Newcomer / Intro Early Adder loadout to help earn money?

[Magellon]

I am almost ready to buy my second ship, and Adder, so I may continue to earn money to get started. I've been trading and doing the 1-3K cr missions to earn money in my 'Winder, and I bought some "D" level gear to improve performance a little.

I think I am going to get the Adder configured with 16T hauling capacity so I can earn money more quickly trading, but I'd like to know if there is a really good configuration that is recommended. If you have a loadout you recommend for the Adder (and please don't just say "Use Class A equipment") post it here for some of the newcomers like myself.

I'm anxious to get into my Cobra as quickly as I can.

 

[andyraptor]

why ?

why a cobra ASAP ?

drop the BDS and put another 2x cargo in

aim for a A class FSD ............D class in most other stuff

you should make 9 - 19K a trip

 

[Firebeard]

Check my post "beginners don't overlook the adder" there's some suggestions in there.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=89504

I swapped to a class 2 shield generator and lost my discovery scanner and got 22t of cargo space put burst lasers on the small hard point and a fixed beam on the medium - but guns are a personal deal - and basically slowly upgrade stuff like drives and internals as you get the cash.

This loadout basically allows you to do anything (bar exploration) - you can then drop 2t space for the scanner if you want a bit of explore money too.
She is probably the most versatile small ship and as currently the upgrades sell back for purchase price you don't lose by experimenting.

I was anxious to step into a cobra but I'll wager you'll fall in love with the Adder

 

[Ko Shiji]

I'm flying an Adder, and I'm poor enough at 50k credits.

My recommendations are:

- as you get a little bit of money (50k or so), upgrade to D quality modules, and you can reduce the mass of the ship by several tons, and increase your jump distance past 10 LY.

- make sure the large size 3 spaces are free for cargo racks (swap the shields to a size 2 spot and the scanner to a size 1 spot), and install 2x 8-rack and 1x 4-rack cargo, for a total of 20 tons.

- the ship is not as maneuverable as the small combat one, so personally I installed gimbal autocannons (a size 2 and 2x size 1), and they work nicely.

- utility slots: heat sink launcher will let you run silent for longer, so you can smuggle illegal stuff into outposts without being scanned by police, and a point defense turret is cheap enough and will help survive missiles (if any) from npc pirates.

- check the bulletin board for transport or resupply missions, they often pay you more than the commodities market for stuff that you may have traded anyway.

 

[Vess]

Great ship for bounty hunting and running rare goods, at least for me. Upgraded to mostly A and B modules and having a blast flying this tough durable ship
Insurance , fuel, repairs are pretty reasonable. Made enough credits doing above to pay for upgrades and still have 269K in the bank.
Am I super rich, well no, but enjoying the game and saving me credits for an ASP.
Cheers!

 

[Magellon]

I was also looking at dropping the shield generator back to a Class 2 before reading this. I can make quite a bit on a uranium run right now @ 500 cr profit per ton, so configuring for a 20T cargo hold might be the first step. I think I'll get to Class D stuff as quickly as I am able without impeding my ability to trade. Running Uranium I have to keep enough for 2 full hold uranium buys and at least one insurance buy in cash on hand. BTW, what is the typical insurance cost for an Adder?

I will start with a little extra cash, so I'll upgrade to 2-gimbaled pulse lasers and an extra class 2 cargo hold. I'll make some money and buy a good class 2 shield generator and a class 3 cargo hold. I think I'll have the range to do my cargo runs and still picking up all the missions I can without wandering around too far. Shortly after that I'll get my stuff up to D and better.

 

[Nounverber]

I treated the Adder like an all-rounder. I had set it up with KWS, decent guns and shield, with the rest dedicated to cargo. If there were good cargo missions or trade routes from my docked station I would run those. If there weren't, I'd fly out to the nav beacon and bounty hunt and periodically dock to claim bounties and check the bulletin boards for missions. It actually made pretty decent money, and it wasn't long before I was able to buy and start outfitting a Cobra.

 

[davecrowley]

Just got my Adder yesterday and trying to optimise her as a multi-role. Has anyone reduced the fuel tank from 8t to a 4t or even 2t to increase FSD range ? Recommended or not as I have a scoop fitted ?

 

[Firebeard]

Just got my Adder yesterday and trying to optimise her as a multi-role. Has anyone reduced the fuel tank from 8t to a 4t or even 2t to increase FSD range ? Recommended or not as I have a scoop fitted ?

I have to admit I didn't ever think of this as I'm not sure the gain is much and I like having fuel lol - try it would be my advice. With a top FSD you may be around 25ly

 

[theEmohawk]

Just got my Adder yesterday and trying to optimise her as a multi-role. Has anyone reduced the fuel tank from 8t to a 4t or even 2t to increase FSD range ? Recommended or not as I have a scoop fitted ?

My Adder served me well, although she's been mothballed since I bought my Cobra. I made around 6m running 16T of rares from point to point. The Adder is actually very manoeuvrable, beaten only by the Eagle and Sidewinder, which makes it a pleasure to fly. Running costs are quite modest too. Even an A-rated FSD only sets you back half a million and will give you nearly 20ly with 16T on board.

I never decreased the size of fuel tank, even carrying a scoop, because when you run rares time is money and stopping to scoop frequently also leaves you vulnerable to interdiction.

I ran the Adder until I had enough cash to buy a Cobra and some "essential" upgrades (yep, I made enough in the Adder to get the Cobra and put in a 1.5m A-class FSD straight away). When I have "enough cash in the bank" I'll go back to the Adder and take it for a long exploring trip. Actually, I might do that tonight when I get back to my home system after the current trading run (it's either that or go back and muck about in my frEagle in a combat zone, running rares pays the bills but it's the weekend so I should probably take the sporty number out for a spin).

 

[RobWolves]

why ?

why a cobra ASAP ?

drop the BDS and put another 2x cargo in

aim for a A class FSD ............D class in most other stuff

you should make 9 - 19K a trip

Unless you've saved enough to kit a Cobra out and pay for insurance should you die, then skip this advice. An Adder is a good intermediate to save up those credits even quicker to make sure you have enough in the bank for reserve.

 

[Magellon]

Well I did get the Adder early yesterday. After flying it for 12 hours I have made enough to upgrade the following ...

Initial Purchase included the Adder, two gimbaled Class 1 P-Lasers, swapping the shield generator for a 8T cargo pack, and buying a Class 2 C shield generator.

My first set of upgrades included swapping out the Class 3 E equipment for Class 3 D equipment including Power Plant, Thrusters & F-S-D along with swapping the Class 2 E Power Distributer for a Class 2 D & bringing the cargo capacity up to 20T.

My next set of upgrades included buying and then upgrading shortly thereafter a Gimballed Multi-Cannon from Class 1 to a Class 2.

Tonight my final upgrades included Upgrading the Sensors to Class 3 C, the Power Distributor to a Class 2 B and the F-S-D to Class 3 C.

My current Loadout includes ...

Adder Spaceship (Version D+)
I 1 Lightweight Alloy Frame - stock equipment
D 3 Power Plant
D 3 Thrusters
C 3 F-S-D
E 1 Life Support
B 2 Power Distributor
C 3 Sensors
C 3 Fuel Tank - stock equipment
E 3 Cargo Rack (8T)
E 3 Cargo Rack (8T)
E 2 Cargo Rack (4T) - stock equipment moved to the Class 2 slot
C 2 Shield Generator
E 1 Basic Scanner
G 1 Pulse Laser
G 1 Pulse Laser
G 2 Multi-Cannon
U-1 empty
U-1 empty

Now my real question at this point is how far should I upgrade this bus before it becomes stupid. I am particularly concerned about getting an expensive ship but having underpowered shields (because of the Class 2 downgrade). Next, what are the best Utility Hardpoint upgrades for this ship if I make my money trading?

I think this is relevant ... I have been interdicted four times. Three times in my Sidewinder with Class D equipment I defeated the opponent NPC in higher rated ships but without shields. I was interdicted today, in the Adder, because I allowed it to happen (I had low value cargo at the time and wanted to see what I could do with a multi-cannon) shortly after getting the Class 2 gimbaled multi-cannon with mostly Class D equipment. I was facing off against an NPC competent pilot in a Cobra with lasers and shields. I defeated him pretty easily and never took enough damage to my shields to receive hull damage. He rammed me in his first pass before I could get oriented against him and he did take my shields down to nothing once. I got behind him as that happened and my shields came back up before his did.

Thanks in advance for helping me get my equipment balanced so I can keep earning money.

 

[Mortifa]

You just need to find some good runs that pay about 700 a ton profit, with 20 cargo racks you can upgrade her to a good jump distance and make good money. Just a quick point about this, if you do a rounder at that profit you make 28,000 and I can do four of those in an hour, not bad money. But make sure you have the insurance and a nice stack in the bank, losing 90,000 on one interdiction, plus insurance hurts and yes that is experience talking... sadly...

Grab a Kill Warrant Scanner and maybe that shield booster and when you get interdicted you will make a few bucks, on top of your run.

I enjoy my Adder, it makes good money and I may save up for a larger hauler later.

 

[Anarky]

Trade rares, or trade commodities out of an anarchy system which sells slaves. Check bulletin boards and take missions to smuggle slaves. Should be able to get a Cobra in no time.

Make sure when you buy a new ship you sell or downgrade all your modules first. If you trade them in with the ship they lose %10 of their value.

 

[unicron]

I had a pretty bad time in my Adder...
Didn't fit me at all for dogfights (Eagle - Viper - Cobra perform sooo much better - for ME) and CMDR Pirates just seem to love taking you out of trade SC - they can shoot you to bits in 5-10 seconds if they please and 10+ T is still kind of worth it.

So I'd suggest dropping the weapons all together and going for D-class equipment for the weight reduction, get 16 cargo capacity and trade some rares around, use a discovery scanner to get cash for your fuel expenses.

Alternatively, mining seems to be reasonable in a Adder as well. Not for everybody to enjoy, but it's not that expensive to try out.