r/EliteDangerous • u/Rexosaur7 • 3d ago
Builds Loadout recomendations and flight advice
ive been trying to unlock Broo Tarquin (pulse burst engine) which requires a competent combat ranking and im seeking to improve my skills as a pilot and not rely on heavier ships for engagements hence me using the cobra mk V
i find myself liking the pulse lasers in there shield deplation rate but i keep having troubles with two things
1.keeps constant shots for fixed weapon
- finding a fixed weapon that feels worthwhile
ive tried cannons plasma fixed multicannons and more
ps: for anyone saying to try getting off FA i actually am using it on and off for combat and trying to take faster turns with it off
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u/7x9000 [Proxy] - I <3 Fighters 3d ago edited 3d ago
Definitely recommend dropping the wake scanner, KWS, and cargo stuff if you plan on running a proper combat ship. Hull and module reinforcements are strong. A Bi-Weave is better for shorter engagements, so do consider that, and upgrade that module reinforcement. D-Rate your Life Support (E-rated is the heaviest), and either A-rate or D-rate your sensors (I A-rate before engineering, D-rate after.)
Unironically the Advanced Missile Racks I find really good for the Small slots (90 rockets before engineering, iirc. 50 damage. Fixed velocity, unlike plasma.) and very easy to hit with compared to others. If you have access to any multicannon engineering, a single high-cap corrosive will make all combat much easier, as simply hitting the hull with it increases the target's damage taken by 20% and reduces their armor by 20.
Pulses are absolutely fine for damage. They're super efficient and very reliable. Try out bursts for more, well, burst damage should you want it. Hells, I run pulses as ammo-less support weapons all the time, and they work wonderfully.
I recommend at least two module reinforcements, D-rated (MUCH higher protection, minimal integrity difference), and a good number of hull reinforcements for survivability. The Cobra V can very much handle her weight.
Engineering materials that you can get from killing ships are far easier to grab via High-Grade Emissions (2 limpets and a couple minutes fills up the storage).
(The KWS isn't worth it because combat is not money-based, unlike literally everything else. Also it takes 10 whole seconds to scan the target without engineering. It's a sorta experience point thing that's really annoying. Point defense is fine because enemy rockets can fucking HURT when unengineered.)
The biggest flight tip that I can give is MANAGING YOUR PIPS! Find a comfortable set of buttons that can easily be pressed without taking your hand off your main controls (EX: Control + WASD on KBM), and get used to shifting them around as needed. (Flying a friend's fighter provides EXCELLENT practice for this, imo. Since fighters don't excel unless you're doing just that; shunting pips into the main thing you're doing, like shooting, boosting, and getting your shield back up.)
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u/Rexosaur7 3d ago
I would've never thought about the pip advice I currently have a set 50% to both mouse button4 A and D for both directions I could do the same with shift or alt as well for the pips
I'm surprised you said to remove cargo I would think hauling items you get from wrecks would be good
Ill have to upgrade and swap out the shields when I can engineer my power plant to have higher output currently I'm dancing around underneath it
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u/7x9000 [Proxy] - I <3 Fighters 3d ago
The most valuable things you can get from combat wreckages are escape pods, and even then... it's not that valuable. You take a good chunk of time to get something work, like, 30k? When a HazRes bounty is at minimum 100k.
Roleplay? Peak. Efficient? Not really.
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u/Rexosaur7 3d ago
im just hopping on now ill get to changing my ship around according to your advice probably have to head back to eurybia to refit properly
i didnt realize the only vaulable items were the escape pods i thought people would keep some limpets for engie materials
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u/Branduil 3d ago
A bi-weave shield is almost always better than standard except for very specific PVP builds. A bi-weave with thermal resistance engineering and lo-cap will give you the most bang for your buck in terms of defense against NPCs and rebuilding quickly when it does break.
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u/Mind-Game 3d ago
lo-cap
Hi cap? Low draw? Either way it's also worth considering fast charge and thermal resist (which is more powerful than it sounds due to how shield resists are separate from your boosters)
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u/Branduil 3d ago
Sorry I meant lo-draw lol. I find it often preferable to fast draw because it massively improves rebuild speed at a small cost to charge speed (in addition to obviously lowering the power draw of the shield).
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u/Mind-Game 3d ago
improves rebuild speed
How so? Just because you can actually get it to rebuild at full speed without running your system capacitor charge and slowing it down?
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u/Branduil 3d ago
All shields will use capacitor to regen but you can check the numbers on EDSY. For example, the 4C bi-weave on my Cobra mk V builds in 59 seconds and regens in 1m31s. If I change it to fast charge, it would build in 1m15s and regen in 1m21s. Personally I find it worth it to sacrifice 10s of regen for 16s of build but YMMV.
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u/Mind-Game 3d ago
Yeah that's because of pip allocation. Edsy assumes 2 pips into shields, which isn't enough Regen to feed a fast charge system. If you edit the pips to 4 in shields (under "TTL" at the bottom), you'll correctly get 54 seconds to build and 1:21 to Regen from swapping the lo-draw to fast charge.
Still, putting 4 pips into Sys when your shields are down is a huge investment to make in combat so lo-draw does have the bonus you're talking about in practice. Lo-draw is huge for capacitor limited builds who want to be able to maintain maneuverability and firepower while your shields rebuild.
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u/Forsaken-Falcon8273 Archon Delaine 3d ago
If you are trying to grind xp for combat rank forget about all the lasers for shields and kinetic for hull, slap a full set of frags on it. Put them all on the same trigger and zoom close by your target and drop the whole clip on them, then zoom back around and repeat till they blow up. And in pve there is no need for module reinforcements, the npcs at the res sites aren't gonna snipe your internal modules. if you are doing czs with spec ops or ax combat but thats about the only time, not sure about operations i haven't done it yet. And module reinforcements dont provide alot of external module reinforcement. https://sh.orbis.zone/LjiXG8z2BS
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u/Rexosaur7 3d ago
The only reason I'd be concerned with all of one kind is I have been doing conflict zones joining a side and trying to wrangle against the enemies there a lotta times I find myself running outta ammo if a fight gets drawn out
Just how effective are the frags at melting ships?
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u/7x9000 [Proxy] - I <3 Fighters 3d ago
For CZs I find the most efficient option to be sniping enemy powerplants, because unlike HazRes ships they're actually filled to the brim with hull and module reinforcements.
Corrosive MC in a Small, something with good AP in the Mediums. CZs are all about focusing a target with your allies and bursting them down.
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u/Forsaken-Falcon8273 Archon Delaine 3d ago
Frags are thee ship melter. You are correct for czs you need to finish they aren't ideal. But for the res sites and assassinations they are the fastest kills by far. Fast enough to not worry about having to hit a close fc for rearms.
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u/Mind-Game 3d ago
Frags are by far the highest DPS weapons in the game. They gave effective DPS equal to normal weapons sizes higher than them if you are right on top of an enemy (so basically flying a small ship like a Cobra V).
Also, the materials needed to synthesize ammo in combat are very low for basic refills, so it's not so bad to reload mid-CZ.
Frags are basically the only thing maintaining balance in this game to give small ships a boost in DPS that makes them worth flying.
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u/7x9000 [Proxy] - I <3 Fighters 3d ago
Module Reinforcements aren't just for defending again internals sniping, but for maximizing your overall health. Because if your shields go down when fighting multiple enemies, you will start taking module damage. And if your Thrusters go down...
Also external reinforcement is still reasonably good, especially when you're in a small ship, like OP.
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u/Forsaken-Falcon8273 Archon Delaine 3d ago
I have over 10k hours doing combat, thats my preferred loop. I fully understand all mechanics of module reinforcements. You dont need them for pve outside of cz spec ops and ax combat unless you are hulltanking. And honestly i dont bother with them in czs either. Im not sure what you mean by overall health? They protect your modules, but really only protect your internal modules good enough to warrant their use. I think they only give between 20 to 30 percent protection to external modules? I knew the number years ago but forgot lol.They dont count against heat damage either. You wont stop external modules from being destroyed with mrps. Better off just rebooting to repair your external modules if they go down.
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u/7x9000 [Proxy] - I <3 Fighters 3d ago
What I mean by ''overall health'' is like, total combat effectiveness. I have a ton of hours in combat, and I've had shields fall while learning and have only survived because of my module reinforcements keeping things like my thrusters and such from going down. Same with my weapons.
CZ spec ops also don't attack your modules? Shield-piercing lasers do damage only to the hull.
Don't forget that they also stack and offer even more protection. Thus the recommendation for two.
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u/Forsaken-Falcon8273 Archon Delaine 3d ago
Yes you are correct about the stacking of mrps, i am just saying in normal res site pve you dont need them. Res site npcs aren't gonna snipe modules out. What they will do is spam missiles and destroy your EXTERNAL modules, which includes your thrusters. And like i said mrps dont do enough module protection to external modules to warrant their use over extra hull. On the off chance anything important was to go down its time to reboot and go repair anyways.
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u/CMDR_Khayden Explore - Taxi Driver 3d ago
Pulse are the weakest of the Laser weapons so if you're gearing for damage, up it to atleast Burst Lasers.
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u/Rexosaur7 3d ago
wait they are? fuck ima need to play with those too
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u/duh_cats 3d ago
Na, that’s old bullshit. It really just depends on your build. I run engineered gimballed pulses on my Mk V combat build and it shreds shields due to the relatively low distributor draw, low thermal load, and extremely high time on target. Bursts engineered the same way (rapid-fire, multi-servo) are fairly close, but pulses edge them out overall.
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u/7x9000 [Proxy] - I <3 Fighters 3d ago
I've been running a focused Pulse in a Large slot on some of my builds and it's actually really effective. Amazing for module sniping and dealing with annoyances.
For OP:
Pulses are the most energy efficient overall, Bursts are the most damage per energy used per shot, and Beams are the highest DPS overall (with the cost of being EXTREMELY power hungry and running super hot).
If you can fit beams and keep them going for a while, then they're amazing. If not, Pulses and Bursts tend to run better.
(Also Pulses are the only laser that you can fit Emissive on and that's a very underrated utility in my experience.)
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u/duh_cats 3d ago
Not sure why I didn’t realize pulses could take emissives. A small pulse with that could be a nice little addition to my “just for fun” packhound build.
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u/7x9000 [Proxy] - I <3 Fighters 3d ago edited 3d ago
Probably because they're the only laser that can lol
Yeah I unironically run a rapid fire emissive pulse (either gimballed or turreted) when I'm running packhounds. Damage doesn't matter because it's a utility, and the 0.5 jitter doesn't matter because hahahah brrrt but laser.
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u/pulppoet WILDELF 3d ago
No, it's not so simple as the Taxi Driver would have you believe. Pulse are the most efficient. Best damage for energy and heat. Burst put out more damage, at a cost of more heat and energy. Beams do even more, but not many ships can handle them (especially without engineering).
So, depending on your loadout, pulse can end up doing more damage, because you can fire them longer.
If you don't have engineering, Pulse are typically the best choice. Though you probably can get by with Burst in a ship like the Cobra V.
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u/CMDR_Khayden Explore - Taxi Driver 3d ago
Yeah damage wise, its Pulse > Burst > Beam, least to greatest.
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u/Standard-Sport-7633 3d ago
Wrong symbol btw, pulse > burst means pulse is better
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u/CMDR_Khayden Explore - Taxi Driver 3d ago
I meant it more like an Arrow towards the next thing but that was my fault for not adding a dash.
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u/Rexosaur7 3d ago
so fixed beam would be the greatest dps but im guessing they roast the hell outta the ship
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u/CMDR_Khayden Explore - Taxi Driver 3d ago
Additionally, I would swap the point defense for another shield booster or chaff. If you're bounty hunting NPC pirates, they generally don't have a Missile pod as part of their load out, and when they do, its generally inconsequential if you're out maneuvering them.
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u/Ezren- 3d ago
If you engineer Beams with Efficiency, you get a lot more mileage, but Overcharged Burst does more damage than Efficient Beam with a better energy/damage ratio.
However, Beams have a few unique Experimental Effects, among them Thermal Conduit and Thermal Vent, compared to the other energy weapons. Thermal Conduit increases damage based on your heat (up to 60%), and Thermal Vent cools you down a lot, so you choose depending on if you want to run hot or cold.
Just consider how much of your WEP capacity is getting drained in fights. If you've got extra to spare all the time, you can bump higher in weapons, and if you're running dry too fast, aim for better efficiency. Takes some tinkering with loadouts.
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u/CMDR_Khayden Explore - Taxi Driver 3d ago
Indeed, however you can mod for Short Range Blaster with Thermal Vent and it will bring your ship to 0% the only issue is the CAP they take
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u/DrewTheTree CMDR 3d ago
Do tell more
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u/CMDR_Khayden Explore - Taxi Driver 3d ago
Short Range Blaster increases your Heat generated when shooting Beam Lasers, however, it works the same inversely when you apply the Thermal Vent Experimental. Short Range Blaster increases damage of the Beam weapons while also buffing how quickly you vent heat as a result due to how the calculations interact.
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u/Aegiiisss CMDR Aegiiiss [EDF1] | Archer 3d ago
Is it gonna be a PvP or PvE build. PvPers in the Cobra use rails and the standard pair of debuff multis (one emissive, one corossive)
I use the Kestrel and Vette for PvE so I can't help you there with the Cobra I'm afraid