Just got a Clipper : My views and thoughts

catanonia

C
I play only in Solo mode and have a highly kitted out Asp (18mil) for fun and missions. I also had a Type 7 as my main trader running without shields (13.5lr range) with 232t of cargo.

I was getting extremely bored of the T7 and its horrid turning, I like to sling shot planets and it was useless at that.

So not having any Empire ranks and wanting to see what else this game had, I decided to forego 3 days of trading and get my Baron Empire rank in the Asp and go for a Clipper.

Eventually after 3 days (about 5 hours a day) working through the ranks and how to do it, visiting some conflict zones etc, I had enough for a clipper + spare if I sold the T7.

So I did and was it worth it ? Well in a word yes.

It cost me 26mil to equip a basic clipper with a B5 (12.4 ly) FSD capable of carrying 240t. I swapped out the shields for A3 shields to protect the hull against docking issues and so now I am back to my trading route with a much nicer to fly ship, more cargo space and also capable of handling itself should I need to when I equip the hard points and up the power etc.

So some pros and cons for those considering the same.

Pro's
Much much nicer ship to fly, not at all sluggish and fast in a straight line
Beautiful cockpit, digging the blue neons, compared to the bland cathedral type 7
The sounds are quite nice too.
Awesome view from the cockpit for sight seeing
It has good hard points to defend itself and loads of compartments for future messing around.

Cons
Very expensive to repair. 14% hull damage cost me 76k to repair... ouch Hence now the shields for docking and letterbox incidents
No bottom cockpit view compared to the Type 6/7 and so landing you can not look through your feet to see the pad. You have to rely on the hologram.
Low Jump range. I am running as much D Class kit and B6 FSD and can only get 12.5ly with 240t. Still looking for an A5 FSD

I have not fitted proper weapons yet and so have no idea what it is like in combat. I plan to put missile racks on mine for those have to defend moments.

Also it was fun breaking from the trading to see what else ED had to offer with the Naval Progressions and having to explore a bit. It did help my chosen Empire System had a war going on close by :)


So there it is, in my view, the clipper is worth it as I have basically the same trading capacity, a better flying and looking ship, one that is capable of handling itself and shields to boot for not that much more $$ than a T7 (well about 6mil). A bit of a slog, but I will be keeping compare to swapping back to a T7.
 
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Lodorenos

Lodorenos
AFAIK the Clipper only supports the class 5 FSD. I look forward to purchasing one myself for short range exploratory trips.
 

catanonia

C
Looking like I am making about 3mil an hour trading, slightly higher than the T7 and much more fun. Pretty much covered the cost of the sell of the T7 now and back to some profit and of course have the assets of the Clipper.

Next is the Python and may try to get the Fed Rankings as well.
 

Pyrion

Pyrion
I agree that the clipper is an update to the T7. Be warned though, even with good shields you are not a tank. Weapon wise you can shred ships easily, but you are a huge target with not so good shields yourself. For me, i made the decision that for fighting i am getting a cheaper ship whenever i want to. Just get a viper or adder (my secret favourite) whenever you feel like fighting.
 

grae3107

grae3107
Had the T7 and currently have a clipper myself.

Personally, it is the best ship I have flown so far. Flew the T9 and Anaconda in beta. I had to trade to get it and I am now back to exploring.

The cockpit is amazing, the view is the best there is, pretty good handling some you get used to the drift and unladen I have 20 Ly range which is enough for exploring where I am going. I am gonig to try and squeeze a few more LY when I eventually get back to a station.
 

catanonia

C
Pyrion said:
I agree that the clipper is an update to the T7. Be warned though, even with good shields you are not a tank. Weapon wise you can shred ships easily, but you are a huge target with not so good shields yourself. For me, i made the decision that for fighting i am getting a cheaper ship whenever i want to. Just get a viper or adder (my secret favourite) whenever you feel like fighting.
Click to expand...

Yeah I only play in Solo, but noticed that the Clippers are easy prey for my Asp.

Keeping the Asp for bounty hunting and other stuff, the Clipper for trading and the ability to submit to interdictions and have fun blasting them out of the sky with lasers and missiles :)

Also forgot to mention, I am playing with Oculus and the Clipper is amazing in the Oculus, just sitting there looking around :)
 

Lanatir

Lanatir
did you also notice though that the thrusters make the ship wobble a tiny bit at higher speeds? When i speed up in a station to get out i notice that sometimes it breaks out to the left or right and is a bit reluctant to get back on track.
 

catanonia

C
Lanatir said:
did you also notice though that the thrusters make the ship wobble a tiny bit at higher speeds? When i speed up in a station to get out i notice that sometimes it breaks out to the left or right and is a bit reluctant to get back on track.
Click to expand...

Yes noticed this and caused me to crash into the letterbox the 2nd time launching. Compared to the T7 and Asp, it is not as stable. I am much more careful on docking and take off with the Clipper and hence the A3 shields to protect against the darn expensive repair bills.

Not sure if thruster upgrades will help or is it where the thrusters are house and the wing shape of the Clipper that is at fault ?
 

Cyda

Cyda
Lanatir said:
did you also notice though that the thrusters make the ship wobble a tiny bit at higher speeds? When i speed up in a station to get out i notice that sometimes it breaks out to the left or right and is a bit reluctant to get back on track.
Click to expand...
I notice this too when coming in to dock it always seems to veer to the left for me, I've twice got my left 'wing' stuck on the monorail when trying to land because of this. Also, they are very tricky to try to reverse out of a station: whilst late night trading last night I forgot to ask permission to dock, I slammed it in to reverse the second I realised but must of hit the doorway (please give us some sort of reverse view/cam) trying to get out, 5 seconds later the station opened fire. It's a 3 million credit lesson that I'm not keen on repeating.
 

Calico Jack

C
I think the Clipper is a great ship for those who want to play defensively. It's faster than anything that can kill it, and those hardpoints are good for turrets and okay for gimbals.

However, as it stands it is hopelessly outclassed by the Python in combat because of the Python's agility, shields, smaller size, firepower, and massively better placed hardpoints for PvP. While a Python is much more expensive to buy, once fitted for combat the gap narrows because the Clipper's much weaker, yet bigger, class 7 shields are pricey!

The Python is also a better trading ship, because it carries 280ish and can land at outposts, but that is probably fair as a trading Python is twice the price.

I love my Clipper, I just wish someone had put a gun in the nose. Still, at least it's not a Dropship. ;)
 

Duckfather

Duckfather
I love the Clipper. A quick glance through my post history will tell you that :rolleyes:
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For NPC combat, I've found that my Clipper can take out anything with little difficulty when equipped right. You just have to watch out for suicidal Python / Anaconda pilots as they can seriously damage you if they hit! Only problem with using turrets is that they won't target sub-systems, but they do keep inexorably chipping away at your target otherwise :)
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For PvP combat, it generally has no problems with most ships below an Asp, unless they know what they are doing / how to equip properly. Asp's and above can be problematic, but again, if they haven't equipped right you can do some serious damage! It's definitely not a PvP ship though, as there are others that are much better at it, but it's not meant to be. It's an Empire multi-role ship, albeit a damn fast one :)
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Personally, I can't wait to be able to get up out of my pilots seat and have a proper look around her :cool:
 

HoshiQaVam

H
Depending on what weapons and shields you're using, a grade 6 power supply is completely overkill. You can get away with an A3 or A4 depending on your setup.

Personally I reduced life support down to A1 as it's only real use is it you lose your canopy - which in an Asp pretty much means you're dead anyway.

If you're running cargo, the sensors are also fairly useless so that can be dropped right down as well.

I'm currently running a 240 tonne setup as well, and have 15.x ly range.
 

Cmdr Maggot

C
Hi - am so glad I read this post about the drifting to the left!! every time I land its drifting left! maybe its the spin of the station? but no other ship seems to do this! - I was actually cursing my joystick for breaking and thinking about resetting/formatting the drivers (or something) glad to find out its actually the clipper that is drinking special brew and cant drive in a straight line and not me :)

But have to say I do like the clipper! fast, carries 240 cargo (I have the A3 shield also to save from bumps) did some combat to increase empire ranks and lost them in a few seconds, then hull down to 60% - repair bill very expensive - so avoid combat unless you get a better shield!

Have just enough now if I trade it in for a python! but am thinking I might stick with it a bit longer to gain more cash so I can upgrade the python more! or do I stick with it longer and go for a type 9? I like the idea of the 500 cargo on the type but not sure I could handle the slow speed and handling of the space cow!! or do I fully upgrade the clipper to A level parts??

Agghh too many choices!!!
 

Duckfather

Duckfather
I run a grade 6 power supply because I need the power for when I upgrade the thrusters to 6A and replace the turreted bursts with turreted beams. I also run 5A sensors (forgot to add that in my original link), because they improve targeting of the turrets and gimbals. This is currently my 'go to' ship for when I get bored of trading and fancy mucking about in style :cool:
 

catanonia

C
Cmdr Maggot said:
Hi - am so glad I read this post about the drifting to the left!! every time I land its drifting left! maybe its the spin of the station? but no other ship seems to do this! - I was actually cursing my joystick for breaking and thinking about resetting/formatting the drivers (or something) glad to find out its actually the clipper that is drinking special brew and cant drive in a straight line and not me :)

But have to say I do like the clipper! fast, carries 240 cargo (I have the A3 shield also to save from bumps) did some combat to increase empire ranks and lost them in a few seconds, then hull down to 60% - repair bill very expensive - so avoid combat unless you get a better shield!

Have just enough now if I trade it in for a python! but am thinking I might stick with it a bit longer to gain more cash so I can upgrade the python more! or do I stick with it longer and go for a type 9? I like the idea of the 500 cargo on the type but not sure I could handle the slow speed and handling of the space cow!! or do I fully upgrade the clipper to A level parts??

Agghh too many choices!!!
Click to expand...

same dilemma as me, Python, or stick with Clipper. I will probably stick with Clipper until I can afford the Python outright and keep the Clipper. T9, nah not sure I want an even bigger fatter space cow than the T7
 

Shads

Shads
Flying the clipper is akin to negotiating the tube network with your arms out stretched
 
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specialsymbol

specialsymbol
Wait until you do some long range exploring. 1,5 hrs in supercruise cost me 279.000 creds. Plus change for the paint.

That aside:
It has a few bugs. Try using the docking computer with a Clipper (buy shields first!!!).
And don't drift in stations, it will start moving and only the walls can stop it.
 
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