Newcomer / Intro Tips on how to choose my next ship?

[aRJay]

Early on (second ship) I had the Viper 3, overall I was unimpressed with it just didn't suit how I flew. Much more recently I tried the Viper 4, this time it was a much happier experience.
The Cobra 3 I wanted from the start, after all it was the ship when I first played some 31 years ago and it is a must fly ship for those of us of a certain for that reason, For the younger crowd it is merely a very competent multi role ship. If you can get the weight and power right it is the fastest ship in the game.

Have a look at https://coriolis.io a third party site that lets you decide your ship build.

I haven't bothered with ECM on a build in ages, I prefer Point Defence for its two advantages first it is automatic so you don't have to remember to trigger it second there are no 10 second warm ups.

 

[CMDR Cknarf]

The Cobra is probably the best small all-rounder in the game.

If you're looking for a dedicated small combat ship, the DBS is hard to beat. Very maneuverable, excellent hardpoint placement, decent visibility, and the jump range is alright, too. I may have bigger, badder ships now, but I always find myself back in the old DBS.

 

[mrsiCkstar]

I haven't bothered with ECM on a build in ages, I prefer Point Defence for its two advantages first it is automatic so you don't have to remember to trigger it second there are no 10 second warm ups.

Really good point. I think I will go for Point Defence from now on. The scanner on the HUD seems really cluttered even with the zoom all the way down, so it would be better if I didn't have to rely on that to know when to defend. I wish there was a way to filter out irrelevant information to have a clearer picture of things.

If you're looking for a dedicated small combat ship, the DBS is hard to beat. Very maneuverable, excellent hardpoint placement, decent visibility, and the jump range is alright, too. I may have bigger, badder ships now, but I always find myself back in the old DBS.

Glad you said that. I was just about to pull the trigger on the Cobra when I really started thinking about what I wanted to do. I've been looking at all those missions where they want you to hunt down pirates and defectors and those juicy paychecks and being annoyed I haven't been able to do them with my meager Adder and 3 pulse lasers lol. So would be nice to have something with the capability for that mission. I went to the ED Wiki and compared the two ships and they seem kind of similar with a few trade offs. The Cobra has slightly faster boost speed, and it has cargo space so you could mine, smuggle etc. But the DBS has more maneuverability, same top speed, same shielf and armor, same fuel capacity, better for combat. The only drawback really is that there's no cargo space off the bat. You could always install some, but it doesn't have the flexibility due to a comparative lack of internal compartments compared to the Cobra. Jump ranges are similar, with a slight edge to the DBS.

There's also aesthetics... I really like the look of the DBS and the fact that you're sitting in the center of the cockpit like a fighter. I don't enjoy the side by side airliner style cockpits. Like the Adder I've been flying... makes me feel like I'm piloting a bus. It's silly, but it's been really bugging me.

So I could sell my Adder and buy a Cobra and have the capability to perform a wide variety of missions with that one ship, and just deal with the double seat cockpit. Or I could buy the DBS and really go for the bounty hunting, and keep the Adder and outfit that for mining or cargo hauling.

Lots to think about.

 

[goemon]

Really good point. I think I will go for Point Defence from now on. The scanner on the HUD seems really cluttered even with the zoom all the way down, so it would be better if I didn't have to rely on that to know when to defend. I wish there was a way to filter out irrelevant information to have a clearer picture of things.



Glad you said that. I was just about to pull the trigger on the Cobra when I really started thinking about what I wanted to do. I've been looking at all those missions where they want you to hunt down pirates and defectors and those juicy paychecks and being annoyed I haven't been able to do them with my meager Adder and 3 pulse lasers lol. So would be nice to have something with the capability for that mission. I went to the ED Wiki and compared the two ships and they seem kind of similar with a few trade offs. The Cobra has slightly faster boost speed, and it has cargo space so you could mine, smuggle etc. But the DBS has more maneuverability, same top speed, same shielf and armor, same fuel capacity, better for combat. The only drawback really is that there's no cargo space off the bat. You could always install some, but it doesn't have the flexibility due to a comparative lack of internal compartments compared to the Cobra. Jump ranges are similar, with a slight edge to the DBS.

There's also aesthetics... I really like the look of the DBS and the fact that you're sitting in the center of the cockpit like a fighter. I don't enjoy the side by side airliner style cockpits. Like the Adder I've been flying... makes me feel like I'm piloting a bus. It's silly, but it's been really bugging me.

So I could sell my Adder and buy a Cobra and have the capability to perform a wide variety of missions with that one ship, and just deal with the double seat cockpit. Or I could buy the DBS and really go for the bounty hunting, and keep the Adder and outfit that for mining or cargo hauling.

Lots to think about.

"It's silly, but it's been really bugging me." - it is actually one of the best reasons to choose that ship or this. you spend a lot of time in your cockpit, fly what you enjoy! i personally like cosy cockpits - i have flown an Adder for exploration till i financed my first AspE through that ... and i'm always returning to small ships for exploration, because i love the "small ship in a big galaxy"-feeling they give me. as a compromise now a DBE.

my python with its cockpit feels like a mobile living room... i like that.

---

DBS is a fantastic ship, i fly it in CZ and for surface missions, where its cockpit helps a lot!

 

[aRJay]

This is a purely personal thing, but I have a couple of issues with the Diamondbacks the first is as I am not the greatest of pilots I favour turrets to help me keep on the target and I perceive the DBacks as having more blind spots than I like the second is That I prefer a more tidied away look to a cockpit all that cabling and pipe work held in place by cable ties makes me uncomfortable. They both fly well and run extremely cool* but I have always been happy to sell them.

*You can see the advantage of this by watching how close you have to get to one you can see through your canopy before it shows up on your scanner.

 

[mrsiCkstar]

I really enjoy the more rugged, utilitarian look. As a person I'm always trying to find the most efficient way to do something and I'm also a big fan of racing and race cars. In race cars you often see cables zipped up in the cockpit etc. Everything possible is stripped out of the car in order to save weight and gain performance. I'm liking the DBS more and more.

I think I will continue with my Adder for another day or two and make more money so I can really put some upgrades into whatever ship I end up buying.

As a side question: I have this dormant bounty on me that I got on my first day. I don't know how. It's like 455Cr so basically nothing. Most likely I accidentally hit a cop when firing on a pirate. Anyway last night I ventured into Asellus Primus, and got scanned right when I was entering the docking bay. They slaughtered me inside there lol. Anyway, the bounty didn't go away. What gives? I thought when they kill you, the bounty is settled.

 

[Gator Country]

I really enjoy the more rugged, utilitarian look. As a person I'm always trying to find the most efficient way to do something and I'm also a big fan of racing and race cars. In race cars you often see cables zipped up in the cockpit etc. Everything possible is stripped out of the car in order to save weight and gain performance. I'm liking the DBS more and more.

I think I will continue with my Adder for another day or two and make more money so I can really put some upgrades into whatever ship I end up buying.

As a side question: I have this dormant bounty on me that I got on my first day. I don't know how. It's like 455Cr so basically nothing. Most likely I accidentally hit a cop when firing on a pirate. Anyway last night I ventured into Asellus Primus, and got scanned right when I was entering the docking bay. They slaughtered me inside there lol. Anyway, the bounty didn't go away. What gives? I thought when they kill you, the bounty is settled.

The whole bounty system is kind of confusing at first and I don't have much experience with it, so I'm just going to link a Wiki page that explains it - http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Bounty. Hope it helps answer your question.

ETA - I'll take a stab at it; from my understanding, the only way the bounty would actually go away for good would be for another player or an NPC to kill you and then claim the bounty. If the station kills you then it gets converted to a legacy fine that gets tacked onto your rebuy cost.


It's a good idea when starting out to frequently check your fine/bounty status when you're at stations. I also picked up some 400 CR fine early on for some reason I can't even recall any more, and just paid it off at the first opportunity I had.

 

[aRJay]

I really enjoy the more rugged, utilitarian look. As a person I'm always trying to find the most efficient way to do something and I'm also a big fan of racing and race cars. In race cars you often see cables zipped up in the cockpit etc. Everything possible is stripped out of the car in order to save weight and gain performance. I'm liking the DBS more and more.

I think I will continue with my Adder for another day or two and make more money so I can really put some upgrades into whatever ship I end up buying.

As a side question: I have this dormant bounty on me that I got on my first day. I don't know how. It's like 455Cr so basically nothing. Most likely I accidentally hit a cop when firing on a pirate. Anyway last night I ventured into Asellus Primus, and got scanned right when I was entering the docking bay. They slaughtered me inside there lol. Anyway, the bounty didn't go away. What gives? I thought when they kill you, the bounty is settled.

After the scan did the red Wanted notice appear above your fuel star HUD on the lower right? If not then it was still dormant and your death was for something else, possibly too slow in the entrance or no docking permission. The other thing is just dying doesn't get rid of it even if reactivated it has to be something that can claim the bounty and I a not sure whether stations can.

As I understand it the only people interested in dormant bounties are system authority vessels of the body issuing the bounty (so usually just near where you got it) and bounty hunters with KWS (anywhere). The advice used to be don't go back to X while the dormant bounty counts down and make a note of where X was because when the dormant bounty becomes a legacy fine you won't know where to pay it off.

 

[mrsiCkstar]

I did have the red wanted text. They actually killed me twice, the time at the station being the 2nd time. The first time they killed me after I got interdicted by a pirate and the cops who showed up to help me scanned me. I'm now unsure if the bounty was converted to a fine after I died, and then when I went in to dock, I just forgot to ask for permission. That's certainly a possibility.

This thread is now severely off topic, though, so I'll start a new one if I have any more questions.

 

[Chris Simon]

I did have the red wanted text. They actually killed me twice, the time at the station being the 2nd time. The first time they killed me after I got interdicted by a pirate and the cops who showed up to help me scanned me. I'm now unsure if the bounty was converted to a fine after I died, and then when I went in to dock, I just forgot to ask for permission. That's certainly a possibility.

This thread is now severely off topic, though, so I'll start a new one if I have any more questions.

Its topic is you asking questions.
I don't think there's really something as Off topic in newcomers section, as long as it is related to Elite.

The bounties are confusing, yes.
When you have a bounty and die, it turns into dormant bounty. It is reactivated, whenever you are scanned in that particular system, and you can't really get rid of it, other than by being killed by another commander, who then claims that bounty.
If you don't die, then after the timer on the bounty runs out, it turns into a fine and you can pay it off. However if you obtain a new bounty, before you could pay off the previous fine, it is added to the bounty, instead and you have to wait for the new timer to run out.
Most of the time, the easiest thing to do is to simply leave the system and operate somewhere else, for the time being, to avoid this cycle of dormant bounties and deaths. There will be an occasional bounty-hunter sent after you, but if you are clean in the system they found you, you can kill them legally after they attack you, which is nice.

So yeah. Like Gator said, confusing. There's a good logic behind it, but it's not entirely obvious at first.

 

[mrsiCkstar]

Thanks. The annoying bit is I knew about the bounty and had stayed away from the system for 2 days. I went there to have a look at the DBS at the shipyard. But I was tired and didn't remember, and didn't look at my notes to find out, that they also sell DBS nearby at Aulin where my record is clean. Ugh. So I'm out about 15k because I had to rebuy my Adder. Live and learn.

By the way, is there an easy way to find out which stations sell which ships at a discount? Or do I just have to cruise around from system to system to find out?

 

[Chris Simon]

By the way, is there an easy way to find out which stations sell which ships at a discount? Or do I just have to cruise around from system to system to find out?

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/155377-Active-Discounts-thread

Or simply travel to Li Yong-Rui space. (switch the map mode to Powerplay to see where to go) They have permanent discounts.

 

[mrsiCkstar]

Thanks!

 

[mrsiCkstar]

Well, I just had a pretty good night, and learned a lot. I was stacking cargo and supply missions in my Adder with the ship filled to the brim at all times. Pirates were chasing me and I kept evading them or defeating their interdiction attempts or killing them. I got careless about my fuel levels at one point, though, which ended up costing me.

I was carrying the cargo for two missions, on my way to pick up cargo for a third one, when I realized I didn't have enough fuel to make the next jump. I was in hyperspace so I couldn't go back. So I thought it's no biggie, I'll just scoop some at the star when I drop. As soon as I drop I get interdicted, and within 2 seconds of it starting I'm too close to the star and we drop out of SC. My ship is cooking up in the heat, and the pirate has my shields down. I could have fought and killed him, but I was too busy worrying about the ship burning up. I tried to boost away from the star to get to colder space, but while I was doing that the pirate scum was picking off my modules one by one and I had no fuel to jump to SC. I ended up blowing up and losing the cargo. Lesson learned. Always refuel before you have so little fuel you can't make the next jump. And always kill the damn pirate. I'm pretty sure I could have dispatched him, and still had the time to fly away from the star before my ship melted, but I was panicking a little because everything happened so quickly. After that the same pirate came after me again. I killed him and every other pirate that came my way to cash in on their bounties and the mission bonuses to offset the cost of the cargo I had to buy back. I think I got it all back.

I ended the day with nearly 1.2 million in the bank. Pretty good haul for me, since I haven't ever had much more than 400k before. But even more valuable are all the lessons I learned about how to stack missions and make some money, how to fight the interdiction and other stuff. I also progressed to 90% of the first rank with the Federation. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the rest of it.

But now I should have enough money to buy the DBS, put a few upgrades into it, and still have some insurance money in the bank.