just over a second. I don't think any other ship can do this.

Most people don't even think of this stuff. they just look at the cruising and boost figure in EDSY or coriolis and base they opinions off those.

The lateral and vert thrusters coupled with the acceleration of the Viper IV make it one of the most manoeuvrable ships you can fly. Through in FA-off control and it is just a dream to throw around.

 

[Darkslayer]

Been trying Damocles out in some PP and a little PvP. I learned real fast that I needed MRP's. I am surprising folks with how useful I can be in a wing. CMDR's in anything bigger than a python are trouble though.

 

[AIKI_ZVEZDA]

I like the V4 a lot!! Externally it's the most appealing ship to me, although the cockpit could definitely uh, be a bit more interesting.

I first used mine for exploration then recently have been outfitting it to fight Thargoid scouts.
It does very well, being agile enough to dodge shots and stay on target, and having enough hull to resist caustic missiles for quite a while. Got mine to over 1000 health which definitely isn't bad.
4 overcharged multicannons also don't do a bad job either. Jump range and internal space is pretty comfy for a small combat loaded ship and i'm quite satisfied with it.

Here's a photo of mine, the Mizar Five

 

[Darkslayer]

I dig your orange accents.

 

[Deleted member 110222]

I've decided that my new PC CMDR will be a Viper pilot.

EDIT: Not set in stone now.

 

[TheOriginalB]

I still have my original Viper Mk IV from 2016, but I bought a new one (because I'm a ship hoarder) and named it "Here For The Party". My goal was to build something to fight Thargoid Scouts in, and I thought the Mk IV might be a fun option. Here's my build. In the two empty slots are a class 2 Meta-Alloy Hull Reinforcement and a class 1 decontamination limpet controller (neither are supported by Coriolis), giving final hull numbers of just over 1900. The two plasma chargers make quick work of any scout, though the frag cannons are next to useless (and I just haven't tried anything else yet.) Her maneuverability s really dependent on PIPs to ENG, which is rough with such WEP-hungry weapons. Still fun to fly, and a fun option. Now I'm just hoping we can get something useful to put in those small hardpoints.