Newcomer / Intro Upgrading Sidewinder

[Huntn]

I've been playing for a couple of weeks. Finially figured out hot to make money (cough... bounty hunting). My goal is to eventually get a better ship, but I'll think I'll keep this for the time my new ship gets blowed up and I need to to restablish my bank account.

Looking for suggestions! I'm mullying over upgrading thrusters which I believe improves turning performance, while also considering upgrading my bulkhead to Military grade. For those who don't know, improved bulkheads help protect your ship from incoming damage when the shields are down. However I'm concerned that uping my bulkheads to military grade, because of adding mass, will diminish the the advantage of having improved thrusters. It could be a wash performance wise, while increasing protection.

For weapons, there is not a lot to choose from. A burst laser shows an increase in DPS (damage per second) over the default laser, but my understanding is that they over heat quickly. My understanding is that the gatling gun is great for taking down a ship at close range, after you've knocked down their shield, so I'm thinking about equipping one gatling gun, but think that with a single laser, it will take longer to take the shield possibly neutralizing any advantage?

I"m also thinking about electronic countermeasures. What is the best path forward? Thanks!

 

[the100thmonkey]

In the Sidey, I'm not sure the thrusters would be my first choice for an upgrade - they're relatively light ships and have a great turning circle on the default due to their low mass.

I think I upgraded the power distributor, shields and guns on mine before moving on to a Viper.

One burst laser and one multicannon sounds like a good idea to me - you're not going to be engaging Anacondas in one any time soon; the most common ships you'll fight are Vipers, Cobras and Hawks, in my opinion. Adders and Haulers should be relatively easy prey. All of those ships have relatively weak armour compared to the big boats, so an MC is a good idea. Good luck with anything bigger. "Close range" isn't really that close, in my opinion - the MCs are efffective out to at least 1.5KM; you should be able to kite effectively with them. Upgrading the sensors improves the multicannon's accuracy at range.

Beam lasers are very effective at stripping shields, provided you can stay on target well enough, have the power plant and distributor to support it, and you know how to use the pips effectively. A multicannon helps with this as it gives you the option to let them cool down while still being able to deal out damage (albeit less effectively) against shields.

ECMs are only effective against incoming torpedos and missiles. How often do you get the "incoming missile" warning? Compared to gimballed laser/multicannon fire? I'm willing to bet the answer is "not very often". Chaff is probably a more useful upgrade for you as you run into gimballed and turreted weapons all the time. It can get you out of a tight spot.

My 2 credits.

 

[SamIAm]

I completely agree with the100thmonkey. I followed a similar upgrade to my Sidey with only a few differences. I would suggest upgrading the power distributor and power core at the same time if you can afford it. If not, go with the distributor first.

I did the power core first, only to realize without an upgraded distributor I wasn't going to see any benefits... OOPS!

I have an A-class distributor and C-class power core and it makes a huge difference in recharging everything. After that i ended up getting C-class thrusters, a C-Class shield, chaff launcher. All in all, I spent 75k on upgrades and it made the sidey feel like a new ship.

Oh... don't forget to consider the weight of the new upgrades. If they weigh more than the old one your replacing it will reduce your max travel distance.

 

[adoredtv]

Power distributor first, the difference is amazing.

 

[Himmel Tropf]

I don't have experience with ecm, but Yeah unless you're seeing lots of torpedoes then I go chaff launcher over ecm. You should be able to mount 2 weapons and 2 defenders/ utility by memory so chaff away. Maybe look into kill warrant scanner for extra bounty and collection of claims when in anarchy systems. I'm still in the sidey with a viper siting in wholer terminal, my 300k investment in 3 days from uss bounties Nav beacons and resource extraction sites alongside a few smuggled items from my targets

I'd equip the multi cannon. It does wonders and if you can afford the gimballed version it takes care of its self.

Imo upgrade your power and dist as others have said and leave the armour off. I've had no real problems other than from nasty anacondas or vipers, and you shouldn't be tussling with them for the most part.

Everyone else, you should be relying on manoeuvrability and speed, and developing awareness of when to switch from thrusters to kite , back to weapons to build/conserve charge for extended dps and of course, shields when you think you're clear of the business end and need to prop up defenses quickly or recharge and come back in for another pass.

 

[Gully Foyle]

Big power plant, distributor. You want lots of juice for your modules
Reinforced hull, thrusters and shield
A big gimballed beam laser and equivalent multi cannon.

My Sidey is in the my garage since I started pimping my new Viper. I won't tell you what I've done to it, I'd have to kill you.

Good Hunting CMDRS!

 

[Huntn]

In the Sidey, I'm not sure the thrusters would be my first choice for an upgrade - they're relatively light ships and have a great turning circle on the default due to their low mass.

I think I upgraded the power distributor, shields and guns on mine before moving on to a Viper.

One burst laser and one multicannon sounds like a good idea to me - you're not going to be engaging Anacondas in one any time soon; the most common ships you'll fight are Vipers, Cobras and Hawks, in my opinion. Adders and Haulers should be relatively easy prey. All of those ships have relatively weak armour compared to the big boats, so an MC is a good idea. Good luck with anything bigger. "Close range" isn't really that close, in my opinion - the MCs are efffective out to at least 1.5KM; you should be able to kite effectively with them. Upgrading the sensors improves the multicannon's accuracy at range.

Beam lasers are very effective at stripping shields, provided you can stay on target well enough, have the power plant and distributor to support it, and you know how to use the pips effectively. A multicannon helps with this as it gives you the option to let them cool down while still being able to deal out damage (albeit less effectively) against shields.

ECMs are only effective against incoming torpedos and missiles. How often do you get the "incoming missile" warning? Compared to gimballed laser/multicannon fire? I'm willing to bet the answer is "not very often". Chaff is probably a more useful upgrade for you as you run into gimballed and turreted weapons all the time. It can get you out of a tight spot.

My 2 credits.

Thanks! I've been to two stations with outfitting and they offered no shield upgrades for the Sidewinder. The first one was Boswell Platform in LTT18486 and the second one was at Worldledge Terminal in LHS3447. Are you referencing power plants and distributers? I assume both help with more rapid recharging of shield? Thanks!

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Big power plant, distributor. You want lots of juice for your modules
Reinforced hull, thrusters and shield
A big gimballed beam laser and equivalent multi cannon.

My Sidey is in the my garage since I started pimping my new Viper. I won't tell you what I've done to it, I'd have to kill you.

Good Hunting CMDRS!

Does upgraded bulkheads add mass and reduce performance of thrusters? Thanks!

 

[the100thmonkey]

No problem.

Look for high tech, large population systems. They tend to have the best kit.

Power plants give you more available power, which allows you to run systems that are more power-hungry, such as railguns.

Distributors improve the recharge speed of shields, lasers* and boost.

Increasing the mass affects the ship in two ways:

1. It reduces the efficacy of your thrusters.

2. It affects your shield strength.

If you look at thrusters and shields on outfitting, you'll see that both have optimal and maximum mass values. If the weight of your ship with all items equipped exceeds this, you'll get a message telling you that.

Optimal mass is confusing in that the value given is not actually optimal - the further below optimal mass your ship is, the more effective your thrusters and shields become (up to a point).

If you fit all A class kit, you should have an effective little ship. However, that's expensive, and isn't immediately possible for a new character with limited funds. You have to compromise.

* Actually weapons in general, but I've only ever run out of charge on kinetics once, when I diverted power to system and engines and left no pips on weapons while firing constantly.

 

[Huntn]

Is there a way to restore a ship back to it's default state? I'm trying to put the original pulse laser that was listed as borrowed, back on my Sidewinder, but it's no where to be found? I'm experimenting with varied earned bounties as a factor of how a ship is equipped. Thanks!

And is there a way to reset to the default Sidewinder and still maintain your earned credits? Thanks!

 

[Derpster Frey]

Destroy it, you'll get a new Sidewinder for free.
Claim all unclaimed bounties first though.

 

[Huntn]

Destroy it, you'll get a new Sidewinder for free.
Claim all unclaimed bounties first though.

Thanks! Can you self destruct in a Station? I assume no penalty?

Unfortunately I upgraded the powerplant 140000 credits worth. I see no way to get that back and restore to the default powerplant. Is there a way? Thanks!

 

[Derpster Frey]

Well, loitering in the station should take care of it, heh.

 

[Huntn]

Well, loitering in the station should take care of it, heh.

I think I was operating under the false impression that any upgrade I applied to the Sidewinder could be recooped. I'd like to revert to the default powerplant, but there appears to be no option for this. The default items that were listed as "borrowed" are no there to be found. Is there a way? Thanks!

 

[KonradWylde]

I just made some missions to get the Hauler for commerce, then you can buy an eagle or viper and upgrade them.

 

[the100thmonkey]

Is there a way to restore a ship back to it's default state? I'm trying to put the original pulse laser that was listed as borrowed, back on my Sidewinder, but it's no where to be found?

Just buy one. The parts won't show as "loaned" then, and you'll be able to swap bits in and out as long as they are available without having to blow yourself up every 10 minutes. Actually, the whole experiment you're doing confuses me.

I'm experimenting with varied earned bounties as a factor of how a ship is equipped.

Do you mean you're assessing upgrades by their credit/hour ratio? How do you plan to control for getting better at the game? Seems to me that's going to be a major confounding factor in any experiment. Additionally, a Sidewinder with 1x laser and 1x multicannon is going to be a different proposition entirely to a Viper with 2x class 1 lasers and 2x class 2 multicannon; the two ships handle very differently, and you'll have to take things like power draw and shields strength into account - the Viper is a lot tougher than the Sidey, and it's shields are stronger (class 3 compared to class 2).

Then there's the upgrade packages.

And is there a way to reset to the default Sidewinder and still maintain your earned credits? Thanks!

Blow yourself up and choose to start from scratch.

 

[Uueerdo]

I'd consider one of those repair modules as well. I got punked by a random deadly Viper NPC last weekend. I was winning the fight, had his power core in the single % digits... then the ******* took out my thrusters.

Edit: Though from what I gather, it wouldn't have helped in my case...but it would if you lost sensors (which currently prevents you from being able to dock).

 

[Undecided]

Thanks! Can you self destruct in a Station? I assume no penalty?

Unfortunately I upgraded the powerplant 140000 credits worth. I see no way to get that back and restore to the default powerplant. Is there a way? Thanks!

Yes you just have to find a station carrying a E (or D the price difference isn't huge) grade module and "upgrade" to it for full reimbursement. I recommend industrial systems rather than high-tech, they generally sell more of the cheap stuff

 

[Huntn]

Thanks guys! Based on coincidence, I was concerend that upgrades to the Sidewinder caused bounty payoffs to go down. That appears to be unfounded. Bounties fluctuate. There can be a streak wher you highest bounty is under 5k, but then you hit in in the 20s.

So, anyone know where I can find upgraded shields?

 

[KillaALF]

For ship upgrades High Tech systems are your best bet, Industrial ones next.