MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
All,
I have done a little mining over the last few days, so I will be adding a shipyard to my carrier Moon's Spawn.
The idea is that I will announce when I am doing something which may be of interest and people can join if that is useful.
For example, in the next few days I will be jumping to Alioth to unlock Bill Turner and get various modules engineered (long range PAs anyone). I will probably go late one day then back the same time the next day. I'll be mining bromelite tonight so will shout if I have spare.
I would also be up for the same kind of trips to a mining location, celeano for a bug hunt, guardian locations anywhere useful really. Once I've added the shipyard I'll shout.
Matt
How does that work if someone on you carrier doesn't have the Alioth permit?
Are carriers restricted from jumping to permit locked systems?
Carriers can't jump to permit locked systems. I will be getting as close as possible. I don't even have a permit myself at the minute.
Matt
@Molgrips however much they paid you it was not enough!
Yeah but you know what, this is Elite, and we wouldn't be here if we didn't have bloodyminded determination.
I need to mine, but currently I am half way to Elvira Martuuk in my unengineered Fer de Lance which is taking sodding ages.
That's the thing that puts me off engineering my Krait, it is a long way from the Plieades to practically anywhere and I need to visit about 6 engineers.
Matt
I need to mine, but currently I am half way to Elvira Martuuk in my unengineered Fer de Lance which is taking sodding ages.
Oof, bit late now but did you strip out the modules you weren't engineering and fit a massive fuel scoop?
Do we know what happens to ships if they are in your carrier and you disable shipyard facilities? Dropped off at the nearest station perhaps?
That’s the thing that puts me off engineering my Krait
armor is the only thing you need to visit the engineer with that particular ship to get upgraded, any other module you can either load onto an anaconda or other ship with a big jump range or store the module, travel to engineer in a long range ship **that can fit the module** and pay to transfer it over (you should definitely do one of these with federal or other fighty ships with terrible jump ranges).
Pinned blueprints saves a LOT of legwork tho, you just have to be clever about which ones you pin, i went for similar to this with a few tweaks for personal preference (qwent armoured pp, todd overcharged MC etc) visit each engineer in a long range ship, pin the blueprints then upgrade from comfort of your home station, then you only have to transport a module to the engineer if you want a secondary effects.
********* Newsflash *********
Amazing scenes here in the normally tranquil system of Kuwembaa, where the Grovicele Movement have made an audacious attempt to 'invade'. This unexpected and frankly unwanted incursion has resulted in a war between the Grovicele Movement and the Karahua Network.
Loyal sons and daughters of Kuwembaa and the Federation are being asked to take up arms in support of the Karahua network.
*************************************
Oof, bit late now but did you strip out the modules you weren’t engineering and fit a massive fuel scoop?
I have a tiny class 2 fuel scoop. I tried not to strip much out because I wanted to get into a few scraps on the way. I did swap a hull reinforcement module for a larger fuel tank but of course a larger scoop would have been more sensible.
Pinned blueprints saves a LOT of legwork tho
Yes, I used these to engineer my Anaconda, but now I have discovered I have nowhere near enough engineer rep to unlock the stuff I want (shields, thrusters), fortunately I have enough ships (hopefully) to rectify this.
EDIT do we need to go once more unto the breach to defend our new home system, or will they handle it?
@D0NK yes that's what happens to docked ships when the shipyard is removed or the carrier is decommissioned.
You are right of course about the pinned blueprints and module shifting. The DBX is actually quite handy for weapons as it has one large and two medium hardpoints. The Krait/Python is my biggest ship atm!
The trouble with the Krait is it's a Xeno build, which means that it is different to a lot of my pinned blueprints (armoured on the power, enhanced low power on the shields, no resistances on the boosters etc). And of course I'm easily distracted!
Matt
do we need to go once more unto the breach to defend our new home system, or will they handle it?
Don't we also have an election to win?
a war between the Grovicele Movement and the Karahua Network
doesnt appear we have any skin in this game, but presumably it will affect the BGS, so we fight for Karahua network then? If we overkill it tho will that increase KN influence too much? Or will handing in bonds always boost NKL as we have control of the system?
The trouble with the Krait is it’s a Xeno build, which means that it is different to a lot of my pinned blueprints
good point. Low power shields because weapons aren't engineered to be efficient? Otherwise I thought reinforced & max MJ all the way.
@D0NK yeah, I want all the power for 4xGauss cannon, otherwise yeah max points all the way. Those Guardian Module Reinforcements suck up the juice as well.
It also gives me a recovery of 1:30 which is more than a minute quicker than reinforced.
I'm fighting for KN, for the status Quo and the Federation. I imagine I can get Molgrips on side there!
Matt
[Edit] No engineering possible on Gauss
@matt_bl I’ll hitch a lift to Alioth if I may. I fancy a play with PAs.
I’ve just been to do some mining and picked up some Bromelite fairly quickly from a hotspot at ODINJA 1. Just one jump from Akuntsu. There seemed to be plenty of surface deposits so mining appears to be working again at least for Bromelite. There’s also some LTD and Tritium hotspots in the ring there which will be worth investigating.
I’ll spend a bit of time materials hunting as well as NKL duties over the next little while see if I can finish some of the Blueprints I already have as well.
@crewlie I'm just getting my bromellite so I'll give you a shout. There are some hotspots (LTD and Tritium) on the 7th planet at HIP 47839, which I have had some success with.
If you need raw materials give me a shout, there is a planet for everything within 15Ly.
Matt
Been running election missions in Akuntsu.
Stopped doing stuff in Velniat as we’re within 5% of the controlling faction now.
Perchy, yes we want to match in Velniat, as we can't do anything until the election is finished. I ran 5 missions so I'm predicting a solid win on the second day.
I also won a couple of combat zones for KN in Kuwembaa, so that might push day 1 for them.
Matt
I ran about 6 missions, maybe 7 this morning. ARP gonna smash this [/troll]
@D0NK - thanks for the Reddit link for blueprints to pin. I'll take a closer look tomorrow. I'd seen this one from D2EA, a quick scan and there's a few similarities in choices;
Has anyone ever had a comms message tip off from a "mysterious stranger"? I'm being asked if I want to go on a mission to collect some high value data, co-ords for a planetary landing, expect some opposition there apparently. No idea what it's about, got it after one of my missions yesterday.
@son-of-mike yeah it's usually a pretty straightforward low value affair, but worth doing, you never know what system you may end up in.
I will be taking the carrier to Alioth, well 78 Ursae Majoris, around 1300 tomorrow and I'll be jumping back around the same time on Sunday, if I get Bill Turner sorted. Anyone who wants to join me is welcome. The shipyard has been added.
Matt
A load of NKL missions* in akuntsu and kuwembaa tonight and a couple of combat zone wins for KN, only low intensity, do medium/high offer more influence or is that just for entertainment value? Combat zone seemed easier than the last few Ive done so dunno if I'm improving or theres variation in difficulty even for "Low". Heavily engineered FdL tho, so it'd be a travesty if I wasn't kicking PVE arse.
*and 1 or 2 for other factions, cant help myself when theres profitssss to be had
Thanks for adding the shipyard Matt.
Ships now aboard Moon’s Spawn. I’ve donated a few t’s of Tritium and have spare Bromelite, but I’m not sure how to pass it on if anyone wants any.
Bill Turner does a quite a few mods that I’d like to get as well as the PAs. Lightweight sensors and improved DSS should be useful for exploration. Shame you can only pin one blueprint per engineer.
What’s anyone’s suggestion for the best experimental for PA. Not sure I’d ever hit anything with long range fixed weapons, at least not with my current skill level 😉
@D0NK yes the medium and high intensity CZs count for more. I thought the low were pretty reasonable yesterday. I finished with 100% hull in the Vulture and it's not that tough. I was mainly fighting pythons and crusaders.
@crewlie that's why I'm pleased I can take the carrier, I want to do the DSS on my phantom and some scanners on my bubble-bus. A lot of people like long range on the PAs as it doubles the shot speed (helping aiming I hope). I'm going to try that with phasing experimental on the mediums. I don't know what experimental to put on the large, but that is a relatively quick/cheap change later.
If you don't need the bromelite I can buy it from you and store it one the carrier and pass it on later.
Matt
@matt_bl I’ve got 20t excess Bromelite, happy to donate it to STW stores. Can I just sell to the carrier, at 0 price or near to it.
OK, when I move the carrier I'll set up a buy order. I have 100 or so spare so I'll include them.
When I was mining last night I thought tritium was really abundant in a single, as was bromelite. LTDs not so much! I might try a proper run at tritium, I think there is about 200t per hour with a mix of surface and SSD.
Matt
Thanks for the heads up. I jumped successfully last night later than the reported times, so I might be lucky.
Matt
@crewlie did you get everything done that you needed? If not I can leave the carrier on site for another day and jump back in the bubble bus?
I took the opportunity to see Selene Jean at Kuk, so a really useful trip. Just need some more mats now!
Matt
@matt_bl Pretty much, though I underestimated how long it would take to get allied with Aolith, everything seemed to be mining or planetary scan missions. I knew I would be biking this morning so it ended up as a late night and a bit of stress trying not to get a rebuy and losing my Bromelite 🙂
Had to leave a few things undone (although up to 90% complete) as I ran out of materials, but got my access up to level 5 and put experimentals on all the PAs I took over with me.
I'm still down at the Engineers with my ASP but it's only 5 jumps back from there and I might just have a nose around the tourists sights here and see if I can collect a few mats and finish getting my sensors up to L5. So if you're still here I'll dock if not I'll pick the other ships up later.
Thanks for the lift, it proves that FC can be very useful if actually used for a purpose rather than just bought because you can.
@crewlie you're welcome. I found the same thing, when I allied with Eurybia for another engineer it took two missions or something ridiculous. Last night I ended up mining Lithium Hydroxide at 0130.
I'm hoping to use it for more of this type of thing, so if you have any suggestions, give me a shout.
In that case I'll jump back around 1700.
Matt
That's fine, I'll finish up here then get back to NKL election business tomorrow.
I need to do the same thing at Sirius next so I can get Marco Quent but only really to get access to Palin, so that should only need one ship, I think. Most of his things are better elsewhere.
Got some time to play tonight. Working on unlocking engineers (unless anyone fancies causing some trouble?). I need thrusters which means I need Professor Palin, and to unlock him I need Marco Quent, and to get him I think I need a Sirius permit.
Anyone tried their PAs yet? Went out in a vulture earlier with some long distance APAs (which iirc do run a bit hotter than standard) and kept cooking myself. Back to the efficients on that ship I think. Also shieldless in a CZ is not ideal, fought a viper and toook aaaaages to kill it, down to 38% hull at the end of it. Took on a python and then another and only lost a few % between them. Definitely need to pick your target, which can be tricky in a CZ. Tried an all frag chieftain too, does the job but eats thru ammo shockingly quick, not great for CZ but would make a great assassin ship.
A few more glorious victories for KM!
Hows the election going? I presume NKL are kicking arse?
Winning the last 3 days, so all good so far.
I've just engineered my PAs to long range, I'll try them tomorrow. Hopefully I won't be trekking back to change them.
The numbers are looking good for NKL. We will win the election when the Tick happens tomorrow, unless ARP have suddenly found some support.
KM are winning the war in Kuwembaa 2:0.
All of the other systems are steady, but in positions which we are happy with/are improving.
I tried the PAs briefly tonight. They are certainly easier to hit with using the higher shot speed of focussed or long range. I like cannon builds, I have shock cannons on a courier which is good fun, they use ammo quickly as well. D2EA has a Chieftain with cytoscramblers on the smalls then enforcer cannons (definitely some kind of cannons) and wrecks a conda in about 15 seconds. Vipers in CZs are MkIVs typically and well tanky, I hate them and swerve off to fight a challenger or python. That's in the funship.
If anyone needs any bromelite there is still 130t on the carrier, let me know and I'll set up a buy order.
Matt
I've been doing the rep missions, have a load to finish then will hit the CZ. Gonna miss the tick anyway so will just take the moolah.
Why is everyone in about PAs and other weapons I have never heard of? What's d2ea and cytoscrambler?
A couple of us were unlocking Bill Turner this weekend. He does a load of stuff, but you could say his specialty is PAs. If you can hit stuff (not a guarantee for me by any means) you can get a lot of damage from PAs, as a significant proportion is absolute, so ignores resistances.
Cytoscramblers are the small burst lasers that you can get from Archon Delaine in powerplay. They do almost zero hull damage but are super effective against shields. You can combine them with frags and cannons to kill large ships very quickly.
D2EA = Down to earth astronomy, a Danish youtuber.
Matt
indeed, I signed up to Archon last week, I had heard about cytos but hadnt realised how good they could be if used correctly, so should have some in 4 weeks or so. Advanced PAs are another power play weapon, rapid fire*, 20 round magazine (as opposed to 5) with corresponding less damage per shot than standard PAs. I use both PAs and APAs on different ships, fun way to play while not necessarily faster to kill stuff than beams/multis, but if you're a good shot they'll eat thru shields and hull ignoring resistances.
*so more frequent opportunities to hit (or miss) and apply secondary effects.
My current goal is to make my ship or ships practically invulnerable to NPCs which is apparently possible. Then I will work on PVE builds to see if I can take on some gankers maybe.
But I still need to kit out the bus and start the Molgrips Spaceline, which will require moolah, so I need to mine as well. Those are my two threads of play currently. As long as I am in the bubble I should be able to spread my time between the two activities.
I'm with D0NK on this. I think for PvE the meta is a combination of lasers and multicannons and pull the trigger until everything is dead. I don't think that's necessarily the case for PvP, where maximum damage per shot seems to be the way.
Using PAs and Rails to me is about challenging myself. I know I could knock out more ships if I switched the PAs on my Funship for three more MCs. Plus I need to practice the rails for taking out the 'angry flowers'.
If you add the short range experimental to cytoscramblers and you can stay within 500m, they can shred any shields (around 50 dps). If you get into high speed jousting, you might as well throw stuff out of the window at them as they come past!
Matt
So what's your tactic for turning a joust into something else?
Interestingly I have found this easier since getting a PS4 Pro. It looks like it continues to draw other ships in more detail at a further distance - which when coupled with the higher res I can actually see what the other ships are doing more often.
Don't fight Vipers is number 1. I find them to be easily the most jousty NPCs.
Really, if I'm going to be doing that type of fighting I have ships with gimballed weapons and sensible ranges. I only have cytoscramblers on the Chieftain which I use for muggings or 1-v-1 against bigger ships (those missions where they send something after you, is usually a python or conda).
In the CZs I tend to pick on Pythons, Space Cows and Asps, basically stuff with poor acceleration so it can't get far enough away or Chieftains and Challengers, which are actively trying to stay close.
Matt
My most successful tactic is to use the Anaconda with turreted weapons. They are great. They have a 'fire at will' mode in which they just blast whatever doesn't like you. So when they fly towards you you use downward thrusters so they go over the top, at which point my double 2A beam lasers track them and keep firing as I turn around - so their shields are being shredded the whole time and they don't last long. As soon as their shields are low they start evasive action which means they aren't firing at you. I can get out of most fights without a scratch on my hull, which I can't do in the Fer de Lance.
Cytoscramblers sound like a solution to my TTK issues, pledging today!
Interesting, I'd noticed that Condas seem to point down a lot. That's always the trickier part, getting in behind them, but once I'm there in the Chieftain it's pretty much game over (I spam them with missiles once the shields are down). When you see Vindicator Jones, he starts fights from that position and they never get a shot on him, even when he's doing what he calls lazy flying.
That's sort of my point, you can get a really high level of efficiency into PvE combat. Once you're at that point, what do you do? Step up (to medium, high CZs, wing fights, etc), step down (smaller ships) or step across to different weapons.................
Matt
TTK?
And just to add, cytoscramblers are fixed. In fact I think that's common to Powerplay weaponry, doesn't matter with packhounds though 🙂
Matt
I’d noticed that Condas seem to point down a lot.
There are two large on the top, two beams on the front left and right, but the huge and the two smalls are underneath. I didn't put a turret on the huge because I don't think it can fire backwards. But it's kind of annoying that you can only bring half the weapons to bear unless you are facing the target. I think the turrets are better placed on the T10.
wow. So much expertise here in terms of weapons, ships, engineering & combat. Hats off to you. I'll get there one day. And that's what I like about Elite. I don't see an endpoint to it.
My guess is TTK = time to kill
I ran a bunch of missions to benefit NKL yesterday evening, stacked them up and added some trading for myself to boot. Bank balance got some nice time bonuses too.
Now I'm wondering if I could use a class 4 PA on the Anaconda. I'd need to be close to hit but it would be fun landing those those things on a target.
FYI, FDev are hosting a live stream on Twitch this Thursday with CMDRs from the Deep Space Support Array - fleet carriers dotted around the galaxy to stop off at so explorers can buy a soggy sausage roll & Red Bull, think of Moto Services in space. If you can't watch the live stream it looks like a video will make its way here;
And this is a map of the DSSA.
Just playing with the PAs for the first time. Tricky being fixed, but once you get on someone's tail they're good. I'm trying to master boost bleeding to get into position but I'm not sure an xbox controller works as well as keyboard/mouse or Hotas for it.
I've got 3 PAs on my Anaconda that I just stuck on to take them engineered and they're probably not in the best positions, but they're effective when you get a hit. It's a different way to fight, harder work than the MC and lasers but good skills practice and I think when you can use fixed weapons it's going to be a useful advantage.
Oh, and I see that we won the election!
Deep Space Support Array
This is brilliant. I just wish they'd named themselves Welcome Break.
Re: NKL election win, I think I can hear "Things Can Only Get Better" by D:Ream playing over the tannoy in Gagnan Port 😉
I think I can hear “Things Can Only Get Better” by D:Ream playing over the tannoy in Gagnan Port
...while Prof. Brian Cox winces uncomfortably behind his keyboard as that contradicts the second law of thermodynamics.
@matt_bl Boost bleed, if I'm understanding it properly is FA off and using thrusters to direct the boost to manoeuvre onto your target. I think the same techniques work with FA on just less effectively.
It's in this video, he makes it look very easy. I keep practicing FA off and I've almost managed to get my ship through the docking slot with FA off, but very very slowly 🙂
Hehe. Better not show him Elite:Dangerous then.
So what’s your tactic for turning a joust into something else?
that boost bleed looks like it might be worth a shot, but just from personal experience recently, 4 pips to engines, 2 to shields ignore firing for now, when they go past you jousting, dont spin 180 to face them again, turn about 90degrees wait for them too boost back towards you then curve your trajectory up to try and get on their tail as they go past again, keep throttle in the blue till you're on the same trajectory as them, then maybe boost if you need to, to keep up with them but try not to overshoot them as they turn to come back at you. and I mostly point my thrusters at the enemy's contrails
And as Matt says, dont fight vipers, grrrrr.
FA off I only tend to use to rotate faster to keep eyes on target then boost, I need to turn FA on pretty soon or it all goes squirrelly.
I find the conda pretty good for keeping all/most guns on target, certainly better than the vette.
3 large beams efficient & thermal vent
2 medium MCs with high capacity and corrosive
1 huge MC overcharged auto loader
2x small rails longrange with feedback cacade to stop SCBs
Ive experimented with a huge and 2 medium PAs, the beams are pretty much a permanent fixture tho.
so NKL won the election, KN well on the way to winning the war, what should we be concentrating on now?
There’s a 48 hr cooldown period after the election before any other conflict can kick off. After that it’s likely war with the controlling faction for the system.
Velniat is close to conflict for control if the system if pushed.
Guessing it’s up to matt_bl. He’s the strategy guy here.
It really is a matter of choice. As Perchy has said the two things that are about to happen are:
Gain influence in Akuntsu and have a war with IPP for control of the system or
Gain influence in Velniat and have an election with VPV for control of the system.
In terms of an overall strategy, neither has a particular advantage or effect. I would be happy to 'finish' Akuntsu and see Wylie Dock under Federal control!
The real sneaky strategy will come when we want to expand!
Matt
so ignore velniat and concentrate on akuntsu?
I'll definitely be back for the war. I love a good CZ.
Sold to the man with the Conda.
Work in Akuntsu, with odd missions elsewhere, where required. If Kuwembaa is >62% don't work there.
Matt
Pledged to Atomsk! Now to find out how to rank up and earn my pew pew.
Pledged to Atomsk! Now to find out how to rank up and earn my pew pew
cant get your pewpew til week 4 and you lose rank every week so unless you really enjoy powerplay, pledge, do nothing for 3 weeks then rank up (quality gameplay) you can rank up by delivering stuff or shooting stuff, delivering is easiest but it costs you quite a bit, you have to buy the delivery materials. Shooting stuff you need to pick your system (anarchy) or you'll be getting chased by the fuzz a lot.
Yeah I read a guide earlier that pretty much says that.
Buried money into a parts bin special Python. Pulled the multis off the Cobra and a lot of the systems out the AspX to get it flying. Not the best build ever but its solid and can hold itself together well enough. Now I need to make some money and equip milspec bulkheads.
Took it for a spin over at the compromised beacon, took out a Master that was already scrapping with a Deadly, large beams just melted the shields. 2x medium multis and a large on the chin shredded the rest after a couple of goes. Jumped for a recharge then jumped back in, got bored so picked on a Deadly in a Cobra mk4. Ran away with my pants round my ankles, 37% shields and a 53k repair bill. We were just trading and his weapons had a bigger buff, hence the need for proper bulkheads. Some engineering wouldn't go amiss either.
interesting about the mining lances, but, they're class 1 only and my miner runs 11 limpits and they are still the part of mining that slows me down, having them travel upto 4KM back and forth doesnt sound ideal. Or does only mining for 1 commodity* change things up a bit?
*i tend to pick up everything & dump the cheap stuff later if I need space, but i normally get bored before I get a hold full of painite/whatever
Bit of googling suggests powerplay credits works in wings, you all get 30 aslong as you all hit the targety atleast once. Bear in mind for future.
Thanks for the guide, I might give that a try this time. Up to this point I have shifted materials to get the merits. Fortunately that is one trip in the Space Cow, but costs me 7.5M Cr.
That's the problem with jousty ships, once they get better rank they often use PAs which they are quite good with. The Cobra IV turns badly but can be made into a little tank. Not a good combo for us! If I am using gimballed weapons, when jousting, I try to approach in a spiral or with lateral thrust which makes his aiming more difficult. If you have fixed weapons as well you need to suck up a few shots to the face!
Matt
You really don't need two large beams. Two mediums or even pulse/beam combo melt shields very quickly. You need the large for MCs IMO.
My jousting strategy involves Chris Mackenzie. He's my NPC SLF pilot who buzzes around the oppponent in his extremely quick and nimble Imperial fighter with PAs while I soak up the jousting in my Cutter with turreted beams / MC's.
In light of the war to come i've decided to strip all the mining kit out of the Corevette and turn it into the scary battleship it was born to be.
@Perchypanther good man, you know it's the right thing to do! Corvette go Dakka!
Nothing like an NPC wingmate in a fighter to take the pressure off. Aliyana is only a few percentage points behind me in rank now.
Matt
@molgrips dunno man, that Cobra last night took a pasting before I even broke his shields. I see what you're saying though. I look at it as more time on shields is more time getting a pasting for nothing. That said as soon as I get the cytoscramblers it's all moot anyway. I'll fling the medium multis back on the Cobra, get another heavy multi and a heavy projectile for the nose.
@d0nk if you want to wing up for the scramblers I'm game, I'm going to start looking for the right system to work.
yeah Im game for wing, are you already up to 4 weeks? I'm currently only on week one
I just pledged yesterday, hoping it's a week on reset otherwise I'll be a week behind you. Either way I'm still not far in.
Been trying out my newly armed Corvette with two huge multi cannons,one large beam laser, two medium PAs and two seeker missile racks.
It’s quite explodey. 😀
That's every kind of damage covered there! I love seekers, they are totally overpowered, shame the ammo is limited.
I got some missions in for NKL in Akuntsu, shipping a python's worth of goods from Wylie to Glazkov (about a dozen Ls) for 1.5M. Happy days!
Matt