Elite Dangerous Space Bar - Cobra Cosmetics

Hey space cadets, What is going on?
I'm Cmdr TwingTwang and welcome to the Space Bar

In this simple roundup we'll be looking at the Cobra Colours. I'm not going to detail different Cobra outfits - The final ship I flew was this Classic Cobra Outfit that we used on a recent Tourist Trip to Sol in advance of the upcoming Earth Day on April 22nd, 2015.

Serpent
The serpent cobra is a professional looking two-tone design that really plays of the strength of the cobras iconic form factor. The strong diagonal lines mirror the wing shapes and compliment the design of the ship, and the dark trim and vents work really with the colours.

Available in a black body with bright red panelling or a two-tone yellow with dark panels the serpent cobra looks sleek and stylish. The coloured panelling displays subtle shifts in colour that help pick out the detail of the ship in close up inside the broad geometric shapes.  Its a tragedy that there aren't more serpent options, nor a serpent scheme available for other vessels as this would make a great fleet colour.

Both the broad base colour and flat panelling accept the pale decals very well, and present your rank with pride and purpose.

The red and yellow options both look good in a variety of lighting, although I found the yellow more versatile overall. With the only complaint I could level at the Serpent being that I wanted more, this is a paint scheme to look out for in the galaxy.

Rattler
The rattler features a bold central racing stripe and is available in blue or orange.  While the Blue variant looks better in promo shots and in the store and its tones look just grand in the outfitters bay, the striking orange and white has more definition in game and looks cleaner under a larger variety of lighting conditions.

The cool racing stripes on the rattler look great, the clean flat areas accept decals well.  The blue rattler comes out better in this regard with the white decals accented with sky blue cutting a strong contrast to the blue body and black stripe.  The Orange rattler sports yellow decals that somehow lose clarity on both the orange body and white stripe.

Overall I think the orange rattler looks great in space, its got an industrial feel and looks great contrasting against bright suns of dark planets alike.

Camo
The Urban and Polar Camo patterns available for the cobra differ in style to the choice of Urban, Polar and Jungle camo paints for the Eagle and Sidewinder but can still be considered a single theme. I'm going to go ahead and say its a different artist on the Cobra, or at least a different brief, when this was put together.

Noteworthy here is that the cobra camo patterns are bespoke - the Urban and Polar patterns are different compared to the lowly Sidewinder where the same camo pattern has been cheaply recoloured to produce three products.  This additional attention to detail, along with the different palette of colours used sets the cobra camo aside.

The polar camo cobra includes black trim around all of the wing tips, vents and utility mounts and shows good attention to detail. While the promo shots provide a splash of colour, the gloss camo pattern doesn't really break up the outline of the ship and it becomes apparent that there is no practical purpose to the camo pattern - its there because camo is cool.

Decals appear a little out of place on the camo, although as observed its a decorative rather than practical camouflage pattern and the presence of the decals isn't too jarring. The decal colours don't stand out very strongly, although the white decals on the polar camo look a lot better than the pale metallic feel of the decals on the urban variant.

Onionhead
The short-lived onionhead is fresh punky design and the first paint pack to include custom decals, however its asymmetric design does little for the eye, doesn't respect the shape and contour of the classic cobra.  While its random paint-can style is initially eye-catching, its perfectly clean factory finish is a reminder that this "alternative" style is going to leave you identical to all of the other pilots who want to look different.

I don't like the colour, I don't like the way the base black is lost against the darkness of space and I don't like the poor decal placement.  For a pack that provides additional decals, I really wanted something that "goes together", but the provided decals don't have space to sit and be admired on the visually busy wings. Firstly one wing already contains a decal pattern, and neither wings have space to accept the lime colour decal with any clarity.

Pirate
The pirate skin is another departure from symmetry, and while both the Camo and Ignition packs were asymmetrical and spanned several different ships, the Pirate scheme rightly claims the crown as the first faction paint.

The matte black and gloss red colours look good by themselves and the white skull motif, although a little squashed, complete the look and feel and compliments the colours.

The cobra stands out in being the only pirate ship with the Skull painted on the right side, making it a mirror image of its six counterparts.  This oversight jars me more than it should, and a simple mirror image of it would really help.  However, I have no intention of ever flying pirate colours so while that counts against the image, it's not going to make me less likely to fly it.

Lastly the decals are a disappointment on the vessel. Their placement isn't really respected by the black, red, or white areas of the ship and the blue colour is lost among the other patterns. Lack of pirate specific decals bring home that we are also missing Federal, Imperial and Alliance decals too but hopefully faction paints and decal sets for these are not far behind.

Ignition
Like the Camo before it, the Ignition series spans both several ships and colour variants. This made it possible to fly a wing of different Ignition ships, so long as Sidewinders and Eagles are your style. The striking ignition patterns with its matte black to gloss red sunburst is also available in an all-gloss maroon and orange base, both with metallic flames.

The gunmatal trim finishes the scheme, and while its far from subtle the Ignition cobra looks good both docked or in flight.

The general badassary of the ignition patterns put it as a contender for my top pick. Both the orange and red base look good, both have great front gold decals although the wing decal spots are a a little visually busy with the flame. Its a minor complaint, but a little more clearance for the wing decals would have been appreciated.

Vibrant
Lastly, the vibrant cobras are available in six shades - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple. Out of all of the other patterns, these look the worst in the store. In fact, the store and promo images look fairly poor. However, once on a ship they look surprisingly good and play to the strengths of the retro solid geometric roots of the game.

The trim and decals all work well with the vibrant paint packages and are tinted to match the overall colour.  There is subtly and variation in the design in different lighting conditions that doesn't show through on the storefront pictures. Unlike many of the other options the vibrant packs allow you to match your fleet together from the smallest sidewinder to largest lakon and everything in between.

Being able to match colours with other ships is a really strong selling point on the vibrant pack, and hopefully it paves the way for more cross-ship paint schemes that will really help to bring the galaxy to life.

And finally...
The cobra paints give the ship new life and form a link to the past and eye to the future of Elite. The Cobra is a versatile ship that is fun to outfit and fly, and with a choice of colours you can make it feel a little more your own. The development team were obviously listening when we asked for a set of paint schemes that looks the same across multiple ships, and here's hoping that the vibrant range gets complimented with Serpents, Ignition, Camo or other great faction designs so that we can fly in style.

I'm Cmdr TwingTwang, and this has been the space bar. What is your favourite ship and colour combination? Do you love the versatility of the Vibrant paint or hate its simplicity? If you got a ship, loadout or paint you'd like to see then drop me a line.
Please, like, favorite, +1, share and subscribe.  Until next time, fly casual.

Elite Dangerous Outfitters - Classic Cobra

Hey space cadets, what is going on?
I'm Cmdr TwingTwang and welcome to the outfitters.

In this outfitters article we'll be looking at the classic cobra flown by Commander Jameson, and equipping a modern Cobra as a timeless tribute to embark on a star-seeing tour from Lave to Sol.

The exact specifications of Jamesons Cobra are going to be hard to match but I'll take everything I can into account and come up with a ship to be proud of. Outfitting a cobra on a budget can be a difficult so I'm not going to limit my spend on this.

This gives my a shopping list of features to consider as I put the ship together.

Its a rare luxury to go premium, but my starting point is a Class-A Cobra.
The 4A Power Plant provides enough juice for the 4A Thrusters, 4A Frame shift and 4A Shield Generator.  The Life support, Power couplings and Sensors are all upgraded to their maximum 3A too.



This ship already looks very premium,
4A - Power Plant
4A - Thrusters
4A - Frame Shift Drive
4A - Shield Generator
3A - Life Support
3A - Power Distributor
3A - Sensors

Internal Compartments
Now we are ready to start outfitting the vessel.  First on the list is a Large Cargo Bay. I'd say that 32 Tonnes sounds about right, so the two remaining size four internal compartments can have 4E Cargo Racks at sixteen tonnes each.

Fuel Scoops are not a problem, and in a premium ship the best I can buy is a Class 2A model so in it goes.

I'm certain that Commander Jameson had a docking Computer, so in it goes too.  And lastly I'm going to add a 1C Advanced Discovery Scanner into the last internal compartment.

Safety Features
Since Commander Jameson is known across the stars for his military lasers and missiles combo, I can't do anything other than a pair of D2 Gimbal Beams and two B1 Seeker Missile packs.

The must-have Electronic Countermeasures fill the first Utility Mount, and the second is going to be home to a Class-A Shield Booster.  Those extra shields keep the luxury feel, but push the power consumption over the top of the A-Rated plant.  When the hardpoints are deployed, the Frame Shift Drive, Docking Computer and Fuel Scoop will all disengage and power down.

To go with the flow I'm upgrading the Hull to Military Grade Composite too. Its reasonably cheap and feels like a good choice. The extra weight will drop my jump range down a tiny fraction, but I'm still going to be making those long 20Ly hops anyway

No mining?
I remember my original cobra sported a rear mining laser, which I could fit to one of the small hardpoints and swap the Discovery Scanner for a Refinery. However, I just don't see this as a resource extraction ship - it's a space-tourism build I'm going to use to see the galaxy a little so I'm grudgingly willing to sacrifice the refinery. Despite the premium build, there are some compromises I just have to make.
Were I optimising for long distance, then I'd replace the Docking Computer with an Auto Repair unit, but I'm happy to stop by several stations on my trip and won't be going to the outer rim territories in this ship. The Docking Computer fits the theme much better.

Energy Bomb? Galactic Hyperspace?
Sadly there are a few items on my shopping list that aren't available yet. I couldn't find the old thargoid-busting energy bomb for sale anywhere.
If I run out of stars to visit, I'll put in a feature request for the Galactic Hyperspace, but to be honest I think it'll be a while before its needed so I'm willing to omit that from this loadout.

One Last consideration.
For an iconic build like this, I'm going to have to choose a spray job that looks good, but I'll leave that for another time.  How would you paint a classic Cobra?

I think I want the colours of the Blue Rattler but in the pattern of the Cobra Serpent.? But I'm not sure. The striking Orange Ignition would be a great way to visit Sol in style, while the bright Orange Rattler has great visibility.
Perhaps I should go back to the original box art and choose the closest match?

I'm Cmdr TwingTwang, and I'll be flying this Classic Cobra on a convoy trip from Lave to Sol soon. Look me up if you want to come and get some photos taken with the stars!
Fly Casual everybody.

Elite Dangerous Outfitters - The Cobra

Greetings Space Cadets!
I'm Cmdr TwingTwang and welcome to the outfitters.

In this article, we'll be talking about the Faulcon DeLacy Cobra MKIII. Probably one of the most iconic ships in the Galaxy, the Cobra wins the Pilots Choice award for most versatile and flexible ships out there.  Anything smaller than a mighty Python has to take note when a Cobra jumps in, and even the big ships need to keep one eye on the Radar at all times.

I found the Cobra a fun ship to fly, and the nostalgia alone made it my first milestone ship. Despite how much I liked my ZP-Hauler that got me back in the game and the huge amount of fun I've had in a Sixer, I'm always going to be proud to own a Cobra. Its a good all rounder, has two small and two medium hardpoints and carries sixty tonnes if you max out the cargo racks.

A Combat Cobra is quite a fearsome opponent, and my own Orange Rattler has seen some action recently.  The Cobra is a great vessel packed with options that I'll try and talk through here. The cobra plays in a fight and you can draw heat from your wingmen while they recharge, cooldown, and get a good attack vector on the target.

A midpoint between the Adder and the Sixer, the Cobra has a reduced range over the long jumpers making it a tiny fraction slower at running rares but it can make 20Ly jumps so you won't notice the difference on many routes. While it might not pack as many shields as a Lakon Blockade Runner, your rare jumper Cobra is packed with safety features and armed to the teeth, making it an excellent choice for almost any occasion.

Other ships in this series:
Lakon-6 Blockade Runner
Outfitting an Adder
Solid Gold Viper
Asp Freighter

Today I'll just be talking about Trading and Rare-Running Long-Jumper Cobras, and talk a little about some combat configs I've tried.  I'm not going hardcore into combat builds - that'll take a whole article in itself, and mining is a separate topic too.

Shop Floor Cobra.

The basic cobra costs 380K and at that price point there is some stiff competition from Zorgon Peterson.

The ZP-Hauler, for under 380K spend gets you 16T of cargo racks, with an unbeatable 19.4 - 32.4 Ly Jump range.  More details on this build can be found on my Hauler Ship Focus Page.

Meanwhile if you fly a 380K Cobra straight off the forecourt you will find its 9.7-10.4 Ly Jump Range severely limiting and its stock 18T of cargo space is nothing to write home about.

Hands-down, the Hauler has the Cobra beat at this end of the price scale so I'd recommend you save up for a while and don't buy a Cobra on the first day you can afford it.  You'll need to spend a little before you start to see the benefits.


One Million Credits
At the one million Credits price point, you have left the Hauler behind and are competing with its bigger brother, the Adder, also from Zorgon Peterson.  For One Million Credits the adder is starting to look pretty good.
My One Million Credit Adder manages an 18T Capacity and an 18.3-23.3 Light Year Range. It has shields, weapons and scoops and is a competent and armed rare runner. However you end up with a lot of Class-C and Class-D components on it.

My love for the Sixer is well known. The smallest of the Lakons, the Type-6 comes in very cheaply at a tad over a million credits and can be outfitted for up to 112T if you care to which makes it a prime earner at this price point.  The ship you get isn't fast, but moves a lot of tonnage.

Outfitting a Cobra that beats the Adder or the Sixer at this price point is a challenge, because you are looking at some expensive upgrades.

Because we aren't going to be gunslinging high-power lasers at this price point, we know this is a low-power ship, we can drop to the 3C Reactor which gives the 10MW we need and more heat efficient than the 4D at the same price.
This reactor can't quite deliver, and your Frame Shift Drive will cut out when you deploy hardpoints - but you can't jump with them out anyway so this is no real disadvantage. Just remember to set module priority groups and you will be fine.

Otherwise a 1M Cobra is a Class-D refit on every component.  I've replaced the Discovery Scanner with a 2C Fuel Scoop, and upgraded the cargo too. I recommend a slimline Class-D refit in almost every build for the mass efficiency. 

The internal compartments are now the basis for every larger cobra we are going to consider.
4D: Shield Generator
4E: Cargo Rack (16T)
4E: Cargo Rack (16T)
2E: Cargo Rack (4T)
2E: Cargo Rack (4T)
2C: Fuel Scoop.

Safety First.
With just the internal components at the minimum level I've already spent around 620K and have plenty to spend on safety features. I already have a 4D Shield Generator, which isn't much but it'll keep us out of trouble.
Because of the weaker 3C Power Plant, I'm going to choose projectile weapons on my medium hardpoints because they take less energy than beam lasers and a matched pair of 2E Fixed Multi-Cannons will do the job nicely.
Two 1E Gimbal Beam lasers on the small hardpoints will be in my primary firing group and used to do as much damage to shields as I can before spinning up the big Multi-Cannons.

This completes a One Million Cobra, getting us a 40T ship that jump 14.0 - 16.4 Light Years and costs 964K Credits. Wastage and Piracy aside, the Sixer earns more per hour than the Cobra but does not match it for style, sophistication or Nostalgia. Overall trying to build a Cobra on this budget is difficult and it's not going to be the ship of your dreams.

It doesn't handle as well as a Cobra might and a One Million Cobra doesn't really show it off in its best light. After a few pirate run-ins I found that the guns are a little too big for the shields.  Those big Fixed Forward Multi cannons do a lot of damage, but in a head-on lance you'll be taking your licks too so they rely on your piloting skills to get a good attack vector and stay out of the line of fire. If you are not an accomplished combat jock, I might recommend smaller main weapons and adding a Shield Bank.

Lastly, you could run lighter on weapons and put more into your Frame Shift Drive - especially if you are in a convoy the longer jump and safety in numbers might benefit you more.

Two Million Credits
With a larger budget of two Million to spend, the Adder and the Viper are the two closest alternatives to a Cobra.  You can build a Two-Million Credit Sixer too, and its a good earner, but I've talked about that enough in other articles.

The Adder has a great jump range at this price point. Its Class-B and Class-A across the board and gets you a 16T ship with about 16-20Ly range.  The Viper is a similar story, two million credits gets you Class A and B across the board because the Size-3 Upgrades are very cheap, and a fair choice of weapons too.

Two Million Credits in a Cobra sees a hodge-podge of class B,C and D components and too many options to say one is "the best build". Compared to the equivalent Adder or Viper that has premium components, the Cobra feels a little like its being left behind.  
However, I found that with the 40T armed Cobra that I build for 1M I had two real options and for two million credits you should nudge up the specs on the components you want the most.


The biggest gain at 2M is the extra spend you've got on a Frame Shift Drive.  I'm a real range junkie and will happily blow my budget on getting those long range jumps.  At 2M Cr, if you are doing rare runs then a Fuel Scoop and an large FSD is going to soak up all of your budget.


Its also worth revising your hardpoints - I found the Cannons more satisfying than the multicannons and at this price point its well worth thinking about.


Three Million Credits

At three million Credits the Budget Cobra is a nice ship to fly. I'm going to recommend the Class-A FSD so that you can jump with the best of them. This is a significant investment but gets you into the 20Ly range of a space hopper.

The slimline options keep a three million credit cobra running, and a 4D Power, 3D Life support and 3D Sensors are the starting point. These are reasonable upgrades, nothing that breaks the bank and helps keep the tonnage down and gives you that incredible jump range.

The Thrusters are upgraded to 4C, and a 3B Power Distributor keeps plenty of power available for engines and shields meaning you can move and boost if you feel the need the speed and its enough to keep weapons and shields topped up too. 4C Thrusters do feel a lot better than the weaker models, and I suspect an accomplished combat pilot would feel the difference.

So my internal components look something like this:
Power Plant: 4D
Life Support: 3D
Sensors: 3D
Thrusters: 4C
Power Couplings: 3B

The Internal compartments are pretty much the same as before, with 4C Shields and a 2C Scoop, leaving a 40T capacity made of 16+16+4+4 racks.

The Hardpoints have got 2D Cannons and those trusty 1E Gimbal Beam lasers make another appearance.  The Cannons cost 168K each so you can afford the pair of them without cutting into the budget, and at this point I'm fitting 1E Beams so frequently they might as well be fitted as standard. The 2D Cannons have a bit more kick in them than the 2E Multi Cannons of my earlier builds and they really pack a punch. My advice with cannons is to take a breath, and time your shot. They hit very hard and you can usually afford that extra second to aim up a direct hit.

I've added a Heat Sink launcher and Point Defence too, which start to give the ship its luxury feel.

The build has a range of 19.6-22.6 and comes in at 2,970K.  It felt a little artificial building a cobra exactly to a budget and I had to play around with a number of compromises to get it to fit the figures I wanted however I'm very happy with the ship.

The Class-A FSD is the biggest spend and the only premium upgrade. You can exchange it out for a Class-B or C and throw those extra credits into weapons and shields if you are a combat pilot, but I'm focusing on Rare Runners and Convoy ships today.

Five Million Credits
For the sum of five million, nothing can touch the Cobra. It's got the spaceways to itself and we are going to build a big ship with great stats.

Start with a pair of fixed forward 2A Frag Cannons, These do big damage to ships without shields and at point-blank range are deadly.  There are a straight upgrade from the Cannons in the 3M build and rely on getting a little closer to target but they will absolutely tear through exposed hulls when you do.
I've added two 1E Gimbal Beam lasers to the small hardpoints too, which is your primary attack to wear down shields.

A 4C power plant and 3C Power Couplings are needed to run all the systems and I've upgraded to 4C Thrusters too. If you find you need a bit more during combat (and who doesn't!) then go for the 3A Power Couplings first, and then the thrusters as you can afford them.

The 4A Frame Shift Drive gives this ship its 19.7-22.8 Light Year Jump range, assuming you are building a ship for long-jumping rares. If you are playing as a short range fighter then fit a smaller FSD and spend the money on Thruster upgrades and Shield banks.

Lastly the Sensors and Life Support are left at Class-D, because thats all we need right now.

The internal Compartments read like this.
4A: Shield Generator
4E: Cargo Rack (16T)
4E: Cargo Rack (16T)
2E: Cargo Rack (4T)
2E: Cargo Rack (4T)
2A: Fuel Scoop.

This gives the Five Million Credit Cobra a huge cargo hold, a great jump range, Class-A Shields, big guns and all the extras.  I've added a Heat Sink Launcher to one of the Utility Points for good measure and the build comes in at 4,980K Credits.

My Five Million Credit Cobra is built for long range runs, and protecting a convoy, and like the smaller spends there is definitely a side-grade option to focus on a short range fighter thats stronger ship-to-ship by allocating funds in that direction instead.  At this price point a Combat Cobra is a tough customer indeed.


Seven Million Credits.
Once you have seven million credits you'll be casting your eye at the Asp, but there is life in the Cobra yet.  The Seven Million Cobra is based on the five million build and we've only upgraded a few options.
The Power plant is upgraded to a the 4B model because we need a little more juice.  At this price point and with the energy available the 4A Thrusters and 3A Power Couplings are a must.
I've also upgraded the Life Support and Sensors to both to the 3C model.  To finish the build I've added a Point Defence to the last utility mount.

This 40T Cobra with a 19.1 - 22.0 jump range has great thrusters and couplings in addition to the weapons we gave it before.  Its a real threat as a space superiority starfighter able to bring those big cannons into play easily. 

You can drop the Life Support and Sensors down to a Class-D and fit a half sized fuel tank if you are trying to trip down the ship for maximum jumps.

For the same price, the Asp gets only 14.8-16.1 Light years and its stock 38T capacity, and is basically a shop-floor model with a 5D Frame Shift and some extra lasers.  At Seven Million Credits the Cobra remains untouchable in the skies.

Its worth mentioning that for 7M you could have a shop-floor Asp with fully maxed out cargo racks, giving you a total of 128T of cargo space.  There is no way the cobra can match this for capacity, but the Asps 10.5-13.8 Jump range isn't great, and it has no shields and just a pair of pulse lasers - it isn't a serious contender.


Nine Million Credits.
At the Big Nine, the Cobra is pretty much fully equipped. You can afford Class-A Components across the board. You don't quite have your choice of guns, and if you want to fit those power hungry Plasma Accelerators then you are going to have to make compromises.

A Pair of 2C fixed-forward plasma accelerators will give this build some serious sting, and if you drop the Sensors to Class-B and Life Support to Class-D you can afford this.  Its worth mentioning that you can manage this with Class-A sensors if you don't mind your frame shift powering down when you pull the big guns out.
Adding the Class-A Life Support is a matter of taste. The Class-D works just fine, while the Class-A powers down when you deploy hardpoints giving you a 25 minute countdown to finish your prey. However with a pair of gimbal beams and two plasma accelerators, the battle isn't going to last twenty five minutes and you will never practically run out of air.

If power management concerns you, The 2A Frag Cannon is cheap with a very low power use, or 2B Seeker Missiles are a snap at 500K each.

You can push this build up to eleven million with turret Beams on the small hardpoints, Military Alloys and an extra 4A Shield Bank.  Out of these, I'd recommend the Shield Bank if you can find power for it (again, your Life support will power down if you've gone for plasma)  and this peak build will reduce your jump range to around 18.0-19.5 with a 24T capacity.

Once you hit eleven Million credits, the Asp really becomes an attractive prospect, not only for its increases hardpoint and utility options but for its increased cargo capacity too.  Once your budget exceeds this and hits the fifteen million range, the Asp does start to dominate but we'll discuss that in more detail in an Asp Outfitters later on.

The Premium Cobre still has quite a long jump range, but you've gained some serious teeth. No small ship will meet you in the void and live long enough to tell the tale.

Final thoughts
In this article I've hardly scratched the surface of the amazing versatility of the Cobra.  We could have focused on Missiles and Shields for a high damage output slugger that will lance into other ships like an express train.

I've not even touched on refinery and mining lasers, or the amount of exploration you can do with that 20Ly range and a couple of discovery scanners.

The Cobra handles well in a fight and this build is biased slightly toward big guns. You should probably invest more in the thrusters and power couplings early on if you are a Viper Pilot looking for something with a bit more sting and staying power.

Have any thoughts, experiences or questions on the building cobras? Leave a comment.

If you have a ship focus you'd like to see, a pilot academy article, or more rules of acquisition then let me know. Please like, favourite, share, and subscribe.

As always, fly casual.