Imperial ClipperCombat

The Imperial Clipper is the speed merchant of the large class — a long, elegant Gutamaya hull that boosts to nearly 390 m/s and turns far better than its size suggests. As a combat ship it fields two large and two medium hardpoints, decent shields and a roomy nine-slot internal bay, and it uses its pace to fight on its own terms: close fast, strike, and disengage before the return fire lands.

Its quirks are real. Only four hardpoints cap its firepower below the other large warships, and despite its agility it requires a large pad — an awkward combination, since it has medium-ship handling but can't use medium pads. It also needs Imperial rank to buy. But as a fast, affordable, good-looking skirmisher that flies like nothing else its size, the Clipper has a devoted following.

Four things define the Clipper as a combat ship:

• Unmatched speed. The fastest large ship in the game — 388 m/s boost stock, well past 450 engineered — lets it dictate every engagement's range and escape any losing fight.
• Surprising agility. It turns far better than its size suggests, holding guns on target like a heavy medium rather than a lumbering capital.
• Two large hardpoints. Enough main-battery punch to hit hard on a fast pass, backed by two mediums.
• Roomy and affordable. Nine optionals for shields and reinforcement, and a hull cheaper than most mediums — a bargain large ship.

Leads its class on speed and agility — fastest large hull at 388 m/s boost — but only four hardpoints (2L 2M) and no military slots cap firepower and tank to mid-pack.

The 79/100 headline is a verdict against the combat role's priority-ordered factors. Each factor carries a weight (its share of 100); this hull earns part of each based on how it performs against the whole field. The points sum to the rating.

Both tables rate ships for the combat role specifically. The role column is the hardpoint loadout — the raw weapon mounts behind the damage.

Same class — large-pad combat ships

Among large combat ships the Clipper is the outlier — the fast skirmisher in a class of heavy battleships. The others out-gun and out-tank it comprehensively, but none can match its speed and agility. Choose it for hit-and-run flair and value; choose the others to stand and grind.

Other classes — the agile alternatives

For a fast, agile fighter the top mediums — especially the FDL and Mamba — offer comparable or better speed and far more firepower per credit, on a medium pad with no large-pad hassle. The Clipper's case is being a large ship that flies this way; if pad size doesn't matter to you, a fast medium is usually the rational pick.

At ~21M Cr the Clipper is remarkably cheap for a large ship — less than many mediums — gated only by the modest Imperial Baron rank. Its shallow hardpoints keep the combat outfitting bill low.

It's a fine fast brawler to fly while climbing Imperial rank: the same grind you're on toward Squire and the Achenar permit will unlock and then surpass the Baron rank it needs, and the Clipper makes the journey quick and stylish.

A fast skirmisher fit that leans on speed and a bi-weave buffer. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the combat-ready baseline; Engineered applies the house combat pattern weighted to speed and shields.

Earn Baron, buy the hull (~21M Cr), and fit a stock shield generator plus a single shield booster — bulkheads stay stock Lightweight Alloy, and every reinforcement and spare utility slot stays empty until A-rating.

Arm the four mounts buy-only with gimballed pulse lasers and multi-cannons; the shield-stripping beam laser and the buy-only Military Grade Composite bulkhead arrive with the A-rated fit.

Lean on the speed immediately — close, strike and disengage rather than brawling.

A-rating priority for a fast skirmisher:

• 1Thrusters → 6A — Speed is the Clipper's whole game; A-rate thrusters first. ~4M Cr
• 2Power Distributor → 6A — Sustain two large guns plus boost. ~3M Cr
• 3Power Plant → 6A — Headroom for guns, shields and utilities. ~3M Cr
• 4Shield Generator → 6C bi-weave — A fast-regen buffer for a hit-and-run hull (a size-6 bi-weave under-fills the size-7 slot to save mass — defensible while the thesis is speed). ~3M Cr
• 5FSD → 5A — Reach fights and Imperial-rank turn-ins. ~3M Cr
• 6Bulkheads → Military Grade Composite — Buy-only hull upgrade for a real survivability floor; the size-4/4/2/1 internals fill with Hull Reinforcement Packages (the size-1 slot carries an HRP, not an exploration scanner) and two Shield Cell Banks back the bi-weave. ~2M Cr

The house combat pattern weighted to speed and shields. Pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application; visit in person for experimentals.

Recommended order

• 1Thrusters first — the Clipper's identity is speed; maximise it.
• 2Distributor and plant to G5 to sustain the guns.
• 3Bi-weave shield Reinforced (Fast Charge) plus Heavy-Duty boosters for a regenerating buffer.
• 4Weapons and light reinforcement last.

Approximate progression across the three states (figures are representative, not exact rolls):

Engineering pushes boost past 450 m/s while keeping the Clipper's class-leading agility — a large ship that out-runs and out-turns most mediums. Military Grade Composite bulkheads (Heavy Duty G5) over a four-package Hull Reinforcement stack lift the tank from paper-thin to a usable buffer, and dropping the dead-weight surface scanner for a size-1 HRP keeps every internal earning its slot. The Clipper still wins by speed and repositioning, not by standing in the fire.

• Fly it as a skirmisher — speed and repositioning are its defence; don't try to out-tank a battleship.
• Remember the large-pad-only footprint despite medium-ship handling — plan docking accordingly.
• Four hardpoints mean every gun counts; mix multi-cannons for hull and a beam for shields.
• It pairs well with your Imperial-rank grind — fast, cheap, and on the same ladder that leads to the Cutter.