Freighter 101
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Contents |
Class Information
This chapter contains the standard information of this class pertaining to scheduling and class contents. The general information should be sufficient to create a proper class topic for scheduling on the Eve University forums. Additional information relevant to the teacher is listed under Notes for the teacher.
General information
Image for forum posting: http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx216/ScoopIrish/truck3.jpg
The EVE economy is dynamic and largely player-run. As a result, there will be cargo that needs to be moved from one station to another for trading, PVP, PVE or a player is moving from one system to another are some of the examples.
In this class, you'll learn how to haul goods in EVE, safely and profitably.
- Duration: 01:00
- Location: Docked up safely in a station [in Aldrat]
Class contents:
- What is the freighter business?
- Establishing a freighter character or alt
- Essential freighter skills and equipment
- Capital requirements for hauling
- Intro to advanced hauling
- Practical with the contract window
- Q&A
Student requirements:
- Mumble registration and access - make sure you have Mumble sorted out and operational well before the class begins. Use this guide for set-up: Mumble
- Access to the Class.E-UNI in-game chat channel
Additional information:
This class is primarily lecture, and a quick practical, followed by Q&A.
Notes for the teacher
Required materials:
- Class.E-UNI chat channel, to receive questions and post relevant links
- Useful links to have open during this class:
- How to set up an alt hauler character: Creating an Alt Hauler
- Hauling ships guide: Hauling
While this syllabus is fairly detailed, teachers should not just recite this document. Make sure to read it thoroughly, use its structure as a guide for the structure of your class, but make it your own - feel free to insert your own insights and experiences as you cover the key points.
Class contents
Introduction
Welcome to this class on Freighter 101! Over the next hour or so, we shall review what it takes to establish a freighter character, and to use them to haul profitably and safely.
(Instructor should then introduce himself or herself - covering experience level and background.)
We have a few ground rules for this class:
- This class will begin with a lecture, running about forty minutes or so. Then a quick practical on the contract window. Followed by a Q&A.
- Feel free to ask any questions in the Class.E-UNI chat channel as we proceed - I will try to answer your questions as they come during the class. At the end, we'll open Mumble for any further questions or general discussion.
- You should be docked up safely in a station [, preferably in Aldrat if you intend to participate in the practical exercise].
- Please put your Mumble settings on "Push to Talk" if you have not already done so.
Everyone ready? OK, then - let's begin....
The freighter is an expansion to the hauler in that it is specialized in hauling large amounts of cargo. With any specialization you need to start with the basics.
It is recommended to attend a Hauling 101 class as this is the path you are following and expanding on.
What is hauling?
First, let's define what we mean by hauling. This pertains more to the Industrial.
Hauling comes in three types:
- Speculator haulers - These are haulers that make their own trade runs. They are entrepreneurs that profit from the differences in selling and buying prices in different locations. They use their ISK to buy low, transport purchased goods, and then sell high, and earn profits on the margins.
- Hired haulers - These are haulers that arrange trade runs with other players. For example, they can help to improve the effectiveness of mining operations by providing transport of ores to stations for refining, or who by moving refined minerals to other stations for sale. Alternatively, haulers can also accept courier contracts offered by players on the market. Hired haulers either get paid on a percentage of the operation haul, or on a flat fee basis for contracts.
- Courier Mission Runners - Not to be confused with courier contract runners, these are haulers that receive trade runs from non-player characters in the game. Many NPC agents specialize in courier missions - paying for the transport of items to a particular location. Courier missions can be quite lucrative, paying rewards in ISK and Loyalty Points, which can be used to acquire valuable faction items. Some courier missions also reward success with implants, ship modules, or other goods.
As a freighter pilot there is one more type of hauling and that is the courier contract runners. That’s because this is where the specialized part of hauling comes into play.
There are always players that want to move fitted ships, expensive cargo, or large amount of ore and minerals that won’t fit into an industrial.
Getting into a freighter takes about a month for the basic. You will want to start out as a hauler with an industrial ship as you train up to the freighter.
Hauling may sound like an easy way to get rich in EVE - and in fact you can earn millions of ISK per hour of effort, if you do it correctly.
Establishing a hauler character or alt
Many players set up a separate alternate character or "alt" to specialize in hauling. There are several advantages to this arrangement:
- You can keep the hauler character out of the UNI, allowing you to conduct hauling activities during wartime.
- You can focus your training on the alt on hauling-related skills, allowing them to develop a high degree of competence quickly.
- If operating in a separate account, you can pair your hauler alt with your main character for mining ops or for hauling away salvage after missions, freeing your main character to focus on productive activities, like mining or killing NPC targets.
To set up a hauler alt in your main account, restart your EVE client, and then click on one of the blank boxes below your main character portrait. You are allowed up to three characters in your main account.
To set up a hauler alt in a separate account, you can either register a whole new account with CCP on the main EVE website, or you can create an alternate character in your main account, and then pay a small fee (US$20) to split off your alt into a new account later, if you wish. (Note: You can only have 1 alt on the account training at a time)
A useful guide to setting up a hauler alt: Creating an Alt Hauler
What is the best race for your Freighter? In the long run, it does not really matter, as any character can be trained to pilot any ship, given enough time.
The best determinant for selecting the race of your Freighter is how long you intend to train that character. If your intention is to establish a character in a separate account with a long continuous training plan, then your best choice is probably Minmatar. Minmatar is the better race for freighters as they are the fastest for agility.
View this helpful guide on the strengths and weaknesses of various hauling craft, so you can make an informed choice about your hauling character's race: Hauling
With the freighter business it can be a lucrative was to make money while you are doing other stuff on your main account. A lot of freighter pilots run in AFK (away from keyboard) mode by using the auto pilot because a freighter is a very slow ship. But to be on the safe side and to make the trip faster you should run your ship ATK (at the keyboard)
Essential hauling skills and equipment
To get started as a hauler, the absolutely required skills you need are:
- Racial Frigate III
- Racial Industrial V
- Spaceship Command V
- Advanced Spaceship Command I
- Racial Freighter I
The only freighter attributes that can be changed through training and implants are:
- Hitpoints
- Hull - Mechanics skill
- Armor - Hull Upgrades skill
- Shields - Shield Operation, Shield Management skills
- Cargo capacity - Freighter sill
- Agility - Advanced Spaceship Command, Evasive Maneuvering
- Velocity
- Sub-warp - Navigation, Skirmish Warfare (When in a fleet)
- Warp - Warp Drive Operation (reduces Cap usage)
Optional - Implants
| Slot | Implant | Benefit |
| 1 | Low-grade Nomad Alpha | +2 Perception; +1% bonus to ship agility; +10% Set bonus to ship agility |
| 2 | Low-grade Nomad Beta | +2 Memory; +2% bonus to ship agility; +10% Set bonus to ship agility |
| 3 | Low-grade Nomad Delta | +2 Intelligence; +4% bonus to ship agility; +10% Set bonus to ship agility |
| 4 | Low-grade Nomad Epsilon | +2 Charisma; +5% bonus to ship agility; +10% Set bonus to ship agility |
| 5 | Low-grade Nomad Gamma | +2 Willpower; +3% bonus to ship agility; +10% Set bonus to ship agility |
| 6 | Low-grade Nomad Omega | +25% Set bonus to ship agility |
| 6 | Navigation Implants: Eifyr and Co. 'Rogue' Warp Drive Speed WS-605, WS-608, WS-610, WS-613, WS-615, WS-618 | +5, +8, +10, +13, +15, and +18% increase in warp speed respectively |
| 7 | Shield Implants: Zainou 'Gnome' Shield Management SM-701, SM-702, SM-703, SM-704, SM-705, SM-706 | +1, +2, +3, +5, +6% bonus to shield capacity respectively |
| 7 | Navigation Implants: Eifyr and Co. ‘Rogue’ Evasive Maneuvering EM-701, EM-702, EM-703, EM-704, EM-705, EM-706 | +1, +2, +3, +4, +5, +6% bonus to ship agility respectively |
| 8 | Armor Implants: Inherent Implants 'Noble' Mechanic MC-801, MC-802, MC-803, MC-804, MC-805, MC-806 | +1, +2, +3, +4, +5, +6% bonus to hull hitpoints respectively |
| 9 | N/A | N/A |
| 10 | Armor Implants: Inherent Implants 'Noble' Hull Upgrades HG-1001, HG-1002, HG-1003, HG-1004, HG-1005, HG-1006 | +1, +2, +3, +4, +5, +6% bonus to armor hitpoints respectively |
Hauling capital requirements
Starting a new hauler alt character is relatively easy, but being able to do useful ISK-producing activities also requires a sufficient amount of starting capital.
- Required: About 600-900 million ISK to purchase a suitable freighter ship.
- Required: About 100-120 million ISK to purchase essential fittings (cargohold expanders, shield extenders, cargo rigs) - you can start with less expensive Tech I fittings to start, cutting this initial cost by half or more, and then upgrade as you can afford.
- Required but not urgent: About 1.5 million ISK for essential skillbooks - though these can be purchased as you need them over time. If you are in the UNI, you can acquire these at no cost from the Alpha hangar.
- Required: about 100 million to 1 billion ISK for courier contract collateral - almost all player-created courier contracts on the market require a collateral amount, which is refunded when you've delivered the package and completed the contract. The most lucrative courier contracts are also the most risky, and therefore require commensurate amounts of collateral.
- Optional: Implants for movement and speed. They vary in price and can be rather expensive
There are some practical things that you can do as a freighter pilot, however, to minimize the dangers.
- Never go AFK - Being "away from keyboard" is death. Don't be lazy. Even in high-sec. Watch your overview like a hawk.
- Warp to 0, always - Never use autopilot to fly your ship, even in high-sec. Warp to 0, and jump manually as soon as you arrive. Be paranoid. There are gankers everywhere.
- Never use autopilot to fly your ship - Using the autopilot feature in the in-game map (the F10 key) is good practice for planning your routes - especially if you have the "Prefer Safer" option selected (F10, then Autopilot tab, then Settings tab). BUT never use autopilot to fly your ship.
- Understand your enemy - Most pilots that conduct suicide ganks are not doing it to be mean. They are doing it to make ISK. Understand the mind of your adversary, and you go a long way to defeat them. An excellent recording of how the mind of a suicide ganker works can be found here: class recording of "The Dark Side of EVE"
- Beware of 0.0 and low-sec - Unless you are in a Tech II blockade runner, and have the high level of skills to go to warp instantly under the safety of an advanced covert operations cloak, going to 0.0 or even low-sec space (0.1-0.4 security status) is too risky to contemplate. Don't do it. Stay in high security space for your freighter, even if this means taking the long way around. Set your autopilot settings to safer routes. Know where the common piracy havens are located: Known pirate systems.
- Insure your ship - Insurance is your friend. It softens the blow after an "accident". Keep your insurance policy up to date, always. It's worth the investment.
- Here are some additional tips for how to survive as a hauler: http://k162space.wordpress.com/2010/02/28/hauling-how-not-to-die/
Advanced hauling topics
- Carrying sensitive or high-value cargo
- A courier contract box alone will not protect your goods from being cargo scanned!
- If you put your goods in a secure container, and then make a courier contract with that container, then the items in the container will be "double wrapped", and protected from cargo scans
- Orcas provide better protection against cargo scans
- Goods in the Corporation Hold of an Orca are invisible to cargo scans
- Further, if your Orca is ganked and destroyed, any goods in the Corporation Hold will also be destroyed -- savvy gankers know this, and are therefore deterred from attacking most Orcas
- In Empire space, carrying illegal goods (indicated with a skull-and-crossbones on the item icon) can get you in trouble with customs agents
- Customs agents (not CONCORD, by the way) randomly scan ships going through gates, or sometimes at stations - the higher the security rating of the system, the higher the chance of being scanned
- If a customs agent suspects that you are carrying illegal items, they will send you a pop-up message, asking if you are carrying illegal goods
- If you say "yes", they will confiscate your illegal items, fine you heavily, and you will take a substantial faction-standing loss
- If you say "no", then you should attempt to quickly jump through and escape, as they may attack your ship
- Courier contracts - Don't forget that there are courier contracts available. This is where your role will be as a Freighter pilot.
- You can access these by selecting the Contracts button on your Neocom, clicking the "Available Contracts" tab, then select "Entire Region" in the View field, and "Courier" in the Contract Type field, then click on the "Get Contracts" button.
- Some general rules for the wise courier contractor:
- Beware of 0.0 and low-sec - have a map, and avoid contracts that start, end or go through dangerous areas. Note that UNI members are prohibited from entering claimable null-sec space.
- Beware of pirates - avoid courier contracts that start, end or go through known piracy areas: Known pirate systems
- If the contract is too good to be true, it's too good to be true - beware of contracts that pay an absurd reward for very little or no collateral, as they may be an attempt to lure you into a gank
- Other advanced hauling ships: Hauling
- Covert Ops Frigates: don't forget the usefulness of these small, fast, cloaked ships for transporting tiny but high-value cargo, such as blueprint originals
- Blockade Runners: great for hauling valuable loads of under 10K cubic meters in low-sec and 0.0, in a cloaked ship
- Deep Space Transport: extra-tanked industrials, with good capacity - nice for hauling moderately valuable cargo
- Orcas: very handy for mining operations, and a darned good large-scale hauler; the Corporate Hold is particularly useful in that it cannot be scanned, making it nice for hauling sensitive or high-value goods. See this guide for more details on the Orca: Orca Guide
- Jump Freighters: can use cynosural fields to jump into 0.0 and low sec space; the only way to go for shipping large quantities of goods into low security areas
- Hauling corporations - There are a number of player corporations that specialize in hauling. The most well known of these is Red Frog Freight - for more info, see this link: http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=763167 - it's a great service if you need things to be moved in game, or if you are looking for a good corp for your hauler alt to join and make some ISK!
Class Wrap-up
- Thanks for attending this class!
- I would appreciate any feedback from people on how to improve the class.
- If you liked the class, send me 1 ISK, and include any suggestions for improvement.
- If you have any constructive criticisms, those are welcome also - please send me an EVE mail with your suggestions.
- Good luck, and fly safe!
