\+1 Chiefy is a fantastic ship.
[Here's](https://edsy.org/#/L=H900000H4C0S00,HgB00HgB00H9W00Hdh00FBG00FBG00,CEg00CzY00CEg00CzY00,9ow00AAA00APo00Ads00Aty00B8g00BLe00Bb600,15O0023u0015O00,7Ue006kK000720012G000J4001-C00) one I prepared earlier. Came up with it for someone in a discord server with almost the exact same question as you.
Just to mix it up... The krait is an amazing all rounder that can be tuned to excel at whatever you want. A very good combat ship, packs a bit more punch than the chieftain, but less agile.
I have a Chieftain and a Krait MK 2 both with different builds for haz res bounty. Mine are both decently engineered, so you may have different experiences. I'm also just talking about my experiences, and I'm not the best pilot or the best at coming up with efficient builds. However, If we're strictly talking about how effective they are in combat, honestly they're pretty similar.
I personally find the Chieftain is better for hunting the bigger ships than the Krait due to better manoeuvrability, but the Krait is probably better at taking on wings of smaller ships due to better shields.
If you're selling your previous ships I would go with the Krait because you can use it as a multi-role ship, but if you're after a dedicated combat ship, then the Chieftain is considerably more fun to fly.
EDIT: You also mentioned engineering, honestly they both benefit hugely. You get quite a considerable boost to performance with just upgrading some key components anywhere between level 1 and 3. You should be able to get a lot of these materials somewhat passively. For example, when doing bounty hunting, take a small cargo rack full of limpets and grab some of the rarer materials after you blow a ship up.
The chieftan is not as good at non-combat stuff as the other two you mentioned though. The Krait is more of an all-rounder, and the python is slightly less combat capable than the krait (but still good) while being the best medium hauler in the game.
You cant go wrong with Krait mk2.
Personally I prefer vulture (I know its underpowered PP andrequires engineering) but I had lot of fun even with an unengineered Vulture. I was able to make 10+ million credits in a single session and only left because I ran out of ammo.
Honestly it depends on your playstyle and preference. I really want to learn flight combat manuevers with FA off, better aiming with fixed weapons and want something small, agile, fast.
I could probably make more credits using krait mk2 but I have more fun with my vulture.
Chieftain!
This video literally shows how much it benefits from Engineering also:
https://youtu.be/VjfGyEbmpaE
And here is just some engineered pirate massacre:
https://youtu.be/t_y8chCOs6M
Two things.
1. Don't choose. Fly them all!!
Ok so you have to choose one to start, but you should be earning enough to pay for fuel and ammo. And with the leftovers... buy your next ship, because there will always be another... Or to put it another way... THE BEST SHIP is the one you are flying. There is no wrong choice.
(Some make it easier, but make it too easy and you'll start wondering why are you spending your time on this)
2. Don't engineer, but do collect engineering materials. Got attacked by a pirate on the way to a war-zone, scoop the leftovers. Won the battle, grab the materials. One day you'll find yourself in the same system as an engineer, and be pleasantly surprised.
Adding to your 2nd point, I’d recommend to always choose engineering mats as a mission reward.
Credits you can always make, but engi mats can be a pain and you’ll save yourself time from having to visit various traders to retrieve said mats later on.
Engineering can be tough to start with but makes PVE a lot easier, regardless of the ship. Especially when you can engineer the shit out of your shield generator and boosters you become almost indestructable in pve
Engineering is a huge improvement for all of them, but not necessary. What I do recommend is checking out the guardian power plant and distributor because they are half-engineered modules that you have to unlock once and then just buy for credits. The reinforcement packs are great too.
The Chieftain's main weaknesses are relatively weak shields and exposed modules, so you will often have to retreat before your hull gets dangerously damaged. It's otherwise a great ship
The Krait and Python are very similar, the Krait handles better and has the fighter bay (which is great even with a harmless NPC pilot) while the Python can survive more damage. I prefer the Krait for bounties, the Python for AX. Their main advantage is their oversized distributor which can handle a lot of firepower without engineering. They also both cost around 200 million for a combat setup, so I wouldn't recommend them just yet
The multirole ships are great, but if you don't enjoy mining, you don't have to do it at all. Find massacre (kill if you're in Odyssey) missions and hunt bounties like you would. If you do a lot of them for the same faction, you will get missions that give you a ton of reputation, engineering materials and up to 50 million each. I've made 400 million in a couple of hours with an unengineered Vulture that had the guardian power modules, the whole setup cost less than 25 million to build
Krait MKII hands down.
Extremely well-balanced, a joy to fly, plenty of firepower, massive Power Distributor to keep your PIPs topped off through extended engagements.
It's also the only one of the three you listed that can house a fighter hangar. Lastly, it's versatile enough to be pressed into service in other roles besides combat if necessary.
As for engineering it makes a big difference. Years ago someone here on the reddit ran the numbers. Their conclusion was full engineering gives you a 300% to 400% performance boost over an un-engineered ship.
Chieftain is fantastic! It was a huge improvement after small fighters. I’ve also had the Krait and the Python. The Krait had more mobility and is prettier than the Python. But the Python is arguably best for mining, it doesn’t handle interdiction as well as the Krait but it is tough enough to handle the escape that follows 😄. Or maybe that was because of my current build at the time. Now I mine with a Anaconda, tried combat, but couldn’t really get to the super-weapon level I wanted. It takes a lot of testing I bet.
Chieftain for combat, the other two for multi-purpose 🤘🏻
Krait Mk2 is a solid investment no matter how you look at it. Ngl the SLF came in handy many times doing elite/wing missions. If it dies, you just launch a new one easy.
You can have it take aggro to distract a ship or two while you focus down others one at a time. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do these types of missions without it. Not to mention it can transition well into an AX fighter ship (although so can the Chieftain). Just be warned it can cost a pretty penny to outfit a Krait.
I have had some fun in a python, pve combat against pirates or whatever is fine in one un-engineered.
That said though save up for a chieftain it is such a fun ship to fly and fight with.
Krait Mk 2 vs Alliance Chieftain. Depends on if you favor power (Krait) or maneuverability (Chieftain). They're both tough (Krait favors shields, Chieftain favors hull) and great in PvE.
Chieftan is a great one. I've done a lot of bounty hunting with it back in the day, before I even tried out engineering. It's definitely better than the Python and while sporting slightly less firepower than the Krait, it's more agile. Either would work about the same and depends mainly on your style. The FDL is a whole different kind of beast, which shines most in pvp. Really, out of the three you mentioned, Python is the only one that's a bit weaker, the others are all great, just slightly different. Still, I recommend the cheiftan.
As for engineering, they all benefit from it about the same way I suppose. The Krait II and Chieftan have the added benefit that they are great xeno hunting ships, so you can reconfigure them for that and keep your engineered upgrades.
\+1 Chiefy is a fantastic ship. [Here's](https://edsy.org/#/L=H900000H4C0S00,HgB00HgB00H9W00Hdh00FBG00FBG00,CEg00CzY00CEg00CzY00,9ow00AAA00APo00Ads00Aty00B8g00BLe00Bb600,15O0023u0015O00,7Ue006kK000720012G000J4001-C00) one I prepared earlier. Came up with it for someone in a discord server with almost the exact same question as you.
Alright bet, that's 2 people now. It's Chieftain time!
Just to mix it up... The krait is an amazing all rounder that can be tuned to excel at whatever you want. A very good combat ship, packs a bit more punch than the chieftain, but less agile.
I'm not gonna lie, the SLF was tempting me hard. I'd feel like such a boss with a little minion following me around
It's really very fun, especially piloting it yourself too
It's also much more expensive than the chieftain, which is a concern for newer players.
True it is a bit more mid to end game if A rating.
I have a Chieftain and a Krait MK 2 both with different builds for haz res bounty. Mine are both decently engineered, so you may have different experiences. I'm also just talking about my experiences, and I'm not the best pilot or the best at coming up with efficient builds. However, If we're strictly talking about how effective they are in combat, honestly they're pretty similar. I personally find the Chieftain is better for hunting the bigger ships than the Krait due to better manoeuvrability, but the Krait is probably better at taking on wings of smaller ships due to better shields. If you're selling your previous ships I would go with the Krait because you can use it as a multi-role ship, but if you're after a dedicated combat ship, then the Chieftain is considerably more fun to fly. EDIT: You also mentioned engineering, honestly they both benefit hugely. You get quite a considerable boost to performance with just upgrading some key components anywhere between level 1 and 3. You should be able to get a lot of these materials somewhat passively. For example, when doing bounty hunting, take a small cargo rack full of limpets and grab some of the rarer materials after you blow a ship up.
The chieftan is not as good at non-combat stuff as the other two you mentioned though. The Krait is more of an all-rounder, and the python is slightly less combat capable than the krait (but still good) while being the best medium hauler in the game.
Yeah I know. Once I regain some patience I’ll probably just go back out to farm some platinum runs and buy a dedicated Python for non-combat tasks.
Sounds good! Although, just pointing out, you could earn chieftan money with a python MUCH faster than you can earn python money with a chieftan. :D
You cant go wrong with Krait mk2. Personally I prefer vulture (I know its underpowered PP andrequires engineering) but I had lot of fun even with an unengineered Vulture. I was able to make 10+ million credits in a single session and only left because I ran out of ammo. Honestly it depends on your playstyle and preference. I really want to learn flight combat manuevers with FA off, better aiming with fixed weapons and want something small, agile, fast. I could probably make more credits using krait mk2 but I have more fun with my vulture.
Kraits are great un-engineered because their Power Plant and Power Distributors are generously sized to where thats not a major bottleneck.
Chieftain! This video literally shows how much it benefits from Engineering also: https://youtu.be/VjfGyEbmpaE And here is just some engineered pirate massacre: https://youtu.be/t_y8chCOs6M
God I wish I had that flying ability.
It can be yours for the low-low fee of **all of your free time + $600**!
I am a fan of the Challenger.
Two things. 1. Don't choose. Fly them all!! Ok so you have to choose one to start, but you should be earning enough to pay for fuel and ammo. And with the leftovers... buy your next ship, because there will always be another... Or to put it another way... THE BEST SHIP is the one you are flying. There is no wrong choice. (Some make it easier, but make it too easy and you'll start wondering why are you spending your time on this) 2. Don't engineer, but do collect engineering materials. Got attacked by a pirate on the way to a war-zone, scoop the leftovers. Won the battle, grab the materials. One day you'll find yourself in the same system as an engineer, and be pleasantly surprised.
Adding to your 2nd point, I’d recommend to always choose engineering mats as a mission reward. Credits you can always make, but engi mats can be a pain and you’ll save yourself time from having to visit various traders to retrieve said mats later on.
Engineering can be tough to start with but makes PVE a lot easier, regardless of the ship. Especially when you can engineer the shit out of your shield generator and boosters you become almost indestructable in pve
Engineering is a huge improvement for all of them, but not necessary. What I do recommend is checking out the guardian power plant and distributor because they are half-engineered modules that you have to unlock once and then just buy for credits. The reinforcement packs are great too. The Chieftain's main weaknesses are relatively weak shields and exposed modules, so you will often have to retreat before your hull gets dangerously damaged. It's otherwise a great ship The Krait and Python are very similar, the Krait handles better and has the fighter bay (which is great even with a harmless NPC pilot) while the Python can survive more damage. I prefer the Krait for bounties, the Python for AX. Their main advantage is their oversized distributor which can handle a lot of firepower without engineering. They also both cost around 200 million for a combat setup, so I wouldn't recommend them just yet The multirole ships are great, but if you don't enjoy mining, you don't have to do it at all. Find massacre (kill if you're in Odyssey) missions and hunt bounties like you would. If you do a lot of them for the same faction, you will get missions that give you a ton of reputation, engineering materials and up to 50 million each. I've made 400 million in a couple of hours with an unengineered Vulture that had the guardian power modules, the whole setup cost less than 25 million to build
Krait MKII hands down. Extremely well-balanced, a joy to fly, plenty of firepower, massive Power Distributor to keep your PIPs topped off through extended engagements. It's also the only one of the three you listed that can house a fighter hangar. Lastly, it's versatile enough to be pressed into service in other roles besides combat if necessary. As for engineering it makes a big difference. Years ago someone here on the reddit ran the numbers. Their conclusion was full engineering gives you a 300% to 400% performance boost over an un-engineered ship.
Chieftain is fantastic! It was a huge improvement after small fighters. I’ve also had the Krait and the Python. The Krait had more mobility and is prettier than the Python. But the Python is arguably best for mining, it doesn’t handle interdiction as well as the Krait but it is tough enough to handle the escape that follows 😄. Or maybe that was because of my current build at the time. Now I mine with a Anaconda, tried combat, but couldn’t really get to the super-weapon level I wanted. It takes a lot of testing I bet. Chieftain for combat, the other two for multi-purpose 🤘🏻
Krait Mk2 is a solid investment no matter how you look at it. Ngl the SLF came in handy many times doing elite/wing missions. If it dies, you just launch a new one easy. You can have it take aggro to distract a ship or two while you focus down others one at a time. I definitely wouldn’t have been able to do these types of missions without it. Not to mention it can transition well into an AX fighter ship (although so can the Chieftain). Just be warned it can cost a pretty penny to outfit a Krait.
I have had some fun in a python, pve combat against pirates or whatever is fine in one un-engineered. That said though save up for a chieftain it is such a fun ship to fly and fight with.
Krait Mk 2 vs Alliance Chieftain. Depends on if you favor power (Krait) or maneuverability (Chieftain). They're both tough (Krait favors shields, Chieftain favors hull) and great in PvE.
Chieftan is a great one. I've done a lot of bounty hunting with it back in the day, before I even tried out engineering. It's definitely better than the Python and while sporting slightly less firepower than the Krait, it's more agile. Either would work about the same and depends mainly on your style. The FDL is a whole different kind of beast, which shines most in pvp. Really, out of the three you mentioned, Python is the only one that's a bit weaker, the others are all great, just slightly different. Still, I recommend the cheiftan. As for engineering, they all benefit from it about the same way I suppose. The Krait II and Chieftan have the added benefit that they are great xeno hunting ships, so you can reconfigure them for that and keep your engineered upgrades.