The Cutter sucks at combat. Change my mind.

Stealthie

Stealthie
Yes, clickbait title is clickbait. :p

Having played around with Coriolis, and realised just how much shield you can bolt to a Cutter, I decided to build something just for farming CZs, Pirate POIs and similar stuff.

Thing is, erm, it actually isn't very good. :confused:

Sure, the shield is all but impregnible but combat is just plain dull.
It can't really keep targets in it's sights and I was, literally, nodding off while I was waiting for it to turn and re-acquire a target.
It doesn't really have insta-kill DPS and a lot of my targets would run away and, because it takes so long to turn, I couldn't chase them, mass-lock them and finish them off.
Honestly, the Outlaw Annie that I built a few months ago is better at PvE combat-farming.

I think the biggest problem is the weapons.
It's using a 4A beam, a bunch of MC's and a couple of PAs.
It does a decent enough job of exploding things like Annies but, for anything smaller, they take a couple of hits and then flee... and I can't turn fast enough to chase them.

Funny thing is, my Trade-Cutters just have an "average" weapon loadout (combination of lasers and MCs) and I've never felt like I was at a disadvantage but I guess, when flying a trader, if you can make your attacker run away it's a "win".


Anybody got any suggestions for tactics to use when flying a Cutter in combat, or weapons that work well with it?
 

here_it_comes

here_it_comes
I suppose if I were to make a combat Cutter for PVE I would use LR weaponry to deal with NPCs fleeing and engage from a moderate range to begin with to maximize my ToT before they could get a chance to pass me. Starting off close as usual would certainly cause issues with the Cutter.
 
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Hooplah

Hooplah
Fly using reverse thrusters with beams and rail guns. Adjust throttle to keep the enemy close
for efficient damage but full reverse so that they don't fly past you. The beams slowly take
down the shields and the engineered rail guns defeat a dangerous or better enemy using
SCBs to replenish their shields. Without the engineered rails they can often replenish 10 times.

Once their shields are down go with forward thrusters and boost as needed. You are pointed
at them and can use your favorite insta-kill weapons to take them out plus mass lock. Range
at 3km PvE ships rarely fire while you're taking down their shields. That's called 'kiting' and is
legal in ED. Some may not agree. That's for another thread.

If you're an interdicting pirate a ship running away is an easy kill. The Cutter wasn't meant for
jousting and can take a little longer for a kill but no PvE ever puts a dent in my ship. As I don't
do PvP you decide. Here's my 720t trader weapons load out.

Group 1
fire 1 / two 3C beams / long range / thermal vent (top mounted)
fire 2 / two 2B rali guns / long range / feedback cascade and super penetrator (bottom mounted}
(I use Imperial hammers improving hits with the 3 shot burst)

Group 2
fire 1 / two 3C beams / long range / thermal vent (top mounted)
fire 2 / one 4A Multi-cannon / overcharged / auto loader (bottom mounted)
fire 2 / two 2F multi-cannons / overcharged / autoloader and corrosive shell
(The 2F multi-cannons are mounted on the engine nacelles given the Cutter's targeting convergence)

I long ago mastered top and bottom weapons on a Federal Assault Ship at the same time. Did you?
 
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Bortas

Bortas
I actually like clearing out CZs and Haz RES with the Cutter. Simple solution for its lack in maneuverability: Use turrets.

Im using 4 long range pulse laser turrets on the top, and 3 gimballed MCs on the bottom. The turrets will continue eating away opponents' HP, and when you finally manage to get them in line of sight, the MCs deal some devastating amount of extra damage.

With a fully engineered PD, the Cutter can fire the 4 LR pulse lasers almost indefinetely with 2 pips in WEP.

And with those shields it can also stay indefinetely, tanking everything.
 

CMDR Karrde Sun

CMDR Karrde Sun
Are you using fixed weapons because they're the highest dps? With a cutter you can no longer keep your nose on the target therefore fixed weapons are no longer the highest dps.

The whole flavour changes, you're more like a moving fortress rather than a tie fighter.

EDIT: Though if you can somehow keep yourself at range as suggested that might work as well. Certainly more enjoyable with a long range setup. I just use mine for trading kills. I stop for regular pirates all the time. For extended turret boat combat there's something more satisfying about the type-10 or anaconda imo.
 
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Agony_Aunt

Agony_Aunt
Dogfighting tends to be the most fun form of combat, but the Cutter is not a dogfighter. If you want to dogfight, you need something with a bit of agility.

The big ships are more suited to being turret tanks.

Also, nerf the Corvette's agility FD :p
 

Shadowed

Shadowed
I use the Cutter as a sniper in PvE. 1 huge g5 long range fixed beam with thermal vent, and 2 imperial hammers with g5 long range, 2 large g5 efficient plasma accelerators when ships get close, and 2 medium g5 efficient gimballed beams with thermal vent.

Toggling flight assist off during turns really speeds up the turn rate. The huge beam + hammers combo can easily keep up with any sized ship.

With Bi weave fast charge, the Cutter can regen at 6.7 mj/s, so I will often fight with just 2 pips to SYS and focus on keeping my WEP capacitor near empty. The thermal vent on huge beam keeps me below 100% heat until distributor is empty, then I swap to PA's.

Another loadout I liked was using the twin large hardpoints for G5 efficient fixed beams and a huge corrosive gimballed multicannon, but I lacked sustained long range DPS.
Cutter is far more maneuverable than a Keelback, which is great with railguns too. I'd definitely focus on high DPS for fixed weapons.
 

CMDR NedSlark

CMDR NedSlark
Agony_Aunt said:
Also, nerf the Corvette's agility FD :p
Click to expand...

If they nerf the Corvette's agility it will become a useless ship IMO. I look at "The big 3" this way, Anaconda excels in jump range thus it is the best explorer, Cutter excels in cargo space and a decent jump range thus makes it the best Miner/Cargo hauler and the Corvette excels in manoeuvrability thus makes it the best fighter. I do not think they need to nerf any of them, because they are expensive and riskier to fly with hefty insurance cost.
 

goemon

goemon
there are two reasons for me, why i take a cutter for CZ instead of the corvette for CZ sometimes.
1. speed combined with longrange sensors. for tactical flying in a cz - you are faster at the next target you want to take out. in effect i can winin a bit shorter timeframe.
2. the cockpit. it's less noisy and you don't have the ship in front of you.

i run a frag-based cutter. targets don't exist long enough to get into a dogfight.
 

Crimson Kaim

Crimson Kaim
Cutter is a braindead ship that doesn't allow for much different playstyle than reverski. It's like it's meant to facetank. Since its agility is bottom tier, you don't want to engage in close fights unless you do a full boom and zoom as the devs originally intended it.
However, the easiest way to use a Cutter is to reverse on your targets as you can fly backwards faster than they can boost forwards. Your stupid amount of shields will outtank anything that isn't a player. And with a proper shield loadout, even a single player will not have enough DPS to drop your shields when you casually wake out as nothing except another Cutter can masslock you.
 

Kenneth McGrew

Kenneth McGrew
Stealthie said:
Yes, clickbait title is clickbait. :p

Having played around with Coriolis, and realised just how much shield you can bolt to a Cutter, I decided to build something just for farming CZs, Pirate POIs and similar stuff.

Thing is, erm, it actually isn't very good. :confused:

Sure, the shield is all but impregnible but combat is just plain dull.
It can't really keep targets in it's sights and I was, literally, nodding off while I was waiting for it to turn and re-acquire a target.
It doesn't really have insta-kill DPS and a lot of my targets would run away and, because it takes so long to turn, I couldn't chase them, mass-lock them and finish them off.
Honestly, the Outlaw Annie that I built a few months ago is better at PvE combat-farming.

I think the biggest problem is the weapons.
It's using a 4A beam, a bunch of MC's and a couple of PAs.
It does a decent enough job of exploding things like Annies but, for anything smaller, they take a couple of hits and then flee... and I can't turn fast enough to chase them.

Funny thing is, my Trade-Cutters just have an "average" weapon loadout (combination of lasers and MCs) and I've never felt like I was at a disadvantage but I guess, when flying a trader, if you can make your attacker run away it's a "win".


Anybody got any suggestions for tactics to use when flying a Cutter in combat, or weapons that work well with it?
Click to expand...

fit class 1 elastic bands and go and have your nap, that's what the cutters for right?

IMG_0051_0.jpg
 

Tryst

Tryst
The Cutter isn't really designed to be a combat ship. It's a big, luxury liner with a huge defensive capability.

Of course, it's crap at combat.
 

Elpapo

Elpapo
Stealthie said:
Thing is, erm, it actually isn't very good. :confused:
Click to expand...


Cutter is certainly not a easiest ship to tame, but it can do any PVE with ease, given if properly outfited and handled.

Given that, I rather say: You are not good enough to fly it properly if you only used it for trade runs. If it would be diffrent, you would not bother to post like that.


Stealthie said:
Sure, the shield is all but impregnible but combat is just plain dull.
It can't really keep targets in it's sights and I was, literally, nodding off while I was waiting for it to turn and re-acquire a target.
It doesn't really have insta-kill DPS and a lot of my targets would run away and, because it takes so long to turn, I couldn't chase them, mass-lock them and finish them off.
Honestly, the Outlaw Annie that I built a few months ago is better at PvE combat-farming.

I think the biggest problem is the weapons.
It's using a 4A beam, a bunch of MC's and a couple of PAs.
It does a decent enough job of exploding things like Annies but, for anything smaller, they take a couple of hits and then flee... and I can't turn fast enough to chase them.


Anybody got any suggestions for tactics to use when flying a Cutter in combat, or weapons that work well with it?
Click to expand...


Weapons like PA or multicannons are bit advanced stuff for combat cutter, and since you are newbie with it, you should try hitscan first instead to point where u can keep target on sights all time. It will come by with enough practice.

Main weapons should be a long range fixed hitscan weapons (rails or beams), with some efficent hitscan gimballs to assist unitl fixed are pointed at target. Use SLF to assist as well.

When facing a small ship, use hitscan gimballs until main fixed are pointed at it, then repeat until target is destroyed. Small ships wont last long. Dont use turrets, its where SLF comes by as mobile turret that deal dps when cutter is takin its time to turn by.

Always put 4 pips on ENG whenever u need take a turn, mix it with some FAOFF and reverski until u got target on front of ya. If that wont work, dont hesitate to boost past smaller ship in order to kill'em with fixed LR weapons at 3km+ range, its where cutter shines most at combat. With its speed, and 6km range of fire, you are one who is dictate range of engage. Keep SLF alive all times.
 

Brrokk

Brrokk
Stealthie said:
Yes, clickbait title is clickbait. :p

Having played around with Coriolis, and realised just how much shield you can bolt to a Cutter, I decided to build something just for farming CZs, Pirate POIs and similar stuff.

Thing is, erm, it actually isn't very good. :confused:

Sure, the shield is all but impregnible but combat is just plain dull.
It can't really keep targets in it's sights and I was, literally, nodding off while I was waiting for it to turn and re-acquire a target.
It doesn't really have insta-kill DPS and a lot of my targets would run away and, because it takes so long to turn, I couldn't chase them, mass-lock them and finish them off.
Honestly, the Outlaw Annie that I built a few months ago is better at PvE combat-farming.

I think the biggest problem is the weapons.
It's using a 4A beam, a bunch of MC's and a couple of PAs.
It does a decent enough job of exploding things like Annies but, for anything smaller, they take a couple of hits and then flee... and I can't turn fast enough to chase them.

Funny thing is, my Trade-Cutters just have an "average" weapon loadout (combination of lasers and MCs) and I've never felt like I was at a disadvantage but I guess, when flying a trader, if you can make your attacker run away it's a "win".


Anybody got any suggestions for tactics to use when flying a Cutter in combat, or weapons that work well with it?
Click to expand...
Cover it with impregnable shields and turrets and use it for levelling up the NPC SLF pilot. Also vapourise every pirate that thinks your cargo is tasty and collect their materials with limpets. Finally, engage SCA and ADC to dock in style.
 
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