Ships The Cutter really takes the wind out of my sails

[Troa Barton]

The pride of the Imperial Navy, an Imperial warship, successor to the Clipper, to serve a similar role to the Federations Corvette yet faster and more elegant but not quite able to match it in firepower. Flies like a big fat cow.

It's as though a Type 9 and a Python had a Lavian Brandy induced love child, put it in a clipper costume for Halloween and decided it would be best for everyone if it never came off to hide their shame.

This "warship" flies nothing like a successor to the Clipper, it's all ballroom dancing with a great soundtrack. the engines sound amazing and powerfully refined but don't do anything.

The distributor is woefully insufficient, it slides a little too much and doesn't overboost the retro thrusters like it should. The powerplant is lacking despite powering oversized shields and thrusters on top of a full compliment of other internals/weapons. But the worst offender is the pitch rate, keep it drifty but snappy when you boost (like the clipper) but let it swing its nose around (like a dropship/conda) it should be the slowest to pitch and longest to stop sliding around but it shouldn't be half a block away from left field worse.

the clipper could carry more cargo than its predecessors and is not only the fastest ship in the game but could also flip a 180 with ease.

In short increase the size of the distributor and powerplant.
drastically increase the pitch rate, still slowest of the three but only just.
increase the effectiveness of the retro thrusters massively when boost turning only, otherwise keep it sliding around.

if you would prefer to watch a video as to why I came to these conclusions here you go:
[video=youtube_share;1kHRJfxSft4]https://youtu.be/1kHRJfxSft4[/video]

this ship really disappointed me, sure it was fun to work for a kill but at the end of it all I was left deflated and angry. This ship is an armed trader, not a warship that serves a similar role to the corvette while feeling like a successor to the clipper.

this ship is a steaming pile of biowaste in a pretty dress.

 

[CMDR_UberDude]

Nice review. Plenty of posts were in the 1.5 beta thread saying pretty much the same thing.

If they can buff the FDL which was already an OP ship. Then I'd be very surprised if they don't buff the cutter.

 

[Keanson]

Funny thing that it's called a cutter, the size of it seems inappropriate for it compared to the usage of the term for sailing boats. Perhaps Imperial Barque instead?

 

[Shadowed]

I take back what I said about the Cutter. It is etremely powerful in 1v1 combat and can easily take on a Corvette. It takes 2 heatsinks to use the SCB vs the Corvette's 1, but the 5 8A SCB's are all you need. The top 2 C3 hardpoints have an insane firing arc with Gimballed weapons. The 4 medium hardpoints are perfect for 4 mc turrets. The C4 hardpoint has plenty of power capacitor with 4 mc's firing at the 4-0-2 mode. The Shield strength is immense. It can ram anything all day long.

It can interdict and intercept any target that isn't 400+ m/s. This ship is perfect for a Pirate Lord or a Bounty Hunter. The Corvette is the ultimate tank. Those 2 C4's do immense damage and it has twice the SCB's as the cutter, and only needs 1 heat sink per SCB. The Corvette can stay in the fight much longer than the Cutter, but the Cutter can outrun the Corvette with ease. The Cutter has higher base shield and much higher mass. That means it can ram the Corvette and take out its Shields really quickly.

Every time I fought a Corvette I was in 4-0-2 until I was out of their firing arc. The Cutter can boost well out of the Corvette's range and flip around and boost back for another attack. The C3's have a surprising firing arc; This + the Cutter's thrusters mean it can keep up with a boost turn really well.

Cutter is easily the scariest ship in the game now. Corvette suffers just like the Anaconda, where it can only engage slower targets that flee.

 

[Jaiotu]

Since I play on the side of the Federation... it's nice that the Federation finally got a nice ship to help reduce the "Clipper envy".
That said... the Imperial Cutter is a HUGE disappointment. While the Federation got a mini capital ship the Empire got an oversized Clipper. We all wanted something closer in aesthetic to the Imperial Interdictor.
Frontier isn't finished adding ships to the game so HOPEFULLY the Empire will get a ship down the line that looks and feels a bit closer to a capital ship.

 

[CMDR_UberDude]

Since I play on the side of the Federation... it's nice that the Federation finally got a nice ship to help reduce the "Clipper envy".
That said... the Imperial Cutter is a HUGE disappointment. While the Federation got a mini capital ship the Empire got an oversized Clipper. We all wanted something closer in aesthetic to the Imperial Interdictor.
Frontier isn't finished adding ships to the game so HOPEFULLY the Empire will get a ship down the line that looks and feels a bit closer to a capital ship.

I'm glad it doesn't look anything like an Interdictor, those things are spindly ugly ships that look like a component in a sewing machine.

It's disappointing because it looks like an over inflated clipper but doesn't fly like one. It needs better pitch and a C8 PD. That's it! That's all it would take to make it the uber scary ship that Shadowed already thinks it is.

 

[puca]

I take back what I said about the Cutter. It is etremely powerful in 1v1 combat and can easily take on a Corvette. It takes 2 heatsinks to use the SCB vs the Corvette's 1, but the 5 8A SCB's are all you need. The top 2 C3 hardpoints have an insane firing arc with Gimballed weapons. The 4 medium hardpoints are perfect for 4 mc turrets. The C4 hardpoint has plenty of power capacitor with 4 mc's firing at the 4-0-2 mode. The Shield strength is immense. It can ram anything all day long.

It can interdict and intercept any target that isn't 400+ m/s. This ship is perfect for a Pirate Lord or a Bounty Hunter. The Corvette is the ultimate tank. Those 2 C4's do immense damage and it has twice the SCB's as the cutter, and only needs 1 heat sink per SCB. The Corvette can stay in the fight much longer than the Cutter, but the Cutter can outrun the Corvette with ease. The Cutter has higher base shield and much higher mass. That means it can ram the Corvette and take out its Shields really quickly.

Every time I fought a Corvette I was in 4-0-2 until I was out of their firing arc. The Cutter can boost well out of the Corvette's range and flip around and boost back for another attack. The C3's have a surprising firing arc; This + the Cutter's thrusters mean it can keep up with a boost turn really well.

Cutter is easily the scariest ship in the game now. Corvette suffers just like the Anaconda, where it can only engage slower targets that flee.

Interesting report, thank you.

 

[DidierDrbois]

I still want one

 

[Troa Barton]

Since I play on the side of the Federation... it's nice that the Federation finally got a nice ship to help reduce the "Clipper envy".
That said... the Imperial Cutter is a HUGE disappointment. While the Federation got a mini capital ship the Empire got an oversized Clipper. We all wanted something closer in aesthetic to the Imperial Interdictor.
Frontier isn't finished adding ships to the game so HOPEFULLY the Empire will get a ship down the line that looks and feels a bit closer to a capital ship.

I loved the Corvette, the only thing I'd change about it really is the FSD housing. If you put armor on it and load it up its undersized FSD isn't actually enough to push that much mass.
While I would like to switch out the smalls for mediums the thing is that ship is awesome in combat even with them.
For me this isn't a imperial vs Federation debate, at the end of the day I want to have effective ships that are fun in their own way speed and multi usefulness paired against slow but devastating raw firepower with deadly accuracy.
i may be an imperial but I don't want the corvette to be the "bad ship" it isn't i love that ship I want it to even be better than it already is. That thing should be king of the hill in close quarters broadsides. Just as the description dictates, to not quite match it in raw firepower yet more refined and faster but to serve a similar purpose. And it really only takes a few tweakes on each ship to fulfill that doctrine.

if interested by contrast here is my review of the corvette

[video=youtube_share;bt5M47Yl6J0]https://youtu.be/bt5M47Yl6J0[/video]

 

[SindriAndBale]

I've been running into similar problems with the Cutter after flying it just a bit, even with the 8A distributor and four pips to systems, it drains real fast. The biggest issue is obviously this ships complete inability to pitch at all, however I'm rather hesitant to say it needs a significant boost to this because it already has an advantage over the other two large ships (shields, armor, arguably weapons placement). I've also noticed that this ship throws its weight around more than even the Anaconda, and attempting to pull turns in this thing during deceleration causes it to continue hurdling in the direction you were going. Could be useful with FAoff, but otherwise its a pain. Keep shooting past station entrances because of it.

 

[Troa Barton]

I've been running into similar problems with the Cutter after flying it just a bit, even with the 8A distributor and four pips to systems, it drains real fast. The biggest issue is obviously this ships complete inability to pitch at all, however I'm rather hesitant to say it needs a significant boost to this because it already has an advantage over the other two large ships (shields, armor, arguably weapons placement). I've also noticed that this ship throws its weight around more than even the Anaconda, and attempting to pull turns in this thing during deceleration causes it to continue hurdling in the direction you were going. Could be useful with FAoff, but otherwise its a pain. Keep shooting past station entrances because of it.

If it has to give up something to get these tweaks the armor and shields could go down. In fact I find it odd that this ship has more defenses than the corvette. The clipper can be pretty fragile so comparitively you would imagine it's successor would also be, instead relying on speed and damage output over stout defenses.

 

[Bortas]

Agree, the Cutter is a bit disappointing... but damn, I love that ship, so I tried different strategies. What turned out to work best for me, is putting turrets on top and some other weapons, like Cannons on the bottom. Zoom-and-Boom doesn't really work with the Cutter, so let your turrets work on their shields, while you are turning to bring your main weapons to bear.

Unfortunately.... turrets suck. So what we really need, IMHO, is better turrets

 

[Troa Barton]

I still want one

I want one just to hear it boost, and it looks absolutely devine.
Its still an awful ship that will be regulated to trading..
But that sound. Oh that sound.

 

[Troa Barton]

Agree, the Cutter is a bit disappointing... but damn, I love that ship, so I tried different strategies. What turned out to work best for me, is putting turrets on top and some other weapons, like Cannons on the bottom. Zoom-and-Boom doesn't really work with the Cutter, so let your turrets work on their shields, while you are turning to bring your main weapons to bear.

Unfortunately.... turrets suck. So what we really need, IMHO, is better turrets

I vote both, and have it be a choice which you prefer based on preference rather than performance.

 

[Yokoshima]

I (unsurprisingly) very much agree. I prefer the federation ships exteriors. I hate apple products. But the Cutter is a joke. A great trade ship, but that hardly makes up for it failing at its primary job. I know FD didn't have time to respond in the last (1.5) beta, with 2.0 beta and all, but some response would be nice.
.
.
Also you do not use FA off nearly enough when turning. That ship's agility is so bad you can FA off 100% of the time in an hour or so of practice. Granted even with FA off 100% of the time a Conda/Corvette is still a better ship even if you never use FA off with them.

 

[Yokoshima]

I take back what I said about the Cutter. It is etremely powerful in 1v1 combat and can easily take on a Corvette. It takes 2 heatsinks to use the SCB vs the Corvette's 1, but the 5 8A SCB's are all you need. The top 2 C3 hardpoints have an insane firing arc with Gimballed weapons. The 4 medium hardpoints are perfect for 4 mc turrets. The C4 hardpoint has plenty of power capacitor with 4 mc's firing at the 4-0-2 mode. The Shield strength is immense. It can ram anything all day long.

It can interdict and intercept any target that isn't 400+ m/s. This ship is perfect for a Pirate Lord or a Bounty Hunter. The Corvette is the ultimate tank. Those 2 C4's do immense damage and it has twice the SCB's as the cutter, and only needs 1 heat sink per SCB. The Corvette can stay in the fight much longer than the Cutter, but the Cutter can outrun the Corvette with ease. The Cutter has higher base shield and much higher mass. That means it can ram the Corvette and take out its Shields really quickly.

Every time I fought a Corvette I was in 4-0-2 until I was out of their firing arc. The Cutter can boost well out of the Corvette's range and flip around and boost back for another attack. The C3's have a surprising firing arc; This + the Cutter's thrusters mean it can keep up with a boost turn really well.

Cutter is easily the scariest ship in the game now. Corvette suffers just like the Anaconda, where it can only engage slower targets that flee.

First off how do you get rammed by a Cutter? They are slow, lumbering beasts. Then can go in a straight line, but that's it. The Cutter only has a bit better top speed, and if it uses its boost to close the gap there is a very high chance it will overshoot. If you can't utilize the Corvettes C4s, slap some C3s on them. It has much better maneuverability, better PD, more internals, while still having great shields (due to no power issues).
.
Manual Merge
.
.

Since I play on the side of the Federation... it's nice that the Federation finally got a nice ship to help reduce the "Clipper envy".
That said... the Imperial Cutter is a HUGE disappointment. While the Federation got a mini capital ship the Empire got an oversized Clipper. We all wanted something closer in aesthetic to the Imperial Interdictor.
Frontier isn't finished adding ships to the game so HOPEFULLY the Empire will get a ship down the line that looks and feels a bit closer to a capital ship.

" help reduce the "Clipper envy"."
Have you flown an FAS? it, although just, won out as my new favorite ship.

 

[Troa Barton]

I (unsurprisingly) very much agree. I prefer the federation ships exteriors. I hate apple products. But the Cutter is a joke. A great trade ship, but that hardly makes up for it failing at its primary job. I know FD didn't have time to respond in the last (1.5) beta, with 2.0 beta and all, but some response would be nice.
.
.
Also you do not use FA off nearly enough when turning. That ship's agility is so bad you can FA off 100% of the time in an hour or so of practice. Granted even with FA off 100% of the time a Conda/Corvette is still a better ship even if you never use FA off with them.

Lol yeah I probably could have kept it with the assist off for a bit longer but I wanted it to overboost the retro thrusters and stop sliding. It's very noticeable when you do that in the clipper or anaconda where you make it snap into a new direction using boost. Guess that is the definition of insanity at play though.. But like you say even full FA off doesn't really help..

A response from frontier would be nice..

 

[Jaiotu]

" help reduce the "Clipper envy"."
Have you flown an FAS? it, although just, won out as my new favorite ship.

Yes. Flying the FAS as my go-to combat ship these days. "Clipper envy" and only partially been based on utility. Its also based on the ship's overall sleek appearance.

 

[Crimson Kaim]

Don't worry there is still the Anaconda which is better than both faction ships.

 

[MarcusKross]

Agree, the Cutter is a bit disappointing... but damn, I love that ship, so I tried different strategies. What turned out to work best for me, is putting turrets on top and some other weapons, like Cannons on the bottom. Zoom-and-Boom doesn't really work with the Cutter, so let your turrets work on their shields, while you are turning to bring your main weapons to bear.

Unfortunately.... turrets suck. So what we really need, IMHO, is better turrets

This game in general BEGS for more reliable turrets and especially effective missiles and explosives. If we had both of that right now maybe the entire perception of combat capabilities of the cutter would've been different. Now that people perceive that having top agility and maxed out shields is the ONLY way to do combat, it is what they use to lay their judgements on the ships frontier releases and sadly will remain so until frontier pulls it together and and makes it so even low pitch rate ships like the cutter can be effective in combat.

Just imagine what it would've been like if you had access to turrets you can rely on the cutter and missiles which can be used to lay down burst damage. Also point defense turrets should be somewhat effective against small ships... if you find that ridiculous just read Elite: Legacy. It is written by Mr. Brookes himself and i think of it as a guide to how stuff should be in Elite. In that point defense turrets are being used against smaller craft. With the hardpoints you have on the cutter that would've been an incredible ride. I am all for FDEV sticking to their guns when it comes to ship balance but why do we still have unbalanced weaponry and modules now nearing Horizons release? More than half of the backlash they are getting is because of this.

The ship is perfectly fine, its just the game still lacks the tools to make it viable.