Strange ship progression

Chocodile

Chocodile
I started in my Sidewinder have now got a fully decked out Viper for bounty hunting which is a nice little way to make some money early on.

I'm thinking as I move up I'd like to have a go at trading for some big money and letting the bounty hunting take a back seat as a refreshing change of pace when I don't feel like doing trade runs.

My research so far has told me that the base line trading ship is the Type-6 but it can be a little low for serious trading profits. My other thought was to get a Cobra Mk 3 and do some smuggling for a while.

I'm thinking I'd need around 6,000,000 to move up to the Type-6. Not sure how much I'd need to fit out the Cobra

I suppose my other choice is to wait out for a Type-7 but I think that might be a bit far off

Any and all advice appreciated thank you.
 

Howe

Howe
Buy a Cobra. Trade, bounty hunt, explore as your fancy takes you. Cracking little ship, a Cobra. I used mine for ages and still found myself going back to one every now and again when I'd got an Asp and T6.
 

DCLXVI your God

DCLXVI your God
Personally I like the Cobra Mk III very well.
Even though I have bigger ships in the yard, I frequently take out and use my Cobra.
Fun to fly; great smuggler. :)
 

jay3141592

J
A C3 is a pretty nice piece for smuggling and even rare commodity trading. The next step up then in my opinion is the Asp Explorer for either task.

Though I admit, as much as I wanted to love it, I couldn't enjoy flying the Asp. The C3 felt much nicer. I ended up giving up trading and buying a Vulture to do some bounty hunting again. It's not the fastest way to earn cash, but it doesn't bore the hell out of me.
 

Steve_T

Steve_T
I would just go for the T6 and upgrade to the T7 when you've amassed the funds. Keep the Viper though as you might want to do a bit of bounty hunting every now and then to break the trading monotony.
 

Chocodile

Chocodile
jay3141592 said:
A C3 is a pretty nice piece for smuggling and even rare commodity trading. The next step up then in my opinion is the Asp Explorer for either task.

Though I admit, as much as I wanted to love it, I couldn't enjoy flying the Asp. The C3 felt much nicer. I ended up giving up trading and buying a Vulture to do some bounty hunting again. It's not the fastest way to earn cash, but it doesn't bore the hell out of me.
Click to expand...

I cleared my previous save a little while ago but I had followed that very same progression however I found the same thing about the Asp so I was thinking of avoiding this route this time.

Steve_T said:
I would just go for the T6 and upgrade to the T7 when you've amassed the funds. Keep the Viper though as you might want to do a bit of bounty hunting every now and then to break the trading monotony.
Click to expand...

I always intended to keep the viper for this very purpose. I still have my starting sidewinder lol.

I probably should mention I'm only playing solo at the moment. Not confident enough to go open yet
 
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mbar

mbar
I'd get the cobra III first. Don't knock trading in a Type-6. It can make you 250K per trade loop, land on outposts, and it can be fast. It pays for itself very quickly.
 
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Boomer Kay

B
Chocodile said:
I'm thinking I'd need around 6,000,000 to move up to the Type-6. Not sure how much I'd need to fit out the Cobra
Click to expand...

You need about 1.8 million for a top-notch trading T6.
1.4 million, if you go with a 4D Jump Drive (10ly laden jump range).
Pays itself in less than 2 hrs, if you find a profitable round-trip route.

Type-6 Transporter
U: 0I Chaff Launcher
U: 0I Chaff Launcher
U: 0I Point Defence


BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 3D Power Plant
TM: 4D Thrusters
FH: 4B Frame Shift Drive
EC: 2D Life Support
PC: 3D Power Distributor
SS: 2D Sensors
FS: 4C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 16)


5: 5E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 32)
5: 5E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 32)
4: 4E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 16)
4: 4E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 16)
3: 3D Shield Generator
2: 2E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 4)
2: 2E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 4)
---
Shield: 85,81 MJ
Power : 7,78 MW retracted (86 %)
7,78 MW deployed (86 %)
9,00 MW available
Cargo : 104 T
Fuel : 16 T
Mass : 186,1 T empty
306,1 T full
Range : 23,91 LY unladen
15,78 LY laden
Price : 1.875.680 CR
-----

You can even ditch the Shield Generator for an additional 8to of cargo and a more rustic trading feel. Plus the added challenge of every landing giving you hull damage if it's not really perfect and every interdiction risking to lose it all. :D
 
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Chocodile

Chocodile
Boomer Kay said:
You need about 1.8 million for a top-notch trading T6.
1.4 million, if you go with a 4D Jump Drive (10ly laden jump range).
Pays itself in less than 2 hrs, if you find a profitable round-trip route.

Type-6 Transporter
U: 0I Chaff Launcher
U: 0I Chaff Launcher
U: 0I Point Defence


BH: 1I Lightweight Alloy
RB: 3D Power Plant
TM: 4D Thrusters
FH: 4B Frame Shift Drive
EC: 2D Life Support
PC: 3D Power Distributor
SS: 2D Sensors
FS: 4C Fuel Tank (Capacity: 16)


5: 5E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 32)
5: 5E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 32)
4: 4E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 16)
4: 4E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 16)
3: 3D Shield Generator
2: 2E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 4)
2: 2E Cargo Rack (Capacity: 4)
---
Shield: 85,81 MJ
Power : 7,78 MW retracted (86 %)
7,78 MW deployed (86 %)
9,00 MW available
Cargo : 104 T
Fuel : 16 T
Mass : 186,1 T empty
306,1 T full
Range : 23,91 LY unladen
15,78 LY laden
Price : 1.875.680 CR
-----

You can even ditch the Shield Generator for an additional 8to of cargo and a more rustic trading feel. Plus the added challenge of every landing giving you hull damage if it's not really perfect and every interdiction risking to lose it all. :D
Click to expand...

That's a nice build, would it be worth getting an A class FSD for the range?
 

Jabezz

J
I agree with getting the Cobra. It's a good starter for a trader while you build your funds early on.

Use the following website to find all your local trade runs:

https://eddb.io/trade/single

Then on to a Type 6 you should start seeing a step change in your accumulation of funds at that point, again using the eddb website.
 

Boomer Kay

B
Chocodile said:
That's a nice build, would it be worth getting an A class FSD for the range?
Click to expand...

Depends on your trade route.
The B works for me (30ly route at the moment).
The A adds about 2-3LY max jump range, which is not required on the routes I fly. Saves minimal fuel and jumps across the same systems at the same speed?
Even a D might work, if you have a good, short route.

Upgrading any other component past D is just not worth it.

For a (final) 4 million (can start with the vanilla, upgrade to D and get a B FSC), you get a decent Cobra MK IV with 64to cargo and some self-defence/bounty hunting/mission capability (mostly B grade stuff), which I built/used for quite some time til I got the T6.
 
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Ceeege

Ceeege
It has to be a Cobra Mk III. This is Elite you're playing after all, and this is the ship that started it all.

Elite without experiencing the Cobra Mk III is like bread without butter (or any other similar analogy!)

I still fly my starting Cobra frequently and used it exclusively and misty eyed in the Horizons beta :)
 

DragonIV

DragonIV
Cobra, and start running rare trades. Pretty soon, you'll be able to make a T6 and do even better in the rare trade circuit. I'd then probably kit out an ASP for smuggling, and kit your T6 as a bare bones miner. But then, this is elite--you can do pretty much whatevah you want. :)
 

Hilight

Hilight
If you're one of the players that the Cobra MK IV is available to, you should consider on of those. It will hold up to 72t cargo in trade configuration and is quite a bit more fun to fly than a T-6. I also think it would make a passable smuggler although it's not particularly fast, but hey, I've heard of people exploring in Orca's and I've seen a dude dog fighting in an Adder to good effect,.. That's part of the beauty of Elite, if you get creative all sorts of possibilities pop up...

Here is my config for a Cobra MK IV set up for trading and with an SRV: http://coriolis.io/outfit/cobra_mk_iv/04C4A4A3D3A3D4C-----0004030303034002v62f.Iw18SQ==.Aw18SQ==
 
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Roycie

R
You only lose money in selling ships, not in changing modules.

I'd agree the cobra is a good option - you can fit it for smuggling (light, fast, fuel tank for less stopping), trading (cargo bays), bounty hunting, combat zones, and change it around whenever you get bored.

If you hate trading, you'll either shelf the T6 or lose 10% of the purchase cost in selling it.
 

chesdj

C
If you want to have fun a Cobra MKIII, it's a competent little begger.

I kept mine until I had more than enough for a decent ASP, which is like the Cobra but even better in what it can do. :)

I keep buying other ships to try then just park them and go back to the ASP or Cobra. :) Both are fantastic multirole ships.
 
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