Panther Clipper
- Thread starter tarragon
- Start date
I thought that was the Cobra III...
The Panther didn't even exist until Frontier and First Encounters.
Many are interested, we are just waiting patiently for the iconic PC. There have been quite a few polls on 'upcoming ships', the PC is invariably at or very near the top of the wish list.
I'd hazard that the Cobra is more worthy of a triptych in the icon stakes.
But to answer your question: people are interested, and there have been countless threads about it. My instinct would be to time your campaign quite carefully. We are currently in Beta, with 2.2 dropping shortly. After the dust has settled, making sure not to denigrate the most recent developments, maybe then would be the time to apply some gentle pressure?
Well, apart from the Cobra III and all the Snakes, obviously.
I'm waiting, but there's no point me jumping up and down impatiently over it. It'll be in the game when it's ready, and demanding FD shift my own personal priorities to the top of the release schedule would be rather arrogant.
In my ideal world it would be released after a bunch of plot and alien/mystery related stuff [my highest personal priority] and before space-legs [probably my lowest priority], and right after the release of a hard-to-get military Asp variant. )
I the original games the Panther was an absolute behemoth, capable of carrying thousands of tons of cargo. Most pirates were simply ignored as they were either ineffectual agains the mammoth shielding, or you smeared them across your windshield like a bug. If they were big enough to be of consequence, then the massive turrets would make short work of them.
It was an end-game ship, when you'd made your millions, as it could cost many millions to fill the cargo hold. It could literally strip the commodities market on a station and ship the whole lot somewhere else, but the running costs and the crew costs were also astronomical.
It was an end-game ship, when you'd made your millions, as it could cost many millions to fill the cargo hold. It could literally strip the commodities market on a station and ship the whole lot somewhere else, but the running costs and the crew costs were also astronomical.
Biggest player ownable ship in Frontier and First Encounters. when I get jumped by pirates, I'd leave the autoplit on and just blaze 'em up from the turrets. If I didn't splash them first, they normally just ended up as a bug splat on my shields.
Only times I got worried and had to try and maneuver was if I saw the white beam of a Courier and it's Plasma Accelerator.
It's my nostalgia ship from FE2, at that time I thought I had "won" the game when I got it, different mindset then. It's one of the reasons I want to see it introduced, another is the ability to carry ungodly amounts of cargo. And if/when it is implemented, cry when I get to see the stats it will have.
THat used to scare everyone though
I flew the Courier and it was a thing of beauty. OK the current one looks better, but I do miss that plasma accelerator. It made you feel like a Vorlon ship 
I suspect in the name of balancing, "lacklustre" will be the appropriate term.
Taking bets that we basically get a swollen T9 with just about the same level of utility.
Not really a 2000 ton capacity ship though.
People forget that in those days engines and gear took up cargo space. The ship was so heavy that it needed a six hundred ton engine to get it off the pad. If we get it in ED I'm guessing it'll be in the 1000 - 1200 ton range.
The other feature of the panther was that it flew like a brick. It was the slowest ship in the game and if you were foolish enough to land it on a high G planet it was possible to strand yourself. Engines at full power insufficient to get you off the ground. There were known exploits that could be used but no honorable way to take off.
It also had a mere 9 point something light year jump range. Usable but it couldn't be upgraded.
It was an iconic ship though. The main engines would rotate through 90 degrees when you lifted off.
The panther was the only ship in the game that could pack the "Large Plasma Accelerator" a ridiculously overpowered weapon that according to the flavour text could be used to terrorise cities on the ground. Didn't actually do it though. I tried and tried but not one city ever surrendered to me
Edit:
I'm also going to guess that if it makes it into the game it'll have a crew of either 3 or 4. The original ship had a crew of 12, but this is the 34th Century and they'll probably have automated a lot of the old stations by now.
People forget that in those days engines and gear took up cargo space. The ship was so heavy that it needed a six hundred ton engine to get it off the pad. If we get it in ED I'm guessing it'll be in the 1000 - 1200 ton range.
The other feature of the panther was that it flew like a brick. It was the slowest ship in the game and if you were foolish enough to land it on a high G planet it was possible to strand yourself. Engines at full power insufficient to get you off the ground. There were known exploits that could be used but no honorable way to take off.
It also had a mere 9 point something light year jump range. Usable but it couldn't be upgraded.
It was an iconic ship though. The main engines would rotate through 90 degrees when you lifted off.
The panther was the only ship in the game that could pack the "Large Plasma Accelerator" a ridiculously overpowered weapon that according to the flavour text could be used to terrorise cities on the ground. Didn't actually do it though. I tried and tried but not one city ever surrendered to me
Edit:
I'm also going to guess that if it makes it into the game it'll have a crew of either 3 or 4. The original ship had a crew of 12, but this is the 34th Century and they'll probably have automated a lot of the old stations by now.
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I bought my Clipper, and then realised that the backwater station I was in didn't have enough crew to let me take off, and had to spend a couple of months on the StarDreamer recruiting crew...
Also, after flying it around for a bit, I decided to split my save game, and kept the Panther Clipper as one, a Krait to go bounty hunting and an Asp for missions. Wan to bankrupt small civilisations? Panther. Go buzzing about Anarchy Systems in a barely shielded deathtrap? Krait. Run missions and passenger drops? Asp.
Good times.
Also, after flying it around for a bit, I decided to split my save game, and kept the Panther Clipper as one, a Krait to go bounty hunting and an Asp for missions. Wan to bankrupt small civilisations? Panther. Go buzzing about Anarchy Systems in a barely shielded deathtrap? Krait. Run missions and passenger drops? Asp.
Good times.
Get outta here OP! The ship everyone is waiting for is the Krait!
The Panther Clipper will be a horrible ship. It will make the T9 look like a ballerina in comparison.
The Panther Clipper will be a horrible ship. It will make the T9 look like a ballerina in comparison.
Get outta here OP! The ship everyone is waiting for is the Krait!
The Panther Clipper will be a horrible ship. It will make the T9 look like a ballerina in comparison.
.....what the...i don't even...........reported!
The Panther Clipper seems to be called the Panther LX in ED. We had some sneak peeks in Newsletter #92 - if you want the details, I reposted all of it here: http://www.elite-dangerous-blog.co.uk/?tag=Panther+LX+(Panther+Clipper)
We're not uninterested about the ship, just patient. I've been speculating about the Panther before every major release! After all, we knew about the Beluga and Dolphin before launch in 2014, but we only just got one of them.
Frontier (I think it was Mike Brookes) said at the beginning of Horizons, that this season would concentrate more on content, rather than adding new ships.
We're not uninterested about the ship, just patient. I've been speculating about the Panther before every major release! After all, we knew about the Beluga and Dolphin before launch in 2014, but we only just got one of them.
Frontier (I think it was Mike Brookes) said at the beginning of Horizons, that this season would concentrate more on content, rather than adding new ships.
Get outta here OP! The ship everyone is waiting for is the Krait!
The Panther Clipper will be a horrible ship. It will make the T9 look like a ballerina in comparison.
Wait whut?
.....what the...i don't even...........reported!
Hurry up and report him so I can swing the Banhammer...
The Panther was my favourite Ship in Frontier and FFE.
Beast..
And the Lads who did FFE3D made a great job in updating as well.
But the new one....
I thought the white beam was the 20MW beam laser, and PA's were blue?
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Yup. the blue flash of death was a sight to behold.