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Appendix 2: Ships - Ash - 02-09-2019

For those of you who didn't arrive at this thread via a link from the main guide, here's a link back to it for context.

Ash's Complete Guide to Trading, Smuggling and Not Getting Caught!


Appendix 2: Ships

Transports have had a-lot more thought put into them aside from their hold size and price. Years ago these two factors alone limited what you could achieve as a shipper, whereas nowadays trading vessels have evolved into several ship classes, each with their own unique strengths and weaknesses. For the puposes of distinction i'll be deviating a bit from the mod standards of categorisation to address the subtler differences in practice.

SUPERTRANSPORTS

[Image: 254px-Zonerwhale.png]

Best Suited For: Domestic Trading, POB Supply
Worst Suited For: Combat, Long Distance Trading/Smuggling

Supertransports are the big game and a powertrader’s dream. All supertransports boast a 5k cargo hold making them the largest haulers of the mod. This 5k capacity also makes for a neat round number for those supplying POBs, since most construction commodities consumed by POBs are required in denominations of 5000. However this capacity comes at a considerable cost. Most supertransports are practically defenceless. In most threatening situations they are cannon fodder due to their size and poor manoeuvrability. Therefore those who fly them must rely on their wit and quick thinking to stay out of the way of potential attackers. Due to the enormity and cost of supertransports they are largely restricted to large shipping corporations.

TRAINS

[Image: 254px-Dsy-trainx3.png]

Best Suited For: Domestic Trading
Worst Suited For: Combat, Long Distance Trading/Smuggling

Trains are like supertransports in the sense that they are more or less, equally as vulnerable. Indeed a number of supertransports are actually trains. This ship class is rather unpopular due to the fact that all train models, regardless of size, tend to have the same defensive capabilities of your average supertransport. Add this to the fact that trains are notorious for having terrible turret placement makes them a second choice to supertransports by default. In practice they are mostly used as a small stepping stone for aspiring shippers headed for bigger things.

Trains are more accessible to your average non-corporate trader than supertransports, making them a potential option for freelance and independent shippers.

A rare example of an excellent train is:
HEAVY TRANSPORTS

[Image: 254px-Liberty-b-cargo.png]

Best Suited For: Long Distance Trading, Combat
Worst Suited For: Smuggling

Heavy transports are everything you could possibly want from a ship. They are designed to be formidable, offering generous cargo holds up to and over the 4000 mark, all while packing arrays of turret mounts ranging from 7 to 10. While still suffering from the poor manoeuvrability of their larger cousins, this is counterbalanced greatly by their defensive capabilities and decked out armor rating. Heavy transports have indeed been so popular amongst players that many have outfitted them solely for combat as battletransports. However most large heavy transports lack CM and CD slots, meaning not only do they miss out on disruptive and counter disruptive functions but also cloaks and cloak disruptors.

Heavy transports should be flown similar to capital ships. Because like caps, you have a similar size and turn rate but with a lower armour rating. Essentially, there’s little you can do to evade incoming fire. So instead you should focus more on suppressing your attackers with powerful and accurate turret fire.

Examples of excellent heavy transports are:

CONTAINER TRANSPORTS

[Image: 254px-Bret-ctrans.png]

Best Suited For: Convoy Trading, Domestic Trading
Worst Suited For: Long Distance Trading/Smuggling

Container transports are pretty much half way between supertransports and heavy transports in terms of stats. Where heavy transports take the hit on hold capacity for armour and some turrets, container transports take the hit for no armour and a rediculous amount of turrets.

Container transports are essentially giant mobile weapons platforms. Having some of the largest and 'fattest' models in the mod, they are very easy targets. However, the rows upon rows of turret mounts means a seasoned gunner in the flight seat of your average container transport can be devastating if he wants to be. Like supertransports, alone, container transports are easy to outmanouevre and deal damage to. Hence they're best deployed as convoy shippers where they play a critical role in keeping hostiles at arms length.

Like most larger transports, container transports are limited to corporate factions with IDs that allow for their cargo capacity.

Excellent examples of container transports are:

LIGHT TRANSPORTS

[Image: 254px-Bumblebee.png]

Best Suited For: Combat, Long Distance Trading/Smuggling
Worst Suited For: POB Supply, Domestic Trading

Light Transports, while often a stepping stone to bigger things, are designed to be versatile. At first the hold capacity may seem feeble in comparison to their big brothers, but in hindsight they are ideally equipped to handle hostile situations. Light transports are the most well equipped of the transport class, with every model offering at least one CM slot. For this reason they are ideal for RP trading, expeditionary ventures and combat scenarios. The reduced size of light transports means a smaller target for opponents, faster turning rate, tighter turret distribution and better arcs. Like heavy transports, many players have outfitted light transports exclusively for combat and have had surprising results. This is because light transport statistics complement turret steering quite well. Light transports are notorious for this fighting style which has become an increasingly deployed form of PvP in recent years.

Fine examples of light transports are:

LINERS

[Image: 254px-Ind-liner.png]

Best Suited For: Long Distance Trading/Smuggling
Worst Suited For: Convoy Trading

While it's easy to assume that liners are all for show, these days liners give you more bang for your buck that's more proportionate to the size of your investment. With the exception of the Oasis passenger liner, all liners offer a cargo capacity over 4000 and a 25% increase in armour in comparison to other ships with similar holds. Another attractive prospect of liners is the incorporation of a CM and CD slot, which is otherwise unavailable to most container and heavy transports. Add this to the respectable number of turret mounts comparable to heavy transports and you've got an impressive ship all round.

The payoff however is their sheer size. Liners are slender, which is actually favorable in combat scenarios. But they are characteristically longer than most vessels in the mod. With this comes a penalty in turning rate and a wider distribution of turrets.

Liners are traditionally used to ship human cargo, and while as shipper you are free to ship whatever the hell you like, it is sometimes frowned upon to use them for anything else.

Do not be mistaken in thinking your ID does not allow you to fly liners because they are not listed. Liners fall under the transport class and can therefore be flown by nearly any faction with the respective cargo cap allowance.

Examples of excellent liners on the basis of stats and sexyness are as follows:

FREQUENTLY OVERLOOKED THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN BUYING A TRANSPORT


Turret Placement

It's all well and good to have enough turrets to make gunboat sweat, but if they're sparsely spread across your hull you're going to run into problems. Let's take a few examples:
  • Liners are notorious for sparse turret placement with numerous turrets both under and on top of the ship. The problem with this is that most of the time, you're going to be firing at someone who is beside you, in front of you or behind you. So with several turrets placed in locations that cover much of what's below and above, these turrets aren't being utilised to the fullest of their ability. In addition, when firing forward or backward, your going to have about a 500m gap between the projectile fired from the turret closest to the enemy and the one farthest away. This can severely affect accuracy and damage output.

  • The shire container transport has 12 turrets distributed on two rows on each side of the ship. So while you have 12 turrets, you can only bring 6 of them to bear on your target unless he's directly in front, behind, above or below you.

  • The bumblebee has 5 turrets and is remarkably small in size. This means many of it's turrets can cover large areas and even 'fire over the shoulder' so to speak. What i mean by this is that the turret arcs are so generous with smaller models that some turrets can fire through parts of the model in the opposite direction it is oriented. And because the bumblebee is so small you have the opposite effect of liners where you have a tight turret distribution. Most turret projectiles will be at most 10m apart at any given time, thus enhancing accuracy.

To avoid cashing out on a ship with terrible turret distribution you can test drive the ship in open single player. The way you do this is by starting a new game at the main menu and doing the following:
  • Find out where your desired ship is sold using freelancer companion, FLstat or wiki
  • Type the following into the chat box and hit enter: base <base your ship is sold at>
  • Type the following into the chat box and hit enter: cash <however much cash you need/want>
  • Purchase and outfit your ship

Turret Arcs

The importance of turret arcs is only really being fully appreciated by long-standing cap PvPers on the server. But this has trickled down as these players are now taking up new PvP projects in transports. For those of you who don't know, turret arcs are the 'field of view' of each of your turrets i.e. the area around your ship each one of your turrets fire into.

Where there is overlap of these areas between two or more turrets dictates how many shots you can shoot in a particular direction. This is why you may find that while you have eight turrets mounted, you're finding only five are firing when you point in a certain direction. Most people will be familiar with this phenomenon by being coaxed into believing certain fighters have six guns and a turret, only to find that turret can only fire backwards. So essentially a ship with perfect arcs will be able to bring all of it's turrets to bear in any direction. A ship with bad arcs will fire less than half of it's available turrets in any given direction.

Arcs are dictated by a number of things:
  • Turret location
  • Turret class
  • Ship size
  • Intentional Limitation/Balancing

Currently there is very little information available that outlines the quality of a ship's turret arcs. The best thing to do is use the method described above to test out the ship you're after, and see if it's up to your expectations.

Reputation and ID Limitations

Not all ships are available to all factions. A frequently broken ID violation is a 3600 unit cargo cap applied to many independent and minor faction IDs. This is to restrict larger transport classes to shipping factions, thus giving them a unique role and an edge.

Your ID can also play into how efficiently your ship works. If you're not already aware of the technerf system then you can get familiarised with it here. The system is in place as a roleplay tool to inflict penalties for flying ships manufactured by organisations not affiliated with your own.

However, bear in mind that buying a ship that is incompatible with your ID is not against server rules. If you do not intend to do much shooting in your transport I would suggest you broaden your horizons and overlook the powercore nerf (as you won't be needing it anyway). Remember that ID incompatibility is not the same as breaching the parameters of your ID.