Fleet planning for a Bounty Hunter

[Richard Bong]

Hi All,
I know the Bounty Hunter Mechanics are not even a serious consideration yet. LOL but I am trying to plan ahead a little. I would love some input from those that have been at this a little longer.

I am thinking that relocating from one home base to a new one is likely to be time consuming and annoying. Even more so with the more ships I have. I do expect to play with my other half most of the time, so we should be able to shuttle ships. I figure that in order to limit that tedium I should limit myself to 4 ships. I also have a Dragonfly and a Nox 2 pack. There are three bikes because they seem to be easy to get killed based on the various demos and live streams. LOL. But I have a feeling I am going to need ground transportation. And unfortunately that probably means I will also need a buggy, or AFV.

Also given the relative travel times demonstrated, so far, that I am really not going to want to have more than one ship without an interior.

Right now I have an Avenger Titan (Upgraded from my Mustang starter package), a Cutlass Black, a MISC Freelancer and a Hornet Ghost.

The Avenger is likely going to get the Stalker module for the back, though I hope that means I can load and unload the stasis pods as the Titan is cheap to operate so with cargo would make for good starter missions and low budget runs.

I am thinking if I can get stasis pods, like in the stalker, eventually, in the forward cargo bay of the Freelancer that will likely be my most useful ship. I looked at the MIS variant but I think the missiles eat too much of the hold. I wonder if the Max can carry a buggy. In any event one of the ships in the fleet is a freelancer, though it might be a variant.

I am thinking I probably need one stealth ship, and since there is no stealth equivalent to the Freelancer that is where the Ghost, or probable upgrade to the Sabre has a role.

That leaves me the Cutlass, which while I try to love it, I can't stand the look of it and I was thinking I need a bigger ship for my top end ship. The question here becomes what?
Like the Cutlass, I really don't like the Connie, bot from an aesthetic standpoint and a flight model standpoint, though the Andromeda or even Taurus is likely very practical for the role, especially for the transport of a ground vehicle to haul Prisoners.
I like the Vanguard, I love the look, I love the way it flies, at least in AC, but since I can't strap a bike to the rear ramp, and I don't have anywhere to put a prisoner they aren't very practical for that job. :)
I love the look of the Tali, though I haven't flown one, with the modules it should be even more practical than the Andromeda, though I don't know what it can do in terms of ground vehicles. Not having pilot controlled guns and needing a larger crew, makes me very cautious.
Then there is the Redeemer, if it flies anything like the Vanguard, once the rework is done, and if the cargo bay can carry a bike, and if the note in the $65 million dollar stretch goal about replacing the troop seats with prisoner stasis pods, this ship sounds ideal, but there are an awful lot of ifs. :)

Did I miss anything? (Other than I am missing an Aurora. LOL)
Are there other ships I should be considering?
Is 4 too many?
Is my basic thought process flawed?

Thanks guys.

 

[Printimus]

Before you plan too far in depth, I would wait until CIG comes out with some more mechanics regarding the matter.

OR

You can just buy all the ships.

 

[supitza]

The Avenger Stalker is a great ship for entry-level, solo bounty hunting. For this specific career, I think the best yet is the Cutlass Blue. Even if you don't like the Cutlass (isn't this punishable by TEST rules, though?), wait for the Blue to come out; even before the rework, the Red and Blue looked slightly different.
If you end up owning the Cutlass Blue, you'll no longer need for the Avenger, though.
The other ships you have and want tie more into general logistics than bounty hunting specifically.

Also:

I am missing an Aurora. LOL

 

[Richard Bong]

Before you plan too far in depth, I would wait until CIG comes out with some more mechanics regarding the matter.

OR

You can just buy all the ships.

I get that. LOL. I don't expect a final list, just a working list. :)

 

[Richard Bong]

The Avenger Stalker is a great ship for entry-level, solo bounty hunting. For this specific career, I think the best yet is the Cutlass Blue. Even if you don't like the Cutlass (isn't this punishable by TEST rules, though?), wait for the Blue to come out; even before the rework, the Red and Blue looked slightly different.
If you end up owning the Cutlass Blue, you'll no longer need for the Avenger, though.
The other ships you have and want tie more into general logistics than bounty hunting specifically.

Also:

I would own a Cutlass Blue if they had them for sale. After playing with what little we have, I am glad I couldn't.
My problems with the Cutlass series in particular and the Drake ships in general are, primarily, aesthetic. I just don't like them, it is a personal problem. LOL. My problems with the Blue go beyond that though. Having cells instead of Stasis pods means I have to feed prisoners, have to make sure they don't do themselves, or a cell mate, harm, etc. the Cutlass Blue also attracts attention that I may not want. :slight_smile:

The primary role of the Cutlass Blue is prisoner transport, and the Avenger Stalker does the same mission cheaper. Now if the stalker doesn't get a gun rack and a locker, then I might have to rethink some things. :slight_smile: Speaking of gun racks, since the Freelancer is a pickup truck, where is my gun rack?

Even with the Blue, the Avenger still has a place for either low payout or high risk missions as they are cheaper to operate and cheaper to replace. :slight_smile:

One other thing, the Cutlass Blue would have to replace my Freelancer and that leaves me with the issue of needing to transport ground vehicles.

 

[Radegast74]

I would own a Cutlass Blue if they had them for sale. After playing with what little we have, I am glad I couldn't.
My problems with the Cutlass series in particular and the Drake ships in general are, primarily, aesthetic. I just don't like them, it is a personal problem. LOL. My problems with the Blue go beyond that though. Having cells instead of Stasis pods means I have to feed prisoners, have to make sure they don't do themselves, or a cell mate, harm, etc. the Cutlass Blue also attracts attention that I may not want. :slight_smile:

The primary role of the Cutlass Blue is prisoner transport, and the Avenger Stalker does the same mission cheaper. Now if the stalker doesn't get a gun rack and a locker, then I might have to rethink some things. :slight_smile: Speaking of gun racks, since the Freelancer is a pickup truck, where is my gun rack?

Even with the Blue, the Avenger still has a place for either low payout or high risk missions as they are cheaper to operate and cheaper to replace. :slight_smile:

One other thing, the Cutlass Blue would have to replace my Freelancer and that leaves me with the issue of needing to transport ground vehicles.

LOL, I feel your pain...We all feel your pain...here is this great game, they have introduced and talked up bounty hunting, and...nobody is quite sure about the mechanics of it, but meanwhile, since we have nothing else to do, we will sit around and drive ourselves a little crazy thinking of all the possibilies...

In addition to the excellent advice above, here are my thoughts:
a) what, you don't like the toilet in the middle of the Cutlass? Or any other Drake ship? lol!
b) wait for the rework of the Cutlass, btw...
c) yes, the Avenger Stalker and the Cutlass Blue are the identified bounty hunting ships in game...I don't think you can go wrong getting those ships
d) the more I see the open world stuff, the more it appears that tracking on a planet might be a thing...definitely pick up some ground vehicles, esp. ones you can fire from or have a gun mount/hardpoint
e) other than that...just maybe pick up some extra cheap vehicles for LTI tokens, and pay attention to all the concept sales.

I really don't see much more you can do, other than that.

 

[maynard]

...I am thinking that relocating from one home base to a new one is likely to be time consuming and annoying. Even more so with the more ships I have. I do expect to play with my other half most of the time, so we should be able to shuttle ships. I figure that in order to limit that tedium I should limit myself to 4 ships... Thanks guys.

[RANT]
The time to travel between planets in the latest demo was waay too long. And that was just within one system. Watching the visual FX of warp for minutes at a time is no one's idea of engaging gameplay. We don't live in the 'verse, we only visit for an hour or two once or twice a week. Do we want to spend a large percentage of that time sitting in our cockpits playing switch? Hell no!

People here love to hate on Eve Online and don't like comparisons with that game, but from time to time it can be instructive design-wise. In Eve it takes about three minutes to warp across the biggest systems in the game, and players complain that that is still too time consuming.

So if CIG doesn't adjust travel times to be more player-friendly, the only solution will be to have multiple accounts in the various systems where you want do your thing.

But that's the beauty of having a public Alpha and Beta - we can give CIG our feedback and hopefully get the loser gameplay aspects fixed.
[/RANT]

 

[EmpireRuled]

[RANT]
The time to travel between planets in the latest demo was waay too long. And that was just within one system. Watching the visual FX of warp for minutes at a time is no one's idea of engaging gameplay. We don't live in the 'verse, we only visit for an hour or two once or twice a week. Do we want to spend a large percentage of that time sitting in our cockpits playing switch? Hell no!

People here love to hate on Eve Online and don't like comparisons with that game, but from time to time it can be instructive design-wise. In Eve it takes about three minutes to warp across the biggest systems in the game, and players complain that that is still too time consuming.

So if CIG doesn't adjust travel times to be more player-friendly, the only solution will be to have multiple accounts in the various systems where you want do your thing.

But that's the beauty of having a public Alpha and Beta - we can give CIG our feedback and hopefully get the loser gameplay aspects fixed.
[/RANT]

Well stated, sir. I don't have an abundance of time to play (not as much as I would like by far, damn it), and spending 8 minutes in Quantum Jump eats into things. I am praying that they tweak the system to alleviate at least some of that travel time one way or another before the final game builds are dropped. In the meantime I am all in, but I want to have an engaging time when I am able to play. My fingers are crossed that there will be some optional workaround for the travel times exceeding a couple of minutes...

 

[Takeiteasy]

Yeah that was a 230,000 km jump iirc? That seems excessive, that kind of jump should 15 seconds maybe 20. If I'm jumping across a huge system to the opposite side then yeah a good few minutes is acceptable but I can't remember if maybe they were simply showing us the particle effects or not? I don't know but maybe their ship just had a shit jump drive.

My ships have good jump drives and don't take half an hour to go from one side of a system to another. Silly Chris Roberts and his 900cc Jump drive.

 

[supitza]

As I understand it, those 8 minutes aren't going to be straight flying; stuff is going to happen, maybe pull you out of the jump, also you can get out of your chair and do stuff around your ship. If you'd have to sit for 8 minutes doing nothing, I'd be pissed too, but I imagine it won't be so.
I wonder what CR has planned for this. I would be totally fine (now that I'm thinking about it, I think it would be kind of awesome actually) with having to fly a lot from place to place.
For example: I need to haul a bunch of cargo from system X to system Y, which is 5 jumps away, let's say. It's going to take me 45 minutes to load up my Hull-C. In the meantime, I make some repairs on the engines, go buy supplies from the local shops, manage my inventory. I then start the journey which is going to take maybe 3 hours in total? It would be totally stupid to sit in quantum for 3 hours, but during that time I'm going to be intercepted by pirates, hailed by a crashed Aurora in need of help, stopping for refueling etc.
That would be a fun mission for me. It's kind of like a main story quest from a traditional RPG.

The shitty part would be having to meet a friend 5 systems away and having to spend 3 hours on the way.
Oh, that would be really, really bad.
Food for thought.

 

[Radegast74]

Yeah that was a 230,000 km jump iirc? That seems excessive, that kind of jump should 15 seconds maybe 20. If I'm jumping across a huge system to the opposite side then yeah a good few minutes is acceptable but I can't remember if maybe they were simply showing us the particle effects or not? I don't know but maybe their ship just had a shit jump drive.

My ships have good jump drives and don't take half an hour to go from one side of a system to another. Silly Chris Roberts and his 900cc Jump drive.

No, it was a 23,000,000 (as in 23 million) km jump. Even traveling at about ?an quarter or an eighth ? the speed of light it still will take time to get places.

[RANT]
The time to travel between planets in the latest demo was waay too long. And that was just within one system. Watching the visual FX of warp for minutes at a time is no one's idea of engaging gameplay. We don't live in the 'verse, we only visit for an hour or two once or twice a week. Do we want to spend a large percentage of that time sitting in our cockpits playing switch? Hell no!

People here love to hate on Eve Online and don't like comparisons with that game, but from time to time it can be instructive design-wise. In Eve it takes about three minutes to warp across the biggest systems in the game, and players complain that that is still too time consuming.

So if CIG doesn't adjust travel times to be more player-friendly, the only solution will be to have multiple accounts in the various systems where you want do your thing.

But that's the beauty of having a public Alpha and Beta - we can give CIG our feedback and hopefully get the loser gameplay aspects fixed.
[/RANT]

Well stated, sir. <snip>

As I understand it, those 8 minutes aren't going to be straight flying; stuff is going to happen, maybe pull you out of the jump, also you can get out of your chair and do stuff around your ship. If you'd have to sit for 8 minutes doing nothing, I'd be pissed too, but I imagine it won't be so.
I wonder what CR has planned for this. I would be totally fine (now that I'm thinking about it, I think it would be kind of awesome actually) with having to fly a lot from place to place.
<snip>

Yes, the plan is right now, those 8 minutes are when "Quantum Interdiction" takes place, i.e., pirates can pull you out of your jump, or you could pull others out of their jump. And yes, likely you can do chores around the ship, like maintenance and other things.

 

[EmpireRuled]

No, it was a 23,000,000 (as in 23 million) km jump. Even traveling at about ?an quarter or an eighth ? the speed of light it still will take time to get places.






Yes, the plan is right now, those 8 minutes are when "Quantum Interdiction" takes place, i.e., pirates can pull you out of your jump, or you could pull others out of their jump. And yes, likely you can do chores around the ship, like maintenance and other things.

Yes, that was a hell of a long jump for certain. In time, the longer the jump the higher the risk of interdiction or mechanical failure/components that must be managed to remain in quantum space (or whatever it is). That should be pretty cool for immersion and to avoid the boredom factor. They'll make it good either way it goes ;)

 

[supitza]

Yes, that was a hell of a long jump for certain. In time, the longer the jump the higher the risk of interdiction or mechanical failure/components that must be managed to remain in quantum space (or whatever it is). That should be pretty cool for immersion and to avoid the boredom factor. They'll make it good either way it goes ;)

I'd still like to have some uneventful jumps, to add to the realism. Don't be attacked by pirates EVERY TIME you jump. Don't make a system fail EVERY TIME you jump. Make it random.

 

[Richard Bong]

LOL, I feel your pain...We all feel your pain...here is this great game, they have introduced and talked up bounty hunting, and...nobody is quite sure about the mechanics of it, but meanwhile, since we have nothing else to do, we will sit around and drive ourselves a little crazy thinking of all the possibilies...

In addition to the excellent advice above, here are my thoughts:
a) what, you don't like the toilet in the middle of the Cutlass? Or any other Drake ship? lol!
b) wait for the rework of the Cutlass, btw...
c) yes, the Avenger Stalker and the Cutlass Blue are the identified bounty hunting ships in game...I don't think you can go wrong getting those ships
d) the more I see the open world stuff, the more it appears that tracking on a planet might be a thing...definitely pick up some ground vehicles, esp. ones you can fire from or have a gun mount/hardpoint
e) other than that...just maybe pick up some extra cheap vehicles for LTI tokens, and pay attention to all the concept sales.

I really don't see much more you can do, other than that.

With Drake, it feels like World War 2 tech on the interior. B-52's feel more like a starship than Drake ships. :) It is an aesthetic thing. :)

Tracking on a planet is why I am thinking I am going to need a buggy, Rover, AFV or similar that can transport a bounty back to a starport. Which means I should plan on something bigger than a Freelancer as a fourth ship.

Along those lines, since I can't get the nose around when flying a Connie to defend it properly, the multiple turrets on a Tali look like a great choice, especially if you can slap 5 blades on one. :) But we don't know what the modules on a Tali can carry when it comes to vehicles. :)

Anything bigger than that, like a Starfarer, is likely to be too big to be efficient. LOL

 

[Richard Bong]

Yes, that was a hell of a long jump for certain. In time, the longer the jump the higher the risk of interdiction or mechanical failure/components that must be managed to remain in quantum space (or whatever it is). That should be pretty cool for immersion and to avoid the boredom factor. They'll make it good either way it goes ;)

Which is why I only want one ship without an interior. LOL.

 

[Richard Bong]

I'd still like to have some uneventful jumps, to add to the realism. Don't be attacked by pirates EVERY TIME you jump. Don't make a system fail EVERY TIME you jump. Make it random.

"Slipstream, not the best way to travel faster than light, just the only way." Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda.

 

[Takeiteasy]

23 million in makes more sense, maybe if I plan a jump that far I'll get out and go unblock the toilet or something, or throw things out the airlock to see what happens at jump speed.

Or just put my feet up and crack open another can. I can't wait for 8 minute jumps.

 

[Han Burgundy]

Serious Bounty hunter fleet?

1: Carrack outfitted with EM warfare package (Seek to destroy)
2: Upgraded Connie Taurus (Undercover work)
3: Superhornet (When shit gets loud)

 

[Takeiteasy]

I'd still like to have some uneventful jumps, to add to the realism. Don't be attacked by pirates EVERY TIME you jump. Don't make a system fail EVERY TIME you jump. Make it random.

My thoughts exactly, maybe 1 in 10 or 15 jumps something happens, hopefully minor that won't have you using afterburners for a million km drive back to civilization. Then again that's the kind of situation you ask for a rescue and i come and charge you a million credits for repairs.

Then blow you up :slight_smile:

 

[Amash-Akura]

throw a beer out your airlock and into mine in jump?... never know till we try... we'll have to pad the landing area though. I'll brainstorm more on this.