Weird exploits and inconsistencies

[jango1]

Thanks for making such an awesome game. Truly my favorite game on any platform in a long time.  I've been playing it awhile, slowly working up through the difficulties as I complete the unlocks. I've got most of Hard unlocked and almost everything else that is easier.  I have played every class.  I feel like I understand the game.  I just wanted to inquire about a few 'odd' things I have noticed to see how other players have reacted to them.

1. Experience and Leveling: I find that at any time, I can just stop spending experience points and 'pause' the game's progression. I know difficulty increases over time, but it seems very gradual.  In some playthroughs, I find that I am able to fly around with 100 unspent XP with no problem. Or I can just pump points into Strength and stay at low levels until I've done a few shortage runs and bought my first scary ship. Anyone else seen this or do this? What's the catch?
2. Rank discounts: As I earn ranks I don't see the cost of upgrades or ships decrease. I tested it by checking an upgrade before and after I ranked and it was the same price. I compared torpedo costs at different faction planets and they were the same regardless of my rank. Ship/upgrade costs do seem to vary with planet ratings but I haven't seen any rank related discounts. Is the cost reduction only noticeable after you've reached very high ranks (rather than before and after a single rank up)? Reputation protection and contract reward benefits aside, I don't see how a $60K rank up cost could ever pay for itself in savings. Does rank have a significant effect on quantity/price of trade goods? Number and cost of repairs? The manual indicates that rank discounts things but I don't see it in my gameplay.
3. Positive rep with all factions: When I first started the game I'd let one or two factions be my victim factions with massively negative rep. In my last half-dozen games though, I have just juggled my rep to keep it positive with all factions. It doesn't seem that difficult to keep them all happy, especially after you have a few ranks with each of them. Do other players do this as well? It seems like it's not how the game is 'meant' to be played. It feels like cheating almost.  The manual says that if you ever get a death warrant with either the Syndicates or Clans, any future offenses will count double against you with all Syndicate or Clan factions. I thought this was a tremendous penalty and strong disincentive so I simply get pardons before I ever get the warrant. One thing I have noticed is that you can blockade/spy for months and keep your permits, but you attack one merchant and they yank your trade permit. At low levels I'll raid a faction for a conflict-related rep gain with its rival faction, then get a pardon, then repeat. Later in the game, the rank protection is enough.  It isn't just my trade-class games: I do this with my aggressive class captains as well.  Anyone else do this? Is there a reason not to do it?
   
   
4. Signature: The manual's description about reducing signature seems contradictory. Can anyone explain it to me? Like say you want a stealth spy plane ship that can loiter in orbit doing surveillance, what ship stats are you looking for? The manual's intro in the signature section cautions against large upgrades.  It also mentions the cargo hold.  Is it the amount of cargo loaded or the cargo capacity or both? Like does a large cargo hold that is empty increase signature? I thought stealth and high sails would help based on other sections of the manual, but the signature section says no massive sail rigs.  Signature seems like a very interesting, very important game element that really counter balances the 'armed to the teeth' approach. I'd really like to understand it better so I can enjoy that depth.
   
   
5. ... and then there's the aliens... My last handful of captains had the universe on a string. Well-ranked with no faction enemies. Upgraded ships and skills kept independents totally optional. Caches galore. The only thing that threatened to Game Over my captains as they patiently worked on their unlocks were the aliens. Some captains were merchant-types and I STILL configured their skills, officers, and ships for boarding combat with aliens.  I knew that the only real threat was the random alien encounter. A few captains beat a few aliens, but it was only a matter of time before their luck ran out. None of them survived past their 5th alien encounter.  Anyone else find that aliens are their only serious threat? Anyone have tips on how to 'alien-proof' their captains other than to make them alien-hunter specialists? Like, how to preserve your trader or loyalist's class-based playstyle while also countering the alien threat? Aside from obvious, no artifacts, no red sectors, no dead planets, no alien rumor zones, etc. I take my chances but my captains died within sight of Occupied Bazra, surrounded by high-security capital planets.
   
   Again, excellent game. Sorry for the wall of text. These aren't complaints, just blind spots I can't figure out. I really love the nuance and complexity of the game and how it rewards and punishes the trade-offs that you have to make--every captain has their Achilles heel. So these blind spots are a little frustrating when I can't appreciate them as deeply as the other mechanics that are less mysterious.

[Cory Trese]

Are you playing on Impossible?

[jango1]

No, I think Impossible would eat me alive. I've been playing Hard recently. I'm below -11 rep with all factions but Blackbeard didn't register when I recorded my exploits. Do I have to let time elapse?

[geoklng]

1- There are optimal points distribution for level 4 characters that allow some survival on hard and still pump points into strength. As you said, this is just until you get your first scary ship. the longer you let time pass, the harder the rolls become. exploring is almost impossible in later turns, getting XP out of solar and spy wars becomes more difficult with time, hence the need to keep improving skills.

2-You can test if allowing some time to pass makes the discount kick in for ships/torpedoes prices. Definitively there are discounts on the exchange for higher ranks. and very high ranks(20-21) make your characters invulnerable to trade embargoes, which is priceless because you no longer miss shortage rumors.

3-having positive reputations with everyone and putting knifes on their backs is common among mercenaries and politicians. Ship captains just follow the trend. You have a chance to roll negotiation
when you are caught spying or blockading to avoid the rank/permit loss.

4-All "tanks" decrease signature. Water inside WF tank does not count toward signature. Same for weapons inside a weapon cabinet, records inside a databank, electronics inside a spy bank. A Big hold per se does not add a lot to signature. a full hold does.

5-No matter how you start, on the quadrant all high level captains are aliens hunters. Otherwise humanity would be long extinct. And the game excels in picturing aliens as the ultimate enemy to be feared in all difficult levels for all players skills. This is what make the 350 contracts award so difficult: you have to keep the skills to fulfill the contracts and fly a ship capable of alien hunting at the same time.

[jango1]

Thank you thank you thank you for such exact answers and insightful perspectives I hadn't considered. You didn't leave much unanswered so I only have a couple follow-up questions.

2- I hadn't considered the embargo-proofing with high rank. Suggests that another suspicion of mine might be true: most players of any profession drop what they are doing to cash in on a shortage rumor. The reward is just too great. Related: I'm starting to wonder how much of a time sink loading and unloading cargo is, regarding how time raises difficulty and if trading can slow your progression too much.. I'm thinking of my pacifist merchant captains.

4- Thanks for clarifying cargo. What about large sail rigs (StH ratio or raw big numbers), high armor, higher hull and signature? Not sure why I think so but I thought higher sails reduced encounters...

5- Interesting how every Legendary Star Hero takes on the burden of keeping the quadrant safe from aliens late in their career. The game does excel at making aliens terrifying and intentionally forcing the player to alien hunt in their end game definitely adds to that.

Re: High contract award unlocks: I really struggle with the lack of control you have with contracts when you chase these awards. Having a ship and captain capable of fulfilling both Capture and Delivery contracts from the Spice Hall is daunting. Especially since you need to start early and be quick to accumulate contracts before the late stage game gets terminally difficult. Really the same can be said for the awards for earning high ranks, looting, and getting like 1117 victories.

Any strategies or advice other players have on this?

It's almost like Rapid Ranks III is the 100 meter dash and these other awards are a marathon--you're racing the clock in both.

I don't hear much talk about signature and encounter avoidance in general. Is the player meta for survival just geared toward fight rather flight? (Like Seinfeld whimpered, "But I don't wanna be a pirate!)

Thanks again.

[geoklng]

Negotiation decreases exchanges times. This is felt when you try to unlock Rapid Rank III. Negotiation should be above Palace and Security ratings. This is relevant for all time-conscious Captains. Personally i never start with Negotiation below 9 and my first success at unlocking Hardcore Elite was with a Negotiation 19 Merchant.

Fast ships, which have high sails to hulls ratio, have higher signature, but  Hull is a more important metric for signature considerations. The whole game is based around "X-to-Hull" ratios. A small hull is usually better for low profile than a slow speed.
Gun Bunny Captains favor smaller hulls to a degree, compare Slayernz builds to mine on the dream ship thread to understand the differences between Boarder and Gun Bunny.

[jango1]

Thanks for the tips. It was doubting a high Negotiate. In the merchant guide thread someone mentioned how like a high Negotiate skill reduced the differences in prices between planets such that you couldn't buy low and sell high since your skill made the prices equally low everywhere. It didn't really make much sense to me.

And focusing on a small hull over low sails is a relief to here. Being able to escape makes the risks of a small hull less scary.

[Cory Trese]

Negotiation will help you increase profits on trades by adjusting prices in your favor.

The big bonus Negotiation gives is reduction in Turns consumed by trading on Faction worlds.

Every Trade increases the game's difficulty slightly, and on higher difficulty levels you can quickly fall behind.

[jango1]

Dec 18, 2015 11:56:19 GMT -5 Cory Trese said:

Every Trade increases the game's difficulty slightly

EVERY TRADE The man said EVERY TRADE. Cory this game is the abusive boyfriend that you fall deeper in love with the harder he beats you.

[Cory Trese]

Dec 18, 2015 12:08:10 GMT -5 jango1 said:

Dec 18, 2015 11:56:19 GMT -5 Cory Trese said:

Every Trade increases the game's difficulty slightly

EVERY TRADE The man said EVERY TRADE. Cory this game is the abusive boyfriend that you fall deeper in love with the harder he beats you.

And it scales linearly based on how many units you are trading and the price. Contract Negotiations for restricted goods such as Artifacts, Weapons and so forth can take even longer.

[jango1]

Dec 18, 2015 12:18:54 GMT -5 Cory Trese said:

And it scales linearly based on how many units you are trading and the price.

Mmmmhhhmmmm. Yes. Right there. AGAIN! HIT ME AGAIN! TELL ME MORE!

So anything that reduces load/unload trade time in port is the real way to minimize the difficulty hit. Like even though each trade increases difficulty, if you can do them quickly you aren't also suffering from the time based difficulty escalation as bad. My poor poor pacifist merchant captains!