Finally! A Clipper! Now what?

[Vorxian]

If you are a multi-ship owner (with money) what are you using your Clipper for?
Is there some special niche spot for it that I am missing?

Mine has two roles.. OK, now one role

The first and now obsolete role was skimmer missions to get rank 'King'. The second, only one key on the keyboard does it justice.

any guesses?

PRINT SCREEN!

What other ship looks cooler, than a Clipper? The Empire may be ruled by Darth Palpatine or whatever the hell his name is.... But credit where credit is due.. The Imperials know how to design beautiful ships!

I personally wish it had the jump range of the ASP and was better with fuel, then it'd be my exploration machine of choice to.

 

[StiTch]

One downside is that the high fuel consumption makes it not much good for exploring.

It's a goddamn miracle in exploration.

All the internal space you could ask for. Class 7 fuel scoop powering a class 4 fuel tank - and if that's not enough for you, more than enough slots to add more fuel (though I wouldn't bother given how hard it is to run out of fuel). Incredible SC turning. Best screenshots ever. Nice big "window" for viewing the sights. Lots of speed for handling high G planets or escaping trouble back in inhabited space. Very reasonable jump range. Takes extra mass fairly well.

If it could take fighters I wouldn't use any other ship.

 

[Gunnet]

Double oversized fuel scoop??? What the heck is that? That is just gobbligoop to me.

Sorry, not exactly standard terminology. I just mean it can carry a fuel scoop two classes larger than its FSD. The standard for the best exploration ships is one class larger than their FSD, so the T9 and Clipper are capable of scooping ridiculously fast.

 

[TomP]

The Clipper is the only ship I bought twice. One is a miner, the most stylish ship for mining by far, the other is an engineered multi role. Bubble tourism, smuggling, PvE combat. Such a great ship.

 

[ArkSeaJumper]

It's good looking but white interior should be banned. I struggle to see my hud and have turn ship around to see heat or speed. What I think the clipper is the best big ship for maneuvering in supercruise. It may be my perception but it also the best large ship I know for interdicting.

This.
Blinding white dashboard. I am going to rename my ship, Sir Squint a Lot

 

[Wasp0]

Love my clipper to bits, took me ages to actually find a use for it, but once i decided what role the clipper would play in my game play, i would not part with her now.

Her Name is 'May Contain Nuts' and she is my Pirate Ship! Over engineered the drives so get 578 boosting and a cruising speed of around 450ish. Thats fast enough to catch everything apart from the ultra fast Couriers and eagles, but who wants to Pirate them anyway.

Armed with Engineered Beam (Take shields down fast) and Engineered Packhounds for the Drives, and over engineered Cannon for PP, it does the Pirating role very nicely. It's way to fast to get caught in a PvP combat encounter, and beside it is not setup for combat, having paper thin shields, but my Clipper is the BEST Pirate ship i have tried.

I just LOVE the boost sound on it. Yes she can't fit on a Black Market Outpost, but plenty of stations with BM in them.

 

[JesusOnEez]

After years of playing ED my "childhood dream" of owning a Clipper (well, at least being able to buy one) is finally a reality.

However, due to the obvious time needed to rank, I already have an A-rated Anaconda, A-rated Python, all the T-ships, and a couple of others. Been looking at the Clipper fit-outs at the Corolis site but...

At this stage of my career, besides Imperial panache and the ability to bask, the Clipper is not a step up from my current ships. If you are a multi-ship owner (with money) what are you using your Clipper for?
Is there some special niche spot for it that I am missing?

You have won Elite. Reset your Commander and start again.

 

[William J Smith]

The only use I've found for a clipper is making a nice boom when I snipe out the PP with my python's cannons

Bill

 

[Wasp0]

The only use I've found for a clipper is making a nice boom when I snipe out the PP with my python's cannons

Bill

Thats the trick of flying a Clipper, show your adversary the top of your Clipper and you show him/her a very nice 'Clipper Off Switch'......Keep you bottom towards whoever is firing at you.

BTW, the Python has a very Nice 'Off Switch' as well you Know!

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

The only use I've found for a clipper is making a nice boom when I snipe out the PP with my python's cannons

Bill

I love Clippers.
Their daft hardpoints are so spread out, I can pretty much fit my Python between the firing arcs and kill one with little damage, especially if they use PAs. And their explosions are quite satisfying.

NPC Clippers are exceptionally poor in combat. I took on a wing of 3 Elites, expecting to be in a bit of trouble. They all put up less of a fight than a Competent Viper MkIII. Lol

Just about done stripping mine out to sell. Again.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

 

[askavir]

It's not the ship I use the most, but is the only I could never sell.

Think of the Clipper as the italian sportscar of ED's ships.

- It's much, much, much faster than any other large (or even medium ship).
- Excellent view.
- Excellent pitch and roll. Better than even most of the small ships.
- Lots of room for modules.
- Quite decent jump range.
- Great explorer if you don't need extreme jump range.
- Great mission runner if you don't need medium pads.
- Great miner.
- The ultimate pirate ship.
- Great RES farmer, if that's your thing.
- Great combat ship (like all those PvP videos featuring Clippers demonstrate) but definitively not for noobs, it's not a "park and shoot" tanker.
- Also, its sheer speed makes any combat optional. The only real threat for a Clipper is another Clipper.

It's not a min-maxing ship, nor is it some souless and boring workhouse like Anacondas or Pythons. It's s sunday ship, whose purpose is to put smiles on your face.

 

[DukeIronHand]

It's not the ship I use the most, but is the only I could never sell.

Think of the Clipper as the italian sportscar of ED's ships.

- It's much, much, much faster than any other large (or even medium ship).
- Excellent view.
- Excellent pitch and roll. Better than even most of the small ships.
- Lots of room for modules.
- Quite decent jump range.
- Great explorer if you don't need extreme jump range.
- Great mission runner if you don't need medium pads.
- Great miner.
- The ultimate pirate ship.
- Great RES farmer, if that's your thing.
- Great combat ship (like all those PvP videos featuring Clippers demonstrate) but definitively not for noobs, it's not a "park and shoot" tanker.
- Also, its sheer speed makes any combat optional. The only real threat for a Clipper is another Clipper.

It's not a min-maxing ship, nor is it some souless and boring workhouse like Anacondas or Pythons. It's s sunday ship, whose purpose is to put smiles on your face.

Whoa. You have a poets touch sir. Will have to take offense though at the Conda slur. The Python is quite boring I must agree. Great ship but dull.

Sold! I'll buy one before I leave Imperial space for my homeport latter today. Think I am done with the rank game for a while.
Now to make it sweeter I'll have to find one in a LYR system. Got a lot of money but like to save a dime where I can.
Now which Skin Pack? Hmm...

 

[Furnace]

Whilst combat and piracy works pretty well as already been mentioned here, I like using my Clipper primarily for passenger missions, but also random cargo / smuggling deliveries when the price is right. Clipper got pretty decent jump range with luxury styling and awesome sounds for everyone to enjoy onboard. It's fast and convenient to use, and also pretty safe to escape threats thanks to those fast engines. [smile]

 

[Trafalgar Law]

Whoa. You have a poets touch sir. Will have to take offense though at the Conda slur. The Python is quite boring I must agree. Great ship but dull.

Sold! I'll buy one before I leave Imperial space for my homeport latter today. Think I am done with the rank game for a while.
Now to make it sweeter I'll have to find one in a LYR system. Got a lot of money but like to save a dime where I can.
Now which Skin Pack? Hmm...

Don't forget that you can also get a discount for Gutamaya hulls at any Patreus shipyard if you can't find one in LYR space.

 

[DukeIronHand]

Don't forget that you can also get a discount for Gutamaya hulls at any Patreus shipyard if you can't find one in LYR space.

Really?
Thank you Cmdr!

 

[William J Smith]

Thats the trick of flying a Clipper, show your adversary the top of your Clipper and you show him/her a very nice 'Clipper Off Switch'......Keep you bottom towards whoever is firing at you.

BTW, the Python has a very Nice 'Off Switch' as well you Know!

Theres a nice trick when facing a semi competant clipper in your lousy python...... ram the clipper and try to get the python between the hull and the
drive modules, then you just boost round and round in circles until one of you explodes

Bill

<< prince of the sound fighting tactics, king of the not so sound fighting tactics and lord high emperor of suicidially dangerous fighting tactics [hotas]

 

[yolomcbobbinz]

Sell it and grind for a gunship

 

[Jaffz]

I bought this game just to get a clipper, cos I had one in Elite 2

I think it's natural role is as a pirate ship
It makes a fantastic passenger ship, medium (engineered) jump range, fast in a straight line
Good mining ship
Good combat ship, but you need gimbals or turrets for the nacelle weapons
Good trade ship

Very manouverable for a ship of it's size

Basically you can do anything with it, brilliant multi role ship, the python can fax off, Clipper does it better

Drawbacks: can only land on large pads and weak sheilds, but the speed means if you want to get out of trouble, you can

I also went to Sag A in it

The only ship I own that I'd never sell

 

[wrmiller]

After years of playing ED my "childhood dream" of owning a Clipper (well, at least being able to buy one) is finally a reality.

However, due to the obvious time needed to rank, I already have an A-rated Anaconda, A-rated Python, all the T-ships, and a couple of others. Been looking at the Clipper fit-outs at the Corolis site but...

At this stage of my career, besides Imperial panache and the ability to bask, the Clipper is not a step up from my current ships. If you are a multi-ship owner (with money) what are you using your Clipper for?
Is there some special niche spot for it that I am missing?

I've purchased a Clipper a couple of times and end up selling it as I have other ships that are just better at things than it is. However, I was just thinking about this very thing as I'm sitting in front of the computer having my morning coffee...

I am seriously considering building another one specifically for venturing outside the bubble. I just got back from my first trip out to Colonia, and while I appreciated the jump range I had in the AspE, I really hate driving that thing. Kinda like driving around in Mom's station wagon: Functional, but I'd rather not have anyone see me driving this thing.

Anyway, because I like the cockpit of the Clipper, the view, and how it flies, I may have to try this. I built one at Coriolis and see 36.88Ly jump range which isn't bad at all if I'm not in a hurry to get somewhere. I figure a 8-10k Ly trip out and back would tell me if I want to keep her or not.

 

[NecasekO]

I bought a Clipper twice (still own one of them) but never could find a good use for it. While it definitely has some unique qualities (high speed, good pitch rate, class 7 slot) it also has several flaws that make it unattractive for my play style (weak shield, bad hardpoint placement, small fuel tank, inability to land at outposts).

A Clipper does make a decent trading, mining, passenger or mission running ship but Python does all of that better.