Ships What ship should I am for after the Vulture

VR andysonofbob · Oct 23, 2015

Hi

I have tanked up my Vulture so it contains A class components. I have gone for the 3 shield booster and 2 pulse laser build. Suffice to say she handles well and I am finding I can take on pretty much anything one on one.

What is the next up combat ship? Or the ship which is closest to it?

Thanks!

ps if I need to get friendly with one of the gov types, which one and what is the quickest way to do it?

Space Pigeon · Oct 23, 2015

Well, you might've expected it already... but in my opinion it would be the Federal Assault Ship.

The donation grind missions for the Feds in the Tun system are currently the fastest way to get a higher rank with de Feds.

Serapo · Oct 23, 2015

Quickly buy a Clipper while the special offer of no rank requirement lasts. Regardless wether you will fly it or not.

Then rank Federal, for the new shineys. Between the Clipper and those you should have an excellent fit for your tastes.

GammaZ · Oct 23, 2015

IMO there is no "next ship".
There are a lot of different ships with their advantages/disadvantages to choose from.
Cheaper ones are clipper and FAS but they require rank which is harder to get then credits... and IMO both are not a direct upgrade from vulture, both have their disadvantages.

Naranek · Oct 23, 2015

andysonofbob said:
Hi

I have tanked up my Vulture so it contains A class components. I have gone for the 3 shield booster and 2 pulse laser build. Suffice to say she handles well and I am finding I can take on pretty much anything one on one.

3 shield boosters in an a-grade vulture? don't they require a LOT of power? may i ask how you manage that / what your other modules (and module ratings) are?

i've been flying a vulture for a while now and am kind of waiting for a new intermediate ship from frontier, since the next logical step at the moment seems to be the python, but honestly i don't want to fly a (fully outkitted) ship that costs several millions in insurance. if i lose the vulture it doesn't hurt much, but she's a great ship.

KayAitch · Oct 23, 2015

maximilianwer said:
3 shield boosters in an a-grade vulture? don't they require a LOT of power? may i ask how you manage that / what your other modules (and module ratings) are?

i've been flying a vulture for a while now and am kind of waiting for a new intermediate ship from frontier, since the next logical step at the moment seems to be the python, but honestly i don't want to fly a (fully outkitted) ship that costs several millions in insurance. if i lose the vulture it doesn't hurt much, but she's a great ship.

That's why he's flying with pulse lasers.

I mostly went beam + frag and that didn't leave much free for boosters.

I found the closest thing to a next step from the Vulture is the FAS, which you can buy and put basic kit in for the same price as an A rated Vulture (about 20-25 million).

It's quite a different ship in a lot of ways - while the Vulture is low power but rarely overheats, the FAS has power to spare but tends to overheat if you try to fire two lasers at the same time. I find I often come out of combat with all my damage due to running at 150% heat thanks to firing rails/PA too often. On the other hand the Vulture has a great shield vs the FAS with a terrible one, but the FAS can survive for ages without shields at all. In the FAS I've started fights with Anacondas and Pythons with my shield already blown and theirs' at full and still won, while in the Vulture once your shield's gone you run. Finally the FAS can masslock anything short of a T9, and ram kill smalls ships without a scratch, which makes very quick money in Comp Nav/Haz Res.

That said the FAS flies in the same sort of way: loads of lateral thrust (slightly less) and good speed (slightly faster). Similar dependence on the two large hard points, but with two medium to back them up. I tend to run similar loadouts to the Vulture and add two c2 beam turrets to mop up supporting wings.

Naranek · Oct 23, 2015

KayAitch said:
That's why he's flying with pulse lasers.

i'm also using fixed pulse lasers... and only manage to power one a2 shield cell bank (well in addition to 1 chaff launcher, 1 heat sink launcher and a kill warrant scanner). modules are all largest size a grade except for life support and scanners (d grade).

VR andysonofbob · Oct 23, 2015

maximilianwer said:
i'm also using fixed pulse lasers... and only manage to power one a2 shield cell bank (well in addition to 1 chaff launcher, 1 heat sink launcher and a kill warrant scanner). modules are all largest size a grade except for life support and scanners (d grade).

Hello mate

Yup. I am running a pure BH build. Meaning no wake scanners or any other goodies. Pulse lasers too. I have also had to set cargo hatch, interdictor and FSD to secondary. But I have A rated everything else that matters: thrusters, shields etc.
My Vulture is a shield tank and can take out most ships

So FAS then? Grinding in Tun then?

I was debating on getting an Asp. So I could try other things in addition to combat. Bad idea?

KayAitch · Oct 23, 2015

andysonofbob said:
Hello mate

Yup. I am running a pure BH build. Meaning no wake scanners or any other goodies. Pulse lasers too. I have also had to set cargo hatch, interdictor and FSD to secondary. But I have A rated everything else that matters: thrusters, shields etc.
My Vulture is a shield tank and can take out most ships

So FAS then? Grinding in Tun then?

I was debating on getting an Asp. So I could try other things in addition to combat. Bad idea?

The Asp has loads of small hardpoints but no large - this matters because of the nerf against small weapons. A large laser does 3x the damage of a small against a Sidewinder, but 7x the damage against an Anaconda. 6 beams on an Asp (4c1, 2c2) will do about half the damage to an Anaconda that 2 large beams on a Vulture will do.

The Asp can handle itself, but it won't make the same profit in combat that a Vulture will. It can jump much further and carry much more, so it's more of a multipurpose that can handle itself. In is to the Cobra what the Vulture is to the Viper.

VR andysonofbob · Oct 23, 2015

Thanks! That's a big no no then!

Space Pidgeon mention running donation grind missions for the Feds in the Tun system. How, I couldn't see it on the board?

Also, how do you go about earning combat credits or whatever they are called?

Thanks!

Starender · Oct 23, 2015

Serapo said:
Quickly buy a Clipper while the special offer of no rank requirement lasts. Regardless wether you will fly it or not.

Then rank Federal, for the new shineys. Between the Clipper and those you should have an excellent fit for your tastes.

do what he says OP, these two ships are wonders, the fed assault is more combat focused while the clipper is fast multirole with a lot of cargo, both have the same firepower and the same cost more or less

who? · Oct 23, 2015

If you want something close (in role) to the Vulture, go for the FAS. I've only just bought a Clipper (yippeee!) so can't really say much about it yet.

The Vulture's advantages over the FAS:
- slightly more agile
- stronger shields
- looks

The FAS's advantages over the Vulture:
- MUCH better powerplant - power to burn
- two extra (medium) hardpoints
- faster
- better jump range
- better armour (I think)
- more, larger internal compartments

bigredforester · Oct 24, 2015

also you might want to look at the fer-de-lance, 4 med and 1 huge HP is a lot of firepower. only a few more million then the python

Psycho Romeo · Oct 24, 2015

Vulture users are gonna have a nasty time when they find out an FAS's shield is a mere 50% what they're used to.

Vultures are almost on par with T9s and other top ships in their respective roles. There isn't a clear upgrade.

Flavourless · Oct 24, 2015

What ship should I am for after the Vulture

Any of them that are shooting at you.

KayAitch · Oct 24, 2015

Psycho Romeo said:
Vulture users are gonna have a nasty time when they find out an FAS's shield is a mere 50% what they're used to.

Vultures are almost on par with T9s and other top ships in their respective roles. There isn't a clear upgrade.

I've flown both a great deal - the Vulture has better shields but has to run away once they are down, the FAS has poor shields but insane armour that makes them incredibly tough to finish off. Those weaker shields come back up quicker and the FAS can carry and power a lot more SCB - it just goes and goes.

They have very different personalities, but they feel similar in combat.

Psycho Romeo · Oct 24, 2015

KayAitch said:
They have very different personalities, but they feel similar in combat.

Can you clarify this one? I would think this is an oxymoron. Not flown the FAS but based on what you describe it seems to be a completely different ship.

Krezan · Oct 24, 2015

I've gone for Fer-De-Lance. Sold my Vulture. Nuff said.

Klajorne · Oct 24, 2015

I don't like any of the other ships. The Vulture is the only ship that I can reliably stay in a big ship's blind spot (ie: close behind their thrusters). Everything else, I feel like it becomes a "gun them down before they gun me down" scenario.

VR andysonofbob · Oct 25, 2015

Serapo said:
Quickly buy a Clipper while the special offer of no rank requirement lasts. Regardless wether you will fly it or not.

Then rank Federal, for the new shineys. Between the Clipper and those you should have an excellent fit for your tastes.

How long is this offer going to last? I nearly have enough wonga now...
Also I didn't take part in any event thingy. Will that matter?