PvP PVP loadout for cutter. Any suggestions?

[Jake Savage]

i have been attacked three times in four weeks by players in cutters.
So I have bought my own cutter, for these situations.
I am only planing on using it to kill cutter PVP players, so it only needs to hold up for one fight at a time.
Any suggestions on the weapons loadout would be appreciated.
reverberating cascade torpedoes?
what would you guys suggest?

 

[Fendalton]

Sell it, get a FDL, get Cascade rails to stop shield cell bank charges (or whatever they're called) and those missiles that stop FSD charges. No doubt they'll combat log on you in no time.

Cutter PvP is just a sustain race and is very boring.

 

[Shadowed]

Disagree with above. Any PvP Cutter will slaughter a PvP FDL.

My Cutter triple banks, making cascade rails really ineffective. I

My Cutter has 8C Bi Weave regen at 6.7 mj/s with 3000 mj @ ~50% resist. It uses 2 imperial hammers with good thermal secondary, a huge fixed beam g5 efficient, 2 efficient apa's, and 2 long range beams.

The only weakness in my Cutter is:

- Torpedoes that kill shields
- Another Cutter

Most PvPers I fight use Target Lock Breaker PA's and Rails. They are totally outmatched against a Cutter with infinite railgub ammo and a shield that regens far faster than any shield in the game.

Frag Cannons are an excellent match for the immense shields of the Cutter, but it requires risk. Most Frag Cannon PvPers I fight are silent running. Silent Running is utterly useless against a ship with fixed weapons and fire at willl turrets.

The other weapon I use is the Cutter itself. No ship has the ramming potential that the Cutter possesses. Ram a silent Clipper/FAS and 30% of their health is gone while maybe a quarter of a ring of shields for the Cutter.

Grom Bombs are completely useless against a PvP Cutter unless the CMDR with the grom bombs is ALSO in a Cutter. Low waking is far faster when in a Cutter.

I PvP in an FDL and a Cutter and I always find the Cutter far, far more effective.

 

[ALGOMATIC]

Disagree with above. Any PvP Cutter will slaughter a PvP FDL.

My Cutter triple banks, making cascade rails really ineffective. I

My Cutter has 8C Bi Weave regen at 6.7 mj/s with 3000 mj @ ~50% resist. It uses 2 imperial hammers with good thermal secondary, a huge fixed beam g5 efficient, 2 efficient apa's, and 2 long range beams.

The only weakness in my Cutter is:

- Torpedoes that kill shields
- Another Cutter

Most PvPers I fight use Target Lock Breaker PA's and Rails. They are totally outmatched against a Cutter with infinite railgub ammo and a shield that regens far faster than any shield in the game.

Frag Cannons are an excellent match for the immense shields of the Cutter, but it requires risk. Most Frag Cannon PvPers I fight are silent running. Silent Running is utterly useless against a ship with fixed weapons and fire at willl turrets.

The other weapon I use is the Cutter itself. No ship has the ramming potential that the Cutter possesses. Ram a silent Clipper/FAS and 30% of their health is gone while maybe a quarter of a ring of shields for the Cutter.

Grom Bombs are completely useless against a PvP Cutter unless the CMDR with the grom bombs is ALSO in a Cutter. Low waking is far faster when in a Cutter.

I PvP in an FDL and a Cutter and I always find the Cutter far, far more effective.

Do you have any videos to see your cutter in action?

 

[Shadowed]

Do you have any videos to see your cutter in action?

Find me! I'm always in Open. I also stream but I will not post that info as idk if it is allowed.

Feel free to PM me for my CMDR name and we can meet

 

[CMDR Avvie]

When it comes to big ships, it's thankfully all I know. I've never flown a Cutter however the knowledge behind building big ships transfers seamlessly over the Big Three.
Now I'm going to assume you are serious about your builds and your engineers, and that you have all the engineers unlocked, as well as the credits to outfit.

I made a Coriolis.io blueprint of a build that I've seen do exceptionally well against other cutters and big ships. Bear in mind that the numbers on there and the numbers achieved in game will be different but not by a lot. It's a build that will conserve shield strength as well as give you power to fire the weapons almost infinitely.

I hope it gives you a good idea of what you should be aiming for.

 

[Fendalton]

Disagree with above. Any PvP Cutter will slaughter a PvP FDL.

My Cutter triple banks, making cascade rails really ineffective. I

My Cutter has 8C Bi Weave regen at 6.7 mj/s with 3000 mj @ ~50% resist. It uses 2 imperial hammers with good thermal secondary, a huge fixed beam g5 efficient, 2 efficient apa's, and 2 long range beams.

The only weakness in my Cutter is:

- Torpedoes that kill shields
- Another Cutter

Most PvPers I fight use Target Lock Breaker PA's and Rails. They are totally outmatched against a Cutter with infinite railgub ammo and a shield that regens far faster than any shield in the game.

Frag Cannons are an excellent match for the immense shields of the Cutter, but it requires risk. Most Frag Cannon PvPers I fight are silent running. Silent Running is utterly useless against a ship with fixed weapons and fire at willl turrets.

The other weapon I use is the Cutter itself. No ship has the ramming potential that the Cutter possesses. Ram a silent Clipper/FAS and 30% of their health is gone while maybe a quarter of a ring of shields for the Cutter.

Grom Bombs are completely useless against a PvP Cutter unless the CMDR with the grom bombs is ALSO in a Cutter. Low waking is far faster when in a Cutter.

I PvP in an FDL and a Cutter and I always find the Cutter far, far more effective.

But what about those rail guns that stop shield cell charges? Last I knew your shields don't regenerate unless you don't take damage for 5 seconds, but that could have changed. The FDL should surely be able to stay out of the cutters LOS?

 

[CMDR Avvie]

But what about those rail guns that stop shield cell charges? Last I knew your shields don't regenerate unless you don't take damage for 5 seconds, but that could have changed. The FDL should surely be able to stay out of the cutters LOS?

The Feedback Cascade mechanic is based on damage at what point you hit the ship during its spin-up phase (that pulsing motion. It's always 5 seconds unless they're using rapid charge). The earlier you hit the bank, the less charge they get back.

FDLs CAN stay out of the cutters line of sight. If the Cutter pilot boosts behind the FDL and does a 180 FA off he can get guns to bear on an FDL for a short period before the FDL zips overhead once more.

 

[Sole Hunter]

i have been attacked three times in four weeks by players in cutters.
So I have bought my own cutter, for these situations.
I am only planing on using it to kill cutter PVP players, so it only needs to hold up for one fight at a time.
Any suggestions on the weapons loadout would be appreciated.
reverberating cascade torpedoes?
what would you guys suggest?

Sell it, get a FDL.

 

[Hooplah]

At 600 million and 704 cargo a Trader Cutter with decent weapons and shields will easily take out any NPCs if one is bored being interdicted by them. Even an Anaconda using thermal heat weapons won't punch through the shields before jumping out and can take them on with the right build as the Cutter is more maneuverable. A combat engineered Cutter at about 1.3 billion with a great Pilot can take on most any large combat ship one-on-one PvP but is awesome flying in a wing as a support ship just because it can mass lock the opposing ship not getting away. No ship can mass lock a Cutter. Well maybe another Cutter but I haven't tested that. So a Cutter, some Fer-de Lances, maybe a few Imp Clippers with Pilots who know what they are doing and communicating with headsets will easily defeat any opposition in the game. Once one knows the skills it could get boring.

Going solo the Anaconda and the Corvette might be better. They have better weapons placement than the Cutter and the Corvette is more maneuverable but nowhere close to the boost and FA off combat abilities of the Cutter. Outfit and engineer a Cutter then go play with friends as it was designed. Like that Trader Cutter you will get bored taking out the opposition doing it in style with a great looking ship.

Did I mention that those wimps in the Federation are not worth wasting my distributor recharge taking them out? I have more important Empire issues to deal with.

 

[Sole Hunter]

At 600 million and 704 cargo a Trader Cutter with decent weapons and shields will easily take out any NPCs if one is bored being interdicted by them. Even an Anaconda using thermal heat weapons won't punch through the shields before jumping out and can take them on with the right build as the Cutter is more maneuverable. A combat engineered Cutter at about 1.3 billion with a great Pilot can take on most any large combat ship one-on-one PvP but is awesome flying in a wing as a support ship just because it can mass lock the opposing ship not getting away. No ship can mass lock a Cutter. So a Cutter, some Fer-de Lances, maybe a few Imp Clippers with Pilots who know what they are doing and communicating with headsets will easily defeat any opposition in the game.

Going solo the Anaconda and the Corvette might be better. They have better weapons placement than the Cutter and the Corvette is more maneuverable but nowhere close to the boost and FA off combat abilities of the Cutter. Outfit and engineer a Cutter then go play with friends as it was designed. Like that Trader Cutter you will get bored taking out the opposition doing it in style with a great looking ship.

Did I mention that those wimps in the Federation are not worth wasting my distributor recharge taking them out? I have more important Empire issues to deal with.

http://www.ffeartpage.com/ed/cwings.jpg

Read the title of the thread.

 

[Hooplah]

Read the title of the thread.

I read the title. What many miss is that there is no one answer. A 'Noob' flying in a shiny new Cutter is a target waiting to be destroyed. Probably will need all turrets in 'fire at will' mode until they can take on serious opponents. A player who invested many hours firing weapons in combat often losing the battle, then many more hours engineering them (actually required for serious PvP) can defeat any other player. Me? I'm into beam lasers, frag cannons and rail guns. I've spent many hours dialing them in. Your results may vary. It is not about what one flies but how well they fly it. If one knows their weapon capabilities and what works for the player it is pretty easy setting up a Cutter. If not get a smaller cheaper ship and get serious learning the weapons. Not to mention the totally different flying style of a Cutter! Mastered the Vulture and the FAS? It is a whole new ballgame with the Cutter. Welcome to Elite Dangerous.

 

[Sole Hunter]

I read the title. What many miss is that there is no one answer. A 'Noob' flying in a shiny new Cutter is a target waiting to be destroyed. Probably will need all turrets in 'fire at will' mode until they can take on serious opponents. A player who invested many hours firing weapons in combat often losing the battle, then many more hours engineering them (actually required for serious PvP) can defeat any other player. Me? I'm into beam lasers, frag cannons and rail guns. I've spent many hours dialing them in. Your results may vary. It is not about what one flies but how well they fly it. If one knows their weapon capabilities and what works for the player it is pretty easy setting up a Cutter. If not get a smaller cheaper ship and get serious learning the weapons. Not to mention the totally different flying style of a Cutter! Mastered the Vulture and the FAS? It is a whole new ballgame with the Cutter. Welcome to Elite Dangerous.

You clearly don't PVP.

 

[Jake Savage]

What about powerplay weapons. Anyone recommend any?

 

[MUSKETEER]

What about powerplay weapons. Anyone recommend any?

They are good. Imperial Hammers, Pacifier Frag Cannons are probably my favourite. I'd like to get APAs.
I've got Pack-Hounds, but never fly ship big enough to have spare medium hardpoint for them.

EDIT: For a Cutter, Prismatic Shields would be probably one powerplay item I would get first.

 

[INX]

Half year ago I was exactly like you, just get my cutter and really love it, want it to be viable in PVP but somehow searching online, most results I've got is go use medium sized ships or switch to other big threes.

Till now I've finally made my pvp self-defence build, I can't say it will ensure killing, but for 1 on 1 or sometimes 1 on 2 against skilled pvpers it for sure can defense itself without having to low/high-wake.

Note that I'm not those people who simply make comments without testing, I have a bunch of skilled pvp friends helping me test it out and kick me in the for months.

So here comes some basic principles with the build:

1st, fixed projectile weapons like pa/multicanon/canon is NOT viable against skilled + heavily engineered ships for cutter, especially apa. A FDL/FAS with 140 dirty drive can easily out manuver you, you will have a really short door hitting them but without constant damage, their bi-weave shield regens quickly. Even gimble multicannon is still hard to use according to my experience, but at least more viable.
So at the same time, it means you need decent turret weapons for good close-range damage.


2nd, decent long-range damage is needed. Lot's of players now using fdl to do reverse-flying (which is a really boring but effective pvp tactic) so if you cannot out run them, you need to be able to shoot them back at the same time. And sometimes against other big-threes ganking you, being able to do reverse flying + long range hitting them will make them quickly give up since it won't be a winning fight for them.

3rd, if you want to really kill some pvp players, rather than cg and defence yourself at the same time, don't use cutter. Since most of the small ships if they really want to run, with superior thrusters they can run anytime.

And the build:

Weapons: 1 G4 Fixed long range Pulse + 1 G2 Imperial hammer long range with feedback cascade >> this is for decent long-range damage + feedback cascade against any shield-tanking build.
1 G2 turret multicannon Overcharged with Corrosive ammo >> As I said tested gimble/fixed mc is basically not viable. however we still need the corrosive effect against hull-tanking middle ships, also we'll gonna be chaff to death, but in close range it can still easily get that buff on + will keep forcing your enemy use chaff.
1 G2 turret cannon (optional) long range with dispersal field >> This is optional since I use this basically against those who still using gimble in pvp, and I don't want to waste my previous utility slot. long range is basically the only viable one make cannon hit target properly. For these cannon and multicannons please bound to another firegroup to control when to use it and save ammo.
1 G3 turret beam with efficient thermal vent >> before I actually use emissive pulse but seems emissive is only effective for gimble (hardly see any improvement for turret), I switch to turret beam. And also thermal vent is able to keep your heat in a really low level and still not overloading distributor in my current build.
1 G3 burst with rapid-fire scramble spectrum >> simply to get a decent amount of damage + with the scramble spectrum keep anoying enemy cmdrs, sometimes even able to disable their thrusters, even powerplants, if they don't have a good energy level management, they are dead then.
Finally, 1 G2 pack hound(or normal missile) with higher capacity + drag-munition >> since cutter is verrrrrryyyy slow for manuver, having drag-munition buff is really important to keep your turret weapons firing / able to get the distance for reverse flying. Also when your enemy in FDL hesitate before running-away, this will probably give them a lesson for making that decision late. For missile type, normal one is better at chasing running away enemies, pack hound is better at damaging external modules (means very deadly to fas), that's your own choice.

Shields: As one cmdr said above in this thread, don't use bi-weave since you can hardly get shield recovering in a pvp-situation, especially in a cutter. For middle ships it is good since they do hull-tanking and can quickly get shield recharged back, making actuall shield volumn 3-4 times more than actual, and with much higher resistance. However for a cutter, your advantage is your huge amount of shield, when it break, just run away and there is no chance to bring it back-up. I personally use 2 scbs, Reinforced shield + 2 thermal booster with the rest all heavy-duty. This is optional depends on your own preference.

All other details basically depend on your own demand and your power-plant capacity, I keep 2 heat-sink and sometimes switch one to ecm but not seeing ecm good against any torp builds yet, that need to be tested.

Hope my half-year experience engineering + testing the cutter can help you a bit.

 

[Pharmacist]

Just get some good thrusters so that you can boost away and high wake from players who do large ship PVP in superior combat vessels.

 

[CMDR Avvie]

@OP

It's clear that the majority vote here is to not use the Cutter. And to be honest, it'll save you the trouble of getting used to the pitch rate that's slower than drying paint.

That being said, the Cutter IS a deadly ship in its own right; It's the strongest shielded ship and the fastest large vessel. Because of it's tanking ability it is an excellent support ship in a wing, be it a shield healer, strafing fragger or a chaser. Basically, use it to combat other big ships and support in killing the smaller ones. It's not going to be the ultimate ship in the game: Every ship has its weakness. But used right, can serve you well. Depends on what you enjoy flying the most. For me, it's the Corvette.

 

[Jake Savage]

Thanks guys, esp cmdr Inx for your comprehensive post.
Lots to take on board, and to think about.
I keep trying to fly the cutter like my corvette. (Big mistake).
i guess I will try some of the suggestions that you all have put forward.
Have to think about the cutters strong points, and it's weak points, to come up with different tactics than I use with the vette.

 

[CMDR Avvie]

Thanks guys, esp cmdr Inx for your comprehensive post.
Lots to take on board, and to think about.
I keep trying to fly the cutter like my corvette. (Big mistake).
i guess I will try some of the suggestions that you all have put forward.
Have to think about the cutters strong points, and it's weak points, to come up with different tactics than I use with the vette.

Things to think about when you're in a Cutter is that you're not a DPS machine. You are a sustain machine. So much defensive strength and speed means you get to control the flow of battle if you manage to get the attention of your aggressors. You can shrug off a lot of damage and dish some out but you won't be dodging much. Keeping a 2-3km engagement range means you can have the parallel lateral movement in FA off to keep guns on and give time to reach to maneuvers against you. You're not a brawler.