Hey all, just got myself a C2 to do cargo runs and well move my tonk around, was wondering if anyone here knows some decent routes? Is it worth it in this patch? or is this something I need to continue to wait for?
Please include the easiest and safest route(s) too.
Commerce in 3.13.1 is working, but the large-margin commodities (Agrecium, Larinite, etc) are being sold and bought in small quantities.
However the items shown in the new Commodities Alert feature (found in the Journal, scroll down) are accurate. Items are list as “Overstock” (buy the item there) and “Understock” (sell the item there) and have proven accurate. However the payday isn’t great.
1M credits of construction materials will get a 25K profit. 600K credit of souvenirs saw a 50K profit. So a lot of risk for the reward. I haven’t tried Helium (very cheap) or Audio Equipment (very expensive) yet and they may work out better.
On the positive side, the C/M2 is very easy to fly and performs well in atmosphere so TO/Landing on a planet is fine.
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I’ve just been tracking prices with the mobiglass and making routes from surplus areas to deficit areas - these are always updating, so I havent found the an ultimate route or anything - its a nice feature and keeps the trade game fresh. I would add that any trading route is moderate to high risk due to our familiar friend 30k (i live out in the boonies and my internet is spotty at best so disconnecting / crashing is a huge issue for me). However, this risk can be mitigated by decreasing your investment, but - probably goes without saying - this will also decrease profits.
For me, I think trading is worth it because I love the rush of having a huge investment in my cargo hold, makes for some very intense gameplay. It can be frustrating at times but I always end up coming back. Moreover, trading is certainly improved from the last patch - is it perfect? No. But its in a good enough state to be profitable over the long run and I will look forward to future improvements.
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I have been running strictly helium the passed couple of days. mining facilities on Microtech to New Babbage on Microtech.
Loading up a full C2 costs about 125k , then selling in New Babbge for 169-171k.
Very quick and Easy, maybe 10 min round trip looking at 230k profit per hour if you just keep going. I suggest landing by the domes and not the spaceport every time, quicker for in and out selling.
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helium seems to be the best in this patch due to being able to fill up a whole hold instead of small quantities of minerals.
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Im curious if they are doing this on purpose to test different commodities. and eventually things will be more balanced, and then you wont be loading up a ship full of one thing, but maybe 1/3 is minerals. 1/3 is helium, 1/3 armaments… then you go and stop at one location and sell it all. may take longer but hopefully the pay out makes it worth the extra time.
Id be willing to do that, but in the current state of prices… its not worth grabbing 40 SCU of minerals because thats all you can grab for a 4k profit…
They should significantly increase the return especially because of the 30Ks. And then decrease it reasonably as soon as the infrastructure is stable.
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100% agree, the risk to reward is subpar… its not worth it.
To help alleviate 30Ks, when you leave a planet station (Lorville, NB, A18) or an Orbital Station or even R&R with a load of cargo, as soon as you hear the “Thank you for visiting…” message, immediately ask for clearance to land but don’t land. Instead continue on to your destination. If you get a 30K while enroute you and your cargo should reappear at the last station you got clearance to land at.
This obviously doesn’t help if you are picking up at a Moon/Planet site that doesn’t require clearance. If that happens you can do a flyby of the nearest orbital station and ask to land there to set your respawn point. If PO is the closest…I guess you can do a very fast flyby to avoid the turds.
I’ve tested it a few times and it works.
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I didn’t have much luck with profits on the usual Arial runs. Limited supply and limited demand. I lost my enthusiasm.
I tried a couple of trading cycles using the journal supply/demand missions. I made 261,000 aUEC a couple of times after filling a Herc C2. Some times from a planet to it’s space station. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the inventory cost could be in the 10’s of millions, 17,574,000 aUEC for one purchase for marginal reward of 261,000 aUEC.
Great tip, thanks!
This is actually genius… Thanks for the tip!
From what I can see, prices from the journal aren’t always acurate. For example, fireworks cost at NB is always significantly lower then in alerts, even right after it updates.
As for good trade routs, they will always change. The more you run a commodity - the less you get for it as demand falls. They are implementing and testing Quantum. In time the system should balance itself without dev’s tweaks.
And I don’t think they should compensate 30k. We’re in early alpha. It’s not about earning money, it’s about testing game mechanics so devs can get metrics and make it blalanced. We’re just test rats 
The compensation is for those that do care about 30Ks. If one loses all their money or doesn’t find it worth the risk, they will not test the system.
For example, I rather take out my Eclipse 1-2 shot a Hammerhead, rinse and repeat than take the risk of using my M2 for trading. I guess when I finally have all of the top components for all of my ships and earn a surplus of both parts and aUEC, I will test it out.
Youre talking about the visual gear stuff thats really expensive per piece. That risk is too much for someone like me… and thats not even a percentage of profit worth risking with the 30ks at the moment.
Based on your numbers thats only a 1.4% profit markup.
I was doing helium for the awhile now, at 125k for a full C2 and selling back at 171k - for a 46k profit which is a 36.8% profit markup.
But just recently yesterday, I think things are switching. Helium was no longer overstocked at most places…so I will have to figure out what to do now.
the formula to calculate the profit markup is: (profit / cost) x 100
I keep my rule of 25% or more is my standard. 18% if I am desperate for money.
I was going for max profit per load. The most I earned was 330,000 aUEC profit, I did that a couple of times but the risk is huge. I got interdicted on one run. I killed the pirate but got a crime stat when I did so … PITA.
I love the Herc though, she’s a beauty.