Ships & Modules

It really does depend. Fitting a Ship for Hauling is a lot like fitting a ship for PvE or PvP and their are many variations to each style.

* Do you plan to be at the Computer screen or do you want to use the Auto Pilot?
* High Sec or are you also including Low Sec.
* Hauling Contract Good, Trading your own haul I.E. Buy Low / Sell High or NPC Transport Missions
* How much are you looking to Haul. Max Yield 20000m3 / Mid Yield 13000m3 / Standard 6500m3

The reason I ask is that their are variations in fitting such as Auto Piloting means you won't be there to use active modules and must rely only on passive buffer or the Higher the Yield the less the tank and speed. Also in Low Sec Suicide Ships are less of a concern as to actually Attacking you so Warp Core Stabilizers and Cloaking devices come in handy.

Okay their are several ways to go about this. Most people treat haulers as giant shuttles with no tank and are suprised when some DPS fit Ship walks up and 1 shots it before Concord and there buddy in another hauler snaps up the loot. Shield Tank takes nothing away and should be standard on these ships.

[Badger Mark II, Max Yield]
Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II

Medium Shield Extender II
Medium Shield Extender II
Medium Shield Extender II
Medium Shield Extender II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
EM Ward Amplifier II

[empty high slot]
[empty high slot]

Medium Cargohold Optimization I
Medium Cargohold Optimization I
Medium Cargohold Optimization I

This ships tank is over 10k which staves Single Tornado's and Small Destroyers which make up most Gank Groups. Heavier Coordinated Ganks will break it no problem.

[Badger Mark II, More Tank]
Damage Control II
Expanded Cargohold II
Expanded Cargohold II

Medium Shield Extender II
Medium Shield Extender II
Medium Shield Extender II
Medium Shield Extender II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
EM Ward Amplifier II

[empty high slot]
[empty high slot]

Medium Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

A heavier version for moving higher value cargo. Takes 50% more punishment then the above Hauler.

[Badger Mark II, Low Sec]
Warp Core Stabilizer II
Warp Core Stabilizer II
Warp Core Stabilizer II

Medium Shield Extender II
Medium Shield Extender II
Medium Shield Extender II
Medium Shield Extender II
Adaptive Invulnerability Field II
EM Ward Amplifier II

Prototype Cloaking Device I
[empty high slot]

Medium Anti-Thermal Screen Reinforcer I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I
Medium Core Defense Field Extender I

For Low sec the Badger is not the best choice. 2 Warp Scramblers will catch you and their are better Haulers with more lows for WCS. It takes you a while to get into Warp so you still want the tank so you are not two shotted by fast lockers. If their is lots of enemies on grid you'll want to wait them out with your Cloaking Device until the coast is clear provided they don't see you between the gate cloak, Smart Bomb you out or stumble upon you. A single Heavy Interdictor with an infinity point can grab you no matter how many Stabilizers you have so beware those and also bubbles in Null Sec.

A good strategy is to have a friend or alt scout for you. Their are a couple schools of thought on scouting. A cheap worthless ship like a Shuttle, T1 Frigate or Rookie Ship is one way where you don't care if it jumps into a gate camp and explodes as long as it does it and not your hauler. Or a Covert Scout or a survivable Interceptor that can make it back to you alive and continue to scout at a higher buy in cost and skill level.

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Now as for Courier Contracts the Collateral is often worth much more then your Ship and keeping the goods safe is key. This means know your limits. If you are carrying 500mil in goods to get your 3mil reward in a Badger II no matter how you fit it people will just bring overwhelming force to break its tank. That is why their are high tank Deep Space Transports, Freighters and Blockade Runners for the more advanced hauling. You'll want to wait until you have them for more expensive contract goods instead of diving in above your head.

In Low Sec you don't want anything too valuable in your hold in a T1 Industrial. That is why T2 ones with more Warp Stability and Cov Ops Cloaks that let you warp cloaked exist. Treat Low Sec hauls as an I am likely to die scenario but that is fine because whatever I have I don't mind loosing.

Finally for Null Sec a lot of stations are player owned so do not accept Contracts to any that are not confirmed as NPC owned. Player controlled stations can deny entry to anyone for any reason so players can give you a load of worthless goods with a ridiculous collateral and then put you on the no entry list. This means when the contract expires they get your Hundreds of Millions of ISK and you get 100 Cap Booster 800's worth 1 mil. Also some people will set short time limits and camp the route you want to fly with suicide ships. Accepting the contract on one throwaway same account alt character with the collateral and having another do the hauling is a good way to trip them up. You can't take anything out of the package or you fail and people often inflate the collateral as disincentive to steal. Make sure your hold is big enough since you can not split up the contents, it is all in one box.

The most important thing to remember is trust no one. Let contracts handle the money not the honor system and make sure that you can complete it and survive possible collateral losses. If you negotiate and fly like everyone could be out to get you in every way they can think of you can anticipate most of their Assaults. In other words this is EVE you are not a truck driver going down the highway you are a Liberty Ship making the hop from the US to Europe in WWII. EVE is War so act like it.

yea i just attempted a haul in my badger got blown up on route to the pick up site but i never accepted the contract i only accept the contract if i make at the pick up site in one piece lol. So i only lost 1 mill isk no problem all in part of learning the game. I am just waiting until i can get a blockade runner to start hauling and thanks for the tips guys

Great, helpful post Alara. +1 like.