Evaded a Vulture Today in my Type 7

[Devari]

I've been doing some CG trade runs in Lidpar and decided to use my Type 7 instead of my Type 9. I had recently outfitted and Engineered a Type 7 and was impressed by the maneuverability with upgraded thrusters so I wanted to see how well it handled. Considering the dominance of Cutters in trade CGs it's not like my Type 9 was going to make any real difference to my CG tier as I still wouldn't be competitive for the higher tiers. There had also been a large number of interdictions by other CMDRs in Lipdar during the CG and my Type 7's rebuy was only 2.2 mil compared to over 8 mil for my Type 9.

Turns out that my Type 7 was seen as a good target for another CMDR and I was interdicted on one of my runs back to Carlisle station. My Type 7 only had around 200 MJ shield strength and despite the boost to hull strength that trading ships received with 2.2 I knew I still wouldn't survive very long against another CMDR flying an Engineered combat ship. I figured that under these circumstances my ship would be destroyed very quickly and likely wouldn't get a chance to jump back to supercruise if I submitted.

So I decided I'd try to fight the interdiction instead. I wasn't sure what type of ship was interdicting me at first as I was too busy fighting the interdiction to target him but I figured my chances were that I was being interdicted by a combat ship. Turns out my Type 7 was maneuverable enough that I was actually winning the interdiction, but at that point the other CMDR started maneuvering more aggressively and changing the interdiction vector. I couldn't keep up as I had been flying with keyboard only so I quickly switched to my HOTAS (which I have set up mostly for when I'm flying my FDL) and maneuvered back onto the escape vector, eventually managing to evade the interdiction. I was close enough to the station that by the time the other CMDR re-entered supercruise he wasn't able to interdict me again, and that's when I targeted him and noticed he was flying a Vulture.

I had initially dismissed the Type 7 as being a markedly sub-par ship compared to the other options but with all the buffs the Type 7 has received it has actually become a very survivable trader. The lateral thrusters and roll rate are very impressive for a trading ship once you Engineer them and that is probably why I managed to outmaneuver the Vulture during the interdiction. My engineered Type 7 can carry 256 tons of cargo with a 5A shield generator, 3A fuel scoop and a docking computer installed. That's over 2.5X what the Type 6 can carry and nearly 2/3 of the 400 ton capacity of my Type 9. I would have definitely failed that interdiction if I was flying a Type 9 and that would have been an 8 mil rebuy, instead I managed to literally outfly a Vulture. I'm definitely going to be flying my Type 7 more often for trading CGs, it fits a good niche for trading in hostile environments like CGs where you need to have the maneuverability to evade interdictions by other CMDRs.

 

[EUS]

T7 is great for avoiding interdictions.
I am comfortable enough in my masculinity to admit losing an interdiction to a T7 NPC a few patches ago (spring 2016) during my PP days. The mini game seems to change every patch.

 

[Ouberos]

Survivable Trader? Outflying a Vulture?
Using a smaller more maneuverable ship at a CG?

I suspect sir, that you are not a Trader at all. I put it to you that you are in fact a cold eyed lone wolf who lives on his wits.

Have you ever considered Piracy?

 

[CMDR Corlas]

I love my T7. It's a wonderful ship.

 

[Devari]

Survivable Trader? Outflying a Vulture?
Using a smaller more maneuverable ship at a CG?

I suspect sir, that you are not a Trader at all. I put it to you that you are in fact a cold eyed lone wolf who lives on his wits.

Have you ever considered Piracy?

I haven't considered piracy (mostly because I'd rather earn my credits from legal means such as bounty hunting and trading) but I have thought that it would be awesome to be able to gain the authority to become an actual privateer in Elite. My thought is that the Federal or Imperial ranks could provide a specific benefit allowing a CMDR to engage in legal privateering (i.e., being granted the equivalent of a letter of marque) in certain Federal or Imperial systems. That could allow you to legally interdict and scan other ships and confiscate their cargo in those systems during War states, without suffering any fines or bounties for the interdictions or combat involved. Essentially that's really just a version of "legalized" piracy, just with more somewhat more noble aims, and of course the Fed or Imperial governments would get a proportion of profits and it would be restricted specifically to wartime. It would, however, allow bounty hunters to learn and practice the "trade" of piracy by becoming a privateer rather than a pirate while still staying on the "proper" side of the law.

T7 is great for avoiding interdictions.
I am comfortable enough in my masculinity to admit losing an interdiction to a T7 NPC a few patches ago (spring 2016) during my PP days. The mini game seems to change every patch.

The interdiction minigame has apparently gotten much easier with 2.2 and there seem to be far fewer glitches or bugs that cause you to insta-fail now. I don't think I would have beaten another CMDR in a Vulture in 2.1 and I probably wouldn't have even attempted it considering how many issues there were with interdictions at that time. In 2.2 however it seems to have gotten much easier to successfully avoid interdictions to the point that it's worthwhile to make an attempt at evasion instead of always submitting, boosting and re-entering supercruise as quickly as possible.