Bulk cargo trader looks at Passenger missions: Is it worth trying something new?

[V'larr]

Since it's been a fair amount of time from the arrival of Passenger missions in Elite Dangerous, I thought I'd try sifting for opinions on them so far. (Hopefully that goes better than with my laundry list thread.)

WARNING: Wall'o'text ahead! I will do my best to format it cleanly.

My frame of reference here is my Imperial Cutter: right now, it's rigged out to do trading, 720 tons of cargo space, fully armed/shielded/engineered.

My next "goalpost" in Elite is to finish getting Elite trading rank. I'm currently at 46% Tycoon. I want this to be my first Elite rank, and access to Shinrarta would be handy (plus there's now an Engineer hidden in there for...some reason).

Currently, I've been doing 1-hop bulk cargo runs as per usual, about 1250/ton profit each leg (around 2500/t+ total), usually while happily multitasking.
I'll do CGs, 3500/t 2-hop routes, or sometimes medical diagnostic equipment runs now and then, but the 1-hop route's the most reliable bread-and-butter of my trading.

I've done a couple passenger missions in my multirole Python, so I'm aware it can take more effort and focus on the game, and aware of the value of avoiding passengers who can't handle being scanned.
I'm not a smuggler; the Imperial Cutter is for showing off, not being hidden!

What I'm imagining here is, I *could* re-equip my Cutter, with something like this*: https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/imp.../Z/4nBVd0B6hIyJ+TgUHERwioqA6o6P9/APlwVWFhAAAA

I could then look for safe-to-scan passengers paying well to visit areas easily accessible within the human bubble (knowing to try allied minor factions first) and hop about, checking out the new tourism beacons and the like.

Additionally:
- it would give me a reason to get an all-out 8A Prismatic shield, as opposed to the 6A Prismatic I currently have mounted (though that's already more than sufficient for any PvE encounters, I wager).
- I could pick up short-range' Exploring runs and drop a couple racks for a fighter, SRV, and/or detailed surface scanner
- I could focus on Federal-faction passengers and get some rank grinding done towards access to the Corvette.


SO! My questions:

- What's your take on this imaginary plan of mine: Is it worth doing, earnings-wise?

- Is it actually faster for credit earnings than typical cargo trading?

- Is the contribution to rank grinding worthwhile?

- Are Luxury cabins actually worth all the trade-offs of buying, equipping, and using a Beluga compared to my Imperial Cutter? (Note that I *insist* on being able to fight back against aggressors...and am aware of how bad the Beluga is at that, especially for its size.)


* The shortlink button gives me a "bad request" error so bear with the link length. Also I haven't tweaked all the blueprints/weapons/utilities to correctly match my ship, so don't concern yourself over those details!

 

[CMDR Harada]

I've got a Cutter too. Very nice ship... but not for PAX missions. In Trading, size is king. The more you haul, the more you make. The Cutter wins hand down. In PAX, Speed wins. The faster you make the run, the faster you get paid. The AspX, with a 40+ LY jump range wins ( or a Conda ). You'll be back at your starting point with the AspX picking up the next batch of tourists before the Cutter even made it half way.

Get an AspX and local rep. I get 5-10 million credit site seeing missions on a regular basis ( I'm allied with all factions ). Sometimes they are 10-15 million. Sometimes less. I can do one in 30 minutes or so. And it's easier ( no idiot pirates interdicting me ). I think it makes money faster then the Cutter, but not as reliably. Only thing is site seeing missions gain Exploration rank, not Trade, so that might be an issue for you.

Also an issue for you is fighting back. I don't fight back in the AspX. In the Cutter, heck yeah. Anytime, Every time. It's bonus cash. The AspX's main weapon is SPEED and JUMP RANGE. I don't even carry weapons. I DO carry shields and boosters. Submit, Boost out of range, hi-wake. A PVP combat ship can't match your jump range. A PVE ship won't touch your boost speed. If you insist on fighting, the Cutter might be better.

Your current build will work for PAX missions, I wouldn't change that much. Just toss a few cargo racks and add the cabins. Don't change shields or anything else. You'll also have to get lucky with multiple missions to the same destination. I don't see this that often, or often enough to make me grab the Cutter. But you can add in some delivery missions to the same system/station and build Trade rank that way.

High paying criminal site seeing missions are easy to do. Just boost out of the mail slot, hit silent running, and get out of range, and let your shields re-charge. Do the run as normal. On your way back, use silent running again to enter the base. Just don't clip anyone else. A smaller ship means less chance of a scan. Higher local rep also means less chance of a scan. Taken together, with silent running = very low chance. If you start to get hot, turn silent running off for a few seconds, then back on.

And the Beluga is flat out miserable. Jump range is terrible. And the only thing you get is luxury cabins. So if you want a ship with sub-optimal range, terrible defenses, and a limited advantage in a niche mission type... sure, it's great for that. IMO it should have a massive shield, fewer weapons, and a class 8 FSD.

 

[insanephoton]

Actually after complaints from the exploration community it looks like sightseeing missions will count towards trade rather than exploration after 2.3 drops. The pay outs on sightseeing missions can be quite impressive. The best I've seen is 28 million (unfortunately it was a bugged insta-fail)

 

[V'larr]

I've got a Cutter too. Very nice ship... but not for PAX missions. In Trading, size is king. The more you haul, the more you make. The Cutter wins hand down. In PAX, Speed wins. The faster you make the run, the faster you get paid. The AspX, with a 40+ LY jump range wins ( or a Conda ). You'll be back at your starting point with the AspX picking up the next batch of tourists before the Cutter even made it half way.

Get an AspX and local rep. I get 5-10 million credit site seeing missions on a regular basis ( I'm allied with all factions ). Sometimes they are 10-15 million. Sometimes less. I can do one in 30 minutes or so. And it's easier ( no idiot pirates interdicting me ). I think it makes money faster then the Cutter, but not as reliably. Only thing is site seeing missions gain Exploration rank, not Trade, so that might be an issue for you.

Also an issue for you is fighting back. I don't fight back in the AspX. In the Cutter, heck yeah. Anytime, Every time. It's bonus cash. The AspX's main weapon is SPEED and JUMP RANGE. I don't even carry weapons. I DO carry shields and boosters. Submit, Boost out of range, hi-wake. A PVP combat ship can't match your jump range. A PVE ship won't touch your boost speed. If you insist on fighting, the Cutter might be better.

Your current build will work for PAX missions, I wouldn't change that much. Just toss a few cargo racks and add the cabins. Don't change shields or anything else. You'll also have to get lucky with multiple missions to the same destination. I don't see this that often, or often enough to make me grab the Cutter. But you can add in some delivery missions to the same system/station and build Trade rank that way.

High paying criminal site seeing missions are easy to do. Just boost out of the mail slot, hit silent running, and get out of range, and let your shields re-charge. Do the run as normal. On your way back, use silent running again to enter the base. Just don't clip anyone else. A smaller ship means less chance of a scan. Higher local rep also means less chance of a scan. Taken together, with silent running = very low chance. If you start to get hot, turn silent running off for a few seconds, then back on.

And the Beluga is flat out miserable. Jump range is terrible. And the only thing you get is luxury cabins. So if you want a ship with sub-optimal range, terrible defenses, and a limited advantage in a niche mission type... sure, it's great for that. IMO it should have a massive shield, fewer weapons, and a class 8 FSD.

Actually after complaints from the exploration community it looks like sightseeing missions will count towards trade rather than exploration after 2.3 drops. The pay outs on sightseeing missions can be quite impressive. The best I've seen is 28 million (unfortunately it was a bugged insta-fail)

Yeah...but I like to take my time on longer exploration expeditions. I might pick up a passenger when I head out in my Anaconda, but I doubt I'll venture further than 2k ly out if I go this tourism route.

If I were to take on the deep-space passenger carrier & smuggler role seriously, I agree that the Asp Explorer would be ideal.

Disappointing to hear that "Luxury" missions aren't quite significant. But at the same time, that's another point in favor of using the Cutter...it does have the looks!

 

[insanephoton]

Most of the sight seeing runs are 2 or 3 stops mostly within 200 ly of the start point. The most I've seen is 4 stops and the occasional trip to Maia. Usually they have something like 12 hour deadline. There are longer range 'data collection' missions which are to a single destination. These have a 4 week deadline. Sometimes there are some nice ones paying around 10-15 million for locations within 1500 ly. AFAIK the data collection missions will still count towards exploration.

 

[V'larr]

Most of the sight seeing runs are 2 or 3 stops mostly within 200 ly of the start point. The most I've seen is 4 stops and the occasional trip to Maia. Usually they have something like 12 hour deadline. There are longer range 'data collection' missions which are to a single destination. These have a 4 week deadline. Sometimes there are some nice ones paying around 10-15 million for locations within 1500 ly. AFAIK the data collection missions will still count towards exploration.

Yeah, that's what I learned using my Python - so the idea'd be to stack up on all the 200ly ones that I can, leaving open the possibility of the ~1500 ly ones.

 

[goemon]

SO! My questions:

- What's your take on this imaginary plan of mine: Is it worth doing, earnings-wise?

- Is it actually faster for credit earnings than typical cargo trading?

- Is the contribution to rank grinding worthwhile?

- Are Luxury cabins actually worth all the trade-offs of buying, equipping, and using a Beluga compared to my Imperial Cutter? (Note that I *insist* on being able to fight back against aggressors...and am aware of how bad the Beluga is at that, especially for its size.)

- generally yes, but the best paying passenger missions (illegal passenger sightseeing) are hard to stack, because you have to fly each waypoint of each mission in fixed succession, so you are better off to fit a ship with good jumprange and a single cabin - i do it in a DBE, because i love that ship, but the obvious choice is an AspE with a single class 6 firstclass. alternatively a t6 with up to 2 cabins... deep space missions (below 2 k ly) are nicely stackable from the right location (quince, almagest etc. ... any system that does not produce any other passenger missions), an anconda would be the obvious choice for that. but in terms of payout you'll be better off with the shorter ones.

- with a ship like above and a good reputation in a tourism economy in boom, payments are similar to state depending trading in a cutter + fetch missions (i did elite in one like you plan to do ... but i had routes consistently 4500-6100 cr/t profit a-b-a, so roughly ~15-18 mio/h plus mission payouts). just be aware that many passenger missions don't add to trade, but to exploration rank.

- can't comment (as i have the ranks already), but as you can't stack those pasenger missions well, you would be better off stacking missions in federal or imperial boom or famine systems.

- no, luxury cabins are not worth it. what is great about a beluga compared to conda and cutter is its supercruise handling, which will allow you to travel faster - but a DBE, AspE or t6 will beat all of them. generally the huge ships aren't the right tools for mission running, but for sandboxing imho.

hope that helps.

 

[GJ51]

I use a weaponless 47LY range Anaconda for sightseeing missions.

It's a cash cow. I did a 35 minute run for 21 Mil recently. Pretty easy to do 10Mil/hr. Just depends on the luck of the draw at the station you're at.

An Asp with good range can be effective as well.

 

[V'larr]

- generally yes, but the best paying passenger missions (illegal passenger sightseeing) are hard to stack, because you have to fly each waypoint of each mission in fixed succession, so you are better off to fit a ship with good jumprange and a single cabin - i do it in a DBE, because i love that ship, but the obvious choice is an AspE with a single class 6 firstclass. alternatively a t6 with up to 2 cabins... deep space missions (below 2 k ly) are nicely stackable from the right location (quince, almagest etc. ... any system that does not produce any other passenger missions), an anconda would be the obvious choice for that. but in terms of payout you'll be better off with the shorter ones.

- with a ship like above and a good reputation in a tourism economy in boom, payments are similar to state depending trading in a cutter + fetch missions (i did elite in one like you plan to do ... but i had routes consistently 4500-6100 cr/t profit a-b-a, so roughly ~15-18 mio/h plus mission payouts). just be aware that many passenger missions don't add to trade, but to exploration rank.

- can't comment (as i have the ranks already), but as you can't stack those pasenger missions well, you would be better off stacking missions in federal or imperial boom or famine systems.

- no, luxury cabins are not worth it. what is great about a beluga compared to conda and cutter is its supercruise handling, which will allow you to travel faster - but a DBE, AspE or t6 will beat all of them. generally the huge ships aren't the right tools for mission running, but for sandboxing imho.

hope that helps.

I use a weaponless 47LY range Anaconda for sightseeing missions.
It's a cash cow. I did a 35 minute run for 21 Mil recently. Pretty easy to do 10Mil/hr. Just depends on the luck of the draw at the station you're at.
An Asp with good range can be effective as well.

Definitely helps, thanks!

I'll have to consider finding out for sure which missions add to trade rank...maybe I'll wait for 2.3 to release to be sure.

(I plan on using a Python to do rank grinding, that will be my next hurdle: unlocking the Corvette, along with stuff like the Alioth system permit.)

 

[goemon]

I'll have to consider finding out for sure which missions add to trade rank...maybe I'll wait for 2.3 to release to be sure.

generally you look at 6,7 mio profit for 1% rank, which is why i took my cutter trading in ALD-space (more profit), and generally Facece is a save bet, when one of the station controlling factions is in boom (military economies sell best for medical diagnostic equipment, while facece has extraction as a secondary economy, so you can bring metals back). simply map out all medical diagnostic equipment sources around facece, and pick up any additional fetch mission which you can supply from the stations on your route .... don't bother with redirects...

i didn't start trading below 4500 cr/t/profit a-b-a during those days. here is a list i made for myself: here is a list i made for myself in 2.2.

cmm composite is missing, if you like to trade surface side.

 

[V'larr]

generally you look at 6,7 mio profit for 1% rank, which is why i took my cutter trading in ALD-space (more profit), and generally Facece is a save bet, when one of the station controlling factions is in boom (military economies sell best for medical diagnostic equipment, while facece has extraction as a secondary economy, so you can bring metals back). simply map out all medical diagnostic equipment sources around facece, and pick up any additional fetch mission which you can supply from the stations on your route .... don't bother with redirects...

i didn't start trading below 4500 cr/t/profit a-b-a during those days. here is a list i made for myself: here is a list i made for myself in 2.2.

cmm composite is missing, if you like to trade surface side.

I meant passenger missions, there, sorry!

While I appreciate the advice, I am already aware of the medical diagnostic equipment profits that can pop up...it is a very considerable profit, but it also takes considerably more time to watch faction states and look up data on eddb.io, especially when even just 1 load of cargo can make the price swing massively.

I also intentionally don't trade in Imperial Slaves, for RP reasons - only time I have was for the Uibuth CG to free said slaves.

So I do realize I'm being a bit picky when it comes to bulk trading methods.

Mostly, I'd just like to hear more about other player's experiences with passengers thus far.

I'm considering, currently, waiting for 2.3 to release too, since I believe it will include changes to passenger missions and whether it adds to exploring or trade rank?

In the meantime I may push to 50%, start work on my Python, do a CG, or just take a short break til then.

 

[Shackram]

I've been doing passanger missions out of Wu Guinagi and they can be very profitable. 10M, 3 stop sighseeing mission for a 700ly roundtrip isn't terribly rare after you're allied, sometimes you can hit the jackpot and get a mission paying 18-22M for the same distance.

I'm considering, currently, waiting for 2.3 to release too, since I believe it will include changes to passenger missions and whether it adds to exploring or trade rank

Right now, the profit from passenger missions add directly to your explorer rank, so real easy to rank up as you online need 150M~ for Elite.

 

[V'larr]

I've been doing passanger missions out of Wu Guinagi and they can be very profitable. 10M, 3 stop sighseeing mission for a 700ly roundtrip isn't terribly rare after you're allied, sometimes you can hit the jackpot and get a mission paying 18-22M for the same distance.
Right now, the profit from passenger missions add directly to your explorer rank, so real easy to rank up as you online need 150M~ for Elite.

I see, with as many as can be stacked on the Cutter, 7-20 million per passenger group wouldn't be anything to sneeze at! There's many locations I can use, too...perks of doing business in many places!

For my purposes though - to focus on Trade rank being my 'first' Elite - sounds like I actually should avoid passenger missions until the change?