Oolite Bulletins

I'm looking for a recommendation on a ship type for some fiction research.

I want to start a fresh Jameson and then trade my ship in for a ship that's good for assassination and bounty hunter missions.
No cargo running, just fast, tough and armed to the teeth. I'd prefer to go for a core ship if possible, oxp if necessary but nothing too uber.

Also any recommendations on mission OXP's, random hits and seedy space bars seems like a good idea and anything else to spice up a game geared around assassination and revenge.
I almost tempted to have the black monks installed and a stupidly large loan just so I have something that stalks me all the time.

!m!

If a complete lack of cargo capacity is not a problem, the Asp Mk II is probably the best ship for your needs (of the core ships, that is).

Asp?

Aaaargh! Ninja'd. (he might be old, but he's bloody fast!)

Mmmmmm...

An Asp Mk2 Special looks pretty good.

!m!

Any other OXP recomendations?

!m!

The Wolf Mk II gets my vote.

maaarcooose wrote:

I want to start a fresh Jameson and then trade my ship in for a ship that's good for assassination and bounty hunter missions. No cargo running, just fast, tough and armed to the teeth. I'd prefer to go for a core ship if possible, oxp if necessary but nothing too uber.

Tricky choice. The three core ships which are good in a fight, jump-capable, and not freighters are the Cobra III, the Asp, and the FDL.

The Asp is probably the best dogfighter of the three, and the fastest, but with only two laser mounts and one missile pylon, you lack some flexibility, and in a prolonged fight you'll be running your lasers extremely hot. Also, there's no fuel scoop, which might slow you down when you've got a deadline to meet, and means you can't sun-skim for stealth. You can tell it was originally designed for military operations as part of a fighter group, and with a carrier or station nearby to resupply.

The FDL gives you two pylons and four lasers, and a very small forward cross-section, but its energy reserves won't stand up in a prolonged dogfight even with full upgrades once your shields and ECM start draining them. Your lasers won't all be overheated at once, but that doesn't matter if you don't have the power spare to fire them. Could be good for a hit-and-run style, or for long-range sniping, but if the enemy gets the jump on you, you're toast.

The Cobra III gives four pylons and four lasers, and good energy reserves. On the other hand, that cargo hold you aren't using makes it a much bigger target than the other two, so you're going to take more return fire. You're also more likely to be mistaken for a trader, and have to fight your way in-system over the glowing wreckage of the more stupid or desperate pirates.

Cheaper than the Wolf II, the Asp, or the FDL, and without going too far from "canonical" ships, would be the Iguana or the Salamander. They're both faster than the Cobra III, and the Iguana is tougher too. (Incidentally, the base price for the Iguana quoted on the wiki - Cr28,000 - has to be missing a zero, surely!).

I randomly loaded up a fresh commander and it looks like I have the copperhead oxp installed so I dumped the Cobbie gave that a shot.

Managed to take out a Thargoid with a beam laser and a couple of offenders. They all seemed to have trouble hitting me.
3 energy banks leave a little to be desired, but it's pretty upgradable as a ship goes but a bit slow.

I'll give the wolf a shot and the Asp, when I find one for sale.

!m!

You might want to give the Asp Explorer a shot, its design addresses the flaws fo core Asp.
Tip: to get the most of this ship, don't buy a rusty one.

maaarcooose wrote:

Any other OXP recomendations?

!m!

A Pitviper S.E. 'Beast'

Excellent bounty-hunter's/assassin's ship, not much good for anything else, in fact. (of a civilian nature, anyway) To quote Captain Beatnik, "What the Boa II is to the trader, the Pitviper is to the bounty-hunter."

maaarcooose wrote:

I want to start a fresh Jameson and then trade my ship in for a ship that's good for assassination and bounty hunter missions.
No cargo running, just fast, tough and armed to the teeth. I'd prefer to go for a core ship if possible, oxp if necessary but nothing too uber.

That pretty much describes the Pitviper to a 'T'.. Fast, responsive, handles like a natural-born killer, only has two laser mounts, but mounts 9 pylons and has 9 TC of storage space for scooping escape pods. (or carrying raw materials for a Missile Machine) And tough as nails.. even ramming is an option, if you're careful. Those three sharp, forcefield-reinforced hulls make wicked can-openers..

The shape makes them almost as hard to hit as an Imperial Courier, from the front or rear. Lots of gaps between the nacelles for shots to pass through.

If you take one for a test-drive, you just may become hooked.. I did. Before then, nothing tempted me away from my Cobby.. A Pitviper is damn-near the perfect killing-machine.

(best enjoyed with a joystick )

Diziet Sma wrote:

A Pitviper S.E. 'Beast'

How come I ain't got this oxp yet??!

*grabbing fast*

Oh, and Diziet Sma, thanks for the info!!

I really like the PitViper.
Funnily enough I had in mind something along the lines of this for a ship design, just less symmetrical. 3 is my lucky number.
Not sure I like the cross-hair on the hud though. A bit too busy for my liking, but I'm persevering.

Nice tough little ship with the military armour upgrade and the enhanced shields. Even when something sapped my front shields to nothing I didn't really feel like I was in any danger.

Now I'm out looking for trouble.

!m!

<shameless plug>
My Contractor is a dedicated bounty-hunter ship and is well worth a look, although it is rather expensive. Even if you decide not to fly the ship yourself the OXP also comes with an NPC hunter who is very good at what he does, and a rare pirate version who will give you some good sport.
</shameless plug>

Smivs wrote:

<shameless plug>
My Contractor is a dedicated bounty-hunter ship and is well worth a look, although it is rather expensive. Even if you decide not to fly the ship yourself the OXP also comes with an NPC hunter who is very good at what he does, and a rare pirate version who will give you some good sport.
</shameless plug>

Indeed. I saw that one on the ship list and thought it would do nicely.
It's next on my list to try, If I can stop playing with the pitviper.

!m!