Why am I getting insta-pwnd now?

Buy mines and shock mines, fly in a straight line spamming them = dead NPCs.

Have a good day.

How do you reset combat rank?
 
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Now if only Exploration and Trade were as difficult as Combat. Then we could tell all the people complaining about it to reset their ranks there too!

This is what annoys me the most about the AI difficulty hike. Earning potential as a combat pilot with a high rank has taken a nose-dive, yet for other occupations, it's pretty much remained the same.
If the difficulty is to remain, the rewards MUST be increased.
 
You need a proper combat ship for combat. The Keelback is not that ship. The Cobra isn't even really good at it. The Vulture is your best bet at the lower end, but if you can't afford that yet, go with a Diamond Scout.

The AI is no longer target practice. They fight back. Knowing your ship's strengths and weaknesses, and how o dynamically adapt to changes in a fight is essential. That means throttle and pip management, using flight assist, chaff, etc.

Use the right tool for the right job. The Keelback is definitely not that tool.
 
get an Eagle and practice against the new AI.

Also neither the Cobra nor the Keelback are fighters. the Cobra does pretty poorly in combat tee be aich
 
Or you could stop complaing like a child, learn to fly the ship you have, ask what you're doing wrong so you can stop doing it, and enjoy the game for what it is.

You mean do exactly what the OP has been doing? I think you're reading what you want to read, because you haven't read what they've been saying.
 
Cobra does pretty poorly in combat tee be aich

Yeah, no matter how much I loved my Cobra, the hardpoint placement was less than desirable, and they weren't really big enough to provide the oomph the Cobra would need to compete in its weight class. Canopy didn't blow out anywhere near as much as on my subsequent Vulture and FAS mind you, so that's a plus :)
 
1st rule when coming back to a game (like this) after a longer period away ; read patch highlights.... Basically don't expect it to be like when you left

The game is incredible much more fun now than it was pre-npc/ai update(s). TBH I think they dumbed them down too much after they "fixed" it, because of a few people that couldn't handle the heat


Fly dangerous Cmdrs


Hansen out
 
OP - this situation is a bit like leaving for the holidays, coming back and there's been an earthquake in your time away. Everything sorta looks fine but you get in your house and it's like "HOLY CRAP, WHY IS EVERYTHING I OWN SAT IN A POOL OF PIPE LEAKAGE AND MINGLING WITH EVERYTHING ELSE I OWN?!".

Stuff happened. NPCs stopped being the proverbial fish in a barrel. You will need to adjust. Wing up, and keep ships you use for combat well and truly combat oriented. Drop the keelback and pack the cobra with a couple of HRPs.


Adopt Commander.

I am not sure how this will help him, unless he's planning to put the kid in an escape pod and use him as bait for missiles...?
 
Great. Why did this happen?

I'm not sure if you read or scanned my post, but my Keelback was destroyed in 5 seconds from behind at a LOW RES. I couldn't even turn around.

That's the equivalent of a King Hit at a club by a coward. This is a video game; how is that even remotely considered fun?

Also, my third Cobra death was by a 'DEADLY' Imperial Clipper in a Low RES. Why is a 'Deadly' Clipper spawning in a Low RES? What the hell spawns in a Haz Res? An Imperial Armada??

Because the NPCs were dumb as rocks and just sat there spinning stationary in space about 10% of the time. Regular players were extremely frustrated by the lack of challenge from NPCs.

A few things might help next time:

Low Rez means 'low security' - a High [security] Rez would be a better place to hunt. Remember that - as a player who does not have a maxxed out ship - there needs to be content for players who DO have maxxed out expensive ships. This is why there are places that it is not safe to take a combat Keelback: Because those are places to take combat Fer De Lances. It's wise to recognise that some places are too dangerous to visit in certain vessels, or with a rusty skill-set.

Speaking of Keelbacks... Really, really, REALLY bad choice of combat ship. The Cobra would probably be better: A you said, you were simply unable to turn or evade in time. Keelback is passable for hauling, but not for combat. You took a sponge bat to a gunfight!

Were you carrying cargo? Do not carry cargo in Rex zones, because you will get attacked. If you carry no cargo no pirates will bother attacking you first.

Pirates do not care about attacking from behind. Position is THE number one combat advantage. Yu are dogfighting and people are going to try to backshoot you.

4 Pips to shields when under fire! This gives VERY substantial damage reduction and is a key to survival.

If you are combat-rusty, avoid Rez sites for now. Practice in one-on-one combats in open space to hone your skills. Go to a boxing ring; not a bar brawl!

Ultimately, have a coffee and a sit back and think: You are rusty, having not played for a while and the NPCs are better. That you got owned in a Rez is not hugely surprising, but rather than lower the difficulty of the game to cater for rusty players in Keelbacks, the game needs to cater for a higher level of player skill in Rez zones. In one week you will be much improved and probably in a more suitable ship, and the fights will seem a lot more reasonable. You will look back on this experience and recognised that you have improved an awful lot in one week and with a little advice.

Hope that helps. :)
 
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He just asked a question. I would hazard a guess that being away for so long and not knowing about nay changes means he doesn't know about FD changing peoples combat ranks to compensate.

No need to be antsy about it.

No wonder people leave the game.
SORRY your taking the OP at his word how come most people whining have just come back for 9-12 months from the game ? or were killed in 5 seconds i would wager in reality he not just come back nor did it take 5 seconds to kill his ship i would say hes saying that so he doesnt come accross as a player thats learned nothing about the game since he started playing ! but then i dont beiieve what anyone says on here without video evidence to support it
 
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Because the NPCs were dumb as rocks and just sat there spinning stationary in space about 10% of the time. Regular players were extremely frustrated by the lack of challenge from NPCs.

A few things might help next time:

Low Rez means 'low security' - a High [security] Rez would be a better place to hunt. Remember that - as a player who does not have a maxxed out ship - there needs to be content for players who DO have maxxed out expensive ships. This is why there are places that it is not safe to take a combat Keelback: Because those are places to take combat Fer De Lances. It's wise to recognise that some places are too dangerous to visit in certain vessels, or with a rusty skill-set.

Speaking of Keelbacks... Really, really, REALLY bad choice of combat ship. The Cobra would probably be better: A you said, you were simply unable to turn or evade in time. Keelback is passable for hauling, but not for combat. You took a sponge bat to a gunfight!

Were you carrying cargo? Do not carry cargo in Rex zones, because you will get attacked. If you carry no cargo no pirates will bother attacking you first.

Pirates do not care about attacking from behind. Position is THE number one combat advantage. Yu are dogfighting and people are going to try to backshoot you.

4 Pips to shields when under fire! This gives VERY substantial damage reduction and is a key to survival.

If you are combat-rusty, avoid Rez sites for now. Practice in one-on-one combats in open space to hone your skills. Go to a boxing ring; not a bar brawl!

Ultimately, have a coffee and a sit back and think: You are rusty, having not played for a while and the NPCs are better. That you got owned in a Rez is not hugely surprising, but rather than lower the difficulty of the game to cater for rusty players in Keelbacks, the game needs to cater for a higher level of player skill in Rez zones. In one week you will be much improved and probably in a more suitable ship, and the fights will seem a lot more reasonable. You will look back on this experience and recognised that you have improved an awful lot in one week and with a little advice.

Hope that helps. :)

Low Res doesn't mean low security. If anything, it means lower difficulty.

I would recommend regular nav beacons for testing. In general I have found them to me easier even then low res sites.

As for the comments on the keelback, OP has stated he was trying to get a feel for the ship and weapons before trusting it with cargo. A low res, or as I said, nav beacon are the safest places to do that.

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I didn't know that resetting combat rank was learning how to play the game, did I miss a memo or something?

Yes, you missed the memo. It has been stated many times in many posts, that resetting combat rank helps learning to play the game against enemies that are closer to a players "real" combat skill, instead of their pre 2.1 combat ranking.
 
As for the comments on the keelback, OP has stated he was trying to get a feel for the ship and weapons before trusting it with cargo.

But also stated he was attacked unprovoked and killed. Things don't attack without reason in Rez zones. 'Wanted' or 'carrying cargo' or 'you shot them' are the only ones that I know!
 
I didn't know that resetting combat rank was learning how to play the game, did I miss a memo or something?

You'll laugh when you find that this memo forgets to mention combat rank only affects the interdiction NPCs. CZs/RESs base their NPC spawns off population and other system factors iirc.

So yes people can reset their rank, but it won't change the fact that if they are getting their backsides kicked in a RES, they will keep getting their backsides kicked. Need to change their game or drop to an easier site to fight at.
 
I didn't know that resetting combat rank was learning how to play the game, did I miss a memo or something?

That isn't what you said. You said they're complaining like a child, which they were not, then recommended they ask for advice. Which they have been doing. Lowering your combat rank reduces the difficulty of the NPC's that spawn.

It would definitely be a shock coming back after almost a year, unaware of the AI changes. They were asking what happened.
 
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Adapt and deal with it. I don't have Horizons or Engineers and my combat rank is Elite. So I'm fighting the toughest AI in their engineer modded ships with my own vanilla ED equipment like the OP.

You just need to know when to turn tail and run. Not every fight is instawin for the player any more but almost all encounters are survivable. There's no shame in pulling a Sir Robin against 4 Vultures with engineered weapons.

I recommend switching to a ship with stronger shields than hull. Like a Viper, Python, FDL, Vulture. The ships with beefy hulls and weak shields like Cobra, Asp, Federal Dumpship variants really got nerfed badly in the last few updates.
 
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Come on OP - this is just a game, right? Learn and adapt. It is not reasonable to spend that amount of time away and expect that nothing will have changed when you come back. It can be done. I was Combat Elite when all the changes arrived and it was a shock to be sure. But I learned what I did wrong from each and every thrashing I received.

Some issues were fixed by simply waiting - heavily engineer-modified NPC's for example. Then I learned how to sit around in a RES - of any flavour - without being accosted so that I could pick my target. Then I learned how to get the initiative and do much damage on the alpha strike so as to shorten the amount of time they could shoot back. Then I learned how to stay on the tail of the bigger and slower ships so they couldn't bring their guns to bear. Then I learned to check certain ships for what weapons they had on board (hint: stay away from ships with railguns - they never miss!). Then I learned how to manage pips on a moment by moment basis - sys when they are landing hits, weapons when they aren't and I am, engines when I want to stay close and on their tail. Then I learned about loadouts suitable for purpose. And so on.

Mate - you just gotta accept that the game is way more fun when you master all these things and have a good battle, than it is when you are just shooting fish in a barrel. And as much as I hate having to be one of those irritating people who say "get gud" - I'm afraid that is the only answer for you - get gud! There is a learning curve but trust me when I tell you - it is worth it - in spades!

Don't cop out and get your rank lowered - learn how to run away and then learn when in a battle you should do that. Then you can try things out and escape when you need to. Generally the NPC won't boost after you - they will just go at their normal max speed and so you can usually outrun them if you can survive long enough.

You can do it! I did and believe me, I am no hotshot. I'm 67 years old and my reflexes aren't what they used to be but I am having a ball.
 
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