Ships Viper Mk3 Pet Project - Requesting Pro Ship Builders Help

[AEBRAM]

07 Commanders.

I have decided to engineer up one Viper mk3 for CZ zones and Assassination missions. My imagination and inspiration were to get as close as possible to be a pocket "Battleship" to splash CZ targets and "Mission Impossible" capable ship for missions. This is where I am hoping to solicit veteran pilots and ship builders on what hits like a truck -- without getting into Frag Cannons. I am not a fan, and I need to have some stay ability for CZ for finishing the CZ conflict event.

What engineering blueprints over perform on small and medium hardpoints. No game bugs please. I ask this because the ship has limited hardpoints to squeeze in the "hit like a truck" battle pass?
What "Learn to Fly" skills need to be learned to be a menace on the map?
How would you approach this ship project?
What key parts of the ship would you find important?
Is there a Power Play hardpoint or experimental module on the need to get for the ship?

I will post again with my ship build. I genuinely would like to hear from the vets and players that worked up similar pet projects.

07 and thanks.

Current thoughts are 1D/2B Rails and 1F/2E Burst Lasers.

 

[Shurimal]

Two small railguns and two medium PA-s worked well for my Viper MKIV Mandalorian build. Efficient with oversized or maybe phasing for PA-s, short range with one feedback cascade and one super penetrator for railguns. Due to the small fuel tank plasma slug experimental isn't something I'd try on a Viper (or Mamba, or FDL). Power and heat management might get a bit tricky, but it'll hit like a freight train considering its size.

Something like this.

 

[AEBRAM]

Two small railguns and two medium PA-s worked well for my Viper MKIV Mandalorian build. Efficient with oversized or maybe phasing for PA-s, short range with one feedback cascade and one super penetrator for railguns. Due to the small fuel tank plasma slug experimental isn't something I'd try on a Viper (or Mamba, or FDL). Power and heat management might get a bit tricky, but it'll hit like a freight train considering its size.

Something like this.

I have 2C Efficient, Thermal Conduit Plasmas and I would need to engineer another pair of 1D rails with short range. Currently, have the rails Light Weight. I can take it out for a spin to see how this loadout works with my piloting skill. I may need to learn to fly to get better.

Would you say the Plasma and Rails are the best hard point choices. Do you run into ammo shortage in CZ zones?

 

[Shurimal]

Would you say the Plasma and Rails are the best hard point choices. Do you run into ammo shortage in CZ zones?

It's all down to preference and how good you are/how willing (or able) you are to get with these weapons. If your aim is good, PA-s and rails are very, very potent. If your aim is not good, a lower damage weapon that hits does more damage than a high damage weapon that misses.

As for ammo, I primarily use Phantom with 4 plasma slug PA-s for combat. The 32 ton tank means I can complete 3...4 CZ-s in a row. But my meta FDL with PA-s and rails can finish a CZ comfortably—of course, it does much more damage than a Viper, which I haven't used for CZ-s. But I believe that it should do fine, especially if you avoid taking on the tankiest ships (fedbricks and C-ships) and snipe the power plant on T9-s, T10-s, Cutters and Anacondas.

You can always go with plasma slug PA-s and add an extra class 2 fuel tank. I'd keep the rails with superpen and feedback cascade, that's their purpose.

 

[Northpin]

...and Assassination missions

For that i've used a DBS with a pair of Cytos (G4 SRB) and a pair of Advanced Dumbfires.
Good for assassination missions (obviously not for wing ones where you face a wing of engineered ships - like 1 fdl and 3 vultures) and not only good but really fun as well.
Nailing Anacondas or FDLs with no major issues, but i would not take a missile build in CZ.

For doin CZ without getting worried about running into ammo issues, i used a Vulture with a pair of gimballed beams - the winning tactic is to always target the PP of the enemy ship and keep really close to it, under 400-500m, else the gimbal wobble will miss the PP more often than not.

Sure, the setup i used on the Vulture is not really applicable to a Viper since it has the mediums located underbelly on a Viper which makes harder to tail an enemy ship and still have the gimbals acquiring a longer time on target, and being mediums instead of large means it's taking longer to 0 a PP.

Else, Rails/Plasma are really nice, but the ammo requirements for winning High CZ might be too high, depending on your aiming skills.
You can also try a pair of Cytos in the small slots to deplete the shields and a pair of rails in the mediums to use only on enemies PP - but then again, depending on your aiming skills you may have a hard time finishing a CZ, especially if you get dragged into a jousting combat with the enemy ships

 

[Shurimal]

I revised the previous build for more speed. Tradeoff is tighter power budget and slightly more heat.

 

[Aleks Zuno]

What "Learn to Fly" skills need to be learned to be a menace on the map?

Gear-boosting:

• Press the boost button, deploy the Landing gear during the effect, then retract afterwards. This will give you the full boost acceleration while limiting the total speed, which ought to end in the blue zone after retracting the gear.
• Combine that with lateral thrust for very effective dodging.
• Combine that with disabling Flight Assist for very, very effective reorientation.
• Retract early or toggle a short interval to use part of the boost effect for speed.

I fly a Mamba rather than a Viper 3, where the former benefits much more due to its high boost acceleration and long boost duration, but ultimately gear-boosting improves the flight of any vessel. A simple example is a right-angle turn into a Starport where the final speed is manageable rather than the full 600, and a nice example of dividing the boost usage is a full turn and acceleration within a single boost interval!

The Cargo scoop has the same effect on movement and boosting as with the Landing gear; for a Viper 3, it is as well to use the Landing gear to save power. Mind that larger vessels with Fighter hangars are forced to use the Cargo scoop while the fighter is deployed, and mind that the Fer-de-Lance landing gear can block its class 4 hardpoint.

 

[AEBRAM]

Gear-boosting:

• Press the boost button, deploy the Landing gear during the effect, then retract afterwards. This will give you the full boost acceleration while limiting the total speed, which ought to end in the blue zone after retracting the gear.
• Combine that with lateral thrust for very effective dodging.
• Combine that with disabling Flight Assist for very, very effective reorientation.
• Retract early or toggle a short interval to use part of the boost effect for speed.

I fly a Mamba rather than a Viper 3, where the former benefits much more due to its high boost acceleration and long boost duration, but ultimately gear-boosting improves the flight of any vessel. A simple example is a right-angle turn into a Starport where the final speed is manageable rather than the full 600, and a nice example of dividing the boost usage is a full turn and acceleration within a single boost interval!

The Cargo scoop has the same effect on movement and boosting as with the Landing gear; for a Viper 3, it is as well to use the Landing gear to save power. Mind that larger vessels with Fighter hangars are forced to use the Cargo scoop while the fighter is deployed, and mind that the Fer-de-Lance landing gear can block its class 4 hardpoint.

Thanks for the piloting tips to use landing gears. I will have to put an easier to reach hotkey in and put in some practice hours.

Some gameplay feedback: I took the ship out and the weapon systems do hit hard when hits are landed. I was making volley errors where I needed to remember to launch the Plamas then the HIT SCAN on the rails, otherwise, that is just piloting errors getting accustomed to the ship. Despite the limited options, the ship held up good when the shield dropped, where the hull damage did not decomission the ship. So that is awesome. Thanks for the build tips @Shurimal

Edited: This is a keeper ship than one of those build, play and scrap projects. Good ship. Some learn to fly characteristics but very good setup. I particularly like the fact the hull damage occurrences did not complete break my ship that allowed me to finish the fight.

 

[AEBRAM]

Update. I went with the c2 Plasma (Efficient, Thermal Conduit) and c1 Rails (Short Range) and the paired weapons does let the ship make fast hard-hitting battle passes when an orbit is not happening. Fun ship to pilot with a risk verse reward factor when you splash large ships.

 

[Aleks Zuno]

Is your heat high enough to make use of Thermal Conduit? While the Plasma Accelerators may need Efficient due to Distributor and Power draw, it occurs to me that both Rail Gun experimental effects also reduce Thermal load, albeit offset by being Short Range.

I can believe that the Viper 3 heat capacity is low enough that you do still exceed 100%, and it is not as if you need to reach the full 150%, but at least you have the option to change the Rail Gun experimental effects to something else if you want more heat!

 

[AEBRAM]

Is your heat high enough to make use of Thermal Conduit? While the Plasma Accelerators may need Efficient due to Distributor and Power draw, it occurs to me that both Rail Gun experimental effects also reduce Thermal load, albeit offset by being Short Range.

I can believe that the Viper 3 heat capacity is low enough that you do still exceed 100%, and it is not as if you need to reach the full 150%, but at least you have the option to change the Rail Gun experimental effects to something else if you want more heat!

The ship does shed heat enough where the thermal load is not problematic. It was the experimental on the two Plasmas that were in storage. I kept the experiment on the notion the damage bonus begins near 100 and caps at 120 or 150. So I was on the impression, even hovering around the 90-100 mark adds under the experimental effect.

 

[Kayvan]

I have a Viper pretty similar to that, I named her Brutale.
I'll have to check the details but I think it had 2 Cytos and 2 Plasmas, probably all Efficient to make it even usable.

EDIT:
Got the Viper out of storage and took it out for a spin. So my hardpoints are mixed, of each weapon one overcharged and one efficient. I vaguely remember that I mixed and matched them bc 2 Overcharged overheated too fast and 2 Efficient felt a bit anaemic.

Here's a link to the loadout: https://inara.cz/elite/cmdr-fleet-ship/317800/2943080/

The cornerstone module of my entire build is a pre-engineered 3A Power Plant that we got in a CG a while ago, must have been '21 or 22. It delivers a whopping 18.24MW. But apparently a regular Overcharged-5 PP also gives you enough power, barely, but of course that will give you a pretty high base thermal load, so you'll overheat all the faster.

Now that I'm looking at it, the ship might actually be able to support Guardian Modplasmas. Ofc they have higher power draw, and lower DPS on paper, but in practice benefit from the higher hit rate due to the formidable shot speed. I've actually switched to Modplasmas on my main PVE ship (a Chieftain).

As it is, the Brutale's Cytos deliver 80 SDPS vs shields, and the Plasmas 163 Alpha vs everything. The PAs' SDPS is only 45, but that's just a theoretical value since you don't really get to sustain fire. Highest SDPS achievable would be Rapid Fire.

It's a fun little murderface.

 

[cheechoong]

my viper 3 also uses the double engineered cg powerplant. only ship i feel that has a use for such a small yet powerful pp.

used to have a dilemma with my smaller combat ships. they excelled either against small ship or big ones but rarely both. some weapons like cytoscramblers are deadly against big slow ships but fairly hard to use against small agile targets (not to mention they're only good against shields). and then there were railguns that didn't have enough ammo despite using plasma slugs (in a hazres, on a small fuel tank of the viper).

went through several iterations of the viper till i settled on this:

EDSY

EDSY is a ship outfitting tool for Elite Dangerous

edsy.org

the modified plasma charger grant versatility against targets big & small due to its high shot speed, enormous damage, plentiful ammo while the burst laser with inertial impact serves as an unlimited ammo shotgun that deals both thermal & kinetic damage when close to the target, which the viper easily accomplishes. the high capacity multicannon with corrosive shells adds more punch once target shields are down while lightweight beam is great with thermal vent without taxing the distributor

 

[AEBRAM]

For those interested in building a fast and fun ship. I thought that it would be appropriate to update my thread post here with changes. Now that I have piloted and done more combat engagements to tease out my likes and dislikes.

I replaced the 2B Plasmas (Efficient, Thermal Conduit) with 2B Railguns (Lightweight, Plasma Slug). Kept the 1C Railguns (Short Range, Plasma Slug). It is a small ship with a tiny fuel tank, so I equipped an extra 3C Fuel Tank. This provided me with sufficient shots on both volleys of the railguns. When you take a firing grouping card from the Xeno hunters than you get excellent DPS by sequentially alternating weapon groups e.g. leading with the 2B (1500-3000) and into 1C (0-1500) battle passes for 148-208 damage per successful volley.

Going with the direct fire weapon combination means you do not have to break into a pitch/yaw angle to fire projectile weapon into the leading marker. Instead, you can break and boost once you landed your railguns and use your speed to setup the next strafing run. Overall, the changes made the ship operate smoother with the time on target windows with the point and shoot style. Plus, who has not wanted to try an all-Railgun ship at least once. smiles

Viper mk3 "The Switchblade"

 

[BackToTheMud]

You might want to take a look at the DBS. With your choice of weapons it's bigger powerplant will be useful, and it's fuel tank holds more than you have total.

Some other tweeks for a small pve ship: reactive surface composite with lightweight amd deep plating balanced with one thermal resist hull reinforcement (plus more hull reinforcements with heavy duty deep plating after taste) will serve you better. You'll lose a tiny amount of speed, but since you don't have the power with this weapons combo to run enhanced thrusters with your viper anyway, speed doesn't seem to be your main focus.
Use thermal resist with fast charge on your shield, and resistance with super conduit pn the boosters. High resistance and fast recharge is more important than high raw shield strenght. Personally I like using D-rated bossters on small ships; both because of weight and power concumption, but that might just be me.