Ships Type-9 vs. Imperial Cutter for hauling cargo

[BarFly]

Hello,

my cutter is all multi-cannons. i use it when i have to haul stuff and pirates like to interdict.
i let them interdict me, then kill them and send out my limpets and collect all the free materials lol. sometimes grade 5 materials
1 mc is corrosive / high capacity
2 mc are incendiary/overcharged
the rest of the mc are autoloader/overcharged

there is not a pirate in the game i can't kill. carries around 520T with fuel scoop and FSD booster

the T9 is better for loading/unloading the carrier. no scoop/booster carries 756T

At my Cutter there are 2 Beam Turrets mounted at the rear slots. Both Long Range with Thermal Vent & Oversized and set to 'My target'. That takes care of the hostile shields when i boost away and if there is a fighter deployed the Beams are also shooting at them till i finished my turn. The other weapons are also Multi-Cannons. The Big one is Overcharged and Corrosive, one of the large cannons is also Long Range and Oversized, another one is Overcharged/ Incendiary, the 2 smaller ones are Overcharged/Oversized. And i use the 30% plus ammunition. The ammunition lasts for at least 4 or 5 fights till i have to synthesize new rounds.
Because i stack Missions with multiple attackers, the shield is a 6C Bi - Weave with Fast Charge. There is often not that much time for recharging the shields.
Very seldom the shields drop below 70%
Mine carries 720t but i always have 10 Limpets with me. 3A Collector, no Fuel Scoop and no FSD - Booster.
2 Chaffs, a Point Defense, 5 Shield Boosters and a 7A Sensor round off the build.
Usually there are mostly 'Deadly or Master Anacondas. But i also had 'Elite' Condas. My Rank is just Expert.
Like you, i don't fight the interdiction, boost away and then turn around.
if the distance is pretty far, i sacrifice 16t (16t - the song ;-) for a FSD booster.
My other hauler is a Python with a quite similar Outfitting (2 Long Range Beam turrets, Multis & 6C Bi - Weave).

 

[Kira Goto]

did you by chance see the part in my post whereby i listed outfitting already both the 2 beam lasers w/ 'thermal vent' and the 2 heatsinks , right?

I probably missed it, because I may have written the post while my brain was basically already half asleep. But as at least one of the responses following said to you, don’t be overly concerned with keeping a passive 20% or less heat level for most of the regular AX content. It is very far from being necessary and closer to simply being a convenience to avoid triggering caustic missile spam by Interceptors after you take their hearts out. Which you can do more assuredly by simply remaining outside 3 kilometers or keeping your beams trained on it if within that range to control the heat level effectively. (Or heatsink/silent running)

(Avoiding these ‘events’ is almost unavoidable in open play instances because of other players, especially ones in shard-a-condas that keep blasting away to clear the shield, and just about any AXCZ due to NPC presence)

… technically Glaives also don’t appear to launch caustic missiles at you if your heat is low enough but it’s more likely you’ll want to forgo that caution dealing with them to remove them quickly, unless an Interceptor is also around and shooting at you. Glaive missiles are generally quite weak anyway (and while the war is gone, also apparently only in the California nebula AXCZs).

Anyway… if it came down to having to decide between a T9 or Cutter for hauling purposes, and I have access to both (I had to reluctantly get a T9 for my alt, though since also made a T10 which while it has lesser capacity also has slightly less pig handling and can shred any foolhardy pirate being annoying), I would just go with the Cutter every time. I’ve come around the issue of it drifting so much by either not boosting on station approach or only hitting it once to get within range for the docking request and let autodock take over, while keeping the throttle at zero so speed bleeds off faster. (Seeing how it will preserve more speed when you have it at 100% I also don’t keep it pressed all the way down when handling things manually, after a boost.)

It still is faster than the T9 since the Cutter’s non-boost speed in a cargo configuration is about the same as a T9’s boost.

 

[Neestar]

It's not absolutely necessary. You can do AX combat quite well even at 200% heat. Cold-running is a more advanced technique that makes it easier,

Elite Dangerous is hard enough ( yeah yeah travelling in space LYs takes time blah blah blah ) . So i'll take "easier" wherever i can get it.

I probably missed it, because I may have written the post while my brain was basically already half asleep.

lol no worries CMDR , especially since let's be honest my post was rather extra ( lengthy ) to read.

But as at least one of the responses following said to you, don’t be overly concerned with keeping a passive 20% or less heat level for most of the regular AX content. It is very far from being necessary and closer to simply being a convenience to avoid triggering caustic missile spam by Interceptors after you take their hearts out.

ok yeah i hear ya but, well, i just personally enjoy the min/max'ing of ships & parts ( and numbers ) in this game , so for me it's really FUN trying to mix & match grades or whatever to see just how low base % per ship i can actually go.

Anyway… if it came down to having to decide between a T9 or Cutter for hauling purposes,

As i already mentioned in my original post ( which you probably didn't entirely read cuz your sleep deprivation lol /tease ) that decision has already been made weeks ago.

i've literally been planning AX combat for my Imp Cutter for a while, because thematically ( and aesthetically ) it matches up with my other AX combat ships.
And, again as i mentioned before, i personally prefer the Type-9 for cargo hauling since i don't care about losing 50t per run since "speeding space trucker" isn't the primary reason i play/enjoy Elite Dangerous.

But hey i always appreciate reading all the advice & insight from experienced vets like yourself.
To Each His Own, of course. o7

 

[Kira Goto]

I might have read the original post... when it was first made, then forgot about the thread without replying. But I saw some of the recent(ish?) discussion mentioning some of that Cutter vs T9 stuff and figured I would also add my take(s) to it. And give it a contribution that wasn't just discussing AX uses of a ship in a thread titled T9 vs Cutter.

 

[Neestar]

I might have read the original post... when it was first made, then forgot about the thread without replying. But I saw some of the recent(ish?) discussion mentioning some of that Cutter vs T9 stuff and figured I would also add my take(s) to it. And give it a contribution that wasn't just discussing AX uses of a ship in a thread titled T9 vs Cutter.

yep yep i hear ya CMDR and tbqh i always enjoy reading your posts & intel !
You, Ian Doncaster, and a few of the other forum "regulars" really seem to know all the various intricate ins&outs of EliteDaunting ---errr i mean--- Elite Dangerous.

 

[AEBRAM]

Imperial Cutter hauls more cargo than the Type-9.
Imperial Cutter handles better than the Type-9.
Imperial Cutter can haul more cargo than the Type-9 and be fully armed and shielded.
Imperial Cutter has better hardpoint convergence than the Type-9 and can be easily updated for other roles by swapping the internals.
Imperial Cutter can easily achieve 35-40 LY jump ranges kitted out for cargo, weapons, fully loaded optionals, shields, etc.

There is nothing the Imperial Cutter cannot do, as a multi-role ship, while still having 5k to 10k raw MJ shields; MJ shields depends on the shield module you settle on.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

There is nothing the Imperial Cutter cannot do

Stopping.

 

[AEBRAM]

Stopping.

Heh. They do have mail slot issues sometimes. Otherwise, that's not the fault of the ship but the docking controllers manning the space station.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

Stopping.

And while we're there, it doesn't actually change direction that well either .

 

[AEBRAM]

And while we're there, it doesn't actually change direction that well either .

Eh. I wouldn't agree with you there. The pitch and yaw are fairly responsive with engineered thrusters. I mean, some people don't put that much effort into building up their ships; So yeah, it can be sluggish but reasonably fast for a large ship when you do. The cockpit, point and drive, is way better than other large ships, in that regard.

 

[Helmut Grokenberger]

Eh. I wouldn't agree with you there. The pitch and yaw are fairly responsive with engineered thrusters. I mean, some people don't put that much effort into building up their ships; So yeah, it can be sluggish but reasonably fast for a large ship when you do. The cockpit, point and drive, is way better than other large ships, in that regard.

I wouldn't take a Cutter out of the garage if it didn't have G5 thrusters, so that's not it. The Cutter is just terrible to fly . It might pitch, roll and yaw, but that doesn't change the movement vector for quite a while .

Yes, I hate the Cutter. Hate it, hate it, hate it. I rather do two trips in the T-8 than one trip in the Cutter. It sucks, sucks, sucks.

Did I mention that I don't like the Cutter? Not sure .

 

[Darrack]

Imperial Cutter hauls more cargo than the Type-9.

Not if you want a shield and fuel scoop (and optional ADC)
Cutter 704 T9 736
Splitting hairs i know but when you have to haul from a system or two from the pick up place and need a few seconds to get away from Pirates....

O7

 

[DjVortex]

Imperial Cutter hauls more cargo than the Type-9.

794 vs 790 tons. The difference is negligible.

 

[Zador]

Splitting hairs i know but when you have to haul from a system or two from the pick up place and need a few seconds to get away from Pirates....

Cutter needs no seconds to get away from pirates, boost, engage supercruise, you're off. Maybe a couple % damage at most.

Also for stopping, the rear thrusters are very strong, they just need to be pointed in the right direction. I read in various sci-fi books the need for ships to flip 180 to decelerate ;p

 

[Neestar]

I'd say dirty is just fine, and that clean drives are a trap.

By all means go clean if you like it, but I think you'll find the juice ain't worth the squeeze. Clean drives use more power than dirty -- and since power draw is what generates heat -- you give back some of what you are trying to save at the same time you are kissing your smash goodbye. A tiny bit cooler, perhaps, but much slower and less agile. And as I am fond of saying, speed is life.

Just wanted to pop-in real quick regarding my post(s) from page 2 and tell you & @DjVortex & @Kira Goto , etc. ... After many tweaks & tests, and many engineering materials wasted lol , i finally recognized how correct u guys were and ultimately decided on 'dirty' drive thrusters yep

My heat% is still at a very manageable 22-24% , mostly cuz i got rid of my coveted Guardian FSD Booster and replaced the class 4 Plasma with a class4 BeamLaser so more damage = faster cooling. ( re: thermal vent )
But i realized unless i wanted to just strip away all the fun parts, which would defeat the whole purpose of this particular build, then there really wasn't anything i could do to reach 19% threshold and so now with 'dirty' i've got my speed/boost up to 510 , which won't be able to out-run 'Glaives' but oh well still not too bad for a fully outfitted/shielded AX Cutter yeah?

Anyways, THANKS as always for all the intel CMDRs! o7

 

[DjVortex]

After many tweaks & tests, and many engineering materials wasted lol , i finally recognized how correct u guys were and ultimately decided on 'dirty' drive thrusters yep

I hope you replaced the thrusters with new ones, rather than overriding the engineering. You could always use the old thrusters in another ship (perhaps in the future), even if they "only" have clean drives engineering.

 

[AEBRAM]

794 vs 790 tons. The difference is negligible.

That is true. I would lean closer to 720t cargo with something like this: Armed Imperial Cutter Transport (39 Ly. Jump). The jump range is reasonable and being NPC interdicted boils down to extra credits when I dock at the space station. It will hold up in combat and the concordance sequence will boost your shield's recharge rate.