Ship Builds & Load Outs When is a ship considered A rated?

[DaggerSnake]

Just wondering what the definition of this is. It's pretty apparent that to have everything at an A rating is seldom the most optimal. So what's considered an A rated ship?

I'm kinda leaning to A rating on Thrusters, Powerplant, PowerDistributer make an A rated ship.

A rated FSD is not always the best. Sometimes if you are staying in system dropping to a lighter D to gain some boost and maneuverability is a trade off.

 

[Alex Brentnall]

FSD, Powerplant, Thrusters, distributor and shields generally equal A rated.

You are quite correct in what you say but to be honest it's more slang for heavily upgraded than a specific loadout

 

[VanQ]

The simple answer: when all modules that can be A-Rated are A-Rated. ^^

But you are right that is not neccessary the "best" outfitting, only the most expensive!

 

[CMDR Mitch Gant]

One usually talks about A-rated ships when money was not a factor in creating the best combat-proven beast possible.

A-rating every single module is simply not possible on most if not on all ships. As VanQ said, even if it would be, it would be a bad choice.

There's always trade offs. Want it fast? Want it agile? Want punch? Want stamina? Depends.

 

[Cdr Voorheez]

All A=A rated.

 

[Eldoroth]

One usually talks about A-rated ships when money was not a factor in creating the best combat-proven beast possible.

This so much. I've even gone with C thrusters in some loadouts that I'd consider A-rated because otherwise I'd have power issues, and money was not a problem.

 

[TuxedoSteve]

Generally I consider ships A-Rated when they are as upgraded as I will ever make them for a task. Not everything has to be actually rating A of course, such as on my Anaconda build, it forgoes A rated shields for a bi-weave, and most of my ships are equipped with D rated life support and sensors. Though there's never any real harm in A rating a power plant and power distributor, unless you need the jump range. Similarly for the FSD there's no harm in A rating unless you need the maneuverability.

 

[Psycho Romeo]

One usually talks about A-rated ships when money was not a factor in creating the best combat-proven beast possible.

This is correct and everything else is wrong, really. The term 'A rated' describes a ship when it is at its highest capability.

 

[Kaybe]

FSD, Powerplant, Thrusters, distributor and shields generally equal A rated.

You are quite correct in what you say but to be honest it's more slang for heavily upgraded than a specific loadout

Pretty much this. For a ship to be considered truly A-rated, the above need to be A rated with the best class you can fit. So if your ship can fit class 5 thrusters, you need to use 5A thrusters. The reason that life support and sensors are not in that list is that a life support is only an issue when your canopy breaks, and sensors is only an issue when you absolutely need to track ships at longest ranges. Please note that in the case of shields, C-rated Bi-Weaves are also okay.

As people have summed up, the term 'A-Rated' refers to a ship's capabilities at it's best and most expensive spec. It's also the best way of checking for balance between ships as they are not balanced with stock config in mind. So for example, an A-rated Diamondback Scout and an A-rated Imperial Courier are roughly balanced and cost the same, but a stock Imperial Courier is significantly more expensive than a stock Diamondback Scout.