View source for Talk:Imperial Clipper/@comment-2A00:23C5:588B:C800:CC0E:C219:D0DB:B150-20180628140615

I would make the case that the clipper (when properly engineered/optimised) is actually one of the better (if not best) exploration ships in the game. 

Pros

-Looks wonderful in screenshots - a definite plus point given that that's one of the highlights of exploration.
-Handles as well as, if not better than, an Asp X in supercruise - a major plus given how much time you spend flying from planet to planet in supercruise.
-Has a space for a class 7 fuel scoop - something which my recent deep space run with my clipper showed me to be massively underrated.
-Has plenty of compartments for AFMU, planetary vehicle hangar, exploration scanners, enough of a shield to make planetary landings possible and all the other gubbins you need for exploring.
-The cockpit is a nice place to be in with a fairly open forward view - not as open as the Asp X but it doesn't start offending your eyeballs after the first few hundred hours sitting in it unlike the Asp.


Cons

-Jump range - fully engineered and optimised, you can just about get 38Ly jump range out of it, fine for the Core and to Colonia, but if you're going out to Beagle Point or elsewhere in the Far Rim, you are going to be gone from the bubble a long old time, all the while with the knowledge that if you'd taken an Asp or a 'conda you could have done the whole thing so much quicker eating away at the back of your brain, not to mention that there's no way of getting to Semotus Beacon with that short a jump range.
-Fuel tank - if you've chosen your star chart filters correctly, this doesn't really matter, but again, if you've gone to the outer rim, or are a long way off the galactic ecliptic, this does get to be much more of an issue.