So, few days ago I brought my old Cobra Mk IV from the warehouse, where it was sitting for years collecting dust. I took it to Jameson and outfitted with all the best things you can buy. I started playing with different engineering options for it in Coriolis and figured that I wouldn't be able to make it any better than any of my other ship in the fleet. It is not going to be the fastest or strongest, it is not going to have any decent jump range or cargo capacity. Basically, this ship going to be exactly average (best case scenario) no matter what. Now here is the thing. According to Inara statistics there are 5412 of them flying around and 197 commanders using them as a primary ship (please keep it in mind that many commanders not registered on Inara and not included in this statistics). I just wander what is their niche? For me personally this is just a collectible item with no particular practical use but with some sentimental value perhaps, like some decals, membership in 65000 LY club or something else of that nature. If you own one of these or used to own in the past, what do you think was the idea behind creating this ship? Or maybe it was just a failed experiment?
Was Cobra Mk IV only ment to be collectible item?
- Thread starter B.Roberts
- Start date
OP, don't worry about why Commanders here fly certain ships - that is one of the greatest strengths in this game. No ship is perfect (shut up Rick, you can't convince everyone the Beluga is that good lol). There is not one ship that suits every Commander, there is no one ship that is good at every task. That is the reason why FD lets us buy multiple ships I guess, it would be disastrous if the didn't allow that.
Players like using ships in roles they weren't intended for, like exploring in a Vulture, mining in a T10 (before anyone starts screaming at me, remember the T10 was designed for bug hunting originally). For them it is the added challenge of getting a ship to perform at something is shouldn't be good at.
As for the Cobra Mk IV, I think some fly it solely as a proverbial middle finger to everyone else - a kind of 'look what I have and you can never have it' type of thing. It has always been known that it wasn't that special, definitely not unique in it's abilities, it just has restricted ownership.
OP, maybe one day we will get our own bases and can decorate it as we wish. Some may stick there Cobra Mk IV in the corner with some Christmas lights, it is after all, theirs to do with as they like.
Players like using ships in roles they weren't intended for, like exploring in a Vulture, mining in a T10 (before anyone starts screaming at me, remember the T10 was designed for bug hunting originally). For them it is the added challenge of getting a ship to perform at something is shouldn't be good at.
As for the Cobra Mk IV, I think some fly it solely as a proverbial middle finger to everyone else - a kind of 'look what I have and you can never have it' type of thing. It has always been known that it wasn't that special, definitely not unique in it's abilities, it just has restricted ownership.
OP, maybe one day we will get our own bases and can decorate it as we wish. Some may stick there Cobra Mk IV in the corner with some Christmas lights, it is after all, theirs to do with as they like.
It seems that every Cobra Mk IV my CMDR comes across has three superpen rails, a seemingly unlimited supply of mines, and about 5k hull. They can be very tedious, but usually run off eventually.
Anyway, the ship makes a fair explorer, solid mission runner, and can haul more corrosive cargo that just about anything. It's really not king of any niche, but it's not a bad small pad ship...unless you like to go fast.
The problem with the Cobra MkIV - and a lot of other ships - is not that it is a bad ship, it's that there are ships that are so much better than the rest that it makes the majority of ships in this game pointless form a pure efficiency point of view.
If the player just wants to fly a spaceship and do a bit of RP, then all the ships have their purpose and own flair.
If the player just wants to fly a spaceship and do a bit of RP, then all the ships have their purpose and own flair.
Never used rails before but people keep talking about them here and there. Maybe I should give them a shot. Usually I have all my ships modded for highest possible speed with combination of beams and MCs, decent but not crazy shields and very basic hull reinforcement. If I'm not winning the fight before I start loosing my shields I retreat, recharge and try again. If it doesn't work I just leave. Would have to change my style. LOL
I bought the mk4 and pretend it's the mk2 from the original elite back story.
The setup I mentioned is mostly a ganker loadout, but the Mk IV is a superb rail platform and you can easily make a fairly potent general purpose combat setup out of one.
Slap an extra 16 ton tank on it and three plasma slug rails, plus a few OC MCs, high cap frags, or efficient PAs and it will tear NPCs apart.
Will try it next weekend. Thanks for the idea.
Which one was in original 1984 Elite? I remember playing it on Spectrum and there was a Cobra but I'm not sure which one was it.
Probably should work pretty nice for mission running as long as you not getting involved in heavy shooting.
It is a collectible. If it presented any serious advantage in game, it would be considered pay to win, and ridiculed to Beagle Point and back (and rightfully so).
To me it’s all about the number of options internal slots. One day I’ll get into small ship combat and maybe something else then.
This doesn't matter once you're in the ship though. If you dont like it you don't like it, not sure if stats are going to help.
This doesn't matter once you're in the ship though. If you dont like it you don't like it, not sure if stats are going to help.
I thought the story was that it was some sort of prototype that failed, with the good bits taken in to MK3. Perhaps FD should have called it the mk2!
I use mine for material collecting with an SRV as I had one kicking around and thought I'd give it a go. It's probably not the optimum for this role but works pretty well.
Best small multirole ship in the game. Can even be decent at combat if kitted out right.
Annoyed I only bought horizons on Xbox whilst the cobra IV was on offer, didn’t have a pc at the time so was too late which annoys me. Aren’t there some who use it as a small miner? I like it for generally flying about mats collecting and aimless fun. Would like to have it on my pc account too. Ah well. Like to see a cobra4 miner build...anyone?
Deleted member 110222
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The purpose of the Mk IV is to give my Mk III targets.
I have flown the fart cobra and target practice is all it's worth.
I have flown the fart cobra and target practice is all it's worth.
to be fair if your comparing stats on coriolis you may as well just be done with it and buy an Anaconda, if its med you're after = Krait
i think FDev did well to be fair by not letting a unique item be superior in any way to whats obtainable to new / existing players who opted out of the offer, its a terrible ship on paper, can you imagine the salt if the mk4 was actually useful?
Five hardpoints, lots of internal slots. If it had a couple more utility slots it'd make an amazing "Omni role" ship.
Still does really.
It's not for you if you make ships for specific roles, but if you want to cram a bit of everything into a ship, this is the best small ship for that.
Five hardpoints.
Still does really.
It's not for you if you make ships for specific roles, but if you want to cram a bit of everything into a ship, this is the best small ship for that.
Five hardpoints.
Makes a decent small core-miner.