I have seen a number of threads with the general theme of 'hey, how do you make money in this mod?!!?', so, in order to make it easier for the new players to get on thier feet, here is how I did it.
Most, if not all people run at least 2 chars, a Trader and a Fighter. They use the Trader char to finance their fighter.
Why?
They do it this way because you can make *far* more money by trading than you can by doing missions.
If you have played 'vanilla' (or the original) Freelancer on-line, you have a good start.
Most, if not all of the trade routes in the 'vanilla' version still exist in the Discovery mod.
Building your money.
Yay, docked at Planet Manhatten, what do we have.... a Starflier and $8500.
Buy the best shield you can get your hands on and upgrade your weapons, stay away from missiles, they cost too much to keep the ammo up.
Lets go to Colorado.
Undock and use the Trade Lane to your left, then left again until you see the Jump Gate. Use the Jump Gate and go left, flying directly into the asteroid field (Silverton Field).
Watch out for the bad guys (Liberty Rouges and Xenos)
As soon as you start seeing little rocks floating past you, start shooting.
Some of the rock will explode and turn into Silver. Use your Tractor beam to pull them into your cargo bay. Keep going until you get a full load, then head back to Manhatten, sell it off and come back and do it all over again.
It should only take a few minutes at most to get a load of Silver, so your bank balance will rise fairly quickly.
Once you think you have enough money, it's time to start looking at a new ship.
The next ship up the line is the Rhino. 80 Cargo, 3 forward guns and some turrets. It costs around $54,000 (from memory) so it's not horribly expensive.
You can buy it at Planet Pittsburgh.
Once you have your Rhino, you can go trading or go back to silver mining.
80 cargo X 630 = 50400.
It will take longer to fill your hold and dodging those pesky Rouges and Xenos isn't so easy, so you may want to go trading instead.
For a starter route, buy Boron from Planet Pittsburg and take it to Manhatten and sell it. Buy Passengers at Manhatten, take them to Planet Pittsburg and sell them there.
Keep doing this until you get bored, have enough money or find a better route.
Trade Routes: how to identify a good route
What makes a trade route?
A 'Trade Route' at it's most basic, is two places in the 'galaxy' that have products you can buy on them and sell at the other for a profit.
The ideal Trade route would be two places in the same 'system' where you can buy item 'x' at a very low price at one place and sell that same item for a very high price on the other.
The 'ideal' Trade Route doesn't exist in this mod. :P
The other thing about Trade Routes is that it's not about how much money you make in one run, but also how long it takes to do it.
It is possible to map out a route that will make you 30 million in one run....... but it will also take you two hours to do it.
It's much better to use a route that makes 5 or 6 million in one run, but only takes 15-20 minutes or so to do.
What you are looking for is a route that is halfway between making a lot of money and not taking long to do.
The run I described above is a good example of a 'good' trade route.
It's not very long and you can make a fair amount of money from it if you keep doing it.
When you get bored, go exploring. Stick to the Trade lanes and dock at every station you go past, checking to see what they sell there.
You not only build up a map of the 'universe', you also add to your 'traders list' of places where they sell items, very useful when you are trying to work out a new trade route.
In closing, I'll let you in on a tweak I found in an old Trade run (people may already know this one but...)
Pittsburg - Hamburg run
At Pittsburg: buy Prisoners, take them to Planet Hamburg. Sell.
At Hamburg: buy H-Fuel (most people buy diamonds...), take it to Freeport 2 (Bering). Sell.
At Freeport 2: buy Dueterium, take it to Planet Pittsburg. Sell
Repeat until your eyes fall out and bounce off of the keyboard.
Ya might wanna put SPOILER!!!! in the top. Some people want to try it for themselves, not have someone else tell them what to do.
I am a long-absent Supreme Commander, Executive Commander, Grand Admiral, Fleet Admiral, and Captain in the mighty Hellfire Legion. I have returned, and am on an urgent mission from Drake Thastus to return the Legion to its former glory, and to claim the galaxy for its own. Only then will I be able to rest.
RP Story (Still deciding whether or not to finish)
Funny Alpha, every once in a while someone will come along who cares nothing about working, or roleplaying, just wants some quick cash. It's not like there were tons about a month ago. No, that was the best time Discovery has ever seen!
I've only seen a few in my time, but i guess it happens. *grits teeth* In fact, i think ive only seen one! All he said was "GIVE ME MONEY THEN PVP!!!!" Good God, scared me out of my wits!
(As I assume you all can see, this is sarcasm)
I am a long-absent Supreme Commander, Executive Commander, Grand Admiral, Fleet Admiral, and Captain in the mighty Hellfire Legion. I have returned, and am on an urgent mission from Drake Thastus to return the Legion to its former glory, and to claim the galaxy for its own. Only then will I be able to rest.
RP Story (Still deciding whether or not to finish)
Nice quick starting guide for newbie traders like myself, all my years playing Freelancer I have never ever touched a trading vessel, not even by accident. Until today that It was clear for me that if I wanted the cool stuff, I would need the big bucks.
I'll try that Hamburg - Pittsburg run tomorrow, sounds pretty good.
Genma - Order Admiral of the "Katana" Osiris vessel. McFly - Rheinland 2nd Lieutenant of the "Skipray" Rheinland Gunboat. Katarn - Trading Officer of the "Outrider" Large Train. Darklighter - Outcast Major of the "Krayt's Revenge" Outcast Destroyer. Malak - Corsair pirate of the "Dusty Bantha" Corsair Gunship.
And if you really must know, then yes, they all 5 are brothers that come from a disfunctional family, thus the difference in factions.
Started running this on my trader character. Just did the math. BUY DIAMONDS from Hamburg. If you can only purchase one prisoner and it leaves you with zero credits, you will make an initial gain of 335 credits with diamonds over h-fuel. This equates into more buying power. You will see the profit by the beginning of the third purchase of prisoners. On diamonds you will be able to buy six prisoners, whereas h-fuel only yields five. That's a profit of 2450 right there.
sso|Ace.Jet.Black
"I'm the Black Dog... Once I bite, I never let go."
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