Cobra Mk VAX Combat

Anti-Xeno combat is a specialist discipline: you dodge Thargoid Interceptor lightning, expose and destroy their hearts with Guardian Gauss Cannons, soak caustic damage and clear it, and harden the hull against module-stripping attacks. The Cobra Mk V brings a rare small-pad angle to it — three medium hardpoints let it mount medium Guardian Gauss (the Kestrel's larges can't), and its 412 m/s boost dodges well.

But the AX role punishes exactly where this all-rounder is weakest. A class-4 power plant and distributor can barely feed three charge-and-release Gauss; 245 heat capacity on a 150 t hull runs hot fast with only one heat sink; and with no military slot, every Guardian reinforcement block competes with the shield, decon controller and AFMU for nine civilian optionals. It can hunt Cyclops-class Interceptors in skilled hands, but it is the least-suited rated AX hull — a capable general fighter pressed into a role built for tankier, cooler, military-slotted ships.

Three things shape the Mk V as an AX platform — one strength, two hard limits:

• Three medium Gauss mounts. Guardian Gauss caps at medium, so the Cobra's 3 Medium hardpoints can each host a heart-killer — more medium Gauss capacity than the Kestrel's small-only mounts. Its one genuine AX advantage.
• A class-4 power ceiling. The class-4 power plant and distributor can barely run three charge-and-release Gauss plus an AX multi-cannon, a shield and utilities — sustained fire browns out without careful trigger discipline.
• No military slot, low heat capacity. 245 heat capacity on a 150 t hull spikes hot under Gauss volleys with room for only one heat sink, and with zero military slots every Guardian reinforcement block eats an optional the shield and decon also need.

Three medium Gauss mounts and 412 m/s of boost give it a real small-pad AX skirmisher's tools, but a class-4 power plant, 245 heat capacity and no military slot choke a full Gauss fit and leave the thinnest tank in the field, pinning it at the floor of the rated AX hulls.

The 50/100 headline is a verdict against the anti-Xeno role's priority-ordered factors. Each factor carries a weight (its share of 100); this hull earns part of each based on how it performs against the whole field. The points sum to the rating.

Every table rates ships for AX specifically, split by landing-pad class. The Hardpoints column is the hardpoint loadout — the mount count for a Gauss suite; the rating is the same 1–100 suitability verdict used across the site.

Same class — small AX ships

3 small-pad AX hulls carry a rating, led by Kestrel Mk II (60). Every same-pad rival lands where this one does — the direct field to shop.

Other classes — the capital AX platforms

The large-pad AX field (4 rated), led by Imperial Cutter (90) — bigger pads and bankrolls. They out-muscle this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

Other classes — the medium AX fighters

The medium-pad AX field (13 rated), led by Alliance Chieftain (90) — cheaper hulls and tighter pads. They undercut this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

At ~1.48M Cr the hull is cheap, with no rank or permit gate. The real cost of an AX fit is not credits but the Guardian technology-broker unlocks for the Gauss Cannons, Shard Cannon and Guardian Hull/Module Reinforcement — earned by farming Guardian ruins and beacons, not bought.

Its low rebuy makes it a forgiving hull to learn anti-Xeno flying in: you can lose it to a Cyclops without a punishing insurance bill while you practise dodging lightning and placing Gauss, before committing to an expensive military-slotted medium.

A small-pad anti-Xeno fit built on Gauss density: two medium and one small Guardian Gauss Cannon for heart damage, a medium Enhanced AX Multi-Cannon for sustained fire, and a Guardian Shard Cannon for scouts. Initial is the buy-only bare hull; A-Rated bolts on the Thargoid kit and crams Guardian reinforcement into the civilian optionals; Engineered hardens mobility, shields and survival — the AX/Guardian weapons carry no engineering. The Cobra docks at any outpost, but a 150 t hull with 245 heat capacity and no military slot pays for its three Gauss in heat and thin tank.

Buy the hull (~1.48M Cr) on stock Lightweight Alloy bulkheads with only stock class-1 core modules — there is no point A-rating or arming it until the Guardian weapon and reinforcement blueprints are unlocked at a tech broker.

The hardpoints, utilities and optionals stay empty at this stage. Fly the bare hull to a Guardian site to farm the materials, or use a cheap general loadout for transit — the AX fit only makes sense once the Gauss Cannons and Guardian modules are in hand.

A-rating priority for a small-pad Gauss boat:

• 1Power Distributor → 4A — Three charge-and-release Gauss drain the WEP capacitor fast on a class-4 unit; A-rate it first. ~600k Cr
• 2Power Plant → 4A — Headroom to run the Gauss battery, AX multi-cannon, shield and utilities on a tight class-4 plant. ~700k Cr
• 3Thrusters → 4A — The agility that dodges Interceptor lightning is the whole survival case. ~900k Cr
• 4Shield Generator → 5C bi-weave — Fast regen for a hull that must re-engage between passes. ~500k Cr
• 5Weapons & utilities — Two medium Guardian Gauss plus a small Gauss for hearts, a medium Enhanced AX Multi-Cannon for sustained fire and a Guardian Shard for scouts; Xeno Scanner, caustic sink, heat sink and a shield booster on the four utilities. Guardian-unlocked
• 6Optionals → Guardian reinforcement — With no military slot, fill the optionals with Guardian Hull and Module Reinforcement around the bi-weave, a decontamination limpet controller and an AFMU — the only tank a slotless small hull can carry. Guardian-unlocked

The AX/Guardian weapons carry no engineering — every gain is in mobility, shields and survival. Pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application; visit in person for experimentals.

Approximate progression across the three states (figures are representative, not exact rolls):

Engineering moves the Cobra's survival, not its guns: Dirty Drive thrusters push boost near 490 m/s for dodging, a Thermal-Resistant bi-weave and boosters lift the small shield toward ~600 MJ, and Heavy-Duty bulkheads plus a Guardian reinforcement stack drive effective armour past ~1,300. Even engineered it is the shallowest-tanked hull in the rated AX field — the gains buy evasion and a margin for error, not the endurance of a military-slotted medium.

• Fire Gauss in short volleys — the class-4 distributor and 245 heat capacity punish held triggers faster than any other AX hull.
• With no military slot, the tank lives entirely in the optionals; a Guardian HRP/MRP stack competes with the shield, decon and AFMU for room.
• Evasion is survival — the Cobra soaks worse than any rated AX medium, so dodge the lightning rather than trading with it.
• Use the small pad deliberately: base and turn in at outposts in contested systems that larger AX ships can't reach.