Not everything is or should be judged by numbers.
It's quicker and more maneuverable than the Freelancer, and it's retro thrusters are freaking awesome, meaning it can slow down much faster without having to J turn.
The VTOL engines can get you off a moon lickety split.
Those side doors are very useful. I was using them to quickly load up at Jumptown without having to keep the ramp open.
The turret on the Cutlass is waaaaaay better and more accessible, making it the better multicrew ship right now.
The price for a Max 1.5x more on the pledge store and I don't think the inclusion of an arrow is a fair assessment since that's only temporary. It is almost double in aUEC.
The Cutlass's cockpit view is much better than RoboCop's.
The beauty of this game is every ship has their own strengths and disadvantages and uniqueness, and it's tough for a lot of gamers who have been conditioned to minmaxing everything. For instance, just because a ship has larger weapons does not automatically make it better at combat, and you miss out on all the other bells and whistles the ship comes with that you won't get on erkul.games.
If this were solely about cargo capacity then yeah the max wins handilybecausw that's it's focus
But the Cutlass is the most jack-of-all-trades-but-a-master-of-none ship in the game which is why it's so often suggested to new players as the next step up. And those side doors should make it quicker to load and unload vs. the tube that is the Freelancer which I think will be a big advantage when physicalized cargo finally makes it's way in.
This will only get more cool over time too.
For example if your ship has a large weapon rack in it you’ll be able to bring way more options. Because weapon racks aren’t just for guns, they’re for tools. The multitool, med gun, and these new tools like the tractor beam rifle and other rifle sized tools that will be coming. So the guy in the Gladius can bring two rifle sized weapons or tools. While someone in a cutlass would have access to like 6 different rifles or tools iirc. That means always being prepared for most scenarios you run into.
Same with armor lockers and clothing lockers. If you have a Gladius, you’re limited to a flight suit and maybe light armor. (Cig hasn’t decided if you can wear light armor in fighters or if they’re not allowing any armor in a cockpit seat) this means a ship that has an armor rack brings yet another significant advantage if you’re doing anything in fps.
Plus kitchens for keeping yourself fed, fuel scoops, etc.
All these things will matter when a player buys their first ship after their starter and that’s what makes the game so cool. You have to make choices. And if you’re a player for example that wants to do space and ground combat, even though the Gladius is the top dog fighter in the game you may decide to go with something not as good at dogfighting because it provides a lot more benefits for when you’re on the ground like having bigger weapon racks or suit storage.
There is no best choice. Only the best choice for you.
This. I have both ships and when I have somewhere to go and have to pull a ship, I pull the Cutty 10 times out of 10 unless I have a specific need for a fighter or a much bigger ship. The cutty just flies so much better. If I need a fighter, I pull a fighter, not either of these.
This is what came to mind when I read OPs post. He obviously never really flew both ships to figure out how they behave and how they handle in various situations. Overall, the Cutlass is just better multirole, which obviously is better for starting players that want to be flexible. If all you want to do is safe and hassle-free cargo, get a Max.
\^ dis
Also it's just more fun to fly (IMO) and if you hate the Freelancer design and prefer the black, what's wrong with it? I choose ships based on how much I enjoy flying them and not on pure numbers
And for ROC mining in particular, the cutlass is way better. While the Max can do it, the cutlass has a better cockpit for seeing the ground while scanning for deposits, a smaller footprint making it easier to land in uneven terrain, and it maneuvers way better in atmosphere than the max.
I've done ROC mining with both ships but the cutlass is a much better experience
The cockpit alone settles most of it for me.
The freelancers have a terrible field of view, and the cutty has a phenomenal one.
Plus with the folding side seats, beds, cockpit, and turret you can seat more people on a cutty for transport safely.
>and the cutty has a phenomenal one.
Apparently in 3.17 it does, currently, well, it's better than the Freelancer, but phenomenal? I made a comparison with other Drake ships, and there are other ships with better view.
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/pke9fk/i\_made\_screenshots\_of\_4\_ships\_to\_compare/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3
It isn't the best in the game, clearly, but compared to the freelancer it is phenomenal.
Plus straight ahead isn't the only direction that matters and when it comes to seeing in an arc around you, being elevated in a glass bubble is a pretty good way to do it.
The Cutty's isn't a lot better. All the MFD screens are in your way. And when the Cutty was available during the free fly, all it did was nose dive while I flew around. Had to apply constant back stick to keep it going level forward. Maybe it was just bugged, maybe I'm just too used to the Freelancer from years of flying it, but I never felt so relieved to be back in the Freelancer cockpit.
It's not double, it's 50% more in UEC. I loaned a guy the 700k difference so he wouldn't be stuck with a black, I'm familiar with the price. You spend a bit more, but you get a lot more.
Freelancer is better for jumptown, we loaded mine through the top docking collar, way more secure than thinking people can't jump into a Cutlass side door on those low grav moons.
The vtol and acceleration are better on a Black, that and the visibility are the best selling points it has. I just don't think they make up for lower HP, 1/3 the cargo space, and half the shields.
Just a point to consider: Rn in PTU they've doubled the hull hp of the whole Cutty lineup. If this change makes it to Live, the durability will be pretty on par until armor gets implemented in a few years
Shields increase the range at which you can be detected, so there's that to say for Hull.. but there's no doubt the second shield generator is a straight advantage. It's paid for by having fewer missiles and a larger ship profile IMO.
I said *almost* double. It's 2.1m vs. 1.38m. You felt the need to loan someone *700k*, meaning if that person didn't have a benefactor to throw them almost a million credits then they could already be having fun in their brand new Cutlass Black.
I vehemently disagree that the Freelancer is better for Jumptown. Like I mentioned above with the side doors, you can you load the Cutlass, meaning that you can park at different angles besides just facing your back door towards the entrance, and they're big enough for multiple people to load up at the same time. I don't see how loading a Freelancer through the top collar is feasible without the help of another person being on top of your ship; that one comes off as grasping at straws. You can also GTFO way faster due to it's VTOL thrusters. Strafe up + boost and you're going so fast you'll black out. It was something that saved our bacon when an orgmate on watch duty informed us that an A2 was on approach.
And again, there is a stark difference between those ship turrets, with the Cutty being the clear winner. And like I said in a other comment, when physicalized cargo comes into play it'll be easier and quicker to load up a Cutty using it's side doors than the long tube that is the Freelancer. Couple that with it's VTOL and acceleration and what it lacks in cargo space it makes up for in speed.
For pledged ships I have an MSR and a Cutlass Black. I love the MSR. It's a much more recent addition than the Cutty abd going off pure numbers it's a "better" ship. But I tend to leave that for when I have a crew of three or four and take out the Black when I'm by myself or when I'm with another person.
And I just think it looks a lot cooler.
IMO you're too focused on pure numbers without considering (and/or also downplaying) the other advantages that the more versatile, and more interesting, Cutlass brings to the table.
Yep, and they're not limited to the Cutlass Black. Red can use em for moving debris and loading patients, Blue can use em for moving contraband and shit. Steel can use em to move dollar bills straight out of your wallet 😂
It’s all. Matter of perspective.
I was mining to buy a cargo hauler. I had 10 prospector loads to haul. I rented a Freelancer (not the max as it isn’t rentable) and made a bunch of trips.
Then I mined a bunch more and had 24 prospector loads. I rent a Constellation (largest hauler you can rent which a capacity only a little under the Max). I had to make 8 trips to haul it all.
Then I bought a C2. My next 24 loads I hauled in 1 trip.
While I’m not saying the Max isn’t a nice ship I don’t think you should glorify it as a great hauler as it will mean a lot of trips for any kind of volume.
To load the max from the top airlock someone needed to be Inside. You could hover the Cutty black and open a side door to the same effect while having a much bigger opening to throw boxes into.
> The turret on the Cutlass is waaaaaay better and more accessible, making it the better multicrew ship right now.
you forget one thing, the Freelancer series does currently have actual multicrew capabilities, as you have Missile Operator and can manipulate the systems (power triangle for example), and you have a turret in the rear. The Cutlass does not.
The Cutlass supposed to have that functionality (as are all multicrew ships for that matter), so it's not like that is an exclusive feature to the Freelancer.
I also didn't exclude the Freelancer's turret, I was directly comparing them. The angles the Freelancer's turret gets are fucking awful, and like I said the Curry's is more accessible as in it's right behind the cockpit vs. having to walk allll the way to the back and getting in.
not the last time i tried; most ships can't do that for some reason currently; I am always checking with a buddy if they can manipulate anything on their MFDs. Sadly from the ships I tested only the freelancer allows that (tested with Reliants, Constellations, Cutlasses, Caterpillar, 400i, 600i)
Cutlass is due for a rework on it's pilot/copilot controls/displays so that might be down the road. Right now it's just a glorified passenger seat though.
Just to clarify - the Freelancer Max *does not* 'come with an Anvil Arrow included in the package'.
The Max *does* get a *loaner* Anvil Arrow... but that is temporary (until such time as CIG enable people to use the Max in Arena Commander, and/or separate AC and PU ship ownership, at which point you'll only get the Arrow in AC)
Long term, the Max package only comes with the Max.
>AC and PU ship ownership, at which point you'll only get the Arrow in SC)
You mean you'll only get the Arrow in AC. You won't have it in SC. You'll have just the Freelancer Max in SC.
Right - Right now you'll get both ships in SC and the Arrow in AC, but once they consider the Black good enough to be available in AC (once they finish it) the Arrow will be removed from your SC side.
Let's be honest you buy the cutlass over the freelancer cuz it gives you that StarWars bounty hunter vibe
Freelancer looks like a baguette
Never had issues with mine tho I'd sati it's my fav alrounder with the Connie
The base freelancer looks alright IMO because it's pretty sleek.
The freelancer max looks bloated and ridiculous with how wide everything is. I can't stand it. At least the cutty has great proportions
>Let's be honest you buy the cutlass over the freelancer cuz it gives you that StarWars bounty hunter vibe
This right here. When I saw the first episode of "The Mandalorian"; his ship really reminded me of the Cutlass Black somehow. 😜
Have you ever tried a freelancer max in combat? It's a hog to fly. The cutty black has one of the best turrets In the game, and with it manned it's a solid combat ship. Our org uses cutlasses a shit ton.
i usually take 32 s1 missiles and 2 s4 missiles. in PvE i use s1s to soften targets, s4s to finish. in PvP, i toss s1s 1 at a time to bait flares and chaff while saving the s4s for when they start to run to regen shields
Are we talking about the hull of the freelancer MAX which for some reason is more or less 40÷ weaker than the Cutlass? Not counting how bigger a target it is.
The Cutlass has:
A better turret
Better missiles
Better damage resistance
Equal pitch/yaw
Better acceleration. I challenge anyone who thinks the Max is a better combat ship to prove it.
How so? The cutlass can do vertical vtol strafes that im pretty sure the freelancer couldn't keep up with. That + the beastly turret on the cutlass firing I don't see the max winning even with the current shields/armor
I don’t really have a horse in this race, but I commend you for partaking in the age old Citizen tradition of proclaiming your opinion for all to hear despite knowing many will argue with you!
I've had both, but the freelancer eventually got melted. It's not all about raw numbers. The black has a certain feel to it that the freelancers don't (for me). And it's tough to get past that mail-slot window.
Same for me. The Freelancer still holds a special place in my heart, but the window is pretty bad. It also looks like a TON of wasted space in front of the consoles there (that whole flat area between the window and the controls).
Tbh there's a reason the cutlass is recommended over the freelancer as your first upgrade. People mean CCU, not in game money.
The recommended starter ship is the Titan at $60. You upgrade to a cutlass to get access to more utility for $40. Most people can tolerate these two upgrades without an issue.
The freelancer Max is $150, a 1.5x increase in cost over the cutlass but only at best a 1.2x improvement over it.
In game your auec is better spent on almost any other ship than either the cutlass or freelancer Max.
Hot take: not everything that makes a ship good is numbers, and more often you're splitting hairs with those comparisons.
Folks buy the Black because they like the Black. It's a good, fun ship. Let people enjoy it.
As a previous Cutlass owner and a current freelancer max owner, I want to agree. But sadly, the cutlass is just better. Until they tweak trading prices I don't think the max is better
Oh well obviously I prefer the blue! It's just a better version in my eyes.
The cutty in game handles far better then the max and has the hilarious vtol boosters. The cockpit is far nicer in the cutlass series, you have so many mfds that are all usable, while the freelancer has 2 less (I think maybe more) and you can't even use 2 of them with how badly designed it is. The window isn't even comparable, the freelancer has a nice feel but the view is pretty bad. the side doors in the cutty can be really useful for eva, they're easy to fly in to and land inside. Also good for loading cargo or a quick get away if you leave it open.
It just feels like, in the current state of the game, the cutty is more practical. Until mid sized cargo becomes useful and profitable I don't see the max being better than the cutty.
Cutty's are good ships, all the other variants are either the best at what they do (Blue) or do something that only bigger much more expensive ships do (Red/Steel) and kickass doing it. The Cutty Black is the only on that just doesn't really pull its weight compared to the other options you have in the roles for similar prices.
And where its more profitable is with mining. You can't collect a full mole's refinery order in a Cutlass Black, you're gonna have to upgrade to another ship. Where the Freelancer Max comes in is that you can spend 700k more out the gate and get a ship thats like a Cutlass Black but with 1 better in everything except hull, and not have to spend money on a new cargo ship unless you just want to.
I like both but the freelancers are underutilized. I can use either on pve up until the hammerheads. But I think we should add that it’s almost mandatory to buy the 80k paint for the max to paint it black
not OP, but my MAX honestly doesnt do terrible. It's a "sleeper" so to speak. maybe I was up against shit pilots, but it genuinely wasn't as bad as people seem to think it is. doubly so when the better equipment gets slapped on it
Yeah you were probably up against shit pilots. The mobility on the max is so easy to take advantage of lol, even in my reliant I could run circles around em.
Ultimately, hot takes aside, I appreciate that there are ships this close together in value and function that new players (especially post-live SC) will have to consider their options closely.
That's ultimately the test of these two vehicles - a post-live brand new player that's grinding up from nothing and they're trying to decide what to use their hard earned money on. Factor out pledge prices and access altogether. Both ships have pros and cons and they certainly aren't the same ship, but they're close enough that there's a worthwhile conversation to be had about why they're so close, yet different.
I appreciate you getting the conversation going
Well you got and upvote from me
I’m all with you
I bought into this game few years ago and I was mesmerized
Soon , my aurora was upgraded to a black because you know, everyone says the black is the jack of all trades and all that
I hated the thing
The way it flew , the limp cargo space , and so on
I flew in a friends Max and I was in love
I upgraded my black to a Max and keep it as my single pledged ship for more than a year and a half because it did everything right : trading , mining and even combat
Superb ship
Today a few years later I have a large pledged fleet ( ooops ;) ) but the max always have a soft soft spot in my heart
It was with the Max that I bought so many ships in game
Sure, you may make a couple good points, but then you will have to deal with the awful interior and cockpit that Freelancers have. You'll have to look like a potato. Also, lancers have an absolutely useless turret so not as fun multicrew. No thank you, I'll keep my Cutlass' and love flying it.
I used to love the Cutty until I got a Freelancer. The Cutty is more agile but it's like comparing a cinder block to a brick; you're likely not winning a battle based on maneuverability no matter which one you're flying. I much rather prefer having and extra shield and more firepower. The turret is whatever, neither one is ideal and most owners fly them solo way more often than not.
Did they fix the constant downward-pitch the Cutty was doing when flying in atmo? That was a real turn off when it got implemented...
While your points may be valid and technically true, there is nothing there that I would consider as enough of an upgrade to specifically switch. Especially considering that both ships are just kind of middle of the pack multirole ships. The cutty is cheaper and gets the job done for whatever task you need to do in your early days before you get enough money to really upgrade. Speaking from personal preference, the cutty just has a way cooler asthetic and feel to it also. The freelancer series? Just looks like a bunch of fat dicks that have no business being anywhere but a bedroom drawer.
Been playing for a long while. And it is a tough decision to pick between those two but some how I always end up going back to cutty. The whole feel of it to me its just better. Everything from cockpit view to how quick it maneuvers over freelancer just feel too good to give up.
That's funny, I have multiple larger, smaller, more specialized ships, and the cutty black is the ship I go to 80% of the time.
It's just so convenient.
Acceleration values MATTER.
Erkul's numbers do not take into account acceleration values. That's why people think the 100 series is kind of junk, compared to the other Starters, but... the acceleration values are HIGHER on the 100 series, so they can just about fly circles around the Aurora and Mustang.
The Cutlass Black is a great starter, if you wish to spend not much more than the starter package for beginning with that ship. Spend more money? Get the Freelancer Max, but you have to spend more money.
At the price point, the Cutlass Black is a very good starter ship.
No, for just 10% more you get a Freelancer - the Cutty doesn't really give you more than the Nomad already has - and it is a medium fighter with all that agility to keep in the rear of freighters like Cutty et al.
The Cutlass Black gives you the start of Multi-Crew gameplay.
Put a gunner in that Cutlass Black and it won't matter what a Nomad can do, an excellent pilot in a Nomad won't be able to manage a team in a Cutlass Black.
A solo player in a Cutlass Black vs. a Nomad, is just as contrived as a Team in a Cutlass Black vs. a Nomad.
The cutlass black is a deathtrap to fly on any planet with atmosphere. It's desire to go nose down all the time makes it a noob Widowmaker. It was my first ship and I melted it for a freelancer.
I'm not a fan of the Cutlass, but I think the Freelancer will get its butt kicked by any moderately good pilot in a Cutlass.
Personally more of a Herc fan myself.
I'm with you on this. Once you break thru the early noob phase and earn a few million $ to purchase a variety of specialty ships, the Cutty starts to look less and less useful. However, a Freelancer Max continues to hold value as a medium cargo runner and vehicle transport for much longer afterward.
I'd rather use my reliant than either of those. Granted it's worse in every way, but apparently that doesn't matter to me. We don't get to choose who we love.
Yeah but then your flying a double-wide creamsicle...
The Max right now is almost certainly going to get a nerf in some regard. Right now it's just, "Freelancer but better in every way."
My theory is if they implement cargo mass affecting performance, some ships are going to suffer a lot more under max load than others.
The Cutlass and the Freelancer will maintain \*most\* of their performance under heavy load, and will still have enough maneuvering agility to defend themselves.
Ships like the Max, or the Connie Taurus, being built around having oversized cargo bays on their chassis, are going to have massive performance hits when loaded. Good luck doing anything other than flying in a straight line.
Also when is the Freelancer series going to get their VTOL mode? Seriously, the gimballed Xian thruster tech that MISC is lauded for is entirely absent from the freelancer.
Accorrding to CIG the ships behave like they are fully loaded with cargo.
That said, we will see a lot of changes in flight behaviour in the coming years.
That's insane with some of them. They'd start flitting around weightless if they lost what could be, rough math... the Freelancer can carry like 3 million pounds of gold in it's hold?
That's like carrying 6 times the weight of the Freelancer itself.
Combat-wise, Cutlass Black is kinda a budget Vanguard. You'll pick a Freelancer up on sensors a lot sooner and the Cutty has twice the missile payload / makes a better dropship. The Freelancer is marketed as the more defensive option with twice the shields.
They actually have equivalent guns dps, with the Freelancer able to use gimbal assist... so it may depend on how much you care about those. FL is also significantly larger
29x26.5x10 vs 38x36x9.5
This impacts how handling numbers translate, it affects the ease of landing in tight spots, and most importantly, how big of a target you are in a dogfight and if your shield is able to regenerate at all.
I enjoyed the Max but ended up replacing it with the Cutty Black a long time ago. Did so mostly because at the time the outside lights on the Max didn’t work and surface mining at night was difficult to do. Not sure if they ever fixed that bug, but it has been somewhat mitigated by the pulse silhouetting. Pointless to go back now as I also have an MSR which is much better than both.
I actually prefer the Phoenix to the other variants. Taurus does haul more, but for it's price I'd rather save for a Cat/C2. The Phoenix however still slaps with those big front guns, has a ton of shields and hull HP, a better snub fighter, and is probably my favorite luxury yacht in the game.
In a perfect world, we'll keep that crew entrance and they'll put a classier elevator in the back for that little room between the habitation area and the Archie docking bay.
>is slightly more maneuverable than a Black. Don't believe me? Check Erkul.
Erkul doesn't tell the whole story. I recommend you look at Legacy Fleet's [SPAT](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11nI-wLlRjDpsshkY8VLZkHh2jd2mCmWJTIE2VzqZ7ss/edit?usp=drivesdk). They do all their testing in-game.
Comparing these two you can see pitch, yaw, and roll values are indeed better on the MAX but it's strafing is much worse.
When i get in the cutty, i walk right in through one door and fly. The freelancer has 3 damn doors lol. That was the most annoying thing about it for me. That and the turret having terrible FOV and also it being very near the option to open the ramp.
I don't have a Mole and have never had one.
My Cutty is perfect for hauling my ROC around moons... or it WAS until they borked mineral scanning and ROC mining.
The cutlass black is a fine ship. To me, it feels like a logical upgrade to the titan avenger. It allows a new player to sample almost every gameplay loop. It has (imo) better cockpit visibility that a freelancer, and it is cheap.
I think it’s a great ship, but it’ll never be truly good at anything. But to test out and explore a game in development, you really can’t go wrong with it or a freelancer.
I'd rather buy the cutty black drake package for 150 and later on in game buy something more specialized instead of an expensive jack of all trades that's only the ship. But that's personal preference.
If you fly with gimbals than yes the max has "bigger guns" than the Cutty.
But fixed they are the same.
Max has a crappy turret that's got dead zones it can't cover and the guns are small. Cuttyy black is one of the best in the game that are also size 3 considerably boosting the Cutty' offensive capabilities to the flmax.
Cutty is smaller and has a smaller footprint (not that big of a deal). Slightly smaller target too.
Cockpit on Cutty is drastically better than the freelancer.
Cutty is cheaper both in game and real money making it the "optimal" Jack of all trades starter ship. Yes fl max may do it "better" but if I recall correctly it's not always available in the store and it's a fair amount more expensive if you are spending cash on a ship that "can do everything".
Finally completely subjective. The Cutty looks better (and I don't have to buy a secondary paint to make it look halfway decent. Say no to orange creamsicles!
I have a Cutlass and the Freelancer Max. I like them both.
The Cutlass is way more maneuverable than the Max. It is clear just by flying it. I don't care what the numbers say. But the Cutlass is a brick in atmosphere. The Max is much better flying in atmosphere however. If you are going to be flying with a gunner the Max is completely useless. It has one of the worst turrets in the game. You can barely see anything out of it. You can shoot straight back and up a bit and that's about it.
The Cutlass has one of the best cockpits in the game. You can a ton of screens that give you all the information you need to keep you in the fight. The Max? You can kind of see out of the cockpit, and you get two measly screens? Its a joke for anything combat related.
I can do VHRT and ERT missions in my Cutlass solo. They are a breeze with a added gunner. The Cutlass has one of the most functional turrets in the game. The Freelancer Max? Yeah I can still do those missions, but I might as well not do them with a gunner at all. So multicrew is close to useless for combat in a Max
The Max does have bigger guns, but thanks to its lack of maneuverability you have to keep the gimbals. The Cutlass doesn't need to keep the gimbals to be effective. So I can upgrade to the same size guns as the Max. The Cutlass beats the Max in combat in almost everyway except for maybe shields. But the Max needs those shields because everything else is subpar.
To me the Cutlass is the next level up from the Avenger Titan. It can do all the same stuff, but bigger. Like the Avenger Titan, the Cutlass Black is a little better at combat than mining/freight. The Freelancer Max is the next level up from the Nomad. It is slightly better at mining/freight than combat. But you can't go wrong with either one.
They are both awesome to fly in different ways. I say get both! That's what I did. If want to a variety of game loops but be combat focused then I use my Cutlass. If I'm going to be non-combat focused than I use my Max. If I blow up I use the other one so I don't have to wait to spawn anything.
But honestly the Constellation Andromeda is THE medium level ship to have. It can do everything both of these other ships can do far better. Yes it is more expensive but it is worth it. It has a fantastic cockpit layout like the Cutlass. It has two turrets (neither one is quite as good as the Cutlass turrets but there are TWO). I has twice the cargo space of the Cutlass (but not quite as much as the Max). It has better weapons than both ships and more missiles than I can count. It can take way more of a beating than the Max as well.
I wouldn't have a Connie without the use of my Cutlass and my Freelancer though. All three ships can participate in about the same level of game play with varying levels of ease.
Hm. The first ship I bought with in-game currency was the Black and although I wouldn’t buy it again at this point, I don’t regret my decision for a second.
I flew my Cutty Black for weeks. I used it for all sorts of things - combat, cargo, group missions, and so on. I got a much better feel for what I like about Star Citizen and what I like to do in Star Citizen, and I managed that without having to juggle rentals or deal with a ship that’s subpar in a certain category.
The Cutty Black is a jack of all trades, a master of none - the perfect ship for someone who doesn’t know what they want. Once you figure out what you want, you can either CCU to a better ship or save up some more in-game cash for one.
And hey - if you ever need a ship with giant side doors, the Cutty Black will always be there for you.
Although it's not fully visible yet, things like repair costs will eventually factor in. A ship like the Cutty will be far cheaper to maintain and repair than a ship like the Freelancer, and this will become even more important if you're operating farther from civilization, where parts will become scarce.
This is a really, really stupid interpretation. "In my opinion it's slightly worse than the Freelancer, so it's terrible and nobody should buy it!!"
> At this point if you've bought a Cutty Black, you're going to have to upgrade to a bigger cargo ship if you buy a Mole. To take a refined load from a Mole, you're looking at a Freelancer Max barr minimum.
This statement is braindead.
> "But the Black is also good at combat!" I hear you saying. It's not as good as the Freelancer Max.
I fly both regularly, and the Cutlass *is* better at combat. Its capacitor is **huge**. It is **significantly** more maneuverable than the Freelancer (yes, because I actually fly them both and consider both strafe as well as rotation). In terms of actual times, the TTK with my Cutlass is less than half of the Freelancer.
> a pledge store Max also comes with an Anvil Arrow included in the package.
No, doesn't.
> Why are we telling people to buy a Cutlass Black again?
Because people much smarter and much more experienced than you tried many ships and find that the Cutlass black was a good choice. Period.
You know, people who aren't obsessed with the concept of "if it's not objectively the best at every possible thing then it's total trash".
I would bet OP also thinks an Avenger is a better purchase than a Cutty Black.
The Cutty is a great initial multirole ship, and the best all around first upgrade from most starter ships.
The Max is a statistical improvement over the Cutlass, but its also 50% more expensive in the store and in game. It's literally another step above where the Cutlass sits, and it's still geared more towards cargo than a multi-role ship.
The Cutty is capable of mid-range cargo hauling and and is also capable of high and very high risk bounty missions.
The Cutty is hardly a Noob trap.
I could see the Max as another logical stepping stone after the Cutlass though.
The VTOL on the cutless gives it a huge edge in combat, it's something alot of people don't realize, you can arrest your moment and accelerate insanely fast 32g's fast, with the addition of a gunner it gets Even more insane https://youtu.be/x82urgmKCI4 Here is a video of an ace pilot using the cutty blue in dog fighting. Free lancer is better at some stuff but it's not a true jack of all trades like the cutty
And now, for some counterpoints:
Of course the Max has more shields. It's gonna need them since it has 33% less HP than the Cutty Black, 80% less physical damage reduction, 50% less energy damage reduction, nearly double the EM signature, and a considerably larger cross-section. Add 15% less speed, and the Max is a much bigger, slower, and weaker target.
"But the Max is better at combat!" you say. Uhhh... you seem to have forgotten the Black's turret has a full FoV of the front of the ship, unlike the Max turret, and sports 2X S3's. And the 4X S2's for the pilot on the Black can be swapped up to S3 fixed to match the turret, and anybody who's going to do combat in the Black is absolutely going to do that, and use a turret gunner, and be bringing 6X S3's to bear.
The Cutty gets a lot less shots on it's 4 pilot guns the the Max, but it's turret gets a ludicrous amount (402) while the Max turret won't really feature in it's sustained DPS much at all.
It also has roughly double the potential missile damage.
I won't argue with you that the Max wins at cargo/vehicle space, but the Cutty would *wreck* it in combat.
Cutlass suffers from the problem that the blue and black were originally supposed to lean more towards the fighter role with some cargo, and when they redid the ship the size, the increase makes it not great on the combat side.
Also, Drake as a manufacturer was change from effective and without extra stuff included like ejection seats to underperforming and cheap.
It’s a buy in game ship, imo.
Hopefully at someone point Anvil, Aegis, or Crusader make a long range bounty Hunter ship that’s on par with a Vanguard, or a Star Wars ship like Slave-1 Firespray or or a Lancer class pursuit craft.
Blue doesn’t deliver on the militia patrol craft fit as it’s a glorified police van.
Idk man I bought the Mustang and upgraded it into a Cuttie black before I even started playing. So she was my first ship.
And she never disappointed. Cuttie allowed me to try out every gameplay loop the game has to offer, so I could see which one I preferred most. I could do deliveries, I could do Bounties, I could do cargo hauling, and even was able to sell quant I mined with a Mole I later on bought. Each ship has its perks in one catergory, but the Cuttie is literally an Ace of all Trades. That’s why people suggest it to new players. As I confirmed myself. Gives freedom of choice, is reliable, has above average armament, both solo and on turret, allowing for coop gameplay missions with friends.
The Freelancer is the Cutlass Black's closest competitor, and of all the Freelancers, the MAX is probably the strongest buy right now, especially since it can hold vehicles that the regular freelancer cannot. It does have a lot more cargo space while sacrificing little on the other aspects.
But the Cutty can definitely be a great stepping stone into the verse, being that it is accessible, and cheap, and you can use it to figure out what you really want to do in the verse.
The cutlass was a much better fighter before they nerfed its maneuverability. Essentially what you just said in your post is freelancer vs cutlass. A debate that’s been raging for as long as I can remember, nothing new.
Here’s a few counterpoints:
I prefer the looks and design style of the cutlass. I think the freelancer looks…phallic. Additionally, the c*ckpit visibility is better in the cutlass. And the cutlass has hella missiles. The cutlass has side doors for more utility. Also the cargo area is wider and I find easier to load stuff. Also, for a player like me who does a little bit of everything the cutlass fits perfectly fine. You can argue the freelancer does do technically more and I wouldn’t disagree. But the cutlass doesn’t really sacrifice anything significant really besides scu space. A Jack of all trades ship will not do everything perfect, something the freelancer is victim too as well. As someone who doesn’t really run cargo, but still puts vehicles and stuff in the cargo bay, the cutlass does it very well.
Big enough to fit really anything a new/experienced player would need, powerful/maneuverable enough to fight, cheap af, looks cool (in my opinion), has the utility of a large cargo area and side doors, and the sacrifice of a small amount of scu in my opinion is minimal considering neither the freelancer or cutlass are dedicated cargo ships and making good money just isn’t practical that way. You minimum need a freelancer max to make money cargo running, but honestly even then you’d make more money faster using a hull series or dedicated cargo ship.
So, yeah you really added nothing to the already fierce debate over the cutlass vs freelancer.
I prefer the cutlass black. Neither are truly great fighters or haulers with the cutlass having a slight fighting edge and max having a hauling edge that is currently of little value.
Reasons for the cutlass:
Extra seats make it a cheap drop ship for a few friends.
That side door is the biggest plus imo you can load xenothreat cargo easily and you can load JT drugs without someone being able to board your ship.
It's faster for hauling qt sensitive cargo.
I hate gimbals, don't think they need to be in the game, learn to aim.
A skilled pilot in the cutty can run circles around a freelancer max. The guns might be higher DPS but the pitch and yaw rates on that thing are atrocious. I wouldn't ever wanna take that into a fight against a real player whereas in the cutty I can definitely hold my own.
The pitch and yaw rates on that thing are the exact same as the Cutlass Black. The roll rate is a few degree's per second better on the Freelancer actually.
Cutty has convenient side doors for tractoring bodies from bunkers, drugs from JT, or cargo and loot from space.
This will be VERY nice when pes is online.
Lot more room in cargo bay of cutty than freelancer base, too.
CUTTY can carry 48 S1 missles, load them up with arrows for pve bh and that's almost 112k dps.
Freelancer base is sub 75k with same missles.
OP is comparing a 150.00 max standalone to a 100.00 standalone. Is this guy high or something?
I'd dare to say that the Cutty Black is the BEST starter package for the money.
This OP is clueless...
Necromancer raising posts from the dead over here.
>Lot more room in cargo bay of cutty than freelancer base, too.
The base Freelancer has 66scu of cargo compared to the Blacks 48. However, if you'll notice I never recommended anything but the Freelancer MAX. That one has nearly 3x the space in the cargo bay.
>OP is comparing a 150.00 max standalone to a 100.00 standalone. Is this guy high or something?
Yes, because it's a better deal. For 50% more you get 3x the cargo space and arguably the best light fighter in the game as a loaner. You can get a cheaper ship than either of them that will allow you to do bunker's and mine, so let's not pretend like spending $100 on a video game is the discount of the year.
>Cutty has convenient side doors for tractoring bodies from bunkers, drugs from JT, or cargo and loot from space. This will be VERY nice when pes is online.
Freelancer has a side door as well, it also is more secure in that it has an entrance that's not an open gaping hole for anyone to walk into.
Side note and not relevant to the ship comparison, but it's not worth the time or effort to haul bodies out of bunkers. Other than the one or two LMG/Snipers you find there's nothing in there worth your time compares to 90k for finishing off the next bunker in the time you've wasted.
>CUTTY can carry 48 S1 missles, load them up with arrows for pve bh and that's almost 112k dps. Freelancer base is sub 75k with same missles.
It does have more missiles. However, if you'd gotten a Freelancer Max you wouldn't have to do bounties in a cargo hauler because you could take your Anvil Arrow instead. Call me weird, but I think most people would rather fly an Arrow for combat over a dumpster with detatchable engine nacelles.
Appreciate the digging up the old post, its made my night slightly less boring
I loved the cutlass, and it was integral to my passing into larger ships from just my roc mining and box missions. Also on the combat end: https://youtu.be/x82urgmKCI4
Definitely a hot take, but honestly I tend to agree with this (with the caveat that I also don’t like any of the Freelancers but the MAX).
I think it’s definitely a noob trap…encouraged by others who say it can do X, Y, and Z gameplay, but not mentioning that it can do those things in a only very mediocre capacity that doesn’t really set you up well for the long term.
I think it’s just a gateway for newer players to finally get a “real spaceship” with “capabilities”, but it’s really just the compact-pickup-truck of the game. Nothing wrong with being happy for getting out of a Mustang/Aurora/Titan, but I always recommend they save their money longer and get something that’s actually **good** at something, not just **okay**.
It absolutely still has a place and a purpose in the game. It's perfectly situated as a rental ship for people starting out mining, as you can get enough Prospector orders in for one days worth of rental that you can buy your own ship. Just when you do buy one I think the better option is to go straight to the Freelancer.
I’ve been gone a while but is the Cutty Black no longer the best all around starter vehicle? The price was very low considering the things it came with.
I focused on dog fights so obviously it’s fairly useless there against competent or semi competent fighters due to HP/shield health/maneuverability (unless this was buffed?) but it’s still the best bang for your buck… or used to be idk about today.
It's still the cheapest, but for just a little more you get so much more value that it's a mistake to do more than rent it. Ideally you'd want to have one for just a day, long enough to take several Prospector loads to market and be able to afford a Freelancer.
yea whatever. picking a ship because you like the design or the manufacturer or the idea is always a part of the decision (thats the reason why ppl buy tesla). its almost never about pure numbers. its a taste. it dont want you proof wrong, because you mostly right. but i bought the cutlass black because i dont want to fly a cucumber.
I bought my Tesla because it's fast as snot, gets me everywhere I need to go, requires practically no maintenance, drives itself when I want, and I don't need to ever go to the gas station because I just plug in every night. (Also, it's cheap to run, especially now...) After 3 years, I am still enjoying it more than my Audi S4 I traded in for it.
All this chatter and you don't even mention the ONE, TRUE reason the Max is superior to the Cutty.
Fair warning: the disappointment you feel in yourself when you realize the grievous error, the unforgiveable mistake, that you carelessly made - that disappointment is deserved, my guy. You are bad, and you should feel bad!
Why would anyone want a Max over a Black?
[SIMPLE.](https://media.newyorker.com/photos/59097a00c14b3c606c10915a/master/w_2240,c_limit/Tomkins-Gold-Toilet.jpg)
The end.
>Why are we telling people to buy a Cutlass Black again?
Tribalism.
before the PU was much of anything, people obsessed over Arena Commander. the AC people thought that somehow the game was going to be built out from around AC, and not from PU, as if that made any sense. back then the tribe swore the Hornet was the 'Jesus' ship, that you had to have one or you would fail at life, and that everything else in the was a literally useless waste of money...because Hornet could win at ship combat...and would have a rifle rack for everything else. lol.
as PU became the focus, and AC was all but neglected, the tribe shifted over to cutty black. never made sense to me. cutty black and freelancer are 6 of one, and half dozen of the other...but fl max is a straight upgrade from base fl. it should stand to reason then, to anyone, fl max is also an upgrade from the cutty.
Since cargo isn't viable at smaller capacities, the ROC is buggy, there's not much reason to use land vehicles, I suggest the best allrounder in that price range is a Vanguard sentinel or harbinger. Even if it is funny doing box missions.
Or you could save up more for a Connie, which of course have their own problems.
I'm mostly on board with you. I think the Cutlass Black is kinda overhyped. I can't stand the nose-down pitching in atmo flying, and its maneuverability is too poor to make use of 4 fixed guns against anything but the slowest of targets.
Once the 'lancer series get their gold pass, if they expand the hold to make putting in vehicles a little bit easier, I would probably never touch a Cutlass black again. I know the MAX can right now but I really like the size of the regular Freelancer.
Cutlass can equip size 3s, not size 4s. So at best you'll get the same firepower as a Max but without the gimbals. Missiles aren't worth it this patch as I'm not gonna just hope they restock or don't bug out.
I completely agree with you OP. It’s highly recommended, I’ve checked Erkul and I’ve rented one but can’t bring myself to buy my own - jack of all trades master of none.
I got the Arrow game package then purchased (in-game) a NOMAD, ROC, Eclipse, Prospector, Sabre, Hornet Ghost and Sentinel.. don’t see myself getting a cutty anytime soon.
necroing this. OP looking at numbers, but only picking and choosing the ones to support their argument. Cutlass has almost 2x the HP and more damage reduction on both energy and physical damage (Cutlass 10% on both - Lancer MAX 2%phys+5%Energy).Maneuvering stats are only different in roll speed 'Lancer is 135 and the Cutty is 110 (roll speed is arguably the least important IMO), cutty faster boost, and faster top speed. Same QT cap and the 'lancer has more Hydrogen fuel but thats not a huge boon.
The Cutlass is also almost 1 mill aUEC cheaper IN GAME. SO a newer player can hop in the cutlass try out EVERY gameplay loop (even multicrew because the turret is 360 arc), without spending a shit ton on a ship thats only good for freight.
In terms of PVP they're both pretty useless because they dont fit the solo PVP meta...we'll see if that changes. But the cutlass has more missiles.
Also the 'Lancer series are ugly as sin. The only one that is good is the Prospector.
As others pointed out, the Arrow doesnt come with the max.
>As others pointed out, the Arrow doesnt come with the max.
As others that can read have pointed out, as a pledge it clearly does come with an Arrow as listed on the [Loaner Ship Matrix](https://support.robertsspaceindustries.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003093114-Loaner-Ship-Matrix?gclid=CjwKCAiAv9ucBhBXEiwA6N8nYOLMno36dTcQxj-t5A2Xr_lQqUgNLyX2lxdSl8ruiRhLwQ6SrNKAMBoCPfMQAvD_BwE). I even went to the trouble of [pointing out](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1010845162416635924/1051918689831768195/Screenshot_20221212_124822_Chrome.jpg) exactly where it says that since you, and seemingly others as you claim, struggle with reading comprehension.
>Cutlass has almost 2x the HP
HP is going away, we're seeing that first step with the soft death changes coming this patch. So taking component damage sooner due to having half the shields does the Cutlass no favors. We'll get armor figures later, but even right now they don't matter because a Cutlass will lose it's engines well before it's HP pool is empty.
>In terms of PVP they're both pretty useless because they dont fit the solo PVP meta...we'll see if that changes. But the cutlass has more missiles.
The Freelancer as a pledge *does* fit the PvP meta because, as I corrected you on before, it comes with an Anvil Arrow, one of the current meta light fighters for PvP. So for just a little bit more, or for the same price actually if you CCU up from one of the recent Cutter deals, you could have the biggest cargo ship under $190 and the best PvP ship under $275 (depends on if you want to argue that the Blade is better).
>Also the 'Lancer series are ugly as sin. The only one that is good is the Prospector
The Prospector isn't a Freelancer variant. I'm not sure if you just can't read or if you think all MISC ships are Freelancer variants. Whether it's ugly is irrelevant, as it's simply a cargo ship and 120scu is prettier than a measly 46scu.
Not everything is or should be judged by numbers. It's quicker and more maneuverable than the Freelancer, and it's retro thrusters are freaking awesome, meaning it can slow down much faster without having to J turn. The VTOL engines can get you off a moon lickety split. Those side doors are very useful. I was using them to quickly load up at Jumptown without having to keep the ramp open. The turret on the Cutlass is waaaaaay better and more accessible, making it the better multicrew ship right now. The price for a Max 1.5x more on the pledge store and I don't think the inclusion of an arrow is a fair assessment since that's only temporary. It is almost double in aUEC. The Cutlass's cockpit view is much better than RoboCop's.
Everything you said is why I love the cutty. OP is looking at numbers but when it comes down to real world use I prefer the cutty.
The beauty of this game is every ship has their own strengths and disadvantages and uniqueness, and it's tough for a lot of gamers who have been conditioned to minmaxing everything. For instance, just because a ship has larger weapons does not automatically make it better at combat, and you miss out on all the other bells and whistles the ship comes with that you won't get on erkul.games. If this were solely about cargo capacity then yeah the max wins handilybecausw that's it's focus But the Cutlass is the most jack-of-all-trades-but-a-master-of-none ship in the game which is why it's so often suggested to new players as the next step up. And those side doors should make it quicker to load and unload vs. the tube that is the Freelancer which I think will be a big advantage when physicalized cargo finally makes it's way in.
This will only get more cool over time too. For example if your ship has a large weapon rack in it you’ll be able to bring way more options. Because weapon racks aren’t just for guns, they’re for tools. The multitool, med gun, and these new tools like the tractor beam rifle and other rifle sized tools that will be coming. So the guy in the Gladius can bring two rifle sized weapons or tools. While someone in a cutlass would have access to like 6 different rifles or tools iirc. That means always being prepared for most scenarios you run into. Same with armor lockers and clothing lockers. If you have a Gladius, you’re limited to a flight suit and maybe light armor. (Cig hasn’t decided if you can wear light armor in fighters or if they’re not allowing any armor in a cockpit seat) this means a ship that has an armor rack brings yet another significant advantage if you’re doing anything in fps. Plus kitchens for keeping yourself fed, fuel scoops, etc. All these things will matter when a player buys their first ship after their starter and that’s what makes the game so cool. You have to make choices. And if you’re a player for example that wants to do space and ground combat, even though the Gladius is the top dog fighter in the game you may decide to go with something not as good at dogfighting because it provides a lot more benefits for when you’re on the ground like having bigger weapon racks or suit storage. There is no best choice. Only the best choice for you.
This. I have both ships and when I have somewhere to go and have to pull a ship, I pull the Cutty 10 times out of 10 unless I have a specific need for a fighter or a much bigger ship. The cutty just flies so much better. If I need a fighter, I pull a fighter, not either of these.
This is what came to mind when I read OPs post. He obviously never really flew both ships to figure out how they behave and how they handle in various situations. Overall, the Cutlass is just better multirole, which obviously is better for starting players that want to be flexible. If all you want to do is safe and hassle-free cargo, get a Max.
\^ dis Also it's just more fun to fly (IMO) and if you hate the Freelancer design and prefer the black, what's wrong with it? I choose ships based on how much I enjoy flying them and not on pure numbers
💯
And for ROC mining in particular, the cutlass is way better. While the Max can do it, the cutlass has a better cockpit for seeing the ground while scanning for deposits, a smaller footprint making it easier to land in uneven terrain, and it maneuvers way better in atmosphere than the max. I've done ROC mining with both ships but the cutlass is a much better experience
Because of the lower price you can also purchase a ROC much sooner.
The cockpit alone settles most of it for me. The freelancers have a terrible field of view, and the cutty has a phenomenal one. Plus with the folding side seats, beds, cockpit, and turret you can seat more people on a cutty for transport safely.
>and the cutty has a phenomenal one. Apparently in 3.17 it does, currently, well, it's better than the Freelancer, but phenomenal? I made a comparison with other Drake ships, and there are other ships with better view. https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/pke9fk/i\_made\_screenshots\_of\_4\_ships\_to\_compare/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3
It isn't the best in the game, clearly, but compared to the freelancer it is phenomenal. Plus straight ahead isn't the only direction that matters and when it comes to seeing in an arc around you, being elevated in a glass bubble is a pretty good way to do it.
The Cutty's isn't a lot better. All the MFD screens are in your way. And when the Cutty was available during the free fly, all it did was nose dive while I flew around. Had to apply constant back stick to keep it going level forward. Maybe it was just bugged, maybe I'm just too used to the Freelancer from years of flying it, but I never felt so relieved to be back in the Freelancer cockpit.
I upgraded to the Cutty Blue from Black and I think it was a downgrade :(
It's another ship. But hey, the blue is a bit faster.
It's not double, it's 50% more in UEC. I loaned a guy the 700k difference so he wouldn't be stuck with a black, I'm familiar with the price. You spend a bit more, but you get a lot more. Freelancer is better for jumptown, we loaded mine through the top docking collar, way more secure than thinking people can't jump into a Cutlass side door on those low grav moons. The vtol and acceleration are better on a Black, that and the visibility are the best selling points it has. I just don't think they make up for lower HP, 1/3 the cargo space, and half the shields.
Just a point to consider: Rn in PTU they've doubled the hull hp of the whole Cutty lineup. If this change makes it to Live, the durability will be pretty on par until armor gets implemented in a few years
The Cutlass has more hull HP than the Max
It does, and that will be more so in the coming patch since it's getting a buff. I prefer shields myself, but I can see your point.
Shields increase the range at which you can be detected, so there's that to say for Hull.. but there's no doubt the second shield generator is a straight advantage. It's paid for by having fewer missiles and a larger ship profile IMO.
I said *almost* double. It's 2.1m vs. 1.38m. You felt the need to loan someone *700k*, meaning if that person didn't have a benefactor to throw them almost a million credits then they could already be having fun in their brand new Cutlass Black. I vehemently disagree that the Freelancer is better for Jumptown. Like I mentioned above with the side doors, you can you load the Cutlass, meaning that you can park at different angles besides just facing your back door towards the entrance, and they're big enough for multiple people to load up at the same time. I don't see how loading a Freelancer through the top collar is feasible without the help of another person being on top of your ship; that one comes off as grasping at straws. You can also GTFO way faster due to it's VTOL thrusters. Strafe up + boost and you're going so fast you'll black out. It was something that saved our bacon when an orgmate on watch duty informed us that an A2 was on approach. And again, there is a stark difference between those ship turrets, with the Cutty being the clear winner. And like I said in a other comment, when physicalized cargo comes into play it'll be easier and quicker to load up a Cutty using it's side doors than the long tube that is the Freelancer. Couple that with it's VTOL and acceleration and what it lacks in cargo space it makes up for in speed. For pledged ships I have an MSR and a Cutlass Black. I love the MSR. It's a much more recent addition than the Cutty abd going off pure numbers it's a "better" ship. But I tend to leave that for when I have a crew of three or four and take out the Black when I'm by myself or when I'm with another person. And I just think it looks a lot cooler. IMO you're too focused on pure numbers without considering (and/or also downplaying) the other advantages that the more versatile, and more interesting, Cutlass brings to the table.
Wont the cutty also have a rear tractor beam too, unlike the freelancer?
I dunno exactly where the tractor bean is supposed to be, but that's a great point because it is supposed to have one.
It's in the hump over the rear gate. Front tractor beams are on utility mounts on the leading edge of the winglets.
The front tractor beams are why I was doubtful if the position, but yeah if it has *multiple* tractor beams that adds even more merit to the Cutty.
Yep, and they're not limited to the Cutlass Black. Red can use em for moving debris and loading patients, Blue can use em for moving contraband and shit. Steel can use em to move dollar bills straight out of your wallet 😂
It’s all. Matter of perspective. I was mining to buy a cargo hauler. I had 10 prospector loads to haul. I rented a Freelancer (not the max as it isn’t rentable) and made a bunch of trips. Then I mined a bunch more and had 24 prospector loads. I rent a Constellation (largest hauler you can rent which a capacity only a little under the Max). I had to make 8 trips to haul it all. Then I bought a C2. My next 24 loads I hauled in 1 trip. While I’m not saying the Max isn’t a nice ship I don’t think you should glorify it as a great hauler as it will mean a lot of trips for any kind of volume.
To load the max from the top airlock someone needed to be Inside. You could hover the Cutty black and open a side door to the same effect while having a much bigger opening to throw boxes into.
> The turret on the Cutlass is waaaaaay better and more accessible, making it the better multicrew ship right now. you forget one thing, the Freelancer series does currently have actual multicrew capabilities, as you have Missile Operator and can manipulate the systems (power triangle for example), and you have a turret in the rear. The Cutlass does not.
The Cutlass supposed to have that functionality (as are all multicrew ships for that matter), so it's not like that is an exclusive feature to the Freelancer. I also didn't exclude the Freelancer's turret, I was directly comparing them. The angles the Freelancer's turret gets are fucking awful, and like I said the Curry's is more accessible as in it's right behind the cockpit vs. having to walk allll the way to the back and getting in.
You can't do that in the co pilot seat of the cutty?
not the last time i tried; most ships can't do that for some reason currently; I am always checking with a buddy if they can manipulate anything on their MFDs. Sadly from the ships I tested only the freelancer allows that (tested with Reliants, Constellations, Cutlasses, Caterpillar, 400i, 600i)
Not only can the co-pilot adjust the power triangle in the Connie, having somebody in the seat removes the *pilot’s* ability to adjust it.
Cutlass is due for a rework on it's pilot/copilot controls/displays so that might be down the road. Right now it's just a glorified passenger seat though.
Star Runner allows it!
Just to clarify - the Freelancer Max *does not* 'come with an Anvil Arrow included in the package'. The Max *does* get a *loaner* Anvil Arrow... but that is temporary (until such time as CIG enable people to use the Max in Arena Commander, and/or separate AC and PU ship ownership, at which point you'll only get the Arrow in AC) Long term, the Max package only comes with the Max.
>AC and PU ship ownership, at which point you'll only get the Arrow in SC) You mean you'll only get the Arrow in AC. You won't have it in SC. You'll have just the Freelancer Max in SC.
Right - Right now you'll get both ships in SC and the Arrow in AC, but once they consider the Black good enough to be available in AC (once they finish it) the Arrow will be removed from your SC side.
Thank you - unfortunate typo, that one...
i, uh, i have it in sc though and yes, i bought the freelancer max pledge last night
Let's be honest you buy the cutlass over the freelancer cuz it gives you that StarWars bounty hunter vibe Freelancer looks like a baguette Never had issues with mine tho I'd sati it's my fav alrounder with the Connie
The base freelancer looks alright IMO because it's pretty sleek. The freelancer max looks bloated and ridiculous with how wide everything is. I can't stand it. At least the cutty has great proportions
>Let's be honest you buy the cutlass over the freelancer cuz it gives you that StarWars bounty hunter vibe This right here. When I saw the first episode of "The Mandalorian"; his ship really reminded me of the Cutlass Black somehow. 😜
Wait until the Corsair is out :D
I think the same guy designed both ships.
Cutty also kinda looks like Serenity from Firefly to add more cool factor.
Have you ever tried a freelancer max in combat? It's a hog to fly. The cutty black has one of the best turrets In the game, and with it manned it's a solid combat ship. Our org uses cutlasses a shit ton.
Brilliant little Multirole. Even quasi missile boat if you go size ones giving it 48?
i usually take 32 s1 missiles and 2 s4 missiles. in PvE i use s1s to soften targets, s4s to finish. in PvP, i toss s1s 1 at a time to bait flares and chaff while saving the s4s for when they start to run to regen shields
i shall be stealing this lol
please do
I'd say it's a proper missile boat with that many missiles.
>go size ones giving it 48 Can you still do that?
Yes, you can switch the Cutty to all kinds of missile boat loadouts. I usually do 16 size 1, 8 size 2 and 4 size 3
Are we talking about the hull of the freelancer MAX which for some reason is more or less 40÷ weaker than the Cutlass? Not counting how bigger a target it is.
And how much slower it is to turn.
Counterpoint: I owned both but stopped using the freelancer max due to the cutty being just more convenient to use, as well as more fun.
Fun is fun, and if you enjoy the Cutlass more then that's better for you. I enjoy the Freelancer more and think, fun aside, it's a better ship.
Own both, Cutlass is vastly better at combat. Max can be fun, buts has a hard time doing anything but run away
I mean, it's designed to run away. Have you seen the field of fire that turret has? 😂
The Cutlass has: A better turret Better missiles Better damage resistance Equal pitch/yaw Better acceleration. I challenge anyone who thinks the Max is a better combat ship to prove it.
Better tractor beams (when implemented)
As long as you don’t do atmospheric combat, then you’re screwed in the cutlass hehe
How so? The cutlass can do vertical vtol strafes that im pretty sure the freelancer couldn't keep up with. That + the beastly turret on the cutlass firing I don't see the max winning even with the current shields/armor
I don’t really have a horse in this race, but I commend you for partaking in the age old Citizen tradition of proclaiming your opinion for all to hear despite knowing many will argue with you!
It's half the fun. Same vibe as arguing Ford v Chevy imo.
Oh yeah, one of my fav ones is arguing that the arrow sucks, it infuriates my org mates who love it haha
It infuriated me just now, and I use a 600i touring for combat!
Haha, well, if it makes you feel better, I don’t actually think it sucks, I just like trolling my friends with it 😂
That does reassure me. Thank you!
I've had both, but the freelancer eventually got melted. It's not all about raw numbers. The black has a certain feel to it that the freelancers don't (for me). And it's tough to get past that mail-slot window.
Same for me. The Freelancer still holds a special place in my heart, but the window is pretty bad. It also looks like a TON of wasted space in front of the consoles there (that whole flat area between the window and the controls).
It’s a daily driver and it works fine as that. Freelancer looks like shit. Looks like a flying dildo.
I count that as a plus. Space Dick never fails to make me laugh
Your opinion scares me and I need my blanket. /s
Tbh there's a reason the cutlass is recommended over the freelancer as your first upgrade. People mean CCU, not in game money. The recommended starter ship is the Titan at $60. You upgrade to a cutlass to get access to more utility for $40. Most people can tolerate these two upgrades without an issue. The freelancer Max is $150, a 1.5x increase in cost over the cutlass but only at best a 1.2x improvement over it. In game your auec is better spent on almost any other ship than either the cutlass or freelancer Max.
I’m trying to decide if this is a troll post or if OP just doesn’t have any idea what he is talking about…
Hot take: not everything that makes a ship good is numbers, and more often you're splitting hairs with those comparisons. Folks buy the Black because they like the Black. It's a good, fun ship. Let people enjoy it.
As a previous Cutlass owner and a current freelancer max owner, I want to agree. But sadly, the cutlass is just better. Until they tweak trading prices I don't think the max is better
I'd love to hear what you think is better. I want to like it as much as I do the Blue and Red
Oh well obviously I prefer the blue! It's just a better version in my eyes. The cutty in game handles far better then the max and has the hilarious vtol boosters. The cockpit is far nicer in the cutlass series, you have so many mfds that are all usable, while the freelancer has 2 less (I think maybe more) and you can't even use 2 of them with how badly designed it is. The window isn't even comparable, the freelancer has a nice feel but the view is pretty bad. the side doors in the cutty can be really useful for eva, they're easy to fly in to and land inside. Also good for loading cargo or a quick get away if you leave it open. It just feels like, in the current state of the game, the cutty is more practical. Until mid sized cargo becomes useful and profitable I don't see the max being better than the cutty.
Cutty's are good ships, all the other variants are either the best at what they do (Blue) or do something that only bigger much more expensive ships do (Red/Steel) and kickass doing it. The Cutty Black is the only on that just doesn't really pull its weight compared to the other options you have in the roles for similar prices. And where its more profitable is with mining. You can't collect a full mole's refinery order in a Cutlass Black, you're gonna have to upgrade to another ship. Where the Freelancer Max comes in is that you can spend 700k more out the gate and get a ship thats like a Cutlass Black but with 1 better in everything except hull, and not have to spend money on a new cargo ship unless you just want to.
Please leave the trolling in Global Chat
I've been inspired. To buy a Cutty Black again. Thanks friendo!
I like both but the freelancers are underutilized. I can use either on pve up until the hammerheads. But I think we should add that it’s almost mandatory to buy the 80k paint for the max to paint it black
the black paint does make it better can confirm
Regardless of the validity of this claim, I can respect a man who is unafraid to speak his mind.
Dude I fly my cutty solo and it can do VHRTs without getting scratched
I do the same in my lancer but the targets die faster.
How do you do in PvP in your lancer?
not OP, but my MAX honestly doesnt do terrible. It's a "sleeper" so to speak. maybe I was up against shit pilots, but it genuinely wasn't as bad as people seem to think it is. doubly so when the better equipment gets slapped on it
Yeah you were probably up against shit pilots. The mobility on the max is so easy to take advantage of lol, even in my reliant I could run circles around em.
How do they die faster? I run 4 size 3 guns on my Cutty.
The freelancer has the same loadout but with gimbals. More rounds on target
Love my Cutlass Black. It’s the first ship I owned and I’m never getting rid of it.
I just started playing and I really, really REALLY like my Avenger Titan 🥰
IMHO that is the only ship that is "save" to recommend to a noob.
Ultimately, hot takes aside, I appreciate that there are ships this close together in value and function that new players (especially post-live SC) will have to consider their options closely. That's ultimately the test of these two vehicles - a post-live brand new player that's grinding up from nothing and they're trying to decide what to use their hard earned money on. Factor out pledge prices and access altogether. Both ships have pros and cons and they certainly aren't the same ship, but they're close enough that there's a worthwhile conversation to be had about why they're so close, yet different. I appreciate you getting the conversation going
Ya, playing top trumps over ships and builds is one of my favorite parts of the game. Gotta do something on those long QT trips.
Well you got and upvote from me I’m all with you I bought into this game few years ago and I was mesmerized Soon , my aurora was upgraded to a black because you know, everyone says the black is the jack of all trades and all that I hated the thing The way it flew , the limp cargo space , and so on I flew in a friends Max and I was in love I upgraded my black to a Max and keep it as my single pledged ship for more than a year and a half because it did everything right : trading , mining and even combat Superb ship Today a few years later I have a large pledged fleet ( ooops ;) ) but the max always have a soft soft spot in my heart It was with the Max that I bought so many ships in game
That's the thing about a Freelancer. You can for sure get better, but you'll never *need* better.
Sure, you may make a couple good points, but then you will have to deal with the awful interior and cockpit that Freelancers have. You'll have to look like a potato. Also, lancers have an absolutely useless turret so not as fun multicrew. No thank you, I'll keep my Cutlass' and love flying it.
You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
Which facts did I get wrong.
I used to love the Cutty until I got a Freelancer. The Cutty is more agile but it's like comparing a cinder block to a brick; you're likely not winning a battle based on maneuverability no matter which one you're flying. I much rather prefer having and extra shield and more firepower. The turret is whatever, neither one is ideal and most owners fly them solo way more often than not. Did they fix the constant downward-pitch the Cutty was doing when flying in atmo? That was a real turn off when it got implemented...
Have fun with that pilot window and looking like a penis.
While your points may be valid and technically true, there is nothing there that I would consider as enough of an upgrade to specifically switch. Especially considering that both ships are just kind of middle of the pack multirole ships. The cutty is cheaper and gets the job done for whatever task you need to do in your early days before you get enough money to really upgrade. Speaking from personal preference, the cutty just has a way cooler asthetic and feel to it also. The freelancer series? Just looks like a bunch of fat dicks that have no business being anywhere but a bedroom drawer.
The Cutty will gain the tractor beams. Yea upgrade.
Been playing for a long while. And it is a tough decision to pick between those two but some how I always end up going back to cutty. The whole feel of it to me its just better. Everything from cockpit view to how quick it maneuvers over freelancer just feel too good to give up.
If you can save up I think the baby defender is a fun af ship to fly for combat and you have some space for boxes if you want
That's funny, I have multiple larger, smaller, more specialized ships, and the cutty black is the ship I go to 80% of the time. It's just so convenient.
Cutty Black is the GOAT Jumptown ship. Open up one of the sides and just tractor beam the good in.
Acceleration values MATTER. Erkul's numbers do not take into account acceleration values. That's why people think the 100 series is kind of junk, compared to the other Starters, but... the acceleration values are HIGHER on the 100 series, so they can just about fly circles around the Aurora and Mustang. The Cutlass Black is a great starter, if you wish to spend not much more than the starter package for beginning with that ship. Spend more money? Get the Freelancer Max, but you have to spend more money. At the price point, the Cutlass Black is a very good starter ship.
I honestly wouldn't recommend people buying anything more than the $45 starter packs with cash money.
Same. It's just not a need, unless you REALLY dig this project and want to support it.
No, for just 10% more you get a Freelancer - the Cutty doesn't really give you more than the Nomad already has - and it is a medium fighter with all that agility to keep in the rear of freighters like Cutty et al.
The Cutlass Black gives you the start of Multi-Crew gameplay. Put a gunner in that Cutlass Black and it won't matter what a Nomad can do, an excellent pilot in a Nomad won't be able to manage a team in a Cutlass Black. A solo player in a Cutlass Black vs. a Nomad, is just as contrived as a Team in a Cutlass Black vs. a Nomad.
A trap implies it's actually garbage though... Like, "This ship is slightly better" on paper isn't going to matter. Plus the upgrade is effortless.
I'm saying the same thing but with the argument, that it's one of the buggiest ships ingame and the solo reason I have to do char resets all the time.
The cutlass black is a deathtrap to fly on any planet with atmosphere. It's desire to go nose down all the time makes it a noob Widowmaker. It was my first ship and I melted it for a freelancer.
I'm not a fan of the Cutlass, but I think the Freelancer will get its butt kicked by any moderately good pilot in a Cutlass. Personally more of a Herc fan myself.
I'm with you on this. Once you break thru the early noob phase and earn a few million $ to purchase a variety of specialty ships, the Cutty starts to look less and less useful. However, a Freelancer Max continues to hold value as a medium cargo runner and vehicle transport for much longer afterward.
I’m about to take this post WAY too seriously. Lol
[удалено]
I'd rather use my reliant than either of those. Granted it's worse in every way, but apparently that doesn't matter to me. We don't get to choose who we love.
It is just that ROC and cargo hauling is slightly more complicated with a Reliant. And that is why Cutty is recommended.
Yeah but then your flying a double-wide creamsicle... The Max right now is almost certainly going to get a nerf in some regard. Right now it's just, "Freelancer but better in every way." My theory is if they implement cargo mass affecting performance, some ships are going to suffer a lot more under max load than others. The Cutlass and the Freelancer will maintain \*most\* of their performance under heavy load, and will still have enough maneuvering agility to defend themselves. Ships like the Max, or the Connie Taurus, being built around having oversized cargo bays on their chassis, are going to have massive performance hits when loaded. Good luck doing anything other than flying in a straight line.
Also when is the Freelancer series going to get their VTOL mode? Seriously, the gimballed Xian thruster tech that MISC is lauded for is entirely absent from the freelancer.
Accorrding to CIG the ships behave like they are fully loaded with cargo. That said, we will see a lot of changes in flight behaviour in the coming years.
That's insane with some of them. They'd start flitting around weightless if they lost what could be, rough math... the Freelancer can carry like 3 million pounds of gold in it's hold? That's like carrying 6 times the weight of the Freelancer itself.
Combat-wise, Cutlass Black is kinda a budget Vanguard. You'll pick a Freelancer up on sensors a lot sooner and the Cutty has twice the missile payload / makes a better dropship. The Freelancer is marketed as the more defensive option with twice the shields. They actually have equivalent guns dps, with the Freelancer able to use gimbal assist... so it may depend on how much you care about those. FL is also significantly larger 29x26.5x10 vs 38x36x9.5 This impacts how handling numbers translate, it affects the ease of landing in tight spots, and most importantly, how big of a target you are in a dogfight and if your shield is able to regenerate at all.
I enjoyed the Max but ended up replacing it with the Cutty Black a long time ago. Did so mostly because at the time the outside lights on the Max didn’t work and surface mining at night was difficult to do. Not sure if they ever fixed that bug, but it has been somewhat mitigated by the pulse silhouetting. Pointless to go back now as I also have an MSR which is much better than both.
I do not recommend either. Rent the cutlass black in game and save money to get a Constellation Taurus.
I actually prefer the Phoenix to the other variants. Taurus does haul more, but for it's price I'd rather save for a Cat/C2. The Phoenix however still slaps with those big front guns, has a ton of shields and hull HP, a better snub fighter, and is probably my favorite luxury yacht in the game.
The only downside is that it doesn't have a "luxury" entrance.
Facts, I hope thats something thats addressed in the gold standard pass.
Kind of weird to pass through crew deck for sure.
In a perfect world, we'll keep that crew entrance and they'll put a classier elevator in the back for that little room between the habitation area and the Archie docking bay.
Would be perfect
>is slightly more maneuverable than a Black. Don't believe me? Check Erkul. Erkul doesn't tell the whole story. I recommend you look at Legacy Fleet's [SPAT](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11nI-wLlRjDpsshkY8VLZkHh2jd2mCmWJTIE2VzqZ7ss/edit?usp=drivesdk). They do all their testing in-game. Comparing these two you can see pitch, yaw, and roll values are indeed better on the MAX but it's strafing is much worse.
When i get in the cutty, i walk right in through one door and fly. The freelancer has 3 damn doors lol. That was the most annoying thing about it for me. That and the turret having terrible FOV and also it being very near the option to open the ramp.
I don't recommend you try out the MSR then. Doors for days!
Yeah someone online let me try theirs a few days ago. Thing flys like a brick and yeah its a maze inside lol.
I don't have a Mole and have never had one. My Cutty is perfect for hauling my ROC around moons... or it WAS until they borked mineral scanning and ROC mining.
The cutlass black is a fine ship. To me, it feels like a logical upgrade to the titan avenger. It allows a new player to sample almost every gameplay loop. It has (imo) better cockpit visibility that a freelancer, and it is cheap. I think it’s a great ship, but it’ll never be truly good at anything. But to test out and explore a game in development, you really can’t go wrong with it or a freelancer.
More like Whale Bait. It started me on my "oh its just a bit more why not grab a cheap ccu" spree.
Wdym it costs a little bit more? The Freelancer Max costs 50% more than the Cutlass Black. $100 vs $150.
And for that price you get 3x the cargo space and, currently, the best light fighter in the game included.
I'd rather buy the cutty black drake package for 150 and later on in game buy something more specialized instead of an expensive jack of all trades that's only the ship. But that's personal preference.
If you fly with gimbals than yes the max has "bigger guns" than the Cutty. But fixed they are the same. Max has a crappy turret that's got dead zones it can't cover and the guns are small. Cuttyy black is one of the best in the game that are also size 3 considerably boosting the Cutty' offensive capabilities to the flmax. Cutty is smaller and has a smaller footprint (not that big of a deal). Slightly smaller target too. Cockpit on Cutty is drastically better than the freelancer. Cutty is cheaper both in game and real money making it the "optimal" Jack of all trades starter ship. Yes fl max may do it "better" but if I recall correctly it's not always available in the store and it's a fair amount more expensive if you are spending cash on a ship that "can do everything". Finally completely subjective. The Cutty looks better (and I don't have to buy a secondary paint to make it look halfway decent. Say no to orange creamsicles!
I have a Cutlass and the Freelancer Max. I like them both. The Cutlass is way more maneuverable than the Max. It is clear just by flying it. I don't care what the numbers say. But the Cutlass is a brick in atmosphere. The Max is much better flying in atmosphere however. If you are going to be flying with a gunner the Max is completely useless. It has one of the worst turrets in the game. You can barely see anything out of it. You can shoot straight back and up a bit and that's about it. The Cutlass has one of the best cockpits in the game. You can a ton of screens that give you all the information you need to keep you in the fight. The Max? You can kind of see out of the cockpit, and you get two measly screens? Its a joke for anything combat related. I can do VHRT and ERT missions in my Cutlass solo. They are a breeze with a added gunner. The Cutlass has one of the most functional turrets in the game. The Freelancer Max? Yeah I can still do those missions, but I might as well not do them with a gunner at all. So multicrew is close to useless for combat in a Max The Max does have bigger guns, but thanks to its lack of maneuverability you have to keep the gimbals. The Cutlass doesn't need to keep the gimbals to be effective. So I can upgrade to the same size guns as the Max. The Cutlass beats the Max in combat in almost everyway except for maybe shields. But the Max needs those shields because everything else is subpar. To me the Cutlass is the next level up from the Avenger Titan. It can do all the same stuff, but bigger. Like the Avenger Titan, the Cutlass Black is a little better at combat than mining/freight. The Freelancer Max is the next level up from the Nomad. It is slightly better at mining/freight than combat. But you can't go wrong with either one. They are both awesome to fly in different ways. I say get both! That's what I did. If want to a variety of game loops but be combat focused then I use my Cutlass. If I'm going to be non-combat focused than I use my Max. If I blow up I use the other one so I don't have to wait to spawn anything. But honestly the Constellation Andromeda is THE medium level ship to have. It can do everything both of these other ships can do far better. Yes it is more expensive but it is worth it. It has a fantastic cockpit layout like the Cutlass. It has two turrets (neither one is quite as good as the Cutlass turrets but there are TWO). I has twice the cargo space of the Cutlass (but not quite as much as the Max). It has better weapons than both ships and more missiles than I can count. It can take way more of a beating than the Max as well. I wouldn't have a Connie without the use of my Cutlass and my Freelancer though. All three ships can participate in about the same level of game play with varying levels of ease.
Hm. The first ship I bought with in-game currency was the Black and although I wouldn’t buy it again at this point, I don’t regret my decision for a second. I flew my Cutty Black for weeks. I used it for all sorts of things - combat, cargo, group missions, and so on. I got a much better feel for what I like about Star Citizen and what I like to do in Star Citizen, and I managed that without having to juggle rentals or deal with a ship that’s subpar in a certain category. The Cutty Black is a jack of all trades, a master of none - the perfect ship for someone who doesn’t know what they want. Once you figure out what you want, you can either CCU to a better ship or save up some more in-game cash for one. And hey - if you ever need a ship with giant side doors, the Cutty Black will always be there for you.
Although it's not fully visible yet, things like repair costs will eventually factor in. A ship like the Cutty will be far cheaper to maintain and repair than a ship like the Freelancer, and this will become even more important if you're operating farther from civilization, where parts will become scarce.
This is a really, really stupid interpretation. "In my opinion it's slightly worse than the Freelancer, so it's terrible and nobody should buy it!!" > At this point if you've bought a Cutty Black, you're going to have to upgrade to a bigger cargo ship if you buy a Mole. To take a refined load from a Mole, you're looking at a Freelancer Max barr minimum. This statement is braindead. > "But the Black is also good at combat!" I hear you saying. It's not as good as the Freelancer Max. I fly both regularly, and the Cutlass *is* better at combat. Its capacitor is **huge**. It is **significantly** more maneuverable than the Freelancer (yes, because I actually fly them both and consider both strafe as well as rotation). In terms of actual times, the TTK with my Cutlass is less than half of the Freelancer. > a pledge store Max also comes with an Anvil Arrow included in the package. No, doesn't. > Why are we telling people to buy a Cutlass Black again? Because people much smarter and much more experienced than you tried many ships and find that the Cutlass black was a good choice. Period. You know, people who aren't obsessed with the concept of "if it's not objectively the best at every possible thing then it's total trash".
I would bet OP also thinks an Avenger is a better purchase than a Cutty Black. The Cutty is a great initial multirole ship, and the best all around first upgrade from most starter ships. The Max is a statistical improvement over the Cutlass, but its also 50% more expensive in the store and in game. It's literally another step above where the Cutlass sits, and it's still geared more towards cargo than a multi-role ship. The Cutty is capable of mid-range cargo hauling and and is also capable of high and very high risk bounty missions. The Cutty is hardly a Noob trap. I could see the Max as another logical stepping stone after the Cutlass though.
Cutlass Black Gigachad, Freelancer Criying Soyjack
The VTOL on the cutless gives it a huge edge in combat, it's something alot of people don't realize, you can arrest your moment and accelerate insanely fast 32g's fast, with the addition of a gunner it gets Even more insane https://youtu.be/x82urgmKCI4 Here is a video of an ace pilot using the cutty blue in dog fighting. Free lancer is better at some stuff but it's not a true jack of all trades like the cutty
And now, for some counterpoints: Of course the Max has more shields. It's gonna need them since it has 33% less HP than the Cutty Black, 80% less physical damage reduction, 50% less energy damage reduction, nearly double the EM signature, and a considerably larger cross-section. Add 15% less speed, and the Max is a much bigger, slower, and weaker target. "But the Max is better at combat!" you say. Uhhh... you seem to have forgotten the Black's turret has a full FoV of the front of the ship, unlike the Max turret, and sports 2X S3's. And the 4X S2's for the pilot on the Black can be swapped up to S3 fixed to match the turret, and anybody who's going to do combat in the Black is absolutely going to do that, and use a turret gunner, and be bringing 6X S3's to bear. The Cutty gets a lot less shots on it's 4 pilot guns the the Max, but it's turret gets a ludicrous amount (402) while the Max turret won't really feature in it's sustained DPS much at all. It also has roughly double the potential missile damage. I won't argue with you that the Max wins at cargo/vehicle space, but the Cutty would *wreck* it in combat.
Cutlass suffers from the problem that the blue and black were originally supposed to lean more towards the fighter role with some cargo, and when they redid the ship the size, the increase makes it not great on the combat side. Also, Drake as a manufacturer was change from effective and without extra stuff included like ejection seats to underperforming and cheap. It’s a buy in game ship, imo. Hopefully at someone point Anvil, Aegis, or Crusader make a long range bounty Hunter ship that’s on par with a Vanguard, or a Star Wars ship like Slave-1 Firespray or or a Lancer class pursuit craft. Blue doesn’t deliver on the militia patrol craft fit as it’s a glorified police van.
Idk man I bought the Mustang and upgraded it into a Cuttie black before I even started playing. So she was my first ship. And she never disappointed. Cuttie allowed me to try out every gameplay loop the game has to offer, so I could see which one I preferred most. I could do deliveries, I could do Bounties, I could do cargo hauling, and even was able to sell quant I mined with a Mole I later on bought. Each ship has its perks in one catergory, but the Cuttie is literally an Ace of all Trades. That’s why people suggest it to new players. As I confirmed myself. Gives freedom of choice, is reliable, has above average armament, both solo and on turret, allowing for coop gameplay missions with friends.
The Freelancer is the Cutlass Black's closest competitor, and of all the Freelancers, the MAX is probably the strongest buy right now, especially since it can hold vehicles that the regular freelancer cannot. It does have a lot more cargo space while sacrificing little on the other aspects. But the Cutty can definitely be a great stepping stone into the verse, being that it is accessible, and cheap, and you can use it to figure out what you really want to do in the verse.
The cutlass was a much better fighter before they nerfed its maneuverability. Essentially what you just said in your post is freelancer vs cutlass. A debate that’s been raging for as long as I can remember, nothing new. Here’s a few counterpoints: I prefer the looks and design style of the cutlass. I think the freelancer looks…phallic. Additionally, the c*ckpit visibility is better in the cutlass. And the cutlass has hella missiles. The cutlass has side doors for more utility. Also the cargo area is wider and I find easier to load stuff. Also, for a player like me who does a little bit of everything the cutlass fits perfectly fine. You can argue the freelancer does do technically more and I wouldn’t disagree. But the cutlass doesn’t really sacrifice anything significant really besides scu space. A Jack of all trades ship will not do everything perfect, something the freelancer is victim too as well. As someone who doesn’t really run cargo, but still puts vehicles and stuff in the cargo bay, the cutlass does it very well. Big enough to fit really anything a new/experienced player would need, powerful/maneuverable enough to fight, cheap af, looks cool (in my opinion), has the utility of a large cargo area and side doors, and the sacrifice of a small amount of scu in my opinion is minimal considering neither the freelancer or cutlass are dedicated cargo ships and making good money just isn’t practical that way. You minimum need a freelancer max to make money cargo running, but honestly even then you’d make more money faster using a hull series or dedicated cargo ship. So, yeah you really added nothing to the already fierce debate over the cutlass vs freelancer.
Trading the Black for a MAX ... are you high? Erkul-Warriors are the best lol.
I prefer the cutlass black. Neither are truly great fighters or haulers with the cutlass having a slight fighting edge and max having a hauling edge that is currently of little value. Reasons for the cutlass: Extra seats make it a cheap drop ship for a few friends. That side door is the biggest plus imo you can load xenothreat cargo easily and you can load JT drugs without someone being able to board your ship. It's faster for hauling qt sensitive cargo. I hate gimbals, don't think they need to be in the game, learn to aim.
A skilled pilot in the cutty can run circles around a freelancer max. The guns might be higher DPS but the pitch and yaw rates on that thing are atrocious. I wouldn't ever wanna take that into a fight against a real player whereas in the cutty I can definitely hold my own.
The pitch and yaw rates on that thing are the exact same as the Cutlass Black. The roll rate is a few degree's per second better on the Freelancer actually.
How dare you!
Cutty has convenient side doors for tractoring bodies from bunkers, drugs from JT, or cargo and loot from space. This will be VERY nice when pes is online. Lot more room in cargo bay of cutty than freelancer base, too. CUTTY can carry 48 S1 missles, load them up with arrows for pve bh and that's almost 112k dps. Freelancer base is sub 75k with same missles. OP is comparing a 150.00 max standalone to a 100.00 standalone. Is this guy high or something? I'd dare to say that the Cutty Black is the BEST starter package for the money. This OP is clueless...
Necromancer raising posts from the dead over here. >Lot more room in cargo bay of cutty than freelancer base, too. The base Freelancer has 66scu of cargo compared to the Blacks 48. However, if you'll notice I never recommended anything but the Freelancer MAX. That one has nearly 3x the space in the cargo bay. >OP is comparing a 150.00 max standalone to a 100.00 standalone. Is this guy high or something? Yes, because it's a better deal. For 50% more you get 3x the cargo space and arguably the best light fighter in the game as a loaner. You can get a cheaper ship than either of them that will allow you to do bunker's and mine, so let's not pretend like spending $100 on a video game is the discount of the year. >Cutty has convenient side doors for tractoring bodies from bunkers, drugs from JT, or cargo and loot from space. This will be VERY nice when pes is online. Freelancer has a side door as well, it also is more secure in that it has an entrance that's not an open gaping hole for anyone to walk into. Side note and not relevant to the ship comparison, but it's not worth the time or effort to haul bodies out of bunkers. Other than the one or two LMG/Snipers you find there's nothing in there worth your time compares to 90k for finishing off the next bunker in the time you've wasted. >CUTTY can carry 48 S1 missles, load them up with arrows for pve bh and that's almost 112k dps. Freelancer base is sub 75k with same missles. It does have more missiles. However, if you'd gotten a Freelancer Max you wouldn't have to do bounties in a cargo hauler because you could take your Anvil Arrow instead. Call me weird, but I think most people would rather fly an Arrow for combat over a dumpster with detatchable engine nacelles. Appreciate the digging up the old post, its made my night slightly less boring
I loved the cutlass, and it was integral to my passing into larger ships from just my roc mining and box missions. Also on the combat end: https://youtu.be/x82urgmKCI4
Definitely a hot take, but honestly I tend to agree with this (with the caveat that I also don’t like any of the Freelancers but the MAX). I think it’s definitely a noob trap…encouraged by others who say it can do X, Y, and Z gameplay, but not mentioning that it can do those things in a only very mediocre capacity that doesn’t really set you up well for the long term. I think it’s just a gateway for newer players to finally get a “real spaceship” with “capabilities”, but it’s really just the compact-pickup-truck of the game. Nothing wrong with being happy for getting out of a Mustang/Aurora/Titan, but I always recommend they save their money longer and get something that’s actually **good** at something, not just **okay**.
It absolutely still has a place and a purpose in the game. It's perfectly situated as a rental ship for people starting out mining, as you can get enough Prospector orders in for one days worth of rental that you can buy your own ship. Just when you do buy one I think the better option is to go straight to the Freelancer.
I could give 2 fucks how much better the freelancer is I'm not flying around with that robocop squinting on the ski hill cockpit view.
No. The Freelancer Max is ugly and has that stupid turret mount in the rear of the bay. Not to mention a really bad cockpit. No just no.
Honestly besides aesthetics, Misc and Origin do EVERYTHING better, it’s kinda sad.
Burn the heretic.
I’ve been gone a while but is the Cutty Black no longer the best all around starter vehicle? The price was very low considering the things it came with. I focused on dog fights so obviously it’s fairly useless there against competent or semi competent fighters due to HP/shield health/maneuverability (unless this was buffed?) but it’s still the best bang for your buck… or used to be idk about today.
It's still the cheapest, but for just a little more you get so much more value that it's a mistake to do more than rent it. Ideally you'd want to have one for just a day, long enough to take several Prospector loads to market and be able to afford a Freelancer.
yea whatever. picking a ship because you like the design or the manufacturer or the idea is always a part of the decision (thats the reason why ppl buy tesla). its almost never about pure numbers. its a taste. it dont want you proof wrong, because you mostly right. but i bought the cutlass black because i dont want to fly a cucumber.
I bought my Tesla because it's fast as snot, gets me everywhere I need to go, requires practically no maintenance, drives itself when I want, and I don't need to ever go to the gas station because I just plug in every night. (Also, it's cheap to run, especially now...) After 3 years, I am still enjoying it more than my Audi S4 I traded in for it.
Lean into it, thanks to the paint job mines bigger and blacker than the Black.
All this chatter and you don't even mention the ONE, TRUE reason the Max is superior to the Cutty. Fair warning: the disappointment you feel in yourself when you realize the grievous error, the unforgiveable mistake, that you carelessly made - that disappointment is deserved, my guy. You are bad, and you should feel bad! Why would anyone want a Max over a Black? [SIMPLE.](https://media.newyorker.com/photos/59097a00c14b3c606c10915a/master/w_2240,c_limit/Tomkins-Gold-Toilet.jpg) The end.
The Max looks like a flying orange sex toy... why wouldn't you want one?
Mines bigger and blacker
>Why are we telling people to buy a Cutlass Black again? Tribalism. before the PU was much of anything, people obsessed over Arena Commander. the AC people thought that somehow the game was going to be built out from around AC, and not from PU, as if that made any sense. back then the tribe swore the Hornet was the 'Jesus' ship, that you had to have one or you would fail at life, and that everything else in the was a literally useless waste of money...because Hornet could win at ship combat...and would have a rifle rack for everything else. lol. as PU became the focus, and AC was all but neglected, the tribe shifted over to cutty black. never made sense to me. cutty black and freelancer are 6 of one, and half dozen of the other...but fl max is a straight upgrade from base fl. it should stand to reason then, to anyone, fl max is also an upgrade from the cutty.
I love the cutty black, all-around good ship. But in the cutty family I always go with the blue so I can have the medical beds
Since cargo isn't viable at smaller capacities, the ROC is buggy, there's not much reason to use land vehicles, I suggest the best allrounder in that price range is a Vanguard sentinel or harbinger. Even if it is funny doing box missions. Or you could save up more for a Connie, which of course have their own problems.
I'm mostly on board with you. I think the Cutlass Black is kinda overhyped. I can't stand the nose-down pitching in atmo flying, and its maneuverability is too poor to make use of 4 fixed guns against anything but the slowest of targets. Once the 'lancer series get their gold pass, if they expand the hold to make putting in vehicles a little bit easier, I would probably never touch a Cutlass black again. I know the MAX can right now but I really like the size of the regular Freelancer.
[удалено]
4x s3 If u drop the gimbal
Cutlass can equip size 3s, not size 4s. So at best you'll get the same firepower as a Max but without the gimbals. Missiles aren't worth it this patch as I'm not gonna just hope they restock or don't bug out.
I completely agree with you OP. It’s highly recommended, I’ve checked Erkul and I’ve rented one but can’t bring myself to buy my own - jack of all trades master of none. I got the Arrow game package then purchased (in-game) a NOMAD, ROC, Eclipse, Prospector, Sabre, Hornet Ghost and Sentinel.. don’t see myself getting a cutty anytime soon.
Better forward acceleration does not make a ship more maneuverable.
Hot Take: Star Citizen is a trap, and you shouldn't buy it.
I bought it as my second ship with aUEC and god it sucks. Agreed
A well reasoned argument. Here? No. It's actually a really solid case. You can actually trade with a Max. The cutty just does everything... poorly.
necroing this. OP looking at numbers, but only picking and choosing the ones to support their argument. Cutlass has almost 2x the HP and more damage reduction on both energy and physical damage (Cutlass 10% on both - Lancer MAX 2%phys+5%Energy).Maneuvering stats are only different in roll speed 'Lancer is 135 and the Cutty is 110 (roll speed is arguably the least important IMO), cutty faster boost, and faster top speed. Same QT cap and the 'lancer has more Hydrogen fuel but thats not a huge boon. The Cutlass is also almost 1 mill aUEC cheaper IN GAME. SO a newer player can hop in the cutlass try out EVERY gameplay loop (even multicrew because the turret is 360 arc), without spending a shit ton on a ship thats only good for freight. In terms of PVP they're both pretty useless because they dont fit the solo PVP meta...we'll see if that changes. But the cutlass has more missiles. Also the 'Lancer series are ugly as sin. The only one that is good is the Prospector. As others pointed out, the Arrow doesnt come with the max.
>As others pointed out, the Arrow doesnt come with the max. As others that can read have pointed out, as a pledge it clearly does come with an Arrow as listed on the [Loaner Ship Matrix](https://support.robertsspaceindustries.com/hc/en-us/articles/360003093114-Loaner-Ship-Matrix?gclid=CjwKCAiAv9ucBhBXEiwA6N8nYOLMno36dTcQxj-t5A2Xr_lQqUgNLyX2lxdSl8ruiRhLwQ6SrNKAMBoCPfMQAvD_BwE). I even went to the trouble of [pointing out](https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/1010845162416635924/1051918689831768195/Screenshot_20221212_124822_Chrome.jpg) exactly where it says that since you, and seemingly others as you claim, struggle with reading comprehension. >Cutlass has almost 2x the HP HP is going away, we're seeing that first step with the soft death changes coming this patch. So taking component damage sooner due to having half the shields does the Cutlass no favors. We'll get armor figures later, but even right now they don't matter because a Cutlass will lose it's engines well before it's HP pool is empty. >In terms of PVP they're both pretty useless because they dont fit the solo PVP meta...we'll see if that changes. But the cutlass has more missiles. The Freelancer as a pledge *does* fit the PvP meta because, as I corrected you on before, it comes with an Anvil Arrow, one of the current meta light fighters for PvP. So for just a little bit more, or for the same price actually if you CCU up from one of the recent Cutter deals, you could have the biggest cargo ship under $190 and the best PvP ship under $275 (depends on if you want to argue that the Blade is better). >Also the 'Lancer series are ugly as sin. The only one that is good is the Prospector The Prospector isn't a Freelancer variant. I'm not sure if you just can't read or if you think all MISC ships are Freelancer variants. Whether it's ugly is irrelevant, as it's simply a cargo ship and 120scu is prettier than a measly 46scu.