Distribution missions

Distribution missions, also know as courier missions, are a type of mission given by distribution agents.

Structure

A Distribution mission is a mission to take a piece of cargo from one station to another station. When a Distribution mission is accepted, the necessary cargo is spawned in your personal hangar at the pickup station. You then need to haul it to the destination ("drop off") station using your ship. Usually the agent location is either the "pick up" or "drop off" location. Once docked at the destination station you may complete the mission by talking to the agent. The cargo only counts as delivered if it is either in your personal hangar at the destination station, or in your ship's cargo hold while you are docked at the destination station.

Distribution missions never spawn any hazards of their own; you only have to deal with the normal hazards of Stargate travel (gatecamps, suicide gankers, warp interdiction bubbles on Stargates in NullSec, and so on). Level 1 missions will keep you within the agent's constellation, level 2 and level 3 will possibly send you to a neighboring constellation, and level 4 missions will always send you to a neighboring constellation.

It is worth noting that although you are at the destination station you can still talk to the original agent remotely to complete the mission without going back to the original station. They will be listed in the station's "Agents" tab after you dock, or you can start a conversation with them using your mission journal. However, until you fly back and dock at their station, they will not give you a new mission.

If a Distribution mission has an item as a reward instead of ISK, then the item will appear in your personal hangar at the issuing agent's station, which is usually located in the pickup station.

Level 1 and 2 Distribution missions can be run using frigates, although you may need to use cargo modules in the low slots. Cargo size for L1/L2 missions can be up to 450  m³ in size. For level 3 and 4 courier missions, you will need an industrial hauler because cargo sizes will be in the Template:Gaps–Template:Gaps  m³ range. Further information is in the following section.

Ship choices

Level 1 and Level 2

These can be easily accomplished in T1 Exploration Frigates, which come with a goodly cargo hold and are fairly quick to warp.

You will need to invest in an Expanded Cargohold module to bring your capacity up to Template:Gaps, however for most missions you'll be focusing on Inertial Stabilizers for a faster time to warp. If you're rigging a ship for Distribution, then 3 x Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer will be your biggest asset helping with crossing systems, leaving align time speed to low slots. In your high and medium slots, fit whatever tank is appropriate for your skills. Your goal is to avoid conflict.

Exploration Frigates

	Ship Base				Suggested FitAssuming no skill bonuses 1 Expanded Cargohold II Remaining low slots Inertial Stabilizer II All Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II rigs
Ship	Capacity	Time to Warp	Warp Speed	Low Slots	Capacity	Time to Warp	Warp Speed
Magnate	400 m3	5.65s	5AU/s	4	510 m3	3.31s	8.69AU/s
Heron	400 m3	5.69s	5AU/s	2	510 m3	4.55s	8.69AU/s
Imicus	400 m3	5.79s	5AU/s	3	510 m3	3.79s	8.69AU/s
Probe	400 m3	5.57s	5AU/s	3	510 m3	3.68s	8.69AU/s

Level 3 and Level 4

As the capacity can range up to Template:Gaps, you will need to move up from a frigate to an Industrial ship.

As with lower levels, the goal is to move enough, as fast as you can. By now, you should have a few skills to begin improving your times as well. Anything that increases warp speed, increases agility, or decreases inertial modifiers will really help speed up your distribution runs. If you're still starting out, then your best bet is to move up to the Fast Industrials.

While you're going to need to be able to fit up to Template:Gaps, most require Template:Gaps which will allow fitting more Inertial Stabilizers for faster warp. For the purposes of the table below, we'll assume you need to fit to Template:Gaps, but do bring along enough Expanded Cargoholds to replace Inertial Stabilizers when you do get the odd large load, and Inertial Stabilizers to swap in when Template:Gaps isn't needed.

Fast Industrials

	Ship Base				Suggested FitAssuming all skills V Expanded Cargohold II to >Template:Gaps Remaining low slots Inertial Stabilizer II All Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer II rigs
Ship	Capacity	Time to Warp	Warp Speed	Low Slots	Capacity	Time to Warp	Warp Speed
Sigil	2100 m3	13.11s	4.5AU/s	6	5441 m3	3.89s	7.82AU/s
Badger	3900 m3	13.88s	4.5AU/s	4	6216 m3	4.11s	7.82AU/s
Nereus	2900 m3	12.16s	4.5AU/s	5	5486 m3	3.61s	7.82AU/s
Wreathe	2700 m3	11.23s	4.5AU/s	5	5893 m3	3.33s	7.82AU/s

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You will likely move up from your Frigate to an Industrial ship. Your goal in hauling is always to move as much as you can as fast as you can, and whichever industrial you choose should be able to handle level II and III missions. Level IV missions can require up to 8,000  m³ of cargo space - keep that in mind as you shop for ships later in your career. Expect to accomplish this in a "fast" industrial (Nereus, Badger, Wreathe, or Sigil) with a decent level of skill and possibly additional modules. These hulls confer the advantage of extra warp speed compared to bulk haulers, along with skill bonuses to align time and base cargo.

Standing grind

Distribution missions are by far the fastest mission type. As a result blitzing distribution missions is the fastest way to receive storyline missions. Even though the distribution missions give low corporation standing gain the storyline mission will give more noticeable corporation standing gain and slow faction standings.