Stock FDL vs Engineered FDL PVE Test - Elite Dangerous

Hey Guys, ever wanted to know just how different a Stock FDL and an Engineered One are? Well Today I take a look.
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[@dabbingfox8597]

I'd like to see stock vulture vs. Engineered vulture

[@VindicatorJones]

If this comment gets liked enough, I will do that next.

[@WR3ND]

For PVE you don't need to worry about DDs on a Vulture, so just take the stock loaded Vulture and double to triple all of the rest of its stats and that's basically what you can expect. Would be interesting to see how VJ does it though.

[@davidkennedy1077]

Very interesting comparison here. Always wondered what the difference would be between standard and engineered so thanks a lot mate o7!!! P.S. you do the best and most informative combat vids on KZbin, a lot of Commanders seem to keep this information a closely guarded secret so thanks!!!

[@VindicatorJones]

Glad you liked it. It's weird I never thought about doing this before as it seems so obvious :)

[@davidkennedy1077]

Vindicator Jones any content you knock out is great, I've never watched a vid of yours and been disappointed. Plus it's really great that you have your own brand (look, edit, colour etc) it's all very professional. o7 Commander!!!

[@skyecommander2169]

Elite vultures are such a pain. Would like to see more comparisons like this!

[@VindicatorJones]

From the feedback I am getting, I will be doing the Vulture next. Just finished finalizing the engineer upgrades for it.

[@stofsk]

Stock Vulture vs Engineered Vulture. I think that would be an interesting showcase for how much engineering can affect gameplay.

[@EvilDogMedia]

This! ^^

[@thethumbinator6046]

1:36 - Stock FDL 6:17 - Engineered FDL The entire video is great, but this is for the skimmers. Pun intended.

[@squatin4479]

Yes please continue this series, I would love to see the stock viper vs the engineered one

[@SergePupko]

Today I've learned that flying stock is like driving drunk and flying engineered is like flying while hopped up on coacaine. Great! XD

[@jacobchrapla5100]

Agreed, unengineered combat is a great way to "git gud".

[@jacobchrapla5100]

Thank you Vindicator for all the hard work and quality content. O7

[@sentinel7122]

Jonesy's back. :) Good to see another FDL vid from ya. I took a break right before 2.1 launched, and came back and bought an FDL this December... your guides were a lifesaver. Can't wait to get tuning on it! I eng'd did my Viper MkIV first, as it's my pirating/taxi main. Look forward to your next vid! See ya on Twitter, o7. Oh, and have you done any more FDL loadout experimenting since 3.0 launched? I've tried just about everything and ended up with a C4 PA as my favorite for assassinations, and MC or beam for HazRes.

[@cmdrwraithe1857]

Having never flown a fully engineered ship, I can certainly feel your pain. Engagements can be a real pain. In my opinion, Engineering really ruined this game. They could not leave it as a choice. They had to engineer the PVE ships, otherwise players who flew god-like space craft would get bored. Those of us who haven't done engineering, though, wind up getting the shaft a lot of time against an engineered ship. Even PVE targets are difficult....and gods help you if you get in a furball against a wing. PvP isn't possible without engineering. Getting ganked/griefed while farming mats must suck. I refuse to play in open, so I wouldn't know...but I can imagine. Anyways, rant over. This was another fun vid, VJ. Thanks!

[@Rimas2002]

I never engineerd before the beyond update. My corvette can take on any npc now and the only time I died was to a thargoid. Maybe you should do a stock vs engineerd corvette 🖒

[@SpaceMissile]

14:40 - "I would recommend players learn stock ships before moving into engineering." well good - i just cracked 150 hours and i haven't even tried to learn engineering. tonight, my FDL will get its due upgrades.

[@Landbeforetime1992]

Best way to sum up stock versus engineered PvP ships? Imagine a F-22 fighting a toaster oven, and you get the idea.

[@SpaceMissile]

yeah but this puts numbers to it. I had no idea i could get the FDL from 845 to _3131 shields_ (1:18)

[@sephirothprudiise1865]

Bloody good job mate , I always enjoy watching your videos. Always happy to have met you on the forums, and using me favorite ship and learning more about it makes me love it more

[@VindicatorJones]

Thanks so much. I am glad you enjoy them. Makes all the effort worthwhile when people enjoy my content. Cheers!

[@mike6520]

Great video VJ, i've just bought an Fdl myself today and i'm engineering at the moment.

[@ApolloAssassin]

Keep the series going! This was very informative and a overall a good watch!

[@lazycalf8150]

that feeling when the stock power distributor cant handle pulse lasers ahah. nice to see a new video from you. you alone basically taught me how to play this game back in the day with your flight and combat tutorials, whilst i'm experienced in dogfighting, elite has a certain, uniqueness to it compared to other games, and with your help, i got used to it. i wonder, what happened to you streaming? i always caught it whenever i could but you havent been active for 3 months? why not?

[@VindicatorJones]

Im glad you found my stuff useful.. thanks for the feedback, It means a lot. Here in Australia, we have AWFUL upload speeds. We were supposed to get NBN in my area (network upgrade) back in April, but then was pushed back until july.. After the upgrade, I should have about 40mb/s of upload speed, rather than my current 1.5-2 mb/s Once that is in place, I will start streaming.. Streaming now is just a nightmare and the quality is subpar... If I am going to stream, I will do it properly.

[@999wilf999]

Chieftain comparison could well be interesting, as I doubt many CMDRs will have flown an unengineered Chief, other than to the nearest engineer!

[@kudosbudo]

In the beta that dropped the Chiftan I a rated one and flew it. Its actually really good unengineered.

[@TaSwavo]

Thanks for this. I've an amount of exploring and mining and trading and have been doing well but avoiding combat with a view to "doing it later" but now is the time. Started to get a few pirate bounty missions under my belt using my krait phantom (my explorer ship which is partly engineered) but was thinking of going to FDL so I can strip the guns out of my explorer to do (marginally) longer jumps. Besides I want to learn in a fighter, not my phantom or my python (trade/mining). And thought it best to avoid using my hauler (which I kept for nostalgia). So thanks for your advice. Would be easy to engineer the hell out of it but, as you said, I should learn how to fight first and then engineer to make it easier. I will do that. Thanks.

[@iansharmacook]

It would be good to see other ship comparisons, as it looks like Distributor enhancement appears to be a game changer, other ships would help understand if Distro is a key enabler.

[@VindicatorJones]

Vulture will come next.. I have just finished fully engineering it.. Problem is, sometimes the builds will be slightly different due to the limitations of the powerplant. But I guess thats another difference between engineered and stock. Flexibility of build.

[@TheKermit2110]

Love your Vids VJ, you are my combat piloting go-to man. Wondered if you could post your load outs on coriolis?

[@VindicatorJones]

I will, but it will take some time, as all my builds were in another format. I will have to slowly transfer them over to coriolis

[@holmes6171]

Great vid mate, in the un-engineered FDL, how are you not overheating?? I'm running for 2d beam lasers and I overheat a lot and have to stop shooting before going over 100°

[@phatstrats6015]

Why Elite Dangerous PvP was ruined in a nutshell. Fuck this game honestly.

[@siriusscepter]

I love all your videos sir. Thanks!

[@cambion_entertainment]

Stock Cutter v engineered cutter

[@robdfar]

Very nice but are you flying with assist on or off I I tried both ways my joystick and I just can't do anything if Isis off and you seem to be so smooth maybe need to do a flight school video

[@VindicatorJones]

I use combination of ON and OFF.. depending on the situation. I have been thinking about doing a video about how I use FAOFF.

[@robdfar]

A video be cool because I'm getting sicker people getting behind me and not being able to shake them and almost dying

[@joehill3182]

I was wondering why you choose pulse over burst lasers. If anyone could let me know if I'm wasting my time on bursts (just prefer how they fire really) thanks

[@VindicatorJones]

More efficient, draw less power and drain the capacitor at a reduced rate. Pulse lasers do more damage over a longer period of time with the trigger down compared to Bursts or Beams. And because I can usually keep hold fire on a target for a longer period of time, pulses suit my playstyle best. If however you can only hold fire on a target for short intervals, then Bursts or Beams will do more damage over a shorter period of time. Weapons damage is only part of the equation. Distributor draw is also a big part of it too.. The faster you drain your distributor, the less often you can maintain fire.

[@joehill3182]

Vindicator Jones... thanks for the reply. Makes much more sense than the forums with the mix of arguments and confusing maths! I have got much better at keeping targets in my scopes. Took a long break and the AI is much better now. Thanks again and for all your videos, by far the most fun elite KZbinr

[@VindicatorJones]

The big problem is that too many commanders try and work things out on paper, but in game performance rarely reflects on paper performance. You should check out some of Kornelius Briedis videos, he makes some good in game testing of weapons and weapons types.. He no longer makes ED videos, but some of his older stuff is still relevant. Glad you like my channel, really appreciate it :)

[@Wowaniac]

VJones, Your Load Out Sheet for the FDL is no longer found on your drop box, It appears the link is broken. Can you please fix it/update that and Private Message me your FDL Loadout? I have been trying to build a combat ship for some time, having at one point tried every ship and only ever really liking the FDL due its speed and nimbleness everything is either too big or too slow. The only down side to the FDL was once its power cap, then it was its range. I really need a combat ship though, I continually am failing assassination missions making it all that much harder to get Elite

[@F1ashingblade]

Massive difference in bounties in first using Kill Warrant Scanner. I never thought of just adding it to main guns fire group, always added mine to separate firegroup and scanning target before starting to shoot - which is a pain.

[@vanda477]

Link to loadout is not valid anymore - error 404. Could you please provide a new one. I really want to see it. Thanks

[@Valium762]

Really appreciate you making this video. My Elite career for years has been nothing but trading and exploring, so I was completely clueless where to even begin when it came to combat.

[@KThrang]

I have become a fan of the FDL after watching your videos, and gone with your setup. Engineering my FDL tonight!

[@Khaykeroth]

Can you make a comparison between fully engineered chieftain and FDL? I would love to hera your opinion.

[@Jinxbawls]

You have my vote for Viper next! Both variants if you don't mind :D

[@Solrac-Siul]

I normally agree with your theorycrafting but those pulse .. sorry they are outdated. My own FDL with 2 beams, 2 overcharged MC and a huge overcharged MC drops a equivalent vulture in 1/3 to 1/2 of the time it took for you to drop that one with your own eng. FDL and pilot skill is not a factor , the difference in burst dps is.

[@VindicatorJones]

I have tried Beams, and dont like them. For me, pulses work better. This also rings true on my corvette. I tried beams on that also, and on average I kill targets much faster with pulses. But hey, fly with what works best for you. :)

[@daltoncain6709]

Could efficient burst lasers replace the pulse?

[@madddog7]

Interesting compare. To me, the manuveuring is most evident and critical. Gotta say tho, pulse lasers? Oh, I dislike those things ... gimbaled beams for me

[@gungan5822]

maddog7 I use 2 beams with thermal vent and 2 focused pulses. The pulses have like 77 armor pen with 1km drop off. The beams let me use specialized scb without a heat sink.

[@VindicatorJones]

Beams are very inefficient, and overly tax the distributor for my playstyle.. Pulses have do more sustained damage than Beams.. Beams are good if your only firing for very short periods of time. I did a video about this a while back :)

[@madddog7]

+VJ :: _"for my playstyle"_ And that's really is the answer to the 'correctness' of any loadout. Beams work well for me at near 100% firing, not short periods, and while I do have to watch for thermal 'over'-load, I can manage it. At this time, for my FDL, I use L.Beams: 3D,2E,2E and Seekers: 2B,2B. I am mostly flying my Chief right now with Beams: 3B,3B and Seekers: 2B,1B,1B,1B. Seems to work well for PvE. BTW, I mostly Bounty Hunt.

[@madddog7]

Mainly, I dislike the noise that pulses make .

[@madddog7]

+Gungan :: whats in your 5th HP?

[@Olutkoira]

Hey ya! love ur content! I have a question, not related to video.. we play in 3man wing with my friends. we often go to hazres sites for esasy bounty money and fun. we have noticed some strange aggro patterns. we fly with 2 FDLs and 1 federal assault ship. anytime we attack npcs, no matter who fires the first shots, the npc ALLWAYS attacks me (fdl). we are fairly new to this game and my combat rank is the highest, expert, and my 2 friends are competent. so my question is; why am I the one taking all the beating?! how does the aggro work? I could not find anything on the matter in the forums.

[@bolinhasoneca]

Probably over due answer but when npcs attack wings they focus the "Highest threat" in range. If you do too much dmg in conflict zones they will focus you down

[@tomekc1113]

I love the FDL. If I could, I’d have a fleet, one for every purpose I could imagine

[@sawyerlawler2489]

Your reactions to piloting a stock FDL were very entertaining! I don't have horizons yet so I've been (slowly) learning how to get the most out of this ship and I have to say as far as the power distributor and are concerned the struggle is very real :P Nice video!

[@sawyerlawler2489]

*Power distributor and turn rate... oof

[@LordMoebius]

Did you ever make that joust video?

[@WingManFang1]

This has convinced me to get a FDL

[@gungan5822]

I don't even fly a combat ship unless it's fully engineered. Also why put military armor on an fdl?

[@VindicatorJones]

As I said in the video, I havent done the armour yet. I will be swapping it out for reactive with level 5 thermal resistance.

[@STRIDER_503]

Can we perhaps have a Mamba version?

[@ryanmsalisbury5499]

Would love to see an Adder comparison

[@megasparky2657]

It can be better with guardians modules,do you think that you're going to try ?

[@VindicatorJones]

Nah.. also, guardian modules compromise extra power with extra weight, something the FDL dosent need.. Also the Distributor is not as good as a fully engineered one.

[@megasparky2657]

Vindicator Jones but you can engineer the guardian power distributor

[@cambion_entertainment]

I love my FDL build. Most of it is the same except for the shield generator (5A regular with G5 thermal resist), Huge G5 oversized efficient beam, 4 medium G5 overcharged multicannons, 3 with oversized, 1 with corrosive shell. The beam fires endlessly at 3 pips and near endlessly at 2. Most NPC shields are a joke against my beam laser.

[@MrMaurice5]

zenoe1562 I, too, switched from rapid fire pulse lasers to efficient beams and the same multi cannon and I absolutely love the load out. If you haven’t put thermal venting on your lasers don’t hesitate. It’s almost like having a constantly running heat sink.

[@cambion_entertainment]

Maurice Browder I might have to consider that, currently, my power plant is G1 Monstered Low Emmissions

[@panzerstorm9016]

Honestly I can't stand the Class 4 multicannon. Not sure why, I just can't. On my FDL I use a Class 4 cannon with Long Range, 2 Class 2 multicannon and 2 Class 2 beams. The cannon modded that way gives it the same velocity as the multicannons, so the leading is all in sync. If you've never tried it before, you can actually one-shot the power plants on some ships with a direct hit from a Class 4 cannon, including Anacondas. The build is a bounty-hunting death machine.

[@jonasdenison2382]

Do cutter vs corvette next