Elite: Dangerous PvE - Mobius

Greetings Commanders!

I suppose the title speaks for itself, mostly, so let me explain:

Don't get me wrong, I love the thrill of the hunt just as much as the next laser-jockey, and I'm not about to just up and leave all those charming miners un-defended, but there are times when I need a bit more...shall we say...peace and quiet.

My question is in regards to simple, basic, trade routes. I have little to no experience trading, but have made a few changes to Red so that she's a little lighter (don't tell her I said that), a little faster, and a whole lot more accommodating. With my newly available 216T cargo capacity, can it be worth my while to start some medium volume trading runs? I'm assuming it's not terribly profitable to shuttle from neighboring systems carrying cargo back and forth...but I am not terribly imaginative when it comes to the intricate workings of economics.

Long story short: This may not be my bag, but I'd like to spice things up a bit, if there are any resources here in Mobius (links, articles, good samaritans) I would very much enjoy a good read on Gallite prices and obscure textiles.

And I suppose the big question...will trading ever feel/be as profitable as hunting, or would it just provide a semi-lucrative distraction?

Edit: An apology from me, if this is posted in the wrong forum. Feel free to give me demerits.

I have been doing both BH and trading for some time now. Just like you, I like the thrill of the hunt, but I also enjoy times where I can have a relaxing trade run in my T-6. Take a look at the 'traders talk' section of the forum. You'll find some good information there about trade routes and some 3rd party programs and websites to help make trades more profitable, if you want to do so. I generally run 20-30 ly routes with 2 or 3 stops, and make about a thousand credits per ton each way on my trades.

I had purchased an ASP a bit ago for trading when my hand had enough dog fighting. Could carry 120T, used http://eddb.io/ to find a route. Honestly it was pretty easy to find a 1 hop trade route that round trip was about 300k, I'm sure there are better though. Sites like I mentioned above are great, start in a high-tech system, I found resonating dampeners separators and superconductors were decent for back/forth trading.

Ultimately I sold the ASP, trade just wasn't something I wanted to do... not enough explosions.

stummies wrote:Ultimately I sold the ASP, trade just wasn't something I wanted to do... not enough explosions.

I fear you and I may end up being in the same boat. But it's certainly something I'd like to try.

stummies wrote:... Honestly it was pretty easy to find a 1 hop trade route that round trip was about 300k...

There are indeed plenty of good trade routes around, especially for an Asp with its jump range. Thrudd's is a good tool to use, you can just enter your current system and a range to search, it'll give you the best routes in that range area.

Given that a one jump route would take 10 to 15 mins if you are quick, then you are looking at 1.5M to 1.8M and hour, possibly even 2M if you push it and have a good route.

Now you can get similar in a RES if you have a good spawn rate of big ships, but trading doesn't rely of any spawn RNG, further if your two systems are reasonably close you can get missions that are already on your route which a) add to the profit, and b) help with your rep.

The down side is of course that trading can be somewhat less exciting than RES farming, but just stick on some music, podcasts, or watch TV and it's a relaxing way to make easy credits.

Thank you all very much!

I've got some ideas and information I'm excited to try out as soon as my shift is up and Red and I can get out of here.

Xebeth wrote:Now you can get similar in a RES if you have a good spawn rate of big ships, but trading doesn't rely of any spawn RNG, further if your two systems are reasonably close you can get missions that are already on your route which a) add to the profit, and b) help with your rep.

Agreed, I like to compare trade to salary and bounty hunting to hourly, here's hoping some of that randomness is addressed with 1.3.

Also, I don't know if anyone else had luck but I usually filtered out results for tobacco and both slave commodities. I had the going rates take a dump by the time I returned with a shipment and ended up losing some money in the process. After this happening on both occasions I attempted to trade those commodities I stuck with the next best.