Are there any situations where having high lift but low lift to drag ratio would be beneficial? From my understanding, high lift to drag ratio could make an aircraft efficient during cruising conditions. This is when the aircraft is in equilibrium, lift is equal to weight, and thrust is equal to drag, and since there's less drag, less thrust is required. Is this correct and are there situations where having higher lift but higher drag as a consequence would be beneficial (e.g. higher camber has higher lift, but drag increases more leading to a lower lift to drag ratio)?
For example, if lift generated were to be around 10000N with 700N of drag (14.29 l/d) compared to less lift and drag, 8000N of lift with 600N of drag (13.33 l/d), would less drag at the expense of less lift be worth it in the context of cruising conditions (where thrust would need to equal drag to maintain constant velocity)?
Sidenote: I'm mainly thinking about this in terms of cruising conditions, not necessarily during climb or descent, but if you're happy to share any info on that, I would appreciate it too!
EDIT: Just to clarify (thanks for the comment quiet flyer), this is lift and drag generated by the wings.
Landing phase would benefit from high lift but low lift-to-drag ratio. At most phase of flight you need about the same amount of lift to keep the plane in the air. However during landing you need to slow down to landing speed. Hence you lower lift-to-drag ratio by keep the same amount of lift but increase amount of drag. This is usually accomplish by selection of large amount of flaps.