So what's up with the Imperial Courier?

Lord_Crazy

L
The last two newsletters we had to chance to take a look at the Imperial Courier. So my questions are:
1) Will we fly it in 1.3?
2) What type of ship is it: multi-purpose, heavy fighter, explorer?

Personally I would like it to be an Imperial ASP: the canopy feels great, and the Clipper so far is no match with the ASP in term of jump range.
 

RedWizzard

RedWizzard
1. Only FD knows (assuming they've even decided yet), but I'd assume so.
2. It's a courier ;) My guess is it'll be a smallish ship probably best suited to exploration.
 

Derath

D
I think it should be a courier........ for weapons, 4xC4 hardpoints and a size 9 distributor, so you can use any weapons you want!
 

Rubbernuke

Rubbernuke
I don't get the Courier. I want it to be the ultimate small fighter with 5 small hardpoints and nippy (like a compact Viper), but not another mid sized Cobra or Asp. I loved the concept art but the model is a bit too squat (unless the picture was taken in an ortho view and not perspective).
 

Lord_Crazy

L
Drink! said:
With the name "Imperial Courier"
Sounds like it would be multi-purpose or trading.
Click to expand...

RedWizzard said:
2. It's a courier ;) My guess is it'll be a smallish ship probably best suited to exploration.
Click to expand...

Ahah yeah you are right, but the ship does not look very big. It feels smaller than a T6 or than an ASP. Would that indicate, like the Clipper, that it cannot hold as much as a T6 and cannot jump as far as an ASP? :(
BTW I hope we will know soon: I'm to leave for exploration in a week or so, a courier could be great instead of an ASP.
PeekOfTheWeek_ImperialCourier.jpgpeek_of_the_week.jpgpeek_o_the_week.jpg

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Rubbernuke said:
I don't get the Courier. I want it to be the ultimate small fighter with 5 small hardpoints and nippy (like a compact Viper), but not another mid sized Cobra or Asp. I loved the concept art but the model is a bit too squat (unless the picture was taken in an ortho view and not perspective).
Click to expand...
*By comparing the size it could be a kind of "Imperial Cobra", but maybe a bit faster as it is an Imperial ship?
I recently bought a Vulture and although it's a great ship I don't feel comfortable with the current options for fast combat: the Vulture is powerful but is far from being as nippy as my lovely Viper. On the other hand the Viper does not do much damage with its dual C2 (not to mention the dual C1). I would love to see a ship that we could use as a "super Viper".
 
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ShadowWolf Kell

ShadowWolf Kell
Lord_Crazy said:
The last two newsletters we had to chance to take a look at the Imperial Courier. So my questions are:
1) Will we fly it in 1.3?
2) What type of ship is it: multi-purpose, heavy fighter, explorer?

Personally I would like it to be an Imperial ASP: the canopy feels great, and the Clipper so far is no match with the ASP in term of jump range.
Click to expand...


It's a combat ship with a lot of hardpoints. More than a Python/FdL. Likely class 3 mounts as well. The Courier was never really able to do exploraiton (no fuel scoop slot) and had a poor jump range. The Clipper kind of fills the exploraiton/milti-role as the Courier was a combat ship, and the Imperial Trader was the Imperial Python+ basically.

If they do make it in line as a multi-role, it's going to be expensive with little hope for a price cut. Unless they factor in a rank discount above Baron which is possible.
 

RustiSwordz

R
Looks about Cobra sized. I'm calling that its around 1-2 million and is a Cobra rival. The Impies varient to the Asp-Cobra. Price range sits inn the middle. Thats just me though.
 

Moritasgus

Moritasgus
I'm hoping for a Vulture clone and in the same price bracket.
We already have a fighter class which although currently NPC only are around Sidey/Eagle ability.
If the Courier was about the same as a vulture, the clipper like an armed T7 and then the cutter about the same as the Anaconda we would have a good spread of faction ships.
Federal would be the same vulture equivalent, Dropship and Corvett. The faction ships don't have to be entirely different to the non-faction ships just a slightly different flavour of what we already have.
I don't see any point in them making cheaper ships than the vulture unless they drop the faction rank needed as by the time you earn Baron you should have enough money to buy a clipper anyway.
 

Marek15

M
I know it likely won't happen but i hope for this ship to dethrone the Asp a the best explorer out there (i know the anaconda has a longer jump range than the Asp but it's just too expensive to be practical).
I just love the way it looks.
 

QziQza

QziQza
my wild guess is...

it looks to be all cockpit and engines.. im thinking 2 - 3 weapon points (dependant on class) definately 2 on the side pods, then possibly 1 on the fuselage (behind the canopy like on the eagle, or lower fuselage like the hauler) with similiar mobility to the vulture (matching either boost or turn) with defense stats similar to the cobra.
 

Starender

Starender
clearly the size of a Cobra.

By all the decisions that maid Frontier since ED, i'd say between 20-25 Ly jump (19Ly combat ready), it will be a combat explorer, boost 385 (because nobody will ever be as fast as there baby Cobra), 1 size 3 and 2 size 2 weapons, 40t max cargo, 2 million credit, need a small rank in the empire to access it.

or

a stupid fighter with bad jump range and extreme power issue... (for a change...)
 

Lord_Crazy

L
Starender said:
a stupid fighter with bad jump range and extreme power issue... (for a change...)
Click to expand...

Fighters currently don't have power *issue*. It just makes sense that a small fuselage with a small power plant cannot withstand a huge shield generator with a bunch of shield cell banks and shield boosters. That's a matter of both balancing and consistency.
The fact that you don't like it does not make it an issue and does not make these fighters stupid.
That being said I would really like something stronger than a Viper and yet as niffy as it is. Like a Cobra-Viper crossover.
 

jonne

jonne
It's ugly. If the old one was an SR-71 Blackbird then this must be a Toyota. It looks like it runs on electricity.
 

trumpet

trumpet
That thing is NOT an imperial courier. Go back and look at the original design and give it a bigger wing span. Whoever the designer is should show some respect
 

Loskene

L
Judging from the preview model it looks to have 4 hardpoints, 2 above and below the fuselage and 2 on the engine nacelles. Might have a similar armament to the clipper, but a class smaller.
 

waimser

W
Im just glad it has been improved over the first concept we were shown. Its starting to look like something flyable now. As long as they dont make it too good looking though, there still needs to be a reason to want the Clipper.

I hope its not just another powerfull fighter. I want it to be a bit faster than a Viper unboosted, maybe on par with a Cobra boosted, but I cant see that happening, and slightly less manuverable than a Viper. If its going to be a powerfull ship then 3-4 medium hardpoints.

If its going to be a tight turning ship, I dont want another Vulture clone, 3smalls and 1 medium might be best in this case.

I think jump range should be the same as a Cobra but with a bigger fuel tank. If coupled with cargo space less than or equal to the Cobra this could make a great rares runner. This setup would be amazing if it came with special missions catered to it, Missions to take special packages or messages halfway across populated space for decent money. These packages would of course have excellent sell value on the black market ;)

Mostly, im just hope its good enough that some ppl pick it over the vulture. Too many of those things everywhere, I dont feel like mine is special in anyway cause everyones got one. We need some variety.
 
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