Hi CMDR's,
Yesterday i embarked on the treck out to these two systems. For those who don't know, there is literally millions of credits to be made out there but you'll need a ship with decent cargo space, a fuel scoop & decent jump range (although not essential it just makes it faster; personally i value cargo space over jump range). I'm currently using a T7 with best of everything & as much cargo as i can fit whilst still including a scoop but you could use a T6 (& get around 100T & some suggest the AspX for jump capability but again, i like the 200+T of cargo space cause I'm greedy).
Once you get to either system, start running data delivery & building up rep any way you can. You'll even get offered smuggling missions between the two stations. One of these netted me over 5M creds for around 25T in one jump...
You'll then start getting offered long range missions to carry (usually waste) approx 400LY. Get as many of these as you can. Look for the ones that offer around 400-500k/T. You'll need to jump between open/private/solo on the mission board to search for the good ones. When you're full, head back to the bubble and pay dirt!
Last night i made about 40M in a couple of hours. It would have been quicker but i had to build the rep in the two systems first.
Many might know about this but for those that dont & are looking to make some creds, give it a go.
Safe flying.
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EDIT: have made approx. 125 million in three sorties out to CEOS/SOTHIS. After the first two runs, i decided to swap the T7 for an AspX. Be careful of taking smuggling missions while you're still jumping from port to port between CEOS and SOTHIS. If you take one, you might get lucky and only have to deliver it to the other system (one jump) and make an easy ~5 mill. Sometimes they change the destination to somewhere back in the bubble though when you jump into the other system. This means you then have to avoid all scans when entering every port till you drop it off (try and get rid of that mission first if you can, otherwise the payout goes down and you get fined every time you get scanned). Sure, silent running fixes this (if you get the "scan detected" audio, just hit silent running immediately and it prevents the scan) but it's a pain and the drop off destination in the bubble might be the furthest away...
In terms of total creds made in a single run between the T7 and AspX, they were almost even despite the cargo space difference. I was more judicious in my selection of missions with the AspX, only taking smaller cargo hauls and trying to ensure the creds/T were at least 250k. The 400-500 creds/T missions are quite rare I have found. You are more likely to get a 250k/T haul and this seems to be pretty good. The BIG ~9mill haul missions seem to always want you to haul at least 60T or more.
Thanks to CMDR JL for his advice with the AspX build. Here is the first incarnation and here is the, much better, suggestion from JL. Slightly lower cargo (only 4T) but better jump range and faster scooper.
Question on the second build - is there any disadvantage to swapping the 5A powerplant for a 5D? I can't see any, I can only see that I get a slightly better max and laden jump range and fuel consumption with the 5D. What am I not seeing or is it simply better in this case to have a 5D than a 5A because it doesn't run weapons or other power hungry sources?
The AspX is a great ship. Fast, maneuverable and has excellent jump range making the trips a LOT faster. In terms of creds/hr, this ship almost certainly beats the T7 plus i seemed to get interdicted a lot less. Whether this is coincidence or the fact that I just had a smaller cargo hold, i am not sure but the AspX is certainly the build for these missions.