Current State of Carriers

[gooddoc]

I got my Carrier the first day they were introduced - in fact I'd used a money making Mining mechanic at the time to boost my Credits to where I thought they would have to be to purchase & equip one.......I grossly over estimated the costs by many billions.

My Carrier goes where I go, like Varonica, I'm an Explorer & my Carrier is in tow with me on each journey I take.
I have over time transferred all my Ships to my Carrier which makes being out in the black more versitile in the gameplay I choose to play.
I can Explore with whatever jump range Ship I wish, usually my 57LY 'Conda.
I can push my Exploration along for upto 500LYs in a single jump, before I log off.
When I find a Platinum Hotspot in a Metallic Ring, I jump in my Carrier to the Planet & switch to my Mining Cutter.
I'll use my Krait for exploring ExoBoi's on Planet Surfaces.

My Carrier is fuelled either by Mining Tritium in the black - which I don't really enjoy, as it slows down Exlporation, or usually I'v returned before my Tritium has run out & sold any Platinum, Osmium & rare Mining materials, to fund/part fund my refuelling costs.

My Carrier can & does take me to Systems that I can't get to in my 'Conda.

Frontier adding modules to the Carriers that enable me to sell my System data & more recent Bioscan scan data is a bonus, IMO for Explorers in the black.

It does though annoy me, particularly in the bubble, looking at either the System Map or in your Ship's system panel & see a long list of Carrier's obscuring other System information.....I quickly use the filter button in these cases.
IMO, I believe there are too many Carrier's in the game that may have been abandoned, though it's really difficult to determine & for FD to resolve.

I liken Carrier owners to dog owners......most are good owner's & pick up after their dog, however some just let their dog in the Street & leave the mess behind.

I always park my Carrier in an unpopulated System, when staying in the bubble for a long period of time & really only stay in populated Systems while doing my business, selling wares or loading up with Tritium.

Difficult to say, but I doubt I'd still be playing ED/EDO now if Carrier's hadn't come along.

 

[Jumpin' Jack Flash]

Hi Shabine

I was dead against Carriers when they first came out, after much trepidation I finally bought one.
Mine's fairly basic, just a Cartographic module, Repair, Re-Fuel and Re-arm.
It's very handy for exploration, storage of ships and of course mining. Exploration is it's biggest advantage for me which I'm doing at the moment.
Wouldn't want to be without it now, Tritium I just buy from the cheapest source, mining Platinum or Painite and then selling it more than covers the cost of fuel, as does the exploration data itself.
Now that FD have fixed the bug with the jump destinations it's a good feature of the game. At the station in the bubble where I keep my other ships, modules etc. there's only about 3-4 Carriers parked at any given time, so for me parking it back in that system is no problem when I come back from exploration or other activities.

Jack.

 

[Kissamies]

I can see, if you have mainly 1 ship rootless existence, why they would seem useless to you. For me it's the home base I can move. I have a small handful of ships for different purposes I use regularly, and larger array of ships I use occasionally. Pretty convenient to have them all parked in the same spot that I can move to the area I'm working at the moment. Currently, we are doing a lot of AX combat. One of us parks their carrier close to the system we decide to fight in that week, everyone moves their AX ships there (if they are not already) and then it's a simple matter of flying a bubble shuttle there an switching when it's time to AX.

Services are also very useful, especially because the natural start and end point of a session is the carrier. The default ability to store and trade commodities has been surprisingly useful. I can mine and worry about selling the mined stuff later. Same goes for other stuff I come across. I like to take the unlock commodity mission rewards and sell them to those who need them from my carrier. Modular terminals are still a hot item. Done a bit of Odyssey material trading too, but keeping those stocks is too annoying.

I've also done exploration trips with the carrier, one short and one long. Very nice to have some alternate ships with me so I'm not stuck with my prime exploration ship for all time. Also can do some tritium mining to have something different to do from time to time. I'm also the kind of guy who feels all the exploration and biodata burning a hole in my pocket in a while, so it's good I can use the carrier to turn it in.

 

[Blaggerdy]

I bought one to store a few bits of cargo (Thargoid / Guardian, rare items). Sold it after a week or two as I wasn't making any other use of it.

Several months later I bought another one for the same reason. It's not particularly full and the cost per week doesn't justify it but in a game where credits are meaningless that's no concern. If I could keep cargo in my Type 9 while using other craft I wouldn't bother with a carrier.

Originally I thought I would also use it as a mobile base for my fleet but I haven't moved it from whatever system it turned up at.

If there was somewhere I could move it to where a steady flow of traffic made use of it I'd do that. Would require opening up services and the trade options in particular are not set up for casual use (I'd want to buy and sell without having to switch between the two, and set a minimum stock so I still retained a handful of specific items such as trinkets of hidden fortune for me to access whenever I want).

Net result is I'm paying for a storage facility that I don't move and rarely use but the effort to locate an item or two of cargo I could have stored makes it kind of worthwhile.

 

[goemon]

- as others i mainly use it to store a fleet, similar as @Riverside describes.

- as i'm often playing to manipulate the BGS the carrier also has the function to store commodities, which i regularly restock. so i can quickly do some fetch missions or mining missions from one source - my fleetcarrier. other players i play with use it for that as well. and it stocks illegal and stolen goods for black market trade.

- manipulating the bgs often means working in systems with not all services or a shipyard in orbit. the FC provides that.

- testing the bgs is more easy with a FC, as you want to have different systems with no activity, which always means stations far from entry point. with a FC i can do actions in several systems each tick, instead of spending 30+ minutes in supercruise for each.

- i also have a collection of all rare goods and other non-buyables on my FC. gotta have them all! collecting those often brings me in contact with playstyles i usually don't.

i started with 3 month of upkeep after buying it (when they were introduced), and i'm around 4 years of upkeep now of 15-20 million each week, without ever having done anything for it. what else would i do with those CR?

 

[alexzk]

i started with 3 month of upkeep after buying it (when they were introduced), and i'm around 4 years of upkeep now of 15-20 million each week, without ever having done anything for it. what else would i do with those CR?

I keep adding money: past week fee + 2 more weeks fee each the week, to be sure if I don't play for long it will survive. 8 years already there.

 

[OrdinaryMan]

- i also have a collection of all rare goods and other non-buyables on my FC. gotta have them all! collecting those often brings me in contact with playstyles i usually don't.

Off-topic question, but is there a list of these goods? I want to try it sometime.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

I recently returned to Elite with only one real pathway in mind; start from zero, get back into my Krait 2, engineer the hell out of it, and then proceed to do all the things with it.

I take much the same approach - I have a multirole Krait 2 which I fly nearly all the time.

Nevertheless, I do have a fleet carrier parked out of the way in an uninhabited system nearby, and I do find it quite useful just as a storage place for my backup ships, engineered modules, etc. so that they're all in one place if I do want a refit. With Odyssey it's also useful for transferring materials to friends, and it also stores some cargo for later use.

I wouldn't have bothered if I didn't have the spare billions to fund it - I don't visit it more than a few times a year - but since I do it's worth the upkeep for the minor added convenience.

 

[Brian of Earth]

Mine I use as a base for operations, mining and exploring. I have all 3 of my accounts on it and am currently wwwwaaaayyyyy TF out in the black. I used to get burnt out on long exploration trips and the FC is a little slice of home (glamping-style) so what I do in the black is more diverse, and more interesting without the specter of dying and losing all your data.

Besides, with all this easy money gotta spend it on something.. If base-building (anywhere I wanted) was available too I'd be over-the moon (literally) happy.

 

[Brrokk]

Others have given plenty of ideas. Just one edge case: I can jump 500ly out of the Bubble, then fly about doing exobiology in a Cobra to get first-discovery bonuses with easy small-ship landing, not needing to consider jump range.

I bought the carrier thinking I'd just decommission it if it wasn't convincing. I've kept it. I can recommend that approach if you're not sure.

 

[goemon]

Off-topic question, but is there a list of these goods? I want to try it sometime.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/rare-commodities-list.63119/ <- all rares
some thread on rare salvage: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/questions-for-experienced-salvagers.549271/#post-8570181

 

[Red Rocket]

I have a carrier and enjoy it, been to the center of the universe with it twice, now going for the third time,
Explored the left and right side of the universe.
I must say that it changed Elite in a big way, not sure if for the better or worse tho.

I can argue both sides, undecided if it’s a good thing of not, all I know for sure is Elite will never be the same as before.

 

[Darrack]

I recently returned to Elite with only one real pathway in mind; start from zero, get back into my Krait 2, engineer the hell out of it, and then proceed to do all the things with it. I've even been convinced by one of this forum's denizens, against all better judgement, to give Odyssey another go. Maybe I'll scan a plant or shoot a few faces. Might be fun. That said, one of the reasons both I and so many people I know left Elite a while back was the introduction of fleet carriers... which none of us could figure out the reason for. They're a pain to move, they cost a lot of money and they keep costing us money, and their functionality for someone like me was practically nonexistent.

Now, everywhere I go in the bubble, the system maps are full of these beasts. The lines stretch on for days in some places. So clearly, people own (and possibly even use) these monsters. I was hoping that some of the people who post here could give me some honest feedback on their experiences with carriers since they came out.

Has yours improved your life at all? Does the experience of owning and operating one provide you with more utility given your playstyle? As someone who prefers to pilot one very specific ship, they don't appeal much to me, but have any of you found ways to make them profitable or, at the very least, viable to support the activities of you and your friends? Are they simply a convenient place to store and move a massive fleet, or have you experienced buyer's remorse since you added it to your list of assets?

Dont think i could go back to my pre carrier days.
I joined Elite for exploration but also found i enjoyed mining and CGs, the carrier transports all of my ships anywhere i want.
Before i would head out into the black and explore in one ship, the best ship for the job, not necessarily the ship i wanted to fly.
Now with my carrier only a few jumps behind me i can explore in any ship i want and if i find a decent system i can stop for a few days and fly around in any ship ive brought along.
Add to that if i need a break my mining ships are now here with me.
The running costs are more than covered with bio and discos when out in the black.
Before heading out i stock up on trit purchased with credits from a few nights farming in Robby and mining Plat.

O7

 

[LifesAJourney]

Has yours improved your life at all?

Massively!

Does the experience of owning and operating one provide you with more utility given your playstyle?

Definitely!

As someone who prefers to pilot one very specific ship, they don't appeal much to me, but have any of you found ways to make them profitable or, at the very least, viable to support the activities of you and your friends?

Mine is not at all profitable in terms of credits, but extremely useful for activities I do in the game. Long-range exploration of different sorts, short-range quick trips outside the Bubble (e.g. for Guardian mats), BGS activities, NPC piracy. It all changed when I bought my carrier and IMO it all changed for better.

Are they simply a convenient place to store and move a massive fleet, or have you experienced buyer's remorse since you added it to your list of assets?

Not a single second of remorse!

BUT, it took me several months to figure out how I want and will use my carrier. I bought it only when I had a concrete plan for it. Don't buy it before you exactly know what to do with it. Otherwise you'll be moaning here how expensive your carrier is and how bad the gameplay loops are around it and how bad fdev is in creating gameplay loops.

 

[Riverside]

BUT, it took me several months to figure out how I want and will use my carrier. I bought it only when I had a concrete plan for it. Don't buy it before you exactly know what to do with it. Otherwise you'll be moaning here how expensive your carrier is and how bad the gameplay loops are around it and how bad fdev is in creating gameplay loops.

This is a good point. I didn't get one of my own until I had a reason to have one.

I had been travelling on another Cmdrs carrier as a passenger, exploring out near the void (top left of the galaxy near the rim). I was impressed by the ability to reach distant systems unreachable by ship, but then the carrier pilot had an IRL issue that meant they couldn't use their PC for a few weeks and I an the other passengers were effectively stranded.
Fortunately I had a high range ship (a 75ly conda) & was able to find a path that eventually connected back to the rest of the galaxy. I bucky'd 48kLy back to the bubble, bought my own carrier, filled it with trit & hightailed it back to rescue the other passengers. Fortunately the original carrier pilot was able to get back into the game & we met up in Colonia. On the next trip we used my carrier instead, exploring a significant chunk of the rim over the past year or so.

 

[Greasetrap42]

Fleet Carrier Benefits for Deep Space Exploration:

• Save point for respawning.
• Cash in UC, exobio, codex and first discovery tags regularly reducing risk of loss.
• Easy convenient repair, rearm & refuel of exploration ship.
• Restoration of lost SRVs. Unlimited SRVs.
• No need for AFMU or repair limpets in ship freeing up ship slots for other modules.
• Install single SRV hangar on ship. Can store additional hangars with both scorpion & scarab on carrier. Switch as desired.
• A wider variety of ships become available for exploration activities. Jump range not important, can focus on other features.
• Ability to bring ships designed for specific activities, more optimal or fun than a specialized min/max exploration ship. (bring a specialized min/max exploration ship too!).
• Ability to bring alternate ships for variety on very long trips. Breaking up boredom or tedium.
• Ability to bring rarely used optional modules. Sometimes very handy for certain circumstances.
• Ability to change ship outfitting. Swap ship modules around. And engineering (with blueprints).
• Storage for items you find in deep space. Organic tissue samples, relics, keys, etc.
• Small risk of exploration ship being stranded. Out of fuel? Call your carrier.
• 500Ly jump range: Ability to cross sparse galactic regions. Major time & distance savings crossing galactic arms.
• 500Ly jump range: Ability to jump to otherwise unreachable remote systems. Example: galactic edge.
• 500Ly jump range: Ability to quickly skip across the 4K Ly region surrounding the bubble when leaving or returning.

Edit: additional benifits:

• Rarely use raw mats for synthesis anymore. SRV refuel and repair and restock limpets on carrier. Much less use for jumponium. Less need to collect raw mats.
• For change of pace cmdr can switch to mining. Carrier has lots of storage for metals & minerals. Sell later.
• Ability to make 500Ly jumps while AFK. A player can choose to travel vast distances without having to stare at computer screen for hours.
• Nice natural place to park your ship and end a play session. And then start a new play station a few days or weeks later. Repaired, fueled, all data checked in, ready for new activities. Nice point where ship can be switched or modules swapped for activities of choice.

From a practical view the fleet carrier makes alot of sense for deep space exploration.

 

[DjVortex]

My main playstyle is exploration, so I'm hoping to get one I can jump well outside the bubble to continue exploring far-flung reaches of space.

Nah, you don't need a carrier to do that. Just have a ship that can make long jumps (such as a fully FSD-engineered Asp Explorer, about 42 ly without weapons). I have been doing long-distance exploring with my Asp Explorer just fine (so far my maximum distance from the bubble has been about 12000 ly, but I'm planning to go much farther).

If you play in Solo Mode there's an extremely small risk of getting destroyed and losing all your exploration data (you just have to be a bit careful when landing and flying low on planets, but that's easy enough. It's not like it requires masterful skills. So far I have not destroyed my ship even once.)

Sure, getting to a very distant place (thousands or tens of thousands of ly away) will take some time (even with that 40+ ly jump range), but hey, you are an explorer. The journey is part of the experience. And you'll be visiting a lot of star systems along the way, many previously undiscovered.

As for selling your exploration data from time to time (just in case), search nebulas nearby. Chances are that there's an inhabited system in or nearby, especially if you are within 10 kly from the bubble or so. Very special stars (such as Wolf-Rayet stars) might also have another player's megaship in it, so if you are really desperate you can sell your data in one of those, usually at a very modest premium.

 

[Greasetrap42]

Nah, you don't need a carrier to do that. Just have a ship that can make long jumps (such as a fully FSD-engineered Asp Explorer, about 42 ly without weapons). I have been doing long-distance exploring with my Asp Explorer just fine (so far my maximum distance from the bubble has been about 12000 ly, but I'm planning to go much farther).

While it is obviously very possible to do long distance deep space exploration in a traditional exploration ship I would highly recommend against regular exobiology in this kind of ship. A traditional long distance exploration ship isn't well suited to the activity and the cumulative damage from surface skimming and landing in challenging locations presents signifiant risk to the cmdr and high potential for lost data over an extended period of time. Can it be done? Sure. With constant long term risk. Perhaps saving this kind of activity when in close proximity of a DSSA carrier, otherwise it is not a great idea.

Meanwhile exobiology is the single biggest credit earner for explorers.

 

[Shabine]

Fleet Carrier Benefits for Deep Space Exploration:

• Save point for respawning.

From a practical view the fleet carrier makes alot of sense for deep space exploration.

That respawn point... yeah, I could see that being extremely useful for someone who likes to fly dangerously when they explore... or as a failsafe for when major mistakes are made. I can also assume that having a carrier with you at the edge of the galaxy makes having an AFMU redundant as you can simply return to the carrier for repairs, which frees up some internal space. That's actually quite a tempting feature. I do plan on doing some exploring in the next few months, and this might tip me towards the carrier.

 

[alexzk]

a carrier with you at the edge of the galaxy makes having an AFMU redundant

Depends what you mean edge of Galaxy I do trip like 15000 ly side of my carrier, so AMFU is needed to get back.