Originally Posted by Bohemond
Maybe something like this?

Bo's Build

Heat spikes would prolly be an issue firing.



Nice looking Courier. I don't know how well the Imperial Hammers would work as I have yet to use them (or even qualify to buy them). Like you said heat could be a problem. But if so, perhaps a single Hammer in the center and something else on the outboard hardpoints? Hammers produce nearly triple the heat of standard rails right? Would have to build it to see I suppose.The TTD on that build concerns me, but maybe with Hammers it's fine since you fire them selectively?

The shields are outrageous! Those are some super shields for such a small ship. Far more of everything than my Courier.

I took your build and ran it through my head, and came up with this alternative. In order to do what I did I had to make a small sacrifice to shielding (more on that in a mo) and dump the chaff. What I was looking to do was retain your weapons choices, optional choices and at the same time lower the mass so it was much faster. Mass dropped from 101t to 77t. Smaller fuel tank too, which is what I am using, but I can swap it out for travel.

Here's what I came up with. Might have been better if I were not at work smile

Jackhammer


As you can see it's considerably faster. Speed went from 404/549 to 521/707. Of course you may not want it to be faster.

I changed the sensors. I know you and Wingy like the A's, and that's cool, but I was looking to cut weight and that seemed a good spot. 7 km scan range versus 11 km scan range, but much lighter. Going full G5 long-range puts it over 8km at the cost of about 3 m/s. In practice I find you get more effective range than what Coriolis says. I'm using D's with a little long range and find it's plenty. YMMV.

And the shields. Swapped to 3A. At first glance you see the mj is sharply reduced. But the resistances of this build actually make it more effective against explosive and kinetic, though thermal is worse (but equal to what I am rocking). Recharge is much faster. The main benefit is it's half the weight of the Prismatics. Pure mj though is the best defense against collision damage. But my Courier is 551 mj and I hit your Vette doing 660 m/s, cartwheeled over and over and lost half a ring biggrin I'm using a 2A in mine.

Armor was changed to G5 heavy duty/deep plate on the lightweight alloy, and as you can see it's actually better and a little lighter.

All of this mass reduction gives it a nice boost to jump range, and allows the Enhanced Performance Thrusters for the extra smash. It would run a little cooler too as it's only G3 overcharged on the PP, but maybe the EP thrusters negate the thermal drop. Alternative build requires 1.7 MW less power. Perhaps the newfound speed and jump would allow you to swap the Guardian FSDB for another MRP/HRP or Guardian shield booster or SCB or whatever.

You didn't ask my opinion Bo, but I like doing this and discussing it so hope you don't mind and I hope to hear your thoughts. I've flown my Courier alot now and the bottom line for me is that as amazing as the shields are on your build, they are more than you'll need in PvE. So I traded a little of their capability for much more speed and jump. Integrity's a little better too. I feel like chaff isn't needed at these speeds, and with this agility against the NPCs, but that's a matter of opinion.

My Courier for comparison

Velocity




Last edited by DBond; 05/11/19 07:04 PM.

No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!