Obviously, you’ll want your pricey purchase to serve you well in the rough and tumble galaxy of Elite Dangerous, but figuring out which build to use requires a lot more trial and error time that could be better spent earning credits. Luckily, we’ve done the leg work for you and come up with the best Vulture loadouts for bounty hunting, PvP, and PvE right here, as well as usage tips. So let’s go through these one at a time.
Best Vulture Loadout for Bounty Hunting in Elite Dangerous
Hardpoints: 3E/G Pulse Laser 3E/G Pulse Laser Utility Mounts: OD Kill Warrent Scanner OI Chaff Launcher OA Shield Generator OA Shield Generator or Heat Sink Launcher Optional Internal Compartments: 5C Bi-Weave Shield Generator 4D Hull Reinforcement Package 2D Hull Reinforcement Package 1D Hull Reinforcement Package 1D Hull Reinforcement Package Core Internal Compartments: Military Grade Composite Bulkheads 4A Power Plant 5A Thrusters 4A Frame Shift Drive 3D Life Support 5A Power Distributor 4C Sensors 3C Fuel Tank
The strategy behind this bounty hunting build is to take down your target’s shields using the twin Pulse Lasers and finish them off by ramming them while your shields are still up (thanks to the additional shield generators). If you are a particularly trigger-happy player; however, you may be better served to swap out one of the OA Shield Generators for a Heat Sink Launcher just in case of overheating.
With this loadout, it is important to note that you will have an energy deficiency (a common problem with Vulture builds). The way to alleviate this problem is to shut off the Cargo Hatch entirely and drop the priority of the Frame Shift Drive while keeping Thrusters and Sensors at priority 1. If you decide to include a Fuel Scoop in your build to help with traveling longer distances, remember to shut that off in combat as well.
Best Vulture Loadout for PvP in Elite Dangerous
Hardpoints: 3B Plasma Accelerator or 3B Advanced Plasma Accelerator 3B Plasma Accelerator or 3B Advanced Plasma Accelerator Utility Mounts: OI Chaff Launcher OI Chaff Launcher OA Shield Booster OA Shield Booster Optional Internal Compartments: 5C Bi-Weave Shield Generator 5D Hull Reinforcement Package 4D Hull Reinforcement Package 1D Hull Reinforcement Package 2D Module Reinforcement Package 1D Frame Shift Drive Interdictor Core Internal Compartments: Military Grade Composite Bulkheads 4A Power Plant 5A Thrusters 4A Frame Shift Drive 3A Life Support 5A Power Distributor 4D Sensors 3C Fuel Tank
This is a solid all-around PvP build with high damage output. Though the 3B Plasma Accelerators will dish out plenty damage, the 3B Advanced Plasma Accelerators should be used if available, thanks to their higher potential damage output against larger ships. While the 5A Shield Generators are arguably better for PvP than the 5C Bi-Weave Shield, including them would cause a severe energy shortage that even excellent module priority control won’t be able to fix.
Just like with the bounty hunter build above, you’ll want to make sure you shutting off the Cargo Hatch and lowering the Frame Shift Drive’s priority in order to keep energy in your Thrusters and weapons. Additionally, if you have access to engineers, the weapons should be further modified to increase efficiency and thermal resistance should be added to the shield.
Best Vulture Loadout for PvE in Elite Dangerous
Hardpoints: 3B Plasma Accelerator or 3D/F Pulse Laser 3B Plasma Accelerator or 3C/G Multi Cannon Utility Mounts: OI Chaff Launcher Heat Sink Launcher or OI Chaff Launcher OI Point Defense OC Shield Booster Optional Internal Compartments: 5A Shield Generator 4B Shield Cell Bank 1D Hull Reinforcement Package 1E Basic Discovery Scanner 2A Fuel Scoop Core Internal Compartments: Lightweight Alloy Bulkheads 4A Power Plant 5B Thrusters 4A Frame Shift Drive 3C Life Support 5A Power Distributor 4C Sensors 3C Fuel Tank
You’ll notice that this PvE build drops the Military Grade Composite Bulkheads in favor of the more travel-friendly Lightweight Alloy, plus a Fuel Scoop to further serve that purpose. Like always, remember to keep the Cargo Hatch, Fuel Scoop, and Frame Shift Drive from taking up energy in combat.
As far as the weapons go, the choice between wielding dual 3B Plasma Accelerators or the Pulse Laser+Multi Cannon combo is dependent on if you prefer an all-out offense build or a more balanced one. Just be aware that if you utilize the Plasma Accelerator loadout you will need to drop one of the additional Chaff Launchers in favor of a Heat Sink Launcher to cope with the additional heat generated.
[Images courtesy of Elite Dangerous Wiki]
So now that you know how to build your Vulture, get out there and show the galaxy what you’re made of. If you have a different build that you like to use or think these loadouts can be improved in any way, let us all know in the comments below. And while you’re here, check out the rest of our Elite Dangerous guides for even more tips:
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