Quick Trading Question

[Lyrim]

How many people don't run shields on their trade ships? I personally don't and was wondering if I was mostly alone in this risk. And yes, I know the risks but I enjoy getting more profit by running more cargo bays than normal by sacrificing shields. This might just be me trying to rush to bigger and better ships but I'm not much for trading in any game really, as I enjoy exploration and competing against other players.

Also, as a side note I'd like to say kudos to the Frontier Developments team for correctly portraying the downside of not running shields. What I've noticed is that even if I run a perfect flight without shields, I'll always at least have a minor repair bill (3-5 credits usually) on my ship. This either means I'm imagining things (I doubt it) or that FD has taken into account space debris. So again, good job on that folks!

 

[777Driver]

Used to do it in my T7 since repairs and ship cost is basically nothing. No way would I run my T9 or Anaconda with no shields.

Only way to get damage is to hit or be hit by something. You shouldn't be seeing any repair bill if the ships flown safely. You will accumulate wear & tear, max degradation is 30% loss of hull strength.

 

[Lyrim]

Good point. I don't think I would run a higher tier ship at that kind of risk. Since I'm still in a hauler I figured "what the heck" hehe.

That's weird though. I'll have to pay more attention to the run I'm about to do and see if I have a repair after. I'll make sure to not hit anything even slightly.

 

[NeoRacer_XOX]

I just started doing it today, I only gained 4 cargo spaces but hey. No damage during normal operation. I got interdicted and lost 5% hull but not too bad so far.

 

[777Driver]

I just started doing it today, I only gained 4 cargo spaces but hey. No damage during normal operation. I got interdicted and lost 5% hull but not too bad so far.

The main thing to worry about is Anaconda cmdr's, I have lost millions in a shielded T9 due to some crazy guy boosting through the slot in his Conda. In the end I had to switch to a Anaconda with A5 shields for trading, my T9 sits on a quiet route far away from most people. If I see a cmdr in a smaller ship I'll slow down, I still expect people to move out of the way, but other guy's will just ram you.

 

[Zenith]

You have to fly absolutely perfectly to fly without shields.
Touch the toast rack, clip the slot or land on your pad heavily and you'll take damage. After losing 3 ships filled with cargo, I never run without at least a weak shield. Landing is the one that catches most people out because if you're not exactly lined up and come down too quickly, then you'll hear the clang of damage.

My thinking was that it's a small price to pay losing those few tons of cargo space. I think of it as hull insurance.

 

[Tox Laximus]

The main thing to worry about is Anaconda cmdr's, I have lost millions in a shielded T9 due to some crazy guy boosting through the slot in his Conda. In the end I had to switch to a Anaconda with A5 shields for trading, my T9 sits on a quiet route far away from most people. If I see a cmdr in a smaller ship I'll slow down, I still expect people to move out of the way, but other guy's will just ram you.

Tell me about it, I was following a npc hauler out of the dock when a type 7 piloted by a human ploughed though and knocked everything flying, I had no cargo so I blasted him and done a little bit of damage before the station blew me up, was funny though.

 

[CMDR Beltane]

Haven't flown a ship without shields ever since i started. Always running at least a half decent shields and some just in case SCB. And i wouldn't recommend it on anything from ASP upwards, though the T7 is cheap to repair. As for the future past 1.2 - i wouldn't recommand it at all. The AI will most probably become more juiced up in the future and you might come across a whole bunch of 4 pirates due to wings. Good luck without a shield then, cause you will need it.

 

[Kraven42]

It costs too much to fly without shields on my clipper, a small bump in the station can wipe out a good chunk of trading profit.
The T7 was really cheap to repair but the largest bill I've had on the Clipper is 500,000 which is far too much esp as its horrible to fly at slow speeds.

 

[teaurn]

Fly without shields? Are you MAAAAD!!?

I know a lot of peeps do, but I wouldn't ever do it.

It's just too easy to lose a ship to a silly error.

I suppose it might work if you only have a 30 ton hold in a Cobra, where you may only lose 200,000cr per loss, but if you run anything like a T6 or bigger with a 100 ton hold, you can stand to lose 1 million easily.

And it could be from interdictions, heat damage, clipping the station, a bad landing, something unexpected in the letterbox, etc etc etc.

Too much of a gamble for me, I'm afraid.

I'll take the shields, every time...

 

[Acarin]

What you can do in larger ships (and still maintain a safety margin) is to downgrade the size of your shields. If your ship comes with a basic Size 6, take it down to a Size 4 or 5 - it will still protect against random scrapes and bumps, but you gain that extra 32/48t of cargo space.

 

[MaraJade]

I use to run my T-6 without until I made a few mistakes. As the ships and cargo get bigger it becomes more of a costly mistake and repair bill. Plus now with Interdiction up, you could end up being blow up very quickly.