are imperial ships best at anything?
- Thread starter Elyk.McG
- Start date
In general they are excellent ships. Even though I'm a fed at heart, my favorite joy to fly is the Courier. The iEagle is the fastest ship in the game when outfitted, with the courier being only slightly less so. The courier has tons of flexibility (for a small ship mind you, keep it in perspective) and a lot of internals, good maneuverability and firepower for it's size.
The Clipper is regarded very highly as well, being the large ship with the speed and maneuverability of a small one. It can be outfitted to successfully do whatever you want. Not sure about the cutter though.
In a nutshell they tend to be fast and versatile, with strong shields but weaker hull and a need to think about your hardpoint usage.
The Clipper is regarded very highly as well, being the large ship with the speed and maneuverability of a small one. It can be outfitted to successfully do whatever you want. Not sure about the cutter though.
In a nutshell they tend to be fast and versatile, with strong shields but weaker hull and a need to think about your hardpoint usage.
My fleet eventually will be:
Courier - Combat / Speed (Racing) - Super fun to fly!
Clipper - Mining - Seems to fit perfectly into the role for me, although Python wins out more on the multi-role area in my fleet.
Cutter - Trading - Still working to get, but expect with the largest haulage in the game, this will be perfect for it.
Courier - Combat / Speed (Racing) - Super fun to fly!
Clipper - Mining - Seems to fit perfectly into the role for me, although Python wins out more on the multi-role area in my fleet.
Cutter - Trading - Still working to get, but expect with the largest haulage in the game, this will be perfect for it.
To say they are the better ships isn't telling truth. Yes, these ships can do a lot of service for you and flying a clipper for me feels in fact better than flying a Phyton.
If you equip it carefully to your needs and likings every Imperial ship will serve you very well. If you wnat to go with imperial government to rank up is another
question you are to answer.
I don't mind if Fed or Iperial pilot I am independent from both (Warrent Officer and Prince ranked) and the Empire always was good to me and somehow had the
more polite stations.
Regards,
Miklos
I can only speak for the Imperial Eagle, the Imperial Courier and the Imperial Clipper, since I don't own a Cutter:
The Imp. Eagle in a nice ship but in my opinion is hampered by it's small class 2 power distributor which does not allow for a lot of chain boosting or a great variety of weapons. Sure, you have the size 2 hardpoint but not the juice to run anything worthwile (except an always useful multi-cannon).
The Imperial Courier is a gem of a ship if you like to fight: Great shields, great agility and acceleration, enough power, sufficient utility mounts and good hardpoints. I enjoy it very much. You don't even need to engineer it. Just keep it light, add enhanced performance thrusters, and off you go. If you don't have access to engineers even A-rated in a light configuration it is a great ship. I can't recommend the Courier as a relatively cheap and capable fighter enough.
The Imperial Clipper is another gem of a ship in my opinion. It has two weaknesses: It can't land on outposts (but on planetary outposts) and it has suboptimal hardpoint placement that require the use of gimballs. Other than that it is great: It can dish out a lot of damage with two large and two medium weapons. It has great pitch and roll (but weak thrusters). It can haul, it can fight and it is very fast. Unmodded with A-rated thrusters you boost 441. I only have grade 1 clean drive tuning (I don't grind for engineers) and I boost 461. Power Distributor is good. Shields are ok with boosters. I have class 7 bi-weaves and three A-rated boosters that have grade one resistance augmentation. I don't fear the HazRes. I let my shields recharge between engagements and carry a 4A shield cell bank for emergencies but a clipper can always boost away and is not mass locked by much. I like it so much that I have two of them.
Long story short: Imp. ships are great.
The Imp. Eagle in a nice ship but in my opinion is hampered by it's small class 2 power distributor which does not allow for a lot of chain boosting or a great variety of weapons. Sure, you have the size 2 hardpoint but not the juice to run anything worthwile (except an always useful multi-cannon).
The Imperial Courier is a gem of a ship if you like to fight: Great shields, great agility and acceleration, enough power, sufficient utility mounts and good hardpoints. I enjoy it very much. You don't even need to engineer it. Just keep it light, add enhanced performance thrusters, and off you go. If you don't have access to engineers even A-rated in a light configuration it is a great ship. I can't recommend the Courier as a relatively cheap and capable fighter enough.
The Imperial Clipper is another gem of a ship in my opinion. It has two weaknesses: It can't land on outposts (but on planetary outposts) and it has suboptimal hardpoint placement that require the use of gimballs. Other than that it is great: It can dish out a lot of damage with two large and two medium weapons. It has great pitch and roll (but weak thrusters). It can haul, it can fight and it is very fast. Unmodded with A-rated thrusters you boost 441. I only have grade 1 clean drive tuning (I don't grind for engineers) and I boost 461. Power Distributor is good. Shields are ok with boosters. I have class 7 bi-weaves and three A-rated boosters that have grade one resistance augmentation. I don't fear the HazRes. I let my shields recharge between engagements and carry a 4A shield cell bank for emergencies but a clipper can always boost away and is not mass locked by much. I like it so much that I have two of them.
Long story short: Imp. ships are great.
A by-product of my ranking up with the Empire was unlocking the iCourier which is really fun to fly , sounds great, looks great and seems to have pretty tough shields. Bounty hunting with it is fun.
They're the best at Basking.
For me the Clipper makes for a fantastic miner .. as it has all the internals you need and can defend itself (same fire power as a vulture if you fit 2 mining lasers on the smaller hardpoints)
Gutamaya makes the best looking ships, with the Steely Dan of the Saud Kreuger fleet, the Orca, a close second.
I can't think of much more terrifying in Elite than a 6000MJ shielded Cutter boosting at you at over 460M/S... It can get faster than an A rated Cobra! (unengineered of course)
That thing should be able to punch through a station wall!
Nope. They're crap at exploring and look like toys.
![[DOOK] Droogie](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/124/124078.jpg?1553527149){kind=avatar}
In regards to the last part, the Clipper has terrible shields and very good armor. Very fast and maneuverable for its size, though. It's like flying silk. Smooooth. Great internals, too.
That is the worst case scenario indeed, but even un-engineered the Imperial ships are insanely fast.
I remember resetting my savegame once, and trying to run from an NPC Clipper in the stock Sidewinder - Even with desperate FAoff & boosting whenever possible that was a horrifying experience.
imperial eagle: fastest ship in the game
imperial courier: combat-oriented small multipurpose, second fastest ship if outfitted accordingly, has also a niche as a planetary explorer (because enough internals, and good jumprange combined with amazing lateral thrusters, and that amazing straight line speed)
imperial clipper: one of the best mining ships, can outrun anything that can be a danger for it, best blockade runner (because what can keep up with it can't get it down till low wake).
imperial cutter: most cargo space ingame, combined with respectable jumprange, and therefore best bulktrader - amazing shields and speed...
on my second account i ranked in the imperial navy till i got my courier.
imperial courier: combat-oriented small multipurpose, second fastest ship if outfitted accordingly, has also a niche as a planetary explorer (because enough internals, and good jumprange combined with amazing lateral thrusters, and that amazing straight line speed)
imperial clipper: one of the best mining ships, can outrun anything that can be a danger for it, best blockade runner (because what can keep up with it can't get it down till low wake).
imperial cutter: most cargo space ingame, combined with respectable jumprange, and therefore best bulktrader - amazing shields and speed...
on my second account i ranked in the imperial navy till i got my courier.