A lot of people are forgetting that this is the Imperial COURIER, not the Imperial SKIRMISHER.
She should excel at getting from point A to point B faster than most anything else. Everything else should be a secondary concern for such a ship.
She certainly shouldn't just be a re-mixed cobra.
The game does need more gap filler ships, but the gaps that need filling are not in the cobra-like bracket. The gaps that need filling are ships in the ballpark of the python.
She should excel at getting from point A to point B faster than most anything else. Everything else should be a secondary concern for such a ship.
She certainly shouldn't just be a re-mixed cobra.
The game does need more gap filler ships, but the gaps that need filling are not in the cobra-like bracket. The gaps that need filling are ships in the ballpark of the python.
So true.Have some rep.
My main hope after hearing the stats of the stock configuration is that the stock configuration has a comically oversized fuel tank and that her jump range is so short because she is overburdened with a billion tons of fuel. Along that line, I hope downgrading the fuel tank to something reasonable will put her jump capabilities in the same class as the asp and anaconda.
im with you man
All we know it's a Cobra-ish sized ship with a moderate jump range and 12T stock cargo.
So a Class 3 or 4 FSD then? That'd work out to either a 87T or 344T ship at fueled mass. For comparisons, Adder is 78T, and the Cobra is 257T.
So it's either a super high tech up gunned, fast Adder, or a heavier and very well equipped Cobra. The default cargo suggests the former, and the price the later, and the picture isn't really clear enough to get a good sense of scale, and I think that's deliberate.
Either if those will be odd, yet impressive ships - I think the Imperial Courier is going to surprise a lot of people.
So a Class 3 or 4 FSD then? That'd work out to either a 87T or 344T ship at fueled mass. For comparisons, Adder is 78T, and the Cobra is 257T.
So it's either a super high tech up gunned, fast Adder, or a heavier and very well equipped Cobra. The default cargo suggests the former, and the price the later, and the picture isn't really clear enough to get a good sense of scale, and I think that's deliberate.
Either if those will be odd, yet impressive ships - I think the Imperial Courier is going to surprise a lot of people.
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Wow, after a few weeks of trading in an Anaconda, I'm back into my Clipper... it feels so agile now, even with military armor and reinforced hull plates and everything, you wouldn't expect that for such a humongous ship. Which at the same time got me hyped for the Courier maneuverability. I hope Gutamaya delivers on this one too, and considering it is much smaller than the Clipper, I'm most certain that it will.
The Clipper is by far my favorite ship in the game right now, it is good at everything and it is so fun to fly.
The Clipper is by far my favorite ship in the game right now, it is good at everything and it is so fun to fly.
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I'm leaning heavily towards the adder-like end of the spectrum. I've been playing around in Elite Shipyard.
I took a stock adder and assumed the following upgrades stock for the Courier.
1: Upgrade from size 3 fuel tank to size 4 fuel tank (+8 tons of fuel).
2: Upgrade from clas 3E shield generator to class 4E shield generator (+5 tons)
3: Extra hardpoint is equipped with a 1F pulse laser (+2 tons).
A stock Adder burdened with an additional 15 tons of mass has a jump range of 7.81 LY, which is identical to the stock jump range for the courier listed in the Dev update.
This leads me to suspect that a jump optimized Courier will have a jump range similar to an adder. While I would have preferred better jump ranges, I can probably live with Adder equivalent jump-optimized ranges.
It may be possible to optimize the Courier's jump range further if its base hull is actually a 30 ton hull that utilizes the 10 ton 4E thruster instead of the Adder's 35 ton hull with 5 ton 3E thruster. It may be possible to downgrade the Courier's thrusters and achieve a good sized boost in FTL range. For low mass ships like that, any trimmed tonnage adds up to noticeable differences in jump range.
I worked out the exact fuelled mass for the jump range with a 3E FSD, it's 90.8T exactly. Which works for a small ship, as you need a class 1 module with 1.3 tonnes to get an exact fit for that mass.
But that makes it very, very odd - a ship the equivalent of an Adder costing 1.6 million? So a pure vanity ship?
For it to work as a small ship it will need be a tough fighter, able to carry a respectable cargo with a reasonable jump range and be fast and agile to boot. A literal jack of all trades.
This is a really tough ask for a small ship. If Armchair is right about it being a small ship, this is only possible if it's got an extremely light hull mass combined with an oversized fuel tank as he states.
Behold the Imperial Courier! (Small Version) Unfounded wild speculation follows - this is how I'd personally build a ship costing 1.6Mil with a total mass of 90.8T)
Description : Gutamaya's advanced luxury light ship, using state of the art construction techniques it has a ultra light weight hull without compromising structural strength. It's the fastest, best equipped ship in it's class.
Dry mass 74.8T
Hull Mass 25T
Base Speed 277
Boost Speed 400?
Base Shields 60?
Armour 80?
Agility 7?
Ships Systems
4E Power plant (10T)
4E Thrusters (10T)
3E Frame shift (5T)
1E Life Support (1.3T)
3E Power Distro (5T)
2E Sensors (2.5T)
4C Fuel Tank
3x C2 hard points
4x Utility mounts.
Stock Equipment.
2x Small Pulses (4T)
4E Shield Gen (10T)
1E Basic discovery scanner (2T)
Total Equipment weight 44.8T
Total Dry Mass 74.8T
Internals - Guess Based 12T stock cargo (Which implies 8 and 4 stock racks), and that existing multi role ships stock equipment mass tends to closely match there maximum cargo capacity, and that the Adder has 5 internals.
4E (8t Cargo)
4E (4E Shield Gen)
3E (4T Cargo)
2E (Empty)
1E (Basic Discovery)
Total possible cargo 46T.
This configuration would be quite flexible. The flexibility comes from the ability to downgrade all of the components.
It's shielding should outclass a Cobra's thanks to the low hull mass, big power plant, low power overhead and those four utility mounts.
Agility will be on par with the Cobra with two noticeable exceptions, much better acceleration and a very good yaw (Gutamaya style).
You can build a tough, well armed light fighter as there's plenty of power headroom for shielding and weapon load outs - dps is constrained by the C3 distro. With a full combat load out your looking at a 15 LY jump range. The weapon grouping will be tight, even if the 2 hard points are on the nacelles the spread shouldn't be any wider than the Vultures.
You can build a reasonable stripped down explorer with a 25 LY ranges (22 LY with the 16T tank, giving a huge endurance).
You can build a trader the can carry 42T with decent shields that's fast with a laden jump or around 15-16LY. Overall it's not well suited to trading, other than running missions.
What you get is a small agile ship that punches above it's weight class, if still at a vanity pricing. It's a hotrod Adder with a view, a toy for the rich, vain Imperial citizen. A ship that will garner a dedicated fan base.
I guess we'll find out soon enough. I'm not convinced it's a small ship.
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I want to think that the Courier is a small ship, but what gives me pause is that the hull mass would be lighter than the Eagle and yet it still carries three medium weapon hardpoints compared the the Eagle's three small. Maybe the courier's hull is made of paper and instantly crumples the moment its shields crack?
Whatever it is (small adder-like or bulkier cobra-like), I still believe that the fuel tank is oversized and that its jump performance can be improved by downgrading it to something more reasonable.
I'm curious to see it in a few days. What I really want is something that I can use as a new price scout. I spend more time jumping around colonized space looking for the most lucrative trade routes than I do actually profiting from the trade routes. I realize that I'd make more money settling for more mundane routes, but chasing El Dorado is where I get my enjoyment from trading. I like my humble A-Team Van Hauler, but I'd like something with a better view and more style. What I want most out of the ship is 30+ LY of jump range when jump optimized. I'm hoping the Courier can be that ship. The name "Courier" certainly suggested it could be.
Whatever it is (small adder-like or bulkier cobra-like), I still believe that the fuel tank is oversized and that its jump performance can be improved by downgrading it to something more reasonable.
I'm curious to see it in a few days. What I really want is something that I can use as a new price scout. I spend more time jumping around colonized space looking for the most lucrative trade routes than I do actually profiting from the trade routes. I realize that I'd make more money settling for more mundane routes, but chasing El Dorado is where I get my enjoyment from trading. I like my humble A-Team Van Hauler, but I'd like something with a better view and more style. What I want most out of the ship is 30+ LY of jump range when jump optimized. I'm hoping the Courier can be that ship. The name "Courier" certainly suggested it could be.
I have to add my voice to the ones saying that the base stats (other than speed) were underwhelming to say the least. I remember it being a beast in the other Elite games and you could easily throw a 20MW Beam Laser (basically middle of the road) on one with several shield boosters. Honestly it should be lot beefier and at least as big as an Asp if you were to remain somewhat faithful to the previous Elite games.
Unfortunately for you, the new Courier has NOTHING to do with the Courier from the old games (where the name was interpreted wrong actually). A courier is a small and fast ship, that brings small packages, messages or important personell from A to B.
It is not a beefy combat ship that can carry huge loads. (That would be more Python style atm.)
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+1 Finally someone talking sense here. Stats aren't eeverything! The "feeling" of a ship is at least as important for me, and the courier seems to have a lot of that!
Did that same sort of thing with an Cobra/Asp/Vulture mashup - used the Imperial Clippers specs as a template/guide.
With a C4 FSD range of 7.81LY, works out to an exact 344.5 fueled mass. The 0.5 means I have to allow for an undersized module again, I chose the life support again assuming only 1-2 occupants.
I came up with the following.
Dry mass 328.5T (I assumed a 16T tank - this helps me a get nice rounded hull mass number)
Hull Mass 230T
Ships Systems - Based on Clipper template and massaged to get the same hull mass as a Vulture, which has a very similar stock mass.
5E Power plant (20T)
5E Thrusters (20T)
4E Frame shift (10T)
2E Life Support (2.5T)
4E Power Distro (10T)
4E Sensors (10T)
4C Fuel Tank
3x C2 hard points
4x Utility mounts.
Stock Equipment.
2x Small Pulses (4T)
5E Shield Gen (20T)
1E Basic discovery scanner (2T)
Total Equipment weight 98.5T
Internals - Guess based on known 12T stock cargo and using the Clipper as a template for sizing ideas, and the Asp having 7 internals.
5E (5E Shield Gen)
4E (8T Cargo rack)
4E (empty)
3E (4T Cargo rack)
3E (empty)
2E (disco ball, honk horn)
2E (empty)
88 Max Cargo.
Combat Weight with Armour - 14 LY jump.
Trade fit - 72T cargo with laden 15 LY jump.
Stripped down explorer - 21 LY jump.
Turns out pretty much to be a baby clipper, with the same strengths, and the same shortcomings. Now a lot depends on the base shields strength and boost speed, but it should compare favorably to the ships with similar masses, T-6, Cobra, Asp and Vulture.
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considering you have not flown it yet how can you have a feeling of the ship pfft
That was a different ship designed by someone who apparently didn't know what the word "Courier" means.
Irony isn't lost on Imperials.