I'm trying to participate in faction wars (conflict zones) but my problem is that I'm completely ineffective. I have 2 beam lasers and 2 multi cannons on my Viper but I can't really fight anything. I either die or have to escape because I'm low on health.
I spend most of my time spinning because I try to face my target and when I finally do I have like 3-4 seconds to fire at them then we pass next to each other so I have to turn again. This goes on and on while they somehow keep firing at me without me being able to fire back. This is extremely frustrating. What am I doing wrong?
Best Answer
The only thing that will let you win dogfights consistently is a lot of practice, however you mention that you are not able to fire back at the enemy while escaping and there is a trick to do that.
Firing while escaping
Turreted weapons
There are essentially two ways to fire back at your enemy while trying to create some distance.
The first one is pretty straightforward: Turrets!
If you take turreted weapons instead of fixed or gimballed ones they will be able to fire at the enemy while you are flying into the opposite direction. This however will cost more money and they will perform worse than a fixed/gimballed weapon if you can just fire at the target. This brings me to the second point (and I wish someone told me that earlier):
Utilizing flight assist while escaping
This is probably the single most important thing that makes dogfights a lot easier if mastered. If you have an enemy right behind you you can boost away from him, turn your flight assist off and pull your ship up (or down) so you look back at the enemy.
Turning off flight assist will let you pitch while continuing to fly into the direction you were originally facing. Additionally when boosting your pitch speed is always as if you were in optimal flying speed.
This method will take some getting used to but it helps a ton when being chased by more agile ships.
General information
Targeting enemy systems
Another thing that will increase your combat efficiency is targeting enemy sub-systems. Don't just lock onto a target and start firing. Try to take out specific systems of the enemy ship. If your enemy is escaping try to shoot his boosters this can cause them to either malfunction or you can destroy them completely which makes the target a sitting duck.
Targeting enemy weapons will limit their offensive capabilities and targeting their power-plant can shut down an enemy ship completely. Know what systems are important in a fight and try to disable them.
Key bindings/controls
It's extremely important that you're using controls you're comfortable with. Don't be afraid to reassign keybindings if it makes it easier for you to maneuver your ship. Combat is the only thing in Elite Dangerous where speed and precision matters when controlling your ship. For me I've changed the targeting on the sub-systems of a ship to mouse-wheel up and down since it makes I find it a lot easier to cycle through them when compared to pressing a specific button in order to do so. Be creative and try things out and find out what's best for you. Also this applies to KB+M, Joysticks and Controllers.
Choose the right equipment
Your currently mentioned weapon setup (equal amount of multi-cannons and lasers) is pretty safe and works somewhat well against everything but it doesn't really excel at anything. If you know you're going up against mostly slower and bigger ships that are easy to hit consider bringing a rail-gun with you. Against unshielded targets maybe missiles will easily secure you some kills.
Also Take the right ship. You don't want to go kill-farming in conflict zones in a Type-10. An Anaconda will be the better choice if you're looking for a heavier ship in that case.
Practicing dogfights
If you're not too confident in your fighting abilities yet I'd highly suggest working your way up from beacons, to resource extraction sites until you finally will be able to participate in conflict zones.
Conflict zones are extremely hectic and it's common to be outnumbered five to one which is a difficult fight even for more experienced commanders. If you want to straight up dive into conflict zones you can do that but try to single out enemies so you can practice the fighting. Also don't be afraid to take on bigger ships or higher rank NPC commanders.