What ship to get after starter terran one?

[GreatSouthernTrendKill]

Hello everyone, so I'm pretty new to the X series and recently got into terran conflict. I'm about 15 hours in and started on terran defender. I did a bit of exploring, some main missions and a bunch of side missions and have about 180k ... The only thing is I'm still in the starter ship and I hear it's not very good, so pretty much I'm over whelmed of what I should be doing, I wanna but another ship but not sure what I should get! Thinking about maybe a freighter to do some trading or another combat ship. There's just so many options I'm looking for some feedback, thanks! Enjoying the game so far definitely btw.

[Threesixtyci]

Teladi M5 Kestrel is what I always tend to get first.
Main missions it can do is Asteroid Scan Missions and Fast Taxi Missions. Can also be uses as a Jump Drive donor for Return Ship Missions. Main benefit is that it has a M class cargo hold and a top speed of 605m/s. Good for dropping Sat's too.

Next ship purchase is a TP ship. Most times an Iguana. Sometimes a Baron Angel. Or if I find one an Iguana Vanguard. Missions that require a TP are usually very lucrative. Bigger rewards as your Trade Rank goes up.

A TM sometime later, for return missions, random deliveries and as an alternate way of picking up fighter drones.

As for a Combat ship... I skip the M4's and M3's and get a M6. I usually buy a Boron Hydra for it's Ion Disrupters, but a Split Dragon is probably the best choice for pure combat. But as far as TC is concerned... I tend to use the AFC one they give you in the Terran plot. I use the M5 guns that they give you 3 of, to help load it out (BTW: I just park the 3 M5's when they give them to me, I don't use them). The M3 Cutlass they gave me donates the rest. The speed sucks on it, but it has good shielding.... and it's free. Don't sell it, there are only 2 in the whole game and acquiring the second one isn't easy. I''ll buy 3 anti warhead guns for it, and about 5 crates of bullets for it as well, before I go heavy on the combat missions. (such as for the Kha'ak plot or for killing Q's with it.)

If I do get a M3, I usually get a Mamba Raider and outfit it with Electric Bolt Chainguns and ammo.

Oh yeah... you don't need marines to get the Vidar... you can acquire it via you're own space suit, just like every other abandon ship you find in the game. But go ahead and acquire it with the marines anyways. If however they fail then you can just get it your self. But the hull will likely be near zero.

I'll buy a TL Elephant later on.

As for TS ships... I tend to buy them used at random times, or buy loads of them from shipyards that are selling L versions of them. Usually the default Mercury with it's small hold and 100m/s speed. Tend to use them as MK3's or CAGs.

For a personal errand TS's, I'll usually use the Super freighter Minstral. Or the smaller Minstral, depends if I need the cargo space, or need the speed.

[Baratheon79]

First ship I usually buy is a TM (either Zephyrus or Chokaro). Then I look for a good M3 (tend to prefer the Tenjin), which I use for hitting transports. As I'm usually on pretty friendly terms with the Yaki, I buy most of my ships from them (the ones I don't steal from the other races, anyway ).

[pjknibbs]

180k won't get you much. A freighter, maybe, if you want to try out trading, or an M5 for scouting around. You'd need nearly 3 times as much to buy just the bare hull of another Sabre, and M3s (which are the next logical upgrade from the M4 you're flying) are around four times as much as that, so you see the sort of money you need to be looking at in order to get anything good brand new.

If you want an M3 for 180k, the only way you'll do it is by increasing your reputation with the various races a *lot*. Once your rep is high enough you'll start getting offered second-hand ships by random pilots in sectors and sometimes in stations; if you find one with a beat-up hull you might be able to get it for the sort of money you're talking, and you can then repair it with the repair laser built into your space suit. Actually equipping it to the point you can do anything useful with it is a whole 'nother ball game!

[ancienthighway]

If you haven't already done so, max out the speed on the Sabre, and fill out the shields. Or sell it off to fund future ships. I'd just park it someplace for future consideration; it can store guns and shields you might want later.

You say you've done some missions. Were those just in Terran space, or did you move into Commonwealth space also? If you can pick up an Argon Discoverer Raider or Teladi Kestral, and equip is with the life support system and mineral scanner. Then run more missions to build up the credits again. 180k isn't enough to get you into any bigger ship. Besides the cost of the ship, there's the cost up upgrades, shields, weapons, and software.

With the newly purchased M5, 1mj shielding will do you well for a while, and no weapons are needed for the taxi and asteroid scan missions. Both can outrun any danger from pirates or xenon as long as you see them at a distance.

Once you get to at least 500k, then it's time to look at transports. Rather than buying one new, look for used ships for sale around the gates in Commonwealth sectors. If you see one with a price under 100k, pick it up, no matter what variety it is. Even a slow transport is better than no transport. Repair your new ship, send it to a trading dock and buy the speed and rudder upgrades, then start looking for potential bargains to buy and sell at. Energy is needed everywhere. In Teladi space, sunflower and nostrop oil are, in my opinion, the best food resources to trade in. Even the Sabre and make some money there, although a bigger cargo hold would be preferred.

Keep your eyes open for more used transports for sale, only now you can look more at speed too. Dolphins and Vultures tend to be dreadfully slow. Caimans are the fastest, followed by the Mercury and Demeter. Again, any variant is good. There is also the Mistral, but you won't find one used. Just make sure you have enough money to fix up the new ship, and then keep all transports fully employed.

Software and equipment useful for transports:
Best Buy
Best Sell
Navigation
Special Commands
5mj shields minimum - don't waste money on 25mj shields for them.

The next 4 will give you more flexibility on the traders, but aren't essential for manual remote trading:
Trade Mk I
Trade Mk II
Commodity I
Commodity II

Make sure you set your ships to notify you when they are done with there task so you can give them a new task.

While you control the transports remotely, continue to do missions with your M5. The credits will start to accumulate to the point you can start looking at an M3.

[X2-Illuminatus]

Actually, the Sabre isn't too bad, if it's fully equipped. Most importantly, it's relative fast, which is a good thing for travelling, especially within the Terran sectors.

If you haven't done so, I would suggest starting the Terran plot. You get a number of ships as rewards within it, including some M5 class ships after the first few missions, which can easily be completed with your Sabre. So you don't have to waste any money for buying one. At some point, you will need a transporter though. If you find a cheap one, get a TM class ship. They are fast, they can carry a few of your fighters and you can still do trade runs with them (even if that won't be the big ones). When you have one, complete the Terran plot, as that will give you some more ships (of different classes).

[Earth Ultimatum IV.]

I always used to spam combat missions in X3TC with the Sabre, until I reached the sum of 15 000 000 credits on account. Then I bought Katana, and did more missions until I bought something large.
That Sabre is really, really badass. No problem taking out a M6.

[Nanook]

...
If you want an M3 for 180k, the only way you'll do it is by increasing your reputation with the various races a *lot*....

Two other ways: via the plot (I won't say more) or just steal one. Attacking an M3 with the Sabre and forcing the pilot to bail is probably the quickest way for the OP to get one at his current stage.

[Honved]

The M4 Saber is a relatively effective ship for its class, and is good for blowing up other fighters. Problem is, it doesn't do all of the "tricks" that the Commonwealth ships are capable of, and isn't as good for teasing "bails", etc. It's hard to find an affordable Commonwealth ship just to get back to the same base capability as you've already got, without moving up to the far more expensive M3 class. You don't have the finances to buy and equip an M3, at least yet.

As pointed out, the main plot will provide a few bonuses along the way. You're probably alright with what you've got for now, although I can think of a couple of Commonwealth ships I'd rather fly that would be "not better, but different".

[hisazul]

Actually, the Sabre isn't too bad, if it's fully equipped. Most importantly, it's relative fast, which is a good thing for travelling, especially within the Terran sectors.

If you haven't done so, I would suggest starting the Terran plot. You get a number of ships as rewards within it, including some M5 class ships after the first few missions, which can easily be completed with your Sabre. So you don't have to waste any money for buying one. At some point, you will need a transporter though. If you find a cheap one, get a TM class ship. They are fast, they can carry a few of your fighters and you can still do trade runs with them (even if that won't be the big ones). When you have one, complete the Terran plot, as that will give you some more ships (of different classes).

What he said... terran ships are good. Its just their mid range weapon choice is ... bland. Starburst eats energy too fast. And SPP takes getting used to but after you do get used to it... its a powerhouse and you will never go back.

I'd stick with sabre until you can afford something in mid class. Or get kestrel. If you want terran... wait until you can get vidar. After vidar its either hyperion or kyoto >_>