Ship Builds & Load Outs What is the best ship and build to climb through the Empire ranks to Baron

[Zerashk]

Greetings fellow cmdrs,

I am attempting to climb my way through the Imperial ranks to Baron so I may purchase a Clipper (I just really want to own one). However, I am finding it hard to get a ship that can function in the various facets station missions often require. I used to own an Asp, which I sold to get into a Type 7 for trading. However now that I have my sights set on a Clipper I'm trying to figure out what the best mid-level ship is to pilot through this grind. I believe I've settled on re-buying an Asp and outfitting it like this http://coriolis.io/outfit/asp/05A5A...25353.Iw18WQ==.IwBhrSukCZ-kA===?bn=Combat Asp . Yet, I am still very new to this game (I've been playing since the last week of August) and I dont know what lies ahead of me in the pursuit of Baron. I've heard that some of the promotion missions can be targeted assassinations of guys in condas so the ship is focused on combat and survivability, with a little cargo space to do the "fetch or deliver" missions.

Anyways, I would just like feedback on what ship & build you think is best suited for running rep missions while keeping the budget of ~30m credits.

Thanks Gents, and if you've read this far and ever see CMDR ZERASHK in-game... it's me.... and I run my traders with zero weapons....................

 

[goemon]

basically, what you will do is playing a lot missions, so you are asking for a good mission-play ship.
a) you can go with your Asp. it is a solid multipurpose. i flew the Asp for a long time, i can't stand her anymore besides exploration, but for sure she is up to the job.
b) you can outfit an A-Class Cobra for around 15 millions. cobra will finish missions faster than an Asp, and for missions, even stacking missions, you don't need a lot of cargo (16-32 T are just fine). of course a cobra is not that much of a punch an Asp can be pve.
c) have a look to the vulture, but don't outfit her as a pure combat ship. e.g. fit a class 5 cargo rack, a class 4 shield, a class 2 fuelscoop or fsi... you will loose on jumprange against Asp and Cobra, but missions only come in a max of 15 ly (till 1.4 is out). for intense mission-gameplay i feel the vulture is most effective.

 

[Dark Skies]

Don't forget to pick up missions only for factions affiliated with the Empire. RH pane scroll down your status and it lets you know if they are fed empire or independent.
Also take all the charity missions you can get. Search for the post called fast ranking would be my suggestion. I did the odd mission when board of doing the of work for charity. (I don't like to talk about it) it is possible to rank up without leaving the stations I technically your ship doesn't matter, but it's boring, but quick. That's why I went for a mix.

 

[Clumsywordsmith]

I did mine in an unshielded hauler taxi. Since ranking up just seems to involve sitting in station and spamming charity missions...

The rank progression missions were all 'deliver a few tons of illicit goods to the station across the street.'

 

[newman1702]

If you managed to get to the rank of Master, do consider a Courier. It's great for ranking up. I have one alongside a Clipper and apart from it being handy (strong shields, can land at outposts, fast, maneuverable, good in a fight, cheap to replace), it's quite simply fun to fly, and well below your specified budget, leaving you a lot of breathing room.

Otherwise, get something like a Cobra, it's a nice all rounder that can also handle anything the bulletin board throws at you.