Viper MK IV shield troubles

[Jace Faolan]

I love flying the new viper! My only complaint is that the shields don't seem to last nearly as long as the viper 3 and I don't know if that's the way it is and I just have to pull myself up by my mag-bootstraps and take it or if I can do something to get them to last longer? I currently have a class 3 A rated shield on it right now and thought that was the best I was going to get. Is there someway to have longer lasting shields or am I just going crazy?

NOTE: I've never used shield cell banks on a ship before in my life, just thought it might come up sometime so I'd get it out of the way to begin with.

[Vespyr]

The Viper MKIV has weaker shields than its MKIII counterpart in exchange for a much tougher hull, so losing shields quicker on the MKIV is normal. It's not usually anything to worry about as the MKIV's hull was designed for tanking and can sustain more damage than the MKIII, which should give you enough time to reposition yourself and/or flee to allow your shields to recharge. That said, you're running underclassed shields that may be contributing to the problem. You should try equipping 4A instead of 3A for some extra shield strength. And maybe throw in some Hull Reinforcement Packages if you haven't already.

EDIT: Shield Boosters are also an option, but due to the MKIV's limited utility slots, I wouldn't bother. The shields will still go down anyway and the hull is strong enough to take hits. Repair costs shouldn't be a problem, either.

I haven't used shield cells much since they were rebalanced, so I'm afraid I won't be able to be of much help with those. You could equip one if you feel the need to, but take care to watch your heat management as deploying one will raise your ship's temperature dramatically during use. It used to be that you could spam them without any consequences, but now with the power and heat management issues, you have to be a little more judicious about their use. Personally, I haven't needed to use shield cells on the MKIV as you'll have more than enough hull strength to either escape or outlast the enemy most of the time.

The Viper MKIV is a great little ship, though! Enjoy it.

[Jace Faolan]

Thanks Vespyr! I'll try to see if I can get a higher class generator in there, the slot it was in was only up to 3 but I'll do some swapping and see if I can get better. It certainly is an awesome little ship and I've loved it so far, can definitely tell the difference in the hull strengths.

[Black Rose]

This is a build I used on my old Viper Mk IV and I was quite happy with it.

http://coriolis.io/outfit/viper_mk_iv/24B4C4C2B3B3C4C7e7e0p0p000l475f0227272f.Iw1-kA==.IwBhrSukg===?bn=Viper%20Mark%204%20Custom

[Black Rose]

Or this one with a massive armor tank although no cargo or explore capability and the jump range is a bit poor due to the excessive weight.

http://coriolis.io/outfit/viper_mk_iv/24B4C4C2B3B3C4C7e7e0p0p000l452b29272725.Iw1-kA==.IwBhrSukg===?bn=Viper%20Mark%204%20Armor%20Tank

[evovi]

Or this one with a massive armor tank although no cargo or explore capability and the jump range is a bit poor due to the excessive weight.

http://coriolis.io/outfit/viper_mk_iv/24B4C4C2B3B3C4C7e7e0p0p000l452b29272725.Iw1-kA==.IwBhrSukg===?bn=Viper%20Mark%204%20Armor%20Tank

Oh I like that! Sorry to jump in, but with frontier armor tanking I'm quite nervous to do for fear of being ones shotted in the ass (thrusters) do you use armor tanking on a ship like that and go head to head once shields have faded or do you use that time to make a tactical retreat

[Black Rose]

I can armor tank a head on with an Anaconda allot longer than I should lol. I find the armor tank saves my booty when I am already engaged with one enemy and a 2nd or even 3rd starts in on me. The MK IV was head an shoulders over the MK III with my limited experience. You can also pull some of the armor and add in a discovery scanner and extra fuel if or even some cargo. Its almost as versatile as the Cobra although the Cobra is the fastest ship in the game as near as I can see.

The Vulture on the other hand with an armor tank and shield boosters is more of a dog fighter than a general purpose fighter such as the Viper.

The Vulture uses a Bi-Weave shield, so its a bit lighter and less expensive. Its not as strong as a standard shield of the same grade but it does charge faster and you can always use cell boosters to bring it back up quickly. I am not a fan of the boosters because of the delay as well as the heat build up. So I presume the tactic is to tuck tail and run after you pop the cell booster, then come back.

Edited to add the link for the Vulture build oops
http://coriolis.io/outfit/vulture/24A5D4A3A5A4D3C1e1e0m040400B22b272567.Iw19kA==.Aw1+gjEA?bn=Vulture%20PvE