unfair npc's

[Bigmaec]

Usually if they are running Reinforced shields they have a slight thermal deficiency, and Thermal resistant will have a slight kinetic deficiency. But, it's like you said... you never really know, and with the right engineered boosters they can negate those deficiencies, especially in ships that have more than 4 utility slots.

But generally you'll face a thermal deficiency, because not using reinforced makes you vulnerable to Plasma Accelerators too much.
So it's pretty much a safe bet to rely on that.
I'd wager the number of G5 thermal Shield Generators in PvP are vastly lower then G5 reinforced.

 

[GeneralIdea1964]

Just saying... I used to confuse Pythons, Vipers and Anacondas in my early days :S

Mind you while at certain distances they might all look the same, in a fairly basic sidewinder, you'd struggle with any of them.
I have a cmdr on reset and even with some knowledge, I'm running rather than fighting most things.
OP you need to pick smaller ships to fight. Others have listed them already.
Good luck.

 

[Amanojaku]

But generally you'll face a thermal deficiency, because not using reinforced makes you vulnerable to Plasma Accelerators too much.
So it's pretty much a safe bet to rely on that.
I'd wager the number of G5 thermal Shield Generators in PvP are vastly lower then G5 reinforced.

True. I bet your wager is correct.

 

[Ezren]

True. I bet your wager is correct.

That's how a meta happens, adaptation. If building heavy shields with low thermal resist is the meta, thermal weapons will become more effective. People start building thermal, to the detriment of kinetic resistance. Kinetic comes along, and everyone's doing high blanket resistances. And then we're right back to absolute damage from PAs.

But again, that's PvP really. This thread is about NPCs so I suppose it's moot in this context.

 

[dammad]

In that case - before you take off for Colonia, unlock the Guardian shield boosters and FSD boosters. Either go into your ship's internal slots and will add a fixed amount of shield points/jump range. And the sites where you can unlock them are only south of the Bubble.

Tutorial video on how to acquire the mats inside the spoiler (both take the same type of Guardian blueprint, but different materials).

Spoiler

Thanks, it might take a few more days to get to Colonia collecting all the different mats is a time consuming endevore. But I will get there as quickly as i can.

 

[dammad]

Hey anyone out there get the nack of railgun targeting down good useing a standard Xbox controler? Fine control movement just isn't there. I've been trying to sweep the target while charging up to fire and getting less then 30% hit ratio. I looked for a sensitivity adjust in options and did not see one,is there a way to reduce stick movement speed and dead zone? Ive got huge dead zones then real fast movement, am I looking at a controler upgrade to be able to use rail guns effectively?

 

[dammad]

It's more significant on some ships than others. Some turn fine with Flight Assist, some do not. Larger ships benefit a lot from FA-off turns.

There are also instances where you want to turn sharply, while still keeping your ship moving in the direction it's heading. A boost can change your direction quickly, so you can FA-off, flip around, and boost to slip right past a pursuer.

Going to practice that, alot. Thanks, will that work latterally? Going to try, be cool if it does will need to leave FA off to slide sideways, donnt think my Xbox controler will be able to make it work but still going to try it, let you know how I do. Thanks I had forgotten "once in motion" rule

 

[dammad]

Mind you while at certain distances they might all look the same, in a fairly basic sidewinder, you'd struggle with any of them.
I have a cmdr on reset and even with some knowledge, I'm running rather than fighting most things.
OP you need to pick smaller ships to fight. Others have listed them already.
Good luck.

Thanks, all you folks make it easier to not get so frustrated and just keep going.

 

[Shinji Ikari]

NPCs are fine except from some rule violations they occasionally make.

 

[slim pickins]

ya I be like the people in the matrix, you see an agent you run, until my combat chops are pretty high I don't fight anything right now, mind you ive only been playing for two days so far lol.

 

[TiberiusDuval]

ya I be like the people in the matrix, you see an agent you run, until my combat chops are pretty high I don't fight anything right now, mind you ive only been playing for two days so far lol.

It comes down to two basics and their combination...either you can fly good enough to evade or fight it out with NPC, or you have hard enough ship, to take whatever punishment they can offer and deal back more. Or you have both, powerfull ship AND flying skills. For me its is mostly ship thing. My Cutter can bring me home from almost any kind of "human" npc encounter, unless I do something actually stupid . Usually it can also help me finish that opponent.

 

[Ezren]

Going to practice that, alot. Thanks, will that work latterally? Going to try, be cool if it does will need to leave FA off to slide sideways, donnt think my Xbox controler will be able to make it work but still going to try it, let you know how I do. Thanks I had forgotten "once in motion" rule

It works in any direction you're facing. I've used it in CQC a lot to make those sharp corner turns to lose somebody tailing me.

Flight Assist basically works to even you out - in open space, you're going to keep moving in the direction you were going, and any thrust after that will affect your trajectory. Because you're not being "balanced" you can basically turn faster.

Planetside, Flight Assist is what keeps you hovering, too. If you're in a planet's gravity and FA-off, you'll get pulled toward the ground. I bound my Flight Assist Toggle to pressing in the Left Stick so I could do it quickly, without fussing with the buttons. The default for Left Stick press is toggle flight mode, which can be pretty useless except for little landing pad tweaks, but that lets you "slide" sideways.

 

[CMDR Cknarf]

FA off:

 

[Delilah]

Lots of good advice on this thread about engineering, etc. to help with NPCs. Do note that you will still run into overpowered NPCs. This was a problem introduced with Horizons. While mostly fixed an occassional ship operating beyond its limits still shows up. The advice folks are sharing will help you greatly when this happens.

 

[dammad]

Meh.. do only I see lack of info from the ED side? Putting aside above (great) advice I see frustrated CMDR that got his ship and went for some action and got his stern handed to him on a silver plate. And now he sits, infuriated, not knowing what hit him.

To sum up above:

• not every combat situation is the same. We have something like gradation in difficulty. Nav beacon bounty hunting is the easiest since NPCs there are the weakest. Then Resource Extraction Sites, next combat zones but those require engineering since opponents use them on regular basis. And engineering adds so much to performance that non-engineered ship has little chance vs engineered one. Last part is Thagroid hunting which require specific loadout to be successful.
• difficulty rise with your combat rank and NPC combat rank is main indicator how difficult your opponent will be. Not the ship type he's using. Dangerous Hauleer may sound silly but don't be surprised if he mops the floor with your combat ASP.
• you need to learn a bit about weapons, shields and armor. As said earlier - energy weapons are effective against shields but are not that great on hull. Projectiles are effective on hull but not so much on shields. Turrets are weaker than gimballed and fixed are better than gimballed (rough and basic difference). Optimally you want some enegry for shield stripping and then projectile for hull. Call it starter set and work from there, fitting to your needs.
• last but not least - ships. Some ships are excellent explorers, some are terrific cargo runners, other are best at combat. Facing such combat oriented ship may be frustrating at start as you get the tough nut to crack. Read about ship types, sizes, their general role and pick your targets wisely.

ED isn't easy game. More times it will kick you in the face, add under the belt hit and spit on your miserable failure. You can try to beat it head on (and rage quit after failing), be persistent and slowly try to learn and overcome difficulties (judging from your post, not the option here) or stay on forums and ask multiple questions about combat, loadouts, tactics, etc. Many knowledgable people here.

Thank very much for the very good advice, I was not trying to fight,I was trying to mine asteroids but each time I went out I got creamed, first ship was stripped with just cargo space and mining eqpt,didnt even clear the asteroid belt. So next ship I upgraded thrusters to get more speed and got couple runs in before being turned to space dust. Then I got a bigger ship that in game description said was good for mining added some shields and upgraded thrusters, the rest was stock for the asp but got turned to dust getting interdicted on way back, was very frustrating. But thanks to people like yourself, I started again in solo play and used the advice given and learned about engeneering and now am doing much better. I have been given the oportunity to have a Mentor to teach me in combat and the game in general. Which I am very gratefull for the chance to have some one take the time to share there knowlege with me. I just got to get to Colonia,I had hoped to be there already but there was so much I needed to do before going that far away, so am couple weeks late but hope to be on my way this weekend. and thank you again for sharing your experiance that I know took time and effort to aquire with some clown like me.

 

[dammad]

To each and every one of the the many wonderfull people who have shared there hard earned experience with a stranger(a frustrated and angry, and at times a little bitter newbe) (sorry for that everyone) like me, I give a very gratefull THANK YOU!! If there were a in game bar I would buy all of you a couple rounds in appreciation for your help. I have learned much, I have not been successfully interdicted in quite a lot of attempts now, have unlocked and used three engeneers now and working on numbers 4 and 5 before heading to Colonia,where I am hoping to meet up with and learn from CMDR. Ashnak, if the CMDR is still willing to spend some of his time having me tag around and most probably getting in his way, so I can learn from him (or her as i dont know which is the case, but regardless am thankfull for the chance). I am improving every time I play now, and have found the game difficult at times but rewarding all the time now that i have been shown what i did not know or see before all of you who took time to help me see past my frustration. thank you all

 

[dammad]

It works in any direction you're facing. I've used it in CQC a lot to make those sharp corner turns to lose somebody tailing me.

Flight Assist basically works to even you out - in open space, you're going to keep moving in the direction you were going, and any thrust after that will affect your trajectory. Because you're not being "balanced" you can basically turn faster.

Planetside, Flight Assist is what keeps you hovering, too. If you're in a planet's gravity and FA-off, you'll get pulled toward the ground. I bound my Flight Assist Toggle to pressing in the Left Stick so I could do it quickly, without fussing with the buttons. The default for Left Stick press is toggle flight mode, which can be pretty useless except for little landing pad tweaks, but that lets you "slide" sideways.

cool advice, going to try that!

 

[Rat Catcher]

To each and every one of the the many wonderfull people who have shared there hard earned experience with a stranger(a frustrated and angry, and at times a little bitter newbe) (sorry for that everyone) like me, I give a very gratefull THANK YOU!! If there were a in game bar I would buy all of you a couple rounds in appreciation for your help. I have learned much, I have not been successfully interdicted in quite a lot of attempts now, have unlocked and used three engeneers now and working on numbers 4 and 5 before heading to Colonia,where I am hoping to meet up with and learn from CMDR. Ashnak, if the CMDR is still willing to spend some of his time having me tag around and most probably getting in his way, so I can learn from him (or her as i dont know which is the case, but regardless am thankfull for the chance). I am improving every time I play now, and have found the game difficult at times but rewarding all the time now that i have been shown what i did not know or see before all of you who took time to help me see past my frustration. thank you all

When you get to Colonia, if you wish, add me as a friend too (same name), that way you have 2 potential 'helpers' - well done @Ashnak too

 

[Ezren]

Don't worry about hurrying to Colonia. Get your feet under you properly so you can go there with full confidence.

Keep in mind, out there it's a bit more scarce to find any ships and modules. And if you're going to make the trip, it would be well worth it to unlock the Guardian FSD Booster, before you do. It's a nice detachment from other activities and gets you driving your SRV.

 

[dammad]

Don't worry about hurrying to Colonia. Get your feet under you properly so you can go there with full confidence.

Keep in mind, out there it's a bit more scarce to find any ships and modules. And if you're going to make the trip, it would be well worth it to unlock the Guardian FSD Booster, before you do. It's a nice detachment from other activities and gets you driving your SRV.

yes Colonia is a bit of a hugh step, very long way to go and not much of any safety zones on the way. it is a bit daunting but there are hundreds of things I could/should do before going I may not get there for months,as is Ive been trying to get as many engineers unlocked and it takes so much time(to all those who helped I have mostly figured out the mining thing thanks to all your help and have even cashed in about 70 void opals, Im not sure who said to let every ship in the area scan you before mining, but that trick works a few minutes after being scaned they all leave) I realy want to get out there so Im picking a day to leave regardless of what I have or hevent done yet. I figure I can always come back and when I do get back Ill be that much better. If I get creamed on way out I will take what I can learn from it and try again will post when I leave for anyone who is interested