Ships Thinking of upgrading to a Lakon Type 7 seven - any advice welcome

[Shayde]

Wait till you get a Python for trading, its an absolute joy

Type 7 will get you there nice a quick with a decent route.

Agree with you there.....the Python is an absolute joy to fly after trading in a Type 7. I did love my Type 7, don't get me wrong, but a Python is so much easier to whizz around in....and I had my Python kitted out to carry 284 tonnes. Always seemed a bit odd for a ship like a Python to have a significantly bigger cargo capacity and fly so much better...and be able to land on medium pads. It looks and flys smaller, but carries more. Can't go wrong with that !

 

[EUS]

I upgraded the FSD, of course, and downgraded the shields to make more cargo room.
Eventually when I was more comfortable with it, I dumped shields altogether, which seemed to incur more frequent interdictions. That could have been my imagination however.
It really has a great cockpit, and being able to look down is something I miss in the python.

 

[Thalios Abraxas]

Thanks Chaps!

Just bought my Type 7 and completed my first practice run with a full cargo of weapons (non-lethal, just the kind that give a bad graze)!

Here's my trappings and what not

>> Advice Welcome <<

Hard points
No weapons (Any suggestions?)
2 x heat sink
1 x point defenece
1 x chaff launcher

Internal
Light Alloy (Free)
Power Plant A4 (Would a D$ do or would that be a heat risk?)
Thrusters B5 (Best value for non combat flying brick?)
Frame Shift Drive A5 (Runs coolest?)
Life Support D4 (Lightest?)
Sensors D3 (Lightest?)
Fuel C5 32 Cap (Standard)
208t Cargo (Lots)
Shield Generator D4 (Lightest ad enough to deal with scrapes?)
Shield Cell Bank A2 (Best value?)
Fuel Scoop A2 (Fast?)

Cash managment
10m for ship and cargo insurance, and running costs
2m spending cash

I'll be just doing trading and a bit of smuggling

D class modules are always the lightest available, so it's usually a good idea to use those on trading ships. Speaking of that, B modules are always the heaviest, and have the same specs (apart from weight) to A class modules. I would suggest trading in your B thrusters for some A ones if you can, or D ones if you need more jump range.

That's how i flew mine at first:
Lakon Type 7

Later on i even discarded the shields, but that's really because i never had any trouble and the repairs where very low even before 1.2.

Frankly I never saw the point of having guns or defenses on a trader like the T7, it's way too slow to fight back. Stripping it down increases jump range too, it's a trade off. Without weapons and shields you could even downgrade the power plant, but that's not such a good idea with the T7 as it tends to overheat fast (as many already reported).

And if you're going to smuggle with it, then yes, chaffs and heat sinks are probably a must have
And if you're going to approach the Station in silent running mode, you may as well consider discarding those shields, making room for a bit more cargo....? Just an idea ^.^

 

[DrakeAurum]

Most boringly-designed ship in the game, literally just a box with engines strapped to it.

Yaws better than it pitches, which can be disconcerting.

Not drastically cheaper than a Clipper, which provides similar hauling capacity in a multirole ship, though there is the Imperial rank entry requirement. In fact, with the Nu discount, it's probably cheaper to buy a Clipper right now.

 

[Chaz]

Not a bad ship, does what it was built for. Far cheaper than a Clipper or Python for trading and by the time you get enough money for a Python you'll probably be eyeing up a Type 9 which is not that much more. And that's really all the Type 7 is, just a stepping stone along the route to a Type 9. A couple of weeks in a T7 should see you in a T9 and then you'll more than double your profits and easily be clearing 10-15 million in an evening. Once you start doing that, then suddenly getting the money for an Anaconda doesn't seem quite such a distant goal.

Ditch the lasers for sure as you're not going to want to hang around and try and fight. Submit and scarper. Personally I kept the shields and even upgraded them a bit. They gave me just enough time to escape AI interdictions without taking hull damage. And although repairs are cheap now, no repairs are even cheaper.

As for docking, I never took any damage whilst doing so even if I bumped the ceiling of the mail slot, you'll just buzz the shields and that's it. Just remember the cockpit on the T7 is near the bottom of the ship and adjust your entrance accordingly. It takes an age to slow down, so cut your thrusters in advance. Over shooting landing pads was probably my only occasional docking problem. Once you've mastered the T7 the T9 is a piece of cake, even easier in my opinion as it loses speed much quicker making it easier to handle when docking.

You'll take heat damage at over 100% now so make sure you've cooled down a bit before charging for frame shift. Try and drop your temp to 60% first to be on the safe side.

 

[hoopy]

Type 7 is a great freighter, but basically that’s all it is. You need to make a “easy route” full of stations and don’t plan on doing anything but A to B. You have a choice to make keep the shields and manual dock or bin the shields and let the docking computer handle it. If you manual fly you will bounce off the cow catchers and the letter box and you will land heavily on the pads even if you do this once in 20 attempts it will cost you in repairs. .

I know i can manually dock in 8 bit BBC elite but even so... If you're doing so much damage docking it that you need shields you really need to practice a bit more! Only time I ever scrapped I was reversing out when I forgot to request clearance which cost a few hundred Cr max. Plus occasionally doing literally less than 10Cr damage landing slightly heavily. The 16t of cargo you get will make you 20,000 Cr every trip!

- - - Updated - - -

Forgot to say that I really like the look of the T7

 

[Armchair]

The addition of a D3 shield generator has a negligible effect on the profit rates of shops like the type 7 and Clipper.

What it does do is provide insurance by keeping fender bender situations non-lethal.

It only has to save you once for it to be worth it.

It's not there to let you drive your ship like a bumper car. It is there for if somebody rams you, you sneeze on your final approach, or if your cat decides to jump onto your battlestation and knock your joystick in the process.

 

[Chaz]

The addition of a D3 shield generator has a negligible effect on the profit rates of shops like the type 7 and Clipper.

What it does do is provide insurance by keeping fender bender situations non-lethal.

It only has to save you once for it to be worth it.

It's not there to let you drive your ship like a bumper car. It is there for if somebody rams you, you sneeze on your final approach, or if your cat decides to jump onto your battlestation and knock your joystick in the process.

I totally agree. They've definitely saved me from a lot of pain in my T9. I got distracted by an incoming ship one time and ended up boosting into the side of the mail slot at almost point blank. I was lucky and survived with just 11% hull left. If I'd been running with no shields then that would have been a 2.8 million rebuy and the loss of over 7 million creds of cargo.

 

[Ramyrez]

Guys,

I am now with a Vulture, and going to high combat spots.
I can make 1 million in 30-40 minutes.

Here are the ships prizes I founded:
- Eagle - CR 8,000
- Cobra Mk-III - CR 16,000
- Viper - CR 20,000
- Vulture - CR 26,000
- Federal Dropship - CR 44,000
- Phyton - 52,000
- Anaconda - 72,000

And it is much funnier than going back and forth.
I have died just once, and my ships insurance is CR 509,887

My ship is a Vulture with:
<<< Suggestions very wellcome>>>
------ HARDPOINTS -----
- Pulse Laser E3 Gimballed
- Burst Laser E3 Gimballed
- Shield Booster C0
- Shield Booster B0
- Frameshift Wake Scanner (off to fight)
- Electronic Countermeasure
-------- INTERNALS -------
- Lightwheight alloys (haven't got time to buy military, but haven't needed much hull either, I manage the shield)
- Power Plant A4
- Thrusters D5
- Frameshift Drive C4 (off for battle)
- Life Support E3 (Standard)
- Power Distributor A5 (it makes a difference)
- Sensors E4 (Standard)
- Fuel Tank C3 (Cap 8 - Standard)
- Shield Generator B5
- Shield Cell Bank B4
- Frame shift drive Interdictor (for missions - off when fighting)
- Fuel Scoop A1 (off for fighting)
- Advanced discover scanner (why not get some credits for going up and down?<I accept suggestions here>)

Since I am making almost the same than a Type-7, I wont thing I'll be exchanging...

 

[Gimmename]

Here is my loadout:

http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=70X,EiUEiUEiUEiU01Q0Wg0mI0__,2-6Q8888724s5K8I,0AA0AA08c08c0727RU03w03w

[Type-7 Transporter]
S: 1I/F Mine Launcher
S: 1I/F Mine Launcher
S: 1I/F Mine Launcher
S: 1I/F Mine Launcher
U: 0I Chaff Launcher
U: 0I Heat Sink Launcher
U: 0I Point Defence
U: 0C Shield Booster


BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 4A Power Plant
TM: 5B Thrusters
FH: 5B Frame Shift Drive
EC: 4E Life Support
PC: 3A Power Distributor
SS: 3D Sensors
FS: 5C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 32)


6: 6E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 64)
6: 6E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 64)
5: 5E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 32)
5: 5E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 32)
4: 4E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 16)
4: 4C Shield Generator
2: 2E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 4)
2: 2E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 4)

Mine launchers some times can be very useful if you mass locked to some big ship and you need to increase distance for a jump.

 

[Io_Sys]

I had a Lakon 7 for a while. Great trader with a huge cargo hold, decent miner (this was before the drones. I'm thinking it would do even better as a miner now you actually have drones to scoop all that delicious gold/plat/silver/painite etc)
It even worked quite well as a salvager and smuggler.

One word of advice?
Don't bother fitting weapons. Fit some shield boosters and run like holy hell. Well, what do you expect? it's hardly a fighter.
The weapon placement is pretty bad. Well, not bad but it's not that good either. One turret low, one high and two guns forward.
You might be able to defend yourself from lone sidewinders, maybe even a lone eagle but against anything else? you're a steel coffin.

The one thing I really hated about it... was the mobility. It's a flying brick. Also be very wary of your momentum when boosting.
Last minute vector changes are more like next minute ones-- it takes ages to slow down and change vector, although the last time it happened to me I only lost 56% of my hull to the damn station wall next to the letterbox, which is nice.

 

[askavir]

Its a good trader with a good cargo capacity.

But is sluggish and its a sitting duck. You won't be able to defender yourself and will have a very hard time escaping from pirates, with a fairly expensive ship to replace.

My advice, save a bit more and get a Clipper instead.

But you you really feel like trying out one, go for it!

 

[Klab]

Amazing necro - congratz

 

[Mysturji]

+1

Mine served its role well as a stepping stone to a Python.

^This^
Looks like a cow, moves like a cow, steers like a cow.
Big cargo hold, but has a cardboard hull and overheats like mad.
Don't try to fight.
You need: big shields, big power plant, shield boosters & SCB's, and have AT LEAST one heat sink launcher!

 

[Ramyrez]

Hi,

I finallly found a Station-Station trade route and traded my lakon-6 to lakon-7.
My build is:

[Type-7 Transporter]
U: 0A Shield Booster (I'll maybe install some others)


BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 4A Power Plant
TM: 5E Thrusters (I'll maybe upgrade them, if needed)
FH: 5D Frame Shift Drive (This can also be a good idea to upgrade further on)
EC: 4E Life Support
PC: 3A Power Distributor
SS: 3E Sensors
FS: 5C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 32)


6: 6E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 64)
6: 6E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 64)
5: 5E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 32)
5: 5E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 32)
4: 4E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 16) (I get 208 cargo slots. Good enough)
4: 4E Shield Generator
2: 2A Fuel Scoop (Don't wanna be cought without fuel in long distance trips)
2: 1E Standard Docking Computer (While some are crashing and getting stuck in station entrances, I go grab a coffe, sit and wait for successfull docking)

This is working fine so far. I can make 300k every trip and back. I got to find 2 stations in adjacent systems that trade minerals (paladium, gold, indium) giving 1000+ each cargo slot. And when going back, I trade Mineral Extractors for 300CR each slot. This credits me almost 300k (230k forth and 60k back) every trip. Good enough for almost no effort (not even the effort for docking the ship).

I happilly accept comments or critics.
Regards!

- - - Updated - - -

BTW:
My loadout link for E Shipyard (very good site, congrats!)

http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=70X,mpW0_g,2-6Q8c8S724s5U8I,0AA0AA08c08c0727Ro4xo0nE

 

[askavir]

Carries a lot of cargo, a little over 200 tons.

Its slow and handles poorly. yaw is better than pitch, addind to its space truck feel.

You will have to be mindfu of pirating, and the T7 requires extra prevention tactics to avoid interdiction, and swift evasive tactics if interdicted.

Invest in thrusters, power distribution and shielding / chaff to escape in one piece.

Its good to make lots of money fast, but you won't have much pleasure flying it,but I guess the same can be said about all traders.

Ny advice, skip the T7 and go for a trading clipper until you can afford a trading python.

 

[EUS]

Like the 6, the 7 has heat issues.
I liked the cockpit view, and the drifting into the slot position.
It served it's purpose, which was to get me into a python.
But I had countless interdictions when running shieldless, and this was pre 1.3

 

[deathmagnet]

Hello,

Wondering where I can get a Lakon 7

Are there any issues with it? Bugs etc.

Anything to keep an eye on like heat etc?

Thanks Chaps

Ben

I hated flying this ship. If I were to do it again I would have grinded my Empire rep and got the Clipper. Far....Far better ship...

 

[Scudmungus]

Afta addin A grade bits, ting be a bold smugglin machine - movin an handlin much betta!

 

[CMDR Hagglebeard]

Horrible heat management, terribly weak hull, only small hardpoints. However, amazing yaw (can evade interdiction like no other ship in game), good cargo space and jump range, and good view.