Experienced Clipper pilots please sprinkle me with knowledge from your mighty brain

Stigbob

Stigbob
I recently bought a clipper*, and I've had my shield generator shot out 3 times by NPC's (no kidding other damaged systems were in upper 80's when it hit 0%).

Is the clipper built in such a way that the shield generator is prominently exposed and attracts fire, is my current very cheap shield generator (E7 budget and stock availability reasons)+ 2 A boosters very delicate, or have SJA's minions developed a taste for my subsystems ?.

Either way, not whining love the ship (and the AI improvements) just after info from people with more than my few hours in one.

*thanks to the current price and rank requirement special offers 18.5 mil (Kamito) and serf (everywhere) buy now while stocks last.
 

askavir

askavir
I don't claim to have a mighty brain, but I am a Clipper lover. Even after flying more expensive ships like the Python (the king of usefullness) or de Fer-de-lance (overpriced Viper big brother), I went back to the Clipper as it is just too awesome :)

Its shield, on the other hand, it's not. No matter how much you upgrade the Clipper's shield, it will never be very good. Losing the generator is a consequence of the npc AI getting a lot smarter in the latest updates. On the other hand, the Clipper is one of the most better armored ships. It is only surpassed by the Anaconda and the Federal Drop in this account. The fact that the Clipper has a large wingspan also makes it more susceptible to being shot at.

Because the shield will never be great no matter how much you spend, you can use one (or both) of 2 strategies:

-Invest in armor instead of shield. Bulkheads (are expensive) and hull reinforcement.
-Invest in shield cells to compensate the weak shield.

bonus: chaff and countermeasures are always welcome

But the most important is the way you fly the Clipper. You have to fly the Clipper as if it was a light fighter, using its great speed and manouverability (forget the "2" rating, the Clipper has great pitch and roll) to out-turn your opponent and get behind him, keeping out of the targets firing arcs, while pounding him to dust. You cannot fly the Clipper like a more "tank", lazy-playable ship like a Python. Its not a head-to-head ship (although can be used like that to an extent thanks to its great armor), its a large dogfighting ship.

Outside of combat, its an awesome multi-purpose ship. Carries a great deal of cargo, has lots of room for modules. Unfortunately cannot dock at outposts.

The Clipper takes experience to appreciate it fully, but once you learn to use its strengths and use its manouverability and speed instead or trying to relyi on its physical size to tank damage, you will never love another ship again.
 
Last edited:

Jezzah

Jezzah
Yeah the clipper shields are pretty thin. In fairness I was out there if it looked like the I was about to lose shields 4 pips to eng and go. If your into hull then your going to be in trouble quick.
 

Stigbob

Stigbob
askavir said:
I don't claim to have a mighty brain, but I am a Clipper lover.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for the helpful info, I've never piloted anything above the FDL and then I reset the game and have been in little fighters since. I noticed it was speed I was choosing over everything else. Which is why I went for the clipper bigger than my usual ships but fast, I like to chase things down and am not above performing the Sir Robin manouver.

It's certainly fun to fly, the inertia caught me out a few times when I tried boosting past a head on attacker and FA off turning onto his tail. This works in the DBS, in the clipper I bounce off them with my shields down as the manouvering thrusters have less oomph.

Right I'm off to upgrade thrusters and armour, if I make it out of dock (dang that inertia).
 

GluttonyFang

GluttonyFang
Stigbob said:
I recently bought a clipper*, and I've had my shield generator shot out 3 times by NPC's (no kidding other damaged systems were in upper 80's when it hit 0%).

Is the clipper built in such a way that the shield generator is prominently exposed and attracts fire, is my current very cheap shield generator (E7 budget and stock availability reasons)+ 2 A boosters very delicate, or have SJA's minions developed a taste for my subsystems ?.

Either way, not whining love the ship (and the AI improvements) just after info from people with more than my few hours in one.

*thanks to the current price and rank requirement special offers 18.5 mil (Kamito) and serf (everywhere) buy now while stocks last.
Click to expand...

Clipper is not a good combat ship other than the stack all the shield/mass for ramming meta build. Piracy on the other hand, Clipper excels in.

We live in a shield meta, definitely get A7 with at least two boosters (400+ MJ of shields from that with the base being slightly over 300 MJ). Put on armor if you are going for ram build, otherwise keep the Clipper light since speed is your friend and the right to disengage a battle you don't like. (Subsystem targeting means no matter how great your hull armor is, your subsystems will go down at the same speed regardless)

Convergence is an issue, so people like to use gimbal/turret on one wing while a fixed C3 beam on another. The medium hardpoints vary depending on remaining power resource/personal preference.

Have two SCBs online running with your hardpoints deployed (preferably class 4 and 3, since you are going to need a good fuel scoop if you ever travel. Curse you 16Tons of fuel).

That's really about it... I'll edit if I remember something else...
 

HeavyGroovez

HeavyGroovez
Stigbob said:
I recently bought a clipper*, and I've had my shield generator shot out 3 times by NPC's (no kidding other damaged systems were in upper 80's when it hit 0%).

Is the clipper built in such a way that the shield generator is prominently exposed and attracts fire, is my current very cheap shield generator (E7 budget and stock availability reasons)+ 2 A boosters very delicate, or have SJA's minions developed a taste for my subsystems ?.

Either way, not whining love the ship (and the AI improvements) just after info from people with more than my few hours in one.

*thanks to the current price and rank requirement special offers 18.5 mil (Kamito) and serf (everywhere) buy now while stocks last.
Click to expand...

Clipper needs plenty of shield cells to keep its fairly middle of the road shields online against even modest firepower.

An E7 with 2 A0 boosters gives you 327 MJ of shielding which is not particularly sturdy and really needs a constant 4 pips in shields and SCBs to keep you going.

I use a pure PvE build (all gimballed weapons) with a D7 shield and 3 A0 Boosters on my Clipper and equip 4 A3 and 2 A2 cells. I run the cells in pairs, switching on a new pair of banks when the current set run out.

The beauty of the Clipper is that you can chain boost, pop a few cells and high wake out of trouble even when you are fully laden and being wing mobbed.

This is the build i have been using :

http://coriolis.io/outfit/imperial_...583258585353.AwRj4z2GaA==.Aw18aQ==?bn=Clipper

I dont bother staying to fight if i get jacked by a wing, i just run away.

I basically use it to bounty hunt in RES.
 
Last edited:

lonewarrior

lonewarrior
Stigbob said:
I recently bought a clipper*, and I've had my shield generator shot out 3 times by NPC's (no kidding other damaged systems were in upper 80's when it hit 0%).

Is the clipper built in such a way that the shield generator is prominently exposed and attracts fire, is my current very cheap shield generator (E7 budget and stock availability reasons)+ 2 A boosters very delicate, or have SJA's minions developed a taste for my subsystems ?.

Either way, not whining love the ship (and the AI improvements) just after info from people with more than my few hours in one.

*thanks to the current price and rank requirement special offers 18.5 mil (Kamito) and serf (everywhere) buy now while stocks last.
Click to expand...

Hello CMDR
Ive recently gone back to the clipper and like others have said, its a great ship if you use the speed to your advantage.
I disagree on it not being a combat ship though, 3 shield boosters, chaff and shield cells plus the speed make it excellent at combat, even againt larger ships like pythons, if they don't have turrets they will have serious trouble if you use the speed right.

Also I use a 7B shield with 6B shield cells as it gives you 1 extra charge over 6A, but you have to learn to use the shield cells before you think you need them, so learning when to predict how much damage your opponent does is vital
 
Last edited:

ExRex

ExRex
Stigbob said:
Is the clipper built in such a way that the shield generator is prominently exposed and attracts fire, is my current very cheap shield generator (E7 budget and stock availability reasons)+ 2 A boosters very delicate
Click to expand...

An E-rated shield generator and you are wondering why you lose your shields fast. I, I just can't...

Seriously, jump to any high tech system and upgrade to at least a D grade. Why anyone would run a new ship with E grade anything is beyond me. Worse power usage than D, worse weight and only a fraction of a cost to upgrade.
 

Stigbob

Stigbob
ExRex said:
An E-rated shield generator and you are wondering why you lose your shields fast. I, I just can't...

Seriously, jump to any high tech system and upgrade to at least a D grade. Why anyone would run a new ship with E grade anything is beyond me. Worse power usage than D, worse weight and only a fraction of a cost to upgrade.
Click to expand...

Budget and part availability in the station where I bought it not ignorance of specs or how to shop dictated the purchase.

My question related specifically to the causes of subsystem damage in the clipper, not shield failure speed.

Feel free to chip in with anything useful.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom