Ships I want to get into trading and combat. What are good ships to start out with?

Branithar

Branithar
I just got back from an exploring trip and got a ship-load of money, but I don't want to blow a bunch of money on an expensive ship since I'm "Mostly Harmless" and there's a high learning curve with combat ships: with my exploring ship, heat management and power management wasn't an issue, since explorer ships run so cool and everything is low power and light, and pips were a complete nonissue. I'd rather start out on a cheap ship, and learn combat basics and something I can afford to lose, before getting something expensive and unmaneuverable.

I want to boost my trading and combat ranks, and eventually be able to hold my own in the event that I get attacked by a PVPer. Since a higher combat rank results in the game sending deadlier adversaries your way, would I be better off focusing on trading before trying to climb the ranks in combat?

Should I get a separate trading ship, then getting something like a Viper for combat? Or just get a multipurpose ship that is decent at both (but not as good as a more specialized ship)?
 

bnrgator

B
A Viper is a good ship to start fighting in. How much money do you have? The Python is good at both but very expensive. Don't learn combat on that ship. It can have expensive lessons.
 

EISENHORN01

EISENHORN01
The Mark iii as in ******THE MARK III******* the O.G COBRA it's there for a reason and that reason is it's cheap and u can do almost everything in it, it's the bees knees for a starter ship
 

goemon

goemon
generally, while there are ships which you can outfit for combat and for trading, there isn't really one which you can outfit for both at the same time - at least nothing which you can allow to loose quite a bit in the beginning.

as for trading - bulktrading starts making sense at ~100T of cargo, so get a t6 for a start.

as for combat, i'd say that depends a bit whether you like it tanky or manouverable, and whether you mind getting destroyed a lot in the beginning. i have learned combat in an eagle. an eagle will teach you good manners, at it can't tank, and it isn't fast, so you learn to fly evasive and think ahead - something which greatly pays up to a FAS.

a viper mkIII on the other hand is quite tanky for its size. a viper mkIV is called by some a "mini python" and prepares well for the larger ships (dropship, gunship, python, conda, corvette, cutter...)

pick one of those two :)

if you are as bad in combat as i was in the beginning, when i didn't know whether i was flying forwards or backwards, and where to put my nose, a beam turret can work as a laser pointer. and even i made it to elite at some point!
 

Branithar

Branithar
bnrgator said:
A Viper is a good ship to start fighting in. How much money do you have? The Python is good at both but very expensive. Don't learn combat on that ship. It can have expensive lessons.
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I bought a Python, first thing, once I got back into the bubble, and did some joyriding, but I'm not gonna attempt to learn combat basics in it. I'd rather start on something small and cheap, that will teach me combat basics, without overwhelming me with all the internals, like drone bays and stuff. I made over 800 million CR from my exploration trip, but that doesn't mean I'd care to throw money away, learning on an expensive ship.
goemon said:
generally, while there are ships which you can outfit for combat and for trading, there isn't really one which you can outfit for both at the same time - at least nothing which you can allow to loose quite a bit in the beginning.

as for trading - bulktrading starts making sense at ~100T of cargo, so get a t6 for a start.

as for combat, i'd say that depends a bit whether you like it tanky or manouverable, and whether you mind getting destroyed a lot in the beginning. i have learned combat in an eagle. an eagle will teach you good manners, at it can't tank, and it isn't fast, so you learn to fly evasive and think ahead - something which greatly pays up to a FAS.

a viper mkIII on the other hand is quite tanky for its size. a viper mkIV is called by some a "mini python" and prepares well for the larger ships (dropship, gunship, python, conda, corvette, cutter...)

pick one of those two :)

if you are as bad in combat as i was in the beginning, when i didn't know whether i was flying forwards or backwards, and where to put my nose, a beam turret can work as a laser pointer. and even i made it to elite at some point!
Click to expand...
I played around with a T6, early on, when I first started playing, and I rage deleted the save, and started over, after getting ripped apart by pirates. I just didn't feel safe flying it, with all the pirates looking at all that "tasty cargo". I didn't feel like I could do much to defend myself against pirates.
 

goemon

goemon
Branithar said:
I played around with a T6, early on, when I first started playing, and I rage deleted the save, and started over, after getting ripped apart by pirates. I just didn't feel safe flying it, with all the pirates looking at all that "tasty cargo". I didn't feel like I could do much to defend myself against pirates.
Click to expand...

if outfitted correctly (a class thrusters, a class distributor) and with a class 4 shield plus pointdefence, a t6 is very fast and very safe - actually faster than an AspE. but if you have 800 mio CR from exploration, you can actually outfit a trade conda, and learn trading with that. or a trade python, if you want to get the compplete picture including outposts. bulktrading is the only activity in ed where income scales with shipsize (cargo load)
 

wrmiller

W
I'd start with the Cobra, as recommended above. Decent at pretty much everything. But just to give you a glimpse of your future:

I have a Python that I call my 'armed trader'. I run missions pretty much exclusively for credits since starting this game about 6 months ago. My Python can carry 144 tons of cargo while being armed well enough to take on any NPC with no problem. I won't tackle a wing of 'condas in it though. I leave that job for it's big brother. :)

Point is that once you are comfortable with fighting, you can configure your Python to do pretty much whatever you want. Have fun! :)
 

Ceekay

Ceekay
Combat; Viper, Vulture, FAS, FDL

https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/vip...XzSEm4FBAsRVtuFnYPj/HwB99UO2JgAAAA==&bn=Viper

https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/vul...OISWIdQhkAuY/2U+mgcwBAAA=&bn=Vulture F (EDMC)

https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/fed...hBGA2EoFMCGBzANokMK6A=&bn=FAS 31 03 17 (EDMC)

https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/fer...GKEMibwjhAxV5Cc/AfHNnKgVAIAAA==&bn=FDL (EDMC)

The FGS (Fed rank locked) can be a decent multirole ship it's more combat orientated but can have enough cargo capacity for mission running, similar on a smaller scale is the Keelback

https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/fed...A=.EweloBhBGA2EoFMCGBzANokMK6A=&bn=FGS (EDMC)

https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/kee...GA2MAsICmBDA5gG2SGF9A===&bn=Keelback F (EDMC)

For passenger missions the Orca is now a faster longer range option, with a bit of planning you can run passenger and cargo missions, it's not really a combat vessel but it's seriously fast and can fit a decent weapon array

https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/orc...Ccv2nd5QuZOsVm5unfHwtj/i9iAQAA&bn=Orca (EDMC)
 

Rankaze

Rankaze
Branithar said:
I just got back from an exploring trip and got a ship-load of money, but I don't want to blow a bunch of money on an expensive ship since I'm "Mostly Harmless" and there's a high learning curve with combat ships: with my exploring ship, heat management and power management wasn't an issue, since explorer ships run so cool and everything is low power and light, and pips were a complete nonissue. I'd rather start out on a cheap ship, and learn combat basics and something I can afford to lose, before getting something expensive and unmaneuverable.

I want to boost my trading and combat ranks, and eventually be able to hold my own in the event that I get attacked by a PVPer. Since a higher combat rank results in the game sending deadlier adversaries your way, would I be better off focusing on trading before trying to climb the ranks in combat?

Should I get a separate trading ship, then getting something like a Viper for combat? Or just get a multipurpose ship that is decent at both (but not as good as a more specialized ship)?
Click to expand...

If you want to learn combat - and really learn it - the Viper Mk. III is the perfect ship to teach you. It's an excellent fighter, but to get the most out of it you will need to learn proper technique - when to use your thrust controls to augment your turns, when to change power pip settings, when to use your speed to disengage/re-engage. None of the other early combat ships will teach you all of these techniques; the Viper will.

If you master the Viper, you'll know all the skills you need to handle yourself in any combat ship.
 

Sixxor

Sixxor
As others have said, the Cobra MKIII is a brilliant entry point to both trading and combat, and it's pretty cheap too.
I'd start with that to get a feel for both professions. Once you've got into things and made a bit of cash, get a T6 for more serious trading and a Vulture for combat. The T6 can haul ~100 cargo whilst maintaining a pretty good jump range. The Vulture is a beast for combat, super maneuverable and packs a serious punch with its 2 large hardpoints.
As soon as you can afford it, get a Python. It's great at everything, but is expensive.
 

Branithar

Branithar
Sixxor said:
As soon as you can afford it, get a Python. It's great at everything, but is expensive.
Click to expand...

I ended up getting a Python and doing a quick 'n' dirty loadout to try out some trading. It's a fun ship to fly, and the pirates were making these quips about my "tasty cargo" but could only catch up to me if I cut the throttle.
When I get into combat, I'll probably go with the Viper MK IV.
 

Sixxor

Sixxor
I would recommend the Viper MK III over the MK IV.
The MK IV is more heavily armoured but is slower and less maneuverable because of that.

The MK III is much quicker. It's cheaper too.
 
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