Ships Can someone help me outfit an Imperial Clipper for trading please?

[dreamer1986]

Since I luckily managed to buy a Clipper thanks to the Emperor Alive sale, its time to put it to work to do some trading. But I encounter difficulties in outfitting it correctly. Can someone help me please with some efficient outfitting examples for trading?

 

[Porina]

Fit as many of the internal compartments as you can with cargo space. Definitely the 6 and 7. I only used a 4 for a shield (and 4 boosters), which gives me a total of 232 cargo capacity. You want the best FSD you can afford and the rest of the equipment is less important, as long as you have enough power to run what you have and boost to get out of trouble. I'm ready for a fight packing two gimbled pulses and a multi cannon. Not going to war with that, but it is enough to get rid of most NPC interdiction annoyances.

Example screenshot of my current layout.

 

[dreamer1986]

Very nice, thank you. But aren't you bothered that you get a smaller jump range? I'm used to exploring, where I tried to squeeze as much jump range as I could. I know it has its uses in trading as well.

 

[777Driver]

Template for my rare goods/trader Clipper. Nowadays she just sits in dock looking pretty

http://www.edshipyard.com/#/L=703,mpW0mI0mI01Q01Q,2-A0A07_7_9Y8S6k,0Bk0AA07207205U7Pc03w03w

Edit - 14/15LY is more than enough for a freighter. Thousands of healthy routes under 15LY, bulk of my T9 routes are under 10LY

 

[dreamer1986]

Thank you, 777Driver .

 

[Porina]

I tried reducing weight like for exploration, but you need to make big sacrifices to get small gains. I decided I would rather keep the defensive and what offensive power I have than try to strip weight to gain a fraction more range. I think quite simply you have so much cargo, the weight difference for the equipment is minor in comparison.

I'm not great at finding routes though. I'm currently doing a 2 jump route with 2.5k/t round trip, but offsetting that the stations are very close to the landing point.

 

[SongMinKi]

id go for cargo space, A rated thrusters and FSD with D rated everything else for weight reduction. An A rated clipper can get away from basically anything if you get interdicted (Glory to the Emprah)

 

[PavelKCZ]

Question is, if the Imperial Clipper is a good trading ship at all. Now with PP, there are nice possibilities for Imperial slaves trading and surely Asp (or Python) which is able to land at Outposts can make better profit than Clipper.

 

[SongMinKi]

Question is, if the Imperial Clipper is a good trading ship at all. Now with PP, there are nice possibilities for Imperial slaves trading and surely Asp (or Python) which is able to land at Outposts can make better profit than Clipper.

there are stations that have an Imperial Slaves supply and the profits in my route is around 4.5 -5k Cr per round trip per ton... (i wont tell you my trade route though )

 

[PavelKCZ]

there are stations that have an Imperial Slaves supply and the profits in my route is around 4.5 -5k Cr per round trip per ton... (i wont tell you my trade route though )

Of course they are. Supply part is not a problem. Problem is to smuggle them into station where you want to sell them on black market. On this side, middle sized ships like Asp or Python have a really great advantage, because there are no cops around 99% of Outposts, so no need to smuggle, just land and sell.

 

[SongMinKi]

Of course they are. Supply part is not a problem. Problem is to smuggle them into station where you want to sell them on black market. On this side, middle sized ships like Asp or Python have a really great advantage, because there are no cops around 99% of Outposts, so no need to smuggle, just land and sell.

why would you need to smuggle imperial slaves when they are a legal commodity in the glorious empire? XD i make about 2.8k per ton of imperial slaves. even if that is less than black market profits its good because its a legal commodity and youre not afraid of being scanned. Of course, if space khaleesi AKA Aisling Duval gets what she wants, this wont be an option

 

[PavelKCZ]

why would you need to smuggle imperial slaves when they are a legal commodity in the glorious empire?

Mainly because there is a difference between 2.8k per ton and 3.8k-4.2k per ton. So, fully loaded Python makes a HUGE difference in profit

 

[Jack Schitt]

Rep to the OP for starting this thread and to Porina for the initial loadout which helped me spot a boo-boo I'd made with my own build.

I've been at Knight^[1] for ages but struggling to progress, so the "Hengist's Alive!" sale was too good an opportunity to miss. I sold the gutted Python hull that I've been hoarding for ages waiting for the funds to A-class it, and used it to buy and outfit a Clipper. But looking at this thread I couldn't figure out how people were at 232T cargo when I had only 206.

When I checked the configuration I realised that while I'd moved the shield to a Class 4, and maxed out the Class 6 and 7 racks, I'd completely forgotten about the other default racks which were all one class below their maximum. D'oh! I've maxed those out too and now I have 228T (I like to have a docking computer for those really lazy runs) which should help those trading profits speed in that little bit faster.

I've also fitted a KWS for opportunistic revenge on NPC pirates. I've noticed they've tended to limit their interdictions to anarchic systems (as it should be ideally) but obviously they have no local bounty when I snot them with the 2x3 beams and the 2x2 multicannon. The KWS should let me pocket a few extra credits from other jurisdictions.


^{[1]Edit: I originally had the wrong rank here, rendering the whole thing confusing; I'm a Knight, not a Baron.}