How important are Imp/Fed ships?

Stealthie

Stealthie
Just finished going through all my ships to check they're all built consistently (similar ships having same type of hulls, same quantity of SBs, same weapons, same FGs etc) and I noticed something vaguely interesting....

Apparently, I own 49 ships.
Of those, 7 are mothballed in Tionisla and the other 42 are in use.
Incidentally, the 42 in-service ships are divided up with 7 based in Colonia, 7 based in Merope, 5 are exploration ships, 4 are "pirate" ships, 4 are "vanity projects" and one is my starter Sidey so I actually only have 14 ships which get used regularly.
But I digress.

Of the 42 ships that I have in-service, a grand total of five four of them are Imp/Fed rank-locked ships, which are as follows:-

2x Federal Corvettes (PvE Combat)
1x Imperial Cutter (armed cargo ship)
1x Imperial Courier (light scout ship)
1x Imperial Eagle (zoooommm!!!!!)

I also own a Vulture but that isn't (?) rank-locked so I'm ignoring it.

If I'm honest, I could probably replace the Cutter and Corvettes with Annies and the Eagle could be replaced with a Viper 3.
About the only rank-locked ship I own which I'd struggle to find an alternative for would probably be the iCourier.
I suppose a Krait Phantom might be the nearest thing to it, although it's more expensive, bigger and not as fast.
Alternatively, a Viper 3 might be a viable alternative, although it's only got 6 regular slots compared to the iCourier's 8.

If I look at the other rank-locked ships, I think the Alliance "tank" ships provide a viable alternative to the Federal "piggies".
As for the Imperial Clipper, I guess it sort of has a niche as a "my first big ship" although, in practice, I've never found something it could do which a Python or (more recently) Krait couldn't do better.

So, for me, it seems like there's no real reason to be envious of Imp/Fed naval ships.
The iCourier is a nice ship and I like my Corvettes but I'm under no illusions that they couldn't be replaced with Annies.

Thoughts?
Agree/disagree?
 
Last edited:

Chris Simon

Chris Simon
The faction locked ships were always more of a status symbol/reward, rather than something that is outright better than non-faction ships.
You can definitely do well without them, but personally I simply like the looks.

I love the Gunship. It's just mean in every way. I couldn't be bothered to grind for a Corvette, though, so I don't have her and I'm doing fine. I do have all Imperial ships simply because I mainly operate in the Imperial space so the ranks come as a collateral, but I never felt I NEED them. I just like them.

So yeah. Somebody who plays casually and never gets any naval ranks can still be completely fine and have enough ships to choose from.

btw. iEagle is not rank-locked, apparently, so you can have your zoomy-zoom even without imperial ranks. :)
 

Chromezero

Chromezero
I could certainly get by without my rank-locked ships, although I do enjoy having them. The reality is, anything I do in my Cutter or Corvette could be done in my Anaconda. For the RP crowd, it definitely makes sense to have faction specific ships but for the rest of us, it's probably more of a status symbol.
 

Stealthie

Stealthie
Chris Simon said:
btw. iEagle is not rank-locked, apparently, so you can have your zoomy-zoom even without imperial ranks. :)
Click to expand...

Ah, yes. You're quite right. (y)

I guess that's one less rank-locked ships in my fleet then.

On that note, I'm still not sure if I prefer the Viper 3 or iEagle.
The Eagle always seems more nimble but when I swap to the Viper 3 it seems much less twitchy and the Viper 3 isn't exactly sluggish.
 

aRJay

aRJay
I have 4 rank locked ships, the ship 3 Fed bricks and the iCourier, I got the Federation ships as part of a Christmas present CG and I am not all that impressed with them but kept them as I couldn’t replace them if I changed my mind.
Since then I have unlocked the lowest ranked ship on both sides and am now quite fond of the Courier I keep engineering and tweaking the build on the Fed ships but the only one of them I come close to enjoying is the FAS.

I have flown the others in beta and am only considering deliberately trying to get the Corvette much as I like the look of the Imperials.
 

Chris Simon

Chris Simon
Stealthie said:
Ah, yes. You're quite right. (y)

I guess that's one less rank-locked ships in my fleet then.

On that note, I'm still not sure if I prefer the Viper 3 or iEagle.
The Eagle always seems more nimble but when I swap to the Viper 3 it seems much less twitchy and the Viper 3 isn't exactly sluggish.
Click to expand...
It really depends on your playstyle, I guess. I like both, but Viper is definitely more... laterally stable, I guess? It means it turns slower, of course, but on the other hand the distinct lack of twitchiness makes it much easier to use with fixed weapons. Eagle is more fun, but definitely harder to use correctly.
 

firemane

firemane
I agree...

...except for the Courier. :p

The Eagle is close in terms of fun, but not quite there in terms of performance. The DB Scout or the Cobra III may be somewhere in the ballpark in performance, but they are not as fun.

An advanced player can hammer any problem by throwing Anacondas at it. However, in terms of price vs performance, the Fed ships are pretty good alternatives.
 
Last edited:

RolloTreadway

RolloTreadway
Yesterday, I got into my Clipper for the first time in ages (sufficiently long ago that it isn't even engineered, which I'll be addressing soon). Way back in my first ever spell of playing the game, it was the ship I aimed for, the one I worked hard to buy - and it did take a fair bit of effort in those days. But then I started exploring, and when I wasn't exploring messed about with various different ships for different purposes, and my once-much-loved Damfino got forgotten in some dusty hangar.

And I'd forgotten how nice it is. It's not a specialist ship, sure, and I wish it fitted on a medium pad. But even without any engineering - and I'm sure that'll improve it significantly - it's a very pleasant and very useful craft. As thoroughly effective as my much-engineered Python and Challenger are, and those are my usual all-rounders, they don't have the same air of general pleasantness that the Clipper has. It feels like a piece of precision engineering for the discerning gentleman. Sometimes, that's what I want.
 

Aashenfox

Aashenfox
The Cutter and Corvette are important in pvp and pve. The vette is a good cz and wing assassination faceroller and the Cutter is capable of having decent shields and carrying 720t. Owning both is why I've never needed an Anaconda. I don't fly them often but they're important to have.
 

SpaceScania

S
PVE/Solo pilot perspective here. The Cutter is the best ship in the game by a wide margin for doing haulage missions. The Type-9 can carry just as much cargo but (unless your are @777Driver) the higher level NPC's that will interdict you can be problematic at times. 90% of my deaths in the last year have happened in a Type-9 doing haulage missions. In a properly outfitted Cutter these NPC's are not a problem at all. You can probably even ram them to death with your crazy high shields (I run 6A Prismatics). I outfitted mine with G5 efficient burst lasers on the H and L hard points, and filled the mediums with MC turrets with the smart rounds mod.

There is something amazing about boosting to 450m/s with 720t of cargo on board that also makes the Cutter a total must have for discerning space truckers. Better jump range on the Cutter as well.
 

DragonIV

DragonIV
As many have said before, there's something about flying your own personal Star Destroyer in the game.

Regarding the Cutter--it is the ultimate trader not just due to its large cargo capacity, but it is very fast even before engineering. I love my T-9, but I'd love it more if it could keep pace with my Cutter.
 

Codger

Codger
There's more to a ship than stats, at least to me. I just love the Corvette, and I could never replace it with an Anaconda and be happy. I still have a couple Anacondas to do the stuff they do best, but if I had to choose one or the other, I'd keep my 'Vette. :)

The Imperial ships I have a love/hate thing with. They are sleek and pretty, which I like. My little iCourier is fast and fun to zip around in. The Cutter is just massive and feels big and wasteful and excessive and so I like it for that reason. I guess for me it's more about feel than anything. How I feel when I'm in them matters most.
 

Kissamies

Kissamies
I currently have a Corvette, Cutter and Courier in my main fleet and Gunship "retired" into my Colonia fleet. The Corvette is very satisfying PvE ship. Gunship used to be fair in that role too until I replaced it with the Corvette. Courier is a very fast personal transport that is very fun to fly. For the Cutter I haven't yet found a satisfying job. It's more of a status symbol than anything else. Currently I'm trying to make it an AX ship, but it isn't as easy as the Krait MkII was.

I also briefly had the Dropship and Assault Ship when I was initially grinding for the Gunship. They were OK. I was too inexperienced to really appeciate the Assault Ship and should give it another chance, I think. I avoided the Clipper completely because of the large pad requirement. I'm thinking of finally getting it for PvE piracy.
 

IndigoWyrd

IndigoWyrd
I’m in a very similar boat, though with a few more ships. Of those, I spend the vast majority of my time flying Saud Kruger ships. Love the look, love the handling, love the view.

Of my non-SK ships, I’m either in a Type-9, iCourier or Asp Scout.
 

Vedmo

Vedmo
I have them all, and the Cutter and Dropship are the only ones that get flown often.

I don't have a second account, but if I ever get one I'm planning on limiting that Commander to DeLacy ships, and I don't think he'll be left wanting for anything.
 

Bigmaec

Bigmaec
Aashenfox said:
The Cutter and Corvette are important in pvp and pve. The vette is a good cz and wing assassination faceroller and the Cutter is capable of having decent shields and carrying 720t. Owning both is why I've never needed an Anaconda. I don't fly them often but they're important to have.
Click to expand...
This.
 

XanderVekk

X
FDEV definitely needs to do a balance pass on the imperial and fed mediums after adding the Krait MK2 and Mamba...

I can't imagine flying a gunship nowadays.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom