Hello! First time poster in this subreddit so I hope I'm not missing some help thread or something similar (didn't find any), but if I am, I apologise in advance.
I started my elite adventures in a Sidewinder, doing courier missions. From there I needed something with a bit more versatility so I went for the Adder. That is also the ship in which I tried my first assassination mission. It was a close call, but oh boy, did I get hooked on combat. First try, I attacked the target but he was in a wing and the wing mate destroyed me, I instantly paid insurance, went in again, and attacked the wing mate first this time, killed him and finished off the target. Got 50k for the mission, but the 50k I got for the bounty was lost, as I didn't know you have to cash it in before you die. Mistakes were made and lessons learned. And I realised my Adder needs an upgrade fast.
After that I was planning to buy a Cobra but in the end after all I read I bought a Diamondback scout, as it seemed more combat oriented and let's face it, while I see myself doing exploring, I don't think I'd ever make a very good trader. I'd kill for another internal slot, but oh well. I saved up enough to get it to D level gear and I started fighting a bit. I destroyed 2 before I got the hang of how it flies, but I'm loving it. Even when I can't kill something I can usually at least run away before I blow up. Tough little ship with decent firepower and pretty good manoeuvrability. I'm of course no expert pilot but I did scrape together enough cash to get it all to A rated (well 2 upgrades left, FSD and thrusters, which are still B), but even now, the difference between a D rated and a mostly A rated DBS is like night and day. This ship is amazing fun to fly and I don't plan to sell it no matter what (I was not emotionally attached to the Addeer ). If I replace it for combat eventually, I'll probably turn it into an explorer if that works out.
Where to go from here? I was thinking getting a Cobra anyway, as I kind of want to try mining as I want to transport some cargo for the current event. Probably doesn't make sense game wise, but it sounds fun. But that's going to set me back about 2 mil or so to get a decent mining cobra so it's not THAT big a deal.
Now I'm probably looking at Vulture. Does that make sense? I'm guessing I need the 20 mil for an A rated one as I'm guessing an A rated DBS could actually be better than a D rated Vulture? At least it seems that way looking at the numbers. While everyone says Vulture is great I can't seem to set it up in a build I like due to insanely limiting powerplant. How do you people build one? I'm thinking just skipping shield boosters entirely, going 2 large multi cannons, gimballed (yes I'm a bad shot ), A shields (seems such a waste to not boost them) and just add a shield cell bank. So that's my general plan for when I earn 20 mil (it's a tough little ship to outfit reasonably). On one side I could just stick to 4A thrusters, but that in a way defeats the purpose of even buying the Vulture, might as well stay in my Scout then? Or is it better with less thrust and more shields? Also I'm guessing going 5A on power distributor works wonders for boosting potential which it seems this ship really needs to chase down anything compared to the scout.
All things considered, am I thinking in the right direction? Should I skip Vulture and just save up for something bigger? Is the firepower difference from DBS to Vulture substantial? Is 2 Multis L, gimballed thinking along the right lines for the Vulture? I know 20 mil is pocket change for most of you guys, but I'd really appreciate some help with direction.
As a bonus question, how long does Lockdown last? I finally picked a base I really like and lockdown happens.
TLDR: Bought DBS for Bountyhunting, loving it, keeping it for travel, but thinking on what to aim for next, is Vulture a significant upgrade?