Whether you're a frequent antagonist or you never start fights but always end them, we want you to tell us how to build the ultimate PvP ship. Your choice of ship is completely up to you, but you'll need to tell or show us how best to outfit it, complete with modules, weaponry, and anything else a solo PvPer might need, like engineering. Explain what type of combat its built for, its expected costs, what level of player experience its designed for, and why you like it so much!
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Submissions (13)
Osiliran3/30/2025
Won$5
I'd like to submit "The Little Paladin".
I'd love to PVP more but the galaxy is not kind to me and makes it difficult finding players. Maybe one day Frontier will update the networking of the game and we can move away from P2P.
I think Viper mk 4 is underrated, very nimble ship under boost and is quite tanky for a small ship. This one is equipped with 2 plasma accelerators, both efficient, one with target lock breaker and the other with dazzle shell. If they connect, it should cause some disruption for the enemy. The two small hardpoints are a rail gun, long range with feedback cascade to cancel shield cell banks, and the other is an advanced missile rack, rapid fire, with FSD interrupt to prevent escape. The build is here:
Some notes: there's no shield. There's enough pressure on the distributor already to worry about recharging a shield. It does require a couple of fire groups to be setup correctly. One for the Plasmas and the rail gun, and then the Plasmas and the missile rack. This build is more suited to a flight assist off approach. The 2nd utility is left blank and is to be filled depending on the situation, another chaff launcher if I feel there's too many gimballed frags around, maybe a heatsink launcher for more off radar cover. Up to you. Everything else is fair standard for what you'd probably expect in a combat ship: armoured plant, dirty drag drives, light weight life-support, CE distributor, long range sensors (grade 3 only as a nice balance between weight and scan distance) and an undersized fuel tank.
As a last thought, I love the Viper mk 4, but just don't find myself in it too often. I do wish it got a little more love from Frontier. It makes for a decent multirole ship too if you can sick of combat. I adore the look of it, much more than the mk 3. And it will accept a powerplay banner too on the back near the spoiler to my surprise.
Verified
AndyRice1/3/2025
Won$5
I’ve never tried PvP combat before, but recently, I’ve been learning some techniques, like turning Flight Assist (FA) off. I’ve also built a few ships that might work well in PvP battles. I’m more than happy to hear suggestions and advice from others.
I turned my Fer-de-Lance into a railgun fighter and named it Razorback after the ship from The Expanse. The Fer-de-Lance is probably one of the most popular PvP ships. It’s agile, has strong shields (great for PvP), and features a size 4 hardpoint. However, it’s a bit pricey and only performs at its best when FA is turned off, making it less suitable for beginners. Still, when used properly, it can handle many PvP scenarios effectively.
Let’s start with weaponry. The Fer-de-Lance has one huge hardpoint and four medium hardpoints, making it ideal for a railgun sniper build. Since railguns are only available in small and medium sizes, the more medium hardpoints, the better. I equipped all four medium hardpoints with railguns, each modified with class 3 long-range engineering. Two have the Feedback Cascade experimental effect, and the other two have the Super Penetrator effect. Feedback Cascade disrupts shield cell banks and reduces shield regeneration, which is crucial against shield tanks. Super Penetrator increases bullet penetration, making it easier to damage internal modules on enemy ships.
For the size 4 hardpoint, I mounted a 4A gimballed multi-cannon with a class 5 overcharge modification and Corrosive Shell experimental effect. The multi-cannon is excellent for dealing with hulls, and the overcharge modification enhances its damage output. Corrosive Shell reduces enemy hull hardness, temporarily making them more vulnerable to all damage—perfect when paired with railgun strikes. The railguns are effective at breaking shields, and the combination of railguns and multi-cannons ensures strong performance in most situations.
Survivability There are two general types of combat ships: shield tanks (like the Fer-de-Lance) and hull tanks (like the Federal Assault Ship). Shield tanks are usually better for PvP because shields regenerate and offer better protection for internal modules. Shields also have higher resistance to kinetic and explosive damage, while hulls are only more resistant to thermal damage (except with reactive armor). Additionally, shield cell banks can quickly restore large amounts of shielding, which can be frustrating for opponents.
Yes, another ship name inspired by The Expanse. I turned my Federal Assault Ship into a close-range fighter. Many argue that the Chieftain series is better than the Core Dynamics Federal series, but I personally prefer the Federal ships. The Federal Assault Ship is an excellent fighter—it’s extremely fast and agile, compact and hard to hit, and comes with two large and two medium hardpoints, providing sufficient firepower to take down enemies. Most importantly, it’s affordable compared to the Fer-de-Lance. This build isn’t too expensive, and it performs well even with FA on.
For weaponry, I equipped the two large hardpoints with 3C gimballed fragment cannons, each with class 5 overcharge modifications and incendiary rounds experimental effects. Large fragment cannons are devastating against hulls, offering incredible DPS. Incendiary rounds convert part of the damage into thermal damage, improving effectiveness against shields. The two medium hardpoints are fitted with 2D gimballed fragment cannons with class 5 overcharge modifications and Screening Shell experimental effects. Screening Shell reduces reload times, increasing combat efficiency.
I haven’t tested this build in PvP yet, but I’ve tried it in combat zones and RES sites. It performs well against all kinds of enemies.
Survivability Although not as durable as the Fer-de-Lance due to being a hull tank, the Federal Assault Ship is still incredibly tough and can withstand significant damage in combat. And FAS is relatively weak when powering a shield, so I use a Bi-Weave Shield, which allows it to quickly regenerate when the shields is broken.
Verified
CMDR John Wick4/1/2025
Won$5
It is very basic and fast to intercept your targets, but quite powerful.
The combat starts with a Rail Gun at long range, try to take over the opponent's back to gain an advantage. Your goal in the fight is to always attack your opponent's back.
Or make passes through your opponent that help you always gain an advantage.
After getting close to your opponent, use the Plasma Accelerators for short combat. Opt to attack if the ship came to intercept you, then lock onto its modules, giving preference to the Power Generator. If you are a victim, finish it off quickly with FSD.
Verified
Tips: PVP in Elite is usually 8 or 80, either you will end up on the target like a fly or you will be trampled by an elephant. Knowing your ship's capabilities is always the key to success. And accepting defeats is part of life.
What light through yonder cockpit window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and gank the envious moon!
This is Juliet, my best and fairest PvP build. She's a lot different from the current PvP meta but she's got style and has been built with a very specific role in mind - a leading lady role! A quick shoutout to JustAbout for sponsoring her costume, my last month's bounties were invested back into the Frontier Game Store to get her looking the part.
She does have a semi functional PvP build beneath her good looks, complete with engineering.
Weapon choice was primarily driven by what looks good on screen however!
I don't think I will battle test her just yet around Shinrata Dezra in Open, that worn paint job look took a long time to achieve :) Instead she has a few of those nefarious Montagues in her sights to take care of first
Verified
lionriver3/21/2025
Won$5
Python MK2:
This ship is an instakill for ships of all sizes.
In which we use as many Raingus as possible, with a short-range destroyer, which only has a pre-forcing and destroy batteries.
Before firing, it's recommended to throw an injector cell to cool and then fire the shot. Since it's the Python MK2, all the weapons go to the middle, and no matter where it hits, the ships are instantly destroyed. However, you can't fire twice in a row, and each shot lowers the energy core by 5 percent, or nothing, depending on your skill. Otherwise, fire three weapons at a time. You have three weapons for another time.
But on the difficulty level, it's difficult, and I recommend hitting the Raingus at less than 500 meters to ensure the shot.
