My Ultimate Trader Cutter

Stealthie

Stealthie
Wokawidget said:
You could also argue that a trading ship that's loaded to the teeth is a poor trading ship.
Lightend the ship up, downsize certain modules and get a drastically improved jump range.
All you need to be able to do is jump away from an interdiction...how cares about a few k bounty when you have a hull full of millions in profit.
Click to expand...

I tried that, at one stage.

I started off fitting my Cutter with minimal weapons "just for defence" but then I found myself getting into fights I couldn't finish.
After that I figured I'd remove all the weapons from it, to remove any incentive to get into fights.
Then I did a couple of CGs where I got chased by a lot of ant ships (Cobras, Asps etc) and it was irritating to think they could inconvenience me when I could smoke them with ease.... in an armed ship.
So, back to guns again.

At that point I started to realise that the difference, in speed and jump-range, between a completely unarmed Cutter and a properly armed Cutter is negligible.
I mean, if the guns and required PP/PDist knock 2Ly off your jump-range it's probably only ever going to add one jump to a journey - if anything.
Unless you're making regular deliveries between, say, Sol and Maia it's not going to be as much of an inconvenience as getting chased by an outlaw in an Asp is.

Let's face it, if you have got guns, you can still choose not to fight.
If you haven't got guns, the decision isn't yours to make.
 

Northpin

Northpin
Stealthie said:
I started to realise that the difference, in speed and jump-range, between a completely unarmed Cutter and a properly armed Cutter is negligible.
Click to expand...

If you decide against weapons on a trading Cutter, then you'd go further with lighter internals.
Ultimately, during WHN the difference between between my normal Cutter and my LongRange one was 38/30 LY versus 51/37 unladen/laden.
The difference is sensible when hauling stuff on 1600ly round trips
 

CMDR Big Mike

CMDR Big Mike
Wokawidget said:
You cannot use the phase "best trading ship" or "ultimate trading ship"....then post links to a ship that has a docking computer, or SC assist...what's wrong with you all?!
Ditch the "stabiliser wheels"!

I agree with others...a class 6 shield is the way to go for a trading cutter.

You could also argue that a trading ship that's loaded to the teeth is a poor trading ship.
Lighten the ship up, downsize certain modules and get a drastically improved jump range.
All you need to be able to do is jump away from an interdiction...who cares about a few k bounty when you have a hull full of millions in profit.
Click to expand...

I use a docking cpu and SC assist on my trading vessels, as the convenience is worth more to me then the extra 20t or so of cargo.

I wouldn't call it training wheels per se, as flying in supercruise and docking is about as difficult as brushing my teeth at this point
 

Misty_Dark

Misty_Dark
Deejayeff145 said:
Well here's mine in it's mission running layout:
Cutter
No fuel scoop or FSD booster because Colonia.

However for a true trade Cutter, its got to be a class 6 prismatic.
Click to expand...

Well, I got lucky, so I have a Class 5 prismatic.... so I get to reach my goal of 750T cargo, for some obvious reasons, and still have some toys like FSD booster etc...still got some empty compartments... to figure a use for.
I have a Type 9 with the same cargo capacity for the long haul mission running, due to more jumps... so no need for fuelscoop or extra fuel tanks.

Not Fast Enough

[edit]
If I could, I would redo the engineering on the shield, but I do not want to take away the option to change shields, so that will not happen until FDev gives us a specific experimental effect to lets us create new class 5 shields for the Cutter.
 
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Cmdr Snuffler

Cmdr Snuffler
CMDR Big Mike said:
Because it is fun
Click to expand...
...but you can have as much fun, if not more, in a combat ship when not trading. We're talking about a trading ship here.
CMDR Big Mike said:
I use a docking cpu and SC assist on my trading vessels, as the convenience is worth more to me then the extra 20t or so of cargo.
Click to expand...
Convenient is not a word I would use :)
Stealthie said:
Sensible reason: Cos they often continue to pester you throughout your journey so it's better to compel them to desist.
Real reason: For the lulz.
Click to expand...
Never had this before...waking always works.
Then you've created a multi-role ship, not a pure trader, which is what the OP was about ;)
 

Stealthie

Stealthie
CMDR Big Mike said:
I use a docking cpu and SC assist on my trading vessels, as the convenience is worth more to me then the extra 20t or so of cargo.

I wouldn't call it training wheels per se, as flying in supercruise and docking is about as difficult as brushing my teeth at this point
Click to expand...

FWIW, I use an Advanced DC on all my trade-ships these days cos, in CGs especially, the time you can save by boiling the kettle, taking a pee, sorting out your Youtube playlist and plotting your course while the ADC takes care of landing/launching probably offsets the loss of, perhaps, 8t of cargo space.

Honestly, I haven't done the sums but I wouldn't mind betting that, over the course of, say, 100 deliveries during a CG all those saved minutes add up to a bunch of extra loads compared to somebody who isn't using one.

Even if it doesn't, landing something like a Cutter, T9 or T10 isn't exactly rivetting so I'd rather relax and let the ADC do it.
 

CMDR Big Mike

CMDR Big Mike
Wokawidget said:
...but you can have as much fun, if not more, in a combat ship when not trading. We're talking about a trading ship here.

Convenient is not a word I would use :)

Never had this before...waking always works.
Then you've created a multi-role ship, not a pure trader, which is what the OP was about ;)
Click to expand...
Yeah i could use a combat ship, but then I wouldn't be trading... The only true mono-tasker in my fleet is my AX Krait II. As long as there are pirates willing to annoy me, I will carry weapons on my ship. I usually submit to interdictions and if it is something small, I will erase it.

Instead of convenient, are you thinking maybe "Lazy". Im fine with taking the easy route when landing my trade ships. The Cutter should be built for luxury anyway.

Also, if putting weapons on a ship makes it multirole that is kind of a useless definition
 

Just Paul

Just Paul
Hooplah said that it was his ultimate trading Cutter not the ultimate trading Cutter.

I have 2 versions of my trading Cutter. The bubble version can jump further and is faster. Fitted with an 6A fuel scoop she participated in the station repair efforts in the Pleiades sector and WHN. I got interdicted a few times but could always escape with the shields not even losing a ring. The docking computer was for landing on high-g planets, it saved a lot of time.
Big Bertha II

My Colonia Cutter is slower and doesn't need to jump as far as the dangers and distances are different. At the moment she is fitted as a miner.
Need More Painite

A 6A prismatic is a must on a 600+t trading Cutter, it's the only way to trade and bask in style.
 
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Dillon Fallon

Dillon Fallon
Misty_Dark said:
Well, I got lucky, so I have a Class 5 prismatic.... so I get to reach my goal of 750T cargo, for some obvious reasons, and still have some toys like FSD booster etc...still got some empty compartments... to figure a use for.
I have a Type 9 with the same cargo capacity for the long haul mission running, due to more jumps... so no need for fuelscoop or extra fuel tanks.

Not Fast Enough

[edit]
If I could, I would redo the engineering on the shield, but I do not want to take away the option to change shields, so that will not happen until FDev gives us a specific experimental effect to lets us create new class 5 shields for the Cutter.
Click to expand...
I think it's certainly worth taking a look at Ethaidan's build for some ideas of what to do with the empty slots. ;)

I'm surprised by how much shielding that class 5 is still giving you though. Certainly that's more than enough to deal with any NPCs, especially after having fought them off while running shieldless in mine, I can't think of an argument against that sort of a mod.

I kind of feel that being able to run undersized shields and that being viable does make a statement about the state of the NPCs at the moment though.
 

Misty_Dark

Misty_Dark
Deejayeff145 said:
I think it's certainly worth taking a look at Ethaidan's build for some ideas of what to do with the empty slots. ;)

I'm surprised by how much shielding that class 5 is still giving you though. Certainly that's more than enough to deal with any NPCs, especially after having fought them off while running shieldless in mine, I can't think of an argument against that sort of a mod.

I kind of feel that being able to run undersized shields and that being viable does make a statement about the state of the NPCs at the moment though.
Click to expand...
I also surprised about how effective the shields are, I was expecting it to on par with a standard 6A shield, but when I run these numbers in Coriolis, I have to step up to a class 6 prismatic with G5 Thermal Resistance and High Capacity, to get the similar numbers, so it seems that I got a really good roll on that one. But anyway, I would still like for everyone to be able to make class 5 shields for Cutters.


I have no problem taking on NPC mission targets, compared to my Type 9, that need endure until help arrives if I want to kill them. Still experimenting with weapons, there is a reason why my Type 9 is named "Will not turn"...

There so many smaller things regarding the NPC's consitency etc that I hope FDev is working on. I would love for us to have more varied missions where ships like OPs is "required" due to the destination is in a dangerous location with high level NPC's coming after you... As well milk runs to "safe" systems where shields is perfectly fine... so we get to option to choose mission that caters to our risk taking preference. And Ethaidan's pirate build would get some lovely content do, where he picks up piracy missions in anarchy systems... Oh well you can always dream...
 

Dillon Fallon

Dillon Fallon
Misty_Dark said:
I also surprised about how effective the shields are, I was expecting it to on par with a standard 6A shield, but when I run these numbers in Coriolis, I have to step up to a class 6 prismatic with G5 Thermal Resistance and High Capacity, to get the similar numbers, so it seems that I got a really good roll on that one. But anyway, I would still like for everyone to be able to make class 5 shields for Cutters.


I have no problem taking on NPC mission targets, compared to my Type 9, that need endure until help arrives if I want to kill them. Still experimenting with weapons, there is a reason why my Type 9 is named "Will not turn"...

There so many smaller things regarding the NPC's consitency etc that I hope FDev is working on. I would love for us to have more varied missions where ships like OPs is "required" due to the destination is in a dangerous location with high level NPC's coming after you... As well milk runs to "safe" systems where shields is perfectly fine... so we get to option to choose mission that caters to our risk taking preference. And Ethaidan's pirate build would get some lovely content do, where he picks up piracy missions in anarchy systems... Oh well you can always dream...
Click to expand...
If there is one thing I would like to see in the game it's higher risk missions where a Cutter with a class 8 prismatic could be threatened. I agree this would need to be offset by the availability of plenty of easier missions, especially for new players as higher level missions seem to appear purely as a result of being allied to a faction. Potentially you could then up the engineering and ability on high level NPCs on the difficult missions.

I wouldn't say you need an anarchy system for piracy though. I've a Clipper which will do the job nicely in medium security. Pirating NPC mining T-9s in boom agriculture systems is more fun for me than blowing up rocks.
 
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