Great video and a good comparison. You probably know this but it is worth mentioning that as of patch 3.23 all Tier III medical beds can now serve as respawn points. It is a huge benefit and adds a lot of game play opportunities.
The Rambler has a ridiculous fuel capacity. Giving the Rambler the VK-00, fastest and most inefficient QT s1 drive, it can still make the longest trip in Stanton twice without refueling. Something no other small ship can do.
I'll admit that my view might be a little shaded by the hype that came with it. But "underwhelming" is an understatement. While there is definitely a spot for the A1, the C1 one is barely even an "also ran". It comes across as a Chinese knock-off. I've never flown a Feelancer; can't stand the look of most MISC ships. But I have flown the hell out of Cuttys. And while a Cutty doesn't leave the C1 in the dust, there is nothing to recommend it other than you can fit two 32's in it with the ramp up. But that points out one of the biggest problems. You can only fit a _total_ of 96 in it if you're flying solo. And that's only if you find 3 32's. Even though it has some space at the tail that isn't technically part of the cargo. Since there is only one way in or out, you have to load the last cargo into the walkway. And then when you get to where you're selling, you got to get that out first, then back in. So it seems like a big FU to those who like to get innovative/creative in their loading. "You will do it this way and only this way." It's a one-trick pony with all four legs hobbled and a dress thrown on it.
the C1 is even in terme of fire power for the pilot for a single driver... tho the C1 nose turret is ALWAYS gimbal with 2xS3 weapons... so if you wanna have the exact same loadout and keep 2 gimbal weapon on the cutlass.. the cutlass get 2xS2 gimbal and 2xS3 fixes the C1 is faster got more hitpoint got more cargo and a tracktor beam that allow you to stay in cockpit and grab whatever outside and bring it inthe cargo without leaving the seat... to me it's a no brainer for a solo player the C1 is better... it got still more hitpoint and once the damage system goes to physcial components... you'll find out that crusader components are more protected than the components of the drake of misc ships... since drake in tinfoil hull... the fuldeath and soft death ship state are just trasitory mechanics while waiting for localisation and components damaage implementations. both the freelancer and cutty maintruster are big and out in the open to shoot... while the C1 are more integrated into the hull covering it and protecting it a little more Now you also forget the Gs of that each of those ship has... crusader engines always has alot of power behind and have great acceleration... higher max speed than other and more fuel... so the idea.. is fight your way thru and outrun them while taking on hit... that's pretty much the philosophy of their ship design... while the other are more about to stand and fighter... drake more offensively focussed while misc is more defensively focussed. but if you plan on doing just Cargo hauling... the RAFT is the best... people don'T realise the amount of Quantum Fuel that ship has.. you can place the fastest quantum drive and go manytime across the wholw solar system... so the RAFT is the best to find lucrative commodities to buy and go sell far... and fast... without having to refuel the RAFT don'T have much fire power to the pilot but considering its maneuverability and speed... who care... his turret is the same as teh cutlass tho... and it got 2 s2 of all component and got alot of hitpoint and fuel to outlast any pursuit... and as I said you can place the fastest QD that take just 1.5 sec to spool up and gtfo. across the starsystem back and forth, many time without needing to refuel, while other would get limited on the range of travel the C1 competitiors are the Cutty black, the freelancer and freelancer max, the RAFT and the Taurus, and prolly the Hull-B later on...
In my experience, stats don't mater that much unless its PVP and even then it mostly comes down to whos a better Pilot. What I think that maters is the experience of the ship. Cutlass - I like the utility of the side doors and the jump seats, but thats about it, I don't like the cockpit, the exterior look of it, the weapon placement, or the turret. Almost every time I've flown it in combat, I'll lost an engine which effectively makes the ship unflyable. VTOL mode removes all forward thrust. C1 - I like the cargo bay, the cockpit, the exterior and the Paints for the C1 (Olympia paint) the VTOL for the C1 doesn't rob you of forward thrust only side to side thrust, and not even that much, but this jas saved me a few times from dodging a mountain. Only thing I wish the C1 had was the seats the cutlass has in the area between the Ramp and Cargo door
I would sya what the C1 has over the Cutlass and the Freelancer, is that its cargo area is so 'long', that it can carry cargo + a vehicle, while the Cutlass has to chose either/or and the Freelancer MAX only has the ability to carry vehicle + cargo in that lineup.
For me it's the 400i, especially now that I can use my X1 Force along side it. Let me explain: Sure it carries less cargo but I don't do cargo running. I wish CIG would fix the hydraulics so it could hold a ROC (just make the ship rise up when the cargo lift is lowered) but its perfect for carrying a car if I want or just the new cargo storage boxes, and any loose boxes I happen to find on my journey. It has space for 3 armor suits, 6 rifles, and many pistols. Im more protected with a size 3 shield, and defensively positioned turrets, which will be AI controlled later with computer blades (generally any remote control turret will have this someday). While it might not seem to have much power, by using the gimbled size 3 guns, it has a large capacitor charge and against NPCs is actually surprisingly decent, or swap to size 4 guns. Part of the reason it has the long front section is because it has an advanced long range scanning sensor array, which when coupled with the nice viewing table in the back is perfect for planning your approach to a facility at a distance, and finding hidden details/vehicles. Internally having the components in separated compartments, three separate spaces with a clean space between them, will be an excellent setup to help you combat the spread of onboard fire. It features a docking port, which will be super fun to use when we are allowed to connect to other ships, or dock at stations using them specifically, and it's super useful in questionable situations, like Jumptown when you need to put boxes into your ship but don't want other players to be able to enter. It's fuel range is exceptional, it features all amenities in beautiful detail and even has a champagne fridge. For a daily driver you would be hard pressed to choose something else in this size range unless you're looking specifically for cargo. Someday survivability will be the most important thing, that's why I pair the shielded X1 variant with this defensively focused ship. Both the 400i and the X1 are good for high speed escapes, designed to get you out alive.
A Variant or ship I'd like to see from DRAKE would be a mining ship. Add a mining laser in the front and use the cargo area for storage. Unlikely as I think Drake deals more with the "Securement" of mined cargo...
Good video. The tractor beam on rails, in my mind, is already a better use of rails than the Scorp, and notable upgrade from the fixed turret on the back of the Cutlass. You can use it to move cargo or loot all around the ship, even floating in space, to the cargo ramp in the rear. On the ships with the fixed tractor you have to swing the butt of the ship around to face the cargo or manually shuffle it.
A lot of metrics were left off the table to seemingly skew the argument in favor of the other 2 ships. There's a few things to list... C1 has the higher top speed and acceleration (if we're splitting hairs with 2 scu of cargo on the freelancer), much greater QT and Hydrogen fuel range (something INVALUABLE for a daily), MUCH more tanky hull HP (by a large margin), faster fuel scoop and much longer flight time. And as far as handling, the atmospheric handling of the cutlass is MUCH worse than the C1 in terms of bleed-off. The 1 thing that both ships commonly have over the C1 which is a strong consideration is accessibility. The C1 has only the rear ramp entrance whereas the other 2 ships have more than 1 entry point. That convenience is something to consider in a daily. Lastly, barring the Cutlass, VTOL will matter a great deal in the near future.
one thing that isn't taken into account a lot of the time when talking about the Cutlass versus the C1 is that the Cutlass its engine can be blown off and if you've ever tried to remain in a fight after the cutlasses engine is blown off you know it's impossible on top of that having flown the ship now for about a week I can say quite confidently that I prefer to the Cutlass purely because it has more Hall hit points than a Cutlass but it remains at the speed of a cut list it also remains at the maneuverability of a Cutlass on top of those two things the freelancer series has some of the worst visibility and maneuverability of any ship of its size am I truly don't think that the gimbal guns are enough to make up for both of those qualities so I wouldn't even compare it to the Kutless nonetheless comparing it to the C1 last but not least as a daily driver around the verse the C1 is more reliable in combat because none of its weapons can be shut off the Cutlass can be left literally armless and two weapons down in a fight and if you're doing vhr T's or ETS if you're f****** crazy like I am in a cut list then you'll notice that it's almost impossible to go more than one or two missions without having the land and refit just because of the amount of damage that your Cutlass is taken in fact you might have to do that in the middle of a mission with the Cutlass while with the C1 having a larger wingspan when turning making it easier to hit so long you know where your enemies are you can actually reduce that wingspan by rotating the c1 90° when making the turn for these reasons to see one has finally yanked me away from the Cutlass after owning one for almost 4 years
The Cutty's top speed is 1114, and the C1's is 1120. The C1 does have a slightly slower SCM speed. Notably, the C1 has significantly more acceleration and maneuvering thrust which is an extremely important component of maneuverability that is often forgotten. Its pitch and yaw are slightly lower than the Cutty's by 2 degrees per second, but it's roll speed is significantly higher by 7 degrees per second. It also flies better in the atmosphere, another point often overlooked. It is inaccurate to say that the C1 falls short on every aspect except faith. It is better in a number of aspects. I think for a daily driver doing a variety of operations, its cargo hold is a big one. In addition to significantly larger cargo space than the Cutty, it can carry several vehicles or a large collection of loot in addition to a full cargo load. Although the cargo capacity is a little smaller than the Freelancer, it doesn't sacrifice any of that to carry vehicles or loot and, in general, is a much better vehicle carrier than either the Freelancer or Cutty.
I unfortunately cashed mine in to stick to an original plan. That said I WILL be getting another one. Flying the A1 is a cool feeling! I miss hearing the “AirWolf” theme song play in my head as I fire up systems in my hangar.
I to did my research at the convention. I am a owner of the cutlass black, Real money. and I have used it for my verse bus for quite some time. It is a Swiss army knife. I just don't like the way it looks inside and out. I never did. Even the bed I feared getting a mattress spring popping out puncturing my flight suit. Just looks like a beat-up old rusted-out pickup truck. Yea, it gets the job done but damn, time to trade it in for something new. So I war bonded my Avenger Titan for the C1. Still have the Cutlas, collecting dust in my hanger. I will wait for the next wipe where I will lose my conny Taurus. Then I will trade the Cutlass for a Taurus.
interesting, I have flown all three of these ships. Freelancer feels like you have to fight when making quick turns or when flying at high speeds. Cutty handles a little better, being able to change the main engines into VTOL can be very benificial when flying at speed but still would put the handling in the middle of this group. Spirit is only a little better than the cutty, and is at a point it doesn't feel like the ship is fighting you. No where near as good as a fighter but the most enjoyable of the three options.
Isnt this ship the middle ground between the Cutlass and Freelancer? Cutlass is better at combat, but worse at cargo hauling and armor/survivability. Freelancer is marginally better (maybe*) at hauling but much better at armor/survivability. Its worse at handling. Can be a little better at defense in Combat assuming you have someone to occupy the turret. I actually think the C1 is better overalll for cargo than the Freelancer, with the built in tractor. Plus isn't the C1 more accomodating to vehicle transport, with a wider storage area, I think?
Crusaders are supposed to be fast, but they never seem fast or maneuverable enough to make up for lackluster weapons and shields. A nice ship and someday all those doors will make sense from a security and airlock perspective, but for now, just kind of a pain. Also, only 2 MFDs and the center radar placement are annoying.
According to the Wiki: C1 accelerates better, slows down better, rolls better, has a larger hydrogen tank, lager quantum tank, nearly double the hull HP, 18 more SCU space. It also has a better tractor beam placement and it more aerodynamic, which will have big implications in the future. It seems to me that the only thing the Cutty has over the C1 is that it has more guns and a smaller crossection - basicly better suited for combat. You can use the C1 in PVE just fine, and youre not going to use a multi-purpose ship in any kind of half serious PVP battles. If youre a solo player and you need a multi use ship, theres hardly any point to the Cutty and very little to the Freelancer. Also: Yes, Im a Crusader stan.
The C1 is good at exactly one thing. Making the MSR look normally sized. The fact someone thought half a meter less than the listed, not actual, listed pad size, not door opening, listed pad size, was a good idea tells me no one there has ever had to build anything for assembly in the real world. It is abysmal if you need to make any run into civilization. With 3.22 bringing very fleshed out settlements away from the bustle of big towns it becomes a little more functional, but that is very limited functionality.
i don't use my dailies driver for combat, unless it's easy stuff. i love the C1. my only complaint is it's too big for the hangar bays they give me. they need to fix that in the code so the c1 gets bigger hangar's only.
I melted my C1 due to hanger size and the return of invisible hanger doors and ship parts thanks to IAE/event server instability. I may reconsider the C1 if they give them proper hanger size. I can land my Carrack, 600i, and every other ship in the game without 3rd person view. C1 you must go 3rd person half the time or risk broken wing tips when landing in a hanger.
These ships are all so similar on paper the tiny stats hardly matter Picking a ship cause it's cool as hell is all the reason you need. And the Spirit is a very cool ship
I'd really like to like the C1, but I don't. Apart from your list of negative points, there's also the fact that it is too big for the hangers it gets, it barely fits through the hangar doors together with it's bad downward visibility and lengtg that hangs over the hangar pads, it's almost impossible to land without using third person camera. You could say, with hopefully upcoming landing cameras this might get better, but there's the second downside of the C1 one, and that's it has only two MFDs so, where's the landing camera going to display? Also, your target MFD will be taken over by comms and you have no display to show other things like shields or even the power triangle. If it would make up with speed and agility for it's size which Crusader is known for, I could look past all that, but it doesn't, so it has only the looks, which I like, but that's not enough.
I fly a Freelancer MIS as a daily, but I’ve just CCU an LTI Mule into a Zeus MK2 ES. The ‘loaner’ ship that I get until (next year I hope) the Zeus is in will be the Spirit A1 (bomber version). Like the C1 except for NO cargo space. I get bombs … BOMBS??? I will keep flying my grubby little Freelancer, making my way through a dangerous universe as best I can until the Zeus Millennium Falcon is released.
We will probably see the Spirit truly take off when the atmosphere rework is in. The Spirit is the only one with large wings for control surfaces vs the Cutty and Freelancer. This will likely make the Spirit the go-to ship if you plan on flying in atmo often.
The Cutty has those huge engines in VTOL mode though. Used properly the Cutty can cut a corner so hard that if not on their toes, you can get an Arrow pilot to freak out.
Having flown the all three ships. I heavily doubt the maneuverability complaint. A Cutlass Black is good in a maneuvering it is not a fighter but people use it well enough for BH. Freelancer....does not turn or move at all like a C1 or Cutlass. To make that thing turn fast you need to use boosters and if in Atmosphere you can threaten red outs. C1 it turns and flys amazing, I am not an expert enough to say how it matches vs a Cutlass but having upgraded from a Freelancer to a C1....oh man the flight is night an day. Instead of turning an oil tanker like the Freelancer I am driving a decent regular car. Its not the best but is sure isn't the worst.
The C1 feels a lot nicer to fly than my Cutlass. I would be incredibly surprised if it actually had worse stats than the Cutlass. Doesn’t feel like it at all.
I love the C1 for its speed, and quick ingress/egress, I can carry a vehicle AND cargo, and it has an outboard tractor beam for loading loot from a distance. It's fast and sexy. I LOVE IT!
