Which Ship would you suggest?

General
1

Hey Guys and Gals,
I am looking for your suggestions / recommendations as to which Cargo Ship to purchase for solo cargo runs (assuming AI could be used). It doesn’t have to be a Cargo specific ship… But I am looking for the Largest Cargo Capacity on a ship that could be run with one player and possible AI if needed. Thoughts?

Thanks,
Anabolic

2

Freelancer MAX and Constellation Taurus are both Medium Freighters with decent weaponry. They are both expected to be done by the end of the year according to the road map, their place holder ships (MISC Freelancer and Constellation Andromeda) both have decent cargo holds too. The Freelancer MAX is perfect for solo game play and the Constellation Taurus is great for team oriented cargo running.

It’s your choice. Those are my recommendations.

If you want something stupidly big. The Drake Caterpillar is the biggest cargo ship currently flyable.

3

Have to agree with both of those recommendations for what you are looking for. But would if no NPC crew, the MAX gets a bit more of a nod. The safe route and also no NPC needed is a Black (faster and can fight) but has half the cargo space.

4

Thank you for your feedback!

5

Freelancer MAX for sure, same engines as the Connie half the size and larger cargo capacity. Can’t loose. Plus some good armaments.

6

Might be abit late to chime in here but the Cutlass Black serves very well in the runs i’ve made while being able to fight off or escape from most encounters with a griefer crew. This or the Freelancer variant mentioned above may be a solid choice until you’re comfortable with the game and want to upgrade to a larger cargo ship with NPC crew or trusted players :slight_smile: Good luck Pilot!

7

I realize that this reply is a few months later than the OP, but I figured I’d respond anyway. And heads-up, I think long-term in my ship recommendations, not necessarily what you can play effectively right now.

“But I am looking for the Largest Cargo Capacity on a ship that could be run with one player and possible AI if needed.”

Purely for cargo, Hull B, no contest. Obviously doesn’t have the armaments/shielding/crew of a Freelancer Max or Connie Andromeda/Taurus, as folks have mentioned, but has more cargo than both a Connie and a Freelancer combined and you can run it yourself with no AI since the max crew is one. You would need a couple AI to run the other ships (minimum crew for a Max is 2 and a Connie is 3 in the ship matrix; maximum for both is 4).
This brings up a couple questions though: what are you planning on hauling and where are you planning on hauling it? Because that will help you. Since we can’t talk exact places or items right now, we’ll have to go with the broad strokes.
Solo running expensive items through lower security areas? Probably a Connie, simply for armament, but a Max would be better in the speed department. More inexpensive items through higher security areas? Go for Hull B. Items that are cheap in one area, but sell high somewhere else? Well, it depends on how secure the route you take is. You’ll probably want to think about how much AI will cost too.

It’s not a super simple answer because of the variables, but you know yourself best and so know what style of play you’re looking for. That style of play is probably your best indicator at this point in time.

Edit:
Styles of play and my corresponding ship suggestions, that you may take, leave, or ask about at your leisure:

Assuming solo play (cost for AI, etc),

  1. hauling anything through lowsec space (more intense, risky, adrenaline style of play) - Constellation Andromeda/Taurus. Only consider Freelancer Max if the distance being traveling through lowsec is less than midsec/highsec.
  2. hauling anything through midsec space (percentage risk is less but still as adrenaline-giving when things do happen) - Freelancer Max. Only consider Hull B if distance traveled through midsec is less than distance traveled through highsec and cargo is for selling in bulk rather than high-cost single items.
  3. hauling anything through highsec space - Hull B, expensive cargo or not.

Also, while the Cutlass Black does have more armament than all of these ships and only requires one AI crew member (min and max crew is 2), it has half the cargo space and less fuel capacity than the Andromeda. I can only recommend a Black for shorter, high-cost item, salvage-style runs in lowsec.

8

It depends I suppose on what kind of missions you’ll be running. If it’s for smaller transports, there’s the Hull A, Cutlass Black, Andromeda, or Max. The nice thing about something like the Andromeda, Max, or Cutlass would be the firepower to defend yourself on your runs. The Max and Cutlass will also require less crew, so that may be something for you to check out.

9

Now that the Hercules C2 came out, might give this a nod as well. Good guns, for protection (but surely a pain to provide that cover in space; to be determined, since no one has a clue yet), a crew of three, one can control the remote turrets with an assist by the co-pilot… Giving the opportunity to transport a group of folk in their vehicles and still have room for cargo runs, does give it the flexibility. The A2 has the bombs, for those pissy folks planet/moon/asteroid side.