Post by shallowthought on May 6, 2012 12:14:34 GMT -5
I've noticed a few threads going around on the various awards/unlocks, so I thought I'd write a rough guide for each of them in one place. I've linked to various other threads where individual awards are discussed, and a few for general strategy guides. Feel free to add to these with further strategies etc.
First, I'll outline a few basic strategies that can be used to complete the awards.
Starting strategies:
Explorer – you don't have to start as an explorer for this one. See the guide at startradersrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tips&action=display&thread=178. Basically, harvest first to get enough reputation for a trade permit with each faction, then explore to gain further rep and massive amounts of cash. Pay attention to trade alliances/embargos for this. Attack pirates for morale. Get the first scout officer you can.
Contractor – First, grab the map from startradersrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=tips&thread=1765&post=20193. You can take on up to 5 contracts at a time, so use the map to plan out a route with as many contracts in the same general direction as possible. Get paid 5x for the same amount of work! This will be a lot easier if you pick 1-3 factions as enemies. In general, higher difficulty => fewer enemy factions.
Future strategies:
When you get to about level 15 or so, you should have a decent amount of cash, and be able to carry out blockade / surveillance with a decent degree of success. Watch for solar wars (blockade with military rank) and spy wars (surveillance with death warrant) to gain massive reputation and cash. Zealot gets a bonus on blockade, so may be a better starting choice than explorer. An interesting point is that both these actions results in a net gain in rep, so if you have rank with two factions in a solar war, alternate between their planets carrying out blockades to gain rep with both. Attacking warships/bounty hunters while doing this will lose military rank and your death permit, but pirates are fine. Starting with the explorer strategy and then this lets you do this: startradersrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=log&action=display&thread=1895
Next, some advice on ships:
Fuel use is lowest with at least 30 sails and engines. Explorers want big hold, medium crew, engine upgrades if harvesting. Contractors want (at the start) decent hold for fuel, low crew for fuel consumption, high sails/engines for fuel/running away, and decent guns if you plan on fighting. Smuggler's hold upgrade is very useful at the start as it allows you to surrender to warships with contracts on board, avoiding rep loss before you get military rank with that faction. Later, boarding becomes more important and you want higher crew, and pilot/military officer. Note – putting cargo in water-fuel tanks, databank or spybank doesn't count as hold cargo and therfore doesn't raise your ship's signature (which increases encounters).
Some good ships -
Hyper freighter – biggest hold in the game, good for explorers
Spear cutter – good fighting ship with big hold, small crew. Gets amazing fuel consumption and is small enough that with decent pilot skills, it's almost impossible to hit.
Dragon cruiser / Slayarz cruiser – good for torpedoes and boarding. Get a reinforced prow and ram will do massive damage especially against low hull. Large crew means these are better later in the game.
Obliterator Cruiser – big and slow, you need to be pretty high level to operate this effectively. Personally I think these are too easy to hit, but a lot of people seem to like the captial ships.
For your second ship, a lot of the ships of power/honor are all right, especially steel song templar, honor of thulun (for contractors) or pride of de valtos (explorer). Also, sniper class, raptor class or royal class will do.
List of awards and how to get them:
Thousand suns (survive 1000 turns, 76.12AE), water fuel tank on challenging
Any character should be able to get this, just stay alive.
Hero of the stars (151 rep with starting faction), ancient reactors on challenging
Any character should be able to get this, just stay alive and work for the starting faction.
Dark nemesis (survive 22 years as hated criminal), serpent tooth on crazy
To be a hated criminal, you need a wanted flag from at least one syndicate and one clan. These can be seen in status->faction. To gain the wanted flag, first get about -20 rep, then carry out a hostile action (blockade, surveillance, attack any non-pirate) on that faction. Technically, you have to have 2 flags and survive 22 years from getting the first one. Should be possible with a contractor, but as it's crazy it may take a few attempts.
Excellent patient (8+ wounds), 50% doctor regeneration on challenging
Heal 8+ wounds at a doctor. This will be expensive so only try it later in the game when you have enough cash. Should be easy to get to this state by exploring on high danger planets, just get down to 2 health and go heal.
Century award (survive until 157.1AE), temus fugit on demanding
Any character should be able to get this, just stay alive.
Rapid rank 1 (rank 3 before 61.37AE), picky beggar on challenging
See this thread: startradersrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=tips&thread=1777&page=1 This covers rapid rank 3 but will apply here.
Rapid rank 2 (rank 6 before 61.37AE), zealot on demanding
See above thread.
Rapid rank 3 (rank 9 before 61.37AE), predator tracking array on challenging
See above thread.
Quick contracts 1 (5 contracts before 59.1AE), neutiquam erro on hard
Follow the contractor guide at the top. Using the map should let you complete this one fairly easily. The only potential problems are destroy/capture missions which may result in ship damage. This may therefore take a few attempts.
Quick contracts 2 (8 contracts before 59.1AE), smuggler officer on crazy
Again, see the contractor guide.
Exemplar contractor 50 (50 contracts, fail <7, reject <42), ships of honor 2 on hard
This may be easier by starting out as explorer, doing NO contracts until you are up to level 20+, a few hundred rep with each faction and plenty of cash. You can then take contracts one at a time, buying promotions as needed when they are against friendly factions. See also this thread: startradersrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tips&action=display&thread=2073
Exemplar contractor 25 (24 contracts, fail <9, reject <9, expire <9), spy on demanding
See above.
Hardcore captain (level 5 with starting ship), aperio caliga on demanding
To be honest, you're doing pretty well if you can get your second ship before level 5 on demanding.
Hardcore ultra (level 10 with starting ship), omni stealth array on demanding
Simple, don't get a new ship. Remember to go to the hall of records and claim this award before getting your second ship. Escape shuttle upgrade doesn't count unless you end up using it.
Hardcore captain (level 20 with starting ship), none
Just don't get a new ship. 20 levels is quite a long time, however.
Big tent (+10 rep with all factions after 64.6AE), torpedo cargo pods on challenging
See explorer guide.
Triple clan (8+ rank with all clans), smuggler hold availability
See explorer/contractor guide.
Triple syn (8+ rank with all syndicates), databank availability
See explorer/contractor guide.
Golden age (level 50), none
Any character should be able to get this, just stay alive long enough
Clan hero (151+ rep with all clans), ships of honor on crazy
See explorer/contractor guide.
Syndicate hero (151+ rep with all syndicates), ships of power on crazy
See explorer/contractor guide.
Doom reaper 1 (destroy 20 ships), extended gun decks on challenging
You'll probably get this faster with a contractor, but explorers will have to attack pirates whenever possible to maintain morale so might end up getting this. Reputation is only lost when attacking pirates if they are in an alliance, or if you loot, destroy or enslave. Therefore, doing this will lose reputation unless you look out for solar wars to offset the loss.
Doom reaper 2 (destroy 40 ships), escape shuttle on challenging
See above.
Doom reaper 3 (destroy 60 ships), escape shuttle avialability
See above.
Intrepid explorer (explore danger 21, no wound), exo-planetary crawler on challenging
Do this with a high level explorer character, see the map for potential planets.
Blackheart (-11 rep with all factions), none
This should be possible on low difficulties, but the enemies on higher levels may be too much to survive. Should be possible pretty quickly with blockade/surveillance.
Master privateer (loot 50 ships), none
Contractors should be able to complete this easily.
Ultra privateer (loot 75 ships), none
Contractors should be able to complete this easily.
Elite privateer (loot 100 ships), none
Contractors should be able to complete this easily.
Independant captain (-121 rep with all factions), none
Have never attempted this myself. Probably I would keep one faction friendly until I had a decent ship, fully upgraded before trying as this rep will block you from all military upgrades (the ones requiring military rank).
First, I'll outline a few basic strategies that can be used to complete the awards.
Starting strategies:
Explorer – you don't have to start as an explorer for this one. See the guide at startradersrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tips&action=display&thread=178. Basically, harvest first to get enough reputation for a trade permit with each faction, then explore to gain further rep and massive amounts of cash. Pay attention to trade alliances/embargos for this. Attack pirates for morale. Get the first scout officer you can.
Contractor – First, grab the map from startradersrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=tips&thread=1765&post=20193. You can take on up to 5 contracts at a time, so use the map to plan out a route with as many contracts in the same general direction as possible. Get paid 5x for the same amount of work! This will be a lot easier if you pick 1-3 factions as enemies. In general, higher difficulty => fewer enemy factions.
Future strategies:
When you get to about level 15 or so, you should have a decent amount of cash, and be able to carry out blockade / surveillance with a decent degree of success. Watch for solar wars (blockade with military rank) and spy wars (surveillance with death warrant) to gain massive reputation and cash. Zealot gets a bonus on blockade, so may be a better starting choice than explorer. An interesting point is that both these actions results in a net gain in rep, so if you have rank with two factions in a solar war, alternate between their planets carrying out blockades to gain rep with both. Attacking warships/bounty hunters while doing this will lose military rank and your death permit, but pirates are fine. Starting with the explorer strategy and then this lets you do this: startradersrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=log&action=display&thread=1895
Next, some advice on ships:
Fuel use is lowest with at least 30 sails and engines. Explorers want big hold, medium crew, engine upgrades if harvesting. Contractors want (at the start) decent hold for fuel, low crew for fuel consumption, high sails/engines for fuel/running away, and decent guns if you plan on fighting. Smuggler's hold upgrade is very useful at the start as it allows you to surrender to warships with contracts on board, avoiding rep loss before you get military rank with that faction. Later, boarding becomes more important and you want higher crew, and pilot/military officer. Note – putting cargo in water-fuel tanks, databank or spybank doesn't count as hold cargo and therfore doesn't raise your ship's signature (which increases encounters).
Some good ships -
Hyper freighter – biggest hold in the game, good for explorers
Spear cutter – good fighting ship with big hold, small crew. Gets amazing fuel consumption and is small enough that with decent pilot skills, it's almost impossible to hit.
Dragon cruiser / Slayarz cruiser – good for torpedoes and boarding. Get a reinforced prow and ram will do massive damage especially against low hull. Large crew means these are better later in the game.
Obliterator Cruiser – big and slow, you need to be pretty high level to operate this effectively. Personally I think these are too easy to hit, but a lot of people seem to like the captial ships.
For your second ship, a lot of the ships of power/honor are all right, especially steel song templar, honor of thulun (for contractors) or pride of de valtos (explorer). Also, sniper class, raptor class or royal class will do.
List of awards and how to get them:
Thousand suns (survive 1000 turns, 76.12AE), water fuel tank on challenging
Any character should be able to get this, just stay alive.
Hero of the stars (151 rep with starting faction), ancient reactors on challenging
Any character should be able to get this, just stay alive and work for the starting faction.
Dark nemesis (survive 22 years as hated criminal), serpent tooth on crazy
To be a hated criminal, you need a wanted flag from at least one syndicate and one clan. These can be seen in status->faction. To gain the wanted flag, first get about -20 rep, then carry out a hostile action (blockade, surveillance, attack any non-pirate) on that faction. Technically, you have to have 2 flags and survive 22 years from getting the first one. Should be possible with a contractor, but as it's crazy it may take a few attempts.
Excellent patient (8+ wounds), 50% doctor regeneration on challenging
Heal 8+ wounds at a doctor. This will be expensive so only try it later in the game when you have enough cash. Should be easy to get to this state by exploring on high danger planets, just get down to 2 health and go heal.
Century award (survive until 157.1AE), temus fugit on demanding
Any character should be able to get this, just stay alive.
Rapid rank 1 (rank 3 before 61.37AE), picky beggar on challenging
See this thread: startradersrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=tips&thread=1777&page=1 This covers rapid rank 3 but will apply here.
Rapid rank 2 (rank 6 before 61.37AE), zealot on demanding
See above thread.
Rapid rank 3 (rank 9 before 61.37AE), predator tracking array on challenging
See above thread.
Quick contracts 1 (5 contracts before 59.1AE), neutiquam erro on hard
Follow the contractor guide at the top. Using the map should let you complete this one fairly easily. The only potential problems are destroy/capture missions which may result in ship damage. This may therefore take a few attempts.
Quick contracts 2 (8 contracts before 59.1AE), smuggler officer on crazy
Again, see the contractor guide.
Exemplar contractor 50 (50 contracts, fail <7, reject <42), ships of honor 2 on hard
This may be easier by starting out as explorer, doing NO contracts until you are up to level 20+, a few hundred rep with each faction and plenty of cash. You can then take contracts one at a time, buying promotions as needed when they are against friendly factions. See also this thread: startradersrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tips&action=display&thread=2073
Exemplar contractor 25 (24 contracts, fail <9, reject <9, expire <9), spy on demanding
See above.
Hardcore captain (level 5 with starting ship), aperio caliga on demanding
To be honest, you're doing pretty well if you can get your second ship before level 5 on demanding.
Hardcore ultra (level 10 with starting ship), omni stealth array on demanding
Simple, don't get a new ship. Remember to go to the hall of records and claim this award before getting your second ship. Escape shuttle upgrade doesn't count unless you end up using it.
Hardcore captain (level 20 with starting ship), none
Just don't get a new ship. 20 levels is quite a long time, however.
Big tent (+10 rep with all factions after 64.6AE), torpedo cargo pods on challenging
See explorer guide.
Triple clan (8+ rank with all clans), smuggler hold availability
See explorer/contractor guide.
Triple syn (8+ rank with all syndicates), databank availability
See explorer/contractor guide.
Golden age (level 50), none
Any character should be able to get this, just stay alive long enough
Clan hero (151+ rep with all clans), ships of honor on crazy
See explorer/contractor guide.
Syndicate hero (151+ rep with all syndicates), ships of power on crazy
See explorer/contractor guide.
Doom reaper 1 (destroy 20 ships), extended gun decks on challenging
You'll probably get this faster with a contractor, but explorers will have to attack pirates whenever possible to maintain morale so might end up getting this. Reputation is only lost when attacking pirates if they are in an alliance, or if you loot, destroy or enslave. Therefore, doing this will lose reputation unless you look out for solar wars to offset the loss.
Doom reaper 2 (destroy 40 ships), escape shuttle on challenging
See above.
Doom reaper 3 (destroy 60 ships), escape shuttle avialability
See above.
Intrepid explorer (explore danger 21, no wound), exo-planetary crawler on challenging
Do this with a high level explorer character, see the map for potential planets.
Blackheart (-11 rep with all factions), none
This should be possible on low difficulties, but the enemies on higher levels may be too much to survive. Should be possible pretty quickly with blockade/surveillance.
Master privateer (loot 50 ships), none
Contractors should be able to complete this easily.
Ultra privateer (loot 75 ships), none
Contractors should be able to complete this easily.
Elite privateer (loot 100 ships), none
Contractors should be able to complete this easily.
Independant captain (-121 rep with all factions), none
Have never attempted this myself. Probably I would keep one faction friendly until I had a decent ship, fully upgraded before trying as this rep will block you from all military upgrades (the ones requiring military rank).
im just starting out, and atm im trying to get these achievements listed above, i know in the old days it used to say 'using only the vae victus' but i re-read it recently, and confirmed here that the wording has changed, does that mean we can do it with any ship as long as we dont get any new ships?
