Using a fleet carrier for comfortable long distance travel. Is it worth it?

[Branithar]

I made this map using the Codex, and I'd like to visit every region, and I only have a few areas left 'til I've done that.
The blue is where I've visited (since the Codec was released):

I'm considering using a fleet carrier to travel to the northeast, and travel west and explore in a small ship before returning to the fleet carrier and heading home.
I clicked around on the https://www.spansh.co.uk/fleet-carrier (Fleet Carrier Router tool) and fleet carrier travel seems quite slow (17 hours to get from Sol to Sagittarius A), and apparently one can only plot one jump at a time.

What was your experience with fleet carriers? Is it worth it for an end-game explorer who is looking for traveling in comfort?

 

[Codger]

I've been to Sag A* and back in mine, and I enjoyed it. You'll have to stock up on Tritium, or mine it as you go. It is NOT a fast way to travel, but you get to take all your stuff with you. It's fun to have access to all your ships. You can also sell cartographic data to your own carrier. You'll lose 12.5% of the credits. I did it anyway because I like seeing my name on stuff right away.

Bringing the carrier means extra work. It's not really more comfortable, exactly.

 

[Orvidius]

I guess it really depends. I've enjoyed using mine as a remote base of operations. But the fuel is expensive, and mining it yourself is super time consuming, so I prefer to just buy it, and limit the distance based on how much tritium I can pre-load in the cargo hold.

For a lot of people it's probably more trouble than it's worth, especially with the DSSA fleet out there and available for everyone to use. But it's also nice to have your own fleet of ships on the carrier and do things yourself too, if you're willing to drag the carrier around.

 

[Dragsham]

Not worth the aggro if all your doing is mapping/exploration.
Can do that in a dbx.
But as previously mentioned if u like having all your assets in one place to hand then yes.
You'll go through 10k of tritium though so stock up. Mining it sucks.

 

[LifesAJourney]

I'd say:
- if genome data could be sold at the carrier: a must have
- but it can't, so a dead weight for a single Cmdr unless some variety of ships and activities is desired

 

[Deleted member 38366]

IMHO it's totally worth it, provided

• you have a Fleet of Exploration/Scout Vessels that make it worthwhile
• especially if you enjoy the occasional Mining run just for a change of pacing
• you don't mind spending a Billion Cr or more on Tritium

Tritium must be carefully considered and a solid Fuel Schedule calculated in advance.
Without a reliable Fuel Plan (incl. Joker and Bingo fuels), things can quickly turn ugly should you run dry.

When it comes to Vista Genomics, the Carrier can and will eventually pass a suitable System.
Explorer's Anchorage for example near SagA* or the Colonia Region, so selling off while technically still in Deep Space and Exploring is usually possible occasionally, provided the Carrier is routed near them eventually or one has a very long-range Ship for a quick sales trip via Neutron Highway.
(I made it a habit to make a Neutron Highway sales trip to the nearest Vista Genomics 1x per month... kinda works but having it on the Carrier i.e. via Redemption Office clearly would be the preferred choice)

 

[bobilon]

in my opinion, if you buy carrier, u also need hauler (i have 700+tons cargo T9). And if you buy decent miner ship, you wont have to come back to civilisation till all stars in galaxy burns out.

 

[Rudi Raumkraut]

Wouldn't go without one anymore.
Especially with a Carrier Navigation Computer

 

[GroG79]

No, it becomes a hassle and your FC will always be trailing your ship trying to catch up.

 

[Orvidius]

I think the fleet carrier makes more sense if there are multiple people using it. Like a small expedition.

But having said that, it 100% works for the solo-explorer as well. And in fact, it opens up the possibility of using exploration ships that you might not otherwise choose due to shorter jump ranges. Want to explore in an Eagle or a Mamba? Why not? You have the carrier there, so no need to pack an AFMU or worry about jump range.

 

[Nordmarken]

Some systems are unreachable unless you use a carrier. When the fc:s first arrived I jumped around a lot with it. Mainly looking for those previously unreachable systems. Now I usually just park it in a region and go exploring the closes vicinity from there. Making sure I have enough with tritium to be able to get back to the bubble.

 

[Mrat13]

How much money does OP have? Buying Tritium for a journey can be costly. Although, you could just make that cash hauling Tritium to Colonia, or hauling Liquor to Rackham's peak.....

 

[Branithar]

Fleet carrier travel might technically be a bit slower than honking and jumping in a smaller ship, but I don't like honking+jumping: I get distracted by notable stellar phenomena and terraformables.

Is fleet carrier travel something that I could do a few hours a day, and not have to be planted in front of my computer, staring at the monitor the entire time? If I could go AFK and jump on the game to plot the next jump, it might not be so bad.

How much money does OP have? Buying Tritium for a journey can be costly. Although, you could just make that cash hauling Tritium to Colonia, or hauling Liquor to Rackham's peak.....

I can't afford a fleet carrier yet. I'm considering one in the future. Can tritium be mined from rings? I have a Cutter that I outfit for mining that I could take with me on the carrier. And if I find a couple people who want to ride along, they might help mine some tritium.

 

[Mrat13]

I can't afford a fleet carrier yet. I'm considering one in the future. Can tritium be mined from rings? I have a Cutter that I outfit for mining that I could take with me on the carrier. And if I find a couple people who want to ride along, they might help mine some tritium.

I can't remember the exact figure off the top of my head, but it's something stupidly low like 100 tons an hour. Most people don't see the point of it. Quicker to grind the cash to buy it.

 

[iain666]

I can't remember the exact figure off the top of my head, but it's something stupidly low like 100 tons an hour. Most people don't see the point of it. Quicker to grind the cash to buy it.

The point of it, surely, is to keep the carrier running if you want to stay out in the black long enough to run down an entire hold full of tritium...

If you're staying near the shops or don't mind going back to the bubble every so often then yeah, buying it is probably quicker over all. If getting to the nearest cash-grinding opportunity and back to where you want the FC to be is going to leave you with enough tritium for a handful of jumps before you have to repeat the exercise then possibly not so much.

 

[K Olley]

I can't remember the exact figure off the top of my head, but it's something stupidly low like 100 tons an hour. Most people don't see the point of it. Quicker to grind the cash to buy it.

Laser mining in a decent miner will max out at about that, SD/SSD mining can get up to 200t an hour but even then that is slowed by time taken to unload and collect more ammo.

A full load in my Cutter 512 + 10t fitted with 2 x 2B SSDM doing a combination of both the above from carrier to carrier will take about 3.5 to 4 hours.

A high percentage of Icy rings have got Tritium hotspots and even those that have not will have a certain amount but it may be as low as 20t an hour to find.

And if I find a couple people who want to ride along, they might help mine some tritium.

This causes another set of problems, for long range carrier travel at max economy you need to keep the carrier as light as possible, the more weight the more Tritium used for each jump. dedicated passengers will need you to install extra facilities such as Shipyard and Outfitting, that's 4,750t of extra weight or less cargo space to carry extra Tritium plus an increase in fuel used each jump.

A single passenger in a single ship with no additional equipment weighs nothing, if they want to carry another ship you need a Shipyard fitted 3,000t, if they want to carry additional modules you would need Outfitting installed 1,750t. Plus an additional 11.5m cr per week running costs. - Passengers can be Expensive.

On the plus side any passenger owned ships or modules carried and any of your own ships and extra modules carried Do Not add to the weight of the carrier.

If you look at my carrier (link in sig) I am an out-black miner/explorer, I do not have Shipyard, Outfitting or Secure Warehouse fitted, (5,000t more cargo space). I mine my own Tritium as I go, I left Beagle Point with only the Tritium in my carrier tank, if I have any excess I will sell it in Colonia before heading back to the bubble to get rid of the rest of my cargo.

 

[Orvidius]

Is fleet carrier travel something that I could do a few hours a day, and not have to be planted in front of my computer, staring at the monitor the entire time? If I could go AFK and jump on the game to plot the next jump, it might not be so bad.

The carrier will execute a jump even if you start a jump sequence and then log out (it has a 15 minute countdown), but you can't pre-schedule multiple jumps. However, you also don't need to be on the carrier in order to execute a jump.

Since the actual fuel tank on the carrier can hold 1000 tons, if you make a point of filling it from the supply in the cargo hold every time you plan to undock, you can have the carrier travel several thousand lightyears (usually at least 4,000 ly) without you being on board. You'd only need to dock in order to transfer more fuel into the tank/depot. So you can absolutely do some exploration, and have the carrier following behind you, as long as you don't get too far away from it.

 

[LifesAJourney]

I consider starting a new account just to provide it with an all-cargo T9 and imprison it at my carrier. To be able to refuel at any time. "Value for effort" is too high for me at the moment, so it's still not done but who knows what's gonna happen in the future...?

 

[Orvidius]

I've done that with my alt account too. "He" rides along with a T9 full of cargo racks, just for transferring fuel, if I really want to move the carrier without babysitting it myself.

 

[rOmiLaYu]

Some systems are unreachable unless you use a carrier.

And that is the sole reason that I bought one. Jumping into a system that no one can get to with a carrier is a unique experience in this game and I love it!