Asp as hauler/fighter - vs Cobra and Type 6

5eraphim

5
Hullo,

I've arrived at the point where I can buy an Asp, and while I can't really give it a good fitting yet, I have enough credits to buy one and outfit it with cargo holds and have enough cash left to improve on my current trading (at least, I hope). I've been trading while watching TV with a Type 6 (100t cargo, with shields), and when I'm not doing that I'm usually shooting stuff (with warrant scanner, often) in my Cobra.

Buying an Asp would require the (at least temporary) sale of my Cobra and Type 6 - meaning I'd probably need to save for a new combat ship or refit my Asp everytime I stop hauling and start shooting, and the other way around.

This sounds like a pain in the ass, but the Asp itself is a very desirable ship to me, and it seems very versatile - possibly my goto ship once (if) I get to the higher echelons of ships.

I couldn't really find any material on this, so perhaps somebody could share their experience. Is the Asp a better transporter than the Type 6, and is it worth selling my almost 3m cobra and 1,5m type 6 for it? I make about 120k profit per run now, like 700k per hour whilst grinding it out - I imagine with the Asp this will rise, and I don't mind slugging it out a day possibly to buy back a Cobra, and then slowly pimp it again. Not selling my Cobra would be my likely course of action if advised against it, in which case I still wonder if it would serve as a good replacement for my Type 6 if the time comes. Does anybody have any experience with this?
 

blacky75

blacky75
5eraphim said:
I've been trading while watching TV with a Type 6 (100t cargo, with shields)
Click to expand...

OT: lol, doing the same right now.... found routes but with 150Ls distances... in the meantime, youtubing in annother window! Takes over 7 minutes to reach that station out there ^^

btw: happy christmas ;-)
 

Shintai

Shintai
I went Cobra->Type 6->Asp. (I only fly 1 ship.)

Loved the Cobra. Hated the Type 6. The Asp is a Type 6 with fun and combat. The best of the Cobra and Type 6 combined.
 

Exard3k

Exard3k
I got an ASP for trading with 120 cargo and Class 3A shield. sllightly more cargo than a Type6 and you can do some fighting in it. I bought the ASP when I had 9 millions in assets. FSD B5 is reallly nice for 15ly jumps. Besides that you don't need any upgrades. Well...maybe upgraded thrusters. If you sacrifice another class2 slot, you can equip an FSD interdictor. So with 112-116 cargo space you can get a good trading ship as well as a good ship for bounty hunting. Fighting gear cost me about 2 additionall millions.

As soon as I can afford the Type7, the ASP will be sold and I get a Cobra for fighting...
 
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Ganjis

G
Treat the Asp as a slightly tougher type 6 with more hold and you will be fine. You will NEED a fuel scoop if you don't already use one as fuel costs jump up on this ship. 2A is perfectly good. I would get an A rated power distributor also if only for more boost and shield recharge.

I would not take this ship fighting until it has some scary weapons, grade A shield and thrusters and a shield cell recharge module. While you are upgrading it (will be worth over 20 mill if you fully upgrade it, which I recommend) you can get an Eagle for fighting.

Edit, you can kill anything smaller than you with a stock Asp and decent weapons and outrun big ships, just don't go looking for trouble.
 
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Vandaahl

Vandaahl
The ASP is the best all round ship you can find. I'm using it as an explorer/trader/miner/fighter. The forward punch it can give is enormous, no matter what it is, it goes up in flames. Fitted with the right thrusters it is very maneuverable and fast at the same time. As I use mine for exploring as well, I got 80 tons left for cargo (fitted a scanner and an A3 fuel scoop), which is ok, for me. I have a rare commodities run from the federation to the empire and back and make about 2.5 million in one cycle (1 1/2 hours). I have an A5 FSD and A5 thrusters, an A4 (instead of 5) power plant and the rest in D class to save weight. The jump range is 30 ly, 25 ly laden.

Care full though, mine costed me 17.000.000 credits, so buying it is only the beginning. Crashed it once and got accidentally shot up by a station once which set me back almost 2 million, as insurance cost is about 900.000 credits.

*edit*
picture:
L4wCzYV.jpg
 
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Exard3k

Exard3k
Shintai said:
You get 104 with shield and 112 without shield. Just upgrade all cargo racks to highest class youc an fit and replace the discovery scanner with a cargo rack.
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These 104 with shields only work when using a smaller class shield (3) than the maximum (5). So a class 3 shield only costs 8 cargo space while a shield in one of the class 5 slots will cost you 32 cargo units.

If you cant get cargo modules, visit other systems/stations. Optimal module for the slot is 2^Class
 

Im_Lost

I
If your keeping a shield generator on the type-6 you should upgrade it to a size 4 one really. The size 3 one it comes with is WAY below the optimal mass for the ship, so it will be massively underpowered. You could get rid of it.

Though, this will limit the max cargo size to 96 tonnes. You could get rid of the shield, but I like to think of the shield as an airbag :p
 
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Beermachine

B
I found the Asp to be a very good trader in gamma, though things might have changed or not. It's maneuverability made avoiding interdictions easy, so could be flown shield less with 128t without any problems (as long as you can dock reasonably well, and even then a 1000cr repair bill every dock is more than covered by extra cargo).
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What a lot of people seem to forget or not take into consideration is time when trading. The Asp has great fuel efficiency so scoops are not needed, and it's docking / undocking speed is exceptional with some practice (cobra is slightly better, boost speed is more to get out of mass lock range of station faster). Great jump range fully laden also makes long range trading very fast. Alternatives are to fit lighter shields + weapons to collect interdiction bounties on route, both are entirely feasible and just a play style choice.
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It's definitely less of a watch TV / read a book while trading ship, like the Type 6/7/9, to maximize it's trading profits. It's also a ship that can be easily retrofitted at the start of a play session to whatever you want to do, be it exploring, trading or fighting, at no cost, which is a big benefit imo.
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Edited additional - Don't sell you T6+Cobra just yet though, a stock asp isn't exceptional. D upgrades are good, cheap and lightweight, but as a guesstimate you'll need another 2m over the 6.6m. Never upgrade too early, very annoying to buy a new ship only to have to immediately downgrade again due to not enough money to cover basic upgrades, cargo and insurance if things go pear shaped.
 
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crushdepth

C
The asp is a much better transporter than the type 6 because it carries roughly the same and has crazy long jump range - plus it can also fight and run and do it well. You don't have to worry about interdictions and losing your cargo.

The main advantage of the type 6 is just that its cheap. Kitting out an asp is comparatively expensive but totally worth it. Upgrade its frame shift and the galaxy is yours.
 

Neo-ST

Neo-ST
ASP is the best all rounder, but a bit of a pig for tight maneuvering, even with ClassA thrusters. Also, it's got quite a bit of inertia that you need to calculate in when doing risky maneuvers.
 

5eraphim

5
Thank you all for the replies, they were exactly what I was looking for (and, truth be told, hoping for). I'm pretty much at the 2m extra that Beermachine was talking about (probably slightly above it) - so I feel fairly secure in buying one, even if I'll probably fly without a Shield Generator (hmmm life on the edge? :p).

I have a Type 6 with class 3 shields yes, 104 cargo now. I rarely get interdicted, and when I do I can usually quite easily outrun them (I play in a private group, so it's always AI (so far) interdicting me). I do like the class 3 shields as extra cushion, they probably won't last too long in a fight, but they're a nice cushion for everything else. I read somewhere that class 3 shields don't fit on an Asp, and I don't want to give up one of the larger cargo bays (or I might as well stay in the Type 6) - so that'll be a bit... demanding of attention? :p
 

Dabba

Dabba
I love my ASP as a hauler, its a great balance between cargo capacity and speed / handling. I definitely don't like it as a fighter, Id much rather use my Viper for combat.
 

CMDR Brock Samson

CMDR Brock Samson
Mhhh, I'm in about the same situation.Type-6 making good profits and about 9 mil in assets.
I'm really tempted to buy an Asp.How much for a FSD capable of 18LY of jump range?
I've got this 2 systems, single jump and 250k of profit for the round trip every 8 minutes or so..
 

Schoolboy

Schoolboy
I swaped my cobra and type 6 for the asp really liking the extra cargo space using it as a hauler for now i use one size 2 slots for cargo and when i run out of fuel which is a fair few jumps i buy the fuel scoop for 1 jump fill her up and then sell it for cargo space again.
 

Schoolboy

Schoolboy
CMDR Brock Samson said:
Mhhh, I'm in about the same situation.Type-6 making good profits and about 9 mil in assets.
I'm really tempted to buy an Asp.How much for a FSD capable of 18LY of jump range?
I've got this 2 systems, single jump and 250k of profit for the round trip every 8 minutes or so..
Click to expand...

I have a class 5 rating B and it does 24ly/18.18ly fully loaded. Think it was 1.6mil the 1 rated one is over 5 mil
 
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