Damn, this is harder than i thought!

[neodaz]

Just lost another captain! I've been playing for a month on Basic and seem to have got gameplay sorted out, thought it was time to play properly on difficult. So far i've gone through 3 captains... It all starts out ok, I keep trips short, avoid combat, build up my upgrades and then WHAM, a pirate will jump out at me, I can't retreat and am hopelessly outgunned, the only option is to die fighting.

Anybody got any good tips for starting off with the more difficult levels?

Daz

[Cory Trese]

Surrender (esp. Vs. pirates)

Buy pardons

Stash

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I usually play (for fun) on the Crazy or Insane difficulties and I go through Captains a lot, keeping only the very best in the end I have a collection of 5 or 6 characters in the level 25-35 range that I really like.

Higher difficulties essentially mean that you start "behind the clock" and have to race to catch up.

[rich]

A lot of it boils down to your class and play style. What I've noticed when playing higher difficulties is that you have to be so much more cautious with your every move. You can't just accept every contract and go about doing them like you can in the easier difficulties. There's a lot more planning involved.

Like Cory said, surrender when you're dealing with pirates, and unless you're trying for the Vae Victus awards, get yourself a much better ship as soon as you can. Early in the game, especially on difficult/crazy/insane, it's all about just surviving. If that means you have to do some medial contracts in order to build up some rep/funding, then do it. I'd avoid doing contracts that are greater than 15+ AU away, at least for the first few levels.

Also, if you can increase your reputation for multiple factions, it really helps you out because you're really only having to deal with pirates and the occasional smuggler/merchant who you can just acknowledge. Another thing to remember is that you shouldn't neglect spending your stat points. I know that early on in my playing life, I would just let the points build up until I had 50 or so to spend, but as I moved up the difficulties, I found that much less desirable. 1 additional point in Pilot or Stealth may prove to be a savior.

Lastly, you don't always have to necessarily retreat/surrender early on, it'll depend on what you're fighting against. One thing is for sure, though, any time you see a spear class ship attacking you early on, always surrender to it. You most likely won't be able to retreat, and even if you are able to, you likely will suffer a ton of damage to the ship doing so.

[Cory Trese]

rich,

i totally agree regarding spending your skill points at higher levels -- often survival will be a point or two, one less encounter = one more sector = one less mutiny = saves 5000 healing credits = repairs the hull = survives a hostile warship =)

for my brother and I we tend to describe it in terms of a "foothold" which is escaping the starting situation of neutral with factions and starting ship.

i would also say that the value of ship armor increases exponentially on higher difficulties. where on lower difficulties I favor the ramming prow for the stealth target number reduction from signature. on hard/crazy/insane i go for broke and install +5 prow and +2 bulkheads =)

[rich]

Couldn't agree more. When i started playing crazy and insane, it was a difficult transition at first because I would barely contribute credits to armor upgrades. I learned quickly that it wasn't a wise choice. The biggest thing for me is getting rid of the starting ship as soon as possible. While it's a good ship, I find it silly to waste money on upgrades for it because you can get a much better ship, sans upgrades, early on.

[bradoplata]

I will say first that I like the game, and it was my first market purchase I ever made.

I think it's getting too hard. I play this to waste time at work without having to put much thought into it. Now that you have to play certain levels to unlock ships and stuff to me it is losing it's charm and becoming to in depth for a casual player.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with where the game has gone, and major thanks to the creator for all of his effort into making a great game. I would love to put the time into getting as good as the other posters here but that simply isn't an option.

It would be nice if us basic players could get the goodies as well.

Brad

[darkmonk]

You don't have to. You can just as easily go out and tool around in the Vae Victus just like you could in the beginning, it's what I do in every game. The awards are strictly optional, and I don't see where it adversely affects your play if you don't decide to go after them. They're just a nice bonus if you happen to unlock them while you're playing the game anyway.

[Cory Trese]

I really tried to make the unlocking awards easy enough that you would get them during casual play, especially if you start over frequently.

--

This is good feedback to get. I need to remember that not all new players (or even old ones) are crazy about all the new optional content.

I need to think about ways to make sure everyone feels included in the new updates. Also, that the impact in the UI is minimized for people who don't care.

[rich]

Jan 26, 2011 1:31:26 GMT -5 Cory Trese said:

I really tried to make the unlocking awards easy enough that you would get them during casual play, especially if you start over frequently.

--

This is good feedback to get. I need to remember that not all new players (or even old ones) are crazy about all the new optional content.

I need to think about ways to make sure everyone feels included in the new updates. Also, that the impact in the UI is minimized for people who don't care.

One thing I don't think some people are aware of is that it really is super easy to unlock the starting ships. You can knock out most of them in less than 15 minutes, especially the ones where you have to reach a certain rank by X amount of years, and the ones where you have to complete X amount perfect contracts in X amount of time.

That being said, all you need to do is start a character in whatever difficulty the ship you want is in, and just aim for the award immediately.

Keep in mind, while it's great to have a multitude of ship selections, the Vae Victus is still the all-around best ship IMO.

[spike]

Well it's great to have a game that's hard and gives some challenge - much better than it being too easy. I'm completely new to the game and I've found myself in the same situations, facing (or meeting) disaster. But if you somehow survive, it feels great!

One trick that came in handy for me was to invest in Strength/Warrior for your Captain, and hang on to some Weapons. You can do Boarding against a superior ship and, since it comes down to hand to hand combat between Captains - mano a mano - you can even take the ship off them. So you don't need to fit your ship out as a warship, if you have a tough Captain.