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and it’s generally accepted that for
shield boosters, heavy duty is the Step 2. Be aware
best option. If you have many shield If you fight, you will die.
boosters though, engineer half of Too many commanders like to en-
them for heavy duty and employ re- gage the supercruise assist, kick
sistance augmentation for the other back, and catch up on the latest hol-
half. ovid series while they trade. Doing
this at a community goal is a suicid-
As an example as to what is achiev- al tendency.
able, consider the humble Type-7
with a 5A shield generator and four Situational awareness is an impor-
shield boosters. The shield generator tant factor in survival. The presence
is engineered using the ‘reinforced’ of other Pilots’ Federation com-
modification, two of the boosters manders in a system running a com-
with the ‘heavy duty’ mod, and the munity goal should not be a surprise,
remaining boosters with ‘resistance and it is best to make a habit of keep-
augmented’. This build boasts 900 ing track. Make sure you select every
megajoules of raw shield strength Pilots’ Federation target, as merely
and 1,190 points of hull strength, and selecting them will tell you what kind
can still carry 214 tons of cargo. This of ship it is, and this alone can give
is a Type-7 that has a good chance you a hint as to the commander’s in-
of escaping even from a ‘wing gank’ tentions.
(multiple gankers). It can power the
entire build with a standard, unengi- To that end, make sure that your pre-
neered 5A power plant. Even partly ferred interface mapping has finger-
engineered shields and shield boost- tip settings for cycling your ship’s
ers are worth the effort — and partial target around other ships, and, more
engineering only requires commonly importantly, also for cycling around
available materials. just hostile ships. Quickly selecting
the latter on your scanner can be a
Don’t neglect the power distributor life-saver should you find yourself
and thrusters. Fit the largest A-rated under attack.
thrusters and distributor that your
ship will take: speed is also a deter- Any unidentified commander should
mining factor in survivability. Engi- be treated with suspicion. Certain
neer the thrusters (dirty drag drives) ships should be treated with ex-
if you can. treme suspicion: any Fer-de-Lance,
for example, is guilty until proven in-
There has been a recent trend that nocent. You need to go on ‘red alert’
some murder hobos will equip with if you see one and watch it very care-
what are colloquially known as ‘grom fully, or just jump out. You should
bombs’: unguided missiles supplied also be suspicious of any ship that is
by Yuri Grom that have the particu- not normally used for trade, and also
larly unpleasant side effect of caus- of some (for example, Clipper, Cutter
ing the frame shift drive (FSD) of the and Python) that can serve as both a
target to reboot. This will impair your trader and as a ganker.
ability to escape, so consider at least
one point defence turret to reduce the One of the first things you should do
chances of a hit by such a missile. when dropping into a star system —
For large ships, point defence is likely any system, not just your destination
to be of more use than chaff, and you — is to check the list of Pilots’ Fed-
can fit multiple point defence turrets. eration members in-system. Your

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