What drives for a trade Cutter?

Stealthie

Stealthie
My Cutter is, basically, just an armoured delivery van.

I'm in a position to give it G5 engineered thrusters but I'm wondering which way to go.

G5 clean drives are, IMO, the "safe bet".
They improve performance a bit and the Cutter does suffer with heat on occasions so they'll help with that too.

G5 dirty drives are, obviously, the "go-faster" option.
That'll probably come in handy when operating on high-g planets and it might also help after interdictions.

G5 strengthened drives are... an interesting option.
They offer a small performance boost and small penalties in terms of weight and power useage.
The interesting part is that the current "meta" for interdicting big ships is to use thermals weapons to disable the drives.
Seems like fitting strengthened drives might help negate that tactic.

My Cutter is already loaded up with HRPs and MRPs and I've never actually had my drives successfully disabled but plenty of people have tried.
That being the case, are my HRPs and MRPs sufficient, thus allowing me to choose between clean and dirty drives, or would it be smart to just go for the strengthened drives anyway to reduce the likelihood of a successful attack?

Thoughts?
 

Marklar_

Marklar_
I went with dirty drives, it really helps. I don't have any problems with heat, but I also run a 7A power plant; not only does that mean less heat but also increases range. It makes for a good trade Cutter, but compromise is required with weapon loadout.
 

Pyrobee

P
Currently have G3DD which are good enough most of the time for scarpering but need to get on the crack train again and stop puting G5DD in my small ships. Used my last lot of CIF on my hauler :D
 

Meeklo Braca

Meeklo Braca
It depends, but if you mostly trade, put 8D drives on her and engineer them with grade 5 dirty drives. That way you get good speed and performance with 'low' weight.

If you grade 5 DD 8A engines, it actually becomes harder to do the high-speed docking maneuver, which if you don't know, try it out! Point towards mailslot while sliding sideways, then boost and immediately(!) lower landing gear. You'll end up the direction you want and not break 200m/s, and quickly slow down to around 100m/s. I learned this trick in a T9, but it works in any large slow ship.
 
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Grisnir

G
Meeklo Braca said:
It depends, but if you mostly trade, put 8D drives on her and engineer them with grade 5 dirty drives. That way you get good speed and performance with 'low' weight.

If you grade 5 DD 8A engines, it actually becomes harder to do the high-speed docking maneuver, which if you don't know, try it out! Point towards mailslot while sliding sideways, then boost and immediately(!) lower landing gear. You'll end up the direction you want and not break 200m/s, and quickly slow down to around 100m/s. I learned this trick in a T9, but it works in any large slow ship.
Click to expand...

the good thing having 8A thrusters with G5DD(which i would recommand if money and mat are available) is, that the ship isn't a oil tanker anymore oh and that it can hit 500 m/s [big grin]
 

goemon

goemon
i have G5 DD on D-class thrusters. i got a godly roll which i would have wish for on one of my combat ships, and that didn't really help .... it turns freely in any direction, but does not change direction of travel.

clean drive isn't worth it, if your favourite route isn't going to a 2+ G surface port, or you intend to take your trading cutter exploring skardee I.

so, if i would feel the need to reengineer my cutters thrusters, i would probably go for G3 dirty drive tuning on d-class thrusters next time.
 

Stealthie

Stealthie
Well, that's pretty unanimous. :D

Has anybody who regularly flies a Cutter ever had their drives disabled in an attack?

Seems like that's always what people attempt do.
It's never worked on me and I always assumed it was due to my HRPs/MRPs and I was a bit worried that DDs might reduce integrity to a point where it becomes risky.
If that's not the case, DDs it is. [up]
 

Pyrobee

P
Stealthie said:
Well, that's pretty unanimous. :D

Has anybody who regularly flies a Cutter ever had their drives disabled in an attack?

Seems like that's always what people attempt do.
It's never worked on me and I always assumed it was due to my HRPs/MRPs and I was a bit worried that DDs might reduce integrity to a point where it becomes risky.
If that's not the case, DDs it is. [up]
Click to expand...

I'm normally not around in normal space long enough for them to bring down an unengineered class 6 A std shield. Main worry is FSD reboot missiles but my 2 PD on the rear normally take care of them and then it's just a case of how long before they get bored of the cat n mouse game
 

Lucius-Darcia

Lucius-Darcia
Caution, this advice is for trade cutter with class 6A prisms and 720t cargo

I am using 8D drives with dirty drive grade 5 mod ;)
The 7D have lesser weight but once modded, you can exceed the maximum mass when loaded and even if not, you won't get really any benefits from modding that close to the maximum mass.
The 8D are a great compromise between mass and performance. Still enough speed loaden to outrun every NPC 'cause still above 420m/s loaden but also less weight than A-class and lesser powerdraw so that it's still possible to fit an 6A low emission powerplant grade 3 (for smuggling like a pro) :D
 
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Stealthie

Stealthie
Pyrobee said:
I'm normally not around in normal space long enough for them to bring down an unengineered class 6 A std shield. Main worry is FSD reboot missiles but my 2 PD on the rear normally take care of them and then it's just a case of how long before they get bored of the cat n mouse game
Click to expand...

A fair point.

I always run a PD for peace of mind.
That way you can, to some extent, concentrate on applying other mod's to defend against thermal attacks, safe in the knowledge you've got some defence against missiles.
 

Grisnir

G
Stealthie said:
Well, that's pretty unanimous. :D

Has anybody who regularly flies a Cutter ever had their drives disabled in an attack?

Seems like that's always what people attempt do.
It's never worked on me and I always assumed it was due to my HRPs/MRPs and I was a bit worried that DDs might reduce integrity to a point where it becomes risky.
If that's not the case, DDs it is. [up]
Click to expand...

my cutter has an 1,2k MJ Shield (class 5 A rated with G1 roll) try do get through the shield before i high wake
and in case of the FSD reboot ... i'm still quite fast [big grin]
 

Pyrobee

P
Threeofseven said:
I always say it disgraces a Cutter to put it on trader duty but in any case, always go with dirty drives if it's not an explorer or SR ship.
Click to expand...

How else are you going to move around all those slaves needed for the pampering of the more worthy. At least they get to sit in their overcramped pens knowing that they are being transported in style :cool:
 

IndigoWyrd

IndigoWyrd
I don't get interdicted unless I want to be interdicted, so none of these concerns are mine.
My own Cutter runs DD5's, but it's built more as a Combat Cutter than a trade ship.
 
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