The $1 Officer

[Cadar Officer]

Just wanted to share the most hair-raising, frustrating, maddening and skin-of-my-teething playthrough yet. Still not sure if I should laugh or cry...

---

So my military officer in Challenging is grooving at level 23 or something (the one from "To the Forums"), so I decided to give Demanding a spin for the hardcore and syn awards.

Just about all failed miserably after several hours dying to independent pirates, bounty hunters, patrol ships and aliens long before even touching level 5.

Being the masochist I am, I decided to give itone more go with Military Officer Kennedy. I grabbed the Aeturnum Vale (I know I messed that one up) and made my way to Cadar, picking up acoupleof contracts. I beat them, get promoted, then take another bunch out on my level 2 officer, whistling merrilfy through two of them when everything starts to go horribly, horribly wrong.

A routine mission to drop off passengers at a Thulun palace fails when I realize my rep is far too low to get in. After a few turns wasted trying to figure out what happened, a toast told me (a little too late- Im impatient and sometimes dont wait for them) that the contract expired. And by the way, so did my other one. I have almost no water left (tiny storage is tiny), so I drag my crew to a series of planets: Rychart and DeValtos had a trade embargo on each other, so buying a bunch of water from one ended with me getting torn up by the other, and vise-versa (and not enough rep to get trade permits from either). One independent planets suffered a water shortage where water shot up to $800 a pop; another gave me the five waters I could afford but no contracts withing 15 AUs to get back from. For a year or so ingame, I struggled along like this. My crew was always thirsty and desperate, I started harvesting partly to get water, partly for stuff to sell and mostly to cut down on how many crew members I had to deal with. Even the shortest route for selling the handful (no explorer skill) of things Ive found had to be extended by 8+ AUs for more crew to harvest with and then dispose of. Ships attacked of every stripe but Cadar after I had one too many mishaps with the syndicates trade bans. Clans hated me because I preyed on them before. Independents just wanted my bounty.

My crew mutinied not once but twice. The bounty contracts I was forced to take to survive backfired to the point where even merchants took my ship, robbed me, slapped me and went their merry way. At one point I tried to cross 5 AUs andgot arrested by patrol ships not one but twice before I reached the next planet. I desperately threw points into something, anything that could save my bones.


Now my ship is in shambles with 2 engines left and as many sails left standing. Im down to less than 10 crew, if that many. They're mutinous again. After so many failed harvests/explorations/mutinies, my dear Captain Kennedy has a toptal of 2 health left and the costs of medical care are as out of reach as any hope of ending the blasted embargo between DeValtos and Rychart (no, seriously-- they're still going!). I had but a single dollar left (literally) when I dragged myself to an independent palace hoping for work when I decided to write my last will in the Hall of Records.


AWARD: Reach level 5 in Demanding without buying, selling or stealing ships!

I stared at my one dollar. Then the award page. Then my dollar again.

A one-dollar captain at level five-- no health, no crew, no ship and no prospects.

Level five, and my nightmare was only beginning.

---

The "Too-Long; Didnt-Read" Version:

Poor Captain Kennedy is doomed.

---


But in all seriousness, I cant seem to make the transition between Challenging and Demanding. I normally do military officers, but even trying every class but the spy, merchant, star trader and captain, I get annihilated before I get anywhere. Is there something I'm missing??

help. q_q

[boeu]

Its not the first time that's happened to me nor will it be the last lol.
I've been playing this for 3yrs now and it still happens.
I've found if you can get pilot up as fast as possible helps along with tactics. I don't usually play the MO role so not really sure. I've not long unlocked my spy(for about the 6th time) and trying to get a handle on hard. Most are dead by lvl 6.
Don't remember how long ago it was that I had a lvl37 pirate on insane and I've never duplicated that feat. Lvl 10 is my limit on insane these days lol

[Cadar Officer]

Good grief I just hope my next char doesnt end up like Kennedy again. X.x I have a few points in pilot and stealth but they only seem to work 10% of the time. >_< Id like to make a comeback on this guy but I cant see it happening without a bunch of miracles to keep me alive.

Wouldve made a great comeback story.

Off to watch Kennedy in Survivor: Space Traders Edition.


good luck in insane, and i love that sig.

[fallen]

@cadar officer - join the forum so we can Exalt you for the awesome post!

[HateSolstice]

I can't count the number of times I have suffered like that - especially during the learning phases of my career as a captain in the quadrant - but I will say that, with ingenuity and a metric ****-ton of luck, you can come back from damn near anything.

As has been explained to me repeatedly by couple good friends here, Pilot is almost everything. Without know what your current spread looks like, all I can say is focus on hitting 20 pilot. At the very minimum. Then just try to keep it at roughly double your level.

Then I would say keep tactics and warrior both roughly the same as your character level(once they're initially maxed at the default), and intimidate to about 10-12, then leave it. If you ever have extra points, dump into warrior if do a lot of boarding.

The next thing to do is use solar/trade/spy wars to your advantage. Your MO is designed for blockades, and you will also plenty of merchant ships while doing so. Plus, the more weapons you have on-board, the more lucrative blockades become.

Another thing I have personally learned through trial and error is that, no matter desperate you are or how easy the contracts seem, don't take more than you know for certain you can complete and quickly. There is rep loss in failure, not to mention possibly ending up crippled with a mutinous crew on a ship made of Swiss cheese in the middle of enemy territory/deep space. I only take a maximum of two contracts anymore, unless I get several that are less than 10-15 AU from one another. Especially in the first several hundred turns.

Anyway, let us know if you manage to get out of this pickle. Should be interesting.

[Officer Genious]

Oct 22, 2013 23:42:00 GMT -5 fallen said:

@cadar officer - join the forum so we can Exalt you for the awesome post!

Done.


HateSolstice - I put a couple of points in, but I think it was having 8 engines that got me. Poor ship was like a glass cannon...
Andblockades take too long when you can only have water for a few weeks at most, including transit times.

---

In the movie "Bruce Almighy", Bruce (Jim Carrey) berates God (Morgan Freeman) for all the bad things that happen, screaming out "Smite me, oh mighty smiter!!" When the movie ends, Bruce learns a lesson about how he spent too much time looking at the worst things and not on the best things.

Apparently, I'm Jim Carrey.

Soon after I last posted as "Cadar Officer", I popped back into the game and checked the conflicts to see what I could do. I stared for a few moments as a miracle happened:

DeValtos and Rychar finally got their $$$$ together and stopped trade embargo-ing each other. I left my sad little planet behind and raced to a nearby DeValtos world to grab new contracts. I hid paydirt and picked up super-close smuggle-and-delivery missions to independent worlds for the next few levels, using the money for water first and my ship later. The boom was a little too late to stop a mutiny on the way, but I crushed it with no problems and soon my team rode high on the good times. I desperately wanted to upgrade my ship, so at level 9 I took out a nearby bounty mission alongsidea smuggler one.

The battle ended when the independent merchant I was chasing ended up blowing up my newly-repaired ship.

Like I said, its like a glass cannon. But this cannon had an escape pod, so I lived to watch my investment blow into a thousand tiny pieces. I swung to a nearby Cadar planet, passing one confused Cadar patrol and an independent pirate on the way to grab more water and think.

My crew was still happy (loyal dogs they are when they hav an income) and I still had a contract or two to finish, so I drove the speedy pod to the planet I lost my ship in, dodged the patrols and got the contracts done. With some money in my pocket for my losses, I went back to DeValtos and took a look at what I could get.

With a bit of a net loss I could get a frieghter, which was actuaally worse than my escape pod.

Yeah, no.

So I figured to soup up the pod instead. As hilarious as an escape pod having an escape pod or 12 torpedoes would be, I couldn't afford them yet.

An idea sprung into my mind-- why don't I just try jacking ships and move up that way? I grabbed the upgrade that uses the warrior bonus for boarding and went to find some tool I could steal from.

A Thulun merchant appeared almost immediately, and I fought to get close and board it. Ten men died and my shuttle was in shambles, dropping to a dangerous 2 (all engines I touch turn to dust, apparently). I gritted my teeth and pushed hard-- it was do or die now.

I was down to 30 crew facing 20 something merchants. With my warrior skills, I figured I could work with that.

Suddenly, 30 dropped to 17 as I boarded and the merchant fired.

Yikes.

But I'm a warrior and there was no turning back; I struggled along till there was just of me against 15, 13 men. I dueled for my life, hitting the captain once or twice but mostly ending in standoffs. He hit me once, hit twice--

I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been. Saving my money for upgrades, I had neglected my captain's health after his worst adventures, and I paid the heaviest price for my failures.

And so ended the short, disastrous career of Military Officer Captain Kennedy.

...

Okay, maybe I'm not Jim Carrey after all.


Currently debating if I should try again as M.O. Captain Kennedy II or try something else. Thoughts?

Will see if I can find his death stats too...

---

Year: 87.36AE
Turns: 1596
Level: 9, 8 XP

Charisma: 12
Wisdom: 12
Quickness: 11
Strength: 12

Pilot: 10
Tactics: 12 (still cant hit with torpedoes for any consistency, sadly)
Stealth: 10
Warrior: 10
Intimidate: 12
(all other skills-- explorer, negotiate-- are at one.)

[fallen]

Officer Genious - I have promptly given you the big +1! Awesome posts!

[HateSolstice]

See, all good things come to those that are Cadar captains blowing up other factions.

I have gotten to the point where my cargo hold consists of 5-7 Luxury Rations, then the rest just w-f. I don't find weapons to be all that handy in a blockade, even if they do give a percent chance per weapon to add an additional $100 each attempt. I've had 50 weapons onboard before, and had the same monetary results as if I had none. Now, I know Tactics are important for the blockade/surveillance skills, but I am not sure about Warrior, and I'm almost Positive that Pilot isn't part of that particular equation. Weapons do, however, seem to make boarding a lot less deadly on your side of the conflict, but again I don't exactly how it works. Warrior + Weapons ratio to Crew + Tactics?

It's getting late, I think I'm actually getting sleepy for once, and all this thinking is starting to hurt. CURSE MY STUBBORN BRAIN!

[Officer Genious]

fallen - Thank you! Glad I signed up and keep on this awesome game so I can write more crazy stories like this.

HateSolstice - Actually, I invested in Tactics so I could hit things with torpedoes. I think that was my problem. The MO has plenty of points in Warrior and Intimidate, so I probably would have been better off just boarding and robbing. Not sure how those skills help during a blockade (specially if my invo is mostly fuel for the long blockade-- just want the Javat patrol ship to blow up so I can get back to spamming the blockade button!),

I have a feeling I'm playing this class wrong, but I feel like the BH is better suited for long-range kill-it fights and the MO for close-range take-it battles.

[fallen]

Officer Genious - don't forget to try Templar Assault, set in the Star Traders Quadrant! Heck, try 'em all!

[Officer Genious]

fallen - Too many games; too little time! I'm poking around and I'm curious about HoS, so I'm puting it on my watch list.

And Assassin's Creed IV is looking set to pirate my nights soon. Don't worry, ST still eats up my day and the occasional midnight splurge.


Does anyone have more feedback on using the MO correctly before I launch the (mis)adventures of Captain Kennedy II? Maybe I should name him Ted Kennedy...

[HateSolstice]

Well, as an MO, it's much easier to climb the ranks due to the very handy promotion discount you get. Through getting cheap ranks(I the current cap is 21) you will gain access to a TON of newer, shinier ship: the capitol flagship for that faction.

I believe the other ships that you gain access to might actually be related to either level or if you've encountered them before. Cory Trese and fallen HOPEFULLY can clarify this. Oh, and I think the starport rating for that planet alao affects ship availability.

Another point I think needs mentioning, besides hull size versus sails and engines, is the cargo and crew numbers. While as an MO you can certainly fullfill shortage rumors for some extra dosh, your real main source of income will be from palace and military outpost contracts. Especially the latter. Your hull isn't going to be flowing chemicals, plants, and spice; instead it will be filled with w-f, luxury rations, weapons and/or electronics.

I also want to partially retract what I said earlier about weapons. Having a lot of weapons greatly improve your odds of a successful blockade. Then there is the military officer that you can hire, although I think the Templar(I can't recall what he is really called; he wears the tough Starship Trooper-like outfit) guy might be a better choice. Or maybe I am just crazy.

Either way, a mechanic and pilot are no-brainers, and I believe firmly that as long as you keep your crew well cared
for via luxury rations and bashing in Steel Song skulls, morale will never ne an issue. Which, thankfully, means you can ditch ol' Turdlips at the nearest - or farthest if you're cruel - starport and never look back.

The biggest difference that I have seen between the MO and pirates is that pirate crees always seem so small by comparison, plus their cargo size is like that of a smuggler's: designed for small
but valuable amounts of precious booty(and loot too! Yeah, that was lame). The MO will make so much more off of blockade/surveilance contracts that capitol flagship will be yours before you know it.

Hopefully i didn't just steer you wrong, and that this will be of some use.

[Officer Genious]

HateSolstice - My ship is on fire, my crew is furious and Kaiden Alenko doesn't want to talk to me. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF??


I agree with all your points,but say I'm blockading a planet and a military patrol shopws up to stop me. Do MOs usually fire torpedoes, guns or board? With crew and warrior, I'd say board but that seems pirate-y and manuvering massive hulls is more like tangoing with a drunken whale. Low tactics means I don't hit jack with any weapons. How does an MO fight?

[HateSolstice]

Pilot and number of sails on your ship improve torp accuracy. Also, a good pilot officer helps. I believe engines and crew improve gun battery accuracy and damage(and by accuracy, I mean aiming for and actually hitting the intended part of the ship; i.e. engines, deck, hull), and the less crew you have, the less effective your engines and less guns being operated. I'm not sure what the proper ratio is for that, to be honest. But with a naval ship you want numbers, and lots of them. As far as I'm concerned, having a high hull number isn't even that big of a deal because, as stated here on the forums and in-game, MOs aren't going for fuel efficiency when on the front lines. Oh yeah, armor doesn't hurt to have too.

I'm actually trying to make the transition from crazy to insane myself, and I'm starting to consider going for not so conventional upgrades. The pilot skill is still going to be number one on the priority list, and from what I have been told you want it at the very minimum to be half of your hull size, preferably double. I'm still trying to figure out how people get theirs above 20 by level 10 though. I guess it depends on what class you are and what your stat starts at. But that's getting off-topic. The reasons you want your pilot skill so high is A) it makes the whole damn ship more efficient and easier to control, and B) later on our bad ass naval ships come with very big hulls. That means eventually, you're going to want your pilot skill at 30+.

As for how we fight? It really boils down to personal preference, and a little bit of who you're up against. Pirates, bounty hunters, and enemy MOs seem to prefer going full-boar right at you and boarding immediately. As long as you have more engines and sails than them(at least engines)you can yourself out of close quarters with them and just nuke the living daylights out of them. Luckily, enemy bounty hunters seem to never have much in the way of warrior/strength skill, and I normally never have an issue with them. It's the damned pirates and navy captains that really can ruin your day. Pirates like many of the same qualities we MOs do, they just don't normally have our numbers from what I have seen thus far. Maybe on insane and impossible they have more, but at least on crazy and bellow I haven't really seen any pirate ships with more than 50 scumbags on it.

Merchants and smugglers are usually harmless, as I'm sure you are quite aware. I usually like to torp them once, then move in and ding up whatever remaining armor they might have, then just close in and board 'em. If they somehow get out of melee range, just knock off a few more engines and it should be easy-peasy from there.

I don't think I've ever run into an AI explorer before, and if I have I've never fought them. They're even more white-flag peaceful than the merchant and smugglers.

Indies are a mixed bag of unpredictable, but they aren't too different from the norm. Star traders you never know if they're gonna turn hostile or just walk away, the pirates you know all about, and their military ships seem just as inconsistent as the star traders.

Then, of course, we have the aliens. I am NOT the person to educate anyone on this subject. I've only run into a couple of them, and I got super freakin' lucky that both times it was within the first 200 turns and they were level 1 ships. Made getting cash early on quite simple. Unfortunately, I have gone alien hunting several times, even right as soon as a rumor came up, but I have never seen one at any rumor spots. I don't know if there's a certain technique or what. I've tried with and without my cargo hold full of artifacts, but it made no difference. Part of the problem may be that I need to have alien hunter templar or whatever officer onboard. Damn, I can never remember those officer names. Um.....Oh, it is Templar, and then there is Veteran. Both specialize in alien killing, so maybe I should take them and a pilot?

So to answer your question, Officer Genious, a good mixture of all 3 is really the only proper way to fight, and a lot of it really does just boil down to preference. If you enjoy blowing stuff up, then build up pilot, tactics and sails; if you wanna go all shooty then focus on increasing gun batteries and crew, along with some extra engines; if you wanna slice 'n dice, grab yourself some stabby things and cut away(just be sure to have lots of expendable crewmen and the warrior skill pumped up enough to make it worthwhile).

Er, did I answer anything at all?

Remeber: Pilot, tactics, warrior, intimidate. The others mean absolutely nothing to us. Tactics seems to have extremely high diminishing returns once you get to the 12-15 range, so I wouldn't suggest going much higher than that. You'll likely have at least some weapons onboard, and their do actually kinda make you more likely to succeed at a blockade. Contrary to what the description says, however, I've never seen an increase in profit from having a lot of weapons. I don't know if it's directly related to your warrior AND tactics skills, but it's just an observation I have made. Or, I'm just terribad.

[boeu]

Well I'm getting my pilot upto 15 by lvl 7 and tictacs upto 12 or so but its not helping lol, by level 10 I've got the null feild generator( hello alien scum) and there is a noticable difference to faction run ins, I usually get the 6 engine upgrade, w/f tank, omni array, and either 5engine or 6 sails. None seem to be helping. Guarenteed I'm only pulling lvl 7-8 before my hull been reamed. Loss oflimds and stuff be better than torp where it shuldnt fit