The heavy tanker sails through asteroid fields but it turns really slow....an added benefit is that it is kinda hard for NPCs to CD it from the rear...you'll notice a big reduction in firepower but I never use my guns anyway....all in all i like it better
just don t get an advanced train, imo - some battleships turn faster ... if you want the most agile high cargo ship - think about the good old whale. it might look like a maggot, but its small, turns fairly well and has a huge cargo hold.
ohhh... and a totally awesome lvl3 gun that can absolutely devastate entire planets...
well, its a lot smaller and easier to fly, yes. mind you - its a pure trader - which might make you feel like you re the prey much more than in many other transports. ( oh, and it gets stuck in many asteroid bases ) but still - its probably the best pure trading vessel in the high cargo league.
of course that comes with a bit of a disadvantage..... - it has NO countermeasure - and a CD can quite easily disrupt it. - that makes a NPC ambush a bit of a problem sometimes. ( in contrast to those very long ships like heavy tanker/adv. trainner )
The whale has one of the best handlings, because of shape and size. The missing CM dropper recommends to use the ship within the house systems (tradelanes) or friendly/neutral territory or hire an escort. Otherwise the hostile NPC's are becoming very annoying. If you have no enemies in the edge worlds, you should prefer the whale instead of the heavy tanker.
@ Jinx: From my pov the whale must not have any weapon, but a CM. Igiss was so kind to spend a turret to all, who wanted to mine with a whale. Its a pure trading vessel not a miner.
when you can live with smaller cargo as container,why not try firefly? it has 700 less cargo (3500) but CM also CD and turning is realy good i think.i am able to fly with it on autopilot to kappa jh in gamma or from gamma jh to omega 5 jh in omega 41.without any corection just crusie and autopilot.
Personally i fly an Adv Train, one Large Train, a Cont.Transport and a Lux Liner
And out of all, the LT still has my count as favourite trader, it packs enough cargo, handling is okay and rocks arent that big of a problem.
My adv train pleases me in the longer run, it handles exactly like a Battlestar Advance but wont get CD'ed easily, although it is a small advantage it does add 2mill a day to my trading;)
"War. War never changes. Since the dawn of human kind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing power of rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything, from God to justice to simple, psychotic rage."
@AoM: i agree the whale "should" have a CM...however, it is by far the smallest transport which is having a HUGE cargo hold. so for balance - it is fine as it is - easily CDabe, even without a train CD. and no CM. ( and i know the turret is a joke, it was added less for mining - but rather for wrecks, too - cause it sucked to have a full wreck in reach, but no weapon to get the stuff inside )
back to topic.. the heavy tanker is a very nice ship. it is medium sized - actually half the size of a liner - it has a good enough protection to survive omicrons but its not very agile, of course. when you put it on autopilot, it flys worse than an adv. train - especially when it bumps into stuff and tries to get back on track.
the turrets of the tanker have a larger arc than the trains turrets - but they are still utterly useless against all but maybe a fighter pirate. but you won t take down a bomber or most VHFs.
it feels a bit more borderworld than the train though - but thats subjective. - - the pirate train is a LOT smaller and more agile, but cannot hold that much - so i d say, the perfect borderworld transport / smuggler is still the firefly - with unmatched agility and a large cargo hold - or the whale, depending on your factions.