Trade Routes time profit etc

Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:02 am by Captain Chilly Sauce

Thank you to Bozonik for the routes

PAINU IN THE AINUS
Location: Kusari
Difficulty: Easy
Duration: 12 minutes
Profit: 1.3 million per hour
Required neutrality: Kusari Authorities/Corps, Golden C.
1. Start at ROPPONGI STATION, D6 New Tokyo. Buy Luxury Consumer Goods.
2. Sell them at AINU DEPOT, C5 Hokkaido. Buy Cardamine.
3. Sell them at ROPPONGI STATION and repeat.
A quick way to make easy money but not the most profitable nor most interesting of routes. The main value is that initially, from no kills, you'll be neutral with everyone you'll meet so you don't get attacked. Thus if you can survive the trip from Manhattan (with luxury consumer goods of course) its a good way to start making money. It gets very repetitive very quickly though and the profits aren't really worth getting RSI for.

CHALLENGE: complete the route five times in 57 minutes. Then never do it again.

DON'T MENTION THE WAR...
Location: Kusari, Border(Sigma), Rheinland
Difficulty: Relatively Easy
Duration: 31 minutes
Profit: 1.5 million per hour
Required neutrality: Kusari & Rheinland Authorities/Corps, Golden C.
1. Start at AINU DEPOT, C5 Hokkaido. Buy Cardamine.
2. Sell them at PLANET NEW BERLIN, F5 New Berlin. Buy Diamonds.
3. Sell them at PLANET NEW TOKYO, D6 New Tokyo. Buy Luxury Consumer Goods.
4. Sell them at AINU DEPOT and repeat.
An better and more varied route than the previous one. The attacks from outcasts, corsairs, hessians and unioners provide a minor challenge. It may be slightly quicker to proceed from Hokkaido to Chugoku and Honshu via the jump holes but there's not much in it. This route is a useful way to get to Berlin which joins other decent routes and sells the slow but sturdy humpback freighter.

CHALLENGE: complete the route twice in an hour.

TRADER'S FOLLY
Location: Border(Sigma), Edge
Difficulty: Very Dangerous
Duration: Variable
Profit: Zero
Conditions: You must be neutral or better with Samura. You must be HOSTILE towards the Corsairs. You must be flying a freighter.
1. Start at PLANET KURILE, F5 Sigma-17.
2. Land on PLANET GAMMU, F6 Unknown (from Omicron Gamma)
3. Land on PLANET PRIMUS, C5 Unknown (same one).
4. Return to PLANET KURILE alive

I did this insanity in a dromedary, forgetting that you can't buy shield generators nor nanobots in the Unknown system. The main problem is that once you've landed in the Unknown system you only get one reasonable chance to get back alive. If you die you will be stuck there with no nanobots and no shield generators and probably have to pay another human player loads of your cash for these supplies (and maybe an escort). I got to Freeport 9 with two nanobots left and with a lot of luck on the way.

HARLEM GLOBETROTTER
Location: Kusari, Border(Sigma), Rheinland
Difficulty: Relatively Easy
Duration: 63 minutes
Profit: 1.1 million per hour
Required neutrality: All house authorities & corps.
1. Start at AINU DEPOT, C5 Hokkaido. Buy Cardamine.
2. Sell them at PLANET NEW BERLIN, F5 New Berlin. Buy Engine Components.
3. Sell them at PLANET CAMBRIDGE, D6 Cambridge. Buy Luxury Food.
4. Sell them at PLANET DENVER, E4 Colorado. Buy Luxury Consumer Goods.
5. Sell them at AINU DEPOT and repeat.
This "around the world" trip isn't greatest route ever but it knocks up a decent profit whilst taking you through the four house systems. It is best used as a link between routes (step 4 can be replaced with PLANET MANHATTAN if required).

CHALLENGE: complete the route in an hour.

ADVANCE TO GO
Location: Kusari, Border(Sigma), Rheinland
Difficulty: Moderate
Duration: 20 minutes
Profit: 1.8 million per hour
Required neutrality: Kusari & Rhienland Corps, Authorities. Junkers.
1. Start at PLANET HONSHU, E3 Honshu. Buy Optronics.
2. Sell them at YANAGI DEPOT, C5 Sigma-13. Buy Cardamine.
3. Sell them at PLANET NEW BERLIN, F5 New Berlin. Buy Silver.
4. Sell them at MAINZ STORAGE FACILITY, D4 Frankfurt. Buy Cobalt.
5. Sell them at PLANET HONSHU and repeat.
This neat little route has no massive profits but is very quick and knocks up the most profit of any of the safe routes I have found. Its fairly straightforward but take care into Yanagi and out to the Frankfurt jumphole if the corsairs don't like you.

CHALLENGE 1: After a server reset, instead of leaving Honshu via the jump-gate take the jump hole just below it and collect 10 or more Level-10 weapons (each worth 35000) en route to Yanagi. Don't get killed by other salvagers (in stronger ships no doubt).

CHALLENGE 2: Starting and finishing anywhere on the route, make 2mil in or under and hour.

GO BACK TO OLD KENT ROAD
Location: Liberty, Independent
Difficulty: Easy
Duration: 26 minutes
Profit: 1.1 million per hour
Required neutrality: Liberty Authorities & Corps, Lane Hackers.
1. Start at PLANET MANHATTAN, C4 New York. Buy Water.
2. Sell them at FORT BUSH, E3 New York. Buy Optronics.
3. Sell them at PLANET HOUSTON, F4 Texas. Buy Engine Components.
4. Sell them at MACTAN BASE, C4 Magellan. Buy Cardamine.
5. Sell them at PLANET MANHATTAN and repeat.
A very easy route. Useful for switching to the dromedary ship at Mactan base. Other than that its not a great route but does spend quite a lot of time in New York which tends to be quite lively.

Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:04 am by Captain Chilly Sauce

Just incase you got bored

ALIENS FOR TEA, I SEE...
Location: Kusari, Border (Sigma), Edge (Outcast)
Difficulty: Tricky
Duration: 24 minutes
Profit: 1.6 million per hour
Required neutrality: Kusari Authorities/Corps, Outcasts.
1. Start at RUIZ BASE, E4 Omicron Beta. Buy Alien Organisms.
2. Sell them at PLANET JUNYO, F4 Shikoku. Buy Luxury Food.
3. Sell them at PLANET HONSHU, E3 Honshu. Buy Optronics.
4. Sell them at RUIZ BASE and repeat.
Quite lucrative. The difficulty is getting into and out of Ruiz Base - if challenged it may be safest to re-dock with Ruiz or a jump hole when appropriate.

CHALLENGE: Complete the route four times in 100 minutes without dying nor re-docking.

MELRAH GLOBETROTTER
Location: Liberty, Independent & Kusari, Sigma, Rheinland, Omega, Bretonia & Independent
Difficulty: Relatively Easy
Duration: 82 minutes
Profit: 1.1 million per hour
Required neutrality: All Corporations & Authorities, Golden C.
1. Start at PLANET MANHATTAN, C4 New York. Buy Boron.
2. Sell them at LD-14, D3 Leeds. Buy MOX.
3. Sell them at GLASGOW OUTPOST, F2 Leeds. Buy Alien Oerganisms
4. Sell them at CAMBRIDGE RESEARCH STATION, D6 Cambridge.
5. Go to CARDIFF MINING FACILITY, E3 Cambridge. Buy Beryllium.
6. Sell them at DORTMUND STATION, D3 New Berlin. Buy Basic Alloy.
7. Sell them at PLANET NEW BERLIN, F5 New Berlin. Buy Diamonds.
8. Sell them at PLANET NEW TOKYO, D6 New Tokyo. Buy Luxury Consumer Goods.
9. Sell them at AINU DEPOT, C6 Hokkaido. Buy Cardamine.
10. Sell them at PLANET MANHATTAN and repeat.
An alternative around the world route, travelling in the reverse direction to Route Four.

BLAME IT ON THE BLACK STAR...
Location: Kusari, Sigma, Edge, Omega, Bretonia
Difficulty: Dangerous
Duration: 35 minutes
Profit: 2.0 million per hour
Required neutrality: Kusari & Bretonia Authorities & Corps, Outcasts, Zoners. Ideally Corsairs & Hessians too.
1. Start at PLANET HONSHU, F3 Honshu. Buy Optronics.
2. Sell at RUIZ BASE, E4 Omicron Beta. Buy Cardamine.
3. Sell at FREEPORT 9, E4 Omicron Theta. Buy Alien Organisms
4. Sell at CAMBRIDGE RESEARCH STATION, D6 Cambridge.
5. Go to PLANET CAMBRIDGE, D6 Cambridge. Buy Luxury Food.
6. Sell at LUXURY LINER HAWAII, D6 Sigma-19.
7. Go to PLANET HONSHU and repeat.
This is the best route I've found so far despite the annoying cargoless journeys. To make 2 million an hour you'll need to complete the route in or under 35 minutes (allowing for cargo expiry, nanobots & repairs). This is tough but can be done without requiring too much luck due to the small number of trade lanes used. Go from Beta to Theta via Alpha of course. As far as I can tell the quickest route from Theta to Cambridge is via Omega-41 and Omega-5. I tend to go straight past the Omega-41 neutron star with 2 or 3 nanobots to spare but it may be best to go around it if (a) you've got lots of weapons (higher repair cost) or (b) server is laggy. On the weapons front I just carry one low level weapon in case wrecks are available. Cambridge to Sigma-19 is via Omega-5, Omega-41, Omicron Theta and Sigma-17.

VARIATIONS: RUIZ BASE (eng. comp) ---> PLANET MALTA (cardamine) ---> Freeport 9 is worthwhile if wrecks are available since Viking in D6 is worth 150k. Going straight from RUIZ to CAMBRIDGE RESEARCH with alien org. about as good as the given route. Taking artefacts from Hawaii to (a) BERLIN (then silver to MAINZ & cobalt to HONSHU) or (b) TOKYO (then luxury food to HONSHU) is worse. There are lots of alternatives from Cambridge some of which follow.

HARDMAN CHALLENGE: The first challenge is to complete the route in 35mins. The Hardman challenge is to complete the route three times in two hours with NO equipment (ie. no weapons, countermeasures, nanobots, thruster and SHIELD!) in a Humpback. You may not die. You may repair at bases.

I THINK YOU'RE CRAZY, MAYBE
Location: Edge, Omega, Bretonia, Rheinland
Difficulty: Dangerous
Duration: 30 minutes
Profit: 1.9 million per hour
Required neutrality: Rheinland & Bretonia Authorities & Corps, Hessians, Zoners. Ideally Corsairs too.
1. Start at FREEPORT 9, E4 Omicron Theta. Buy Alien Organisms.
2. Sell at CAMBRIDGE RESEARCH STATION, D6 Cambridge.
3. Go to CARDIFF MINING FACILITY, E3 Cambridge. Buy Beryllium.
4. Sell at FREIBURG STATION, C3 Stuttgart. Buy Engine Components.
5. Sell at FREITAL BASE, C4 Omega-11. Buy Diamonds.
6. Sell at FREEPORT 9 and repeat.
It may be possible to do this one in 28 minutes to make 2 million an hour but both Cardiff and Freiburg seem to be particulary bad for docking delays. The trip through Omega-3 and Omega-7 is pretty slow too. Freiburg to Freital is significantly quicker going via the jump hole in Omega-7 rather than the Stuttgart jump gate. Freital to Freeport 9 goes through the Omega-41 minefield which is nasty but can be done on cruise (not in a humpback I'd imagine).

Instead of steps 2 and 3 you can alternatively try some train bashing if your rep is good. When doing this I tend to go from Cam Res (pharm)->Leon (Artefacts)->London. Then I train bash from London to Freiburg, often very profitably.

CHALLENGE: Complete the route twice in an hour without using any shield generators. You may not die.

TOURIST TRAP
Location: Bretonia, Omega
Difficulty: Tricky
Duration: 14 minutes
Profit: 1.8 million per hour
Required neutrality: Bretonia Authorities & Corps, Corsairs.
1. Start at PLANET NEW LONDON 9, D6 New London. Buy Light Arms.
2. (A) Sell at CADIZ BASE, D5 Omega-5. Buy Artefacts.
or (

Sell at LEON BASE, D5 Omega-41. Buy Artefacts.
3. Sell at PLANET NEW LONDON and repeat.
The profits given are for route (A). Route (

is slightly better I think and can make 1.9mil per hour. This is the best two base route I've found.

CHALLENGE: Find a better two base route. good luck lol.

ONCE MORE WITH FEELING
Location: Bretonia, Omega, Edge, Rheinland, Sigma, Kusari
Difficulty: Dangerous
Duration: 52 minutes
Profit: 1.9 million per hour
Required neutrality: Nearly everyone.
01. Start at PLANET HONSHU, E3 Honshu. Buy Optronics.
02. Sell at RUIZ BASE, E4 Omicron Beta. Buy Cardamine.
03. Sell at FREEPORT 9, E4 Omicron Theta. Buy Alien Organisms.
04. Sell at CAMBRIDGE RESEARCH STATION, D6 Cambridge. Buy Pharmaceuticals.
05. Sell at RONNEBURG BASE, E4 Omega 5. Buy Diamonds.
06. Sell at PLANET CAMBRIDGE, D6 Cambridge. Buy Gold.
07. Sell at TRIPOLI SHIPYARD, D6 Omicron Gamma. Buy H-fuel.
08. Sell at CADIZ BASE, D5 Omega 5. Buy Artefacts.
09. Sell at PLANET NEW LONDON, D6 New London. Buy Light Arms.
10. Sell at LEON BASE, D5 Omega 41. Buy Artefacts.
11. Sell at PLANET NEW BERLIN, F5 New Berlin. Buy Silver.
12. Sell at MAINZ STORAGE FACILITY, D4 Frankfurt. Buy Cobalt.
13. Sell at PLANET HONSHU.
Just a mixture of various routes really but still pretty lucrative.

THE CHICKEN RUN
Location: Tau, Edge, Omega
Difficulty: Suicidal
Duration: Variable
Profit: Zero
Conditions: You must be flying a freighter. You must be hostile towards the Outcasts, Corsairs and Red Hessians.
01. Start at FREEPORT 10, Tau-37.
02. Fly to Omega Alpha
03. To Omicron Theta
04. To Omega-41 and around the neutron star before back
05. To Omicron Theta
06. To Omicron Alpha
07. and returning to FREEPORT 10 without having landed anywhere else in between.
God bless your soul.

AROUND THE WORLD
Location: Everywhere
Difficulty: Tough in places
Duration: 13hrs
Profit: 13mil
Required neutrality: Everyone

I started building this route with the intention of creating a route which stops in every system without any loops (ie. no base is visitted more than once) and which makes over 1mil per hour. At some point I started trying to visit as many bases as possible too, probably at the cost of some profitability. Cargo in brackets is bought at the base listed and sold at the next base. (Train) means no cargo so blow up a few trains for cargo if your rep can take it.
01: PLANET MANHATTAN, New York (Luxury consumer goods)
02: PLANET BADEN BADEN, Stuttgart (Train - Gold, Const mach, Arms, Pharm, etc)
03: PLANET STUTTGART, Stuttgart (Luxury food)
04: PLANET DENVER, Colorado (Luxury consumer goods)
05: AINU DEPOT, Hokkaido (Cardamine)
06: ROPPONGI STATION, New Tokyo (Gate parts)
07: TAU-31 CONSTRUCTION SITE, Tau-23 (Beryllium)
08: NARITA OUTPOST, New Tokyo (Optronics)
09: YANAGI DEPOT, Sigma-13 (Cardamine)
10: PLANET NEW BERLIN, New Berlin (Silver)
11: MAINZ STORAGE FACILITY, Frankfurt (Cobalt)
12: PLANET HONSHU, Honshu (Engine components)
13: PLANET MALTA, Omicron Alpha (Cardamine)
14: FREEPORT 9, Omicron Theta (Alien organisms)
15: PLANET HARRIS, Tau-31 (Train - jump gate!! - or storage depots - watch rep!)
16: HOLMAN OUTPOST, Tau-31 (Mining Machinery)
17: FALKLAND BASE, Tau-37 (Niobium)
18: LEIPZIG STATION, Dresden (High-Temperature Alloy)
19: SOUTHAMPTON SHIPYARD, New London (Train - diamonds, mining, h-fuel etc)
20: THAMES OUTPOST, New London (Mining Machinery)
21: CARDIFF MINING FACILITY, Cambridge (Beryllium)
22: THE RING, New Berlin (Engine Components)
23: ARRANMORE BASE, Dublin (Gold)
24: ALSTER SHIPYARD, Hamburg (Train - Diamonds, Silver, Light Arms etc)
25: PLANET HAMBURG, Hamburg (Diamonds)
26: FREEPORT 2, Bering (Light Arms)
27: DAWSON BASE, Hudson (Diamonds)
28: BEAUMONT BASE, Texas (Engine Components)
29: FREEPORT 4, Magellan (H-fuel or Train - Eng. Comp!!)
30: MACTAN BASE, Magellan (Cardamine)
31: PLANET HOUSTON, Texas (Engine Components)
32: PLANET LOS ANGELES, California (Boron)
33: LD-14, Leeds (MOX)
34: GLASGOW OUTPOST, Leeds (Optronics)
35: PLANET CAMBRIDGE, Cambridge (Gold)
36: TRIPOLI SHIPYARD, Omicron Gamma (H-fuel)
37: CADIZ BASE, Omega-5 (Artefacts)
38: TRAFALGAR BASE, New London (Cardamine)
39: KENSINGTON SHIPPING PLATFORM, New London (Beryllium)
40: FREIBURG STATION, Stuttgart (Engine Components)
41: FREEPORT 1, Omega-3 (Pharm or Train: Mining, H-fuel, Gold, ConGoods etc)
42: SOLARIUS STATION, Omega-11 (Diamonds - now choose route well)
43: PLANET NEW TOKYO, New Tokyo (Pharm or Train - Diamonds, Gold etc)
44: SHINJUKU STATION, New Tokyo (Alien Organisms)
45: NEWARK STATION, New York (Boron)
46: SHEFFIELD STATION, Manchester (Light Arms)
47: MONTEZUMA BASE, Cortez (Cardamine)
48: ROCHESTER BASE, New York (Light Arms)
49: NOME BASE, Kepler (Train - Diamonds, Eng. Comp, Gold etc)
50: AMES RESEARCH STATION, Kepler (Engine Components)
51: LEIDEN BASE, Galileo (Pharm or Train - Diamonds, Arms, Niobium, Gold, etc)
52: DESHIMA STATION, Shikoku (Light Arms)
53: BATTLESHIP MATSUMOTO, Hokkaido (H-fuel + wrecks)
54: KYOTO BASE, Chugoku (Train - Diamonds, Gold, Pharm, NOT H-fuel!)
55: AOMORI STATION, Honshu (Pharmaceuticals)
56: RUIZ BASE, Omicron Beta (Alien Organisms)
57: ATKA RESEARCH STATION, Sigma-17 (Pharm/Train/Sig-13 ConstMach dep)
58: PLANET KURILE, Sigma-17 (Alien Organisms)
59: CAMBRIDGE RESEARCH STATION, Cambridge (Pharmaceuticals)
60: FREEPORT 5, Omega-41 (Artefacts)
61: KREUZBERG DEPOT, New Berlin (Engine Components)
62: FRIEDSTADT BASE, Omega-7 (Pharm or Train: Eng. Comp/Light Arms!!)
63: FREITAL BASE, Omega-11 (Diamonds)
64: LEON BASE, Omega-41 (Artefacts)
65: PLANET NEW LONDON, New London (Light Arms)
66: RONNEBURG BASE, Omega-5 (Diamonds)
67: PLANET LEEDS, Leeds (Light Arms)
68: PLANET CRETE, Omicron Gamma (Artefacts)
69: KABUKICHO DEPOT, New Tokyo (Light Arms)
70: BATTLESHIP NAGUMO, Kyushu (H-fuel)
71: FREEPORT 6, Tau-29 (Alien Organisms)
72: PERTH STATION, Edinburgh (Water)
73: LUXURY LINER SHETLAND, Edinburgh (Luxury Food)
74: LUXURY LINER HAWAII, Sigma-19 (Artefacts)
75: KAGOSHIMA BASE, Kysushu (Train)
76: PLANET KYUSHU, Kyushu (Engine Components)
77: OURAY BASE, Colorado (Train)
78: FORT BUSH, New York (Boron)
79: STOKES STATION, Leeds (Beryllium)
80: FREEPORT 10, Tau-37 (Alien Organisms)
81: PLANET JUNYO, Shikoku (Train)
82: YOKOHAMA SHIPYARD, New Tokyo (H-fuel)
83: JAVA STATION, Tau-23 (Train)
84: CALI BASE, Tau-23 (Cardamine)
85: PLANET MANHATTAN.

And thats enough of that...

SLEIGHT OF HAND
Location: Bretonia, Omega, Edge
Difficulty: Suicidal (literally)
Duration: 10 minutes
Profit: 2.5 million per hour between two chars
Required neutrality: Bretonia Authorities & Corps, Zoners.
1. Start at FREEPORT 9, E4 Omicron Theta (or RUIZ BASE). Buy Alien Organisms.
2. Go to CAMBRIDGE RESEARCH STATION, D6 Cambridge, and jettison the cargo.
3. Fly into PLANET CAMBRIDGE!
4. Select a new character who is waiting in the area. Tractor in the cargo.
5. Land at CAMBRIDGE RESEARCH STATION and sell the cargo.
6. Restart the first character who is now back at FREEPORT 9.
I haven't bothered to try this nonsense so I wouldn't swear the cargo remains after you switch characters (I don't know how the game remembers things - presumably must work if someone else is nearby but if the system becomes empty the game might forget the cargo. Unlucky lol. As I say I don't know though). Theoretically the second character would be making about 50mil in one hour of game time but it doesn't sound like much fun.

I think this is the best one-way route in the game.

Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:52 pm by Preacher0815

However, as for the "Tourist Trap", I prefer to unload the light arms at Leon and buy artefacts at Cadiz (since I have to pass it anyways, why not buy there at a cheaper price?). This takes 16 minutes per trip and makes 1.98 million per hour minus a few bucks (~ 2000 - 5000) for repair because of the radiation in O-41.

Something I have to ask just out of curiosity: you didn't happen to find profitable routes between planets with mooring fixtures, not involving stations of any kind?

Edit

Deleted the first part thanks to **uk server**'s posting. Stealing other's work without giving credits is not the right way to handle things.

It does come in handy nevertheless, because I didn't know boz's routes before. I guess I'm not the only one, either.

Edited by - Preacher0815 on 11/5/2004 12:33:19 AM

Thu Nov 04, 2004 3:23 pm by BLADE_CHASER

chilly u cheat lol these are boz's routes http://www.geocities.com/bosson_1/free1.html

every tried to open ure bottle of bud with ure lightsaber??www.kokrull.com FOR GAMERS MADE BY GAMERS

Edited by - **uk server** on 11/4/2004 3:23:47 PM

Thu Nov 04, 2004 5:27 pm by VroomZo

trading takes that long? geez, i could of sworn i could travel nt to nb and back in around 5 minutes.

strafe! the three VHF's are equal in strength
You wouldn't use a cucumber to chop a tomato!

Fri Nov 05, 2004 1:41 am by Captain Chilly Sauce

Blade I thank him for em

PS Now I see the routes you have been doin to get the cash!

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