To Asp or not to Asp

[Neuros]

Thank you all for your wonderful opinions, it appears that the Asp is the more popular choice of ship for trading. I will probably get an Asp when I get enough capital together, currently sat on 4 million so I got a fair way to go yet before I upgrade.

 

[Rall]

Why is the type 6 a step to an Asp? I'm flying a cobra and an adder at the moment. I don't intend to buy any of the pure cargo ships at all. I'm earning money slowly and I'll eventually buy an Asp as an explorer, its original design purpose.

There's no need to get a type 6, I did this myself. I was in a Cobra until I saved for enough for an ASP by bounty hunting, light trading/smugling and courier runs. My Cobra was worth 7.5Mil when I finally traded her in once I had enough for an ASP. I had saved some extra to fully kit out a Viper for killing at the same time.

Now the ASP is my general purpose ship, and the Viper is there when I want to melt things.

As for the OP the higher operating cost of the ASP will wipe out the any gain from the slightly better Cargo capacity.

But if you want a ship that can do it all, the ASPs ample internal and utility slots means it's an exellent multirole vessel.

 

[jgm]

But this means that you have to downgrade the Asp's default Class 5 Shield to a Class 3 Shield, otherwise you would have 96 tons instead of 120 tons. Should not be a real problem but I think it should be mentioned

This is true. It should also give you some money back, but I'm not in-game so can't tell you how much. Probably an appreciable amount, though, given the cost of the modules.

 

[Hoagy44]

I upgraded to an Asp as I thought it would be able to both fight and trade. However to get a decent cargo bay you have to strip out the shields and I'm not that confident in my (or anyone elses) flying skills to avoid a costly collision. The sound was great, although not sure how a turbo-prop works in space!

Ended up going back to he Type 6 for trading and buying a Cobra (thought about a Viper) for fighting. It's annoying having to go back to my "home" to swap ships if I feel like a change of playing style, but found that if want to do a decent job then it is best to have the correct tools for it, rather than trying to use a spanner as a hammer and screwdriver...

 

[Queebatron]

I'm nowhere near rich enough yet to get an Asp (in a somewhat upgraded Cobra now with about 225k, I think), but that's the ship I want if only for the amazing view from the cockpit.*

*related: WHY can't we have 3rd person view (without hud, mind, so it'd be a tad risky) at least in supercruise?? Think of the vistas we could get! Aaargh.

 

[Schlack]

As usual the answer is: It depends.

ASP far more expensive to run, but has longer range so not bad for rare circuits.

 

[Rall]

Can ASP NPC hunt up to Anaconda / Python and the big question....
PvP against Vipers and Cobras?

I used a long-loiter time (4 x lasers, 1 x shield boost) combat spec Viper to anarchy nav beacon camp for long periods of time. I always chose NPC targets first, but, well, you know, sometimes another player kills steals too many times or sometimes one of them just doesn't like my name and opens up first...

So, I sold the viper and went the Type 6 route, credit farming, and am up to 8 mill in assets. Can I fit an ASP to go anarchy nav beacon camping again and still be able to handle an NPC anaconda and python, and also still be able to fight PvP? I never have seen a player controlled Asp where I camp, but I have killed many many of them flown by NPCs while bounty hunting. In fact, the Asp was my favorite NPC ship to kill with my Viper. Camp under its belly, target its power plant and unload my lasers. They blew up so fast it wasn't funny. Coldnt turn fight at all either. But again, we're talking NPC controlled ones which are obviously different...

So, can an Asp be made to dog fight a bit? Can it turn? Class A thrusters / Class A Shield gen and 4 x lasers of some kind? Also have to fit ECM / Shield Boost / and point defense or what? I imagine when the hull takes damage, the repair costs are nuts-so.

Any PvP / NPC Anaconda hunting opinions with the Asp? How much assets do I need (I will sell the type 6 and all modeules) to make the Asp survivable in combat right out of the gate?

You need Type C modules - including moving to a Class 6 shield gen before she start to become a good fighting ship. But honestly, it's plenty good enough for NPC's stock.

The ASP has almost perfect hard point placement for combat, the only slight downside is the two of the small hard point don't have much upward gimble - much like the Cobras small hard points. The ship is surprising nimble when rigged light (Though I don’t keep my ASP light). Pitch rate is actually pretty good, acceleration is biggest weakness and you've got pretty bad lateral and vertical thrust as well. It’s quite a slow ship, about the same speed as an Eagle for comparison.

NPC Python and Condas don't hold up for long against a heavily armed ASP. I've got two medium beam laser, and for small gimballed cannon, it makes short work of NPC Condas. The big Class 4 Power distro mean you can run the big beams much longer than a Viper of Cobra can, so you melt through shields quickly.

Against players in agile ships, you’ll struggle without light gambled weapons though (Mufti’s, burst Laser etc) – and any PVPer worth there salt will be packing a chaff launcher. But the ASP can take a hell of beating so anything you can’t get into your sights, you should be able to run from – especially if you’re packing shield cells.

All the other fighting ship’s I’ve had I’ve rigged light, I don’t do this with an ASP.

Heavy weapons, heavy shields and heavy armour.

Treat the ASP like a heavy gunship and not a fighter and it’ll excel on the battle field.

 

[GJ51]

My ASP is worth 43 Mil. It does it all. Had a Type 7 for about 2 mins. Couldn't get out of it fast enough. Pure boredom. Not been killed yet in my ASP. I've taken out a few Pythons and anything smaller than a Cobra is usually vaporized on one pass from 6 Beam Lasers. Fun to see...

 

[sklurk]

Just remember to not have your insurance covered when you buy one, thats how the cool kids fly it.

I see what you did there....

 

[Rall]

Asp can fit a lot more cargo, has hugely more firepower, is significantly faster and jumps much further, opening up more direct trade routes.

Type 6 is slow, practically defenceless and has the aesthetics of a brick. It's only redeeming feature is the price.

To can get your ASP to carry more Cargo than a type 6, but you have to strip it down to be basically defenceless. Flying shieldless ASP is begging for a high repair bill.

With Class 5 Shields equiped I can get my ASP up to 96 tons, so It's comparable to a shielded Type 6, but that's without shield cells or a fuel scoop, and the ASP fuel costs are pretty high.

DISCLAIMER: I've never owned or flown a Type 6 and never will. But I still think's it's a better option for a pure trader.

 

[bugbait42]

OP, you don't seem to understand yet. The Asp is the 'end-game' ship. Not the T7, Anaconda, or the Clipper or whatever-comes-next. Your only aspiration in the game should be to own an Asp.
.
Reason: It's an Asp for Gawd's Sake.

The Asp would be a great ship for exploring with its huge jump range, (after the FSD and power plant have been upgraded,) and all the slots it has available for various other add-ons, such as room for two Auto Field Maintenance Units so they can repair each other, etc etc. I had one for a while, intending to head out into deep space with it. However, it seems to be extremely expensive to run, re repair costs. Ok, I understand the argument that the more expensive the ship, the more expensive it should be to repair and I agree with that, but the other day I got about about 10,000 credits worth of hull damage on my Asp simply by travelling about 350,000 LS to scan a companion star - I hadn't been shot up, or bumped into anything since I did my last repairs at a space station - the hull damage just seemed to be down to the stress of travelling 350,000 LS in supercruise.

The problem with that, as the game is at the moment, is that an auto-field maintenance unit cannot repair hull damage so if you're out in deep space thousands of ly from the nearest station, and you go a long distance in supercruise to explore and scan something and get hull damage, what are you supposed to do? So I hope that particular problem with the Asp is addressed in a future update.

I have now sold my Asp and gone back to having a Cobra with a 24 ly jump range so I can go out exploring. Before I had the Asp I used a Cobra to go out to Betelguese and I was first to discover quite a few objects on the way. I'm now planning to be a bit more ambitious and travel about 7,000 ly to Eta Carinae, then go around the houses a bit doing more exploring, before heading back to "civilisation."

 

[bugbait42]

Oh and as for trading, I would never use an Asp just for that, because of the high running costs as mentioned by others (and myself in my previous post.) Give me a Type 6 all day long - it's far stronger and gets much less expensive damage for a start

 

[Kalearne]

My Asp has 20% more cargo than my T6. Five runs in the Asp means six in the T6. Asp can also do more than the T6. I'd go Asp

 

[Odan Brota]

I recently went from Cobra to ASP, and I'm loving it. However, I consider the ASP to be the last ship ill buy for quite some time, as it can trade, fight, and most importantly explore. From a pure trading standpoint, you will likely not make much more profit from going to the ASP. Keep grinding away for that type 7, imo.

 

[kaaldesh]

Think this thread was started way before the trading "fix."


Now that a trade route runs dry in about an hour and a half, I'd say the Asp is far better than the t6. In fact, since this fix, I went from the T7 back to the Asp. At least with the Asp I can land on outposts. So the small difference in cargo capacity between the t6 and Asp isn't really an issue and the Asp is faster and jumps farther. I'll probably use the Asp until I get a Python because it lets me travel far to another set of systems way off on the fringe of civilized space to begin trading anew... you know... where my one ship can manage to fulfill an entire population's resonating separators needs in 90 minutes lol (yes I trade at Huge and Very Large population systems)


Also, the Asp is much more fun to fly than the t6 and t7 and gives you options to fight and explore.

 

[SAB380]

The Asp is a much more expensive, much better mutli-role ship.
Its price jump isn't worth it if trading is your goal though.

 

[Dogthinker]

The Asp is a much more expensive, much better mutli-role ship.
Its price jump isn't worth it if trading is your goal though.

It's a worthwhile purchase even if you do nothing but trade. Not only does it carry more cargo and jump further, but it is also far more agile - so you cut down on docking/undocking time. The extra income from the higher earning rate easily exceeds the loss from trading it in if/when the trader transitions to a T7.

 

[Comrade Napoleon]

The ASP is currently with the Cobra the 2 best overall ships in game.
They have slightly different roles, Cobra is more combat, Asp is more Cargo/long range.
I prefer the Asp , this ship is just so versatile and the hardpoints placement is totaly über all A grade + mirrored armour will cost like 50 mill, but that is serious business.
Go well kitted A Asp , go rares trading , about 88 cargo and you dont have to fear many opponents, super Conda or Python maybe.

I fly a Python (Lakon 8 ) now only due to cargo and outposts, it is imo too slow for my taste and the upgrade path is daunting, like + 130 mill, that is serious commitment, but thats my choice, I simply could not bear any more time in Lakon' s .

Asp : Fun all the way

Cheers Cmdr's

 

[Saliddry]

go for asp...

you have enough space for an fuel scoop so running cost is no matter at all...

even an size 5 B shield generator and 4 burst lasers gimballed + 2 multicannons in the larger slots are enough for everything you coe across if ya dont to elite anaconda missions
while still having 88 tons cargo and an jump range of 18.28 with full cargo ++++ military composite Armor+++++(class B) and 22.54 with class A jumpdrive

http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=30g,0...7u57u5,318I8S886a6Q8S8I,0AA7TC05U05U05UmpT9qS

made this setup very quick and tryed to hold costs down its 6:24 am here now and i have to go


the asp is just pure funn to fly ... you can take all bounty targets that cross your way with impunity even with this very chep setup

something like that was the first setup i started having funn with the asp .... my setup is way more expansive right now

 

[Tryst]

I'd still upgrade. The ASP is quite agile and fast for it's size so, if you can't do combat so well, you still have the option to bug out. Unless they severely gimp the Asp like they did the Python, the nearly 2x cargo capacity over the Type 6 still makes it a good choice for trading. Without the Asp as a step up, your next ship is going to cost 17 million, nearly 3 times what the Asp costs, then you still need and overhead for the insurance and trading with it so the cost is closer to 20 million.

Frankly, with the way they've screwed the traders over with the dynamic market and removal of all the decent trade routes that made a nice profit, getting 17 million with only 100K max profit on average per trip would make it a really long and boring game. I managed, after about 3 days of searching, to find a route that gives me 170K on a round trip but that's visiting 3 stations and two of those in a system that takes nearly 20 minutes to SC to the station from the nav point. the only other route I can find gives me only 90K for a 10 minute round trip and profits go down, due to the dynamic economy, faster than the Titanic.