The Drop ship is a what I like to call a lore ship, in the lore the drop ship was used as an armoured parasite craft for the Federal Battle Cruisers and carriers, it delivered Federal Marines and equipment right into the middle of enemy cities or behind enemy formations. it was cheap, extremely heavily armored and capable of surviving critical systems damage, it was also heavily armed to provide ground forces with close air support, it was never intended to be a proper fighter nor anything close, it was only ever meant to fight other space or air forces under the most dire of situations and was suposed to be protected by federal SLFs Vipers, and vultures. sadly this resulted in enemy Fighters hunting the large lumbering ships, as a result the federation created the assault ship, It was a "wolf in sheep's clothing" much like when the an ancient U.S. Started to hide Top gun Phantoms alongside it's Phantom bombers to give the northvietnamese Migs a nasty surprise the federation started to seed every single Dropship wing with at least a few assault ships, the assault ship was incapable of Transporting troops and carried somewhat slightly more anemic fire power but in exchange it became a true escort heavy fighter. unlike it's lumbering sisters this was not an easy kill, quite the opposite the damned thing was frighteningly agile and with its absurd armament and ridiculously thick armor it quickly and righteously became the terror of the battlefield and the envy of the empire.
Indeed. Though I would say it was once a good choice - The dropship was my first choice as a medium ship, because at the time it was the only choice in cheap firepower - even went smuggling and trading in it and the Gunship - despite the lack of jump range (though back then everything lacked jumprange by todays standards) it does the role very well as they are so damn agile in SC you won't get interdicted unless you want to be.. I never regretted it, still one of my favorite ships as it can do a bit of anything even without rejigging the internals repeatably. (though at the time the FAS and Keelback didn't exist, and now i'd say the Keelback is top of the cheap do anything ships (as it can jump) and FAS is better than even the gunship really for combat (though I love the gunship more)) For me with the many new ships and the FAS in particular the dropship either needed a bigger FSD so suddenly it becomes more worthwhile being a somewhat capable combat ship with jump range. Or needed to get a huge chunk cheaper so that you might actually consider saving a bit longer for a dropship rather than buying a Keelback/Vulture (depending on your preferred activities and then quickly earning your way past it into the more potent end of the medium spectrum.) I do personally like the way it looks - it looks like a highly functional, and armored atmosphere capable craft. With a cockpit striking a good balance between visibility and exposure to fire. The pretty curves and designs of other ships are nice too. But there is nothing wrong with the brutalist practical styling.
I do kinda see where you’re coming from. The dropship was probably primarily meant as an armored troop transport, but isn’t too bad in fights either. It’s no FDL, but it has the advantage of a strong hull and very protected modules (despite what the video tells you). It’s also surprisingly agile once you learn to use the drift to your advantage, and learn a tiny bit of FA-off. It’s not as agile as a chieftain or FAS, but it is far more nimble than a gunship or a python. The amount of firepower is also very good for a ship that isn’t combat dedicated.
@@foldionepapyrus3441 the dropship did have a major price cut in the 1.4 update that added FAS and Gunship. Before that, the Dropship was locked behind the 7th rank in fed navy, and was at a 37M price tag. It was still a decent option at that time, being brought to rank 3 and 14M made this ship very very cheap
@@matthieuzglurg6015 I got mine well before the FAS and Gunship existed. Don't remember it being that expensive think it was still under 20Mill for the base hull. Back then however there were few other choices in firepower at a lower budget than the FDL/Python or 'conda, so even 40 for the base hull doesn't scream rip-off. About the only rival in firepower to the Dropship being the Vulture, which pre-engineering was very hard to max out on its runt of a powersupply, and only had two weapon slots so limited thermal/kinetic mixing options (but they are cheaper).
I figured its sole purpose is to take part in ground assaults [which don't happen], to carry multiple SRV hangars [which it can], and drop off a large number [which it can't] of Combat SRVs [which we don't have] to support space-legged ground troops [that we also do not have] to mop up the remains of an air-attacked planetary base [which we cannot do either, since they're indestructable]. I also figure it was the prototype for the FAS and FGS that Core Dynamics decided to put on sale because the unwashed masses [us] will buy just about anything. I bought one, but only because it's a DROP ship, apples drop and I wanted to call it the "Isaac Newton"
Interesting how we new got combat SRVs data mined, troop transports in the works, and the ability to launch multiple SRVs coming with Odyssey. Dropship might finally live up to it's expectations.
The drop ship is exactly what it is. As a military vessel it used to insert marines for QRF. We don't have that. So it is built for SRV insertions into hot zones. Which it does better than any other ship out. The weapons are used to clear out hostile surface targets before "Drop". I have tried all other ships for this and the drop ship is the only one to it well. Also the looks I was in the military. we don't have great looking stuff. this is a ship I can tell was built for the Military. And I love it!
@@ThePandoraGuy don't worry to much about shield put as much armor as possible also load up on point defense system. a rate you engines then engineer them with clean engines. Helps with low speed stability. Next get you some sensors the wide angle engineering. Lastly get repair module and repair limpets.
If I were a child in the federation I'd *definitely* have a poster of the Federal Dropship on my wall. Aesthetically it's one of my favorite ships in the game; to me there's beauty in its rugged function-over-form design. And as far as what it's good at, I've heard it makes a surprisingly capable Thargoid killer. It's got enough hardpoints (and well-placed ones at that) to carry all the weapons you'll want for such an endeavor. Moreover, the relatively large number of internal slots means you can stack Guardian hull and module reinforcements while still having room for repair and decon limpets and AFMU's.
I think it's a victim of its place in the lore - as a super-durable transport with some amount of firepower, it's exactly the type of ship the Federation would have started off with, and even though it's been superseded by the Gunship and the Assault Ship for actual transport in hot zones or CAS and patrol, they kept a bunch of Dropships around because they're cheap, easy to maintain, and already had a bunch on hand. They use them for routine travel, or maybe in massed fleets to ferry supplies and people in disputed systems - even if you do attack the supply line, by the time you chew through the armor on one Dropship, the other hundred have killed you, and that is assuming you break through the CAP of Gunships and fighters to begin with. I can definitely see where it has its place in the Federation's military. But, for us? For independent pilots? We have so many other options for all its functions; if you really need a medium-sized combat ship, the Assault Ship and Chieftain are only ~5-million credits more. And the Asps and T-6/Keelback are all much cheaper, and cover medium-sized exploration, and cargo, and passengers, and mining. And since the Federation seems reluctant to sell it to us, (maybe because they don't want to dismantle their huge supply infrastructure, and have to replace them with more expensive variants?) there isn't much reason for us to buy this over something else. Unless, of course, you want to, and really love it. That's reason enough to do anything in Elite. Fun first, function second!
Totally agreed. Except they keep making them... Retire the design, stop manufacturing at Fed plants, and let everyone sell their back stock. When it's a collector's item...I might change my opinion.
I think sometimes we have to remember that Frontier have given us a fairly realistic galaxy. There is good and there is bad and there is something in between. If all the ships were equal, or all the combat ships were equal, or all the exploration ships were equal, we would all be complaining. A realistic game should give us stuff that is not so good or even bad as well as the great.... It’s part of the game play. Some players will automatically gravitate towards the best in class, and that’s there choice.. Others enjoy taking a ship that is almost useless and achieving something with it. I guarantee you will get more player satisfaction if you do... This game needs the Dropship and the Asp Scout as much as the Anaconda/FDL club... So I salute all you players who take there Dropships to Beagle and destroy Thargoids in a Hauler... o7
I think a realistic approach would've been a manufacturer taking it off the market after they made a better version, no? But I also have no issue with some stations still selling it to get rid of their back stock. A finite supply of these wouldn't make them any better...but would make them a lot more fun to collect.
Serendipity is definitely a big part of creativity. If all you can afford is an FDS, then you'll find ways of doing things you would not have bothered with finding out if you could get, say, a Python.
You too can collect a full set from your local federation shipyard or trade with other commanders! The all new federal navy trading cards, you can't tell them apart!
The only good use I have found for the dropship is to take the dropship name to heart and build it as a dedicated planetary mission ship. It has a decent mix hardpoints, toughness and optional slots to act as a short-ranged armored SRV delivery ship that can flatten planetary base defenses (high capacity dumbfire missiles in 2-4 med slots, packhounds in the rest, long range beam in the large - dumbfires are absurdly good for pasting ground targets). It's got roomier optional slots and is cheaper than the gunship so it can easily haul whatever more SRVs, reinforcement modules, fuel tanks or scoops or an fsd booster. Yeah, a python can do the job better but it's more expensive and kind of overkill. It's a really niche job but at least the dropship is competent at it.
I think the game developers forgot this ship existed. I remember my first ground battle left me confused when the vulture dropped me off. They literally built a ship for this and didnt use it
When credits were something that were hard to get, the FDS was a great early multi-role. I used one for quite a while until I was finally able to afford my Python!
who is the Dropship for? Well, many players. This is the most versatile ship between the ASP and the Python. It has all the features you would want on a Python... for roughly half the price (fully equipped, the lowest price tag is actually more than 4 times lower). I bought a dropship years ago, to replace my aging Cobra mk III. And i gotta say, it's been years now. I got the Python, the FDL, the FAS, the Vette, the Conda... no one got me as the dropship have. Fully equipped i was taking this old boy into PvP sessions, Bounty hunting in Hazardous zones... If we get PvP out of the way, I got killed only once in a Dropship, and that was during a capital ship raid. It has lots of arguments : it is faster and more agile than the gunship, it does have more hardpoints and firepower than the Assault ship, and out of all the "Feds" (excluding the Corvette that is a whole other class of ship) it is the heaviliest armored, and the one that can carry the most cargo. (and really, going from the dropship to the gunship is not that big of an upgrade to me : Fed Gunship is twice as expensive, and for what? less armor, less speed, less versatility, roughly equal firepower (no, two class 1 hardpoints don't do much), and, yeah, a fighter bay. Not that big of a deal if I'm being honest. Especially when there's the alliance crusader and Krait Mk II flying around) I'll admit it, the Dropship is not the ship made for everyone. It has lots of inertia, and piloting can sometimes be a bit tricky, and the ship doesn't respond to your commands right away (like a Vulture or FAS would do), but I think that is what makes its charm. I never enjoyed more a ship than this one. It is like the demanding piloting of a big frigate like the Conda, but with the speed and turnrate you'd have on a medium ship like the python. I absolutely love it and it's been my main ship for years now. Its only drawback you'll face right away, its limited jumprange. Luckily, we have engineers to fix that. The dropship isn't the "easy to learn, hard to master" type of ship, like the Python, the Krait are. It is more like "hard to learn, and harder to master", but boy, when you know how to fly it you're having such a blast In conclusion, i'll say this : there is no bad ships. There is only bad pilots.
Sorry for late response but im curious how you equipped it. I buyed it too today ( i have a Python but its not fully equipped yet. I have to get more money ) and dont have engineer stuff yet. And the Dropship has just very nice looks imo. I equipped it as a passenger ship now ( cause thats the most near to a "drop ship" ) Maybe is just the roleplay part for me that does it. Definitly want to fly in a damaged space station and evac people with it.
I am that Federation child with a poster of a Dropship on my wall, but I would agree its makes no sense. I have not one, but two fully engineered dropships but its performance leaves much to be desired. I just love they way it looks and its brutal core dynamics design, combined with those inverse winglets, but for now it seems it'll have to decorate my hangar. "Makes no sense" is the headline of Ellite's design document. And this ship, together with Asp Scout and T7 show it very clearly.
"And chances are, neither do you" Well, thats where you're wrong. I really like this ship. At first this thing was ugly as heck, but after some research I realized that since the alliance ships are named after tanks and the imperials after old boats, the federal ships are actually NAMED AFTER HELICOPTERS. Then suddenly the dropship's looks and purposes made sense. (even the backwards wings) A dropship is a large helicopter that is meant to carry troops into a battlefield. While the federal ships were ugly to me at first, and their purposes unknown. I grew to love the looks of this ship, it being so industrial looking. While its true purpose is not really something that we can EVEN DO IN GAME. I still like to use it as a armed trader and is great for srv missions, because it can tank anything that the base can throw at me.
Great video. I love my brick though. It should really come into it's own when we get atmospheric flight. Then it'll be able to tank the anti aircraft fire and deliver troops while providing cover. As it stands, you're right.. But I still love my iron boxing glove. It's a great battering ram.
My thoughts axactly. With those large wings, it should shine in atmospheric flight. But knowing how disconnected Frontier is from their own game, I think they will mess this one up... again. (I'd like to eat my own words, though, Frontier... * wink-wink - nudge-nudge * ...)
4:15 -- RE: "... but the only reason you buy a base model is..." -- *DUH!* Because Standard Transmission might be cheapest that way? Let's also mention, Base Model doesn't have any power assists, which can only go wrong, and doesn't have an expensive satellite radio / cellular phone hookup.
RE: Dropship/FAS/Gunship; all three owe a huge debt in their visual design to the Vulture. They're not shipping containers; they're bloated Vultures. Gunship is easily the best of the three, but its pointless to put a cargo hold or a planetary vehicle hangar in one.
I do definitely have a soft spot for this ship. Its the first one I felt like I earnt, and I did enjoy using it as miner when I started out. But now it just sits in my hanger, full of weapons I've run out of storage for, waiting and hoping for the day it actually gets to be a dropship ...
The Dropship's name makes sense only if you have space legs. A ship that drops troops on the battlefield . This makes the dropship completely irrelevant to a game that does not cater gameplay that has first person shooters dropping out of this ship!
Damn, FDev really needs to bring more ships to the game ASAP. Not because we need anymore ships, but because i don't want you to run out of ships to make videos about. Loving it, liked as always!
The drop ship deserves more love than that. It's actually pretty decent, but of course if comparing against other ships from other manufacturers it'll be outshined.
If there weren't a balancing issue, I might agree. But a comment down below is from a guy who started playing three days ago, has a Cutter, and was wondering about starting the Fed grind to get this ship in particular. Yes, there's larger systemic issues here. But I gotta deal with what I've been dealt. In current context...there's no reason to fly this thing.
@@ThePilot_ I'm not disagreeing, I was only slightly disappointed. It just felt like a dump on the drop ship, not what I'm used to watching your vids. I like how you separated the playlists by manufacturer.
@@ThePilot_ I think the separated lists are fine and can certainly be useful, but could I request an additional playlist with all the ships again? I used to put your combined playlist on a secondary monitor while I played. Your videos are great as something entertaining that I don't have to focus completely on. While I could still do that, I'd have to click out and change playlists. If you're not interested in going backwards that's fine, I'll just click out but it would be more convenient not to. Thanks.
Exactly, with all gun mounts situated underbelly it makes a nice convergence point for dumbfire missiles. Thats pretty much the only purpose of this ship, ground assault and settlement infiltration missions. Its small and nimble enough to not even have to jump in the SRV to scan the data point, just do it from the ship.
Hey pilot(s), I think you look at this ship from above, i mean with the point of view from a better ship like the python. If you come from the viper for exemple, it is a great step forward, as this one has the second biggest cargo of the medium ships able to land on outposts. I used this ship as armored transport until i was able to buy the python and enjoyed it a lot. Anyway, to each his tastes, great video, thanks.
I tried not to. I even tried pretending like credits were an issue. But the difference between 17m and 19m is pretty negligible. Even doing just missions. And there's no way I couldn't recommend the Chieftain instead. Even if you wanted to strictly rank grind, or roleplay as a Fed in the Navy...I'd still fly the Chief.
@@ThePilot_ Well, the dropship has 50 % more cargo than the chieftain. And if you roleplay with a chieftain, you are an alliance captain ^^. Oh, and the prices are 14.31 M and 18.99 M. That is 4.68 M difference in favor of the dropship, 33 % is not negligible 😉
The Dropship is a hidden gem in AX combat. It can fit 4 S2 Guardian Gauss Cannon and a flak launcher, moreover the layout of internal modules is brilliant for AX fitting. She is not the best mid size AX ship but still surprisingly powerfull in AX battle.(even better than some "dedicated thargoid hunter")
After 2 years I've finally found it, something the dropship does better than any other. Its the best damn pvp meme ship I've ever flown lmao. It attracts trouble like a magnet and has everyone involved laughing the entire time.
Well... the Federal Dropship, like the other Federal ships, is a NAVY vessel. You don't put a civilian pilot in command of a military vessel. Now, the Dropship is not intended as a combat vessel. She's a support ship, transporting goods, offering supporting fire and so on. For combat, you want the Assault and Gunships. For my part, I rather like the Dropship. I spent 3 years out in the deep black exploring in one (in fact, just returned to the bubble this week). Sure, the jump range isn't long, but you're exploring... you're going to be stopping a lot to scan systems ANYWAY. So, I liked my Dropship. Are there better ships? Sure, but it's not as bad as all that.
This ship actually makes for a good combat trader if she's spec'd out right. Traded in my Type-7 for this to mix things up between cargo runs and combat missions.
I have a Federal Dropship and I find it great: bounty hunting, piracy and the most difficult conflict zones without changing a single module. And this with a 64-ton cargo rack. Afms, repair, collector and hatch breaker limpet in one build, with never-ending armor. The Federal Dropship can fly for days! Federal Dropship is a credit factory and personally I also like it aesthetically.
I adore this ship. I think of it as more a Huey, dropping troops into battle, as far as lore is concerned. Anyway, it is surprisingly maneuverable at low speeds and sounds beautiful when accelerating/decelerating. Upgraded and engineered, it is a fun bounty hunter and adds to the diversity of combat... because I like to fly different ships now and then.
I only use it for mining at the Icebox. I keep it in Neto, and use FC taxis religiously. It has a decent cargo cap, and has good hardpoints, so I can mine and have some self defence.
I’m an idiot who has yet to even bother with outside the bubble, but with playing recently on my personal quest for another Mamba after a long break (never fly without a re-buy) The federal dropship does have no real place with all its costs and restrictions, but it was also an amazing breadwinner for me. Armed to the teeth with seakers, anything that stopped me was just more change in my pocket for bounties as I just transported cargo back and forth. Blazed through four ranks and earned +50m in just a few hours of flying and fighting, practicing and struggling. With flying, on target, fuel, jump calculations and learning my lessons… This ship, is the ship you buy to train yourself. To learn how to control a difficult ship and not actually destroy a precious one. This ship is the mistake we all need to make and learn from. It’s a teacher.
The dropship existed in the game for a very long time before the Assault Ship and Gunship were added, back when the only thing vaguely combat oriented in between the Cobra and Python was the Dropship and Clipper. It is long overdue for a re-balance if you ask me.
Now the carriers are coming out, the Hauler, type-6 and Dropship can possibly finally be what they were designed to be: Sublight cargo and passenger haulers that solely are used to shuttle stuff from a megaship to a station or outpost. Jump range suddenly becomes irrelevant because you've got a megaship's super-hyperdrive to handle that stuff. Lack of combat capability is suddenly meaningless as you have a half-dozen Eagle-IIs racked up on board and ready to provide organic escort, if needed. Basically, the Dropship is a ship that hit the civilian pilot's market BEFORE the mothership that actually gave it a point to exist.
The FDS is my BGS mission runner. Prismatics, 64 tons of cargo space and fully engineered. Capable of running missions wherever and surviving. Workhorse for me.
Back when I first got this, as I was fixated on getting the assault ship a few years back, I used this for bounty hunting about 4 years ago and did quite well out of it, at least learning at lot of lessons before moving on. Sadly I have no real use for it, I recently repurchased one just to own it, but frankly see little point as it's doesn't succeed in any role.
All your points are spot on... but it is still the first restricted ship I got back when I started playing Elite years ago, long before the Alliance ships, and while an Asp E probably would have made more sense for me back then, I made this thing do everything anyways. Still have it in my shipyard.
I use the ship as a salvager. Its easy enough to get a decent level of cargo space and limpet controllers for it to be pretty good for going into high grade emissions. You dont need a large jumprange to make it work for that.
You know, it makes a surprisingly good medic/support ship. The 4 turreted 2c gimbeled beams and the 3c beams with shield restoring. The 5a repair limpets all that. I know it's not efficient buuttt It be fun
In my opinion the dropship is by far the best looking of the three (especially the gunship). So I was a little disappointed that it doesn't have a good reputation. However, I decided to try her out anyway, not as a fighter or miner, but as my errand ship. After some upgrades and minimal engineering, I've gotten roughly 40 ly of range out of her while keeping the SRVs. Now I save my Anaconda for deep space exploration and my Krait Mk II for other missions and put the wear and tear of courier missions, in-bubble road to riches, trips out to Dav's Hope, etc on my dropship. Because I like how it looks, and I like how the cockpit looks. And that's enough for me.
a bit late, but i like the Dropship. but FDEV could make it more appealing. just by increasing its hull hardness from "civilian" to "military" like the FDLs Armor is above its class. adding at least one more utility slot on the topside would increase its value as hulltank too - for another point defense. btw, Rinsler would have been a better Pilot for it ;)
3:17 Because only a very experienced pilot can fly around in that brick without getting themselves killed. It's for insurance purposes, making sure you can account for the ship's limitations.
Now, I fully agree that these should not be locked behind the ranks. They are a bunch of medium ships otherwise sorely lacking in the lineup. I love the design, something straight out of Aliens or Warhammer. Painted my FAS vibrant blue and named it Ultramarine One. However; once you're already grinding through the ranks these aren't so hard to get to. Early ranks are easy. Dropship specifically makes a decent cargo hauler, for faction delivery missions which never send you more than 30 Ly away. Way better than the early transport ships and way meaner. Until you save up for a Python, this is a good option. Cockpit is excellent, that frame reminds me of Mandalorian helmets. So overall, it's one of those easy come, easy go ships. Once you have better ship you will sell it and never look back but as I said, it fills an otherwise large gap.
The assault ship is the really good music you listen to. The gunship is the guilty pleasures. This is the music that is in the ads before you listen to either of those.
I don't play this game anymore but when I did after looking more in depth at the faction ships I defected to the Federation for their ships. Never thought a brick looked so good
@@skeezixcodejedi I didn't plan to, really. I just went to test it out by visiting the nearby nebulas - when I suddenly realised, that I could get to Colonia in a decent amount of time. Saggitarius then was simply obligatory.
This is the funniest vid you've put out yet! I laughed out loud twice. I agree with your assessment with one exception. I think you don't give it enough credit as a relatively inexpensive, capable miner. That's what I use mine for, and I can get over 20 LY even with 96 tons of cargo. My only complaint is that it's one slot short of being ideal. I need to either run shieldless, reduce the number of collector limpets I can run concurrently, or swap between the fuel scoop and some piece of mining gear (usually prospector controller). It's an ungainly thing, but a solid workhorse.
Yep the dropship or dropshit as a lot players seem to call it is just typical of Elite ships. I sometimes wonder if Fdev had made ships more purpose specific there would be a far less need for engineering which seems to have more of a grind enforcer than anything else. Another great video.
I'm trying to set one up as a ground-attack dropship for Odyssey missions. Multicannon in the large slot, and four missile racks in the mediums. Look, mom, I'm a Cobra gunship and it's 1969 over Vietnam!
I love my dropship. I've out-fought FDLs and Anacondas in it. Use it for pirate-hunting missions. Cargo hauling I've actually been trying to find a 3d print of it.
I use it for what it's name states. Dropping me and my SRV to planetary surfaces so I can do surface missions. My cannon MKII does all my space fighting.
This ship was for me. As probably the single best known/most dedicated dropship pvp pilot anyone can find in ED period. You're wrong. The canopy doesn't pop as badly as you say, the firepower matters more than you credit, and if you learned how to turn off flight assist you'd see just how insane the armor can be when the turning is a complete non-factor. I've beaten every other ship you'd recommend in a straight up fight. Sure the primary reason is that my dedication exceeds that of the average elite player, but at the end of the day that's really it though. If I'm more dedicated than you it doesn't matter what ship im in. But in MY ship you can't kill me. MY one-of-a-kind, still rocking legacy god rolls federal dropship is a special sauce that cannot be repeated. It is uncrackable
I mine low temp diamonds in mine.. great scruffy reliable rust bucket.. my favorite ship... pulse laser for delicate mining and breaking harder outer shields on ore chunks ... autocannons for fun while ore is still shielded and have some armore crust XD
Love the UNSC Camo on it though! You should get a corvette and make it into a faux UNSC Frigate. Huge railguns and lots of cannons with probably torps for the missile systems. It would look great blacked out with a big UNSC on the side.
A bit late but I got mine all set up for pure ground support and actual "drop-shipping" when Odyssey drops. Gatling and missiles for anti person and anti-srv combat, heavy as shit armor for hard drops and hot pick-ups. And naturally now that I've set it for how Odyssey is assumed to play out, its going to be completely different and I'll have wasted a lot of time perfectly crafting a dropship.
i had to pause the video after I learnt those things about my prom date 😂. There is use for the poor fds. planetary missions! has space for many srvs (I have 4), has cargo hold, lots of hp and good armour to survive even at high security installations. passenger missions work if you carry convicts and terrorists but there very few interesting missions like these
It's context. Before Lakon came out with the golden child of combat, this was the first design outside of the original ships released with the game. Their idea was simple: biggest hull tank ever, which also influenced its looks: simple and industrial. Of course, its low maneuverability and shields were its downfall. That's why they redesigned two more vessels out of it. I'm not saying its a great vessel, but if you ask "why does it even exist?" Well it did have a reason, albeit a poor one.
All three came out before the Alliance commissioned Lakon to build the Chief. And before it did, the Assault Ship was pretty much at the top of the heap for being more maneuverable while still dishing out decent punishment and being able to take a beating. I believe that it's like old school prospecting in your SRV looking for outcrops. No one does it any more, but what does it hurt to leave it there? ;)
Problem with the Dropship is that it's built for a niche that doesn't exist in-game. It's meant to ferry troops from capital ships to a planetside combat zone. Which is what all that armor is for, and why the jump range is so short. It wasn't meant to operate independently. I doubt we'll get to see this role come into play until atmospheric landings are a thing. So we can help carry troops to active planetary warzones.
I know I'm a noob to Elite Dangerous but this is similar to the 80s and current Military vehicles, like the Bradly Assault Vec. Was built to be a troop transport then added anti-infantry to it, anti-tank, made it airborne and a scout as well. This I"m guessin this was a transport for troops and/or supplies and stuff was added to it then it got bloated as well.
Didnt read up on the Hummer and the original requirements for it ,but since the federal dropship aint that good in most aspects its possible that it became a money pit in the R&D phase, thats why I brought up the Brad. Guess it time for more research on the hummer.
I think the biggest issue with the federal ships, aside from their appearance, is that they are slow, heavy, and don't offer much of anything you can't find elsewhere. Let's be honest, the only reason to get fed rank is for the Sol permit and the Federal Corvette. Unlike Empire rank, there's not a lot of benefit in the lower fed ranks besides visiting Earth.
As I ascended through the Federal ranks I did try the FDS, briefly. I would end up ditching it for a Lakon type 6 and running gofer mission and trading until I could afford the type 7 and ultimately the Fer-de-lance. The FDS actually made me worry that I was going to hate the Federal line of ships.
I didn’t mind it when I owned it, used it as a decent cargo hauler until I recouped the money I sank into my Krait mk II until I could afford a python to replace it.
I see the dropship not as a tank, made and outfited for combat, but as the name insinuates a transport, an armored transport, you get troops or supplies from a to b , and if you outfit it for combat , it is capable to a smal extent, not ment to be alone but to be in a pack, alone an armored transport wont stand up against a main abttle tank, but it will stand up to personel , in this case, small ships shuch a s the egle, viper, cobra, but its main roll being a defence capable ship that is able to transport some cargo to some stratigical position, and i realy hope you can drop troops from ships in oddessy so it lives up to its name
I just realised something, this is the space equivalent of the military humvee. The humvee is designed and built for the military in mind. In that regards, it does its job well. However, if you put it up against civilian vehicles in a civilian setting, it falls short in just about every metric. Even that being the case, there is a small group of humvee enthusiasts who would buy them over everything else. Why? Because the humvee invokes an image of the military's tough, go anywhere, do anything mentality. The FDS is the same way. The kid who has a poster of this ship in their wall is probably going to enlist in the Federal Navy. This ship is for the independent commanders who were discharged from the Federal Navy, but still long for the days in the Navy. Also, there are commanders who would buy this ship just because it's the Federal Navy's multirole ship.
I am looking forward to hear what you have to say regard the Assault Ship. Personally it is surprisingly close in performance to an enlarged Vulture in firepower and agility while having the exact right combination of speed and absurd hull mass to be one of if not the best rammer in the game. It has very flawed defense though, with weak shield and vulnerable modules.
![The Type 9 Heavy [Elite Dangerous] | The Pilot Reviews](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/GTflMKCtOak/mqdefault.jpg)
![The Type 9 Heavy [Elite Dangerous] | The Pilot Reviews](/img/tr.png)
![The Federal Assault Ship [Elite Dangerous] | The Pilot Reviews](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/eD-ZX63ryk8/mqdefault.jpg)
![The Sidewinder [Elite Dangerous] | The Pilot Reviews](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/us8Py8q9LPY/mqdefault.jpg)
![The Cobra Mk4 [Elite Dangerous] | The Pilot Reviews](/img/n.gif)
The Drop ship is a what I like to call a lore ship, in the lore the drop ship was used as an armoured parasite craft for the Federal Battle Cruisers and carriers, it delivered Federal Marines and equipment right into the middle of enemy cities or behind enemy formations.
it was cheap, extremely heavily armored and capable of surviving critical systems damage, it was also heavily armed to provide ground forces with close air support, it was never intended to be a proper fighter nor anything close, it was only ever meant to fight other space or air forces under the most dire of situations and was suposed to be protected by federal SLFs Vipers, and vultures.
sadly this resulted in enemy Fighters hunting the large lumbering ships, as a result the federation created the assault ship, It was a "wolf in sheep's clothing" much like when the an ancient U.S. Started to hide Top gun Phantoms alongside it's Phantom bombers to give the northvietnamese Migs a nasty surprise the federation started to seed every single Dropship wing with at least a few assault ships, the assault ship was incapable of Transporting troops and carried somewhat slightly more anemic fire power but in exchange it became a true escort heavy fighter.
unlike it's lumbering sisters this was not an easy kill, quite the opposite the damned thing was frighteningly agile and with its absurd armament and ridiculously thick armor it quickly and righteously became the terror of the battlefield and the envy of the empire.
That sounds awesome.
And I would absolutely change my opinion if we could do any of that.
Indeed. Though I would say it was once a good choice - The dropship was my first choice as a medium ship, because at the time it was the only choice in cheap firepower - even went smuggling and trading in it and the Gunship - despite the lack of jump range (though back then everything lacked jumprange by todays standards) it does the role very well as they are so damn agile in SC you won't get interdicted unless you want to be.. I never regretted it, still one of my favorite ships as it can do a bit of anything even without rejigging the internals repeatably. (though at the time the FAS and Keelback didn't exist, and now i'd say the Keelback is top of the cheap do anything ships (as it can jump) and FAS is better than even the gunship really for combat (though I love the gunship more))
For me with the many new ships and the FAS in particular the dropship either needed a bigger FSD so suddenly it becomes more worthwhile being a somewhat capable combat ship with jump range. Or needed to get a huge chunk cheaper so that you might actually consider saving a bit longer for a dropship rather than buying a Keelback/Vulture (depending on your preferred activities and then quickly earning your way past it into the more potent end of the medium spectrum.)
I do personally like the way it looks - it looks like a highly functional, and armored atmosphere capable craft. With a cockpit striking a good balance between visibility and exposure to fire. The pretty curves and designs of other ships are nice too. But there is nothing wrong with the brutalist practical styling.
I do kinda see where you’re coming from. The dropship was probably primarily meant as an armored troop transport, but isn’t too bad in fights either. It’s no FDL, but it has the advantage of a strong hull and very protected modules (despite what the video tells you). It’s also surprisingly agile once you learn to use the drift to your advantage, and learn a tiny bit of FA-off. It’s not as agile as a chieftain or FAS, but it is far more nimble than a gunship or a python. The amount of firepower is also very good for a ship that isn’t combat dedicated.
@@foldionepapyrus3441 the dropship did have a major price cut in the 1.4 update that added FAS and Gunship. Before that, the Dropship was locked behind the 7th rank in fed navy, and was at a 37M price tag. It was still a decent option at that time, being brought to rank 3 and 14M made this ship very very cheap
@@matthieuzglurg6015 I got mine well before the FAS and Gunship existed. Don't remember it being that expensive think it was still under 20Mill for the base hull. Back then however there were few other choices in firepower at a lower budget than the FDL/Python or 'conda, so even 40 for the base hull doesn't scream rip-off. About the only rival in firepower to the Dropship being the Vulture, which pre-engineering was very hard to max out on its runt of a powersupply, and only had two weapon slots so limited thermal/kinetic mixing options (but they are cheaper).
I figured its sole purpose is to take part in ground assaults [which don't happen], to carry multiple SRV hangars [which it can], and drop off a large number [which it can't] of Combat SRVs [which we don't have] to support space-legged ground troops [that we also do not have] to mop up the remains of an air-attacked planetary base [which we cannot do either, since they're indestructable].
I also figure it was the prototype for the FAS and FGS that Core Dynamics decided to put on sale because the unwashed masses [us] will buy just about anything.
I bought one, but only because it's a DROP ship, apples drop and I wanted to call it the "Isaac Newton"
Bingo
I have 8 SRVs in my dropship.
Hey so I have some news about this whole "ground assault" thing
Interesting how we new got combat SRVs data mined, troop transports in the works, and the ability to launch multiple SRVs coming with Odyssey. Dropship might finally live up to it's expectations.
@Hatwox LOL :D
The drop ship is exactly what it is. As a military vessel it used to insert marines for QRF. We don't have that. So it is built for SRV insertions into hot zones. Which it does better than any other ship out. The weapons are used to clear out hostile surface targets before "Drop". I have tried all other ships for this and the drop ship is the only one to it well. Also the looks I was in the military. we don't have great looking stuff. this is a ship I can tell was built for the Military. And I love it!
Any advice for what ship weapons to use against infantry?
@@ThePandoraGuy unguided missiles and a machine gun. Perfect set up.
@@timesthree5757 Copy that. It's time to make it rain.
@@ThePandoraGuy don't worry to much about shield put as much armor as possible also load up on point defense system. a rate you engines then engineer them with clean engines. Helps with low speed stability. Next get you some sensors the wide angle engineering. Lastly get repair module and repair limpets.
@@timesthree5757 All that for pounding infantry on the ground?
If I were a child in the federation I'd *definitely* have a poster of the Federal Dropship on my wall. Aesthetically it's one of my favorite ships in the game; to me there's beauty in its rugged function-over-form design.
And as far as what it's good at, I've heard it makes a surprisingly capable Thargoid killer. It's got enough hardpoints (and well-placed ones at that) to carry all the weapons you'll want for such an endeavor. Moreover, the relatively large number of internal slots means you can stack Guardian hull and module reinforcements while still having room for repair and decon limpets and AFMU's.
The Pilot: "nothing about this makes sense!"
welcome to frontier developments.
I think it's a victim of its place in the lore - as a super-durable transport with some amount of firepower, it's exactly the type of ship the Federation would have started off with, and even though it's been superseded by the Gunship and the Assault Ship for actual transport in hot zones or CAS and patrol, they kept a bunch of Dropships around because they're cheap, easy to maintain, and already had a bunch on hand. They use them for routine travel, or maybe in massed fleets to ferry supplies and people in disputed systems - even if you do attack the supply line, by the time you chew through the armor on one Dropship, the other hundred have killed you, and that is assuming you break through the CAP of Gunships and fighters to begin with. I can definitely see where it has its place in the Federation's military.
But, for us? For independent pilots? We have so many other options for all its functions; if you really need a medium-sized combat ship, the Assault Ship and Chieftain are only ~5-million credits more. And the Asps and T-6/Keelback are all much cheaper, and cover medium-sized exploration, and cargo, and passengers, and mining.
And since the Federation seems reluctant to sell it to us, (maybe because they don't want to dismantle their huge supply infrastructure, and have to replace them with more expensive variants?) there isn't much reason for us to buy this over something else.
Unless, of course, you want to, and really love it. That's reason enough to do anything in Elite. Fun first, function second!
Totally agreed.
Except they keep making them...
Retire the design, stop manufacturing at Fed plants, and let everyone sell their back stock. When it's a collector's item...I might change my opinion.
@@ThePilot_ But does a Volvo Estate ever become collectible?
@@boiledelephant Well, the market for retired Humvees isn't a bad one. They sell well and are instantly recognizable.
I think sometimes we have to remember that Frontier have given us a fairly realistic galaxy. There is good and there is bad and there is something in between. If all the ships were equal, or all the combat ships were equal, or all the exploration ships were equal, we would all be complaining. A realistic game should give us stuff that is not so good or even bad as well as the great.... It’s part of the game play. Some players will automatically gravitate towards the best in class, and that’s there choice.. Others enjoy taking a ship that is almost useless and achieving something with it. I guarantee you will get more player satisfaction if you do... This game needs the Dropship and the Asp Scout as much as the Anaconda/FDL club... So I salute all you players who take there Dropships to Beagle and destroy Thargoids in a Hauler... o7
I think a realistic approach would've been a manufacturer taking it off the market after they made a better version, no? But I also have no issue with some stations still selling it to get rid of their back stock. A finite supply of these wouldn't make them any better...but would make them a lot more fun to collect.
Serendipity is definitely a big part of creativity. If all you can afford is an FDS, then you'll find ways of doing things you would not have bothered with finding out if you could get, say, a Python.
Crash Test I dont want all ships to be equal, i want them to be sidegrades.
You too can collect a full set from your local federation shipyard or trade with other commanders! The all new federal navy trading cards, you can't tell them apart!
Flash forwards to the release of Odyssey and find out it’s an actual “Drop Ship”
And does the same job as my sidewinder mk1 lmao
Lol turns out vultures are the go-to dropship
Nope they chose the Adder
I use one as my multi purpose ground pounder, rescue, settlement raider.
I love the Dropship.
Every time I see an NPC pirate in one, I'm like "ooh, free money".
The only good use I have found for the dropship is to take the dropship name to heart and build it as a dedicated planetary mission ship. It has a decent mix hardpoints, toughness and optional slots to act as a short-ranged armored SRV delivery ship that can flatten planetary base defenses (high capacity dumbfire missiles in 2-4 med slots, packhounds in the rest, long range beam in the large - dumbfires are absurdly good for pasting ground targets). It's got roomier optional slots and is cheaper than the gunship so it can easily haul whatever more SRVs, reinforcement modules, fuel tanks or scoops or an fsd booster. Yeah, a python can do the job better but it's more expensive and kind of overkill. It's a really niche job but at least the dropship is competent at it.
I think the game developers forgot this ship existed. I remember my first ground battle left me confused when the vulture dropped me off. They literally built a ship for this and didnt use it
I use my Federal Dropship as a dedicated mining vessel. It does it's job alright. I called it "Not Minecraft".
Same. It's my core miner
Same same. And I like it pretty well for the task. I just load the haul into a type 6 for the actual delivery to market.
I typed in fed dropship on UA-cam, just to find out if it was good for mining
...you know I hadn't considered this but you may be on to something
Or a trader
When credits were something that were hard to get, the FDS was a great early multi-role. I used one for quite a while until I was finally able to afford my Python!
I think it needs an FSD upgrade. This would make the dropship a viable Federation utility ship - which we don't have
who is the Dropship for?
Well, many players. This is the most versatile ship between the ASP and the Python. It has all the features you would want on a Python... for roughly half the price (fully equipped, the lowest price tag is actually more than 4 times lower).
I bought a dropship years ago, to replace my aging Cobra mk III.
And i gotta say, it's been years now. I got the Python, the FDL, the FAS, the Vette, the Conda... no one got me as the dropship have. Fully equipped i was taking this old boy into PvP sessions, Bounty hunting in Hazardous zones... If we get PvP out of the way, I got killed only once in a Dropship, and that was during a capital ship raid. It has lots of arguments : it is faster and more agile than the gunship, it does have more hardpoints and firepower than the Assault ship, and out of all the "Feds" (excluding the Corvette that is a whole other class of ship) it is the heaviliest armored, and the one that can carry the most cargo. (and really, going from the dropship to the gunship is not that big of an upgrade to me : Fed Gunship is twice as expensive, and for what? less armor, less speed, less versatility, roughly equal firepower (no, two class 1 hardpoints don't do much), and, yeah, a fighter bay. Not that big of a deal if I'm being honest. Especially when there's the alliance crusader and Krait Mk II flying around)
I'll admit it, the Dropship is not the ship made for everyone. It has lots of inertia, and piloting can sometimes be a bit tricky, and the ship doesn't respond to your commands right away (like a Vulture or FAS would do), but I think that is what makes its charm. I never enjoyed more a ship than this one. It is like the demanding piloting of a big frigate like the Conda, but with the speed and turnrate you'd have on a medium ship like the python. I absolutely love it and it's been my main ship for years now. Its only drawback you'll face right away, its limited jumprange. Luckily, we have engineers to fix that.
The dropship isn't the "easy to learn, hard to master" type of ship, like the Python, the Krait are. It is more like "hard to learn, and harder to master", but boy, when you know how to fly it you're having such a blast
In conclusion, i'll say this : there is no bad ships. There is only bad pilots.
Sorry for late response but im curious how you equipped it. I buyed it too today ( i have a Python but its not fully equipped yet. I have to get more money ) and dont have engineer stuff yet. And the Dropship has just very nice looks imo. I equipped it as a passenger ship now ( cause thats the most near to a "drop ship" ) Maybe is just the roleplay part for me that does it. Definitly want to fly in a damaged space station and evac people with it.
I am that Federation child with a poster of a Dropship on my wall, but I would agree its makes no sense. I have not one, but two fully engineered dropships but its performance leaves much to be desired. I just love they way it looks and its brutal core dynamics design, combined with those inverse winglets, but for now it seems it'll have to decorate my hangar.
"Makes no sense" is the headline of Ellite's design document. And this ship, together with Asp Scout and T7 show it very clearly.
Cursed brick
Type ten is the blessed brick
@@omba3633 🙏
"And chances are, neither do you"
Well, thats where you're wrong. I really like this ship.
At first this thing was ugly as heck, but after some research I realized that since the alliance ships are named after tanks and the imperials after old boats, the federal ships are actually NAMED AFTER HELICOPTERS. Then suddenly the dropship's looks and purposes made sense. (even the backwards wings) A dropship is a large helicopter that is meant to carry troops into a battlefield.
While the federal ships were ugly to me at first, and their purposes unknown. I grew to love the looks of this ship, it being so industrial looking.
While its true purpose is not really something that we can EVEN DO IN GAME. I still like to use it as a armed trader and is great for srv missions, because it can tank anything that the base can throw at me.
The federal ships are the SEXIEST looking ships in the game.
*faint voice from distance* I AGREE
i think they look great the front armor makes it look like it can ricochet a 150mm shell
I mean I don't find Lego bricks attractive but to each their own.
*laughs in Gutemaya*
Maybe your sense of sexy need some upgrade. Suggestion, for starters: GUTAMAYA's IMPERIAL CUTTER
@@scaletho eww…. The least attractive ship in the game. Some Star Trek ass lookin shit
Great video. I love my brick though. It should really come into it's own when we get atmospheric flight. Then it'll be able to tank the anti aircraft fire and deliver troops while providing cover. As it stands, you're right.. But I still love my iron boxing glove. It's a great battering ram.
My thoughts axactly.
With those large wings, it should shine in atmospheric flight.
But knowing how disconnected Frontier is from their own game, I think they will mess this one up... again.
(I'd like to eat my own words, though, Frontier... * wink-wink - nudge-nudge * ...)
Best battering ram!
4:15 -- RE: "... but the only reason you buy a base model is..." -- *DUH!* Because Standard Transmission might be cheapest that way? Let's also mention, Base Model doesn't have any power assists, which can only go wrong, and doesn't have an expensive satellite radio / cellular phone hookup.
RE: Dropship/FAS/Gunship; all three owe a huge debt in their visual design to the Vulture. They're not shipping containers; they're bloated Vultures.
Gunship is easily the best of the three, but its pointless to put a cargo hold or a planetary vehicle hangar in one.
To all commanders
May you fly and ride the galaxy
This Christmas be well and hyper jump into 2020
I bet you wish you didnt hyperjump into 2020 now.
@@V0ID_Music I just got your notification 🤦♂️🤣
Yes
@@simonwillis1529 did you hyper jump into 2021 is the question
I do definitely have a soft spot for this ship. Its the first one I felt like I earnt, and I did enjoy using it as miner when I started out. But now it just sits in my hanger, full of weapons I've run out of storage for, waiting and hoping for the day it actually gets to be a dropship ...
"...blows quicker than your prom date after jello shots."
Can’t help but think it’s the best looking ship in the game.
Agreed
The Dropship's name makes sense only if you have space legs. A ship that drops troops on the battlefield . This makes the dropship completely irrelevant to a game that does not cater gameplay that has first person shooters dropping out of this ship!
H e y s o g u e s s w h a t
@@mobiusone6994 LOL
The Dropship is like a level 1 clash of clans defense waiting to be upgraded.
Damn, FDev really needs to bring more ships to the game ASAP. Not because we need anymore ships, but because i don't want you to run out of ships to make videos about. Loving it, liked as always!
The drop ship deserves more love than that. It's actually pretty decent, but of course if comparing against other ships from other manufacturers it'll be outshined.
If there weren't a balancing issue, I might agree. But a comment down below is from a guy who started playing three days ago, has a Cutter, and was wondering about starting the Fed grind to get this ship in particular. Yes, there's larger systemic issues here. But I gotta deal with what I've been dealt. In current context...there's no reason to fly this thing.
@@ThePilot_ I'm not disagreeing, I was only slightly disappointed. It just felt like a dump on the drop ship, not what I'm used to watching your vids. I like how you separated the playlists by manufacturer.
@@the-devx Thanks! That's literally the only feedback I've gotten on the playlist thing.
@@ThePilot_ I think the separated lists are fine and can certainly be useful, but could I request an additional playlist with all the ships again? I used to put your combined playlist on a secondary monitor while I played. Your videos are great as something entertaining that I don't have to focus completely on. While I could still do that, I'd have to click out and change playlists. If you're not interested in going backwards that's fine, I'll just click out but it would be more convenient not to. Thanks.
@@kuro_neko5863 Done. It's at the bottom of the playlists. Or right here: ua-cam.com/play/PLQygJ2fs_og_U-Y28d7sSQo4v9CG9d-7m.html
It is an excellent ground attack ship if you fill it with dumbfire missiles.
That's dumb
Exactly, with all gun mounts situated underbelly it makes a nice convergence point for dumbfire missiles. Thats pretty much the only purpose of this ship, ground assault and settlement infiltration missions. Its small and nimble enough to not even have to jump in the SRV to scan the data point, just do it from the ship.
Hey pilot(s),
I think you look at this ship from above, i mean with the point of view from a better ship like the python.
If you come from the viper for exemple, it is a great step forward, as this one has the second biggest cargo of the medium ships able to land on outposts.
I used this ship as armored transport until i was able to buy the python and enjoyed it a lot.
Anyway, to each his tastes, great video, thanks.
I tried not to. I even tried pretending like credits were an issue. But the difference between 17m and 19m is pretty negligible. Even doing just missions. And there's no way I couldn't recommend the Chieftain instead. Even if you wanted to strictly rank grind, or roleplay as a Fed in the Navy...I'd still fly the Chief.
@@ThePilot_ Well, the dropship has 50 % more cargo than the chieftain.
And if you roleplay with a chieftain, you are an alliance captain ^^.
Oh, and the prices are 14.31 M and 18.99 M.
That is 4.68 M difference in favor of the dropship, 33 % is not negligible 😉
The Dropship is a hidden gem in AX combat. It can fit 4 S2 Guardian Gauss Cannon and a flak launcher, moreover the layout of internal modules is brilliant for AX fitting. She is not the best mid size AX ship but still surprisingly powerfull in AX battle.(even better than some "dedicated thargoid hunter")
Oh, lord! "Special dispensation to get a prostate exam." I had to pause the video because I was laughing so hard! Well done!
My thicc baby girl I love her she's not the best she's slow and she gets the job done smooth utilitarian design
Dude has a way of making you feel the way he feels when he talks about stuff just by his articulate descriptions.
After 2 years I've finally found it, something the dropship does better than any other. Its the best damn pvp meme ship I've ever flown lmao. It attracts trouble like a magnet and has everyone involved laughing the entire time.
You make my favorite E:D content currently. Your ship vids are amazing and a joy to watch. Thank you!
2:38 brilliant. just brilliant. says 'second' and shows the dropship as a seconds hand. just class, dude.
Well... the Federal Dropship, like the other Federal ships, is a NAVY vessel. You don't put a civilian pilot in command of a military vessel.
Now, the Dropship is not intended as a combat vessel. She's a support ship, transporting goods, offering supporting fire and so on. For combat, you want the Assault and Gunships.
For my part, I rather like the Dropship. I spent 3 years out in the deep black exploring in one (in fact, just returned to the bubble this week). Sure, the jump range isn't long, but you're exploring... you're going to be stopping a lot to scan systems ANYWAY.
So, I liked my Dropship. Are there better ships? Sure, but it's not as bad as all that.
This ship actually makes for a good combat trader if she's spec'd out right. Traded in my Type-7 for this to mix things up between cargo runs and combat missions.
How can anyone dont like this ship? I love the design, so clear, powerful edges, not like these imperial paperplanes.
its purpose has finally been revealed, as the best close air support ship in the game and nothing else
I have a Federal Dropship and I find it great: bounty hunting, piracy and the most difficult conflict zones without changing a single module. And this with a 64-ton cargo rack. Afms, repair, collector and hatch breaker limpet in one build, with never-ending armor. The Federal Dropship can fly for days! Federal Dropship is a credit factory and personally I also like it aesthetically.
You should watch some of Rinzlers's videos, he owns everything in combat in his. I've got 2 of them. Had loads of fun in them. 👍
In my mind, dropship is huey, assaultship is cobra, gunship is apache.
i love the look of this ship, looks really menacing, should be in the next Aliens film.
I adore this ship. I think of it as more a Huey, dropping troops into battle, as far as lore is concerned. Anyway, it is surprisingly maneuverable at low speeds and sounds beautiful when accelerating/decelerating. Upgraded and engineered, it is a fun bounty hunter and adds to the diversity of combat... because I like to fly different ships now and then.
It blows faster than your prom date after jello shots xD that one killed me
I only use it for mining at the Icebox. I keep it in Neto, and use FC taxis religiously. It has a decent cargo cap, and has good hardpoints, so I can mine and have some self defence.
I’m an idiot who has yet to even bother with outside the bubble, but with playing recently on my personal quest for another Mamba after a long break (never fly without a re-buy)
The federal dropship does have no real place with all its costs and restrictions, but it was also an amazing breadwinner for me. Armed to the teeth with seakers, anything that stopped me was just more change in my pocket for bounties as I just transported cargo back and forth.
Blazed through four ranks and earned +50m in just a few hours of flying and fighting, practicing and struggling. With flying, on target, fuel, jump calculations and learning my lessons…
This ship, is the ship you buy to train yourself. To learn how to control a difficult ship and not actually destroy a precious one. This ship is the mistake we all need to make and learn from. It’s a teacher.
The dropship existed in the game for a very long time before the Assault Ship and Gunship were added, back when the only thing vaguely combat oriented in between the Cobra and Python was the Dropship and Clipper. It is long overdue for a re-balance if you ask me.
Now the carriers are coming out, the Hauler, type-6 and Dropship can possibly finally be what they were designed to be: Sublight cargo and passenger haulers that solely are used to shuttle stuff from a megaship to a station or outpost. Jump range suddenly becomes irrelevant because you've got a megaship's super-hyperdrive to handle that stuff. Lack of combat capability is suddenly meaningless as you have a half-dozen Eagle-IIs racked up on board and ready to provide organic escort, if needed.
Basically, the Dropship is a ship that hit the civilian pilot's market BEFORE the mothership that actually gave it a point to exist.
The FDS is my BGS mission runner. Prismatics, 64 tons of cargo space and fully engineered. Capable of running missions wherever and surviving. Workhorse for me.
Back when I first got this, as I was fixated on getting the assault ship a few years back, I used this for bounty hunting about 4 years ago and did quite well out of it, at least learning at lot of lessons before moving on. Sadly I have no real use for it, I recently repurchased one just to own it, but frankly see little point as it's doesn't succeed in any role.
All your points are spot on... but it is still the first restricted ship I got back when I started playing Elite years ago, long before the Alliance ships, and while an Asp E probably would have made more sense for me back then, I made this thing do everything anyways. Still have it in my shipyard.
I use the ship as a salvager. Its easy enough to get a decent level of cargo space and limpet controllers for it to be pretty good for going into high grade emissions. You dont need a large jumprange to make it work for that.
You know, it makes a surprisingly good medic/support ship. The 4 turreted 2c gimbeled beams and the 3c beams with shield restoring. The 5a repair limpets all that. I know it's not efficient buuttt
It be fun
In my opinion the dropship is by far the best looking of the three (especially the gunship). So I was a little disappointed that it doesn't have a good reputation. However, I decided to try her out anyway, not as a fighter or miner, but as my errand ship. After some upgrades and minimal engineering, I've gotten roughly 40 ly of range out of her while keeping the SRVs. Now I save my Anaconda for deep space exploration and my Krait Mk II for other missions and put the wear and tear of courier missions, in-bubble road to riches, trips out to Dav's Hope, etc on my dropship. Because I like how it looks, and I like how the cockpit looks. And that's enough for me.
a bit late, but i like the Dropship.
but FDEV could make it more appealing. just by increasing its hull hardness from "civilian" to "military" like the FDLs Armor is above its class.
adding at least one more utility slot on the topside would increase its value as hulltank too - for another point defense.
btw, Rinsler would have been a better Pilot for it ;)
3:17 Because only a very experienced pilot can fly around in that brick without getting themselves killed. It's for insurance purposes, making sure you can account for the ship's limitations.
Now, I fully agree that these should not be locked behind the ranks. They are a bunch of medium ships otherwise sorely lacking in the lineup.
I love the design, something straight out of Aliens or Warhammer. Painted my FAS vibrant blue and named it Ultramarine One.
However; once you're already grinding through the ranks these aren't so hard to get to. Early ranks are easy.
Dropship specifically makes a decent cargo hauler, for faction delivery missions which never send you more than 30 Ly away. Way better than the early transport ships and way meaner. Until you save up for a Python, this is a good option.
Cockpit is excellent, that frame reminds me of Mandalorian helmets. So overall, it's one of those easy come, easy go ships. Once you have better ship you will sell it and never look back but as I said, it fills an otherwise large gap.
I just made mine an effective combatant.
Four Imperial Hammers, with one long range beam lazer is a good combo.
The assault ship is the really good music you listen to. The gunship is the guilty pleasures. This is the music that is in the ads before you listen to either of those.
I don't play this game anymore but when I did after looking more in depth at the faction ships I defected to the Federation for their ships. Never thought a brick looked so good
Cute Ship. I engineered it to 40 LYS and went to Colonia, Saggitarius and back again.
mabruehl71 y.. yo.. you did?! :0
@@skeezixcodejedi I didn't plan to, really. I just went to test it out by visiting the nearby nebulas - when I suddenly realised, that I could get to Colonia in a decent amount of time. Saggitarius then was simply obligatory.
mabruehl71 ‘got some pencil crayons and realized I could do Mona Lisa.. so it was obligatory’ :)
Contraversial oppinion. I actually like the look of the Federation unlock ships... seriosuly.
This is the funniest vid you've put out yet! I laughed out loud twice.
I agree with your assessment with one exception. I think you don't give it enough credit as a relatively inexpensive, capable miner. That's what I use mine for, and I can get over 20 LY even with 96 tons of cargo. My only complaint is that it's one slot short of being ideal. I need to either run shieldless, reduce the number of collector limpets I can run concurrently, or swap between the fuel scoop and some piece of mining gear (usually prospector controller).
It's an ungainly thing, but a solid workhorse.
Yep the dropship or dropshit as a lot players seem to call it is just typical of Elite ships. I sometimes wonder if Fdev had made ships more purpose specific there would be a far less need for engineering which seems to have more of a grind enforcer than anything else. Another great video.
I'm trying to set one up as a ground-attack dropship for Odyssey missions. Multicannon in the large slot, and four missile racks in the mediums. Look, mom, I'm a Cobra gunship and it's 1969 over Vietnam!
I love my dropship.
I've out-fought FDLs and Anacondas in it.
Use it for pirate-hunting missions.
Cargo hauling
I've actually been trying to find a 3d print of it.
When you do go in for the "annual exam", make sure you tell the Doctor to use two fingers. That way, you'll get the second opinion right away!
"It blows quicker than your prom date after a couple jello shots," ha, as if booze was needed to get her to blow
I use it for what it's name states. Dropping me and my SRV to planetary surfaces so I can do surface missions. My cannon MKII does all my space fighting.
This is one of the few that isn't even a ship commercial. Just a roast.
Bizarrely, when I had a dropship, I had big fun with it. My little brick that could.
This ship was for me. As probably the single best known/most dedicated dropship pvp pilot anyone can find in ED period. You're wrong. The canopy doesn't pop as badly as you say, the firepower matters more than you credit, and if you learned how to turn off flight assist you'd see just how insane the armor can be when the turning is a complete non-factor. I've beaten every other ship you'd recommend in a straight up fight. Sure the primary reason is that my dedication exceeds that of the average elite player, but at the end of the day that's really it though. If I'm more dedicated than you it doesn't matter what ship im in. But in MY ship you can't kill me. MY one-of-a-kind, still rocking legacy god rolls federal dropship is a special sauce that cannot be repeated. It is uncrackable
Honestly I would have a poster of this... It looks like an F-117, all angular and blacked out - but I get it, believe me!
If you attend to detail, you’ll find that the Gunship has been provided with extensions to its profile to house the additional modules.
i use my dropship as a multipurpose mission ship, i find it works well. I just like the fact core dynamics have made 4 ships to fit every role.
I mine low temp diamonds in mine.. great scruffy reliable rust bucket.. my favorite ship... pulse laser for delicate mining and breaking harder outer shields on ore chunks ... autocannons for fun while ore is still shielded and have some armore crust XD
Hello, I'm writing from late 2020 where I hope with space legs and walking on planets, they turn the dropship… into a dropship
Love the UNSC Camo on it though! You should get a corvette and make it into a faux UNSC Frigate.
Huge railguns and lots of cannons with probably torps for the missile systems. It would look great blacked out with a big UNSC on the side.
If module sniping wasn't a thing, this would truly be a ferocious little thing.
I mean,. It's for me tbh, I love the design and I'm bad at combat so the huge hull tank thing is super helpful
A bit late but I got mine all set up for pure ground support and actual "drop-shipping" when Odyssey drops. Gatling and missiles for anti person and anti-srv combat, heavy as shit armor for hard drops and hot pick-ups. And naturally now that I've set it for how Odyssey is assumed to play out, its going to be completely different and I'll have wasted a lot of time perfectly crafting a dropship.
Ok been playing for 3 days now, got my cutter yesterday now wondering if fed grind for this is worth. Doesnt really seem like it i guess.
Maybe when Odyssey comes out we'll get to actually have drop ship styled missions. Drop Troops for an outpost assault or something
i had to pause the video after I learnt those things about my prom date 😂. There is use for the poor fds. planetary missions! has space for many srvs (I have 4), has cargo hold, lots of hp and good armour to survive even at high security installations. passenger missions work if you carry convicts and terrorists but there very few interesting missions like these
It's context. Before Lakon came out with the golden child of combat, this was the first design outside of the original ships released with the game. Their idea was simple: biggest hull tank ever, which also influenced its looks: simple and industrial. Of course, its low maneuverability and shields were its downfall. That's why they redesigned two more vessels out of it. I'm not saying its a great vessel, but if you ask "why does it even exist?" Well it did have a reason, albeit a poor one.
I'm more or less asking; "Why does it still exist?" They keep making new ones.
All three came out before the Alliance commissioned Lakon to build the Chief. And before it did, the Assault Ship was pretty much at the top of the heap for being more maneuverable while still dishing out decent punishment and being able to take a beating. I believe that it's like old school prospecting in your SRV looking for outcrops. No one does it any more, but what does it hurt to leave it there? ;)
I like how it looks. I like heavy duty industrial style in general.
Problem with the Dropship is that it's built for a niche that doesn't exist in-game. It's meant to ferry troops from capital ships to a planetside combat zone. Which is what all that armor is for, and why the jump range is so short. It wasn't meant to operate independently. I doubt we'll get to see this role come into play until atmospheric landings are a thing. So we can help carry troops to active planetary warzones.
The 3 flying bricks remind of the A10 or the F117. They’ll never be called beautiful. I would call them “purposeful”.
I know I'm a noob to Elite Dangerous but this is similar to the 80s and current Military vehicles, like the Bradly Assault Vec. Was built to be a troop transport then added anti-infantry to it, anti-tank, made it airborne and a scout as well. This I"m guessin this was a transport for troops and/or supplies and stuff was added to it then it got bloated as well.
Honestly? My mind went with the Hummer. To the H2. Then the H3.
But the Hummer was useful, and the H2 and H3 didn't require a rank.
Didnt read up on the Hummer and the original requirements for it ,but since the federal dropship aint that good in most aspects its possible that it became a money pit in the R&D phase, thats why I brought up the Brad. Guess it time for more research on the hummer.
I think the biggest issue with the federal ships, aside from their appearance, is that they are slow, heavy, and don't offer much of anything you can't find elsewhere. Let's be honest, the only reason to get fed rank is for the Sol permit and the Federal Corvette. Unlike Empire rank, there's not a lot of benefit in the lower fed ranks besides visiting Earth.
As I ascended through the Federal ranks I did try the FDS, briefly. I would end up ditching it for a Lakon type 6 and running gofer mission and trading until I could afford the type 7 and ultimately the Fer-de-lance. The FDS actually made me worry that I was going to hate the Federal line of ships.
I didn’t mind it when I owned it, used it as a decent cargo hauler until I recouped the money I sank into my Krait mk II until I could afford a python to replace it.
I see the dropship not as a tank, made and outfited for combat, but as the name insinuates a transport, an armored transport, you get troops or supplies from a to b , and if you outfit it for combat , it is capable to a smal extent, not ment to be alone but to be in a pack, alone an armored transport wont stand up against a main abttle tank, but it will stand up to personel , in this case, small ships shuch a s the egle, viper, cobra, but its main roll being a defence capable ship that is able to transport some cargo to some stratigical position, and i realy hope you can drop troops from ships in oddessy so it lives up to its name
and to be honest, i have gotten the drop ship to 35ly jump raange as a cargo ship, 30ly as pure combat and 32 as a passanger ship
I just realised something, this is the space equivalent of the military humvee.
The humvee is designed and built for the military in mind. In that regards, it does its job well. However, if you put it up against civilian vehicles in a civilian setting, it falls short in just about every metric. Even that being the case, there is a small group of humvee enthusiasts who would buy them over everything else. Why? Because the humvee invokes an image of the military's tough, go anywhere, do anything mentality.
The FDS is the same way. The kid who has a poster of this ship in their wall is probably going to enlist in the Federal Navy.
This ship is for the independent commanders who were discharged from the Federal Navy, but still long for the days in the Navy. Also, there are commanders who would buy this ship just because it's the Federal Navy's multirole ship.
I am looking forward to hear what you have to say regard the Assault Ship. Personally it is surprisingly close in performance to an enlarged Vulture in firepower and agility while having the exact right combination of speed and absurd hull mass to be one of if not the best rammer in the game. It has very flawed defense though, with weak shield and vulnerable modules.