"""Alright, so I did some testing on frigs & destroyers using the criteria above, and I've got something of a tierlist.
Testing was conducted by simming the craft & moving them to the top edge of the map and 1-1.3 of the large blocks away from the center, then telling the craft to retreat.
Like this:
They're offset so that the AI doesn't burn directly into the spawned foes.
The spawned foes included 1 Condor (talon interceptors @300 speed), 1 Snow Goose from dassault mikoyan (fast skimmer-destroyer), and 1 Afflictor (P) phase frigate.
These are particularly spooky enemies for a courier as they can catch & lock down most frigates, in my estimation.
S-tier: These two exceed the criteria and can survive direct contact with the enemy, able to retreat directly through the enemy formation without the offset
Spectacle Exploration Frigate
Mod: Dissassemble Reassemble
Hull Mods: Recon Package (BI), Surveying Equipment (BI), Safety Overrides, Unstable Injector, High-Res Sensors, Shield-Conversion: Front, Augmented Drive
Cargo/Extra Crew/Fuel: 75/30/100
Maint/Recovery/RecTime/Burn Cost: 4/4/3days/1
Speed/Burn Level/SensorP/SensorS: 205(280+ w/flux-boost & skills)/12(13 with skill)/30/90
Movement Ability: N/A
This guy is cheap, has extraordinary range, ample cargo, top-tier campaign evasion and in-combat it has an efficient 360* bubble-shield.
The 280+ base speed with SO & this shield allows it to survive & escape combat without an active movement ability.
Pigeon Courier Frigate
Mod: Arsenal Expansion
Hull Mods: Safety Overrides, Unstable Injector, Augmented Drive, Efficiency Overhaul
Cargo/Extra Crew/Fuel: 75/42/60
Maint/Recovery/RecTime/Burn Cost: 3.2/4/1day/0.8
Speed/Burn Level/SensorP/SensorS: 250(300+ w/flux-boost & skills)/12(13 with skill)/30/30
Movement Ability: Courier Drive
Cheap, great range, ample cargo, great campaign evasion and in-combat it has a good shield and a great damage-reducing 400+ movement ability.
Where the spectacle has the edge in campaign evasion, this guy has the edge in combat evasion, flitting around at 300+ with the shield up and the ability to boost directly through the enemy line with the courier drive.
A-tier: These craft meet the criteria and can retreat easily with the offset. They're in no particular order.
Shalaika Scout-courier frigate
Mod: Dassault Mikoyan
Hull Mods: Monobloc Construction (BI), High Res Sensors (BI), Surveying Equipment (BI), Unstable Injector, Recon Package, Expanded Cargo, Efficiency Overhaul
Cargo/Extra Crew/Fuel: 60/22/60
Maint/Recovery/RecTime/Burn Cost: 2/4/2days/0.8
Speed/Burn Level/SensorP/SensorS: 205(305+ w/flux-boost & skills)/11(12 with skill)/30/90
Movement Ability: Pulsed Skipjets
Cheap, great range, good cargo, great campaign evasion and in-combat it has a good shield & a 420+ speed ability. It has to stay at 0-flux or it loses 30% of its speed.
Clementine frigate
Mod: Junk Pirates
Hull Mods: Safety Overrides, Unstable Injector, Augmented Drive, Efficiency Overhaul, Shield Conversion: Omni
Cargo/Extra Crew/Fuel: 40/10/40
Maint/Recovery/RecTime/Burn Cost: 2.4/3/2days/0.8
Speed/Burn Level/SensorP/SensorS: 215(265+ w/flux-boost & skills)/12(13 with skill)/30/30
Movement Ability: Booster Jets
Cheap, good range, decent cargo, great campaign evasion and in-combat it has a good shield and a 315+ speed ability.
Seski Corvette Courier frigate
Mod: Shadowyards
Hull Mods: Harmonic Shield Conduits (BI), Safety Overrides, Unstable Injector, Auxiliary Fuel Tanks, Augmented Drive
Cargo/Extra Crew/Fuel: 65/11/70
Maint/Recovery/RecTime/Burn Cost: 3/4/2days/1.25
Speed/Burn Level/SensorP/SensorS: 260(310+ w/flux-boost & skills)/12(13 with skill)/30/30
Movement Ability: Phase Skimmer
Cheap, good range, good cargo, great campaign evasion and in-combat it has an acceptable shield and a phase-skimmer. However, it is fragile.
Ashnan freighter frigate
Mod: Shadowyards
Hull Mods: Harmonic Shield Conduits (BI), Safety Overrides, Augmented Drive, Efficiency Overhaul
Cargo/Extra Crew/Fuel: 100/20/50
Maint/Recovery/RecTime/Burn Cost: 1.6/2/1day/1.04
Speed/Burn Level/SensorP/SensorS: 215(265+ w/flux-boost & skills)/11(12 with skill)/30/30
Movement Ability: Booster Jets
Extremely cheap, good range, ample cargo, good campaign evasion & in-combat it has drones, an acceptable shield, and a 360+ speed ability.
Diamondback combat-freighter frigate
Mod: Junk Pirates
Hull Mods: Safety Overrides, Unstable Injector, Augmented Drive, Efficiency Overhaul
Cargo/Extra Crew/Fuel: 80/30/40
Maint/Recovery/RecTime/Burn Cost: 2.4/3/2days/0.8
Speed/Burn Level/SensorP/SensorS: 270(320+ w/flux-boost & skills)/12(13 with skill)/30/30
Movement Ability: N/A
Cheap, good range, ample cargo, great campaign evasion and in-combat it has a good shield and enough base speed to survive without a movement ability.
ASP-Cerberus combat freighter frigate
Mod: Junk Pirates
Hull Mods: ASP Syndicate Sponsored, Shielded Cargo Holds, Safety Overrides, Unstable Injector, Augmented Drive, Efficiency Overhaul, Recon Package
Cargo/Extra Crew/Fuel: 50/34/40
Maint/Recovery/RecTime/Burn Cost: 3.2/4/1day/0.8
Speed/Burn Level/SensorP/SensorS: 180(260+ w/flux-boost & skills)/12(13 with skill)/30/30
Movement Ability: Burn Drive
Cheap, good range, good cargo, great campaign-evasion but in-combat survivability would be cutting it close if not for the 460+ movement ability.
B-tier: These craft fall short in at least one category, but are still capable couriers
Vapor frigate
Mod: Diable Avionics
Hull Mods: Advanced Avionics (BI), Cramped Hull (BI), Safety Overrides, Unstable Injector, Augmented Drive, Efficiency Overhaul
Cargo/Extra Crew/Fuel: 35/14/30
Maint/Recovery/RecTime/Burn Cost: 4/5/2days/0.6
Speed/Burn Level/SensorP/SensorS: 250(300+ w/flux-boost & skills)/12(13 with skill)/30/30
Movement Ability: Evasive Roll
Cheap, good range, great campaign evasion & excellent in-combat survivability, but it has tight capacities. Very solid choice.
Torch gunboat frigate
Mod: Underworld
Hull Mods: Safety Overrides, Unstable Injector, Augmented Drive, Recon Package, Expanded Cargo, Auxillary thrusters
Cargo/Extra Crew/Fuel: 48/15/30
Maint/Recovery/RecTime/Burn Cost: 4/4/2days/1
Speed/Burn Level/SensorP/SensorS: 205(280+ w/flux-boost & skills)/13(14 with skill)/30/30
Movement Ability: Burst Drive
Cheap, Acceptable range, great campaign evasion & good in-combat survivability (with a 600+ speed ability), but it has tight capacities. No shield but it has enough ordnance points to mount one.
Star-Sylph combat courier frigate
Mod: Dassault Mikoyan
Hull Mods: Skipspace Reaction Furnace (BI), Shielded Cargo Holds (BI), Unstable Injector, Augmented Drive, Efficiency Overhaul
Cargo/Extra Crew/Fuel: 60/8/40
Maint/Recovery/RecTime/Burn Cost: 6.4/8/1day/0.8
Speed/Burn Level/SensorP/SensorS: 205(255+ w/flux-boost & skills)/13(14 with skill)/23/30
Movement Ability: Mirage System
Good range, top-tier campaign evasion & good in-combat survivability, but marred by slightly-tight capacities & expensive upkeep.
Camel (P) heavy frigate
Mod: Kadur Remnant
Hull Mods: Forever War Engineering (BI), Shielded Cargo Holds, Safety Overrides, Unstable Injector, Augmented Drive, Efficiency Overhaul, Shield conversion: Omni
Cargo/Extra Crew/Fuel: 60/21/120
Maint/Recovery/RecTime/Burn Cost: 4.8/6/1day/1.6
Speed/Burn Level/SensorP/SensorS: 195(245+ w/flux-boost & skills)/12(13 with skill)/30/30
Movement Ability: Flux injector
Exceptional range, good cargo, great campaign evasion, but it's not cheap and in-combat survivability cuts it close with the 305+ speed ability.
Centaur freighter frigate
Mod: SCY
Hull Mods: Scyan Engineering, Safety Overrides, Efficiency Overhaul, Recon Package, Insulated Engine Assembly
Cargo/Extra Crew/Fuel: 60/12/60
Maint/Recovery/RecTime/Burn Cost: 2/4/2days/1
Speed/Burn Level/SensorP/SensorS: 215(290+ w/flux-boost & skills)/11(12 with skill)/15/30
Movement Ability: N/A
Cheap, good cargo, good range, good campaign evasion, decent combat survivability.
C-tier- These craft barely meet the criteria (if at all) or leave much to be desired in combat- they make for suboptimal/risky picks.
Most ships that did not meet a minimum range of 30+LY were NOT considered.
Afflictor (P)
Mod: Vanilla Starsector
Hull Mods: Phase Field (BI), Delicate Machinery (BI), Auxillary thrusters, Hardened Subsystems, Augmented Drive, Solar Shielding
Cargo/Extra Crew/Fuel: 25/5/50
Maint/Recovery/RecTime/Burn Cost: 8/8/2days/1
Speed/Burn Level/SensorP/SensorS: 165(215+ w/flux-boost & skills)/12(13 with skill)/0/30
This guy is expensive and has too-small cargo & crew caps, but it has good range, top-tier campaign evasion & is frankly OP in combat. Deficient logistically, but utterly safe.
Manta (LP) fast destroyer
Mod: Disassemble Reassemble
Hull Mods: Safety Overrides (BI), Unstable Injector, Efficiency Overhaul, Solar Shielding, Shield Conversion: Omni
Cargo/Extra Crew/Fuel: 70/30/50
Maint/Recovery/RecTime/Burn Cost: 7.2/9/2days/1.6
Speed/Burn Level/SensorP/SensorS: 155(205+ w/flux-boost & skills)/10(11 with skill)/60/60
Movement Ability: Burn Drive
Decent Cargo, Acceptable range, Acceptable campaign evasion, but it's expensive & in-combat survivability only makes the grade thanks to a 405-speed ability, a fighter deck, and destroyer-grade shields/hp.
**Many combat-grade light destroyers can be turned into something closely resembling this when given a logistics mod (efficiency, expanded fuel/cargo), augmented drives, and SO**
Key properties of good destroyer candidates are a phase-cloak, a native fighter-bay, a native high speed (90+) & good movement abilities.
Usually they will be skirting both logistical requirements (due to expense & low relative-capacities), and combat survivability (since they CAN be caught & instead must rely on equipment to survive long enough to escape)
Still, most can serve as adequate couriers.
The hound & cerberus are both examples of vanilla frigates that almost made the cut but fell short because of that 30-LY range.
Other c-rank candidates:
Samoyed freighter frigate from Junk Pirates
Wirefox shuttle frigate from Junk Pirates
Bouclier courier frigate from Dassault Mikoyan
Flatmouse shuttle frigate from Dassault Mikoyan
Mudskipper XIV frigate from Kadur Remnant
Right now I think I'll take this Torch (christened "Home") out of storage and deck it out- not the most ideal on paper, but it's readily available and imo it's fun to fly around in a 'tomb for the criminally insane' that burns at 14 and has 600-topspeed capability.
Feels like a heavily armed/armored rocket, and has enough OP to really do some customization. """""
