Imperial Cutter

Template:Quote The Imperial Cutter is a large ship produced by Gutamaya for the Empire. It serves as the Imperial Navy's counterpart to the Federal Corvette, and purchasing it requires achieving an Imperial Navy rank of Duke. One of the most expensive ships on the market that can be manned by a single pilot, the Imperial Cutter epitomizes Gutamaya's synthesis of form and function. While the Federal Corvette surpasses it in terms of sheer firepower and the Anaconda excels at versatility, the Imperial Cutter still wields a formidable array of weapon hardpoints, an impressive maximum cargo capacity of 794t, a surprisingly high top speed, and enough armour and shields to shrug off damage from all but the most tenacious attackers.

Overview

The Imperial Cutter is expensive and ponderous, but overall a very effective multi-purpose ship with a heavy armament. It lacks the versatility of the Anaconda and the combat prowess of the Federal Corvette, but has considerable potential as a trading vessel that can easily defend itself. Traders looking for a stylish, powerhouse ship with ample cargo capacity will usually find the Imperial Cutter more than satisfactory, while fighters and explorers may prefer the Federal Corvette and Anaconda, respectively.

The Imperial Cutter has the second largest cargo capacity of all playable ships in the game at 794t (behind the Panther Clipper Mk II's staggering 1238t), making it a very capable ship for traders. However, it is also one of the most expensive ships in the game at a cost almost three times higher than a Type-9 Heavy, which has a max cargo capacity of 790 tons; only 4 tons less. It also has a lower cargo capacity when shielded, as the Type-9 can equip a lower class Shield Generator. The very high rebuy and repair costs of the Cutter makes shieldless runs incredibly risky, so it is important to keep this in mind as every bump and scratch will cut rather heavily into profits, and like the Type-9, it is very difficult to dodge an interdiction in the Cutter. This combined with its required Imperial Navy rank can make the Cutter a much less appealing ship for traders.

Unlike the Type-9 Heavy, it is extremely well-shielded, very fast for its size, and much better armed, giving it far greater combat survivability, especially in the piracy role, as it is capable of holding its own against a Federal Corvette, Anaconda, or Type-10 Defender. In addition, with plenty of internals available to mount mining accessories while still leaving the largest open for cargo holds, excellent speed for moving from asteroid to asteroid, and a sufficiency of medium weapon mounts, the Cutter is an excellent choice for mining, if rather excessive. Keeping a shield generator on will let it handle most NPC pirates; however, the Type-9 will outdo it in terms of cargo capacity in this scenario.

File:Convergence cutter.png

Imperial Cutter hardpoints convergence

The Imperial Cutter features four medium hardpoints: two on the nacelles and two on the chin; two large hardpoints on top of the ship and a single huge hardpoint on the chin. The pilot's seat is offset to the right of the ship, one co-pilot's seat being located to the pilot's left and the other two behind this. It has 8 utility mounts and can carry a Fighter Hangar for Ship-Launched Fighters.

When compared to the other two of the big three, the Corvette and Anaconda, the Imperial Cutter has several notable downsides, other than just the price tag. It has a much lower jump range than the Anaconda, though better than the Corvette, and while it has impressive combat potential, its Class 7 power distributor isn't quite as able to keep all its hardpoints effectively powered when compared to the Class 8 of the other two; thus the ship slightly pales in combat potential by comparison. While its manoeuvrability may be off-putting to some, it can easily be alleviated with Engineering, allowing the Cutter to reach slightly over 28 degrees of pitch on certain builds. Compared to the significantly cheaper Type-10, it has the same manoeuvrability and fewer hardpoints, although its superior placement and good speed give it a huge advantage over a Type-10 in combat; it also has much higher pitch and yaw speeds. The Cutter also has a staggering mass lock factor of 26, tied with the Type-10 for the highest of all conventional ships. The only non-capital ship with a larger mass lock factor is the Thargoid Interceptor, so the Cutter can only be mass locked by other Cutters, Type-10s, and Interceptors.

Purchase Locations

System	Station	Date Seen	Discount
Shinrarta Dezhra	Jameson Memorial	Always available	10% discount
Brestla	i Sola Prospect	Always available	20% surcharge
Arjung	Hiyya Orbital	Feb. 16, 2022	15% discount
Eotienses	Parkinson Dock	Jul. 10, 2020	10% discount
Eotienses	Adams Market	Sep. 30, 2019	10% discount
V374 Pegasi	MacKellar Hub	Sep. 30, 2019
Izanagi	Manakov Ring	Sep. 30, 2019
Oto	Gauss City	Sep. 30, 2019
Walgal	Carpenter City	Sep. 30, 2019
Llyr	Baraniecki Vision	Sep. 30, 2019
Kaiakul	Barlowe Station	Sep. 30, 2019
Regir	Grushin Dock	Sep. 30, 2019
Tau-1 Hydrae	Priestley Port	Sep. 30, 2019
Ngalkin	Frechet Station	Feb. 07, 2020
Beta-1 Tucanae	Adams Orbital	Feb. 20, 2020
Pangilagara	Tange Vision	July 31, 2021

Outfitting

Main article: Outfitting

All ships are highly customisable through the Outfitting menu of Station Services. Listed below is the default load-out for the Imperial Cutter.

Category	Default System	Default Rating	Default Class	Max Class
Medium Hardpoint	Pulse Laser (L)	F	1	2
	Pulse Laser (L)	F	1	2
	Empty	--	--	2
	Empty	--	--	2
Large Hardpoint	Empty	--	--	3
	Empty	--	--	3
Huge Hardpoint	Empty	--	--	4
Utility Mount	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
	Empty	--	--	0
Bulkheads	Lightweight Alloys	I	1	8
Reactor Bay	Power Plant	E	8	8
Thrusters Mounting	Thrusters	E	8	8
Frame Shift Drive Housing	Frame Shift Drive	E	7	7
Environment Control	Life Support	E	7	7
Power Coupling	Power Distributor	E	7	7
Sensor Suite	Sensors	E	7	7
Fuel Store	Fuel Tank [x64]	C	6	6
Internal Compartments	Shield Generator	E	8	8
	Cargo Rack [x128]	E	7	8
	Cargo Rack [x32]	E	5	6
	Empty	--	--	6
	Empty	--	--	6
	Empty	--	--	5
	Empty	--	--	5
	Empty (M)	--	--	5
	Empty (M)	--	--	5
	Cargo Rack [x4]	E	2	4
	Empty	--	--	3
	Supercruise Assist	E	1	1
	(PAS)	I	1	1

• (L) = Loaned Module
• [x#] = Capacity
• (PAS) = Reserved solely for the Planetary Approach Suite or Advanced Planetary Approach Suite
• (M) = Military Compartment reserved for Hull Reinforcement Package, Module Reinforcement Package, Shield Cell Bank, Guardian Shield Reinforcement Package, Guardian Hull Reinforcement Package, or Guardian Module Reinforcement Package

Notes

• The Imperial Cutter was added to Elite Dangerous in the 1.5 Ships update released on December 15, 2015.
• The 4.3.3.0 Update (28 April 2026) improved the scaling and detailing of the Cutter's landing gear and stairs. This previously had the wrong scale and it was low quality.

Videos

• File:Built To Perfection - Elite Dangerous Imperial Cutter
• File:Elite Dangerous Imperial Cutter
• File:The Imperial Cutter, because size matters
• File:Imperial Cutter - Power, Superiority, Excellence
• File:CUTTER VS CORVETTE VS ANACONDA ELITE DANGEROUS
• File:👽 Wing VS Thargoid Cyclops Variant (Third Person View)
• File:Geysers, Fumaroles and the sights along the Road to the Northeast.
• File:Elite Dangerous 1.5 Ships - Imperial Cutter
• File:The Imperial Cutter Elite Dangerous

Gallery

• Imperial Cutter Concept Art
  Imperial Cutter Concept Art
• Imperial Cutter and gas giant
  Imperial Cutter and gas giant
• Cockpit view, UI turned off
  Cockpit view, UI turned off
• Imperial Cutter cockpit rear
  Imperial Cutter cockpit rear
• Imperial Cutter cockpit
  Imperial Cutter cockpit
• Gutamaya Imperial Cutter Blueprint
  Gutamaya Imperial Cutter Blueprint
• Imperial Cutter by Gutamaya
  Imperial Cutter by Gutamaya
• Imperial Cutter thrusters docked
  Imperial Cutter thrusters docked
• Imperial Cutter Chrome
  Imperial Cutter Chrome
• Imperial Cutter docked sideview
  Imperial Cutter docked sideview
• Imperial Cutter above planetary ring
  Imperial Cutter above planetary ring
• Imperial Cutter on ice planet
  Imperial Cutter on ice planet