Ships The Cutter really takes the wind out of my sails

The novel Elite: Reclamation.

And yes, I meant the Courier.

Well, there was a Courier and Cutter in Elite: Reclamation. The cutter was called the 'Caduceus' and the Courier the 'Seven Veils'.

Bear in the mind the book was finalised at the end of 2013, at the 'alpha' stage of the game, long before those ships were realised by the devs and designers.

As a result the descriptions are a bit vague as they were based on teaser/speculative/early access info.

The cutter was described as a big Imperial ship capable of carrying two fighters along with it for defence. They were ambushed by six ships and overwhelmed.

By contract, the courier was based on the ship from the Elite Sequel: FFE and turned about to be rather bigger than the ship that was eventually called the Imperial Courier in Elite: Dangerous.

Cheers,

Drew.
 
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By contract, the courier was based on the ship from the Elite Sequel: FFE and turned about to be rather bigger than the ship that was eventually called the Imperial Courier in Elite: Dangerous.

What if you retcon that Courier into a Clipper (the ambushed one, not Kahina's personal one at the end)? Given the digital age, at least the ebooks could even get it as an update, can't they? :)
 
What if you retcon that Courier into a Clipper (the ambushed one, not Kahina's personal one at the end)? Given the digital age, at least the ebooks could even get it as an update, can't they? :)

The cutter is correct in the book I think. It needs to be big enough to carry the Imperial fighters through hyperspace, I don't think the Clipper can do that.

Cheers,

Drew.
 
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So I responded before I caught that edit, and I try not to ignore things. Anyway, I've spent ~ 30 hours in one in CZs and RESs. So far the best way I have found is FA off pretty much all the time and semi-standard dog fighting (with an angled boost here and there). I have to repair more often, but the kill speed of "hit and run" is abysmal. In CZs I only attack ships that are not looking at me. With luck I can do enough alpha damage that they can't hit me much before they die. Vs Anaconda's/FGS I do "hit and run" since NPCs pull agro and there is no way I am face tanking that.

This is also what I have tried to state. Hit and run doesn't work with a mediocre speed (admittedly fast for a ship that size, but most ships are smaller) and such a slow turn rate. It might 'work' against NPCs if other NPCs draw threat, but in PvP or situations where you are one on one the option to use this gimmick is completely severed.

In PvP the other player either chases you and blasts you the whole half a minute you are trying to turn around, or simply bolt and frame shift. For a warship, it is completely incapable of holding its own weight in an engagement.


I just finished listening to the audiobook and was wondering about that too. I figured it was something like that.

Really good book, by the way. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. From all the books from Elite I have gone through it is by far my favorite.
 
This is also what I have tried to state. Hit and run doesn't work with a mediocre speed (admittedly fast for a ship that size, but most ships are smaller) and such a slow turn rate. It might 'work' against NPCs if other NPCs draw threat, but in PvP or situations where you are one on one the option to use this gimmick is completely severed.

In PvP the other player either chases you and blasts you the whole half a minute you are trying to turn around, or simply bolt and frame shift. For a warship, it is completely incapable of holding its own weight in an engagement.



I just finished listening to the audiobook and was wondering about that too. I figured it was something like that.

Really good book, by the way. Thoroughly enjoyed listening to it. From all the books from Elite I have gone through it is by far my favorite.

The game is not balanced around PvP, it is mainly a PvE game with elements of PvP added in for fun, when will people understand you do not balance a MMO game around PvP...it does not work.

Cutter has the best Shields in game, and a decent Boost speed for a large ship and the highest mass lock...if you get interdicted by a player well...max pips to shield, 2 pips to engine and boost away spamming chaff till your fsd is off CD they can not Mass lock you.
 
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The game is not balanced around PvP, it is mainly a PvE game with elements of PvP added in for fun, when will people understand you do not balance a MMO game around PvP...it does not work.

Cutter has the best Shields in game, and a decent Boost speed for a large ship and the highest mass lock...if you get interdicted by a player well...max pips to shield, 2 pips to engine and boost away spamming chaff till your fsd is off CD they can not Mass lock you.

I'm not sure the ability to run away is what people look for in a warship. I suppose it is perfect for a mere armed trader though, which is what the Cutter is. It is in no way, shape or form a combat ship. It's not even multipurpose, as it can't do neither combat nor exploration well.

It's a pure armed trader, and a massive slap in the face for everyone who spent the time to get rank and credits for the "top of the line player-owned faction warship".
 
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The game is not balanced around PvP, it is mainly a PvE game with elements of PvP added in for fun, when will people understand you do not balance a MMO game around PvP...it does not work.

Cutter has the best Shields in game, and a decent Boost speed for a large ship and the highest mass lock...if you get interdicted by a player well...max pips to shield, 2 pips to engine and boost away spamming chaff till your fsd is off CD they can not Mass lock you.

Okay. Still doesn't work in PvE when engaging in other than CZ since most ships would just chase you or run off. The point doesn't change, you are nitpicking an element of it.

Also I would like to point out that you are countering my point on how nonviable this ship is at combat by suggesting how to run away.
 
The game is not balanced around PvP, it is mainly a PvE game with elements of PvP added in for fun, when will people understand you do not balance a MMO game around PvP...it does not work.
Sorry but it doesn't work that way.

If a game has a PvP element, that PVP element has to be balanced. Period.

PvP is not an 'accessory' of the game, it is an intrinsic part of the game, and every ship that can be used for PvP has to be adequately balanced for it.

Playing PvE (Solo) is YOUR option, but playing PvP is the option of many others, equally valid to your choice.
 
Cutter has the best Shields in game, and a decent Boost speed for a large ship and the highest mass lock...if you get interdicted by a player well...max pips to shield, 2 pips to engine and boost away spamming chaff till your fsd is off CD they can not Mass lock you.

The Cutter is definetely unbeatable in running away. But... who's going to buy a 1 billion credit warship, if all it can do well, is run away?
 
PvP is not an 'accessory' of the game, it is an intrinsic part of the game, and every ship that can be used for PvP has to be adequately balanced for it.

PvP is only an accessory for the game. And a minor one since CQC has been released specifically for that. Enough has already been broken (speed limit, "speeding bounties", endless nerfs and meaningless changes instead of proper bugfixing,..) just because Frontier rushed idiotic patches to cater to the PvP crowd.

Fact is: The cutter is for many the most interesting ship in the upcoming expansion, yet people are constantly WHINING about it. Instead of getting one of the other almost 30 (!) ships that are available, people are demanding "balancing".
 
PvP is only an accessory for the game. And a minor one since CQC has been released specifically for that. Enough has already been broken (speed limit, "speeding bounties", endless nerfs and meaningless changes instead of proper bugfixing,..) just because Frontier rushed idiotic patches to cater to the PvP crowd.
Ah! the classic PvE vs PvP endless conflict. I'm sorry if you find it hard to accept it, but again, if you can PvP in it, it has to be balanced for PvP. There's simply no other option. It has been this way since the 1st PvP game. And it will be forever.

Fact is: The cutter is for many the most interesting ship in the upcoming expansion, yet people are constantly WHINING about it. Instead of getting one of the other almost 30 (!) ships that are available, people are demanding "balancing".
And righfully so. If the Cutter can face PvP, it has to balanced for PvP. Period.

The 'whining' comes from the people that feel it is not properly balanced for that function. Again, an opinion as equally valid as the one from that trader that will never play in open mode.
 
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Think about 2.2 and above, when we can multi-crew. We know the imperial fighter is coming early next year. So the Cutter is interdicted, and it's slow turning. So what? Deploy two fighters and hit them with your C3 beams. The small nimble ships will out maneuver the iCutter, but not the fighter. Also, the I utter will mass lock you while the fighter and beams eat you alive.
 
Sorry but it doesn't work that way.

If a game has a PvP element, that PVP element has to be balanced. Period.

PvP is not an 'accessory' of the game, it is an intrinsic part of the game, and every ship that can be used for PvP has to be adequately balanced for it.

Playing PvE (Solo) is YOUR option, but playing PvP is the option of many others, equally valid to your choice.

Open is not PvP, Open is MMO play the PvP is not forced on players it does not earn players money, nor any items in game it is purely for enjoyment and role play purposes...while PvE earns you credits/Rep and other items.

Sorry if you want pvp to be balanced then go play CQC that is what it is for those who want fast paced PVP action in elite..and the CQC imo is balanced and does its job fine.

The Cutter is definetely unbeatable in running away. But... who's going to buy a 1 billion credit warship, if all it can do well, is run away?

Freighters? Would you pick a Type 9? A Conda can now be mass locked by a Corvette or Cutter...so the Cutter is the ultimate blockage runner.
 
PvP is only an accessory for the game. And a minor one since CQC has been released specifically for that. Enough has already been broken (speed limit, "speeding bounties", endless nerfs and meaningless changes instead of proper bugfixing,..) just because Frontier rushed idiotic patches to cater to the PvP crowd.

Fact is: The cutter is for many the most interesting ship in the upcoming expansion, yet people are constantly WHINING about it. Instead of getting one of the other almost 30 (!) ships that are available, people are demanding "balancing".

Fact is, there are three 'warships' rather than thirty. The other two are cheaper and better at their defined purpose (Cutter is better at trading, yes. Yippee).

Think about 2.2 and above, when we can multi-crew. We know the imperial fighter is coming early next year. So the Cutter is interdicted, and it's slow turning. So what? Deploy two fighters and hit them with your C3 beams. The small nimble ships will out maneuver the iCutter, but not the fighter. Also, the I utter will mass lock you while the fighter and beams eat you alive.

Have you faced Imperial Fighters in CZ? They are not precisely a threat.

Sure, they might get better by the time they come out, maybe. Yet this is all conjecturing in may-be. If you have to wait for who knows how long for the ship to be viable in combat, then there is a problem. It shouldn't be out if it is not fit for purpose.

EDIT:

Open is not PvP, Open is MMO play the PvP is not forced on players it does not earn players money, nor any items in game it is purely for enjoyment and role play purposes...while PvE earns you credits/Rep and other items.

Remind me. In MMO how do they categorize servers where there is open PvP?

Answer: PvP servers.
 
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Think about 2.2 and above, when we can multi-crew. We know the imperial fighter is coming early next year. So the Cutter is interdicted, and it's slow turning. So what? Deploy two fighters and hit them with your C3 beams. The small nimble ships will out maneuver the iCutter, but not the fighter. Also, the I utter will mass lock you while the fighter and beams eat you alive.
What you're forgetting is that the corvette can also do this. The difference would be that the corvette is much more useful in that situation than the cutter.
In the cutter those fighters are effectively chaff, instead of assets as with the corvette. Being regulated to chaff wouldn't be fun for a multicrew-mate.
 
Fact is, there are three 'warships' rather than thirty. The other two are cheaper and better at their defined purpose (Cutter is better at trading, yes. Yippee).



Have you faced Imperial Fighters in CZ? They are not precisely a threat.

Sure, they might get better by the time they come out, maybe. Yet this is all conjecturing in may-be. If you have to wait for who knows how long for the ship to be viable in combat, then there is a problem. It shouldn't be out if it is not fit for purpose.

EDIT:



Remind me. In MMO how do they categorize servers where there is open PvP?

Answer: PvP servers.


Open is not PvP Servers, you can have private group play that is PvP Servers...and it is your choice to go into pvp, not the ship that you fly...so NO ships should be be balanced around PvP, if this was the case everyone would run around in the biggest most baddass ships...instead we have little ships like the FAS, Viper and Vulture who can dominate large ships in PvP...is that balanced? No but it makes the small ships still useful if they can destroy the large ships....if the Corvette and Cutter turned like an Eagle for "PvP balance" then everyone would be in one of those..
 
Freighters? Would you pick a Type 9? A Conda can now be mass locked by a Corvette or Cutter...so the Cutter is the ultimate blockage runner.

That's what we are saying, isn't it? Of course I will get a Cutter for trading... no doubt, it will be the best freighter in the game. The freighter-version will cost only around 300 mill btw. But... it wasn't advertised as a freighter. Its description clearly states it's meant to be the imperial counterpart to the Federal Corvette, a warship. Outfitting it as a warship costs no less than 1 billion credits. So, as an Imperial, I can get my hands on the largest and most expensive "warship" in the game, and... I can run away well in it? Cool, exactly what I was looking for. :(
 
Open is not PvP, Open is MMO play the PvP is not forced on players it does not earn players money, nor any items in game it is purely for enjoyment and role play purposes...while PvE earns you credits/Rep and other items.

Sorry if you want pvp to be balanced then go play CQC that is what it is for those who want fast paced PVP action in elite..and the CQC imo is balanced and does its job fine.
Open has a PvP element integrated on it. Voluntary? Of course. But if for whatever reason someone decides to use the PvP aspect, all its elements have to be balanced. BTW, PvP also grants players Money (bounties), items (cargo, loot) and combat rank.

CQC is also PvP, and it also has to be balanced. The only difference lies in that it is 'separate' game mode, but that only means it needs a separate balance too.

I play CQC and I want CQC balance. And I also PvP in open and I want Open PvP balance.
 
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Honestly, I don't like every car on a car lot. Some drive well while others suck. Kinda the way it is right? With the cutter I don't think it is a half bad ship but it does have it's negatives considering combat so either use it or don't. I suspect we will continue to see new ships with new content updates going forward. I doubt 30 is the end.

Time for some luxury ships where I can ferry the richest of the rich from planet to planet and if I want to turn to the darkside :) sell them as slaves.
 
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