Outfitting the Mustang Alpha

[Graptor]

Working to become a good TESTie, I've been practicing with the Mustang Alpha, which is the only ship I have thus far. I can still make a fiery crash on landing, but flying it I am getting better. Now I need to figure out a faster way to take out those pirates. Knowing that a Mustang is *not* a fighter (even with beer goggles on I am not foolish enough to think that), is there a way to outfit it to at least be able to take out a couple of pirates on my own?

I have rented 4 Bulldogs at this point, and can fly long enough without getting blown into bits and pieces to hit them almost at will, but I just can't seem to finish them off if they are in a decent ship. Which is making it challenging to start racking up the aUEC's. What else can I do to beef it up (without buying another ship, not yet). Can the turret be removed/replaced with something?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Now, off to see what kind of damage I can do to myself and my ship....

 

[DirectorGunner]

CCU it to the mustang delta.
Then try this

 

[marcsand2]

Try 4 Longswords. It works wonderful on the 85X, you don't have to grind through the shields and they have a pretty good rate of fire. The Bulldogs just overheat too fast. If You want to stick to energy weapons, try 4 M3A. The M3A is very hard to overheat.
The Delta of course is a better option. It has 2x S1, 2x S2 weapons and 2x S2 rocket pods. When the rocket pods can be replaced again with 2x S2 guns, you will have 2x S1 and 4x S2. I prefer to fly the Delta with 2x Longsword and 4x Badger.

 

[BUTUZ]

If you want to get quicker kills ballistic weapons are the way to go as they penetrate shields. The alpha is stuck with the smallest guns in the game and no missiles. It will never be a fighter. If you want something to do more fighting with I can recommend an Aurora LN or the Delta to get more firepower. I know you said you didn't want a new ship though.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

Just fair disclosure, Grap is a friend of mine, so no, if we're familiar with each other we are not being rude.

Please note, the visual weapons table and 2.5 components tables are all out of date and the only current, useful weapons selection guide is here:

http://starcitizen.team/

Combining all the suggestions above I do suggest:

1) Brown bag for a day and get the Delta.
2) "Monoboat" or go with all weapons that line up either with a single pip or two that are extremely close.
3) Go kinetic. This also means you shoot only when you think you will hit but you will build the best shooting skills by not shooting all the time the way energy weapons users do. (This proved an invaluable skill in Mechwarrior.)

So for example, the S2 Sledge II's are nice and fast to target and are again doing good damage. The trouble is there are no S1 kinetic weapons with that much speed. You might try the Suckerpunches with them. At least they will hit when the Sledges will miss since they spray an area, and in a pinch you can toy with taking simple targets down with just the distortion damage. IMHO, it would be great to know if you can dance with a pirate Buchaneer long enough to slap him silly and steal whatever he has mounted to his S4 slot. Rumor is the Bucky will be carrying an interdiction weapon that can knock ships out of jump-space to get them to pay you a fair tax, or other justifiable extortio. . .I mean remunerations.

 

[Graptor]

Just fair disclosure, Grap is a friend of mine, so no, if we're familiar with each other we are not being rude.

I deny everything! Who is this guy? Who let him in here? Someone get him a shot of tequila! :confounded:

1) Brown bag for a day and get the Delta.

You say that like I have control of the budget!

So, in all seriousness, I am going to look at upgrading to the Delta. That sounds like a fair thing to consider.

I went to http://kgsherman.github.io/ccg/ and there didn't seem to be a path from Mustang Alpha to Delta, which seems odd because I would think they are the same basic hull. Maybe this is not an accurate mapping, and I'll dig around the CCG for more info.

For starters, I'll have some fun with @marcsand2 suggestion for 4 longswords and report back on how that works for me. Then I'll get into some deeper research on @Shadow Reaper suggestions, as well as trying to convert to a Delta.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

Who let him in here? Someone get him a shot of tequila! :confounded:

I told you he knew me.

 

[marcsand2]

I went to http://kgsherman.github.io/ccg/ and there didn't seem to be a path from Mustang Alpha to Delta, which seems odd because I would think they are the same basic hull. Maybe this is not an accurate mapping, and I'll dig around the CCG for more info.

The Delta is limited, so the CCU only is available when the Delta is on sale.

4 longswords and report back on how that works for me

Remember, the Mustang plays best at close quarters, evading enemy fire while keeping the nose on target, don't try to boom and zoom. Besides the 4 S2 mounting points the Delta also has "Cavalry Class Mass Reduction Armor" which helps allot in dogfight.

 

[Black Sunder]

Weld your Mustang to a Hornet. :) I kid.

Go for ballistics to get through pirates easily.

 

[BUTUZ]

My mate just started the game and has an alpha so I picked up an alpha to see what he was dealing with. It handles fantastic really fast can rung rings around most things - the 4 x s1 a bit weak but useable, it's a real shame it does not have any missiles as this sets the aurora apart, the missile mount.

I would like to try the delta for sure.

 

[Graptor]

I rented 4 Longswords and took a swipe at the pirates in the PU this morning for kicks. Getting in close quarters without being as proficient at flying as I need to be yet got me exploded in glorious TESTie style! But before the 3 pirates that spawned got a chance to get me, I think I did some good damage to the one that was in an Aurora. Although I couldn't tell if it was me or the other ship that came into the same Comm Array that got the kill shot.

I noticed the PIP looked different. Had a bit of time figuring out where to shoot for the hit. And I tried to keep within 500m of the target, which challenged my flying skills. After the thrilling explosion I went and did a few races to practice flying. The Mustang does seem to maneuver well when you get decent at flying. I have a long way to go for that.

The longsword, according to one of the many links @Shadow Reaper supplied, does ammo damage total of 45, whereas the Bulldog was 17. I assume that is a key metric. I understand it isn't an exact science, as damage is to ship components, not to the ship in general, but with that kind of damage, what is a guesstimate as to how many direct hits one would need to the engines, let's say, to disable or destroy an Aurora for starters.

If that's not a good way to think about this, then slap me around, toss me a beer, and point me in the right direction.

 

[marcsand2]

You need to use strafe allot during dogfight, it is the best way to evade incoming fire while keeping your guns on target... that is easy to say for me, dual joystick. You can't go head on while engaging, always avoid incoming fire, just dance around your target like a whirlwind :cloud_tornado:
The setback with the Mustang, since 2.5, is that boost and afterburner makes your Mustang unstable, you can't aim properly while boosting. The same behaviour was with the Cutlass before 2.5. You will get used to that too, training makes you a better dogfighter.

 

[Zookajoe]

Also, BEER! Beer helps you become a better fighter crasher! Whether it be when you try to "one eye" a landing, navigate through debris/asteroids or just soar blindly through the universe until hitting "the wall", beer makes all things better.

What? Fighter pilot? Oh hell, I dunno nuthin' about piloting. Ask one of these other guys, Imma gonna go get a beer.

 

[marcsand2]

Also, BEER! Beer helps you become a better fighter crasher!

Second that

What? Fighter pilot?

Yes, also fighter pilot :beers:

 

[Graptor]

For a more potent fuel mix, I "sipped" (i.e. chugged) Jack Daniels in addition to the beer. It was great, it helped with a much more glorious ending to my dogfight!

But before that mix, I practiced strafing in AC free flight, circling around the asteroids. It did help me stay alive longer in the dogfight, that is until the JD kicked in. Next round, it will help even more, I'm sure.