Transports

Transports are very large cargo ships, and were not pilotable in the original Freelancer. Transports have cargo capacities higher than 650 units, and are able to generate much more income for their owners than Freighters, but they are also significantly more expensive to purchase. Transports are much bulkier than Freighters, less agile, and have a maximum cruise speed of 350 m/s (compared to 400 m/s for Freighters). However, Transports also have stronger hulls, larger Transport Shields, bigger power plants, and use Transport Turrets in place of fighter guns and turrets, all of which gives them better survivability.

Some transports use interchangeable Cargo Pods. The cargo pods do not actually store cargo (the cargo is stored in the ship's main hold). However, cargo pods are independent from the ship hull, and take damage separately from the hull. As such, cargo pods provide an important defensive function by absorbing weapons fire that would otherwise hit the hull.

When purchased, Transport class vessels will show up as a "Freighter" on the ship purchase dialog. This is because the Freelancer game itself was never intended to have these ship classes available to players, and cannot be fixed. Refer to the ship info card to review the actual ship class.

Price note: All prices listed are for full package price, which includes hull and standard equipment.

Small and Medium Transports
Small and Medium Transports provide a middle ground between Freighters and Large Transports. These ships are slower and less agile than Freighters, but provide significantly more cargo capacity. At the same time, they offer much less earning potential than Large Transports, but they are much more nimble. All of these ships have Countermeasures which reduces the likelihood of getting caught by enemy forces. They typically have less weapons and armor than the Large Transports, although there are some notable exceptions. They are the largest cargo ships that can be piloted by a Freelancer ID on the Discovery Redemption RP 24/7 server. They also fulfill the requirements of some special-purpose cargo ships, such as smuggling and piracy.

Large Transports
Large Transports have massive cargo holds, providing more revenue opportunities than any other ship class in the Discovery mod. Large Transports are generally less agile than the Small and Medium Transports, and most of them do not have Countermeasures or Cruise Disruptors, making them much more succeptible to piracy attempts. However, these ships also have greater hull strength, and some of them have a large number of Transport Turrets, all of which gives them better survivability in a fight. Large Transports with engines at the front of the ship also have an inherent resistance to Cruise Disruptors that are fired from behind the ship, since the disruptor blast may not reach the engines. If your objective is maximizing profits per hour, these are the ships for you. On the Discovery Redemption RP 24/7 server, the pilot is required to carry a faction ID that gives the privilege of flying these ships.

Liners
Liners are are designed to carry human cargo. They are typically the largest ships in the Transport class, providing ample space for the cargo to get up and walk around. They also have the strongest hulls and largest power cores in the class, and typically have enough turrets to defend themselves adequately. Unfortunately their sheer size and slow turning speed makes them difficult to manuever in combat.