Imperial Cutter
Template:Quote The Imperial Cutter is the Imperial Navy's counterpart to the Federal Corvette,[1] and requires an Imperial Navy rank of Duke in order to be purchased. With a base cost of almost 209 million credits, it is the most expensive ship in Elite Dangerous, followed by the Federal Corvette and the Anaconda. Comparing the Imperial Cutter with those two ships (sometimes collectively referred to as the "big three" by the community), the Imperial Cutter is a multipurpose-specialized ship, much like the Anaconda, while the Federal Corvette is geared more toward the combat role. As it is a multipurpose ship, the Cutter excels in multiple roles. The Imperial Cutter is currently the second largest playable ship, behind only the Beluga Liner. It was added in the 1.5 "Ships" update in December 2015.[2]
The Cutter is a heavily armed ship, featuring 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. Notably, the exterior lights on the ship change color from blue to red once hardpoints are deployed. It has 8 utility mounts and is one of the eight ships compatible with fighter hangar for ship-launched fighters as of the release of Horizons: Guardians.
With a staggering 792 tons of max cargo capacity, the Imperial Cutter has the largest cargo bay of all playable ships in the game, an almost 50% increase in size from the Type-9 Heavy, while having significantly better defensive and offensive capabilities and speed than the latter. This makes it an ideal ship for traders. However it is also the most expensive ship in the game at a cost almost three times higher than a Type-9, and requires very high rank with the Empire to purchase.
Unlike the Type-9, it is extremely well-shielded, very fast for its size, and heavily armed, giving it far greater survivability and allowing use of it as a combat ship, especially in the piracy role, as well as being more than capable of rivaling a Corvette or Anaconda in combat. 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.
The pilot's station is offset to the right of the ship's centerline. Currently, the primary and secondary fire group HUD brackets are misaligned with their centerline being far above where the weapon reticles appear. This means that it is not possible to use the center of the side brackets to align the ship with a destination as doing so will cause the ship to fly under the target and not straight at the target. Instead, for alignment in supercruise, use the center space between the repeating series of bars that appear to indicate speed and movement as a general guide to line up the ship with distant destinations along with the nav compass.
Purchase Locations
| System | Station | Date Seen | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avalon | Noctilux | Feb 10, 2018 | |
| Achenar | Bell Terminal | Feb 10, 2018 | |
| V374 Pegasi | MacKellar Hub | May 15, 2017 | Courier, Clipper and Eagle also here |
| Guuguyni | Shen Terminal | Nov 08, 2017 | Clipper and Cutter here |
| Harm | Gentil Hub | Feb 1, 2018 | Full price now |
| Beta Caeli | Lloyd Port | Feb 1, 2018 | 10% discount = 188,072,505 cr |
| Nahua | Fuller Vision | 18 June 2017 | |
| Minanes | Rutan Terminal | 01 Sep. 2017 | |
| Shinrarta Dezhra | Jameson Memorial | January 26, 2018 | 10% Discount, Founders Permit Needed |
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 | |
| Cargo Rack [x4] | E | 2 | 4 | |
| BDS | E | 1 | 3 | |
| Empty (Military Compartment) | -- | -- | 5 | |
| Empty (Military Compartment) | -- | -- | 5 |
- (L) = Loaned
- [x#] = Capacity
- BDS = Basic Discovery Scanner
Videos
Gallery
- Imperial Cutter Concept Art
- On the bridge of the Imperial Cutter
- Cutter on the Surface
- Imperial Cutter
- Ditto, hardpoints deployed. Note the lighting color change
- One huge and two medium hardpoints right below the cockpit
- Two medium hardpoints on engine nacelles
- Two large hardpoints on top of the ship
- Cutter ready for an FSD jump, heat radiators deployed
- Cargo scoop/docking bay
- Cockpit view, UI turned off
- On a landing pad, note the little lights
- Imperial Cutter
- Cobra next to cutter
- Flying near planet
- imperial cutter with some type 6 ships
- combat with a wanted Anaconda
- View inside the bridge if cutter
- Right side of cutter bridge
- Huge Hardpoint Detail
- Ready to go!
- Cutter On Pad
- Black Friday paintjob
- Rear of a black Cutter
- Black Imperial Cutter over Earth-like
- Imperial Glory
- Imperial Cutter side profile while landed on a planetary body
- Auxiliary Station Detail view
- Rear of a Cutter highlighted by a planet's rings
- Beauty in Black
- On Patrol
- Pristine metallic light effect in an engineers hangar
- thruster's chemtrail's light effect
- Gutamaya Imperial Cutter Blueprint
- Imperial Cutter chrome
- Imperial Cutter cockpit
- Vibrant Green Cutter (Weitz Landing, Kapperapai)
- Imperial Cutter ship kit
References
- ↑ "The Imperial Cutter fulfills a similar role as the corvette for the Imperial Navy" - http://inara.cz/galaxy-shipyard/75
- ↑ https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=191898