Question: what are the best solo ships for PvE, which you can buy in game for aUEC in the current 3.16?

[White Lando]

Thanks for the above.

My concerns with size 5 and EVSD is low speed (700), which means I will need to take a lot of lead, and the ability to keep fire on the target may be more important than raw damage. I envisage this to be a major issue with fast and small targets like M50.

There is definitely a draw back to the slower velocity when trying to hit a nimble target. However, it's not that difficult once you get the hang of it. AI is pretty predictable and will maintain a course.

If you're hunting larger game (valks, vanguards and HH), it's less of an issue and the increased DPS is worth the trade off. You're taking significantly less incoming fire since they're dead much sooner.

That's the beauty of a ship with changeable loadouts, though. It can be adjusted to fit the mission. My suggestion is try it out. We'll eventually lose all this aUEC on another wipe. Might as well use it to experiment.

ETA - Your current (stock) loadout is putting out 943 sustained DPS (power triangle full weapons), 1,604 burst and 276 alpha damage

S5 Omnisky, 2x MVSA, 2x EVSD = 1,923 sustained, 3,321 burst with 2,177 alpha damage

You'd increase that to 2,067 sustained, 3,767 burst if you went 4x MVSA on the nose but would lose the distortion.

 

[KuruptU4Fun]

No better reason for a snack and a beer!
They're going to need to rethink how this works, because people are going to get really frustrated.

I hear people do that in real jail too. But alas no beer for them....

 

[Richard Bong]

EVSD are distortion

Yes, that I knew. Which means they damage shields but do no physical damage. Laser cannons damage shields too, but, based on the numbers, much faster. Then Laser cannons do physical damage.

 

[Richard Bong]

There is definitely a draw back to the slower velocity when trying to hit a nimble target. However, it's not that difficult once you get the hang of it. AI is pretty predictable and will maintain a course.

If you're hunting larger game (valks, vanguards and HH), it's less of an issue and the increased DPS is worth the trade off. You're taking significantly less incoming fire since they're dead much sooner.

That's the beauty of a ship with changeable loadouts, though. It can be adjusted to fit the mission. My suggestion is try it out. We'll eventually lose all this aUEC on another wipe. Might as well use it to experiment.

ETA - Your current (stock) loadout is putting out 943 sustained DPS (power triangle full weapons), 1,604 burst and 276 alpha damage

S5 Omnisky, 2x MVSA, 2x EVSD = 1,923 sustained, 3,321 burst with 2,177 alpha damage

You'd increase that to 2,067 sustained, 3,767 burst if you went 4x MVSA on the nose but would lose the distortion.

Against most targets, when using the 4 MVSA load out, you don't have to sustain very long with good trigger discipline.

My loadout of 4xMVSA and a Deadbolt 5 gives me 2425 Alpha, 3145 DPS sustained and 4204 dps burst.

The MVSA alone do 999 dps sustained and 2014 burst.

Now if your target is an Idris, Hammerhead, Retaliator, Carrack, 890J or, maybe, a Connie it takes a bit more finesse, but typical PVE targets, plus escorts, don't stand up to more than a few seconds of burst damage.

Typically I am using 2 to 3 second bursts with the MVSA and single shots from the Cannon.

The Deadbolt 5, unlike the M7a/Omnisky/Galadreen or even the size 4 energy weapons, doesn't hit the capacitor pool. Which means you are doing "burst damage" for 10 seconds.

 

[White Lando]

Against most targets, when using the 4 MVSA load out, you don't have to sustain very long with good trigger discipline.

My loadout of 4xMVSA and a Deadbolt 5 gives me 2425 Alpha, 3145 DPS sustained and 4204 dps burst.

The MVSA alone do 999 dps sustained and 2014 burst.

Now if your target is an Idris, Hammerhead, Retaliator, Carrack, 890J or, maybe, a Connie it takes a bit more finesse, but typical PVE targets, plus escorts, don't stand up to more than a few seconds of burst damage.

Typically I am using 2 to 3 second bursts with the MVSA and single shots from the Cannon.

The Deadbolt 5, unlike the M7a/Omnisky/Galadreen or even the size 4 energy weapons, doesn't hit the capacitor pool. Which means you are doing "burst damage" for 10 seconds.

I've ran the 4x MVSA but haven't tried a ballistic S5. It's on my to do list.

In testing, I didn't see much difference in TTK between 4x MVSA vs 2x MVSA and 2x EVSD for most PVE targets. It's over quick with either.

Where the 2x EVSD has shined (for me) has been ERT farming HH. I ignore the escorts and take out the HH in short order.

 

[BUTUZ]

Against most targets, when using the 4 MVSA load out, you don't have to sustain very long with good trigger discipline.

My loadout of 4xMVSA and a Deadbolt 5 gives me 2425 Alpha, 3145 DPS sustained and 4204 dps burst.

The MVSA alone do 999 dps sustained and 2014 burst.

Now if your target is an Idris, Hammerhead, Retaliator, Carrack, 890J or, maybe, a Connie it takes a bit more finesse, but typical PVE targets, plus escorts, don't stand up to more than a few seconds of burst damage.

Typically I am using 2 to 3 second bursts with the MVSA and single shots from the Cannon.

The Deadbolt 5, unlike the M7a/Omnisky/Galadreen or even the size 4 energy weapons, doesn't hit the capacitor pool. Which means you are doing "burst damage" for 10 seconds.

I put 3 x Deadbolt 5 on my 600i just for the lols. It was instagibbing smaller ships. I lol'd, they didn't lol so much.

 

[Vavrik]

My loadout of 4xMVSA and a Deadbolt 5 gives me 2425 Alpha, 3145 DPS sustained and 4204 dps burst.

I love the Deadbolt V. Usually you don't have to hit an attacker more than once. Decouple and turn around to face your attacker. One shot that hits is all I've needed so far and they're toast.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

Checked the link. Is there any specific reason for selecting size 5 fixed over size 4 gimbaled, as well as Galdereen over Attrition?

5 fixed hits the target so no reason to go smaller. Right now cannons do seem to be the better choice as noted above, but weapon stats are all nerfed and deliberately screwy, and you should not expect any of them to stay as is. CIG is messing with all the stats on a daily basis, so even though you can check erkul for daily updates, they're often wrong.

You can however make broader equipment choices based upon specific principles. Stealth reactors will always be stealthy--you just need to know they deliver enough power for what you want. Many single reactor ships cannot fly stealth reactors for lack of available power. Vanguard is not one of them. Industrial will always give you the highest cooling rate. Civilian A usually offers the best mix of speed and range. Military offers the highest Q speed. etc. Shields are however more screwed up than the other components and offer virtually no distinctions apart form A, B and C. Since the 400i has a third chiller you want to optimize that again with industrial A, etc.

One of the big issues that is arising from the changes is that components appear to affect ships stats even when shut down. It appears lasers and reactors generate EM when not in use. It may be one can achieve the startling stats on erkul by simply pulling a component temporarily on your ship and leaving it on the floor in front of its dock. If you have a multi-crew ship and an engineer to pull and replace components, you can get obscenely low signatures out of ships like the 400i by pulling components. If this continues, it is going to make the engineer's position aboard any ship EXTREMELY powerful, especially when components are gathered into one room as with the Corsair. Right now it appears max stealth in a larger ship with multiple components like the 400i, is with one installed stealth cooler, and 2 Industrial A coolers that you slip in once you're doing engine burns. Obviously CIG is working behind the scenes on play dynamics we don't yet know about.

#DPSCalculator

Star Citizen tools for DPS, damage, power and cooling simulations including an up to date ships and components database

www.erkul.games

 

[Mastersan]

Hi All,

Thanks again for your input.

I've now got the below loadout:

#DPSCalculator

Star Citizen tools for DPS, damage, power and cooling simulations including an up to date ships and components database

www.erkul.games

I've done Remove Claim Jumpers, Destroy Monitors, and ECN Alert missions.

The ship feels very powerful.

Claim Jumpers are kind of target practice, and this loadout kills an Orbital Sentry in one pass. Also, it kills a Prospector with 3 shots: the first drops the shields completely, the second makes the Prospector red, and the third one kills it.

Destroy Monitors and ECN Alerts I've done had Cutties Black and Buccaneers. The Cutties live a little longer, but still can be destroyed with a few shots, maybe 4 or 5.

Interestingly, the above loadout seems to drop the shields completely on all the targets: Sentries, Prospectors, Buccaneers and Cutties.

I didn't even need to use the EMP, though used it a few times to test.


I have also purchased the Deadbolt V to test, but for PvE I don't feel it's needed due to limited ammo and multiple targets you need to destroy in PvE.


The only inconvenience of Vanguard for me at this point is that I had to change my field of view to 100 degrees, as otherwise I can't see the bottom 2 screens (self status and target status by default).

I also don't have the Sukoran shield, but I would imagine it makes the ship even tougher due to its ability to block ballistics.


In addition, I've noticed a potential issue with the above DPS calculator with regards to power management. The above loadout is said to only require 7k of power when the ship is maneuvering, shields charging, EMP charging, and weapons firing. It however doesn't seem to account for weapon charging, as firing and idle status has the same power consumption. Also, it says shields generate 220hp per second each at power balance set to 33%/33%/33%. However, in game it seems that if the power supply is sufficient for a 100% performance, the systems perform at 100%. In other words, with 2 JS400 power plants, FR-76 actually regenerates 600 hp per second each, as there is enough power to support 100% performance, as the ship has 3-4 times the power pool of its idle state. This can be visually observed when your shields are heavily damaged in game (e.g. Orbital Sentry guns), and they regenerate very fast, e.g. from 20% to 100% in about 10 seconds, which is for dual FR-76 about 15k health (from 2k to 17k), which seems to support that you get total 1,200hp shield regen per second. This, may need further TESTing.

 

[Richard Bong]

Hi All,

Thanks again for your input.

I've now got the below loadout:

#DPSCalculator

Star Citizen tools for DPS, damage, power and cooling simulations including an up to date ships and components database

www.erkul.games

I've done Remove Claim Jumpers, Destroy Monitors, and ECN Alert missions.

The ship feels very powerful.

Claim Jumpers are kind of target practice, and this loadout kills an Orbital Sentry in one pass. Also, it kills a Prospector with 3 shots: the first drops the shields completely, the second makes the Prospector red, and the third one kills it.

Destroy Monitors and ECN Alerts I've done had Cutties Black and Buccaneers. The Cutties live a little longer, but still can be destroyed with a few shots, maybe 4 or 5.

Interestingly, the above loadout seems to drop the shields completely on all the targets: Sentries, Prospectors, Buccaneers and Cutties.

I didn't even need to use the EMP, though used it a few times to test.


I have also purchased the Deadbolt V to test, but for PvE I don't feel it's needed due to limited ammo and multiple targets you need to destroy in PvE.


The only inconvenience of Vanguard for me at this point is that I had to change my field of view to 100 degrees, as otherwise I can't see the bottom 2 screens (self status and target status by default).

I also don't have the Sukoran shield, but I would imagine it makes the ship even tougher due to its ability to block ballistics.


In addition, I've noticed a potential issue with the above DPS calculator with regards to power management. The above loadout is said to only require 7k of power when the ship is maneuvering, shields charging, EMP charging, and weapons firing. It however doesn't seem to account for weapon charging, as firing and idle status has the same power consumption. Also, it says shields generate 220hp per second each at power balance set to 33%/33%/33%. However, in game it seems that if the power supply is sufficient for a 100% performance, the systems perform at 100%. In other words, with 2 JS400 power plants, FR-76 actually regenerates 600 hp per second each, as there is enough power to support 100% performance, as the ship has 3-4 times the power pool of its idle state. This can be visually observed when your shields are heavily damaged in game (e.g. Orbital Sentry guns), and they regenerate very fast, e.g. from 20% to 100% in about 10 seconds, which is for dual FR-76 about 15k health (from 2k to 17k), which seems to support that you get total 1,200hp shield regen per second. This, may need further TESTing.

The Deadbolt 5 has 60 secomds of Ammo (70 shots). Unless the target is one of the really tough ships I'm not using more than 3 Rounds per target. That takes the MVSA capacitors to 37 shots until recharge is needed, so i'm almost always doing burst damage.

Of course when I was in the Army, on the range, I used to get yelled at for using a single shot on the 800m targets with the M60 or M240.

That is not a sniper rifle! Knock that shit off! 6 to 9 round bursts!

:D
YMMV.

#DPSCalculator

Star Citizen tools for DPS, damage, power and cooling simulations including an up to date ships and components database

www.erkul.games

And the damage calculation is definitely off for sustained. My MVSA should have higher sustained damage than an MVSA with a size 5 energy weapon since my capacitor pool is bigger.

 

[Mastersan]

The Deadbolt 5 has 60 secomds of Ammo (70 shots). Unless the target is one of the really tough ships I'm not using more than 3 Rounds per target. That takes the MVSA capacitors to 37 shots until recharge is needed, so i'm almost always doing burst damage.

Of course when I was in the Army, on the range, I used to get yelled at for using a single shot on the 800m targets with the M60 or M240.

:D
YMMV.

#DPSCalculator

Star Citizen tools for DPS, damage, power and cooling simulations including an up to date ships and components database

www.erkul.games

And the damage calculation is definitely off for sustained. My MVSA should have higher sustained damage than an MVSA with a size 5 energy weapon since my capacitor pool is bigger.

That's true for Deadbolt 5. However, with Sentinel all the guns are the same group, while the other group is EMP. So, you will be firing all guns, not a single Deadbolt and burst with MVSAs. Not sure if there is a way to do 3 groups of weapons.

Just did another Remove Claim Jumpers mission: took down 29 Prospectors (basically until they stopped spawning) and 9 Sentries. Rammed head on (accidentally) a Sentry at 900m/s and survived while destroying the Sentry. Impressive toughness.

 

[Richard Bong]

That's true for Deadbolt 5. However, with Sentinel all the guns are the same group, while the other group is EMP. So, you will be firing all guns, not a single Deadbolt and burst with MVSAs. Not sure if there is a way to do 3 groups of weapons.

Just did another Remove Claim Jumpers mission: took down 29 Prospectors (basically until they stopped spawning) and 9 Sentries. Rammed head on (accidentally) a Sentry at 900m/s and survived while destroying the Sentry. Impressive toughness.

If you aren't using the EMP you can split the weapon groups.

 

[Mastersan]

If you aren't using the EMP you can split the weapon groups.

I'm using it against tougher targets and when outnumbered. EMP knocks targets out and I can finish them while they are immobile and shieldless. It would be really useful to have 3 groups, as I could use only energy weapons burst fire for all targets (but no need for Deadbolt on weaker ones), and Deadbolt for tougher ones, and then there is EMP if I need it.

So, there is no way to have 3 groups of weapons?

 

[White Lando]

Your

That's true for Deadbolt 5. However, with Sentinel all the guns are the same group, while the other group is EMP. So, you will be firing all guns, not a single Deadbolt and burst with MVSAs. Not sure if there is a way to do 3 groups of weapons.

Just did another Remove Claim Jumpers mission: took down 29 Prospectors (basically until they stopped spawning) and 9 Sentries. Rammed head on (accidentally) a Sentry at 900m/s and survived while destroying the Sentry. Impressive toughness.

The Vanguards are a great ship. Tough, reasonably maneuverable, good pilot fire power, solid range, full living quarters for two (this will get more and more important as the game develops) plus multi crew capabilities.

The versatility of the weapon choices is also fantastic.

Not sure what more you could ask for.

If I hadn't purchased a Sentinel in game, my Ares Ion would already be CCUed to a Sentinel. It's happening next wipe.

I do expect the Sentinel and Harbinger to be brought inline with the Warden in regards to aUEC so you should expect them to cost over 3M aUEC in the future. They're definitely still worth that IMO.

 

[Mastersan]

Your

The Vanguards are a great ship. Tough, reasonably maneuverable, good pilot fire power, solid range, full living quarters for two (this will get more and more important as the game develops) plus multi crew capabilities.

The versatility of the weapon choices is also fantastic.

Not sure what more you could ask for.

If I hadn't purchased a Sentinel in game, my Ares Ion would already be CCUed to a Sentinel. It's happening next wipe.

I do expect the Sentinel and Harbinger to be brought inline with the Warden in regards to aUEC so you should expect them to cost over 3M aUEC in the future. They're definitely still worth that IMO.

Yes, they are great ships. Well, currently they are. The ships are being balanced, buffed and nerfed, so will see what happens in the future. I still remember shredding Vanguard Wardens in Pirate Swarm with my Super Hornet back in (I think) 2.6, the same way I'm popping up Prospectors with my Sentinel now. That's when SH was still a "truly terrifying mark to engage", as per its description. Currently the SH is nerfed so much so that it's just an average fighter. Things may change in future, but currently I'm very happy with the Sentinel.

 

[White Lando]

Yes, they are great ships. Well, currently they are. The ships are being balanced, buffed and nerfed, so will see what happens in the future. I still remember shredding Vanguard Wardens in Pirate Swarm with my Super Hornet back in (I think) 2.6, the same way I'm popping up Prospectors with my Sentinel now. That's when SH was still a "truly terrifying mark to engage", as per its description. Currently the SH is nerfed so much so that it's just an average fighter. Things may change in future, but currently I'm very happy with the Sentinel.

Yeah, the Vanguard was pretty bad in the past but the fact that it has improved significantly makes me think that was never the intention. I believe they're happy with where it's at right now and hopefully will keep it viable in the future.

I'm way less certain about the Ares variants.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

I'm using it against tougher targets and when outnumbered. EMP knocks targets out and I can finish them while they are immobile and shieldless. It would be really useful to have 3 groups, as I could use only energy weapons burst fire for all targets (but no need for Deadbolt on weaker ones), and Deadbolt for tougher ones, and then there is EMP if I need it.

So, there is no way to have 3 groups of weapons?

I have not flown mine in a while, last time I did the EMP took the place of the missiles which was middle mouse button. My mouse has 8 buttons so when I get some time I'll have a try to see how many weapons groups there are and if I can associate one to one of the spare buttons. If we can it'll be something we can do in the in game menus.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

To be clear, the Vanguard has never had a buff. The difference in survivability of the Sentinal is all because of the EMP. Years ago Vanguards were easy to take down if you got really close and optimized against their poor turn rates. Now with the EMP, savvy pilots won't bull rush a Sentinel for fear of the EMP. So even if you don't use it, the fact you could changes the way players approach Sentinel pilots in their favor.

BTW, you should use the EMP. Just keep in mind that its area of effect is a shell, not a sphere, and only affects targets between 250 and 750 meters away. Also note with all Sentinal systems active in all the builds above, you always have at least 50% more power from the Stealth A Eclipse reactors than you can ever need, so it is not necessary to ever fly different reactors. Bigger does not here make better.

 

[Mastersan]

Just did another TEST on Remove Claim Jumpers mission and found some interesting observations.

The Sentinel seems to consume quite a bit of hydrogen fuel. From full tank I've got somewhat around 30% left. If this something you observe too? Maybe this fuel consumption is normal, given the intense fight, constantly charging guns/shields/EMP and maneuvering?

The fuel cost was 1,109 aUEC. Also, there was a 520 aUEC Restock, but not sure for what, as I haven't used any missiles. Any ideas?


The pay was good on the other hand. Made 68,900 aUEC from the mission where about 70% (46,400 aUEC) came from Call to Arms.

Interestingly, over 40% enemy NPCs who are mining in Prospectors have Crimestat of 4 and 5 (I thought those should be doing some more serious stuff):

	Count	Pay (aUEC)	Total Pay (aUEC)	Count %	Pay %
Crimestat 1	15​	500​	7,500.00	21%​	16%​
Crimestat 2	13​	500​	6,500.00	18%​	14%​
Crimestat 3	15​	500​	7,500.00	21%​	16%​
Crimestat 4	17​	700​	11,900.00	23%​	26%​
Crimestat 5	13​	1,000​	13,000.00	18%​	28%​
Grand Total	73​		46,400.00	100%​	100%​

I was also a bit surprised that this time 73 NPCs spawned.However, the Sentinel took them all down (+ 9 Sentries), and lost 1 wing (collided with something). The full energy loadout is great for this type of mission, as I would have probably run out of Deadbolt 5 ballistic ammo with that many targets.

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

Just did another TEST on Remove Claim Jumpers mission and found some interesting observations.

The Sentinel seems to consume quite a bit of hydrogen fuel. From full tank I've got somewhat around 30% left. If this something you observe too? Maybe this fuel consumption is normal, given the intense fight, constantly charging guns/shields/EMP and maneuvering?

The fuel cost was 1,109 aUEC. Also, there was a 520 aUEC Restock, but not sure for what, as I haven't used any missiles. Any ideas?


The pay was good on the other hand. Made 68,900 aUEC from the mission where about 70% (46,400 aUEC) came from Call to Arms.

Interestingly, over 40% enemy NPCs who are mining in Prospectors have Crimestat of 4 and 5 (I thought those should be doing some more serious stuff):

	Count	Pay (aUEC)	Total Pay (aUEC)	Count %	Pay %
Crimestat 1	15​	500​	7,500.00	21%​	16%​
Crimestat 2	13​	500​	6,500.00	18%​	14%​
Crimestat 3	15​	500​	7,500.00	21%​	16%​
Crimestat 4	17​	700​	11,900.00	23%​	26%​
Crimestat 5	13​	1,000​	13,000.00	18%​	28%​
Grand Total	73​		46,400.00	100%​	100%​

I was also a bit surprised that this time 73 NPCs spawned.However, the Sentinel took them all down (+ 9 Sentries), and lost 1 wing (collided with something). The full energy loadout is great for this type of mission, as I would have probably run out of Deadbolt 5 ballistic ammo with that many targets.

On:

Also, there was a 520 aUEC Restock, but not sure for what, as I haven't used any missiles. Any ideas?

It could be related to:

Sentinel took them all down (+ 9 Sentries), and lost 1 wing (collided with something)

You may have lost some missiles mounted on the exterior of the ship in the collision. Also Countermeasures are consumables which have to be restocked, if you used any of those.