Are the large ships worth it aside from putting a tick in the achievements box?

[dapprman]

Been wondering for a few days how to ask this without risking a flame war, so please play nice (with me as well). I now am in the position where I could buy one of the big three (Anaconda, Imperial Cutter, and Federal Corvette (once I finish the final leg of the rank grind)), equip it and also afford to lose it but I'm actually wondering if it is worth it.

I suck at combat and there's no point looking at that for a fair while until I can hit something, never mind survive. I can see myself mainly exploring and may yet sign up with one of the exploration carriers now being advertised on our Facebook pages (and I assume here), however I already have a stripped down Diamond Back Explorer for that role (which does carry a SRV, but no weapons - 59.05 unladen jump range), an ASP Explorer which I use for courier/delivery missions, a Python which I use for mining, and an Imperial Eagle for looking cool

So would I be wasting my money at present buying one of the big three? I note the Anaconda has the jump range, so I assume would make the better explorer if you can find somewhere for it to land, but the Cutter does look sexy.

[SockFiddler]

Its' not whether the big ships are worth it, to be honest: they're a tool and, therefore, as good at the person using them.

There's a fashion, currently, of rushing immediately to end-game and banking billions and buying the super-big ships and ticking all the boxes and feeling like a proper badass. Except: without experience in combat, engineering unlocks and time spent playing around with ship builds as you work through the game, you're not going to understand how to put those big, shiny, expensive ships to good use. Or any use at all.

People can play any way they want, but rushing to the end before you've even learned to kill stuff with reasonable confidence says to me that you should probably work a little more at the basics if you want your Big Shiny Endgame Ship to really make you feel like a badass.

As I said before, your shiny ship is only ever going to be as good as the player who outfits, engineers and flies it.


*Edit for context: I've been playing almost exactly 30 months. And it was just 2 days ago that I bought my Federal Corvette. Sure, my play has been sporadic, but I've been perfectly happy flying about in a vulture for the longest time, with a python as back-up for bigger, longer hauls. Those two ships have served me faithfully and taught me a lot about heat and power management, outfitting (specific and multi purpose), engineering with specifics in mind and, most importantly, how I enjoy flying.

I've tried a whole host of other ships, including the ever-popular FDLs, 'condas and Asp Xs and didn't get on with any of them, even after engineering and outfitting them in a variety of different ways. With all that said and done, I've known for a long time that the Fed 'vette was going to be my ultimate ride. But I felt in no particular hurry to get it and enjoyed getting to know a krait (or two) in the meantime.

Now I have the corvette, I know exactly what I'm doing with it. I'm confident on how to fly and fight with it, how to outfit and engineer it for the best performance I want given the purpose I have in mind for it.

This isn't to be a smart-arse lecturer but to present you with an alternative option to all those "NEWBIES START HERE!" one-play-style get-rich-fast videos that seem to breed like fleas on a damp dog at the moment.

Don't.

Take your time. Learn. Fuck up. Die. Farm mats and waste them. Buy expensive ship parts and forget which station you stashed them at. Turn ADC off and get stuck in the envelope. Spend almost all your cash buying and outfitting a ship you end up loathing 15 minutes after flying it for the first time.

More importantly: Have fun.

[TorTorden]

You can only loose money in this game by buying a fleet carrier.

trying a ship only costs you 10% of the hull value.
So trying a big ship only costs about 10-15 mil at most.

Any module bought you can sell back at full price.

Grow some nuts , and give all the ships a twirl.

[TorTorden]

As for combat, buy a viper mk3. NOT mk4.
And start figuring out what you can take on and what you can't.

In short go die.

[Dudley]

Hey CMDR..

Some ships handle like a kitten in treacle - some ships handle like a kitten in treacle on steroids that has consumed an enormous amount of energy drinks. Part of the fun is finding out which is which and what you can potentially engineer out, or in..

Enjoy them all as you progress. You'll change your mind countless times..

Stay safe

o7 Dawg

[Cmdr Kharma]

Big ships = Bleh.......

Never see me in one.......

I don't need a penis/twat extension.......

[SockFiddler]

Actually, you really do.

*Is what Puppy told me...

[TorTorden]

There is certain kind of people who seem overly obsessed about what ship is meant to compensate for something or not.

Even if it's just imaginery spaceships.

See it a lot in DCS too, cranky impotent white men, raging against the "flybywire", saying the f14 is a "real man's plane", drops 5 bombs, hit one target.
Whereas someone in the f18 can drop 5 bombs and get 5 hits, cause automation actually helps.

All the while playing with digital control interfaces, connected solely to a computer..

[dapprman]

Cheers for your various replies guys - think I was always looking for the don't rush type of message, which helps with the fact I've no clue which I would go for (can only afford one). I'm still bouncing around trying to work out what I actually like in the game - was just as bad in Eve and in WoWP/WoWS I flit between ships/planes including types.

Once I finish the Fed rank grind to unlock the corvette (should be next session) I may just head to a 'lower risk' area and buy a Viper 3 or Cobra 3 and learn not to die quite so much. I like the idea of the exploring aspect but can see me getting bored within a week or two and then looking at facing a boring trip back. I was contemplating joining in with an exploration CV further down the line (one with the cartographers on board so as to be able to save data) as that would provide the social side I enjoy in most MMOs but from what's been posted recently it looks like that's a no go, certainly at present.

[mononoaware]

As has been mentioned, there is a certain kind of player who tries to find the most efficient way to get loads of credits and get all the big ships early on. I know some of these people in RL, find them awful, and I've been largely put off getting an Anaconda because they all have one despite only putting a fraction of the time I have into the game.

The real answer depends on what you want from the game. As an explorer, I would love it if there was an alternative to the Anaconda ie a large ship with a great jump range, but there isn't and I don't really need one as my Python and AspX cater for my needs. I am considering rewarding myself with a Cutter at some point, but it's really just a trophy.