Nutcracker is a tier 12 frigate used by the Fringe Systems Resistance.
One of the most powerful ships in its tier, this rammer will, as the name suggests, crack your ship in half. Nutcracker's three ion emitters aren't that concerning, unless you have no shields, in which case they can slowly and inexorably dig through your armor until Nutcracker is destroyed. What is far more dangerous is its six deck cannons that can swiftly blast through your defenses. Nutcracker can heavily punish sloppily made ships, so ensure you're well prepared before facing it. When fighting Nutcracker, weapons that are good against armor will be most effective - ions and chainguns will be excellent for quickly destroying Nutcracker's reactor. Deck cannons can also be effective, allowing you to effectively beat Nutcracker at its own game - compared to other weapons, they can still function and aim well when being rammed. HE missiles will be surprisingly effective - Nutcracker has point defense, but it's obstructed by its own armor, and Nutcracker's outer deckguns have thinner armor than it appears - part of it is corridor. If you can push back against Nutcracker, your missiles will be better at hitting Nutcracker without passing by its point defense. As a general rule, targeting Nutcracker's reactor is the best course of action, but if you can, you may also wish to target Nutcracker's outer deck cannons, especially if you're using missiles, deck cannons of your own, or side-mounted chainguns.
Ramming ships will of course be able to match Nutcracker in combat. Orbiters can also fight it with some degree of success, but Nutcracker can turn very quickly. Kiters face a similar dilemma - Nutcracker is quite fast and thus your kiter will need to also be very fast in order to survive it. While Nutcracker has some point defense on its backside, it otherwise has no rear defenses and very little side defenses, so flankers will be extremely effective, especially as they can disable Nutcracker without destroying its reactor.
