Type-10 DefenderTrading

The Type-10 Defender is Lakon's combat rebuild of the Type-9 freighter chassis — and as a trader it inherits that heritage from the wrong end. It keeps ten optional internals (topped by a class-8 slot), so it still racks a serious hold: around 530 tonnes stripped, or ~278 tonnes once a bi-weave shield takes the class-8 slot. What it adds over a Type-9 is the single toughest airframe in the game — the highest hull armour, two military slots and eight utility mounts.

That makes it the rare freighter that survives and bites back. A trading Type-10 carries a heavy shield-booster stack over its bi-weave and two deterrent multi-cannon turrets, so an interdiction that would gut a Type-9 is a fight it wins. The costs are steep, though: it is the slowest hull in the game, its heavy 1,200 t frame drags laden jump range down despite a size-7 FSD, and at ~121M Cr it is far pricier than the Type-9 that out-hauls it. It is a defensible-bulk specialist, not a cheap workhorse.

Three things separate the Type-10 from a pure freighter like the Type-9:

• The toughest hull in the game. Highest base armour, two military slots and deep optional space for hull reinforcement — effective armour climbs into the thousands, so it eats interdictions a Type-9 can only flee.
• Eight utility mounts. The largest suite in the game stacks six shield boosters over the bi-weave plus point defence and heat sinks — a trader that can genuinely defend its hold.
• No rank gate. Despite its Federal styling it needs only credits, so the toughest hauler in the game is open to any commander.

Game-leading survivability and a competitive ~278 t protected hold carry the score; the slowest speed in the game, a poor laden range on a 1,200 t hull, and a ~121M Cr price cap it at 68.

The 68/100 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.

Every table rates ships for trading specifically, split by landing-pad class. The Max cargo column is maximum cargo tonnage behind a shield; the rating is the same 1–100 suitability verdict used across the site.

Same class — large trading ships

10 large-pad trading hulls carry a rating, led by Panther Clipper Mk II (98). Every same-pad rival lands where this one does — the direct field to shop.

Other classes — the medium haulers

The medium-pad trading field (9 rated), led by Type-8 Transporter (76) — cheaper hulls and tighter pads. They undercut this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

Other classes — the small-pad haulers

The small-pad trading field (5 rated), led by Cobra Mk IV (52) — cheaper hulls and tighter pads. They undercut this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

At ~121M Cr the Type-10 is a straight credits purchase — no rank, permit or engineer gate — but it is a poor value proposition as a pure hauler: it costs almost double the Type-9 (~72M Cr) that carries ~790 tonnes to its ~278, and it out-hauls a medium Type-8 (~35M Cr) only by paying roughly four times as much.

What you are buying is survivability, not tonnage or reach. A defensible trade fit is cheap to engineer — an FSD roll, a shield, lightweight cores and a booster stack — so most of the bill is the hull and its reinforcement, not exotic combat rolls.

A defensible bulk fit: a bi-weave shield in the class-8 slot, a six-booster stack over the eight utilities, two deterrent multi-cannon turrets, and cargo racks in every remaining optional. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the trade baseline; Engineered maximises protected cargo and the little laden range a 1,200 t hull allows.

Goal: start defensible hauling for the least extra spend. Rack every optional from the class-8 down — but give the class-8 to a light 8E shield generator so an interdiction doesn't instantly kill the hold, and fill the class-7 through class-1 with cargo racks for the bulk of your ~278 tonnes. Add a 7E Frame Shift Drive so a laden run still jumps, and hang four 0A shield boosters on the utilities to thicken the thin stock shield.

Keep the thrusters at 7E and the power plant at 8E — you're not dogfighting, you're soaking hits while the FSD spins up. Leave the hull on stock Lightweight Alloy: a trader buys range, not plating, and the Type-10's base armour is already the toughest in the game. Weapons and the military slots wait until you A-rate. This buy-only fit adds only a few million over the hull and immediately moves protected bulk.

To reach the best buy-only defensible-bulk fit before engineering, upgrade in this order:

• 1Fill every cargo slot. Class-7 down to the class-2 as cargo racks; capacity behind the shield is the whole point of choosing this hull over a combat Type-10.
• 2FSD to 7A. Laden range is the Type-10's weakest trait — the size-7 A-rated drive buys back what the heavy hull costs you before you engineer it.
• 38C bi-weave shield generator. Fast-regenerating and cheap to power — the right shield for surviving a hit and holding, not for tanking indefinitely.
• 4Power Plant, thrusters and distributor to A; leave LS & sensors at light D-rate. Power headroom for the boosters and a full boost off an interdiction; weight off where it doesn't cost survivability.
• 5Fill all eight utilities and both military slots. Six 0A shield boosters, a point defence and a heat sink; a shield cell bank and a hull reinforcement in the military slots. Two large multi-cannon turrets as a deterrent — the Type-10 can't aim fixed guns, so turrets are the only sensible weapon.

Trading engineering on the Type-10 is about range, shield and weight — you lean on the hull's stock toughness and never engineer it as a warship.

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

The two numbers a trader lives on are cargo and laden jump, and the Type-10 is honest about both: engineering holds ~276 tonnes behind a shield but only lifts laden range to ~16–20 LY, so routes run in more hops than a Type-9's. Where the engineering pays is survivability — a ~1,000+ MJ shield over the game's toughest hull means an interdiction is a fight it wins, not a death sentence. That is the trait you're buying; the range never becomes a strength.

• It tanks instead of fleeing. This is its whole trading case — the game's toughest hull, eight utilities and two military slots let it win an interdiction a Type-9 could only run from. Fit the shield stack and lean on it.
• You cannot out-run trouble. At 179/219 m/s it is the slowest hull in the game, so escape is never the plan — submit, soak, deter, high-wake.
• Laden range is poor. A 1,200 t frame on a size-7 FSD reaches only ~16–20 LY laden — expect more, shorter hops than a Type-9 on the same route.
• Large pad only. It can't dock at outposts or many planetary ports — if a route ends at a medium pad, that's the Type-8's job.
• It carries less than a cheaper Type-9. Choose it only when protected cargo is worth more than raw tonnage or credits-per-tonne — for pure bulk the Type-9 or Cutter win outright.