AnacondaTrading

The Anaconda hauls the way it does everything — well, but as a generalist. Strip it for cargo and it carries around 470 tonnes; fit a shield and a few guns and it still moves a respectable load behind real protection. Twelve optional internals, a class-5 military slot and eight utility mounts give it room for a proper trade fit, and unlike the Imperial Cutter it needs no rank — anyone with the credits can fly one.

Its trading case is the do-everything hull that also happens to haul: a defensible freighter that can fight back, with no rank gate and a huge jump range for long, efficient loops. The costs are real, though — it carries less than a Type-9 or Cutter, costs more than the cheap Type-9 to buy and outfit, and is slow and ponderous in the bins. As a trader it's a strong all-rounder, not a specialist.

Three things make the Anaconda a credible trader:

• Solid cargo, no rank. Around 470 tonnes stripped — less than the dedicated freighters, but with no Imperial-rank grind to unlock it.
• It can defend itself. A huge hardpoint, three large mounts and eight utilities mean a pirate that interdicts you may regret it — a Type-9 can only run.
• Big shields and long range. Strong shields protect the load, and a capital jump range makes long, high-value loops efficient.

A defensible, rank-free hauler led by capital laden range and ~1,200 MJ shielded protection, held to 76 by ~470 t cargo well short of the Type-9/Cutter, plus its slow speed and high cost.

The 76/100 headline is a verdict against the trading role's priority-ordered factors. Each factor carries a weight (its share of 100); this hull earns part of each based on how it performs against the whole field. The points sum to the rating.

Both tables rate ships for trading specifically. The role column is the maximum cargo capacity in tonnes — the headline number for bulk hauling.

Same class — large-pad traders

Against the dedicated large freighters the Anaconda simply carries less, and against the cheap Type-9 it costs more for the privilege. What it offers is the ability to fight back and a rank-free hull — useful, but the Cutter does defensible hauling better and the Type-9 does cheap bulk better.

Other classes — medium traders

The mediums land at more stations and cost far less, but carry less and can't match the Anaconda's shields and firepower. The Anaconda's slot here is the large-pad, defensible, rank-free hauler — respectable, but bracketed above by dedicated freighters and below by cheaper, more flexible mediums.

At ~142M Cr the Anaconda is a major purchase — far more than a Type-9, which hauls more for a fraction of the price. It needs no rank, though, so it has no grind behind it the way the Cutter does.

The case for trading in an Anaconda is rarely to buy one for the job — it's that you already own one. A multirole or combat Anaconda re-tunes into a defensible hauler by swapping in cargo racks at a station, spreading its cost across roles instead of paying full price for a single-role freighter.

A defensible trade fit that keeps a bi-weave shield, a booster suite and a single deterrent gun, then fills every remaining slot with cargo. Initial is cheapest buy-only with a shield from day one; A-rated is the trade baseline; Engineered maximises laden range and protected cargo.

Buy the hull and put a 7E Shield Generator plus two 6E Cargo Racks in the optionals — protected hauling from day one, even buy-only. The stock Lightweight Alloy bulkhead stays on; it ships free and keeps the hull jump-friendly.

Fill four utility mounts with 0A Shield Boosters to thicken that shield. The huge hardpoint, the remaining utilities and the rest of the cargo slots stay empty (—) until A-rating.

Cores stay E-rated and the tank is a 5C — cheap to fly off the lot, with the bi-weave shield, thruster and FSD upgrades deferred to the A-rated plan.

A-rating priority for a defensible hauler:

• 1Shield Generator → 7C bi-weave — Protect the cargo; the Anaconda's edge over a Type-9. ~12M Cr
• 2FSD → 6A — Laden jump range for efficient long loops. ~14M Cr
• 3Thrusters → 7A — Keep the ponderous hull as mobile as possible. ~12M Cr
• 4Power Plant → 8A — Power for the shield, boosters and a deterrent gun. ~18M Cr
• 5Power Distributor → 8A — Sustain boost and shield cells under attack. ~12M Cr

The bulkhead stays the stock Lightweight Alloy through A-rating — no upsize, keep it light for cargo and range; the Heavy Duty roll that turns it into a real backstop comes in the engineered plan.

The trading engineering pattern weighted to range and protection. Felicity Farseer (maxed) carries the FSD; pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application.

Recommended order

• 1FSD Increased Range first — the Anaconda's standout trading asset is its long laden reach.
• 2Bi-weave shield Reinforced plus Heavy-Duty boosters to protect the cargo.
• 3Dirty thrusters to keep the heavy hull as mobile as it can be; Low-Emissions plant for cool, quiet running.
• 4Lightweight life support and sensors, then fill the rest with the biggest cargo racks.

Approximate progression across the three states (figures are representative, not exact rolls):

Engineered, a defensible Anaconda hauls ~430t behind a ~1,200 MJ bi-weave shield, with a Heavy Duty + Deep Plating hull (~3,300 raw armour) and two Stripped Down shield cells underneath to ride out an interdiction — the lightened SCBs claw back jump mass so it still clears a long laden ~36 LY loop. Strip it for cargo and it nears ~470t, but at that point it carries less than a Type-9 for more money. Its trading value is range and self-defence, not raw tonnage.

• Keep a shield and a deterrent gun — self-defence is the only reason to haul in this hull over a Type-9.
• Its real trading edge is jump range — engineer the FSD first for long, efficient loops.
• For pure tonnage buy a Type-9; for defensible bulk buy a Cutter — the Anaconda trades best as a hull you already own.
• Mind the large pad and the ponderous handling — it's slow in and out of the bins.