Groundhogs, Commanders and Captains, OH MY!
With that out of the way, let’s get down to business. These three ranks involving hauling, hauling, and more hauling. Actually, Groundhog doesn’t, because you can’t do anything but walk around and get your ship. But once you have your ship, you have to haul to pay off the loan. And even after you pay off your loan, you have to have enough hauler credits to promote to Adventurer. The FIG will tell you how to review, accept, and haul jobs, so we won’t rehash. But, there are some things to consider strategically.
First, it is very rare to find jobs that offer much more than 8-12 groats per ton, or more than 2 hauler credits. And since you get a bonus for fast delivery, and a penalty for late delivery, I worry more about the GTU values than the groats. When there aren’t many commanders and captains online, you can be more selective; however, with multiple haulers competing for the same jobs, you may have to choose quickly.
Since your GTUs start depleting as soon as you accept a job, it is best to be on the “from” planet before accepting the job. Sometimes, you can scan the entire job list, and plan several jobs in a row (say from Earth to Titan, then another job from Titan to Paradise, then from Paradise to Rhea, etc.). Some jobs have no possibility of being completed in the GTUs offered. You can take those jobs and hope that customs interrupts you to extend the time, but be prepared to take a pay penalty on those jobs if you choose to take them.
Repaying your loan quickly or slowly doesn’t make one bit of difference. As long as you always have some groats on hand to buy fuel, repaying your loan little by little or in big chunks doesn’t do that much for you. The main thing in my book is to make sure you pay off the loan in full as soon as you can. The benefits of being able to accept jobs outside of Sol are significant.
Here’s why – part of making groats when hauling involve those lovely GTUs. And most player planets are located very close to their interstellar link. So, instead of having to take 7 GTUs from Rhea to Earth, you might only need 2 GTU to get from Wilson to Marina. And since most jobs offer at least 6 GTUs, you will earn that 20% bonus on almost all player planet-to-player planet hauling job, which can give you a significant bump in cash before promoting to Adventurer. Even if you somehow make too much cash, don’t fear the taxman. The more cash you can have before adventurer, the better, just simply for the fact that you need cash to promote beyond adventurer. As with most of the “strategy” of the game, looking and planning ahead can pay significant dividends down the road.
On that note, Commander and Captain are great ranks for exploring the Fed world – Sol planets as Commander, and player planets as Captain. You will need to know many places in Sol as an Adventurer, so now is a great time to explore and map each Sol planet when you need a break from hauling. And locating player planets, especially their exchanges, will come in handy as a Merchant and beyond.
One final thing. There is no reason to buy a new ship after you pay off your first Harrier. You won’t do any significant hauling until Merchant, and if you have bought a slithy and gotten the Navigational Computer, you will lose the NavComp when you sell your ship. And trust me, if you buy it (I personally think its worth the slithy, since not only do you save some typing, you also support the game, but that’s entirely up to each individual), you will want to keep it for Adventurer. All Adventurer jobs are in Sol. Once you hit Merchant, you don’t really have to go back to Sol at all if you don’t want to, except to promote. The NavComp does you the best at the early levels, and since a larger ship doesn’t help you, buy it early and keep your Harrier until you get past Adventurer.
This guide has been written by Desaxman. 
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