Engineers Rethinking my game plan.

[Nerwan]

Before the update I'd have agreed 100%, and to this day it's still my main BHing ship. But in the light of new AI, the FDL is a ship best piloted with decent FA Off experience; the clipper is more forgiving if you don't have that under your belt.

Can't imagine using the FDL and not being able to drift/fire past targets.

Well, the FDL has massive shields compared to the clipper (although smaller SCBs of course) so I'd say even if you aren't an FA off wiz it's still pretty good. One thing I would point out though is that if you want to do all the Engineers stuff it'll be really annoying in an FDL (at least until you get FSD lvl 5). You have to go all over the place and have collector limpets etc. That's why I'm doing it all my trusty prismatic Python (now with a new and improved 20LY jump). If you don't have a Python the clipper is going to be good for this too. Fit it out true multi purpose style for a while, collectors + some cargo + some SCB and it'll be a winner for 2.1 and the engineers. Also I bet the Clipper goes like a rocket with dirty drives 3!

I'm basically doing the whole thing in my Python but going back when I have the right things and putting upgrades on my FDL (and other ships).

 

[VR Jay Le Chardon]

An A-rated clipper is a fun ship... you should almost always be able to keep your enemy in front of you.


If you enjoy doing missions... you may want to pick up an Asp Explorer and use it as a mission running ship



So my advice is: figure out what you want to do and then fly the best ship you can afford for that job.

I advise against selling a ship you really like. Just strip it down (sell what you can, downgrade what you can't) and store it later for refitting when you have the $$$. I'd recommend doing this at the stations that have the !5% discount on ships/equipment (Lembava/Goldstein station, Diaguandri/Ray Station, LHS 20/Ohm City (Corvette discounted), Harm/Gentil Hub (Imperial Cutter at !5% off!!!!) Gunapa\Haber Orbital (Clipper/clipper bulkheads 15% off), etc.).

In summation: the clipper is like a luxury sports car that I just couldn't part with. I could make more money doing missions in my Asp, at the time, then trading in the clipper....

Once you own a clipper, it's hard to sit in the cockpit of anything else.

You'll need to decide what you want to do and then pick the right ship for the job. I just don't recommend selling any ship from the clipper on up (unless you hate the ship) - just strip it down and use that money to buy what you need; you can rebuild the ship later and won't have lost any money (the 10% loss on the sale).

Sorry if this was a bit long. It's my first post here and I don't post much in general.

I have taken the liberrty of abridging the post to highlight what I felt were the most salient points in there, a lot of which I was going to type in my reply. There is a lot of really good advice in there, especially since the OP already has a courier, he could get an asp explorer, and do some missions, even try smuggling from sothi / fehu in ASP-X. If the OP does a little bit of smuggling (not all the time just a couple of runs to inject some cash) the money will come in quickly to the point of finishing upgrading the clipper.

Once she is fully upgraded the clipper will melt your heart - it really is a hunny of a thing to fly when its A-Specced.[heart] I have mine set up with 4x medium pulse lasers 7A shields, 4x A shield boosters, A rated everything else, 4A interdictor and scoop, 6C fuel tank, a couple of HRP's Military grade composite bulkheads, and a small cargo hold. it feels as if its a super-fighter, its big, its fast, its long range, and you can stay virtually constantly on the lasers which being medium are like rapid fire [yesnod]

 

[StiTch]

Well, the FDL has massive shields compared to the clipper (although smaller SCBs of course) so I'd say even if you aren't an FA off wiz it's still pretty good. One thing I would point out though is that if you want to do all the Engineers stuff it'll be really annoying in an FDL (at least until you get FSD lvl 5). You have to go all over the place and have collector limpets etc. That's why I'm doing it all my trusty prismatic Python (now with a new and improved 20LY jump). If you don't have a Python the clipper is going to be good for this too. Fit it out true multi purpose style for a while, collectors + some cargo + some SCB and it'll be a winner for 2.1 and the engineers. Also I bet the Clipper goes like a rocket with dirty drives 3!

I'm basically doing the whole thing in my Python but going back when I have the right things and putting upgrades on my FDL (and other ships).

As far as I am aware you can sell modded equipment and buy them back on a different ship. Correct me if I am wrong, I've been repping up in an Asp until I can put some usable mods on the FDL.

As of 2.1 enemies are being more clever with distancing. To those unfamiliar with FDL controls or FA Off, it's incredibly easy to get pulled into boosting to keep up with foes. And with its high boost speed but PITA inertia, the FDL has a tendency to end up overshooting and taking too long to come around. Keeping guns on the target is easier in a clipper than a FDL unless you can FA Off strafe fire.

I have always been reserved with the FDL movements because I know that it requires more finesse to fight with than most other ships. Good place to start is throttling down when hitting boost, and throttle up to where needed to keep control over the boost. But for the less technical fliers, the clipper is a strong choice atm.

 

[Arry]

I have to say, I've been using my A rated python for about 2 days now, and I feel just as safe in it as my a rated FDL, really the only solo ships that give me trouble in both, are deadly or higher anacondas. I seriously think I'll be using this ship 75% of the time, because it's so versatile, and I actually love fighting in it. I only have a couple HRPs on it, because I have limpets, interdictor, etc and it set up for collecting engineering materials/components, and I still find it holds up defensively better than my FDL. I find the firepower on par or maybe even a bit better than my FDL. I've been getting interdicted all day and I've only ran once from an elite anaconda. I've taken out several high ranked FAS, FGS, etc. I don't have to worry as much as I do in my FDL when the shields drop. A well kitted FAS or FGS, will take my hull down fast in my FDL, the python holds up much better IMO, and I can stack several more HRPs on it. I don't mind it's maneuverability at all either, but I a rated it right off the bat as well. I can't wait to upgrade the thrusters on it through the engineers. The overalll better internals, and the way you can set it up easily makes me love this ship, it's just so versatile. I've always read about how people love there pythons, and now I understand why.

I've always saved enough money to A rate every ship I've bought, before I've buy the ship. I just find it much more rewarding, to have it maxed right away, then to have it sub par and have to grind more to max it. The only ship I haven't a rated right away is my cutter, because it's soley a trade ship, and no use making the buyback any higher.

Speaking of the cutter, I know it's fast, but it's the worst turning of the big 3 ships. I think I only have c or D thrusters on mine, and it still boosts 334 or so. I wonder if modding the thrusters and ginormous shield generator that I can put on, make this ship any good at battle? I don't like the hardpoint placements in it so well, and it seems lacking in keeping up with weapon fire, even with an A rated distributor. I was just curious if any of you have done modding on it, or if it's even worth it.

Within this short wall of text, there is a very good piece of advice; which i have stated myself and have failed to do myself: Don't buy a ship, until you can fit it. That I believe is the key. if you can't afford to A class the power, thrusters and shields, don't buy the ship.

 

[Nerwan]

As far as I am aware you can sell modded equipment and buy them back on a different ship. Correct me if I am wrong, I've been repping up in an Asp until I can put some usable mods on the FDL.

Well, yes and no, you have to be careful how you do it until they fix this bug I raised: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=259105

As of 2.1 enemies are being more clever with distancing. To those unfamiliar with FDL controls or FA Off, it's incredibly easy to get pulled into boosting to keep up with foes. And with its high boost speed but PITA inertia, the FDL has a tendency to end up overshooting and taking too long to come around. Keeping guns on the target is easier in a clipper than a FDL unless you can FA Off strafe fire.

Yes, this is true, the FDL is agile from a translation point of view rather than from a pitch point of view, it's like the viper in that regard but bigger. FA on pilots are probably best off with the FAS, that pitches amazingly.

 

[Daniel Cloudsifter]

I sold my clipper for a python, so I'll give you my experience from doing so.
A-rated clipper except for B7 shields; 2 large burst lasers, 2 medium multi's. Loved it! Very fun to fly, could always run away if I needed and the only ships that gave me a hard time were Federal Assault Ships. when I was with lavigny duval I was pulling 5-7 mil credits an hour bounty hunting in hazardous RES's.

Traded for a Python just before engineers hit. I have a c3 shield, c7 power point, and b engines, but everything else critical is A rated. 2 large beams, 1 large multi, 2 medium multies. I'd say that the python is faster to kill ships if a face-to-face fight because of the extra large hardpoint, but it's a lot slower to turn and I have a harder time staying behind a target. I had been really good with my clipper of using the drifting and FA-off o that over the course of an hour i'd only used 1-2 shield cell banks. I've had to run from several fights in my python so far; part of that is the c-rated shields, part of that the change in AI where Elite ships are actually a challenge.

The Clipper was so fun, and I felt much safer in it, but the python is much more flexible for me because of needing a medium pad and a better internal compartment layout. I'll probably go back and buy a clipper again because I love the ship, it depends. I thought the clipper was the perfect ship for teaching me how to really use FA-off/drifting mechanics and effecive power-pip management. Plus the thing was damn sexy and I loved the engine sound.
Hopefully this helps!

It sounds like we've had similar experience. The clipper is SAFE, sexy, and a joy to fly; it's inability to land on medium pads seriously impedes its use, though. The Python is a also sexy (on the outside), great weapon loadout with very good placement, able to deal major damage quickly, decent shields, and able to land on medium pads. It is, quite frankly, the quintessential "mission ship." I've lost track of the number of missions I've seen that only the Python could do; anyone else know a ship that can carry 180 units of cargo and land on a medium pad? Unfortunately, its pitch rate is not good nor is its top speed; in 2.0, this made combat frustrating (takes a little longer), but doable; in 2.1, I'm paranoid at every jump.

I am still using the Python for missions, but am using the Clipper for any travel to Engineer's planets (to turn in items to unlock or increase rep). That has now increased even more since I modded the FSD (range, level 4) so that its jump range has increased from 16.xx (I don't remember) to 21.09 and the clean drive tuning (level 3) which increased the pitch rate from 46 to 49 degrees and the boost speed up to 463. At some point, I'll try to transfer those components to my Python to see how they work for it. The nice thing about these two ships is they have the same component sizes for most of the core components.