The Imperial Clipper is the quintessential Imperial ship. It epitomises elegance of form while delivering speed and agility. Because of its balance of Speed, Luxury and strength it is used for transporting valuable items and personnel of importance across the Empire.
— In-Game Description
The Imperial Clipper, built by Gutamaya, is one of the Empire's ships and thus are generally sold at Stations that are aligned with the Empire. To purchase the Imperial Clipper players must have earned the rank of Baron with the Imperial Navy. This ship is quite popular with pirates, traders, and some explorers. It is a reasonable pirate ship due to the large cargo capacity and heavy armament. Traders may find this ship appealing due to its superb cargo capacity and defensive capability; while it is more expensive than the Lakon Type-7 it can easily defend itself against a pirate. Pilots of any profession may appreciate its speed; no other ship released as yet can exceed the straight-line speed of a Clipper with fully upgraded thrusters. Additionally, its turning rate is much higher than even some much smaller ships, making it feel something like an Eagle with a higher boost speed than a Cobra. As an added benefit, flying at high speed has little effect on its turn rate, making it making the most maneuverable ship at speed as well. Its only maneuvering drawback, and likely the reason for its low overall agility rating, is its poor strafing capability; the lateral thrusters are very weak compared to those of other ships. This weakness, combined with very weak shields for its size and wing-mounted hardpoints ill-suited for fixed weapons, limits the Clipper's efficiency as a combat ship even if the shields are upgraded to maximum.
Speed and maneuverability fall off more heavily when heavily loaded than other ships, bringing it back into more normal speeds and turn rates when hauling cargo.
Both the ships interior and exterior are luxurious in design, the engines sport a radically different sound than other ships, and the large cockpit canopy features an unobstructed view of space making the Imperial Clipper very popular among explorers.
Imperial Clipper concept art
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