Ships The Vulture has killed my interest in ED

[Pat Healy]

Pretty much a raw noob here, I've been playing ED for about 3 months and, having tried my hand at various professions within the game, I've found that I have the most fun with RES bounty hunting and long-range smuggling. Bought an Asp for the smuggling and that's been great, but it's less than ideal for the RES bounty hunting part...Imperial Clippers and Federal Assault Ships, particularly in wings with big ships, tend to kill me. So I said to myself, "Self, you need a Federal Assault Ship." And thus I began grinding my way up to Petty Officer or whatever the rank is for that ship.

But along the way, I started thinking about the Vulture. It's available to me now and I can outfit one pretty nicely for 20M credits, so why not? Figured it would be a nice intermediate step toward the FAS.

Oops. The game is boring now. I wipe out Clippers, FAS, Anacondas, and everything else with ease, and I'm not even good (Competent/92%). What a massively OP ship this is, particularly with 2 gimballed pulse lasers. It's super fun to fly, but since no one can outmaneuver me, I just get on the target's six, blast away, and it's over quickly. Swapping out gimbals for fixed weapons helps, as does swapping a pulse laser out for a PA - the PA's glacial projectile speed makes it more challenging to aim. Still, it's too easy now. In my Asp I had to worry about a Conda in wing with a Clipper. Not now.

"Well, idiot, stop flying the Vulture then. Go get a Viper." Sure, but now the main incentive for me in playing the game - grinding for better ships - has been removed. I've gone from a hopeless addict to complete indifference. I haven't played in three days, which is the longest break since getting the game. I know PVP will be more challenging, is that the answer?

 

[EdzUp]

Take the ship to Sag A* or the rim, you dont have to stick to the inhabited systems. PvP would be nice and will be much more challenging than shooting NPC's heck ive done Anacondas in the starting Sidey so its not that hard. If you want a challenge hang around Lave etc that will get some Pvp action in there for ya .

 

[Xeonyx]

I know PVP will be more challenging, is that the answer?

PvP, Strong Signal Sources, High-Intensity Conflict Zones, Distress Calls, Assassinations ... there are plenty of challenging content for high-end combat ships (Vulture and up). The ships you can find in RES aren't outfitted for max combat performance and the NPC piloting abilities do not do them any justice either.

But yeah, RES are nothing but credits farming grounds when you are in a Vulture, FAS, Clipper, FdL, etc...

 

[Ragnarr_Lothgar]

Try Combat zones. a little cash, you help a faction gain power or stay in power and the ships are much harder to fight than in res sites.

 

[guido1205us]

PvP, Strong Signal Sources, High-Intensity Conflict Zones, Distress Calls, Assassinations ... there are plenty of challenging content for high-end combat ships (Vulture and up). The ships you can find in RES aren't outfitted for max combat performance and the NPC piloting abilities do not do them any justice either.

But yeah, RES are nothing but credits farming grounds when you are in a Vulture, FAS, Clipper, FdL, etc...

Amen. Credits and test outfitting ships. RES is easy - try expanding your experience OP.

 

[Ddraig]

High intensity combat zones can help.
Or as someone said, take the ship to somewhere far a way or do something else.
Elite is not EVE, is not pure combat.
But each its own, if you feel like leaving, is not our job to convince you otherwise.

 

[goemon]

if your "main incentive" was "grinding for better ships" you probably hit a dead end with a vulture for pve combat. my (two) vultures are sitting in their docks, if i need them for helping a minor faction winning a civil war - i take a courier or eagle into res, cause more fun and challenge.

maybe there are other aspects of the game you might get interested in? if you want to stay a combat pilot, how about joining a player group and use your guns to back a minor faction?

you can play all what is ingame in a cobra mk iii, ship progression after that is more or less "sidegrading"/" variety"/"OP".

 

[Pat Healy]

But each its own, if you feel like leaving, is not our job to convince you otherwise.

LOL. Nope, I don't feel like leaving. I feel like finding new ways to make the game interesting, and to that end I feel like reading more of the helpful suggestions that have been posted in the thread thus far.

 

[Ddraig]

Ok.

Then on that point I strongly advice against to purchase the Federal Assault Ship. It´s a Vulture on steroids.
Fer de Lance should give you more kicks since it´s fairly more technical to fly, it does not enforce a brute strength approach to deal with its enemies and the weapon placement make it a more plan ahead type of combat vessel, it´s a different type of predator. If you wish to keep the RES combat that is.

If not.

-Exploration is fun, but it requires a mind set on its own, its long time investment type of deal. You have the ASP, you do not need anything else.
-There is people that enjoy being an space trucker. ASP can do it fairly good.
-I am lately looking for planets with strange geography and have the kicks flying really low in a striped down DBS for maximum speed. It is fun on its own, for me at least.
-Combat zones or wars are great, they are more challenging since ships come there geared with heavy weapons, even your Vulture would be at its wits ends if you screw up, plus you do not know who is winged and who isn't, so you get surprise railguns on your back and retreating becomes a serious option. plus you get to see capital ships from time to time.
-Community Goals are fun, some present some challenges on their own and usually give good rewards and you get to do stuff and move around often, plus you get invested in the lore of the game, little, but there is some.

 

[rajziel]

if your "main incentive" was "grinding for better ships" you probably hit a dead end with a vulture for pve combat. my (two) vultures are sitting in their docks, if i need them for helping a minor faction winning a civil war - i take a courier or eagle into res, cause more fun and challenge.

maybe there are other aspects of the game you might get interested in? if you want to stay a combat pilot, how about joining a player group and use your guns to back a minor faction?

you can play all what is ingame in a cobra mk iii, ship progression after that is more or less "sidegrading"/" variety"/"OP".

I'm really hoping they add the option to transport ships to your location soon.
would love to use my Eagle in a conflict zone but am turned off by the massive trip to collect it and get back lol

 

[Pat Healy]

Ok.

Then on that point I strongly advice against to purchase the Federal Assault Ship. It´s a Vulture on steroids.
Fer de Lance should give you more kicks since it´s fairly more technical to fly, it does not enforce a brute strength approach to deal with its enemies and the weapon placement make it a more plan ahead type of combat vessel, it´s a different type of predator. If you wish to keep the RES combat that is.

If not.

-Exploration is fun, but it requires a mind set on its own, its long time investment type of deal. You have the ASP, you do not need anything else.
-There is people that enjoy being an space trucker. ASP can do it fairly good.
-I am lately looking for planets with strange geography and have the kicks flying really low in a striped down DBS for maximum speed. It is fun on its own, for me at least.
-Combat zones or wars are great, they are more challenging since ships come there geared with heavy weapons, even your Vulture would be at its wits ends if you screw up, plus you do not know who is winged and who isn't, so you get surprise railguns on your back and retreating becomes a serious option. plus you get to see capital ships from time to time.
-Community Goals are fun, some present some challenges on their own and usually give good rewards and you get to do stuff and move around often, plus you get invested in the lore of the game, little, but there is some.

That was exactly my thinking about the FAS...the Vulture is already too powerful so why bother. Good suggestions all, thank you!

 

[vernonator]

The Vulture IS a beast, I use mine for RES harvesting and missions. With up to 20T of cargo its a pretty good mission ship for courier duty as well. I tried the whole space trucker thing, sold my vulture and bought an Asp Explorer and did two runs of a 10 hop rare route. OMG by time the 2nd run was done I wanted to tear my eyes out ....BOOOORRRRIIINGGGGGG. I don't know how people do it. Guess I am just built to be a Bounty Hunter.....

 

[Ddraig]

Small detail I didn't mention about the Federal Assault Ship and the Vulture.
The Vulture has better shields. While the FAS has paper shields but can soak damage in the hull like no other, so while indeed has weapons and handles like a ship 1/4 its mass, it gets damaged quickly if not careful.

And yeah, I did space trucking when getting my Anaconda... Never again.

 

[InMemoriamSirocco]

Take your Vulture into war. Killing criminals is too easy in a warship. It was built for battle. Fly it into battle, then. Against navy ships.

If you find yourself still looking for a challenge, try strong signal sources and distress calls.

 

[Pat Healy]

The Vulture IS a beast, I use mine for RES harvesting and missions. With up to 20T of cargo its a pretty good mission ship for courier duty as well. I tried the whole space trucker thing, sold my vulture and bought an Asp Explorer and did two runs of a 10 hop rare route. OMG by time the 2nd run was done I wanted to tear my eyes out ....BOOOORRRRIIINGGGGGG. I don't know how people do it. Guess I am just built to be a Bounty Hunter.....

Yeah I had a brief flirtation with grinding out trade routes. Bought a Type 6 and found a decent Imperial Slaves / Tantalum route (Ehecatl to Tetrian, if anyone cares) that delivered 300K per round trip. A round trip took 15 minutes so I could make around 1.2 mil per hour, but holy smokes what boredom! I found myself fantasizing about opening fire on the space station with my puny pulse lasers just for the sake of breaking up the monotony. No thanks. The long-range smuggling is more fun, but after you figure out how to handle the constant interdictions, boredom sets in again. I'm with you, gotta shoot things.

 

[Daynen]

I see the 'ship grind' as a dangerous and tenuous way to hold a player's interest. There are honestly too many ships and not enough functions for them to fulfill. Lots of players will probably never even fly two thirds of the ships in the game, simply because what they offer is of no advantage over what the players already have. I have a cobra III, and I feel no incentive to buy any other ship at the moment, because all the roles I want are well-covered; every other piece of equipment or ship to carry it are just luxuries I don't care for.

I honestly think the vulture was a good concept for a ship: heavily armed for its size, at the cost of flexibility and capacity. It's a warship, plain and simple. Unfortunately, energy weapons and shields being what they are, part of this trade-off feels somewhat defeated.

Once there are more ways to interact with the galaxy and its inhabitants, as well as a better variety of functions and parameters for our equipment, I think more ships will start finding real popularity. As it is, they're all just one of three things: an unarmed long-jumper, a tanked-out weapon battery, or a sluggish junk mover. Going anywhere between is often regarded as woefully sub-optimal.

Kinda sad, actually; ED has found it's unfortunate mirror to the old holy trinity...sigh.

Glad I've stuck with my cobra.

 

[goemon]

I'm really hoping they add the option to transport ships to your location soon.
would love to use my Eagle in a conflict zone but am turned off by the massive trip to collect it and get back lol

i hope that, too. but i simply purchase and outfit an eagle, when i want to have a go, where ever i am. it's cheap, you loose 8000 cr, if you sell the moduls before the ship.

 

[vernonator]

What I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see is the ability to park a ship WITH CARGO STILL ABOARD. I could then place a few Pew Pew ships along a trade route and jump out and do some killing to break the boredom. As it is now if you are running a rare route you pretty much in it for the loop and then some. It was doing a rares route that started at Leesti and hit 10 total rares planets in a loop. OMG was it BORING sure I made like 1.2 million with 88ton of space but it took me all day and I was bored to TEARS.

 

[El Dragoon!]

meh, i have a ship for every job, long range battle conda, pvp ghost cobra , suicide sidewinder, t6 miner, and shadow mission asp, never get bored

 

[droscoe]

Your combat rank is just like any other "ranking" system in other games, except for K ratio. It just indicates how long youve played, not an indicator of skill. that being said, if you have a fully fitted Vulture, of course you'll tear through Anacondas...that aren't Elite. They aren't outfitted with the best modules.

I suggest doing missions. Or...if you think youre so good at combat in the Vulture, go up against other real players, not NPCs. You'll want a better ship soon I'm sure.

From the Vulture, the FDL is the next step up, unless you want a more hull tanky option like the FAS. Up to you.