Newcomer / Intro Cobra, at last! What now?

Kaare Willoch

K
Yesterday I got my Cobra at last, and my plan is to continue trade runs for a while since one run back an forth between stations in Erevate gives me 30k each trip. So my plan is to upgrade jump drive, shields and thrusters first. And then I will do som rare trading and at last see more of the universe :)

But would you guys recommend saving up for a bigger ship, or continue to upgrade and even max out the Cobra? I like how it feels like this ship can pull off most things in the game.
 
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Chrisfs

C
I would max out the Cobra because a Cobra is a good multi-role ship. Shouldn't need another one unless you have a specific purpopse for it in mind.
 

cmdr lowest

C
First thing I would say is upgrade the stock cargo holds to a class (size) that fits. (if you haven't)

It comes as standard with class 3 holds for class 4 compartments. You can double the storage capacity in those bays by fitting class 4 cargo holds, thereby doubling your profit per run.

Then look at power distributor as that has a massive effect on weapons and engines.
 

Kalara

Kalara
Eventually when you want to trade the T6 is going to be a major upgrade, and at around 1 mill credits for the stock ship, it is not that hard to get either.

I have the T6 made for hauling, when I need to.
I got the kitted Cobra set up for combat (I sold my kitted out Viper).
Of course I primarily focus on the combat side of the game.

Now my goal is to make enough money to buy the Asp, and kit it out for exploration.

But in short it all depends what you want to do.
The Cobra can fit quite a few roles with some adjustments in outfitting, and you can easily switch if you have a station that has a lot of the modules for sale.
But eventually a bigger ship with more cargo hold, will yield you more credits.

Do take into account that A modules on the Cobra (bar the power distributor) cost 1.6mill credit each.
 

talshiarr

talshiarr
First off, enjoy! The Cobra is pure awesome. It's the first ship that really can do everything decently, if not optimally. Get a C-rated power distributor ASAP, and work toward A-rated. A C-rated power plant will help with heat down the line. Obviously the frame shift drive is something else to upgrade down the road, too.

As far as saving up for bigger ships, of course. You can go for the Type 6 and truly haul a lot of cargo while you work towards something else, or just kick back and enjoy the ride in the Cobra all the way up to the Asp and beyond. The Asp is basically a fatter Cobra, a little more of everything without maxing out anything. It's noticeably more costly to run, though, but not punishingly so. Beyond the Asp you're getting in to real money and need dedicated trading ships to realistically finance in anything but the long term.
 

Duane Dibley

Duane Dibley
Copied this from another thread about trading rares and making credits enough for the asp can be done in a cobra.Once you get bored switch out cobra for hunting then back to trading when you neeed credits again.
OK, 1 million credit trade run coming up. You'll need about 65 tons cargo space.

Start in Leesti (George Lucas - 14t Leesti Evil Juice, 7t Azure Milk),
go to Orrere (Sharon Lee Free Station - 16t Orrere Vicious Brew), go to Diso (Shifnalport - 15t Diso Ma Corn),
and finally Lave (Lave Station - 7 Lavian Brandy).
Once you've filled up jump down to 39 Tauri & sell everything at Porta for about 1 million profit.

At 39 Tauri (Porta - 17t Tauri Chimes), head to Fujin (Futen Spaceport - 10t Fujin Tea),
up to Altair (Solo Orbiter - 14 to 26t Altarian Skin;
most of the time I max at 14, but did get 25 one time), then to Chi Eridani (Steve Masters - 18t Marine Paste).
Unlike the Lave/Leesti system these are all about 15 to 60 light years apart, so a good FSD is a plus.
Now from here head to Goman (180 light years or so) & sell all at Gustav Sporer for about 1 million credits.
Or you can just head back to Leesti & make a little less, as Altair is only 114 ly from Leesti.

Third leg is Goman (Gustav Sporer - 16t Goman Yaupon Coffee),
over to Wuthielo Ku (Tarter Dock - 17t Wuthielo Ku Froth),
on to Delta Phoenicis (Trading Post - 17t Delta Phoenicis Palms)
& finally to Aerial (Andrade Legacy - 15t Eden Apples). Jump back to Leesti & sell all for another 1 million profit.

Total profit 3 million credits.
 

Kaare Willoch

K
Wow, thank you very much all of you! You guys are the best :)

I did not know power distribution was such a big deal, so I will prioritize that.
T6 sounds like a good plan, and still keep the Cobra and upgrade it over time. I will also most definately try the rare trade route Duane Dibley mentions, so thanks for that! Now I have clear goals agsin. Thanks :)
 

talshiarr

talshiarr
The high end power distributor will make your weapons and engine boost recharge much faster. You'll notice a huge change in performance. Your boost will no longer take the entire bar, and you can boost twice with only a few seconds delay.
 

Ozric

Volunteer Moderator
Ozric
It doesn't all have to be about the combat ;)

I dropped the lowest Cargo Rack for a C2 Fuel Scoop, then brought a Detailed Surface Scanner, upgraded the FSD drive to a C (if my memory serves me correctly) and brought a C Power Distributor (just because I could :)) and then I headed off into the void.

It makes a great exploring ship and once I had done a couple of 800Ly+ journeys I decided to do rare trading too. I was in a completely different area, but found 3 stations within 30Ly of each other, then flew 190Ly to another station selling rare goods and scanned all the systems I passed through. I made about 400k from 16t of the goods and then about 200K from the exploration data. Headed back to a station near my "home" system going a different route to scan more systems and got about the same again.

I (personally) cannot emphasise how good a fuel scoop is.
 

wigwam12

W
Even if you don't I would recommend it.
When doing a Rares run you can't plot more than 100LY so 1/2 way to your destination while you wait for the computer to plot the rest of the route you can sit at a star scooping again and save the need to go to a Starport and pay for it.
I scoffed a bit first too but it is an addictive purchase.
Every so often though you think "Sod it" and just blat somewhere fast and pay
 

carlisle

C
It really depends what you want to do. Beyond the Cobra the way ships handle and move, the costs of running them and the ease of docking all change considerably. You're into big-ship territory, you need larger pads to land on, you need to really plan for how to afford the maintenance costs, you need to relearn how to fight, they stop becoming 'space-planes' and start becoming 'space-boats'. So although they are more expensive, they aren't necessarily a natural progression from the Cobra if you don't want to fly a big ship. IMHO it's fairly important to have more competitors around the Cobra for those of us who aren't overly keen on entering big-ship territory.

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talshiarr said:
The high end power distributor will make your weapons and engine boost recharge much faster. You'll notice a huge change in performance. Your boost will no longer take the entire bar, and you can boost twice with only a few seconds delay.
Click to expand...

Also you have six pips to distribute :)
 

WoeHorn

W
Do rare runs to build up some cash / buy upgrades. Rare runs involve travelling long distances, so it will force you to master navigation.
 

Engadine

E
Kaare Willoch said:
Yeah, I will definately equip a fuel scoop later on in the game. As of now I am not yet ready for venturing out into the great unknown. :-D
Click to expand...

I would recommend you do this earlier rather than later, as it comes in very useful whilst on rare runs and in general. Also, there's the added bonus of never having to pay for fuel again, giving you all of the profit from your run, with the exception of general wear & tear.

I changed my Fuel Tank from the 16 to the 8 once I'd got the Fuel Scoop to bring my Jump Range back up.
 
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cmdr lowest

C
I swear by my fuel scoop as it maximises profit.

However the time it takes I always seem to get interdicted... which also makes me swear for another reason - in my T6 with no guns.
 

cowasaki

cowasaki
What I did was run the Cobra upgrading what I needed to until I had a couple of million spare then I bought the T6 (as well) with a FSD upgrade to C and ran that a few times before upgrading everything to D and the cargo to 96T.... Then I went from 1.7M to 9M in 2 days and I have today just switched back and have finished upgrading the Cobra to A all round plus A2 fuel scoop, 2x gimballed beam lasers, 2x gimballed fragmentation cannons, military armour, advanced discovery scanner and surface scanner. So now I have both to play with and a hot Cobra...........

Only problem is that it is soooooo good that the insurance is 500K and I've still hadn't had a fight as I was too busy trading. Went for an explore today and now I'm mostly aimless and had a nightmare first fight which I only just escaped from :D


Think I need a thread myself :D
 

DiddleDum

D
Yep. She's a great gal, and suitable for any activity you wish to partake. Loaded her with a refinery and a mining laser to get some seat time busting rocks, with enough oomph to fight off most pirates (NPC - haven't run into any human ones yet). Not that mining is suitable for a living - but, I could make decent bucks and still defend myself if I needed to. Not to mention quick enough to jet if things went south.

You'll have a great time in it, as she's good at everything.
 
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