Drake Cutlass Black

What this build is for

Solo PvE ground bunkers — runs that go long against ballistic-heavy NPCs.

• Tuned for sustained DPS, not alpha
• Ballistic-resistant shield to outlast their ammo
• Not the stealthiest Cutlass; not the highest-burst Cutlass
• Gets you in, through the room, and home alive

The build

• Body weapons: behr_ballisticrepeater_s3 Shredder S3 repeaters. Bunker NPCs are durable but slow — sustained trigger time beats per-shot damage.
• Shield: shld_basl_s02_aspis_scitem Aspis. tanky ballistic-resistant. 4.7 buffed raw HP 6,300 → 9,000 (Erkul live-differences).
• Power plant: stock powr_sasu_s02_daybreak_scitem Daybreak. Quiet, balanced — swapping costs capacity headroom for marginal EM gain.
• Stock coolers, QDrive, radar.

Stats at a glance

Burst DPS2,400, Shield HP9,500, EM signature4,200. Roughly 2× stock Cutlass burst DPS for ~11% more EM — clean win for bunker work.

When not to use this build

• Stealth scouting. Medium EM. Take a Sabre.
• Cargo runs. Combat power draw reads loud on radar. Use the Cutlass cargo build.
• High-end bunkers (Idris-class defenders). Bring multi-crew — Hammerhead, Redeemer, Connie with a real gunner.
• Chase bounties on heavy hulls. S3 Shredders fall under 4.7's armor threshold against intact capital plating.

What patches this is good for

Authored against build 4.7.2-LIVE.11674325. Bunker NPCs use ballistics, so the Aspis matches the threat — and the +43% Aspis HP buff makes this build stronger in 4.7 than in 4.6. Re-verify on 4.8.