Ships & Modules

I am a small Industrialist ( just getting started ) and haul my Mtl in Hi Sec only. I am currently using a T1 Hauler ( Bestower ) with some T2 modules. I need to get something bigger so I can cut the number of trips down. A max of 100K m3 would do me for the foreseeable future. I am not hauling extremely expensive stuff just Mtl and finished T2 components. I can go to a T2 Sigil but they really do not provide enough cargo space or move up to a Blockade Runner. My question is what to use. I have the ISK to buy something that will work but don't want to blow my retirement fund on a ship that looks like a juicy target yet is full of Trit. Any help and fittings would be appreciated ...

Thx in advance

I use a Prorator for trips into low, an Impel for lowish 60k m^3 cargo trips, and of course a Providence when things are serious. I've never really seen the haul that made me think "man, I wish I had an Orca for this" so I've never bothered. I build them and sell them, but don't own one for my own use.

Of course that's just the Amarr character. I actually prefer a Viator/Occator combo but for ~reasons~ I still seem to find myself using the Amarr ships more frequently.

Right now, I'm sure Providence is overkill for you (and it's really not *that* much more expensive than an Orca at the moment). I'd look hard one or two Impels (one fit for agility and tank, perhaps one for cargo) and a Prorator to get you through until you can justify a freighter.

Thank you for the reply's, I have a couple more questions :

1) Is a Blockade runner seen as a better target " Just because " or is it what they can scan that makes the difference.

2) I have GSC's in my Bestower, so I get a bit more space, does that hold true for the larger ships or does it just entice people to shoot because they can't see inside ?

3) I am thinking that " Align Time " is more important than tank or am I thinking in the wrong direction ?

4) I don't have an Orca or a Freighter ATM : ) is the Blockade Runner a good step up or should I keep my Bestower and wait till I have the cash for the orca / Freighter route ?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to map out a path so I don't waste time / Money / or my life

Thanks again to all who posted ...

Its like a Lottery, you cant see inside so sometimes you just take a punt. They also don't have much tank so you don't have to rick to much to kill one.



I'm pretty sure you can see inside a container, I think you have to double contract wrap something to stop scanning. But I might be wrong. Might as well use them and get more space as long as the total value of your ship does not get to high.



Both are important but once you hit the higher end of the Align times tank starts to be way more important. If you warp in 4 seconds but can get it down to 2 it would be worth sacrificing tank, if you warp in 10 seconds its not worth dropping it to 8 seconds and more tank is better.

You can also use an AB or MWD (AB are better for all but the slowest ships as they have a faster cycle) to warp faster. That is pretty much the only reason to use a Orca over a freighter for transporting stuff. You can get a Orca to warp in like 7.5-10 seconds but a freighter is stuck at like 30 secs.



Blockade Runner - High Value , low volume (Use its cloak and speed, have insta un/docks)
Deep Space Transport - Mid Volume, Mid value (Tank it to hell and use an AB for faster warps)
Orca - Higher Volume, Mid Value (use a AB or MWD to speed warps, DC2 and tank)
Freighter - Max Volume, Mid Value (Fit for the required Volume and value)

Personally if you want Sub 100K I would use an Orca. With an AB or MWD its aligns as fast as a Deep space transport and its tank is a lot less work (Their tank is low unless you have Working/Heated mods, AFK DST is a dead DST). The Orca can also transport ships and Ore as well as mine/boost so its pretty useful to have.

I sold my freighter about 18 months ago and now use blockade runners and DST for all my hauling.

The blockade runners are virtually impossible to catch in highsec. You're exposed for a second before cloaking on a gate. Create insta-docks and undocks at high risk places like Jita. Fit a passive shield tank that can take an alpha shot from a Tornado. You don't need a propulsion module in highsec. A blockade runner fit for maximum cargo (~13000M3) will travel at 8 AU/sec, align in 5 seconds and have about 20K EHP depending on your skils.

DST will carry ~65000 M3 between 2 holds and can be fit to align/warp with 1 pulse of the afterburner - 8 seconds. In this case you want to fit an active tank to take advantage of the overheat bonus. I fit mine with an ancillary shield booster - pretty much guaranteed to survive until CONCORD shows up.

If I have something that won't fit, I contract it to Red Frog. Doesn't happen often enough to justify buying a freighter or Orca.

If your courier contract fits within Red Frog guidelines it will be fully covered by collateral. If the freighter pilot is flying within guidelines, their loss will be mostly covered by White Frog Insurance. Shipping a billion ISK cargo in a bulkhead fit freighter is not particularly risky in highsec - there are plenty of more rewarding targets available.

Black Frog follows different rules and charges much higher fees. My question is how much did that ship earn before it got caught? The pilot might be quite comfortable with the risk/reward balance.

Any ganker with an itchy trigger finger (eg: all of them) is going to take the shot on any and all Blockade Runner's they can get a lock on. 100%, every single time.



i wouldn't have the faintest idea beyond a vague recommendation that you look around at some of the many, many other activities EVE has to offer beyond space-truckin.

If being a hauler is what you truly enjoy, more power to you and I wish you every success. Perhaps contact some of the established freight liner corps in the game such as Red Frog or PushX?

I have 3 Viators flown by different characters. 1 has 2 hyperspatial rigs, 1 has 2 cargohold rigs and the third has 1 of each. The speed difference between them is nearly undetectable. On a 24 AU warp the difference between 8 AU/sec (2 cargohold rigs) and 12 AU/sec (2 hyperspatial rigs) is 1 second. Most of the time is spent approaching or leaving the gate.

On the other hand, the difference in cargo capacity is very noticeable!

Oh why did I even bother..

I'm really liking the one of each approach these days. You can still get over 10k m^3 to haul that pesky cruiser and still hit, what, almost 9.4 AU/sec at max skills? Hard to argue with that.