A money ladder is a risk-control plan, not a mandatory sequence of contracts or ships.
The rungs have real prices. Courier work is 3,000-6,000 aUEC a run; bounties climb 4,000 (VLRT), 5,000 (LRT), 7,500 (MRT), 11,250 (HRT), 17,500 (VHRT), 25,000 (ERT); Runner-tier hauling is 45,000; a ROC hold of Hadanite is around 720,000.
Reputation thresholds are the real gate, not aUEC. Runner standing costs 2,500 reputation and multiplies hauling income tenfold.
Starter-ship loops should fund repeatable basics before they fund specialization.
Renting costs 2-3% of purchase price, which makes a test run almost free relative to the mistake it prevents.
Reputation, patch availability, and server stability affect what is actually profitable on a given day.
Where you are going
mobiGlas Contract Manager
Read payouts, objectives, restrictions, and shareable contracts.
Delphi reputation page
Track employer progression and certification access.
Vantage Rentals - Lorville
The cheapest ROC rental in the game at about 2,468 aUEC, and a Prospector at 69,575.
Traveler Rentals - Cargo Centers
Cutter at 9,049-9,526 aUEC, Cutlass Black at 50,274, Freelancer MAX at 80,797, MOLE at 212,093.
New Deal - Teasa Spaceport - Lorville
The cheapest ship dealer in Stanton: Cutter 603,288, Aurora Mk I CL 969,570, Avenger Titan 1,290,370, Nomad 1,436,400, Cutlass Black 2,010,960, Vulture 2,513,700, Prospector 2,783,020, Freelancer MAX 4,039,880, MOLE 8,483,740, ROC 98,753.
HDMS-Norgaard / HDMS-Anderson
Buy Hadanite at 600,000 aUEC/SCU, Dolivine at 150,000 and Aphorite at 110,000 — the payoff end of the ROC rung.
ASOP terminal
Retrieve, store, claim, and evaluate ship availability between runs.
What you need and why
Provides the first transport and learning platform. A Cutter rental at 9,049 aUEC substitutes for one.
No substitute listedCovers failures, fuel, claims, and basic recovery without ending progression. About 15,000 aUEC covers a Cutter rental plus a replacement kit.
Alternative: Lower contract risk until a reserve is rebuilt.Covers delivery or investigation sites without risking high-value gear — roughly 2,000 aUEC for a complete kit.
Alternative: Avoid FPS contracts until a minimal kit is available.Costs 500 aUEC, pays 4,000 back, and opens the VLRT-through-ERT bounty ladder.
Alternative: Stay on hauling reputation if combat is not the goal.At 2,468 aUEC it is the cheapest entry to a loop that returns roughly 720,000 aUEC per full hold.
Alternative: Needs a carrier with a ramp — a rented Cutlass Black at 50,274 aUEC, or a friend.Prevent small survival problems from cancelling paid work.
Alternative: Restock at the starting station between runs.Separates apparent payout from net profit and downtime.
Alternative: Use phone notes or screenshots.What to look for
Legality, time limit, pickup/delivery destination, and cargo-volume details before acceptance. Roughly 753 of 1,422 released contracts refuse a player above CrimeStat 2.
A 6,000 aUEC "Covalex Package Handler" grants 2,000 reputation — most of the 2,500 needed for Runner and its 45,000 aUEC contracts. A better-paying one-off may be worth less.
The mission state change after a pickup, delivery, or target completion.
Actual earnings after fuel, claims, repairs, consumables, and failed jobs.
Time remaining and whether the rented ship supports the planned loop.
Runner 2,500, Member 5,250, Experienced 27,750, Senior 77,750, Master 237,750 on the hauling track; Jr. Security Contractor 5,000 and Security Contractor 30,000 on the security track.
When it goes wrong
Choose nearby work, reduce gear value, and rebuild the reserve before pursuing longer routes. Below roughly 4,750 aUEC a run, only take contracts inside one quantum hop.
Verify the exact named terminal/elevator and objective text; if it remains stalled, record the issue and switch to a low-loss activity. Note that 1,266 of the released contracts cannot be re-accepted after a failure.
Treat the rental as useful data. A Prospector rental is 69,575 aUEC against a 2,783,020 aUEC purchase — the rental told you something for 2.5% of the price. Return to the proven loop and buy only when the reserve remains intact.
Check Delphi against the actual thresholds and confirm you are running the same employer. Bounties are the exception that credit two tracks at once — the issuing corporation and the Bounty Hunters Guild.
You are grinding toward one number: 2,500 reputation for Runner standing, which turns 4,750 aUEC deliveries into 45,000 aUEC contracts. Count reputation, not runs.
Stage cheap kits at roughly 2,000 aUEC each, bank progress more often, and set a lower-risk exit point for each loop.
Rewards and progression
↳ A sustainable reserve for routine costs — target 15,000 aUEC before taking any risk.
↳ Runner standing at 2,500 reputation and the 45,000 aUEC hauling contracts it unlocks.
↳ The Bounty Hunters Guild ladder from a 500 aUEC permit up to ERT contracts at 25,000 aUEC and Northrock ERTs at 87,500.
↳ A proven ROC loop worth roughly 720,000 aUEC per full 1.2 SCU hold.
↳ Evidence-based choices before spending 2-8 million aUEC on a specialist hull.
Departure checklist
□Set regeneration at an accessible station.
□Protect a floor of roughly 15,000 aUEC.
□Equip a cheap, complete recovery kit (~2,000 aUEC).
□Run local courier work at 3,000-6,000 aUEC until 2,500 reputation.
□Buy the 500 aUEC Tracker Training Permit and work the VLRT-to-ERT ladder if you want combat income.
□Confirm each pickup or delivery update.
□Store and restock after several completions.
□At Runner standing, switch to the 45,000 aUEC hauling contracts.
□Rent a ROC for 2,468 aUEC and run Aberdeen once.
□Rent any specialist ship before buying it — rentals are 2-3% of purchase price.
□Add a second loop only after the first is stable.
- 01
Protect your floor
Open the mobiGlas wallet and decide on a reserve large enough for a ship claim, fuel, food, and a cheap replacement kit. Put a real number on it: a complete replacement undersuit-and-pens kit is roughly 2,000 aUEC, and the cheapest useful rental — a Drake Cutter — is 9,049 aUEC at Traveler Rentals in the Everus Harbor and Pyro Gateway (Stanton) Cargo Centers, 9,525 at Port Tressler, Seraphim, Riker Memorial and August Dunlow, and 15,082 at Vantage Rentals - Lorville. A floor of about 15,000 aUEC means no single bad run can strand you. Leave that reserve untouched when choosing a contract or rental.
- 02
Rung 1 — courier work at 3,000-6,000 aUEC a run
The bottom of the ladder is local delivery for the four hauling employers: Covalex, Red Wind Linehaul, Ling Family Hauling and Unified Distribution Management. "UDM Package Handler" and the Crusader Industries Jr. Runner delivery pay 3,000 aUEC; "Covalex Local Delivery Route", "Red Wind Package Handler" and "UDM Local Delivery Route" pay 4,750; "Ling Family Seeking New Contractors" and the Covalex trainee haul pay 5,000; "Covalex Evaluation" and "Covalex Package Handler" pay 6,000, and the Package Handler also grants 2,000 reputation, which is most of the way to the next tier by itself. None of these need more than a starter ship. Read pickup, destination, box size, time limit, and criminal restrictions before accepting, and confirm the correct kiosk or freight elevator at each stop.
- 03
Rung 2 — the bounty ladder, 4,000 to 25,000 aUEC
Bounty work has the cleanest published price ladder in the game and it is open to an Applicant with no reputation at all. Through Crusader Industries, Hurston Dynamics, microTech or ArcCorp the risk tiers pay: VLRT 4,000 aUEC, LRT 5,000, MRT 7,500, HRT 11,250, VHRT 17,500 and ERT 25,000. Every one of them credits the issuing corporation and the Bounty Hunters Guild simultaneously — +500 reputation for a VLRT, +1,000 LRT, +2,000 MRT, +4,000 HRT, +8,000 VHRT and +16,000 for an ERT — so a single track raises two standings at once. Northrock Service Group pays substantially more for the same tiers where it operates: 39,375 aUEC for an HRT, 61,250 for a VHRT and 87,500 for an ERT. The entry ticket is the Bounty Hunters Guild "Tracker Training Permit Certification", which costs 500 aUEC and pays 4,000 back.
- 04
Bank and restock between loops
After a few completions, return to a known station, store the ship, sell only goods that the correct commodity terminal accepts, and restock the same cheap kit. This is where you catch damaged components, missing medpens, or a full cargo grid. Frequent small resets are slower on paper but prevent one disconnect or death from erasing the session.
- 05
Rung 3 — reach Runner standing for 45,000 aUEC hauling
The hauling employers all share one reputation ladder: Trainee/Applicant at 0, Jr. Runner at 1, Rookie at 50, Junior at 250, Runner at 2,500, Member at 5,250, Experienced at 27,750, Senior at 77,750 and Master at 237,750. Runner is the rung that matters — at 2,500 standing "Delivery Pilot for Covalex", "RED WIND DELIVERY PILOT NEEDED", "Package Delivery for Ling" and "UDM Package Pick Up" all pay 45,000 aUEC. That is roughly ten 4,750 aUEC courier runs of grinding for a tenfold jump in rate, and it is the single highest-leverage reputation target for a new player who does not want to fight.
- 06
Rung 4 — the ROC, the best return on investment in the game
A Greycat ROC rents for about 2,468 aUEC at Vantage Rentals - Lorville (2,598 at most L-point Vantage desks, 2,599 at HUR-L1 and HUR-L2). Its ore hold is 1.2 SCU. Hadanite sells for 600,000 aUEC per SCU at HDMS-Norgaard and HDMS-Anderson, two outposts sitting on Aberdeen — Hurston's moon — where the Hadanite clusters are. That is roughly 720,000 aUEC for one full hold against a 2,468 aUEC outlay, and Aberdeen has both the densest deposits and the sale terminals in the same place. Dolivine (150,000/SCU) and Aphorite (110,000/SCU) fill the gaps. You need a carrier with a ramp — a rented Cutlass Black at 50,274 aUEC will do it, or borrow a friend's. Neither Aberdeen outpost has an ASOP terminal, so do not lose the carrier there.
- 07
Rung 5 — rent the specialist ship before you buy it
Rental prices are 2-3% of purchase price, which makes a rental the cheapest possible market research. A Prospector is 69,575 aUEC to rent at Vantage Rentals - Lorville or the Traveler Rentals desks at Everus Harbor and Pyro Gateway (Stanton), against 2,783,020 aUEC to buy at New Deal - Teasa Spaceport - Lorville. A Vulture is 69,457 to rent at Teach's Rentals - Levski against 2,513,700 to buy. A Cutlass Black is 50,274 at Traveler Rentals - Everus Harbor against 2,010,960. A MOLE is 212,093 to rent against 8,483,740 to buy. Even the Cutter is 9,049 to rent against 603,288 to own. Run one complete loop with the rental before committing; a ship that looks profitable can be wrong for your routes or crew size.
- 08
Rung 6 — choose one reputation track and finish it
Use Contract Manager and the Delphi reputation page to repeat one employer until assessments and better tiers appear. The thresholds are real and published: the Bounty Hunters Guild runs Applicant (0) to Probationary Guild Member (1), Junior Guild Member (3,000), Guild Member (10,000), Senior Guild Member (40,000), Veteran Guild Member (200,000) and Guild Steward (480,000), with a certification at each step costing 500, 1,000, 2,500, 5,000-11,250, 10,000 and 25,000 aUEC respectively. Corporate security work runs Security Trainee (1), Jr. Security Contractor (5,000), Security Contractor (30,000), Sr. Security Contractor (120,000) and Lead Security Contractor (480,000), where a Sr. Security Contractor VHRT with Hurston Dynamics or microTech pays 134,500 aUEC. Complete objectives cleanly rather than chasing a higher-paying unrelated marker.
- 09
Add a second stable loop
Once the first loop covers routine costs, pair it with another activity that uses different conditions: for example bounties with hauling, or salvage with deliveries. Note that salvage has a buy-in — Adagio Holdings lawful salvage claims cost 150-300 aUEC at Very Easy, 5,000-10,000 at Easy, and 10,000-20,000 at Medium and Hard, so it needs working capital that courier runs do not. Keep separate gear boxes and a clear exit condition for each. The goal is options when a contract type is unavailable, dangerous, bugged, or no longer enjoyable, not a maximum number of ships.
Field notes
↳ Profit per hour matters less at first than avoiding a full balance reset.
↳ The ROC is the outlier: 2,468 aUEC in, roughly 720,000 aUEC out for a full 1.2 SCU hold of Hadanite. Nothing else on this ladder has that ratio.
↳ Reaching Runner standing (2,500 reputation) with any hauling employer takes courier work from 4,750 aUEC a run to 45,000. Grind that one number before anything else.
↳ Bounties credit two reputations at once — the issuing corporation and the Bounty Hunters Guild — so combat progression is twice as fast as it looks.
↳ Do not buy expensive armor after every death; stage identical cheap kits at roughly 2,000 aUEC each.
↳ Learn one station layout and one reliable launch route before spreading out.
↳ A rental costs 2-3% of purchase price. There is no excuse for buying a 2.7 million aUEC Prospector before running a 69,575 aUEC rental.
↳ Record both net earnings and the time lost to travel, repairs, and recovery.
Watch the route
Video mechanics can age between patches. Use the written route above as the current checklist.
Research sources
Route text is independently summarized and cross-checked against these references.
Star Citizen Wiki - Ship renting ↗RSI - Getting Started ↗Star Citizen Wiki - Contract ↗Star Citizen Wiki API - mission database (payouts, tiers, certification fees) ↗UEX Corp - rental, purchase and commodity prices ↗
