I recently found a system with a couple of cooperating neighbor systems and I've been killing it with Cargo missions. I've been making about 10-12M for a single 14 LY jump (although coming back empty). No board swapping. I can do the loop (there and back inc loading and unloading) in 10 mins flat... I've been doing this run with My A rated Cutter which has all the usual bells and whistles (Class 8 shields, Docking Computer, Discovery Scanner, and such). I think it has a cargo capacity of 448 (or something close).
So, I was thinking...
If I removed the shields completely (there's another 256 cargo), dumped the docking computer (don't want one anyway if you have no shields), got rid of the Discovery Scanner (I already have all the system data), and basically just load her down with Cargo bays I could get 792 units of cargo per jump.
I didn't want to do this to my daily driver Cutter ("Diamond Cutter"), so I purchased another hull and got to work. I took the basic Cutter, D-Rated everything (for weight) except the FSD and Thrusters (Both A), Got rid of shields/scanner and put in all cargo racks except the mil slots (Hull Reinforcements), Loaded all her weapon slots as Mines and Shock Mines (just for laughs), and put a variety of defensive stuff in the utility slots (heat sinks, chaff, point defense, etc) This new hull is now my gutted Cutter ("Gutter") and "Diamond" is tucked away safely from these dangerous experiments. ("Gutter" also has a considerably lower rebuy if something goes wrong - which is alot more likely)
I wanted her as stripped down as possible but also as fast as possible (not engineered yet). Cargo was everything and I was not intending to wait around for interdictions. She's definitely a runner - not a fighter. I just wanted to see how many credits I could make with a fully loaded Cutter.
23 Mil in 1 jump without board swapping! (You know I can't say where!) Thats over 100 mil/hr just running cargo missions. (There are also lots of high paying pass missions in these systems - which I was originally running - but sorta found the cargo ones by surprise...)
But Elite is definitely dangerous again! If I get caught in any interdiction I'm dead. If I bump into anything I'm dead. Even "space lint" might be a problem. Its like learning to fly all over again!
So, I was thinking...
If I removed the shields completely (there's another 256 cargo), dumped the docking computer (don't want one anyway if you have no shields), got rid of the Discovery Scanner (I already have all the system data), and basically just load her down with Cargo bays I could get 792 units of cargo per jump.
I didn't want to do this to my daily driver Cutter ("Diamond Cutter"), so I purchased another hull and got to work. I took the basic Cutter, D-Rated everything (for weight) except the FSD and Thrusters (Both A), Got rid of shields/scanner and put in all cargo racks except the mil slots (Hull Reinforcements), Loaded all her weapon slots as Mines and Shock Mines (just for laughs), and put a variety of defensive stuff in the utility slots (heat sinks, chaff, point defense, etc) This new hull is now my gutted Cutter ("Gutter") and "Diamond" is tucked away safely from these dangerous experiments. ("Gutter" also has a considerably lower rebuy if something goes wrong - which is alot more likely)
I wanted her as stripped down as possible but also as fast as possible (not engineered yet). Cargo was everything and I was not intending to wait around for interdictions. She's definitely a runner - not a fighter. I just wanted to see how many credits I could make with a fully loaded Cutter.
23 Mil in 1 jump without board swapping! (You know I can't say where!) Thats over 100 mil/hr just running cargo missions. (There are also lots of high paying pass missions in these systems - which I was originally running - but sorta found the cargo ones by surprise...)
But Elite is definitely dangerous again! If I get caught in any interdiction I'm dead. If I bump into anything I'm dead. Even "space lint" might be a problem. Its like learning to fly all over again!