Best Weapon guide.

[Nocturnal626]

So im only a week in and this game does not really tell you a whole lot about anything. I keep looking up guides on youtube but spend hours watching really annoying people explain stuff horribly. i just bought a cobra MKIII and some defense turrets on 2 hardpoints and upgraded my lasers to beam lasers i think. it was the most expensive ones i could afford and i took it out into combat. basically i got destroyed i would get their shields down for like a minute and then they had full shield while my ship was just getting pwned. where can i learn more about all this stuff because the lack of informative tutorials is killing me.

[ArtificialQT]

It would help if you could tell us exactly what you're putting into which hardpoints. Also what internal components you got.

There is no best weapon in the game, every weapon has a role (even the much reviled Bursts and Missiles).

[Dave1029]

Pulse lasers are amazing in numbers. 2 Beam lasers and 2 MC is a good balanced weapon type. But if you go all lasers, make sure they are all Pulses.

[Nocturnal626]

Originally posted by A.I.:

It would help if you could tell us exactly what you're putting into which hardpoints. Also what internal components you got.

There is no best weapon in the game, every weapon has a role (even the much reviled Bursts and Missiles).

I really want to im @ work ATM and just got some free time and figured i would ask. i am pretty sure the two front hardpoints are the beam lasers and then the next two i put some auto turret things that costed 53,000 i think it was but when i went into combat they seemd to shoot like a shotgun and didnt do much damage. i couldn't get their shields down. im sorry i don't know more im very noob but i at least got docking and transfering to planets/stations down. i kinda started as a trader to get the hang of it and get some starting credits but thats sooo boring.

[ArtificialQT]

Originally posted by Dave1029:

Pulse lasers are amazing in numbers. 2 Beam lasers and 2 MC is a good balanced weapon type. But if you go all lasers, make sure they are all Pulses.

The general thinking behind Dave's suggestion is as follows:

Pulse Lasers use the least amount of energy out of all lasers, but they do the lowest damage. Using them in numbers allows them to overwhelm Shields and compensate for their comparatively lower damage to Hull.

Beams do major damage to Shields, but will eat your Power quickly. Multi-cannons do reduced damage to Shields, but will shred Hull and cost almost no Power. The idea is to Beam someone until his Shields drop, and then tear into him with Multis

Originally posted by Nocturnal:

snip

It'd be better if you had your ship in front of you so you could look, but one thing I will say is that your Internal components make a large difference in your combat performance. Don't neglect your Internals.

[Nocturnal626]

Originally posted by A.I.:

Originally posted by Dave1029:

Pulse lasers are amazing in numbers. 2 Beam lasers and 2 MC is a good balanced weapon type. But if you go all lasers, make sure they are all Pulses.

The general thinking behind Dave's suggestion is as follows:

Pulse Lasers use the least amount of energy out of all lasers, but they do the lowest damage. Using them in numbers allows them to overwhelm Shields and compensate for their comparatively lower damage to Hull.

Beams do major damage to Shields, but will eat you Power quickly. Multi-cannons do reduced damage to Shields, but will shred Hull and cost almost no Power. The idea is to Beam someone until his Shields drop, and then tear into him with Multis

OMG ty this helps more than i can explain. ive spent so much time on youtube and no one says that! so would you suggest i keep the two multi cannons? or should i switch those to two more lasers and then add one multicannon on the farther back hardpoint?

[ArtificialQT]

Originally posted by Nocturnal:

OMG ty this helps more than i can explain. ive spent so much time on youtube and no one says that! so would you suggest i keep the two multi cannons? or should i switch those to two more lasers and then add one multicannon on the farther back hardpoint?

From your description, it sounds like you have Fragment Cannons instead of Multi Cannons equiped. Fragment Cannons are the game's shot-gun.

Also another thing to consider are the size Class of the Hardpoints. Class 2 (Mediums), are more powerful than Class 1 (Smalls).

[AeRoStAtIc]

Ditch the turrets. It you want all damage go fixed Medium Beams and Gimballed Small Cannons or MC. The wing hardpoints (small) on the Cobra are really far apart, so fixed is out of the question. With the choice of kinetics, MC's have a damage penalty against medium and large ships. Cannons do not suffer from this penalty, so keep that in mind.

[Dave1029]

Originally posted by AeRoStAtIc:

Ditch the turrets. It you want all damage go fixed Medium Beams and Gimballed Small Cannons or MC. The wing hardpoints (small) on the Cobra are really far apart, so fixed is out of the question. With the choice of kinetics, MC's have a damage penalty against medium and large ships. Cannons do not suffer from this penalty, so keep that in mind.

Fixed actually will converge on the target, so placement doesn't really matter.

[ArtificialQT]

Originally posted by Dave1029:

Fixed actually will converge on the target, so placement doesn't really matter.

They converge, but weapon convergance only helps up to a point. Having weapons that far apart will affect your ability to concentrate fire.

As an example, A friend of mine in a Cobra targeted me, in a Diamondback Scout, with his Class 1 wing-mounted Lasers. I could sit in between his Lasers without getting hit.

Some NPCs in Imperial Clippers have Fixed wing-mounted Lasers. Same deal, they could never hit me because their Lasers didn't converge enough.

The Cobra's Class 1 hardpoints in its wings are so far apart that no amount of weapon convergence can make up for it. That's why its highly recommended that you don't put Fixed weapons in them. You can if you really want to, but compensating for it isn't easy.

[Dave1029]

Originally posted by A.I.:

Originally posted by Dave1029:

Fixed actually will converge on the target, so placement doesn't really matter.

They converge, but weapon convergance only helps up to a point. Having weapons that far apart will affect your ability to concentrate fire.

As an example, A friend of mine in a Cobra targeted me, in a Diamondback Scout, with his Class 1 wing-mounted Lasers. I could sit in between his Lasers without getting hit.

Some NPCs in Imperial Clippers have Fixed wing-mounted Lasers. Same deal, they could never hit me because their Lasers didn't converge enough.

The Cobra's Class 1 hardpoints in its wings are so far apart that no amount of weapon convergence can make up for it. That's why its highly recommended that you don't put Fixed weapons in them. You can if you really want to, but compensating for it isn't easy.

I use 5 fixed Pulse Lasers on my Python. It looks like 1 laser if the enemy is 1km+ away. The only time I have issues, is when they are right in my face. And that's rare. Those HP's are farther away than the Cobra's.

[AeRoStAtIc]

Originally posted by Dave1029:

Originally posted by A.I.:

They converge, but weapon convergance only helps up to a point. Having weapons that far apart will affect your ability to concentrate fire.

As an example, A friend of mine in a Cobra targeted me, in a Diamondback Scout, with his Class 1 wing-mounted Lasers. I could sit in between his Lasers without getting hit.

Some NPCs in Imperial Clippers have Fixed wing-mounted Lasers. Same deal, they could never hit me because their Lasers didn't converge enough.

The Cobra's Class 1 hardpoints in its wings are so far apart that no amount of weapon convergence can make up for it. That's why its highly recommended that you don't put Fixed weapons in them. You can if you really want to, but compensating for it isn't easy.

I use 5 fixed Pulse Lasers on my Python. It looks like 1 laser if the enemy is 1km+ away. The only time I have issues, is when they are right in my face. And that's rare. Those HP's are farther away than the Cobra's.

No they aren't. They are closer. The Cobra's points are really far out, and convergence doesn't work like WWII plane convergence in that they don't intersect fire at a point. They also don't have the convergence range of gimbals, so fixed are not good on Cobra small points.

[Nocturnal626]

wow thank you guys so much all of this information is helpful. Where did you guys learn all this great stuff? youtube or just by playing? Im trying my hardest to get into bounty hunting but its so complex i feel like im just wasting my credits trying out everything.

[Dave1029]

Originally posted by Nocturnal:

wow thank you guys so much all of this information is helpful. Where did you guys learn all this great stuff? youtube or just by playing? Im trying my hardest to get into bounty hunting but its so complex i feel like im just wasting my credits trying out everything.

Just playing.

[ArtificialQT]

Playing + a bit of looking around + learning how the game displays information.

The game's scales are very vague and obtuse, but once you learn the 'language' of the rating system and item descriptions things start to become clearer.

[Luka]

On my Cobra, I use 2 beam lasers, and two multicannons. The Beam lasers take down shields really well, once the other players shields are down, i use the multicannon guns to take down there hull. For me its the quickest way. It also takes Eagles down under a minute.

P.S. I dont have elite on steam, but i have the internet version.