The Cobra MkIV is Faulcon deLacy's development of the famous Cobra MkIII. It's heavier and slower than the MkIII, but packs an extra punch and better weaponry placement makes it a more effective combat vessel. It's tougher to improve survivability and allows better upgrading, but at the expense of some of its agility.
— In-Game Description
The Cobra MkIV is a multirole ship manufactured by Faulcon DeLacy. In contrast with the versatile Cobra MkIII, the MkIV is designed with a greater emphasis on combat effectiveness.
Overview
The Cobra MkIV is extremely similar in concept to the Viper MkIV, having better armour, compartments and damage but having drastically reduced mobility.
As a combat vessel the MkIV has impressive shielding and armour as well as high damage output. This lets it easily deal with other ships and it can put up a fight against even large ships. This comes at a cost as it is much slower than the MkIII: even with fully upgraded thrusters it struggles to keep up with a Vulture. The manoeurvrability also suffers a huge deal, now at a lowly 3 making the MkIV very sluggish in combat. With all of its hardpoints at the front this makes it easy for nimble ships to take advantage of this weakness and take the MkIV out.
As a trader the MkIV has a very impressive 88t of cargo; putting it slightly behind the Keelback and Type-6. In fact the Cobra MkIV has the most internal bays of any ship that can land on a small size landing pad and the highest cargo capacity. This makes the ship a viable option for traders and it can be more beneficial for those looking to destroy incoming pirates, as the MkIV is more than capable of self-defense.
As an Explorer the MkIV has a lower jump range than its predecessor due to its higher weight so it is much less viable in the role. It can carry more cargo however so long range trading is more accessible; however the T6 is more useful at this role.
The Cobra MkIV has one more small hardpoint (three small, two medium total) and better hardpoint placement than the Cobra MkIII: Two medium hardpoints are located in the same place as on MkIII and three small hardpoints are in a tight group on top of the ship. The interior is identical to that on the MKIII.[1]
The Cobra MkIV is an exclusive reward for Elite Dangerous players who upgraded to Elite Dangerous: Horizons during its first year.[2] It is only available to PC players who purchased Horizons before February 5, 2016 (this also includes Lifetime Expansion pass holders), and to Xbox One players who purchased the Horizons season pass before July 30, 2016. Players who met these requirements can obtain the ship in-game from stations using credits.[3] PlayStation 4 players currently do not have any means to access the Cobra MkIV. Frontier have not made any announcements of making the Cobra MkIV accessible to other players.
Purchase Locations
NOTE: The Cobra MkIV will only appear if the above conditions are met, otherwise it will not appear at any station (Including Jameson Memorial).
| System | Station | Date Seen | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abrocmii | Knapp Dock | July 27, 2017 | 15% discount |
| EZ Aquarii | Magnus Gateway | July 27, 2017 | |
| HIP 20485 | Shinn Enterprise | July 27, 2017 | 15% discount |
| HR 783 | Rich Orbital | July 27, 2017 | 15% discount |
| Luyten's Star | Ashby City | July 27, 2017 | |
| Sietae | Nakamura Orbital | July 27, 2017 | 15% discount |
| Stopover | Darkwater Station | July 27, 2017 | |
| Tangaroa | Sovica | July 27, 2017 | 15% discount |
| Korovii | England Terminal | November 5, 2017 | |
| Shinrarta Dezhra | Jameson Memorial | January 26, 2018 | 10% Discount, Founders Permit Needed |
| Giryak | Watson Orbital | March 12, 2018 |
Outfitting
- Main article: Outfitting
All ships are highly customisable through the Outfitting menu of Station Services. Listed below is the default load-out for the Cobra MkIV.
| Category | Default System | Default Rating | Default Class | Max Class |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small Hardpoint | Empty | -- | -- | 1 |
| Empty | -- | -- | 1 | |
| Empty | -- | -- | 1 | |
| Medium Hardpoint | Pulse Laser (L) | F | 1 | 2 |
| Pulse Laser (L) | F | 1 | 2 | |
| Utility Mount | Empty | -- | -- | 0 |
| Empty | -- | -- | 0 | |
| Bulkheads | Lightweight Alloys | I | 1 | 8 |
| Reactor Bay | Power Plant | E | 4 | 4 |
| Thrusters Mounting | Thrusters | E | 4 | 4 |
| Frame Shift Drive Housing | Frame Shift Drive | E | 4 | 4 |
| Environment Control | Life Support | E | 3 | 3 |
| Power Coupling | Power Distributor | E | 3 | 3 |
| Sensor Suite | Sensors | E | 3 | 3 |
| Fuel Store | Fuel Tank [x16] | C | 4 | 4 |
| Internal Compartments | Shield Generator | E | 4 | 4 |
| Cargo Rack [x8] | E | 3 | 4 | |
| Cargo Rack [x8] | E | 3 | 4 | |
| Cargo Rack [x8] | E | 3 | 4 | |
| Cargo Rack [x4] | E | 2 | 3 | |
| Cargo Rack [x4] | E | 2 | 3 | |
| Cargo Rack [x2] | E | 1 | 2 | |
| BDS | E | 1 | 2 | |
| Planetary Approach Suite | E | 1 | 2 |
- (L) = Loaned
- [x#] = Capacity
- BDS = Basic Discovery Scanner
Trivia
- Due to its limited accessibility, the Cobra MkIV has the fewest Livery options available; with just 15 paint options in total.
- There is currently no in-universe explanation as to why the Cobra MkIV has such a limited availability to only a select few commanders, nor why NPCs will very commonly fly the ship despite said limitation.
Videos
Gallery
References
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| NPC-only |
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| Ships marked with H can only be purchased and operated by players who pre-ordered Horizons. | |||||||||||||||||||||