Really struggling to decide on purchasing the Corvette or Cutter. I got to play the Beta and A-Class both of them (90% discount!).
The Corvette has incredible turning speed, DPS, and only needs 1 heat-sink per C7 SCB. It is the ultimate stand-your-ground fighting vessel and is incredibly dangerous to try to kill on your own. The Cutter has the highest mass-lock and can boost to 350 m/s fully armed. It is absolutely the best pirate vessel and can easily fight a Corvette. It can always boost away from the Anaconda/Corvette which is essential for its survival.
The Cutter needs 2 heatsinks to use a C8 SCB. It will successfully interdict, mass-lock, and annihilate any ship that can't boost to 400+ m/s. Imo, the Cutter is easily the scariest game in the ship. It can't pitch nearly as fast as the Anaconda and Corvette, but it has much more powerful thrusters and drifts a lot to always keep close to the target. With its high mass, speed, and shields, the Cutter is the ultimate ramming vessel. It can nearly take out a Corvette's shields with a well aimed hit.
Overall, both new end-game ships are the top of their class in the two facets of combat they represent.
I also consider top speed and mass lock = survivability. The Cutter easily escapes any situation except against another Cutter. The same cannot be said for a fleeing Corvette.
2 Cutters vs 1 Corvette = Corvette Death. 2 Corvettes vs 1 Cutter = Cutter easily high waking and surviving.
I am back in my FDL since I cannot afford anything beyond a D-class Corvette or Cutter after selling ALL assets to kit one out... The 2.0 update buffed the Powerplant and pitch. I now have 1k shields and an SCB active while hardpoints deployed. The FDL doesn't require a heatsink to activate its C4 SCB's.
I am amazed at how terrible the Python has become in combat. It overheats like mad, only has 4 utility mounts vs the FDL's 6, and has nowhere near the Shield strength. I am always telling CMDRs to get a D-class Anaconda instead of an A-class Python just to be more effective utilizing SCB's and heatsinks.
I feel like far too many ships need to make too many sacrifices regarding internal compartments and utility mounts. I also recommend making your own bindings for a controller/joystick. It takes many hours of testing to get an efficient setup. I love my Xbox controller's preset and it has many key combos.
Gonna go exploring with a friend. There is a ~9.7g planet to land on which sounds like a terrifying challenge when thousands of light-years from a station. There are so many planets with fascinating landmarks such as Monoliths, sheer drops, massive craters, and wacky orbits. I want to try landing on the planet that is so close to its star, that a CMDR requires activating heat sinks just to land and take off. My GPU is taxed 100% when on a planet and driving around. Still getting FPS above 50 at least.
Overall, I really like the direction E: D is heading and will be playing this game for a long time. I want to get another 290 for this game, but am really unsure if CFX actually works. The annoying lag on Open Play when many CMDRs are in supercruise in the same system will make a powerful CPU+GPU completely irrelevant.
I hope they add the co-pilot update along with fighter bays really soon!