Question to traders flying massive ships - outfitting.

[BACKER #-4112]

At the moment I am flying a T9 with 500T Cargo capacity.
I have fitted a load of turreted Multicannons, turreted Burst Lasers, a gimballed Pulse Laser,
2x Point defences and 2x class A Shield boosters, just so I can fire back while trying to get away when interdicted.
Works fine on small ships, but I wouldn't dream of taking on medium or large ships.
Normally when I get interdicted in my T9, I submit then just hightail it out of there. The T9 is by no means a fighter, specially if its outfitted to hold 500Ts of cargo.
Today, I got interdicted by an annoying little Eagle MKII NPC 3 times, by the third time it got so annoying and I decided to wipe out that little annoying bug.
I submitted to the interdiction, selected the target, killed the engines, deployed hardpoints and without even giving full power to the weapons I started to fire on the
little mongrel until it was nothing more than space debris. A bit of throttle forward, stop, throttle back, stop, throttle forward while still facing the general direction I was heading.
It felt like I was piloting a weapons platform, this little guy had no hope, which makes me wonder why small ships are even able to interdict larger ships but that's beside the point.
My question is for those traders flying T9s, Anacondas, Cutters and Corvettes, how do you go about outfitting your ships?
Is it to hold more cargo and flee a fight or do you balance it out by holding less cargo and some offence/defences?
I am looking at hauling the most cargo I can, so once I am comfortable paying insurance on a Cutter, I'll be looking at outfitting one and step up from the old T9.
I know Tradecondas are a popular choice, some even prefer to outfit Corvettes but I am more inclined towards the Cutter, but still, I have an open mind.
So throw some suggestions my way if you will.

Spoiler

 

[Conch]

when i trade, i do it in my fully A rated conda.. having 4x size 3 turreted beams on her. npc's dont dare to get close, sometimes they even apologize for scanning me.

 

[The_Quasar]

It's always a balance... the more defences/weapons you put on, either you have to compromise on cargo space, or FSD range, or both. I've maxed the cargo on my Cutter, then went about adding adequate weapons/defenses for protection (which is mostly personal taste). I suggest you work it out in coriolis.io first, before you buy.
Imho, the Anaconda is a very poor relation to the Cutter for trading (used to have one, but never liked it). You'll never get anywhere near 720t of cargo on an Anaconda!

 

[GammaZ]

Even T9 with 5A shield, some boosters, D-grade PD and thrusters and some pulse/MC turrets can kill much more than just an eagle:

Spoiler

More combat-capable ships like anaconda/corvette/cutter will be able to kill any NPC you can encounter, if you spend some money on otfitting and sacrifice some jump range.
In terms of which ship is better... there is no question here IMO... the cutter. Most cargo, best protection (you can have 1600Mj of shield with the smallest shield possible), reasonably fast and usable jump range.

 

[Deleted member 38366]

Back when I still ran a Type-9, I noticed that most single NPCs aren't a huge threat.

However...
Have a Persistent NPC on your tail, lose it i.e. to the Sun and then get interdicted by standard NPCs. You'll be in for a nasty surprise, when you realize 2 or 3 NPCs can kill even a max. Shielded Type-9 in very short time.

By now, I only trade in a fully Mil-Grade Python or Anaconda. The difference in survivability against multiple NPCs (or single big ones) is dramatic.
And when it comes to a hostile Player encounter, the Type-9 merely is a very expensive carrier for your Ejection seat and provides Insurance Training (good for reviewing i.e. your otherwise invisible Credit limit).

Sold my Type-9 quite a while ago.
In the end, ran it in full Mil-Grade kit - but doing so crippled its Jumprange beyond being useful as a Trader anymore.
Given the alternatives, I currently see no reason to even get me a Type-9 anymore, although technically I'm a Ship collector and have several Paintpacks for that ship.

PS.
Could be my combat Rank of course - I remember back in the days when I was still "Expert" or "Master" it wasn't really a common sight to be interdicted by PA-spewing or Railgun-spamming Pythons or Anacondas (or FAS / FGS, after they entered the Game) while merely hauling.
I was able to grind a good route without big issues, even in "max. greed" Config. Today, it seems I'd probably rarely reach my destination in a full T9 and such a Config.

 

[Nerwan]

At the moment I am flying a T9 with 500T Cargo capacity.
I have fitted a load of turreted Multicannons, turreted Burst Lasers, a gimballed Pulse Laser,
2x Point defences and 2x class A Shield boosters, just so I can fire back while trying to get away when interdicted.
Works fine on small ships, but I wouldn't dream of taking on medium or large ships.
Normally when I get interdicted in my T9, I submit then just hightail it out of there. The T9 is by no means a fighter, specially if its outfitted to hold 500Ts of cargo.
Today, I got interdicted by an annoying little Eagle MKII NPC 3 times, by the third time it got so annoying and I decided to wipe out that little annoying bug.
I submitted to the interdiction, selected the target, killed the engines, deployed hardpoints and without even giving full power to the weapons I started to fire on the
little mongrel until it was nothing more than space debris. A bit of throttle forward, stop, throttle back, stop, throttle forward while still facing the general direction I was heading.
It felt like I was piloting a weapons platform, this little guy had no hope, which makes me wonder why small ships are even able to interdict larger ships but that's beside the point.
My question is for those traders flying T9s, Anacondas, Cutters and Corvettes, how do you go about outfitting your ships?
Is it to hold more cargo and flee a fight or do you balance it out by holding less cargo and some offence/defences?
I am looking at hauling the most cargo I can, so once I am comfortable paying insurance on a Cutter, I'll be looking at outfitting one and step up from the old T9.
I know Tradecondas are a popular choice, some even prefer to outfit Corvettes but I am more inclined towards the Cutter, but still, I have an open mind.
So throw some suggestions my way if you will.

Spoiler

http://i.imgur.com/XFzwe3c.png

You don't have to sacrifice any cargo to make a very solid Cutter/Anaconda because you can fill all the 8 utility slots with shield boosters. On the cutter I have about a 1000MJ shield using a size 6 shield which is pleanty. I use 2 x size 3 turreted burst and 3xmulticannons and that gives me a 15LY laden jump with 728 cargo. I find that I can kill any NPC with that loadout including elite condas etc.. Even commanders are no threat except perhaps for FDL wings, because you have all the time in the world to wake out (or ram them to death if they're in small ships and don't have the sense to get behind you).

 

[PGleesonuk]

I look at the trade route I want to do, and if it's marginal I will reduce weight (D rated modules) to get the jump range I need to minimize the jumps, and reduce the risk of interdictions etc. Rarely will I go more than 2 jumps.

I even flew my cutter with no shields to be 784t cargo. I figured the hull was strong enough to submit to interdiction and run away.
Fast charging PD for continuous boosting is a priority here. Won't get mass locked by anything else.
Heat sinks, chaff and point defense were always part of my builds.

I mostly play in private (mobius) so only PvE. Never lost a ship by being killed. I leave that to the docking computer! (once, know bug)

Got my trading elite status, so now off doing other things for fun.

 

[tomalus]

All shield boosters A grade, all pulse turrets. If they keep chain interdicting all pulse is enough to take care of them.But from my expirience if youre not pledged to any PP and dont run a mission you rarely get interdicted by chainers.Thing is those chain interdictors are spawned by misssion and they probably cheat to get behind you again.

 

[Heater]

A rated cutter, for "Armed" Trading:

http://coriolis.io/outfit/imperial_...f.Iw18ZZA=.EwBjYZhYEY-iikRlKMQBZMiA?bn=cutter

 

[Nerwan]

A rated cutter, for "Armed" Trading:

http://coriolis.io/outfit/imperial_...f.Iw18ZZA=.EwBjYZhYEY-iikRlKMQBZMiA?bn=cutter

Hmm, that is armed, just a thought. If you swapped out your 8A shields for a 6A shield and a 6A SCB you'd have more total shield strength 1000 base + 1750 banks) and you'd have only sacrificed 128T of cargo instead of 256T). Additionally, all 7 of your weapons are distributor draining and if you want to keep 4 PIPs in those shields, which I assume you do, you're not going to be able to power them all. I go with a mix of pulse and MC turrets for this reason.

 

[BACKER #-4112]

Very helpful posts, thanks.
Regarding the T9 that I'm flying at the moment, it is an A rated ship, (6.1M rebuy cost) I wanted to upgrade the Bulkheads to Military Grade as well but I didn't want to lose any more jump range.
(I still have an A rated Python with 200T cargo space and some decent weapons for those high risk hauls.)
The T9 can probably take on more ships than I am willing to find out as it is, (although I did get blown up by a CMDR in a Clipper in less than 5 seconds) but I really want to haul more cargo.
The next ship I want has to be A rated as well, which usually end up costing jump range.
I figure a Conda can be a happy medium between cargo/weapons plus the maneuverability. From your posts I figured I can upgrade the my Python to a Conda.
From what I read on these forums, the Cutter will have better shields and hold more cargo but it don't handle too well, just like the T9, which I can live with.
For a cargo ship, I want it to be able to defend itself, I don't want it to be a battlecruiser. Maybe later on I will experiment with a second ship for that role.

A rated cutter, for "Armed" Trading:
http://coriolis.io/outfit/imperial_...f.Iw18ZZA=.EwBjYZhYEY-iikRlKMQBZMiA?bn=cutter

This is just the kind of insanity I would go for...

Hmm, that is armed, just a thought. If you swapped out your 8A shields for a 6A shield and a 6A SCB you'd have more total shield strength 1000 base + 1750 banks) and you'd have only sacrificed 128T of cargo instead of 256T). Additionally, all 7 of your weapons are distributor draining and if you want to keep 4 PIPs in those shields, which I assume you do, you're not going to be able to power them all. I go with a mix of pulse and MC turrets for this reason.

...and then try this setup and try to find my personal preference. Very good point you make here.

 

[CMDR Mansoul]

For the current trade CG I fly a 700 mil A grade Cutter with 6A Prismatic shield, 7 A boosters, one advanced discovery scanner and 720 tons of cargo racks, 3 large gimballed pulses and 4 fixed medium fragment canons.

I know from one experience that the shield can easily take being beaten on by a combat spec Cutter for at least 30 seconds. No talking, he just started trying to cause me 35 mil loss; having never even deployed my hardpoints, I tried to outrun him, then took the 15 seconds out. The shield was about half down. If it wasn't for the certainty of him having a few shield cells, I might have stayed and fought, escape later maybe.

Anyway, it's nice and challenging hurling her towards the slot and squeezing her in. The inertia is massive, I have to turn tail and brake with the main thrusters.

 

[Arithon]

I trade in a D rated Imperial Cutter (for best jump range) with a A rated FSD and armaments.

720T with fuel scoop, so range and capacity and the ability to hold my own long enough to make the next FSD jump.

 

[777Driver]

At the moment I am flying a T9 with 500T Cargo capacity.
I have fitted a load of turreted Multicannons, turreted Burst Lasers, a gimballed Pulse Laser,
2x Point defences and 2x class A Shield boosters, just so I can fire back while trying to get away when interdicted.
Works fine on small ships, but I wouldn't dream of taking on medium or large ships.
Normally when I get interdicted in my T9, I submit then just hightail it out of there. The T9 is by no means a fighter, specially if its outfitted to hold 500Ts of cargo.
Today, I got interdicted by an annoying little Eagle MKII NPC 3 times, by the third time it got so annoying and I decided to wipe out that little annoying bug.
I submitted to the interdiction, selected the target, killed the engines, deployed hardpoints and without even giving full power to the weapons I started to fire on the
little mongrel until it was nothing more than space debris. A bit of throttle forward, stop, throttle back, stop, throttle forward while still facing the general direction I was heading.
It felt like I was piloting a weapons platform, this little guy had no hope, which makes me wonder why small ships are even able to interdict larger ships but that's beside the point.
My question is for those traders flying T9s, Anacondas, Cutters and Corvettes, how do you go about outfitting your ships?
Is it to hold more cargo and flee a fight or do you balance it out by holding less cargo and some offence/defences?
I am looking at hauling the most cargo I can, so once I am comfortable paying insurance on a Cutter, I'll be looking at outfitting one and step up from the old T9.
I know Tradecondas are a popular choice, some even prefer to outfit Corvettes but I am more inclined towards the Cutter, but still, I have an open mind.
So throw some suggestions my way if you will.

Spoiler

http://i.imgur.com/XFzwe3c.png

It really depends on what type of trading you do. If you have a high trade rank (Tycoon/Elite) bulk mission trading (and long range bulk trading) means you can earn a very nice amount of cash in heavily defended trade ships. No need to fill everything with cargo racks or worry about ships mass.

My main trading fleet consists of the following.

T9 - 340 Tonnes of cargo, Military bulkheads/Shield boosters/ 7A shield gen, the rest is A-rated except D rated thrusters. It's main role is short range planatery hops, currently around Ovid/Styx/I bootis and fringe systems. Primarily haulage missions between 1 mill & 3 mil

Anaconda 340 tonnes cargo - CG's, Maia, Fehu cargo runs

Cutter (around the 500 tonne mark - CG's and 17 Draconis/Quince/Sothis runs.

None of those ships are maxed for cargo, it's not needed since the bulk missions at high rank pay more than max load A-B-A stuff. The T9 can handle and destroy Pythons/ wings of smallers NPC's, in Open against cmdr's it has more than enough protection to survive a submit/hgh wake, have done it plenty of times.

If I encounter a wing of heavily tooled up ships like FDL's (only ever been in that situation a few times in the past year) I'll emergency drop and come back to the system later.

Have yet to be interdicted in a Cutter, Anaconda has only been interdicted in CG's. Funnily enough in the T9 you generally get interdicted by newbie gankers looking for an easy kill, quite amusing when equipped with beam turrets and two torpedo launchers.

 

[Heater]

Hmm, that is armed, just a thought. If you swapped out your 8A shields for a 6A shield and a 6A SCB you'd have more total shield strength 1000 base + 1750 banks) and you'd have only sacrificed 128T of cargo instead of 256T). Additionally, all 7 of your weapons are distributor draining and if you want to keep 4 PIPs in those shields, which I assume you do, you're not going to be able to power them all. I go with a mix of pulse and MC turrets for this reason.

I did try this for a while, and what I found was the (6A) shields would come down a bit quicker than I liked, as for the distributor drain... what I find is that unless the target is right in front of me then either the top or bottom fire without draining, plus if the target is in front, then the PA works very well and the turrets finish it off before it's drained.

 

[BACKER #-4112]

It really depends on what type of trading you do...

Aiming to outfit a Cutter mainly for CGs, I failed to mention that. So I would want as much cargo space as possible.
As for the ranks, I'm not far off Elite, once I finish off ranking up with the Feds/Empire, I plan on trading just to hit Elite.
Interesting points you raise with the different types of trading, I never really thought of it that way, especially the high paying bulk missions.
That there alone gives me a good reason to experiment with a Conda as well, going from a Python.
No doubt I will keep the T9, but rearrange it a little, maybe just to get a bit more jump range out of it.

 

[goemon]

i'm running my trader cutter with pulse turretts and mc-turetts, 6a shield and class a/class c boosters (for weight), works pve like charm. i refuse trading without weapons, because i like to shoot what interdicts me for a change (but it isn't necessary). i more so refuse trading without shield, the smallest shield you can put on a trutter (class 6) provides a lot of MJ.

for trade only the cutter trumps an anaconda imho.

 

[DragoonKnight]

I dont always trade, but when I trade I do it in a Conda with
3 gimballed large pulse lasers
large beam turret
2 gimballed multicannons
2 small beam turrets.

The turrets work well against eagles and vipers that can easily outfly me. Does not give them a place to hide.

NPCs die, but since i run a smaller shield generator sometimes i may take some hull dmg. Especially if I am facing two opponents.