Freighter/Jump Freighter Changes in Kronos and beyond

I had a long post I've been working on about the upcoming changes to Freighters/Jump Freighters and then an update was posted that made what I was saying moot. So I scrapped it and now this is what I have.

What Was And Will Be

Initially rigs were going to be allowed to be fitted to F/JF and changes to ship statistics and cargohold capacities but a threadnaught developed and after considerable feedback this was reviewed and has been changed to F/JF having three low slots, and not rig slots.

As a result, when released, freighters and jump freighters will be able to fit the following:

• Expanded Cargohold (adds to cargo hold at the expense of structural hitpoints)
• Reinforced Bulkhead (adds structural hitpoints at the expense of non-warp velocity)
• Hyperspatial Accelerators (new module, adds to warp speed)
• Inertia Stabilizers (faster align time, but larger signature)
• Overdrive Injector Systems (faster non-warp velocity at the expense of cargohold capacity)
• Adaptive Nano Plating (grants armor resistance to all forms of damage)

Six fitting options, including a new warp speed affecting module, that will give players who use F/JF a lot more options in fitting and more importantly the flexibility that rigs would not provide.

Adding three Reinforced Bulkheads to a freighter is going to increase the EHP by nearly 80%, even just one and a couple of cargohold expanders will 5% increase in EHP. Maybe not enough to stop a concentrated gank effort but perhaps enough that any ganker will think twice before striking.

Base Stat Changes

One major change coming is the changes in base stats for F/JF, the major of these being the lowering of the base cargohold for each ship which by approximately 40% for Freighters and 50% for Jump Freighters.

This is quite a shock, fortunately the ability to add three cargohold expanders and you'll bring the cargo capacity back up to just over the old cargo capacity for JF's (no more than 1%/2% difference) or a significant increase for Freighters (finally you can have a cargohold of over the 1,000,000m3 size).

The table below is based on a fully skilled pilot with V's for all relevant skills for piloting.

Ship	Old EHP	New EHP	EHP Change	Old Cargo (m3)	New Cargo (m3)	% Cargo Change
Providence	193,690	227,427	+17.42%	918,750	543,750	-40.82%
Charon	195,783	210,860	+7.70%	981,250	581,250	-40.76%
Fenrir	174,049	204,749	+17.64%	900,000	543,750	-39.58%
Obelisk	200,827	235,712	+17.37%	937,500	550,000	-41.33%
Ark	351,357	411,567	+17.14%	344,531.30	168,750	-51.02%
Rhea	326,264	400,487	+22.75%	367,968.80	180,000	-51.08%
Nomad	314,978	394,272	+25.17%	337,500	165,000	-51.11%
Anshar	363,687	441,612	+28.11%	351,562.50	171,875	-51.11%

Jump Freighter Nerf

The nerf to cargohold capacity is a major change for JF's that can be possibly be attributed to force/logistic projection and the ability of JF's to carry such a large amount 'relatively safely'. This combined with the 50% increase in fuel usage that we'll also be seeing means that any JF run is going to cost significantly more come Kronos and the next expansion.

Comment

As a Jump Freighter pilot, these changes are frustrating but do open up more flexibility for pilots through the introduction of three low slots rather than two/three rig slots. In fact it means you can carry several different modules and refit as required in local stations or via a mobile depot.

The Jump Freighter changes are going to hit the 'bottom line' much more than the freighter changes. Yes, fuel size is getting reduced by one third (from 0.15m3 to 0.10m3) so we'll be able to carry more but the fuel is going to be used faster and, more than likely, cost more. Already we're seeing prices near 1,000 ISK per unit and this will only increase as supply decreases and demand increases.

Certainly I'm giving serious thought to changing my racial JF to one who's fuel I can mine locally.