Elite Dangerous – Eagle MkII PvP Build Guide

This guide is on how to build an Eagle MkII that can take on other small ships in PVP.

Guide to Eagle MkII PvP Build

Please note: all credit goes to PK_Ultra!

Introduction

As you can see by the small combat ships tier list below, the Eagle MkII is at the very edge of what could be considered as a viable PVP ship. But I believe that with its superior manoeuvrability, speed and stealth capabilities, it has the chance to stand up to any one of these small ships.

Tier List

  • S: Vulture
  • A: Imperial Courier
  • B: Diamondback Scout
  • C: Viper MkIII, Imperial Eagle, Eagle MkII

To explain what the Eagle MkII has to deal with I will be making brief comparisons to medium-sized ships and their counterparts on this list.

The Vulture is like if an FDL and an Alliance chieftain had a baby and it inherited the FDL’s propensity for big guns and tiny powerplants while having both ships’ shields and hull. Its truly on a class of its own.

The Imperial courier is like the starter pokemon evolution of an FDL. Its a fast, nimble shield tank that uses SCBs and shield boosters.

The Diamondback Scout is like a stealth version of the Alliance Chieftain. It runs cool, has great handling and is meant for hull-tanking. Let the shields drop and go into silent running with a thermal vent beam laser and never get hit ever again.

C-rank are the Federal assault ships and Pythons of small pvp ships. They’ve got the basic tools to do combat competently, but only one of them has the capacity to move up in rank based on player skill…..

The Eagle MkII

Core Internals

Reactive Surface Composite

  • Thermal Resistant G5
  • Layered Plating

Small ship armor has this weird quirk where its better to patch up holes in your resistances on the armor itself instead of relying on Hull Reinforcement Packages to fix it for you. Unlike with medium PVP ships who can get away with Heavy Duty and Deep plating Reactive Surface Composites, small ships dont have nearly enough optional internals to fix that imbalance.

2A Power Plant

  • Armoured G5
  • Monstered

While it will be hard to module snipe a small ship, its better to have the extra PP integrity than need it. On other small ships with larger power plants you might want thermal spread instead of monstered. But this is what works for the Eagle.

3A Thrusters

  • Dirty G5
  • Drag Drives

You want to go as fast as possible. Though on other, heavier small ships you might want Drive Distributors as an experimental mod to give you more optimal mass.

2D Frame Shift Drive

  • Shielded G5
  • Double Braced

A strategy in pvp is to take out someones FSD so they cant run away. By shielding and double bracing the FSD, we increase our chances of surviving. D-rank so the ship flies faster.

1D Life Support

D-ranked and unmodded. Its light enough, making it any lighter runs the risk of it popping from someone sneezing at it during combat.

2A Power Distributor

  • Charge Enhanced G5
  • Super Conduits

You want your pips to recharge as fast as possible.

2D Sensors

  • Long Range G5

This is to counter a very niche viable tactic that works rather well for small ships in comparison to medium ships. Silent Running/Stealth ships are a problem. Long Range G5 helps you detect them sooner. 2D sensors with Long Range G5 perform better than standard 2A sensors and end up weighing less.

1C Fuel Tank

  • Small tank for more speed.

Optional Internals

3C Bi-Weave Shield Generator

  • Thermal Resistance G5
  • LoDraw

The more absolute shield strength you have, the longer it takes for Bi-Weaves to charge. You want high resistances to increase the effectiveness of your current shield strength, this lets Shields recover and recharge quicker.

2x 2D Hull Reinforcement Package

  • Heavy Duty G5
  • Deep Plating

1D Hull Reinforement Package

  • Heavy Duty G5
  • Deep Plating

2x 1D Module Reinforcement Package

1A FSD Interdictor

  • or another 1D Hull Reinforcement Package with Heavy duty G5/Deep Plating

Hardpoints

S: Fixed 1E Beam Laser

  • Long Range G5
  • Thermal Vent

This beam laser is the key to keeping you alive.

Your Bi-Weave shields are meant to go up and down multiple times in a fight. You can take advantage of this feature by going pure silent running. And unless your opponent has a particularly strong sensor, you can be blasting away at 6km and they’ll never be able to digitally lock on to you. This is what makes the Eagle MkII such a strong ship. Its small profile, speed and manoeuvrability paired with running cool and silent running makes the ship nigh untouchable in the hands of a proficient player capable enough to push all of the Eagle’s strengths to their peak.

S: Fixed 1D Rail Gun

  • Long Range G5
  • Super Penetrator

Thanks to your beam laser and the nimbleness of the spacecraft, a pair of railguns works amazing on this ship. This one has Super Penetrator to make sure you can hit the powerplant no matter where you’re positioned. Great against ships with fragile engines like the Vulture.

S: Fixed 1D Rail Gun

  • Long Range G5
  • Feedback Cascade

Heres your second railgun, use it to snipe powerplants with your other railgun. Feedback cascade screws up Shield Cell Banks if you hit them while they’re charging. Very useful against the Imperial Courier.

Note, dont fire all the guns at the same time. You might want each rail gun on its own trigger as an alternate firing arrangement. And a configuration where you fire both rail guns with one trigger and the beam laser with another.

Utility Mounts

0I Heat sink Launcher

  • Ammo Capacity G1

You could also potentially swap the utility mount for the Frame shift wake scanner, a warrant scanner or a chaff launcher. Its up to you but I prefer the heat sink as the main slot.

Module Priority

  • 1: 2A Power Plant
  • 1: 3A Thrusters
  • 1: 2A Power Distributor
  • 1: 1D Life Support
  • 1: 2D Sensors
  • 1: 2D Frame Shift Drive
  • 2: Bi-Weave Shield Generator
  • 2: OI Heat Sink Launcher
  • 3: 1D Rail Gun
  • 3: 1D Rail Gun
  • 3: 1E Beam Laser
  • 4: 1A FSD Interdictor
  • 5: 1H Cargo Hatch

If your ship power plant is ever so damaged that you can’t power guns anymore, just run.

Conclusion

The Eagle MkII rocks! Its great in the hands of a seasoned pilot and is great for teaching newbies how to do combat. If you ever see yourself trying out small ship PVP, or want to use an optimised Eagle for bounty hunting and learn how not just to outfit an Eagle but how to outfit small ships in general, then I hope I have helped you in your journey.

Egor Opleuha
About Egor Opleuha 8075 Articles
Egor Opleuha, also known as Juzzzie, is the Editor-in-Chief of Gameplay Tips. He is a writer with more than 12 years of experience in writing and editing online content. His favorite game was and still is the third part of the legendary Heroes of Might and Magic saga. He prefers to spend all his free time playing retro games and new indie games.

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