How can I afford a fleet carrier?

[ubermick]

As others have mentioned, Fleet Carriers are A Bit Nice But Honestly Far From Necessary In The End and Actually A Bit Pointless™.

Once you have your Carrier, you're looking at upkeep fees of 5 million a week, and that's at a minimum. (If you're using it as a personal storage vehicle, you'll want refueling included and active, so another 40m module purchase, plus another 1.5m per week upkeep on top of the 5m base.)

Don't forget fuel on top of it. Tritium is expensive, and can't be scooped. Either buy it at around 45k per unit, or mine it. (You don't want to mine it, it takes forever.) Plan on 68-100 units of tritium per jump (so up to 4.5m) plus another 100k "hull fee" each jump.

So basically, if you're jumping to a new system once a week, expect the luxury of having a Fleet Carrier to cost you a minimum of 10-15 million credits each and every week. And honestly, all you can do is dock there. (There's the side benefit of storing cargo there, if you're amassing it for whatever reason)

Now, consider the other option of just choosing a home station, leaving all your ships there (free) and just using something like a long-range DBX to go to the station you want to hang out at next, and transfer the few ships you want to have on hand.

Disclaimer: I own a fleet carrier, but the only reason I do is that I made billions on the Low Temperature Diamond rush of last summer, and have the money on hand to keep it going for years. If I hadn't, there's no way I'd sink the five billion on one.

 

[ubermick]

Yes it is.
I think earning my first 2 billion took at least twice as long (both in game time and real life time) as earning the surplus 20 billion I had before buying a FC on a whim.

Yup. It took me over four years to earn my first billion, purposefully avoiding the exploits and credit honey pots that arose over the years. (Granted I'd get close to it, but spend the money on a new ship). It took me less than a month off and on in Borann/Icebox to earn 15 billion more. And I was just casually laser mining LTDs in the hotspots a few of evenings a week, not doing the constant egg/SLF exploit like many others did.

 

[SteveWW57]

I found a Fleet Carrier useful to store mined stuff. I could mine two or three different things and store what was not needed immediately. At some later date a station would want X ton and pay out much higher prices. So, a quick hop to the carrier, load up, deliver and take the cash.
Getting a carrier was a goal. If I did not have one now, I probably would not bother, as I now have Odyssey and small/medium ships will suffice.

Steve. 07.

 

[Frop]

Ditto.
Thought I'd throw away some of the crazy credit stash I'd accumulated after the hilarioisly bloated payouts for everything sice "Beyond" release.
And over 90% of my credits are exploration income.

Yes it is.
I think earning my first 2 billion took at least twice as long (both in game time and real life time) as earning the surplus 20 billion I had before buying a FC on a whim.

Yep, I too can remember sitting in a Cobra/Python for weeks, if not months for those sweet 1,200 Cr/ton trade profits to get up to an Anaconda. Or getting a whopping 30M in cartographic data for my first big exploration trip to Sag A.

And then years later you do a Beagle Point trip and get almost 3B for it.

 

[ubermick]

Yep, I too can remember sitting in a Cobra/Python for weeks, if not months for those sweet 1,200 Cr/ton trade profits to get up to an Anaconda. Or getting a whopping 30M in cartographic data for my first big exploration trip to Sag A.

And then years later you do a Beagle Point trip and get almost 3B for it.

This is where the game lost its way, and why I (sort of) hate "content creators." Used to be, getting an Anaconda/Corvette/Cutter was borderline end-game goals. You went about your business in the galaxy as an explorer, trader, miner, or hired gun, made your money as you went, and eventually bought a new ship. If you kept at it, you'd earn your way into one of the big boys, and felt like you accomplished something.

But soon came youtube videos detailing in great depth the fastest and easiest way to get this, that, or the other.

Suddenly the things that people worked towards over a "career" (and yeah, totally leaving myself open to the retorts of "I already have a career, that's not why I play video games" there), new players were getting in a weekend. And so the complaints about depth started, because after a few days people were suddenly saying "Wait, that's it?" followed by the other complaints of "Oi, its not fair that these people are making 50m in an hour from doing X, when doing Y pays nothing, FDev need to buff that". So now we've gone from a situation where making 10m credits in a long stint was time well spent, to people complaining that only earning 200m in an hour is a "grind."

Every single time the game introduced something new, there was a new video from someone within a week saying "Instead of spending six months doing it along the way, here's a way to grind it out in an eight hour stint."

Since the big three are now essentially worthless commodities, where more or less every commander owns at least one of each, the notion of carriers were introduced as the new "end-game goal."

Now we have a thread wondering how to get into a five BILLION credit (and more) vehicle as quickly and as easily as possible.

 

[Frop]

This is where the game lost its way, and why I (sort of) hate "content creators." Used to be, getting an Anaconda/Corvette/Cutter was borderline end-game goals. You went about your business in the galaxy as an explorer, trader, miner, or hired gun, made your money as you went, and eventually bought a new ship. If you kept at it, you'd earn your way into one of the big boys, and felt like you accomplished something.

Yes, but content creators are only there because they also have a public. I think we could have a lengthy discussion about the need for instant gratification nowadays, but that's so depressing. ^^

 

[Tikanderoga]

I need a method to get one, Any ideas?

Do i bounty hunt? Haul cargo? Passenger ferry?? WHAT CAN I DO!

Thanks CMDRS

Mining is the big money maker.
Find a nice platinum double hotspot and start digging.
Sell to nearby carriers for a quick cash grab, there are quite a few paying well, look for 250k/t and you'll be rolling in cash in no time.

Once you get your carrier, make sure you got enough for outfitting: Rearm and refuel are a must, else it's just an expensive piece of junk.
Outfitting and shipyard is not needed for you, the carrier owner as you have always access to these facitlies.

 

[Gwyther]

This may be an option.
On the Fleet Carrier Owners Discord, they have a competition where you can win the credits to buy a carrier.

Join the Fleet Carrier Owners Club Discord Server!

Check out the Fleet Carrier Owners Club community on Discord – hang out with 24535 other members and enjoy free voice and text chat.

discord.gg

Just scroll down to 'cash for carriers'.

 

[ubermick]

Outfitting and shipyard is not needed for you, the carrier owner as you have always access to these facitlies.

Technically that's not really true - the outfitting and shipyard modules give you the ability to purchase modules and ships from the carrier. Without them, you can only use modules and ships you already own and have stored there. (That said, there's no point to them at all, better to buy everything at Jameson Memorial with the Elite discount, and just transfer them to the carrier)

 

[Frop]

(That said, there's no point to them at all, better to buy everything at Jameson Memorial with the Elite discount, and just transfer them to the carrier)

Talking about obsolete, LYR control systems are where the discounts are at.

 

[ubermick]

Talking about obsolete, LYR control systems are where the discounts are at.

Yep, 15% is better than 10%, but at this point I'd rather just visit one place and get all the outfitting done in one go rather than hopping from LYR station to station hunting for it. (Especially when money has become no issue!)

 

[Frop]

Yep, 15% is better than 10%, but at this point I'd rather just visit one place and get all the outfitting done in one go rather than hopping from LYR station to station hunting for it. (Especially when money has become no issue!)

I use EDDB to search for the different modules, unless I need to deck out an entire new ship I can usually find everything at the same station. I just like to keep the rebuy as low as possible for poops and giggles.

 

[CMDR Correa]

As others have mentioned, Fleet Carriers are A Bit Nice But Honestly Far From Necessary In The End and Actually A Bit Pointless™.

Once you have your Carrier, you're looking at upkeep fees of 5 million a week, and that's at a minimum. (If you're using it as a personal storage vehicle, you'll want refueling included and active, so another 40m module purchase, plus another 1.5m per week upkeep on top of the 5m base.)

Don't forget fuel on top of it. Tritium is expensive, and can't be scooped. Either buy it at around 45k per unit, or mine it. (You don't want to mine it, it takes forever.) Plan on 68-100 units of tritium per jump (so up to 4.5m) plus another 100k "hull fee" each jump.

So basically, if you're jumping to a new system once a week, expect the luxury of having a Fleet Carrier to cost you a minimum of 10-15 million credits each and every week. And honestly, all you can do is dock there. (There's the side benefit of storing cargo there, if you're amassing it for whatever reason)

Now, consider the other option of just choosing a home station, leaving all your ships there (free) and just using something like a long-range DBX to go to the station you want to hang out at next, and transfer the few ships you want to have on hand.

Disclaimer: I own a fleet carrier, but the only reason I do is that I made billions on the Low Temperature Diamond rush of last summer, and have the money on hand to keep it going for years. If I hadn't, there's no way I'd sink the five billion on one.

THIS ^^

If we could store cargo at stations no

Yep, 15% is better than 10%, but at this point I'd rather just visit one place and get all the outfitting done in one go rather than hopping from LYR station to station hunting for it. (Especially when money has become no issue!)

TRUE ^^

Also, apparently you can't donate stolen tritium to your own carrier, so if you find a loaded T7 just turn the other way. ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW FDEV?!?!

I swear I try to keep liking this game but it's impossible....

 

[varonica]

Hi friend, I'm answering from the other side, since I bought my carrier recently (doing the Robigo grind).
I should warn you that owning a fleet carrier while playing alone will ruin your gameplay.

Speaking from the other side also, I must tell you this is rubbish. I have enjoyed owning a carrier, it does everything I wanted, yes it does some things I don't want, but I just set access to owner only and then I don't have to worry about other players parking in it, so no, owning a carrier while playing alone won't necessarily ruin your gameplay, how it affects you and your gameplay is entirely up to you. Just ignore all of us, do what you enjoy and when you have enough buy a carrier, buy one. I mean even if it turns out to be not fun you don't lose much decommissioning it anyway!

 

[Tikanderoga]

And some CMDRs might have two....

And some could even afford multiples of that. The legendary Marz could afford 300 FCs.

I think the biggest grind was to get a cutter to be able to go nuts mining. After that the cash just started flowing.
Also LTDs in Borann were aplenty an d the price for LTDs was in the holy guacamole range.

 

[Tikanderoga]

Technically that's not really true - the outfitting and shipyard modules give you the ability to purchase modules and ships from the carrier. Without them, you can only use modules and ships you already own and have stored there. (That said, there's no point to them at all, better to buy everything at Jameson Memorial with the Elite discount, and just transfer them to the carrier)

That is a valid point about not being able to buy them, then again you need to stock them first. Might as well - like you pointed out - buy them at a discount and have them ready.
I have several ships stuffed with modules and components so it doesn't take up module storage. Ships of course purchased with massive discounts.

 

[Biff Stryker]

Booze, onionhead and a will to grind bought me a lease to my carrier. TBH I had fun and met a wide range of crazy characters along the way too!

 

[metatheurgist]

After 5 (or is it 6 now) years of daily play I have 2 billion credits to my name but an awful lot of good memories and I still enjoy playing. Personally I decided not to bother even trying for one. I must say I'm kinda astonished by just how many fleet carriers there are knowing how much grind is required to get one. I wonder if FD are surprised too?

It's actually not that grindy anymore given how Frontier decided to make it rain credits. I can't move without dislodging a pile of money. I just did massacres each week to top out my arx for a while and before I knew it I had enough to buy 2 carriers.

 

[ubermick]

And some could even afford multiples of that. The legendary Marz could afford 300 FCs.

I think the biggest grind was to get a cutter to be able to go nuts mining. After that the cash just started flowing.
Also LTDs in Borann were aplenty an d the price for LTDs was in the holy guacamole range.

Yarp. I was mining in an Anaconda with a 352 cargo hold. I could fill that with LTDs, plus 10 more in the hopper, in about an hour just laser/SSD mining. Dock at a carrier going to the sell system, donate a few to the owner, I‘d still be selling 355 at 1.73m per, pure profit, no cap on demand.

Pushing 650,000,000 an hour. With zero exploits. People were stuffing cutters in half that time using the SLF trick to reset the egg, easily doubling that.

It was ridiculous. Great fun, because half the playerbase was there having a laugh in comms, but still absolutely blew up the game’s economy and rendered it useless.

 

[gooddoc]

Probably Laser Mining for Platinum & Osmium in a Platinum double hotspot.
Though this needs the use of 3rd party tools like EDTools for double hotspot locations & EDDB to locate best selling prices for your haul.

I did around 16 bil in two weeks to fund what I thought would be the amount I needed to buy & refit a Carrier, though that was 9 months before Carriers launched AND before Frontier squashed that little earner with their massive Nerf Hammer!

Now I still Mine when out Exploring & come across any Metallic Rings with Platinum Hotspots, but that's just to stock up my Carrier to sell Platinum/Osmium on my return, to fund the cost of Tritium fuel for my next trip.

Last time I did this I was getting 270-280k/t for both....though if go this route remember that what's in your hold must be no more than 10% of the Station's demand for Platinum & Osmium, to get the maximum price......it drops off quite sharply if it's over that 10% demand value........unless the Devs have nerfed it even more now, it's been a while since I sold any Mined stuff - it's still in my Carrier hold from my last trip