How to make trading feel epic... Even for a dedicated combat pilot!

MikeB

MikeB
Alright, so I hate trading... Boring, dull, grind, urghhhh... I get that some people really love it, but nah, definitely not for me... Or so I thought...

A few days ago, I saw the offer for the Imperial Clipper at around roughly the 15 million mark, now I reasoned that if I sold my Vulture I'd still have a fair few million to spare in order to make it at least broadly equivalent to the Vulture in combat performance. I was completely and utterly wrong, despite dropping around 15 million in upgrades, I can now out-gun my old vulture, but I certainly wouldn't win in a fight against it; the shields, moderately upgraded, are just far too weak... Reading around the web, I saw that it would cost me at least 50 mil to make it roughly the same... Gulp... So then I was stuck with two options, sell my Clipper at a substantial loss (given the discount I bought it at), a ship I've coveted since BETA and go back to the Vulture, or do some trading and buy a surplus Vulture. Well, the good news was that even a lightly upgraded clipper makes an excellent trading ship that can out-gun or out-run any pirate I came across. The bad news is that despite the extra cargo capacity and therefore cash, trading was something I still found mind-numbingly boring.

Then I found the solution... Sound off, favourite podcast or audiobook on... Trading is transformed, highly relaxing great fun, and am actually able to do some *reading* at the same time. And now? Well, I'm a space trucker! At least until I can secure the extra 13 million or so to buy another maxed-out vulture and get back to combat, but even then, I think I'll still frequently fly the Clipper as a trader... Sometimes, after a long day teaching undergrads, you just need to kick back, pour yourself a decent malt and enjoy the beauty of the cosmos; all whilst making heaps of cash!

Now please Frontier, please, please, please add some support for podcasts, because my sole reservation right now is that I'm missing out on the beautiful audio of the universe you have so lovingly created!
 
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Krow

Krow
Couple of E 3 Burst Lasers and a couple of F 2 Multi-Cannons on your Clipper make it an absolute force to be reckoned with in both Comabat Zones and RES. I have made so much money in my Clipper killing for Bounty and Bonds that I'm about to buy myself a Python for Trade, (considerably more than double the cargo space) and keep the Clipper for combat duty.

My set up is
BH I 1
RB B6
TM C6
FSD A5 (optional - but the B4 Fuel scoop is a necessity for travel)
EC E5
SS D5
Shields are currently B6 - but D6 worked for me for ages, ( around 500k)

Don't under estimate the Clipper as a fighting vessel, I think it's superb.
I have my lasers on one fire group and cannons and lasers on another.
The only time I pull my cannons out is when things get busy and hot. (usually for Annie's and/or wings of 3 or more)

Going to kit my Python for some serious trade runs.
 

777Driver

777Driver
Audio books/podcasts and good music is must for me when exploring and trading. As Dr Roly said, click of flight assist, great fun when trading in the big ships, and you'll be a master at it in no time.

Have gone through the fear and loathing Audio book quite a few times now :) You can also program Voice attack to control youtube and your music playlist.

[video=youtube;-3cEr_CXTjk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3cEr_CXTjk[/video]
 

MikeB

MikeB
BH I 1
RB B6
TM C6
EC E5
SS D5

Not entirely sure what these refer to! But thanks for the advice! Would really appreciate some illumination! Also, if you're an Imperial like me, and you want to hit up some RES zones and show me how it's done in a Clipper, then please PM me your commander name and add me (Mike Burke). Cheers!
 

Jezzah

Jezzah
I think every populated system should have at least a couple of unique items that are worth a lot of money. But only to specific other systems and only for short periods of time. Linking this to Galnet articles about these specific needs would be interesting. Perhaps as part of a community goal where a station is for example looking for gallite...yes you can fill the order with regular gallite but on somesuch planet they make "hyper special gallite" that's going to be worth 5 times the price and count towards the goal at 5 times the rate.

This would help content rate players looking for this item and have pirates tracking them for the special item bringing along bounty hunters etc etc.
 

jmp470

J
I found the Clipper more enjoyable in combat! The way it drifts, 400 m/s backwards. But, you will need about 50M to make it a great fighter. I used 4 A shield boosters with 7C shields and you get 486 ish MJ shield power. Yes, you don't get a KWS, but I found those 10 seconds boring anyways. With a 7B shield you are over 500 MJ, close to my vultures A spec shields.
 

Krow

Krow
MikeB said:
BH I 1
RB B6
TM C6
EC E5
SS D5

Not entirely sure what these refer to! But thanks for the advice! Would really appreciate some illumination! Also, if you're an Imperial like me, and you want to hit up some RES zones and show me how it's done in a Clipper, then please PM me your commander name and add me (Mike Burke). Cheers!
Click to expand...

BH: = Bulk Heads
RB: = Power Plant
TM: = Thrusters
FSD: = Frame Shift Drive
EC: = Life Support
PC: = Power Distributor
SS: = Sensors

etc... makes much more sense if you are looking at your Outfitting screen.
Upgrade your Power Distributor to Class A. (usually the first thing I do on every ship)
Make sure your weapons on the Clipper are Gimbled. (you may have to hunt around for Class 3 Gimbled Burst Lasers)

As for learning.. just start small with a few Sidewinders or Eagles as targets, hit RES sites so you have a bit of support.
Make your way up the food chain as you grow in confidence. You'll be wasting Annies in no time.

My Commander name is same as here, Krow.
I don't play Open, mostly on friendly mature PvE private server. Welcome to join.
Drop me a message if you want to join us, or if you have any questions Mike.

Hope this helps.
 

MikeB

MikeB
Cheers! I'll hit you up in game! I was pretty confidently wasting everything in my maxed-out vulture, even got myself up to the rank of Master!
 

DidierDrbois

DidierDrbois
I like to trade in 'chains' rather than A - B - A - B ... that's just ridiculous. I'm absolutely willing to ditch being primarily a merc if supply chains are thrown in to the economy!
 
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