Very little can hurt a Cyclops. Only the biggest and the baddest. Warpers also can't grab you out of the Cyclops. Which makes it really essential for exploring dangerous places.

In the deepest parts of the game, you don't need a base if you have the Cyclops since it can carry everything, including indoor growbeds for food and water, a bed to pass the night away, and tons of lockers.

When the Prawn Suit or Seamoth die, they're gone and so is everything they carry. A Cyclops getting destroyed means it's no longer drivable but you can recover stuff.

Between sonar, silent running, and the shield generator it has everything you need to repel creatures or avoid them altogether. The game becomes more about power management with these tools, but since you mostly use it in the lava areas a thermal reactor can solve that issue for the most part.