Why the hell am I rank grinding? Cutter or Corvette worth it?

[Stinja]

Not worth it IMO.

Cutter and vette do stuff (trade, combat) slightly better than an Anaconda, but the grind is massive for these increases. On a pure how to spend your hours, i'd rather do more interesting and fun things in a ship slightly worse (but better in many other areas than the other 2).

Remember there is some objective arguments, like the Cutter can haul X at Y speed with Z shields; and subjective ones, like flight characteristics; so you'll need to balance these yourself.

 

[Jack Schitt]

I've only flown both ships in beta but I didn't really take to either of them.

I don't PVP so the Corvette's insane firepower would be overkill for me, and it has all the aesthetic appeal of a plank. The Cutter is beautiful and its cargo carrying capacity is legendary, so if I do eventually reach the dizzying heights of Duke (my current CMDR is barely a Knight) I imagine I'll replace the venerable T9 with a Cutter just to max out the trade CGs.

So, Corvette probably never and Cutter if I get there by default. But I have no plans to grind for either. Have fun with whatever you decide.

 

[MarkAusten]

First off sell your T9 and get a Python. You don't need a T9 with a Tradaconda. Engineer the Python and use it to run missions to rank grind. It will take the tedium out of the grind. You can always run a few deliveries with the Conda and hit some hazrez with the Python at the same time as running missions.

The Cutter would be the first ship to unlock. It is a huge earner and will pay for itself and the Corvette. Once the Cutter is unlocked kit the Conda out for exploration, PVE or sell it. You can always buy another at a later date. The Cutter is so good for trading and imo handles better than the Conda once you get used to the drift. The speed and drift maneuvers (with flight assist off) can get you dropping deliveries and raking in credits so fast. it just feels better to fly than the Anaconda.

Keep at it and good luck.

I think you missed the bit where he said that he could not bear to sell the Anaconda and T9. If you can find good A-B-A route that is only one jump for the T9, and there are plenty of them around, the T9 beats just about everything except the Corvette & Cutter for trade hands down.

@OP, the Cutter is a bit more manoeuvrable than the T9 but has many of its characteristics, the mass, the slew, the looks. I have both and I still fly both. I did sell my first T9 but bought another one almost immediately after.

 

[Susanna]

Very worth it. I now own all of the big three and they each have functions that they excel at. The Anaconda is the ideal multirole ship and explorer, the Corvette is basically flying death to NPCs in any number, and the Cutter is a nigh-invincible cargo ship. Each also offers a distinctly different flying experience.

If you have your heart set on a Corvette or Cutter, there are ways to get them a little faster than normal. Quince will get you the rank and money for a Cutter in about a month, and Niu Hsing will get you the rank for a Corvette in a similar amount of time. Just depends on what rank you happen to be at already. The lower the better, as long as you hold off on accepting any rank-up missions.

If you are just doing rank grinding, Duke took me about a fortnight and Rear Admiral about a week (the system was in Boom so that made it much easier). I was damned glad to finish both of these two grinds though. But I love both ships so it was worth it to me.

 

[Quantis Trap]

I have rank for both ships and have both. If I had to choose between having one or the other it would be easy! I'd pick the Cutter for sure.

It's the best hauler in the current game hands down. Everyone agrees with this, but it's also a very nice PvE and Multi-Role ship too. I have both a hauling Cutter and a Battle / Multi-Role Cutter and I enjoy using both.

 

[Whiterose]

Just do it. The Cutter is a lovely ship, very versatile. Like all things in life it is personal preference. I grew up poor as a child, even simple things were out of my parents fiscal reach, so now I will get a vette because I can and I want one, and can afford it. Currently need 215% for the rank. It is only very slightly grindy, as I would be passing time anyway until 2.4 drops.

 

[DukeIronHand]

Thanks for the thoughtful replies.
Yea I guess I'll keep going, slowly but surely, and eventually get a Cutter "because it's there."

If I don't like it I am not afraid to sell it.
But I probably will!
Then I can agonize over having three big ships all fitted out as Traders unless one is just so obviously awesome.
Tough being a Lakon slappy and a ship junky.

As an aside been in Quince now for two days and it blows. Maybe just bad luck.

 

[Aashenfox]

Not worth it for me, somehow I spend all the credits I make so I'll never have enough to outfit a Corvette lol. I stopped working so hard on Fed rank after I got sol permit and the assault ship. The assault ship is bloody awesome.

 

[BigBANGtheory [VR]]

That's the thing with grind you are trading off your short-term enjoyment to get to a place where your long-term enjoyment starts but at the risk of burning out. If you are going to grind get it done as fast as possible, if it really starts to bother you take a break and go do something else that helps such as planning for the engineer modules in your future ships so they are waiting for you.

 

[Grisnir]

Not worth it IMO.

Cutter and vette do stuff (trade, combat) slightly better than an Anaconda, but the grind is massive for these increases. On a pure how to spend your hours, i'd rather do more interesting and fun things in a ship slightly worse (but better in many other areas than the other 2).

Remember there is some objective arguments, like the Cutter can haul X at Y speed with Z shields; and subjective ones, like flight characteristics; so you'll need to balance these yourself.

i won't call 276/308 (vs conda) 228/260 (vs Type-9) more ton slightly better, while keeping a good jump range and good shields. so if the OP is a trader, go for the Cutter ,it beats currently every other trading ship by far

 

[MarkAusten]

i won't call 276/308 (vs conda) 228/260 (vs Type-9) more ton slightly better, while keeping a good jump range and good shields. so if the OP is a trader, go for the Cutter ,it beats currently every other trading ship by far

Indeed so, but there's just something special about flying a T9. I made the mistake of selling my T9 once, I won't do that again.

 

[dape]

If you have your heart set on a Corvette or Cutter, there are ways to get them a little faster than normal. Quince will get you the rank and money for a Cutter in about a month, and Niu Hsing will get you the rank for a Corvette in a similar amount of time. Just depends on what rank you happen to be at already. The lower the better, as long as you hold off on accepting any rank-up missions.

i don't understand. Can you please explain this?

I did the grind for a Clipper (i think it was at Wunagi) which took me three days from zero. That was ok bit looking at how much more it would take to get the rank for a Cutter I went off to do other stuff...

 

[Stinja]

i won't call 276/308 (vs conda) 228/260 (vs Type-9) more ton slightly better

I'm not English, so maybe I've got the wrong word. What would you use to describe something 10% better, is the sliding list like below?

- equal
- marginally
- slightly
- substantially
- significantly

I didn't disagree the other two are better at certain activaties, the OP queried if that 10% increase is worth the significant* grind.


(* see list above, in case wrong term again)

 

[Arindor]

That's the problem if you want something in ED, the grind. It took me a while to step back, relax, just go with the flow and play the game without any specific goals with the exception of making some cash and dabbling in RNG/rank progression once in a while. It certainly helped my sanity and to appreciate the game more (like I did when I first played in PB). If you're one of the "I want it all, and I want it darn quickly" brigade, then all you'll get quickly is frustrated, and most things in ED are not designed to be obtained quickly. So let it go, enjoy the ride, and experience the pleasure of gaining something when it happens. Remember, it's only a grind it you let it be a grind.

 

[MarkAusten]

That's the problem if you want something in ED, the grind. It took me a while to step back, relax, just go with the flow and play the game without any specific goals with the exception of making some cash and dabbling in RNG/rank progression once in a while. It certainly helped my sanity and to appreciate the game more (like I did when I first played in PB). If you're one of the "I want it all, and I want it darn quickly" brigade, then all you'll get quickly is frustrated, and most things in ED are not designed to be obtained quickly. So let it go, enjoy the ride, and experience the pleasure of gaining something when it happens. Remember, it's only a grind it you let it be a grind.

Here endth today's lesson. Please open your hymn books to number 27.

Only kidding, you have a valid point there.

 

[DukeIronHand]

Indeed so, but there's just something special about flying a T9. I made the mistake of selling my T9 once, I won't do that again.

Well said. And hence my (personal) dilemma.
With ships, for me, it's not just about the numbers but the "feel" of the entire package. The T9, Anaconda, and AspX all do it for me. Also like the other T-Ships but tend to be a little more practical with them.

Take the Python. Great ship and, in total, maybe the best in the game but I just don't feel it and buy and sell one constantly using it only when I have too. Bit of Ship Junky Weirdness.

 

[Stealthie]

Been reading threads here about this and that tonight and I had a brain flash.

Why the hell am I rank grinding like a damn maniac? Been doing it 3-4 weeks now.

The question you need to ask yourself (and which you might not want to consider) is what else you'd be doing instead?

I don't mean that in an antagonistic way.
The point is, if there are other things which you might find more fun, or more rewarding, then certainly do those things instead.
Course, that's where ED can reveal a bit of a lack of direction if the player doesn't provide that for themselves.

Personally, I do like both ships but I'm not sure I'm qualified to say whether either is "worth it".
I got my Cutter in 4 days, just to see if it could be done.
The missions I did to gain the rank easily paid for the ship and all it's upgrades and now it's parked-up, ready to get me into the top 10% of any cargo CG I participate in, so I'm happy.
Conversely, I didn't grind rank to get my Corvette.
I just played the game for a year and, aside from a couple of "grind sessions" to complete specific milestones, I just let it happen.
Course, getting the rank (and the ship) was just the start.
Because I hadn't accumulated a huge amount of credits while unlocking the rank, I had to find the credits to buy all the upgrades the ship needs.
The core components are all VERY expensive, there are a lot of optional slots which need filling with even more expensive things to make it a decent warship and the weapons are also very expensive too.
I didn't really grind that either though.
I just played the game until I'd made a couple of hundred-million credits and then I'd go and buy something for the 'vette.
Rinse and repeat.

S'funny really. I suppose the Corvette actually motivated me to play the game in order to get it finished and I'm actually rather glad of that for the same reason I mentioned originally.
After all, if I wasn't working toward building the Corvette, what else would I have been doing instead?

 

[Grisnir]

I'm not English, so maybe I've got the wrong word. What would you use to describe something 10% better, is the sliding list like below?

- equal
- marginally
- slightly
- substantially
- significantly

I didn't disagree the other two are better at certain activaties, the OP queried if that 10% increase is worth the significant* grind.


(* see list above, in case wrong term again)

my cutter can move 68% more cargo than a conda and 52% than a Type-9 , so as example, i moved 53200 tons in last GC and made 212 mio credits, so if i used a conda instead, i would moved 31640 tons and made 126 mio credits
and for are type-9 the numbers are 35000 tons and 140 mio

and for me slightly better means 1%-5% and not 50% [big grin]

Indeed so, but there's just something special about flying a T9. I made the mistake of selling my T9 once, I won't do that again.

i flew on the beta, i would rather take a tradeconda or shoot me in the foot [big grin]

 

[xDreadnoughtx]

I did the rank work for the cutter early on. Purely for powerplay. Shifting PP packages. For that it was supreme.
The fed rank was already long in place.

Now that I am retired from PP and have as much treasure as I will ever need, the cutter lies idle. The corvette gets out once a month if that.

Anaconda is my go to bgs and exploration workhorse. AspX for materials.

FDL is supreme for combat. I simply dislike the low speed and/or poor maneuverability of cutter/corvette in a combat role.

Might be that Thargoids give those ships more purpose for me in the future.


Good luck

 

[DukeIronHand]

The question you need to ask yourself (and which you might not want to consider) is what else you'd be doing instead?

Hehe. Basically the same thing though in a less maniacal and linear fashion for the Minor Faction of my choice interspersed with some mining, trading, or exploring tangents.