Ships Apex Clipper...not sure where to go from here...

[Dunkel Reynolds]

Been flying the iClipper for a while now and really love it. It does about 80% of what I want it to do...for the rest, I have an AspE or iCourier. Here she is:

http://coriolis.io/outfit/imperial_...i592f24.Iw18cAMxA===.IwBj4y2HqA==?bn=Lagertha

She's a mean mother and I clean up in RES...maybe not so much in CZ, but that's ok. The Biweave shields have taken her from really great to freaking awesome.

Anyway, the question is where I go from here. I was looking forward to the iCutter, but that looks like its turned out to be a dud unless you're into trading...which I'm not. I have the money to get into a base model, but don't see the point unless it gets some buffs.

The Corvette looks cool and seems to have pleased everyone more than the Cutter, and I have the money, but the rank grind is a bit too much right now...just made Chief Petty Officer, so there's a ways to go.

That leaves Python or Anaconda...neither of which are super appealing to me...landing on medium pads would be nice and I like the extra large point and plenty of internals, but damn that thing is slow. Same with Anaconda...I see the utility of it and recognize it as a superior ship in many respects, but again, damn, it's slow. The 430+ boost of the clipper has really spoiled me, lol.

I looked at some of the other Fed ships, but they all seem geared more for combat, which is ok, but I prefer the multi-role/one build to do everything, and I just don't see that happening with any of those. Same goes for the FDL.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

[Yokoshima]

Been flying the iClipper for a while now and really love it. It does about 80% of what I want it to do...for the rest, I have an AspE or iCourier. Here she is:

http://coriolis.io/outfit/imperial_...i592f24.Iw18cAMxA===.IwBj4y2HqA==?bn=Lagertha

She's a mean mother and I clean up in RES...maybe not so much in CZ, but that's ok. The Biweave shields have taken her from really great to freaking awesome.

Anyway, the question is where I go from here. I was looking forward to the iCutter, but that looks like its turned out to be a dud unless you're into trading...which I'm not. I have the money to get into a base model, but don't see the point unless it gets some buffs.

The Corvette looks cool and seems to have pleased everyone more than the Cutter, and I have the money, but the rank grind is a bit too much right now...just made Chief Petty Officer, so there's a ways to go.

That leaves Python or Anaconda...neither of which are super appealing to me...landing on medium pads would be nice and I like the extra large point and plenty of internals, but damn that thing is slow. Same with Anaconda...I see the utility of it and recognize it as a superior ship in many respects, but again, damn, it's slow. The 430+ boost of the clipper has really spoiled me, lol.

I looked at some of the other Fed ships, but they all seem geared more for combat, which is ok, but I prefer the multi-role/one build to do everything, and I just don't see that happening with any of those. Same goes for the FDL.

Any thoughts?

Thanks

I have to ask, why the C3 SCB after the nerf to them? Also why burst? They have less DPE than pulse, almost no extra damage, and I am pretty sure generate more heat/more power plant power. And, why do you sacrifice ~ 400 hull for a docking computer and scanner?
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That aside, there is pretty much no where to go. I find the ship to be much better (combat wise) than a FDL ('till the new C4s come out at least). The only "better" ship would be the FAS, and that's only because if its weapon placement. It makes a worse hybrid ship, but dual C2 fixed beams and a C3 PA and C3 G cannon can be pretty rewarding. For a multirole the Anaconda is much better, and arguably the best multirole in the game, but after a great deal of time in combat, as far as PvE goes, the Clipper will out class the Anaconda in almost all combat situations. And the Corvette is a slight combat downgrade to the Conda with poor jump range (took me 4 jumps to go 13.7 ly).

 

[Dunkel Reynolds]

I have to ask, why the C3 SCB after the nerf to them? Also why burst? They have less DPE than pulse, almost no extra damage, and I am pretty sure generate more heat/more power plant power. And, why do you sacrifice ~ 400 hull for a docking computer and scanner?

Docking computer because I'm lazy sometimes.

Scanner because I wasn't sure what else to put there and it lets me pick up a few extra credits from scans. It's also come in handy once or twice when running missions to a system where I had no data.

You're also right about the SCB...I did class 3 because I only have 353 shields with the Biweave and boosters, anyway, so a class 3 SCB gives me a good charge back. And that was the biggest slot I had available after putting in the other more important stuff. To be honest, though, I rarely use the thing since Horizons came out and I put in the biweave shield, so it may go, as well.

As for the burst lasers, I haven't found the heat to be an issue, really. On the rare occasion that I've popped off the SCB, I just switched to the cannons for a few shots. Power isn't really an issue, either, with the bi-weave shields and minimal priority juggling. I've tried pulses, beams, and burst...and burst seems more effective than pulses at dropping shields and they will shred the smaller ships in seconds...and they don't burn through the capacitor power or cause the heat issues like the beams do. According to coriolis.io, they have slightly higher DPS, for whatever that's worth.

Thanks for the input. Even though I feel pretty good about where she's at, I'm always open to little tweaks here and there.
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That aside, there is pretty much no where to go. I find the ship to be much better (combat wise) than a FDL ('till the new C4s come out at least). The only "better" ship would be the FAS, and that's only because if its weapon placement. It makes a worse hybrid ship, but dual C2 fixed beams and a C3 PA and C3 G cannon can be pretty rewarding. For a multirole the Anaconda is much better, and arguably the best multirole in the game, but after a great deal of time in combat, as far as PvE goes, the Clipper will out class the Anaconda in almost all combat situations. And the Corvette is a slight combat downgrade to the Conda with poor jump range (took me 4 jumps to go 13.7 ly).

Yeah, that's where I'm at, I think. I see absolutely no reason to make the switch, even though there are other ships which are ostensibly "upgrades".

 

[Yokoshima]

Docking computer because I'm lazy sometimes.

Scanner because I wasn't sure what else to put there and it lets me pick up a few extra credits from scans. It's also come in handy once or twice when running missions to a system where I had no data.

You're also right about the SCB...I did class 3 because I only have 353 shields with the Biweave and boosters, anyway, so a class 3 SCB gives me a good charge back. And that was the biggest slot I had available after putting in the other more important stuff. To be honest, though, I rarely use the thing since Horizons came out and I put in the biweave shield, so it may go, as well.

As for the burst lasers, I haven't found the heat to be an issue, really. On the rare occasion that I've popped off the SCB, I just switched to the cannons for a few shots. Power isn't really an issue, either, with the bi-weave shields and minimal priority juggling. I've tried pulses, beams, and burst...and burst seems more effective than pulses at dropping shields and they will shred the smaller ships in seconds...and they don't burn through the capacitor power or cause the heat issues like the beams do. According to coriolis.io, they have slightly higher DPS, for whatever that's worth.

Thanks for the input. Even though I feel pretty good about where she's at, I'm always open to little tweaks here and there.
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Yeah, that's where I'm at, I think. I see absolutely no reason to make the switch, even though there are other ships which are ostensibly "upgrades".

Reasonable answers. By the way, here is a link that may be useful (though the numbers for a C2 PA may be wrong now) https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=140240
And just because I like to spread information
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=170205 the Dev posts are worth reading in case anyone missed it. And
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https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=182465 Gives a pretty good baseline for many of the ships hidden maneuverability stats.

 

[Alex Brentnall]

<Snip>

Had the same problem as you after months in my clipper (see my avatar for proof of that).

I jumped into the Anaconda for an exploration trip and then for mining. Totally mixed up what I was doing with the clipper to avoid making comparisons. I do still miss the Clipper though and will probably go back sometime when I can get over the loss in jump range now I've got used to my Anaconda

 

[Dunkel Reynolds]

Reasonable answers. By the way, here is a link that may be useful (though the numbers for a C2 PA may be wrong now) https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=140240
And just because I like to spread information
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=170205 the Dev posts are worth reading in case anyone missed it. And
.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=182465 Gives a pretty good baseline for many of the ships hidden maneuverability stats.

lol, well those were the answers I have. I'm always totally open to the idea that I'm dead wrong about things.

Thanks for the info...I'll definitely take a look and see if it's worth tweaking things a bit.

 

[Yokoshima]

Well, if you're in good with the Imperials, why not get a Cutter anyway?

Keep the Clipper as you main ship since it makes you happy, and buy a secondary ship for trading.

Annie straight up prints credits. It is dreadfully boring, but being able to generate 10M/hour without any particular effort is quite something. I can only imagine how much better a TradeCutter would be, with nearly twice the cargo hold and all. Even if you don't fly it regularly, park it somewhere where routes are generally good and use it as necessary. Got blown up and lost some cash? One-two hours trading and you've made it all back.

Not to step on any toes but...

I was looking forward to the iCutter, but that looks like its turned out to be a dud unless you're into trading...which I'm not.

 

[Dunkel Reynolds]

Well, if you're in good with the Imperials, why not get a Cutter anyway?

Keep the Clipper as you main ship since it makes you happy, and buy a secondary ship for trading.

Annie straight up prints credits. It is dreadfully boring, but being able to generate 10M/hour without any particular effort is quite something. I can only imagine how much better a TradeCutter would be, with nearly twice the cargo hold and all. Even if you don't fly it regularly, park it somewhere where routes are generally good and use it as necessary. Got blown up and lost some cash? One-two hours trading and you've made it all back.

That's what I may end up doing...get the Cutter and pull it out every now and again to make some money. Upgrade as I can afford it. Keep flying the Clipper as my main. It might end up paying off if it ever gets a combat related buff. And if not, so what? I'll at least have the whole Imperial collection...and what am I going to spend my money on, anyway? No more big purchases left on the Clipper or Courier. I do need to pick up an Imperial Eagle, too, but those are cheap.

 

[Rocky-451]

I'd highly recommend the FAS for combat, especially as you have the naval rank for it already. It's not as versatile as the Clipper, but clearly you can afford multiple ships for different jobs. The FAS has similar firepower as the Clipper, but it's a lot more agile and fun to fly. I'm surprised when people say the Clipper is manoeuverable, which may be the case next to the biggest ships, but it's really sluggish in turning compared with the mid-sized FAS.

When I upgraded from the Vulture to the Clipper, it's such a tough ship that I don't die anymore in Haz RES, but a few times it was close when the canopy breached. It took me a while to realise that the game was being realistic in that the Clipper has a great cockpit view but the price is that the canopy is a big target! Now with a FAS, even that small problem doesn't exist and I feel practically indestructible in Haz RES and Conflict Zones. I think if your main issue with the large ships is that they are slow, you will enjoy flying the FAS.

 

[Dunkel Reynolds]

I'd highly recommend the FAS for combat, especially as you have the naval rank for it already. It's not as versatile as the Clipper, but clearly you can afford multiple ships for different jobs. The FAS has similar firepower as the Clipper, but it's a lot more agile and fun to fly. I'm surprised when people say the Clipper is manoeuverable, which may be the case next to the biggest ships, but it's really sluggish in turning compared with the mid-sized FAS.

When I upgraded from the Vulture to the Clipper, it's such a tough ship that I don't die anymore in Haz RES, but a few times it was close when the canopy breached. It took me a while to realise that the game was being realistic in that the Clipper has a great cockpit view but the price is that the canopy is a big target! Now with a FAS, even that small problem doesn't exist and I feel practically indestructible in Haz RES and Conflict Zones. I think if your main issue with the large ships is that they are slow, you will enjoy flying the FAS.

I'm pretty skeptical about the Fed ships, but that was a pretty good endorsement...what the heck, I'll check it out.

Thanks.

Oh and the canopy is a problem on the Clipper, yes. I have started carrying an AFMU to top it up during lulls in the fighting.

 

[Fire70]

What I do is I have different ships based in different areas. All the areas have Haz Res site or Hi Intensity and have pretty good modules stocks.

I have a trade Asp with 27ly jump range to go between them or I will use this for long range smuggling.

Fed space:

A Spec Vulture for missions and res work
A Spec FAS for missions and RES work

Imperial Space.

A Spec iClipper for RES work.
A Spec Python for RES work.

Trade Conda for Imperial Slaves Trading..

Other than the Conda everything else is maxed out for combat (Well Asp for Trade)..

So I just go between the ships depending on what I feel like doing...

Why bring all this up, well it help stop-slow boredom creeping in the game. The ship all handle differently so it makes RES site a bit different and I can do missions to try and rank up (long boring!!) plus trading when needed.

Maybe you need to plan towards something like this too..

 

[ocflyer]

That's what I may end up doing...get the Cutter and pull it out every now and again to make some money. Upgrade as I can afford it. Keep flying the Clipper as my main. It might end up paying off if it ever gets a combat related buff. And if not, so what? I'll at least have the whole Imperial collection...and what am I going to spend my money on, anyway? No more big purchases left on the Clipper or Courier. I do need to pick up an Imperial Eagle, too, but those are cheap.

I learned within the last few days that I can make more money per hour smuggling in an Asp than AB trading in a Cutter. I now have absolutely no incentive to buy a Cutter.

 

[Dunkel Reynolds]

I learned within the last few days that I can make more money per hour smuggling in an Asp than AB trading in a Cutter. I now have absolutely no incentive to buy a Cutter.

Honestly, my only hope for the Cutter is that it gets a big combat buff of some sort. Other than that, it's only my desire to have the whole Imperial collection.

 

[Yokoshima]

I'd highly recommend the FAS for combat, especially as you have the naval rank for it already. It's not as versatile as the Clipper, but clearly you can afford multiple ships for different jobs. The FAS has similar firepower as the Clipper, but it's a lot more agile and fun to fly. I'm surprised when people say the Clipper is manoeuverable, which may be the case next to the biggest ships, but it's really sluggish in turning compared with the mid-sized FAS.

When I upgraded from the Vulture to the Clipper, it's such a tough ship that I don't die anymore in Haz RES, but a few times it was close when the canopy breached. It took me a while to realise that the game was being realistic in that the Clipper has a great cockpit view but the price is that the canopy is a big target! Now with a FAS, even that small problem doesn't exist and I feel practically indestructible in Haz RES and Conflict Zones. I think if your main issue with the large ships is that they are slow, you will enjoy flying the FAS.

The reason people say the Clipper is maneuverable is because of its insane pivoting ability mixed with its speed (top speed that is). Because of that it can easily match the agility of the FAS.

 

[Psycho Romeo]

Also why burst?

As a huge proponent for burst lasers, I'll tell you: There's more there than what numbers can tell you.

Numbers are great. They give us a lot of hard information to base things off of, and will paint a really clear picture. Yes, bursts have worse DPE than pulses. However, there are a few details you'll miss by looking at just numbers, so you really need a clear understanding of the factors involved.

Really it comes down to firing opportunities. Bursts have a much lower RoF meaning their damage is a lot more condensed. A more extreme example is the difference between beams and frags. If you put a beam on one hard point and a frag on the other, the numbers will tell you that the beam will come out on top. However, in practice, the opposite might be true. A beam requires constant time on target to be fully effective, where as the frag cannon only requires a fraction of a second on target to loose its volley and be fully effective, at which point it reloads. If the time you spend reloading a frag cannon is time you spend turning around for another joust, then the frags have lost no effective damage.

Bursts might be much better than pulses or beams when we're talking about fixed mounts, because in many fights (and especially when using fixed weapons against small maneuverable ships) because you don't spend a consistent amount of time on target. Your target will be in your cross-hairs for a fraction of a second, and it's this moment where you pull the trigger. A burst laser can deliver three shots to the target in this fraction of a second. A pulse laser might only get one or two. A beam would hardly scratch the target.

Kind of the inverse of what the numbers tell you.

 

[Llewelyn Morgan]

Well, just got the clipper myself, working on getting enough credits for the A6 thrusters (16M!) and A6 power (another 16M) which is needed to operate 'em.

here's my current build, mainly aimed at doing high value cargo missions, hence the amount of cargo space.

http://coriolis.io/outfit/imperial_...6e2f.Iw18aQ==.IwBj4tUqSA==?bn=clipper mission

I agree about the burst lasers. Half the time you're not on target - in the smaller ships I've tried all the lasers, beams are great *if* you can keep the target lock, but they also make a ton of heat, so conk out fast. Burst use more power than pulse, but don't make much more heat. Another aspect of numbers is the maneuverability, the clipper is rated 2 but it feels as agile as the Asp which is rated 6 or the Courier. I did have a FAS for a bit, but I didn't like the pathetic shields.

One nice feature of the C7 bi-weave plus B3 SCB combo - you can let off a SCB without cooking the ship - typically, it gets up to around 90% which doesn't cause noticeable damage. Also, the B3 SCB has an extra charge, you get 5 instead of 4 in the A3 or C3, which in fact gives more total shield recovery than the A3 has, although each one is smaller. This build is not specifically for combat; I won't be taking it in any CZs or such - but it's more than capable of taking out the chancer NPC raiders if they manage to interdict. It's also much better at avoiding interdiction then some of the ships I've had.

Only downside so far is shared with other ships: weapon mount placing - I really don't like that top/bottom mount - you only get all weapons to bear in a very narrow zone straight ahead; even with turrets on it. On the plus side, with the A6 distributor, those 4 turreted burst lasers will fire pretty much non-stop, with 3-4 pips to weapons.

 

[CMDR Corlas]

If you have the credits and nothing better to spend it on, I say try out a Cutter.

I've not flown one, so I can't speak from experience, but I do know that it's inevitable that in the echo chamber of internet forums, EVERYTHING gets blown way out of proportion. That's just a passive truth, regardless of topic. So take all the "Cutter is useless" talk with a grain of salt. There are also people who love it. Watch some video reviews and, pay more attention to those then forum chatter. For example: https://www.youtubwe.com/atch?v=jW2MUmR6Tdw He has zero problems in combat.

Find out for yourself, if you don't like you lose, what, a few hours in a RES? Might as well do something with all that idle cash.