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Elite Dangerousis primarily a game about exploring the unknown, undertaking dangerous missions, and blasting the occasional pirate. However, one area ofElite Dangerousthat’s commonly overlooked is its deep economic system. A robust system of supply and demand facilitates gameplay centered around traversing the galaxy in search of the most profitable trades. It can be quite lucrative.
Along the way, traders might do some sightseeing, they’ll definitely have run-ins with booty-seeking scallywags, but their main focus is the art of the deal. They’re in search of places to buy low and sell high. There are missions for trading, and they often offer generous rewards, but many traders instead spend their time trading along routes known to have the highest profits. As the 41stFerengi Rule of Acquisitionsays, “profit is its own reward.”

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The Indomitable
The Indomitable excels at hauling huge loads of cargo across any distance. Unladen, it can travel across the bubble in just three jumps or five with a full cargo hold. It has enough speed to be fun to fly and to escape pirates. It’s good for trade missions or just bouncing back and forth on trade routes. With this build, commanders can rest assured that they’re maximizing their potential trade profits in style.
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The following information describes the specific choices in the build and offers some customization options.Check this build out on Coriolisto examine it more closely.
The Ship
The best ship for this build is the Imperial Cutter. It has the best shield output potential of any ship and an incredible amount of cargo space. It’s also a sleek, stylish head turner. With some delicate engineering, the Imperial Cutter can squeeze out an impressive Jump Range too. It has the heftiest price tag in the game, but there aremany ways to make money fast inElite.
Hardpoints
This ship doesn’t need a single weapon. The only dangerous thing this ship can do to another ship is run into it, and with 664t of gold onboard, that isn’t advisable. This ship is a runner not a fighter. If interdicted, commanders should focus on boldly running away. When it comes time to take the fight to the pirates, check out theBest Fully-Engineered PvE Combat Ship Buildfor ideas.
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Utility Mounts
The Utility Mounts prioritize defense over all else. Shield Boosters reinforce the shield, a Point Defense Turret shoots down incoming hatch breaker limpets and missiles, and the Chaff Launcher confuses the enemy’s targeting. The Heat Sink Launcher is a nice-to-have. Learning to use these Utilities is one ofmany skills commanders should learn.
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Core Internals
The following Core Internals give this build the range, maneuverability, and endurance it needs for long hauls and avoiding pirates. The priorities lean toward keeping things lightweight, but also providing protection and speed:
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Optional Internals
The following Optional Internals provide mostly cargo space, but a few key pieces are here too. This ship might not be able to compete withthe best exploration ship buildin versatility, but thanks to the Guardian FSD booster, it has an impressive Jump Range nonetheless:
The Indomitable is a build for the trading extraordinaire. It’s fast, it jumps far, and it’ll never lose a load to pirates. Commanders that can afford to put this together will have a permanent space truck they can use to haul precious materials around the galaxy in style. It’ll take quite some time to pay for itself, butit takes a long time to do anything inElite. With this build, commanders can rest assured that their space hauler is optimized for what they need: a high Jump Range, impenetrable defenses, incredible speed, and hundreds of tonnes of cargo space.

Elite Dangerous: Odysseyis available for PC.
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