Type-8 TransporterMultipurpose

The Type-8 Transporter is a medium-pad freighter first and everything else second. Its case for the multipurpose role rests entirely on volume: nine optional internals topping out at size 7, and the biggest cargo hold of any medium all-rounder — more than 400 tonnes, ahead of even the Corsair and Python. Fill it with racks to haul, keep a shield and boosters to survive open play, and it earns its keep as a working medium hull.

Where it falls down is the other half of "multipurpose." It has one medium hardpoint and five small ones — no large mount, no military slot — so its guns are strictly self-defence. A class-5 FSD hauling a 400 t frame gives a short laden jump that rules out serious exploration, and a class-4 power distributor struggles to feed guns and boost at once. It re-roles between hauling and light combat, never into a warship or an explorer. That narrow flex is why it sits at the bottom of the multipurpose field.

What the Type-8 brings to a do-everything career:

• The biggest medium-pad hold in the role. Over 400 tonnes — more cargo than any other versatile medium, and it keeps most of it even with a shield fitted.
• Nine deep internals. A size-7 slot down to a size-1 gives room for a bi-weave, cells, hull reinforcement and a large stack of cargo racks at once.
• Real self-defence. Six gimballed hardpoints plus four utilities and a class-6 bi-weave let it fight off a lone pirate or boost clear — more teeth than a stripped freighter.
• Cheap and ungated. ~34.8M Cr, no rank or permit, and a medium pad that lands almost anywhere.

The role's biggest medium-pad hold (~406 t) across nine internals carries the score, but 1M·5S hardpoints, a class-5 FSD dragging 400 t and a class-4 distributor cap firepower and jump at the bottom of the multipurpose field — a deep-holed hauler that dabbles rather than a true all-rounder.

The 58/100 headline is a verdict against the multipurpose 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 multipurpose specifically, split by landing-pad class. The Max cargo column is maximum cargo tonnage — a proxy for internal room; the rating is the same 1–100 suitability verdict used across the site.

Same class — medium multipurpose ships

8 medium-pad multipurpose hulls carry a rating, led by Python (86). Every same-pad rival lands where this one does — the direct field to shop.

Other classes — the capital all-rounders

The large-pad multipurpose field (10 rated), led by Anaconda (88) — bigger pads and bankrolls. They out-muscle this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

Other classes — the small all-rounders

The small-pad multipurpose field (4 rated), led by Cobra Mk V (80) — cheaper hulls and tighter pads. They undercut this hull on the numbers, but sit a pad class away.

At ~34.8M Cr the Type-8 is mid-priced for a medium — dearer than an Asp Explorer, cheaper than a Python or Corsair — with no rank or permit gate. A shielded, armed all-round fit lands the all-in cost near 60M Cr.

For that money you get the biggest hold on a medium pad plus enough guns and shield to look after yourself. It is not the versatile hull the label implies — but as an affordable, ungated freighter that can also run missions and defend itself, it is honest value.

A balanced medium-pad generalist — a defensive multi-cannon-and-laser battery, a class-6 bi-weave over a stacked hull, and a big re-fittable hold. Initial is buy-only; A-rated is the all-round baseline; Engineered lifts a heavy, slow hull to workable across trade, light combat and errands. The Type-8 flexes wide but excels at nothing: small hardpoints only, a class-4 distributor and a class-5 FSD cap its combat and jump ceilings.

Buy-only is a working shell: the stock Lightweight Alloy bulkheads, a gimballed Multi-Cannon on the medium mount with small multi-cannons and pulse lasers filling the smalls, and the stock E-rated core modules with a 5C Fuel Tank.

Fit a class-6 Shield Generator and one Shield Booster straight away so it is not defenceless, then fill the remaining internals with cargo racks — the hull's whole point. Everything else waits for the A-rated pass.

Buy-only just gets you flying, hauling and able to trade fire with a single attacker. It is slow, its shield is weak and its jump is short until you upgrade.

A-rating priority for a shielded generalist:

• 1Power Distributor → 4A — The Type-8's weakest core; the guns and boost both starve without it. A-rate this first. ~5M Cr
• 2Shield Generator → 6C bi-weave — Fast-regenerating protection over the hold; the survivable all-round choice. ~3M Cr
• 3Power Plant → 5A — Feed six guns, the shield and cells at once. ~5M Cr
• 4Thrusters → 5A — Claw back agility on a heavy hull and escape interdiction when laden. ~5M Cr
• 5Frame Shift Drive → 5A — The best a class-5 drive can give; keeps errands and route legs bearable.
• 6Utilities & internals — Two 0A Shield Boosters, a chaff launcher and a heat sink; a size-5 Hull Reinforcement and a shield cell bank for survivability, the rest cargo racks.

Engineering targets the hull's weak points — distributor, plant, thrusters, FSD and shield; the small guns take standard weapon blueprints. Pin blueprints for remote G1→G5 application.

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

Engineered, the Type-8 boosts near 370 m/s behind a ~560 MJ bi-weave and jumps ~32 LY laden — enough to haul, run missions and fend off a lone attacker. What engineering cannot fix is the shape of the hull: six small mounts stay six small mounts, and a class-5 FSD on a 400 t frame will never explore. Treat it as a shielded freighter with teeth, not a jack-of-all-trades.

• Volume is the point — the hold is why you own it; keep it full and let the guns and shield protect it.
• A-rate the class-4 distributor before anything else; it starves both the guns and the boost.
• No large hardpoint and no military slot — accept that it fights defensively and plan escapes.
• For real all-round capability the Python or Asp Explorer beat it comfortably; the Type-8 wins only on cargo.