Trading vs Fighting - need opinions

r3dt4g

R
So for the past 2 days I grinded the hell out of the local systems to get enough credits to buy a Cobra.
its all great, I'm making 10 to 20k per trade run, do missions as I go to earn even more credits (100k per delivery).
But the idea of trading, well its not very appealing to me, so I guess I would like to know, if fighting really worth it?

As example, if ill trade my cobra for a viper and fully equip it, sure I will be able to take out hawks and cobras and other vipers,
what scares me is that sometimes the game gives you a kill mission, low rank kill mission, but you have to take out some really tough ships...
 

Boomer Kay

B
Hm.. difficult question.
Running missions is not the most lucrative thing and not the fastest way to get money (it's one of the less boring ones, though).

For trading, you'd usually want a profitable A->B->A trading route.
For fighting, you'd usually want a ressource exctaction site or compromised nav beacon to collect bounties.

The investment in a pure trading ship is significantly lower.
Basically you upgrade all but the FSD to maximum D Rating (lowest weight) and fill your internal spots with the biggest cargo holds available.
For a combat ship, you'd want the biggest shields, which require better power supply and distribution and upgrade the bulkheads and so on.

If you enjoy missions for now, you can try a mix (done that for quite some time in my Cobra MK IV - works with the MKIII as well, but a bit slower).
Get some decent shields and guns with the powersupply to run them, fill the rest with cargo.
Take missions, if no missions available look for ressource extraction sites or profitable one-stop trade routes from where you currently are (3rd party sites are a great help for that kind of gameplay).
 

GunnerBill

GunnerBill
I switched between trading/fighting til I had enough for a reasonably equipped Vulture (20mil) and now almost exclusively bounty hunt + ranking stuff, CG, and wet work in general.

You could also try a bit of mid range exploration.
 

dementia

dementia
Find a Compromised Beacon and get stuck in. You'll make a good living as well as gaining some useful combat skills along the way.

Combat zones are also fun but you'll make less money there but then the kinds of foe you'll be up against will not be quite as tough.
 
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Space Pigeon

Space Pigeon
Eventually you'll be able to upgrade to more powerful multipurpose ships. Like the ASP Explorer and later on the Python.

The Cobra definitely is a good ship though, with the right set up it can kill an Anaconda without too much problems.

For me personally, combat is the most fun. It can be quite profitable as well.
 

Ydiss

Ydiss
Yes, if combat appeals to you then it's worth it.

Get a Viper but make sure you do it in a system that has lots of upgrades (its jump range is much lower than the cobra, you'll need to buy an A class FSD right off the bat).

As a new combat pilot, I'd recommend you begin by visiting a nav beacon (you can find these nearby the main star in any inhabited system). Avoid compromised beacons until you're confident.

Your objective is to find wanted targets and destroy them. Make sure you target them and wait for the scan to complete. So long as they show as wanted, you can attack them. I'd suggest you only attack sidewinder, Eagle, hauler ships and the like to begin with and preferably only those with lower rank (harmless, mostly harmless, novice, competent).

You can review how many bounties you have in your transaction tab (left panel). You lose these if you die so return to the station to claim them as frequently as you need, to begin with.

As you gain confidence, start attacking other ships. Once nav beacons get boring, find a resource extraction site (low), then high, then hazardous. The difficulty and number of ships increases with each. As does the rewards.

One tip... Be very wary of clean ships and authority ships. Try to not hit them. If you do, you may be fined. If you are, they will attack you and you will be wanted. In this case, get out of there immediately, exit to another system and wait for the short timer to expire (usually 6m, you can see it in your transactions tab). Then go to the system again and pay the fine at any station.

Have fun.
 
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Boomer Kay

B
r3dt4g said:
Should I keep the cobra or switch to a viper?
Click to expand...

Up to you, but I'd keep the Cobra.

Tip: you can sell any internal upgrades without losing money, so you can "strip down" any ship you have in order to get money for another ship.
You *do* lose money on selling the ship hull, though.
 
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Swordfish_01

Swordfish_01
You have come this far to buy your Cobra. If you are still liking the game at this point then you are doing something right. The Cobra's Hold will not let you get rich overnight. The A-B-A grind can get VERY boring. Fortunately, with a little tweaking, you can fight very well in your Cobra. Change out your Cargo Holds for Armor Plate. I use two Small Beam Lasers and two Medium Multi-Cannons on my Cobra and when I have to fight, it does well. Personally, I would set-up my Cobra to fight in RES and Low RES areas. This seemed to profit more than a Good Trading Route. Maybe I am mistaken, but it seems to go faster that way. I went from Cobra to Vulture. Now I have both and use both everyday for missions because I want to level up in Rank in both Federation and Empire. Missions are more difficult and take more time and the pay out is peanuts compared to Trading or Fighting. This is my own personal experience. Get proficient at using KWS, and Frame Shift Drive Interdictor. This helps a lot in making money.
 
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Crazy Jedi

Crazy Jedi
I loved my Cobra (I still have it, now A-rated) as it is very versatile, handy in a fight but capable of most missions.
I spend most of my time either exploring or rare running / smuggling in my Asp but I have a FAS for combat. I like combat but can find it frustrating.. I can be doing really well for a while but then out of nowhere get pummelled by an NPC with rail guns and end up with a hefty repair bill when I limp in to port. I like a bit of variety to my game..
if you find trading boring try smuggling.... Lots more adrenaline needed for that
 
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Boomer Kay

B
Swordfish_01 said:
The Cobra's Hold will not let you get rich overnight. The A-B-A grind can get VERY boring.
Click to expand...

With a decent traderoute you can make 2500-3000 credits profit per ton per turn (A-B-A) with <30ly turns.
Even with a cobra (40t with shields, 56 without), that's 100-120k profit per turn.

But yes. It is pretty boring spacetrucking.
 
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smiths121

S
Hello t3dt4g (is that a robot's name?),

Well it sound like you want to give trading a rest for a while - no harm in that you already have the skills for a backup plan!
The Cobra can vary from 1Mr up to 10Mcr depending on loadout but if you cannot afford it I would equip the Cobra as a mission ship small trader AND also own a Viper. This means you can mix and match depending on moon, and can investigate smuggling and other aspects of trading and missions. For this you will need a home "place" to store the ship you are not using. Ideally this should be a place that has access (a jump or 2) to the outfitting, near some Res sites and near markets and good mission sources.

My advise is High Res Sites, not Hazardous - if you are not confident in taking down the big ships, High Res Sites have a police presence it means you can get some help for the big ships as you learn where to position your self for best firepower minimum firepower back. As your combat ship improves, and perhaps grows bigger so you can move up to the Hazadous Res sites.

Good luck.
Simon
 
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