Ugrades vs bigger ships

[Teqnique]

Back in elite after a few months away...
I have a pretty much fully beefed up cobra (all class A internal stuff except FSD drive, A rated shields, some armour), and it's worth about 8m credits.
Now the vulture has come out... and I can just about afford it, or an Asp but wouldn't be able to upgrade either very much.

I quite like having the little ship with a big bite, and I can generally take down NPC Dropships and Pythons one on one without taking damage, but wondering if I'm missing out still.

Any views on this, heavily up-rated little ship vs raw bigger ship?

 

[YoBuck]

I see so many players in vultures now with novice ranks. It seems to be the goto muscle ship. Personally I'll wait as long as I can. I upgraded to an asp after an a grade cobra and still miss the cobra.
I guess for me I worry that the game for me will be lost if I just go for the easy option.

 

[Troa Barton]

Personally I've always upgraded as soon as I could even if that meant no insurance or little to no upgrades.
with traders that meant enough to buy the best FSD plus the ship.
with combat ships that was the ship plus weapons, KWS, and distributor, power plant was added if needed.
what I would reccomend if combat is your digs is grab that vulture asap.
if you want to trade and fight grab dat asp.
keep in mind my play style is obviously very risky so your mileage may vary.

 

[Twelvefield]

Technically, I'd say you're missing out, but if you're having fun that's the most important. I have little desire to go past my Cobra, either.

One thing I'm sure you know: when you buy the bigger ships, you'll need double the sticker price to afford to upgrade it so that you don't get popped by some Cobra pilot, and so that you can afford the insurance.

 

[BanzaiZAP]

First, the bigger ship is better, BUT (and its a big but) a fully upgraded smaller ship is MUCH better than a stock bigger ship. Keep flying the A-rated Cobra until you can afford the bigger ship plus its main upgrades. Asps and Vultures are fantastic, but a stock Asp will still gets its butt kicked.

 

[Arjin]

For combat go Vulture will eat anything in its sights, for multi role go Asp its a wondrous ship.

 

[Ziljan]

a fully upgraded smaller ship is MUCH better than a stock bigger ship. Keep flying the A-rated Cobra until you can afford the bigger ship plus its main upgrades. Asps and Vultures are fantastic, but a stock Asp will still gets its butt kicked.

Not quite. A fully A rated-Cobra will get sliced and diced by a Vulture with the cheapest Class-3 weapons available and no other upgrades. The Cobra will cost 10 mil, and the Vulture will cost a hair over 5 mil. There is no combat-based reason to stay in a Cobra other than nostalgia. There should be, but there isn't. Unfortunately, bigger means better. I am lobbying hard to change this so we can upgrade smaller ships to stay viable.

 

[Dominico]

Not quite. A fully A rated-Cobra will get sliced and diced by a Vulture with the cheapest Class-3 weapons available and no other upgrades. The Cobra will cost 10 mil, and the Vulture will cost a hair over 5 mil. There is no combat-based reason to stay in a Cobra other than nostalgia. There should be, but there isn't. Unfortunately, bigger means better. I am lobbying hard to change this so we can upgrade smaller ships to stay viable.

Wrong wrong, the vulture could get no where near the cobra, too slow.

Op depends. do you take on real players or ai only? Do you trade ever? The next step from your cobra is the asp. But if you want a more powerful fighting only ship go vulture, but pvp you will struggle unless someone wants you to get them, or is very clueless and in a vulture also (plenty of them).

More info needed before we can advise you well!!

 

[roza3436]

I actually downgraded mine. Don't get me wrong the cobra is a nice shi* but for combat, the hard points for me are too awkwardly placed. I mainly use the cobra for a transport ship to either find a friend or a system with a recourse extraction site and grab a viper and deck it out a bit in the system since the viper's hardpoints are perfectly placed for fixed weapons

 

[Crono Edge]

I'd stick with the cobra until you have enough money to outfit a new ship decently. Cobra is excellent for trying out different aspects to the game. If you're thinking about trading you might want to consider the type 6.

 

[Jorlin]

i always waited untill i could upgrade to a ship that is nicely (almost perfect) fitted and having five times the insurance for it after buy and equip.

never had to fly a crippled ship or worry about losing it

 

[Teqnique]

Thanks for all comments guys, quick reply as should be working, but no to trading - bores me silly. Mostly combat, as exploration didn't ever earn me enough. Understand they've bumped the exploration rewards recently so I'll try some long trips sooner or later, but for now mostly fighting.
thanks again!!