Trade ships

Introduction

There are four overarching classes of cargo, which different ware types fit into:

1. Container (higher-end items like ship components).
2. Energy (Antimatter, Energy, Ion and Plasma Cells).
3. Bulk (stuff like minerals and refined materials).*
4. Liquid (Hydrogen, Ions, Plasma and Water).*

*Note that Mining Ships may also trade Bulk and Liquid wares if not equipped with mining drones.

 There are 19 trade ships capable of carrying Container wares, although 8 are also able to carry at least one other cargo type. Eighteen are designated as "Trade" whereas the Phoenix Marauder is a "Fight" ship (see here for info on the significance of that). For Energy, Bulk and Liquid, there is one less ship because the Sanahar only comes in a Container class.

Statistics for all of them can be found in the table below (based on ship data linked from here ), and notes on trends and outliers follow.

Container Trade ship stats (click on heading to re-order)

Energy Trade ship stats (click on heading to re-order)

Bulk Trade ship stats (click on heading to re-order)

Liquid Trade ship stats (click on heading to re-order)

1. Full price estimated to be hull+SEs+crew+drones:

• Hull: Encyclopaedia base price (approximately equal to 2 x sum cost of all components at their base price).
• SE (Surface Elements): Sold by shipyards at approximately 2 x base costs (1 Capital Field Generator = 3 FFPs).
• Crew: 240 k Cr assumed for L/XL ships (65k Captain; 35k Engineer; 140k DO), or 30k for a Pilot.
• Drones: 1.6 M Cr assumed for L/XL ships (5 constructors, 10 Cargo, and 5 Intie. Mk I).

Merged: The cargobays of the Lepton and Hermod have no restrictions on what amount of ware types they carry.
Segregated: The twin-storage versions of Rahanas and Styrvok hulls can only carry set amounts of both ware types. The Scaldis is the same but can carry set amounts of any ware type.

Trends and Outliers

Overpowered Lyramekron

The Lyramekron has both toughness and damage that seems more appropriate for a Fight class ship, as well as offering more than enough universal storage for most trading purposes. As such one might think that it is the ultimate and only trade ship one needs; however in practice it has a number of issues not easily seen from its raw stats:

Despite appearing to be stronger than many trade ships, this benefit is largely lost by its poorer acceleration and rotation which are very important for quick navigation. Its huge size makes it difficult to position near to  transfer targets, often forcing transfers to occur over long distances which may result in very long transfer times, as Cargolifter URVs move slowly. For comparison a more mobile and smaller Sanahar L ship may complete multiple transfers many times faster than the Lyramekron can, making it considerably more profitable to run.

Even though it's weapon system capability appears to be beyond many Fight ships and undoubtedly the best of all Trade ships, the Lyramekron still is lacking compared to dedicated Fight ships. Most of its damage comes from the massive number of HIT/MA turrets, which are short range anti-fighter weapons; it only offers a few well-distributed Plasma/MA turrets. Most (X)L Fight ships rely more heavily on Plasma/MA and Plasma/JET turrets which are long range anti-capital turrets, and they are often focused in particular combat directions. Additionally the Lyramekron's poor mobility makes it more vulnerable to being attacked and taking hits in combat. For comparison the Taranis XL Fight is approximately the same cost as the Lyramekron and although it's less tough on paper it offers superior long range damage, moves faster and turns considerably better, making it much more useful in combat for the firepower it brings.

As such the Lyramekron is best used for dangerous, high value transfer operations where it may come under fire from considerable numbers of fighters or some capital ships. If UA and CAR rep is not a concern it can be used to run deals through the TTO DLC sectors since the Phoenix Marauder pirates pose little threat to it individually. It can also have a use as a mobile supply platform to replace expended ammunition and lost units for larger fleets, as it is tough enough to survive heavy combat. For general trades smaller, faster L sized ships such as the Sanahar are considerably more profitable; for general combat purposes faster, more agile L/XL fight ships such as the Taranis or stronger, more powerful ships like the Fulmekron will yield better results.

Useful Titurel

The Titurel does not appear to be anything special. Having a slow speed and only moderate damage and toughness it most certainly will lose to any XL fight ship. This does not stop various pirate factions using it as a fight ship though, making it a fairly common encounter. It is worth noting that they are not manufactured by any XL shipyards so boarding is the only way to acquire them and so manufacturing cost is not a concern.

Trade-wise it performs better than what the stats suggest. Despite being slow, it is pretty compact and has sufficient turning to allow for efficient transfers. It also has a good amount of universal storage allowing it not only access to deals of all cargo types, but also to get good profit from deals involving large quantities.

Although its weapon systems are lacking, they are more than sufficient to eliminate or deter attacking XS, S or M fight ships. Its toughness is also sufficient to escape most XL fight ships if encountered individually. Although tougher than many trade ships, it is still fairly easy to board as it has only common weapon systems which are distributed around it in an accessible way.

Since they are fairly easy to board and tough enough to survive most encounters they make great early game trade ships to grow your company with. This especially applies to campaign starts where they are available early on before many better L and XL trade ships. They also make excellent armed OOZ miners for stations demanding mined wares from otherwise inaccessible troublespots (DV I'm looking at you, early campaign)..

Profitable Phoenix Marauder

The Phoenix Marauder is special in that despite having universal cargo it is still classed as a fight ship. It has major combat weaknesses, only a small cargo hold and is not very tough but it is extremely agile and mobile. It is worth noting that they are not manufactured by any XL shipyards so boarding is the only way to acquire them and so manufacturing cost is not a concern.

Because of its classification as a fight ship it will not be subjected to piracy in the TTO DLC system, allowing safe access to all the deals as well as deals between OL and AL sections. It is also the fastest XL ship in the game and ranks second fastest compared with L ships. It has very good mobility and a compact size allowing for very efficient transfers. The result is that it can complete deals very quickly.

Generally this ship should never need to defend itself against capital ships as it can outrun any major threats. Against small to medium fighter groups it has sufficient toughness and weapons to defend itself, especially since they should only be encountered when near stations for support. For players wanting to board them care must be taken to avoid being locked on by the front-facing Plasma/JET laser cannons. Players may want to build up reputation with UA and CAR factions before boarding one of their ships as normal hostility rules still apply in the case of sufficient negative reputation.

It is not suited for a general purpose trader due to its small cargo hold compared to other trade solutions. However its speed and armaments make it the perfect trader for dangerous places or for deals involving high-value cargo which you want delivered quickly. As long as the UA and CAR factions are kept sufficiently friendly it also has perfectly safe access to the TTO DLC sectors, allowing it to make profitable deals through them.

HINT: Load it up with Scanning Arrays & park it in a convenient Teladi  empty sector near their Overwatch. Next time you want a Teladi ship built you can use this Phoenix to sell the missing Scanning Arrays to the station (Teladi Overwatch is always missing Scanning Arrays) resulting in a fairly quick build & some profit for you. Don't sell all the Arrays at once though; double the amount required should be enough to get the build done (as other NPC shipbuilders will snipe some of your delivered wares)

Table changelog