I was hauling cap parts around (due to asset safety), and was thinking that I’d like a hauler option somewhere between 60K and 1M m3, and maybe something a little less defenseless than a freighter.
Thus, my idea for a T2 freighter that borrows a bit from other T2 haulers.
(1) Has a fleet hanger. Base capacity ~250K M3, skills up to ~500k m3
(2) Either non-scannable hold, or capable of cloaking while warping.
(3) +2 or +3 warp core stability as base trait.
(4) 3 low slots, maybe 150 CPU, 3 power grid.
Yes, this seems a bit OP if we did all of these, but some combination of these would seem to fit.
I’m not so concerned about the defenses, but it would be nice to have a hauler size somewhere between Tayra and the big boys. And it would be nice if the warp speed drop off between, say, a Badger and a Tayra wasn’t so large. Tayra-type haulers feel like a poor trade off between speed and capacity.
T2 freighter already exists - Jump Freighters. Right now the Orca provides a bridge between the DST & freighter - up to 140K M3 split between cargo hold and fleet hangar. I’d much rather see a proper hauling variant of the Orca - perhaps the Livyatan with a large fleet hangar - 150-200K m3, speed/tank similar to Orca and slot layout similar to Bowhead. I’d buy one.
It is none the less a T2 freighter - you invent the jump freighter BPC from a standard freighter BPC and build it using a standard freighter plus a whole lot of advanced components. JFs can travel up to 10 light years in the blink of an eye and are unquestionably the fastest and safest way to haul stuff outside highsec.
It’s a T2 ship. That’s not at all an unreasonable cost jump from T1 to T2, and I certainly can’t imagine a cheaper T2 freighter with the attributes you described.
It does just fine in low? In fact, it quite shines with short jumps and can cut massive amounts of time off of a hub-hub run if you do it right.
They’re not. They align considerably faster and, you know, can cut out massive numbers of gates all at once.
What you want is either an Orca or a JF. Pick one, skill for it, and realize that the niche is already filled.