A list of aliens, who they are, what to do.
Aug 28, 2012 17:27:27 GMT -5
Officer Genious and sheff like this
Post by rabidbite on Aug 28, 2012 17:27:27 GMT -5
*** THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. TRYING TO CATCH UP WITH OFFICER CHANGES AND NEW ALIENS (April 8, 2015). PLEASE HELP with information, wherever you can. Simply look at this post and see what discrepancies you can find with current versions. Cheers! ***
This data mostly compiled by other members. Main contributors, so far, are: Cory Trese, slayernz, @starfixer, shallowthought, Fenikso, contributor
*** I've added direct information from the Help File (strongly recommended reading) Credit to Starfixer for the reminders.
*** I use the word 'Xeno' to describe all types of aliens.
*** Opened an area to discuss TACTICS against the xeno. I will add Tactics used by players as I find them.
The differently named xenos come in three main classes:
A: Narvidian
B. Alien X
C: Space Hulks.
These different classes are used to determine certain combat bonuses provided by hold goods in combination with officers and also how the xeno AIs will react.
Xenos appear with different names. Here is the most current list of alien ships I could find. Ordered by HULL SIZE.
HOW TO FIND THE ALIEN:
Be as far from the top left section of the map (coordinate 1,1) as you can be and patrol over dead planets as early as possible. Patrolling for aliens gets more difficult as time progresses. A player isn't going to turn up much of anything pass 1000AE. Difficulty makes a difference too. Higher difficulty = more aliens
For finding aliens, when patrolling dead planets, use: Tactics + Ship Speed + Wisdom + Sails + Artifacts + Vet + Bodyguard. (Note: Artifacts sometimes have serious adverse reactions to aliens. Read the ALIEN types below.)
Be patient. You may need to patrol a dead planet many many times before finding an alien.
Alien and Hulk ships
Officers that might come in handy, depending on what you want to do:
***** The Narvidian Hive can be Hulk or Narvidian. If it's Narvidian type the officers that apply against it are the Alien Hunter, Templar, Military Officer, and Bodyguard.
If it's a Hulk type, the officers that apply against it are: Pilot, Military Officer, and Bodyguard. You can tell what it is because if its a hulk, then it won't be bold red on top. *****
The Alien Hunter, aka Veteran Officer
Rumors:
* Alien attacks on a planet rumor
Found
* Wilderness area of a planet
Bonuses:
* Increased alien encounters for Dead Planet Patrols.
* HUGE salvage values for alien ships (250,000)
* Bonus to fighting narvidians/aliens (helps only closing distance, gun, ram, torp. Provides boarding bonus vs narvidians/aliens ONLY with hold cargo goods).
* Bonus to be able to loot Torpedoes.
* Higher pay for assassination/destroy contracts.
Disadvantages:
*Apparently these bonuses don't apply vs Space Hulks.
*Reduced Crew Morale vs non-aliens.
Cargo to improve bonus:
Artifacts (Remember Artifacts also give those tons of advantages to aliens.)
The Pilot
Rumors:
* Booming Spice, overflowing the Exchange and Hall rumor
Found
* In the palace
Bonuses:
*Improved Pilot benefits. Not stealth.
*Minor W-F consumption bonus.
*An urban landing bonus
*Avoids radiation storms
*Defense bonus vs ram damage.
*Higher pay for "Transport Passengers" contracts.
*Normal bonuses apply to everyone but in addition to 'normal bonuses' there is a (yet unknown) bonus versus Space Hulks.
Cargo to improve bonus:
Spice 10% of hold value (Water tanks, Weapons cabinet, Spybank don't apply)
The Military Officer
Rumors:
* The Mercenaries are congregating rumor
* Possibly found with military surplus rumors (I can't remember)
Found
* In the Palace
Bonuses:
*Bonus to intimidation
*Bonuses to Boarding and Ram:
-----Boarding Transition (first boarding action)
-----Subsequent Boarding actions (not as awesome as 1st one but...)
-----Soaks moral hits (IE loss of morale from crew while in combat)
-----Increases upgrade efficiency (IE Upgrades that give boarding bonus also get a boost)
-----Boarding Defense bonus ( not sure if vs damage received or just the action of being boarded in itself. )
* Provides a 'Blockade Contract' pay bonus.
* Provides a bonus to the actual blockade action.
* Tells you when the captain's health is low at urban zones.
* Tells you when you've been deceived by a bounty contract.
Cargo to improve bonus:
Weapons increase boarding action(s) bonuses. (Stack these babies in, you really want weapons when alien hunting. There is no set limit to the Weapons bonus. Cory provided 'weapons in hold' suggestion is (Crew - Engines) x 2) Most people put in around 50+.
Templar
Rumors:
* "deadly rouge traders" rumor
Found
* Wilderness zone
Bonuses:
* Bonuses to Boarding
-----Bonus to Boarding oriented specific Ship Upgrades
-----Boarding bonus vs. Narvidian/aliens.
-----Boarding Bonus to inflict extra damage on enemy captains (Includes alien captains)
*Boarding Defense bonus vs damage received
*Bonus to enslave crew (Acclimatize faster)
* Higher pay for assassination contracts (Example:Find X criminal, destroy ship...)
*Higher pay for capture contracts.
*Bonus vs. aliens for explore/harvest (NO IDEA WHAT THIS MEANS)
Disadvantages:
* These bonuses don't apply vs Space Hulks.
Cargo to improve bonus:
NONE
Templar Command RARE
Rumors:
* "deadly rouge traders" cleared everything of value rumor
Found
* Wilderness zone
Bonuses:
* Wilderness landing bonus (less hostile encounters)
* Bonuses to Boarding (Unclear specifications)
* Tactics Bonus at Zero Range (Boarding range)
* 30k credits bonus for destroying alien ships after defeating them.
Disadvantages:
* These bonuses don't apply vs Space Hulks.
Cargo to improve bonus:
NONE
Templar Hydra RARE
Rumors:
* "deadly rouge traders" cleared everything of value rumor
Found
* Wilderness zone
Bonuses:
* Wilderness landing bonus (less hostile encounters)
* Bonuses to Boarding (Unclear specifications)
-----Anti-Boarding bonus vs Xenos
* Tactics Bonus at Zero Range (Boarding range)
* 20k credits bonus for destroying alien ships after defeating them.
Disadvantages:
* These bonuses don't apply vs Space Hulks.
Cargo to improve bonus:
Weapons - Damage Bonus stacks with Cargo Hold Weapons Bonus (UNCLEAR - Boarding attack bonus? 1st boarding action? Subsequent boarding actions?)
Bodyguard
Rumors
*Treasure hunter fleet rumor
Found
*Wilderness zone
Bonuses:
*Boarding Bonuses:
-----Increase captain's resistance vs health loss when boarding/boarded. (Aliens included)
-----Increase captain's boarding attack damage vs enemy captain. (Aliens included)
*Bonus pay for passanger contracts.
Cargo to improve bonus:
NONE
**Xeno ships cannot be taken by the player/captain following victory but provide higher than average prices when scrapped. The Veteran Officer and Templar Officer provide $ bonuses of 250k and 20k respectively. (Info is in officer descriptions
**Destroying a Xeno ship causes an increased chance of alien encounters over the next 26 turns.
**Narvidian AIs are different than Alien AI. However bonuses against Narvidian affect Alien and vice-versa.
Alien AI descriptions (From Help file)
Alien Devour
- 1 weak captain
- Kill 10% normal crew
- Artifacts in player cargo provide aliens a 7-17 extra crew bonus per artifact.
-Only attempts to close and board or ram at zero range.
Alien Horror
- 2 captains
- Kill 100% normal crew
- Artifacts in player cargo increase alien's attack power by 20% per artifact.
- Only attempts to close/board and FIRE at zero range. Does not ram.
- Can be defeated in normal captain duel.
Alien Flayer
- 1 captain. Nearly invincible.
- Kill 300% normal crew
- 50% immune to Guns/Torpedoes.
- Artifacts in player cargo DECREASE alien efficiency 10% per unit
- Only attempts to close/board and FIRE at zero range. Does not ram.
- Can be defeated in normal captain duel.
Alien Terror
- NO captain
- Kill 200% normal crew
- Immune to Guns/Torpedoes.
- Artifacts in player cargo increase alien attack power by 100% per artifact.
- Only attempts to close/board. Does not ram.
- CANNOT be defeated in normal captain duel.
- The only real way to KILL a Terror alien is to destroy engines/sails, kill all the crew (if even possible), crush the hull.
Unpredictable Alien
- Initially acts like a smuggler but then randomly selects any other AI.
- AI change occurs every 2-3 turns.
- If AI change lands on AI type "terror", "horror', or 'devour' the change will become permanent.
- Escape early ... if you can. (Ominous music)
TACTICS READ ON FORUMS
** Escape Shuttle will always protect you from EXECUTION after a surrender but a surrender also inflicts 2 health (or so) on the captain. So if your captain only has 2 health left, surrender-Escape Shuttle combo is not an option. Keep that in mind.
*** There has been at least 1 report of a player using the surrender/escape tactic and suffering -4- damage instead of just 2. Keep this in mind.
Fighting The Alien/Narvidian
(Will repeat some data)
Narvidians are hostile like Aliens. They will always try to attack first, and
will kill you if you lose the battle or surrender. They also can have better than normal ships and can be at a much higher level than the average enemy.
The Narvidian Hive can be Hulk or Narvidian. If its Narvidian the officers that apply against it are the Alien Hunter, Templar, Military Officer, and Bodyguard
If its a Hulk, the officers that apply against it are: Pilot, Military Officer, and Bodyguard. You can tell what it is because if its hulk, then it won't be bold red on top.
Narvidians have different ships and AIs than aliens, and have the word "narvidian" in their ship name. I believe Cory said that bonuses to aliens also work against narvs, so Templar and Vet will help with them as well. If you defeat them, you cannot take control of their ship, but you can destroy them for a high salvage value (increased with Templar and even more with Vet)
- Get Templar, BG, and/or Military officer(s). They all provide different boarding bonuses, with the Military getting a boost for each Weapon in-hold and Templar providing an extra boost when fighting aliens. You could get the vet, but Cory stated he helps only close, gun, ram, torp and only provided a boarding bonus vs aliens with artifacts (which is bad as they could hurt you more than help you).
- Get the escape shuttle upgrade. This way if you get a hull breach, you can
escape. Also, if when boarding you feel you're not going to win, you can surrender and use you're escape shuttle. Otherwise, they'll kill you when you surrender.
- Have high boarding strength. Depending on the ship/LvL it may be impossible to defeat aliens by torps/guns. Neither will you be able to run away from them. But it will ALWAYS be possible to defeat aliens by boarding.
-The key to boarding: High Warrior+ Intimidate and an upgraded ship with high crew+cargo capacity for weapons. Suggest dragon cruiser, give it the battleship upgrade, an escape shuttle, and cargo upgrade(s) to give yourself a fast ship with over 200 crew and the ability to store 50 weapons and STILL be able to have 60-70+ room for other stuff.
-Once you are at short range with the Alien, NEVER attempt to retreat/gun or even ram. If you were unsuccessful at retreat/torp/gun at long and med range, chances are you'll be unsuccessful at short, and the alien wil board you. Once at short range, press board. This will give you a chance of YOU boarding THEM; meaning more damage to them, less damage to you.
Fighting the Space Hulks
Hulks - Hulks are NOT hostile, and will NOT attack you unless you attack them first. Even if you attempt to advance or torp them, you are likely to fail and they will simply escape from you. If, however, if you successfully attack them, they will become hostile, and fight you to the death. They will kill you if you lose a battle to them or surrender. Hulks can have a much higher lvl then the average enemy, sometimes ridiculously higher to the point that changing range or torping successfully is an impossibility.
Unlike Alien and Narv ships, Hulks normally have ships with high cargo and low engines, sails, armor, hull and crew. If you defeat them you may not take control of their ship, but you can loot their hold and easily fill your entire cargo hold with weapons and electronics, and sell them for a HUGE profit.
The pilot officer helps vs. hulk (not Vet not Templar).
The TERROR Aliens
1 out of 4 Alien AIs have no captain. These no captain aliens are known as "Terror" type aliens. Nothing in the encounter initially confirms a 'Terror' type encounter. They kill 200% normal crew, are immune to weapon boarding rolls, and each artifact in your hold increases their power by 100% per artifact.
Keeping in mind what has already been said, IF you were able to retreat, or pull away at Mid Range, then it MIGHT be possible to do a retreat/Board combo. If at Mid Range the aliens still closed on you, forget about retreating. Ram/board your way to victory or, if you got Escape shuttle, ram/surrender your way to freedom.
You can't defeate the enemy from reducing the enemy captain health to 0 ( as there is no captain) but you can defeat the enemy by reducing engines to 0 from boarding or by reducing morale to 0 from boarding (damage that you deal that isn't shown in the ships stats is morale damage).
Because of this, a player wants to have a lot of weapons, in addition to high board strength. Terror types deal a lot of damage. Even though Terrors area immune to weapons for board rolls (determines whether you board or get boarded) they are not immune to weapon damage rolls (determines the damage you and the alien take).
Keep in mind that if you surrender you will loose around 2 health. THUS, surrender at 3 health or more.
A Forum and Help File compilation by rabid.
SPECIFIC ALIEN HUNTING BUILD BY LURKER. This is a direct copy paste.
Read more: startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/5895/brother-dervins-destroying-aliens-narvidians#ixzz2rQ5uJ9NI
Brother Dervin is, by far, my most successful alien hunting captain. He's currently encountered and destroyed more than 50 Alien and Narvidian ships including some above 350% his level. He's playing on Impossible difficulty and he's not using any kind of exploit other than taking advantage of the fact that adding to Strength does not cause you to level up at all (it also gives bonuses. Read its description). He seems to have been born with disproportionate knowledge of Aliens and how to destroy them. It's something he attributes to being the reincarnation of several alien hunters from Rychart and Steel Song. I've asked him if he wouldn't mind sharing a little of his knowledge with the forum. You'll have to excuse his manner, he's spent A LOT of time orbiting dead planets doing nothing but staring into the darkness looking for his next target.
While I myself do not fear death or what comes after, some have convinced me that it would be profitable to share my knowledge of hunting Aliens and Narvidians before that day arrives. After my death, it will doubtless take many years before I find a new body and can continue my quest. Others might as well take up the hunt in my stead and it is well that they are prepared for what they will find. Herein lies the first lesson, the captain that fears death and believes he can escape will never make a valiant Xeno hunter. To seek and destroy the Alien is to embrace your own death. Embrace it knowing that you will rise again stronger and wiser.
XP Allocation
Your first attention as an Alien Hunter must be given to yourself. While you will command a fearsome ship with a crew armed to the teeth, a body is only as good as the head, and you are that head.
Do not think that you can be a great Xeno hunter without being prepared to fight the Alien face-to-faces through boarding actions. A captain who wants to "keep his boots clean" will never stand against an Alien or Narvidian 3 times or more his level. So your first goal in XP allocation is to at all times keep your Strength at 3 times your level. Since this will not cause you to level up you'll have enough xp left over for other things.
After strength, focus on keeping pilot and warrior at 1.5 times your level. Boarding is messy and will often damage your ship, so being able to disable a lower level ship with guns and avoid being rammed is key to surviability.
After this, allocate XP to intimidate (needed for keeping fuel costs down) and tactics (needed to command large crews and target with guns) equally, until they are both at level 20. Then add one point to intimidate for every 5 you put into tactics. You will want to raise stealth early, but do not let it get above 10. It is unnecessary once you can survive in battle and your ship should be a flying billboard telling the enemy "Here I am, come and get me!" Putting 1 or 2 extra points into negotiate is also permissible.
Ships
The most important piece of equipment in fighting Xenos is your ship. The two most important aspects of your ship are the number of crew it can hold and the size of it's hold. To win by boarding, you must have a large crew and large enough hold to allow you to stay out in the dark hunting your prey. The only caveat to the above is that you should avoid ships that either have low agility and slow speed. These will make you too vulnerable to certain attacks and make it harder to ensure that you are able to do the boarding. Never, in any circumstances, take a low agility ship. A Medium/Medium or Medium/Quick ship is ideally suited to our task.
The secondary thing to think about is getting a ship that can take a lot of damage. A large crew ship with low hull, or engines is dangerous because a focused attack on any of those things can quickly destroy or disable your ship even if your crew is delivering more damage to the enemy, but it's not well placed. Guns and torps will also soak damage (idiot beasties) though too many guns will also pull men from your boarding party.
If you must have specific suggestions I have a few, but they are not the only good ships. There is no greater ship for hunting Aliens than the Carnifiex Cruiser. It may, however, take a captain a long time before he is able to find and handle such a large ship. A better ship to start hunting with is the Resilient Cruiser, if you can find it. The Battle Frigate (not the Battlefrigate) is also worth considering. In theory the Cadar Flagship would make a decent alien hunter, but personally I can't stand the stench of the things. All of the above ships are Medium/Medium. The Slayernz Cruiser is a good Medium/Quick option, however, since the engines are so high, you must put the Battleship Architecture upgrade on it to have enough crew to fight with.
Upgrades
Upgrades make all the difference but not a lot of time needs to be spent here. Structural upgrades: only real choice here is more armor or more storage based on what you need. Most of the time, I choose Dreadnaught Architecture. Combat: this is a hard one, but I've seen too many good hunters die when a random alien decides to torp or use guns. It's not that I fear death but that I wish to fight Aliens for a good long time. Get the escape shuttle. Interior: the choice is between how you will get more crew. If you don't have enough Intimidate to handle the Battleship Architecture, get the Mercenaries. Propulsion: this is a no-brainer. If you want to find aliens, you need a Null Field Generator. Armament: you won't win anything by torping, get the Hyperion Superstructure.
Officers
The last bit of preparation is to assemble a team of officers to help you in battle and to train your crew into a disciplined fighting force. While the Xeno Vet officer may seem like an obvious choice I would advise against having one on board. If you wish to board a Narvidian and engage their captain in hand-to-hand combat all of your officers must help in this one goal. Hire a Templar, a Military Officer and a Body Guard.
Finding and Fighting Aliens and Narvidians
Now we get to the point you've probably been waiting for. But you must understand this, a captain, who has not done the work above, has no business going out to hunt aliens. Like all captains he will die, but he will die before he has the joy of seeing the shattered carcass of a Terrox lying at his feet. There is little to no point in hunting aliens before level 15 but it is better to get to at least level 20 and have command of a fully equipped Xeno hunting dreadnaught before beginning your search in earnest.
When you are ready to hunt you should know that the only thing you need to carry in your hold are Water-fuel and Weapons. Anything else is dead weight. Starting out, you will need more room for Water-Fuel and may only be able to carry 20 Weapons, but as soon as you can, bring that up to 40 or better 60.
The best way, in my less-than-humble experience, to find an alien is to "troll" over an alien rumor, so you need to be checking the rumors at every planet you stop in. Trolling involves traveling over the affected sector rather than staying in it and patrolling. Move your ship from an adjacent sector to the sector with the rumor repeatedly and you will find an Alien eventually if you have the Null Field Generator installed. Also learn which planets are likely to have the most rumors. It is worth travelling out of your way to stop at these mines of information. The ideal rumors will be in red squares, though not far from planets where you can easily restock. Rumors on dead planets or the Hyperion Demonic Nebula are often more fruitful than others. Many have made a big deal about finding rumors or planets that are far from sector [0,0]. In my experience if you have the choice between a rumor that is deep into red space far from [0,0] or a rumor that is close to [0,0] but has a good resupply point go to the latter. In my most recent hunt I turned up 7 or 8 aliens when attacks were rumored at Rift-Leporis 4 [6,0].
Once you have engaged an enemy, if he is a high-level foe, there is only one thing to do; Advance and Board! If an Alien or Narvidian is at your level or below, provided his ship is not Quick (Engines being 2x hull or more) you are likely to be successful with guns. However, if you think there is any chance that an enemy could board you, don't bother to wait and see. The advantage to boarding rather than being boarded is huge! You never want to lose that roll, especially against a high-level Alien with a large crew.
Once you have boarded, keep pressing board/duel until your foe is defeated, at this point it is do-or-die for you and your crew. If it happens that your crew has been decimated and you are locked in a duel with an alien captain and beginning to lose HP you are unlikely to survive. At this point, you must know how much damage you've been doing to the other captain. If you have been consistently wounding him since you started fighting, you might want to press on with the battle, but remember some alien captains have up to 20HP. If you are not wounding the other captain or you think you don't have enough HP to beat him, your only hope is to try ramming his ship to breach your own hull and escape in the escape shuttle. If you manage that, Alfaan is truly shining on you my friend.
Getting Started
My tale is running in reverse and we are now nearly to the beginning. There are just a few more things that may help you become a great scourge of the Alien and Narvidian. You must, at all times, remember your purpose in this life. You are, or will be a Xeno hunter. To best accomplish this, eschew the conflicts of the factions for the peace and quiet of the void. Your goal should be to have positive rep with all factions along with at least one rank and permits, but do not waste time and money pursuing high rank. However, also avoid negative rep. The last thing you need is some opportunistic bounty hunter finding your ship limping back into port after destroying a monster ten times more terrifying than himself.
It may surprise you to know that I began my captain's career as a pacifist merchant flying the Fidei Defensor. If you know the trade routes, it is the most certain way ensure a good start. Avoid trade embargos and illicit goods until you have permits. Let them search you and plunder your goods, if they will. Be patient, one day you will have killed so many pirates that it will be impossible to say that you ran out of cowardice. You are an Alien killer.
Once you have a decent ship and your skills are beginning to come up, use Spy Wars and Solar Wars to rapidly gain xp and reputation all around. At this point, consider purchasing other ships upgraded for things like spying and blockading and begin to keep your eyes out for a Battle Frigate or Resilient Cruiser, which can be equipped for Alien hunting.
I began to write this unwillingly, but now that it is on paper I have great joy in the thought of the many Aliens and Narvidians that will burn at the hands of many eager hunters. What a glorious joy, now I am truly ready to face the end. May Alfaan bless and keep you.
Surviving Aliens for the Non Combatant by Cory Trese
Avoid large stashes of artifacts in the hold will reduce the chance of finding xeno ships.
High stealth will avoid the chance of running into them at all.
Install an Escape Shuttle and Dry Dock backup ships -- this should be priority 1 for a non-combat captain.
Fly ships with Speed of High, and raise stealth. Start a battle again the xeno with
1. Torpedo
2. Retreat
Every time you get out to Long Range, repeat that cycle. This gives you the best chance to avoid.
STAR TRADERS 2 RPG - Pre-order today!
Read more: startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/9525/alien-survival-kranng#ixzz3Xwnmjvcq
PS: THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS
This data mostly compiled by other members. Main contributors, so far, are: Cory Trese, slayernz, @starfixer, shallowthought, Fenikso, contributor
*** I've added direct information from the Help File (strongly recommended reading) Credit to Starfixer for the reminders.
*** I use the word 'Xeno' to describe all types of aliens.
*** Opened an area to discuss TACTICS against the xeno. I will add Tactics used by players as I find them.
The differently named xenos come in three main classes:
A: Narvidian
B. Alien X
C: Space Hulks.
These different classes are used to determine certain combat bonuses provided by hold goods in combination with officers and also how the xeno AIs will react.
Xenos appear with different names. Here is the most current list of alien ships I could find. Ordered by HULL SIZE.
HOW TO FIND THE ALIEN:
Be as far from the top left section of the map (coordinate 1,1) as you can be and patrol over dead planets as early as possible. Patrolling for aliens gets more difficult as time progresses. A player isn't going to turn up much of anything pass 1000AE. Difficulty makes a difference too. Higher difficulty = more aliens
For finding aliens, when patrolling dead planets, use: Tactics + Ship Speed + Wisdom + Sails + Artifacts + Vet + Bodyguard. (Note: Artifacts sometimes have serious adverse reactions to aliens. Read the ALIEN types below.)
Be patient. You may need to patrol a dead planet many many times before finding an alien.
Alien and Hulk ships
Officers that might come in handy, depending on what you want to do:
***** The Narvidian Hive can be Hulk or Narvidian. If it's Narvidian type the officers that apply against it are the Alien Hunter, Templar, Military Officer, and Bodyguard.
If it's a Hulk type, the officers that apply against it are: Pilot, Military Officer, and Bodyguard. You can tell what it is because if its a hulk, then it won't be bold red on top. *****
The Alien Hunter, aka Veteran Officer
Rumors:
* Alien attacks on a planet rumor
Found
* Wilderness area of a planet
Bonuses:
* Increased alien encounters for Dead Planet Patrols.
* HUGE salvage values for alien ships (250,000)
* Bonus to fighting narvidians/aliens (helps only closing distance, gun, ram, torp. Provides boarding bonus vs narvidians/aliens ONLY with hold cargo goods).
* Bonus to be able to loot Torpedoes.
* Higher pay for assassination/destroy contracts.
Disadvantages:
*Apparently these bonuses don't apply vs Space Hulks.
*Reduced Crew Morale vs non-aliens.
Cargo to improve bonus:
Artifacts (Remember Artifacts also give those tons of advantages to aliens.)
The Pilot
Rumors:
* Booming Spice, overflowing the Exchange and Hall rumor
Found
* In the palace
Bonuses:
*Improved Pilot benefits. Not stealth.
*Minor W-F consumption bonus.
*An urban landing bonus
*Avoids radiation storms
*Defense bonus vs ram damage.
*Higher pay for "Transport Passengers" contracts.
*Normal bonuses apply to everyone but in addition to 'normal bonuses' there is a (yet unknown) bonus versus Space Hulks.
Cargo to improve bonus:
Spice 10% of hold value (Water tanks, Weapons cabinet, Spybank don't apply)
The Military Officer
Rumors:
* The Mercenaries are congregating rumor
* Possibly found with military surplus rumors (I can't remember)
Found
* In the Palace
Bonuses:
*Bonus to intimidation
*Bonuses to Boarding and Ram:
-----Boarding Transition (first boarding action)
-----Subsequent Boarding actions (not as awesome as 1st one but...)
-----Soaks moral hits (IE loss of morale from crew while in combat)
-----Increases upgrade efficiency (IE Upgrades that give boarding bonus also get a boost)
-----Boarding Defense bonus ( not sure if vs damage received or just the action of being boarded in itself. )
* Provides a 'Blockade Contract' pay bonus.
* Provides a bonus to the actual blockade action.
* Tells you when the captain's health is low at urban zones.
* Tells you when you've been deceived by a bounty contract.
Cargo to improve bonus:
Weapons increase boarding action(s) bonuses. (Stack these babies in, you really want weapons when alien hunting. There is no set limit to the Weapons bonus. Cory provided 'weapons in hold' suggestion is (Crew - Engines) x 2) Most people put in around 50+.
Templar
Rumors:
* "deadly rouge traders" rumor
Found
* Wilderness zone
Bonuses:
* Bonuses to Boarding
-----Bonus to Boarding oriented specific Ship Upgrades
-----Boarding bonus vs. Narvidian/aliens.
-----Boarding Bonus to inflict extra damage on enemy captains (Includes alien captains)
*Boarding Defense bonus vs damage received
*Bonus to enslave crew (Acclimatize faster)
* Higher pay for assassination contracts (Example:Find X criminal, destroy ship...)
*Higher pay for capture contracts.
*Bonus vs. aliens for explore/harvest (NO IDEA WHAT THIS MEANS)
Disadvantages:
* These bonuses don't apply vs Space Hulks.
Cargo to improve bonus:
NONE
Templar Command RARE
Rumors:
* "deadly rouge traders" cleared everything of value rumor
Found
* Wilderness zone
Bonuses:
* Wilderness landing bonus (less hostile encounters)
* Bonuses to Boarding (Unclear specifications)
* Tactics Bonus at Zero Range (Boarding range)
* 30k credits bonus for destroying alien ships after defeating them.
Disadvantages:
* These bonuses don't apply vs Space Hulks.
Cargo to improve bonus:
NONE
Templar Hydra RARE
Rumors:
* "deadly rouge traders" cleared everything of value rumor
Found
* Wilderness zone
Bonuses:
* Wilderness landing bonus (less hostile encounters)
* Bonuses to Boarding (Unclear specifications)
-----Anti-Boarding bonus vs Xenos
* Tactics Bonus at Zero Range (Boarding range)
* 20k credits bonus for destroying alien ships after defeating them.
Disadvantages:
* These bonuses don't apply vs Space Hulks.
Cargo to improve bonus:
Weapons - Damage Bonus stacks with Cargo Hold Weapons Bonus (UNCLEAR - Boarding attack bonus? 1st boarding action? Subsequent boarding actions?)
Bodyguard
Rumors
*Treasure hunter fleet rumor
Found
*Wilderness zone
Bonuses:
*Boarding Bonuses:
-----Increase captain's resistance vs health loss when boarding/boarded. (Aliens included)
-----Increase captain's boarding attack damage vs enemy captain. (Aliens included)
*Bonus pay for passanger contracts.
Cargo to improve bonus:
NONE
**Xeno ships cannot be taken by the player/captain following victory but provide higher than average prices when scrapped. The Veteran Officer and Templar Officer provide $ bonuses of 250k and 20k respectively. (Info is in officer descriptions
**Destroying a Xeno ship causes an increased chance of alien encounters over the next 26 turns.
**Narvidian AIs are different than Alien AI. However bonuses against Narvidian affect Alien and vice-versa.
Alien AI descriptions (From Help file)
Alien Devour
- 1 weak captain
- Kill 10% normal crew
- Artifacts in player cargo provide aliens a 7-17 extra crew bonus per artifact.
-Only attempts to close and board or ram at zero range.
Alien Horror
- 2 captains
- Kill 100% normal crew
- Artifacts in player cargo increase alien's attack power by 20% per artifact.
- Only attempts to close/board and FIRE at zero range. Does not ram.
- Can be defeated in normal captain duel.
Alien Flayer
- 1 captain. Nearly invincible.
- Kill 300% normal crew
- 50% immune to Guns/Torpedoes.
- Artifacts in player cargo DECREASE alien efficiency 10% per unit
- Only attempts to close/board and FIRE at zero range. Does not ram.
- Can be defeated in normal captain duel.
Alien Terror
- NO captain
- Kill 200% normal crew
- Immune to Guns/Torpedoes.
- Artifacts in player cargo increase alien attack power by 100% per artifact.
- Only attempts to close/board. Does not ram.
- CANNOT be defeated in normal captain duel.
- The only real way to KILL a Terror alien is to destroy engines/sails, kill all the crew (if even possible), crush the hull.
Unpredictable Alien
- Initially acts like a smuggler but then randomly selects any other AI.
- AI change occurs every 2-3 turns.
- If AI change lands on AI type "terror", "horror', or 'devour' the change will become permanent.
- Escape early ... if you can. (Ominous music)
TACTICS READ ON FORUMS
** Escape Shuttle will always protect you from EXECUTION after a surrender but a surrender also inflicts 2 health (or so) on the captain. So if your captain only has 2 health left, surrender-Escape Shuttle combo is not an option. Keep that in mind.
*** There has been at least 1 report of a player using the surrender/escape tactic and suffering -4- damage instead of just 2. Keep this in mind.
Fighting The Alien/Narvidian
(Will repeat some data)
Narvidians are hostile like Aliens. They will always try to attack first, and
will kill you if you lose the battle or surrender. They also can have better than normal ships and can be at a much higher level than the average enemy.
The Narvidian Hive can be Hulk or Narvidian. If its Narvidian the officers that apply against it are the Alien Hunter, Templar, Military Officer, and Bodyguard
If its a Hulk, the officers that apply against it are: Pilot, Military Officer, and Bodyguard. You can tell what it is because if its hulk, then it won't be bold red on top.
Narvidians have different ships and AIs than aliens, and have the word "narvidian" in their ship name. I believe Cory said that bonuses to aliens also work against narvs, so Templar and Vet will help with them as well. If you defeat them, you cannot take control of their ship, but you can destroy them for a high salvage value (increased with Templar and even more with Vet)
- Get Templar, BG, and/or Military officer(s). They all provide different boarding bonuses, with the Military getting a boost for each Weapon in-hold and Templar providing an extra boost when fighting aliens. You could get the vet, but Cory stated he helps only close, gun, ram, torp and only provided a boarding bonus vs aliens with artifacts (which is bad as they could hurt you more than help you).
- Get the escape shuttle upgrade. This way if you get a hull breach, you can
escape. Also, if when boarding you feel you're not going to win, you can surrender and use you're escape shuttle. Otherwise, they'll kill you when you surrender.
- Have high boarding strength. Depending on the ship/LvL it may be impossible to defeat aliens by torps/guns. Neither will you be able to run away from them. But it will ALWAYS be possible to defeat aliens by boarding.
-The key to boarding: High Warrior+ Intimidate and an upgraded ship with high crew+cargo capacity for weapons. Suggest dragon cruiser, give it the battleship upgrade, an escape shuttle, and cargo upgrade(s) to give yourself a fast ship with over 200 crew and the ability to store 50 weapons and STILL be able to have 60-70+ room for other stuff.
-Once you are at short range with the Alien, NEVER attempt to retreat/gun or even ram. If you were unsuccessful at retreat/torp/gun at long and med range, chances are you'll be unsuccessful at short, and the alien wil board you. Once at short range, press board. This will give you a chance of YOU boarding THEM; meaning more damage to them, less damage to you.
Fighting the Space Hulks
Hulks - Hulks are NOT hostile, and will NOT attack you unless you attack them first. Even if you attempt to advance or torp them, you are likely to fail and they will simply escape from you. If, however, if you successfully attack them, they will become hostile, and fight you to the death. They will kill you if you lose a battle to them or surrender. Hulks can have a much higher lvl then the average enemy, sometimes ridiculously higher to the point that changing range or torping successfully is an impossibility.
Unlike Alien and Narv ships, Hulks normally have ships with high cargo and low engines, sails, armor, hull and crew. If you defeat them you may not take control of their ship, but you can loot their hold and easily fill your entire cargo hold with weapons and electronics, and sell them for a HUGE profit.
The pilot officer helps vs. hulk (not Vet not Templar).
The TERROR Aliens
1 out of 4 Alien AIs have no captain. These no captain aliens are known as "Terror" type aliens. Nothing in the encounter initially confirms a 'Terror' type encounter. They kill 200% normal crew, are immune to weapon boarding rolls, and each artifact in your hold increases their power by 100% per artifact.
Keeping in mind what has already been said, IF you were able to retreat, or pull away at Mid Range, then it MIGHT be possible to do a retreat/Board combo. If at Mid Range the aliens still closed on you, forget about retreating. Ram/board your way to victory or, if you got Escape shuttle, ram/surrender your way to freedom.
You can't defeate the enemy from reducing the enemy captain health to 0 ( as there is no captain) but you can defeat the enemy by reducing engines to 0 from boarding or by reducing morale to 0 from boarding (damage that you deal that isn't shown in the ships stats is morale damage).
Because of this, a player wants to have a lot of weapons, in addition to high board strength. Terror types deal a lot of damage. Even though Terrors area immune to weapons for board rolls (determines whether you board or get boarded) they are not immune to weapon damage rolls (determines the damage you and the alien take).
Keep in mind that if you surrender you will loose around 2 health. THUS, surrender at 3 health or more.
A Forum and Help File compilation by rabid.
SPECIFIC ALIEN HUNTING BUILD BY LURKER. This is a direct copy paste.
Read more: startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/5895/brother-dervins-destroying-aliens-narvidians#ixzz2rQ5uJ9NI
Brother Dervin is, by far, my most successful alien hunting captain. He's currently encountered and destroyed more than 50 Alien and Narvidian ships including some above 350% his level. He's playing on Impossible difficulty and he's not using any kind of exploit other than taking advantage of the fact that adding to Strength does not cause you to level up at all (it also gives bonuses. Read its description). He seems to have been born with disproportionate knowledge of Aliens and how to destroy them. It's something he attributes to being the reincarnation of several alien hunters from Rychart and Steel Song. I've asked him if he wouldn't mind sharing a little of his knowledge with the forum. You'll have to excuse his manner, he's spent A LOT of time orbiting dead planets doing nothing but staring into the darkness looking for his next target.
While I myself do not fear death or what comes after, some have convinced me that it would be profitable to share my knowledge of hunting Aliens and Narvidians before that day arrives. After my death, it will doubtless take many years before I find a new body and can continue my quest. Others might as well take up the hunt in my stead and it is well that they are prepared for what they will find. Herein lies the first lesson, the captain that fears death and believes he can escape will never make a valiant Xeno hunter. To seek and destroy the Alien is to embrace your own death. Embrace it knowing that you will rise again stronger and wiser.
XP Allocation
Your first attention as an Alien Hunter must be given to yourself. While you will command a fearsome ship with a crew armed to the teeth, a body is only as good as the head, and you are that head.
Do not think that you can be a great Xeno hunter without being prepared to fight the Alien face-to-faces through boarding actions. A captain who wants to "keep his boots clean" will never stand against an Alien or Narvidian 3 times or more his level. So your first goal in XP allocation is to at all times keep your Strength at 3 times your level. Since this will not cause you to level up you'll have enough xp left over for other things.
After strength, focus on keeping pilot and warrior at 1.5 times your level. Boarding is messy and will often damage your ship, so being able to disable a lower level ship with guns and avoid being rammed is key to surviability.
After this, allocate XP to intimidate (needed for keeping fuel costs down) and tactics (needed to command large crews and target with guns) equally, until they are both at level 20. Then add one point to intimidate for every 5 you put into tactics. You will want to raise stealth early, but do not let it get above 10. It is unnecessary once you can survive in battle and your ship should be a flying billboard telling the enemy "Here I am, come and get me!" Putting 1 or 2 extra points into negotiate is also permissible.
Ships
The most important piece of equipment in fighting Xenos is your ship. The two most important aspects of your ship are the number of crew it can hold and the size of it's hold. To win by boarding, you must have a large crew and large enough hold to allow you to stay out in the dark hunting your prey. The only caveat to the above is that you should avoid ships that either have low agility and slow speed. These will make you too vulnerable to certain attacks and make it harder to ensure that you are able to do the boarding. Never, in any circumstances, take a low agility ship. A Medium/Medium or Medium/Quick ship is ideally suited to our task.
The secondary thing to think about is getting a ship that can take a lot of damage. A large crew ship with low hull, or engines is dangerous because a focused attack on any of those things can quickly destroy or disable your ship even if your crew is delivering more damage to the enemy, but it's not well placed. Guns and torps will also soak damage (idiot beasties) though too many guns will also pull men from your boarding party.
If you must have specific suggestions I have a few, but they are not the only good ships. There is no greater ship for hunting Aliens than the Carnifiex Cruiser. It may, however, take a captain a long time before he is able to find and handle such a large ship. A better ship to start hunting with is the Resilient Cruiser, if you can find it. The Battle Frigate (not the Battlefrigate) is also worth considering. In theory the Cadar Flagship would make a decent alien hunter, but personally I can't stand the stench of the things. All of the above ships are Medium/Medium. The Slayernz Cruiser is a good Medium/Quick option, however, since the engines are so high, you must put the Battleship Architecture upgrade on it to have enough crew to fight with.
Upgrades
Upgrades make all the difference but not a lot of time needs to be spent here. Structural upgrades: only real choice here is more armor or more storage based on what you need. Most of the time, I choose Dreadnaught Architecture. Combat: this is a hard one, but I've seen too many good hunters die when a random alien decides to torp or use guns. It's not that I fear death but that I wish to fight Aliens for a good long time. Get the escape shuttle. Interior: the choice is between how you will get more crew. If you don't have enough Intimidate to handle the Battleship Architecture, get the Mercenaries. Propulsion: this is a no-brainer. If you want to find aliens, you need a Null Field Generator. Armament: you won't win anything by torping, get the Hyperion Superstructure.
Officers
The last bit of preparation is to assemble a team of officers to help you in battle and to train your crew into a disciplined fighting force. While the Xeno Vet officer may seem like an obvious choice I would advise against having one on board. If you wish to board a Narvidian and engage their captain in hand-to-hand combat all of your officers must help in this one goal. Hire a Templar, a Military Officer and a Body Guard.
Finding and Fighting Aliens and Narvidians
Now we get to the point you've probably been waiting for. But you must understand this, a captain, who has not done the work above, has no business going out to hunt aliens. Like all captains he will die, but he will die before he has the joy of seeing the shattered carcass of a Terrox lying at his feet. There is little to no point in hunting aliens before level 15 but it is better to get to at least level 20 and have command of a fully equipped Xeno hunting dreadnaught before beginning your search in earnest.
When you are ready to hunt you should know that the only thing you need to carry in your hold are Water-fuel and Weapons. Anything else is dead weight. Starting out, you will need more room for Water-Fuel and may only be able to carry 20 Weapons, but as soon as you can, bring that up to 40 or better 60.
The best way, in my less-than-humble experience, to find an alien is to "troll" over an alien rumor, so you need to be checking the rumors at every planet you stop in. Trolling involves traveling over the affected sector rather than staying in it and patrolling. Move your ship from an adjacent sector to the sector with the rumor repeatedly and you will find an Alien eventually if you have the Null Field Generator installed. Also learn which planets are likely to have the most rumors. It is worth travelling out of your way to stop at these mines of information. The ideal rumors will be in red squares, though not far from planets where you can easily restock. Rumors on dead planets or the Hyperion Demonic Nebula are often more fruitful than others. Many have made a big deal about finding rumors or planets that are far from sector [0,0]. In my experience if you have the choice between a rumor that is deep into red space far from [0,0] or a rumor that is close to [0,0] but has a good resupply point go to the latter. In my most recent hunt I turned up 7 or 8 aliens when attacks were rumored at Rift-Leporis 4 [6,0].
Once you have engaged an enemy, if he is a high-level foe, there is only one thing to do; Advance and Board! If an Alien or Narvidian is at your level or below, provided his ship is not Quick (Engines being 2x hull or more) you are likely to be successful with guns. However, if you think there is any chance that an enemy could board you, don't bother to wait and see. The advantage to boarding rather than being boarded is huge! You never want to lose that roll, especially against a high-level Alien with a large crew.
Once you have boarded, keep pressing board/duel until your foe is defeated, at this point it is do-or-die for you and your crew. If it happens that your crew has been decimated and you are locked in a duel with an alien captain and beginning to lose HP you are unlikely to survive. At this point, you must know how much damage you've been doing to the other captain. If you have been consistently wounding him since you started fighting, you might want to press on with the battle, but remember some alien captains have up to 20HP. If you are not wounding the other captain or you think you don't have enough HP to beat him, your only hope is to try ramming his ship to breach your own hull and escape in the escape shuttle. If you manage that, Alfaan is truly shining on you my friend.
Getting Started
My tale is running in reverse and we are now nearly to the beginning. There are just a few more things that may help you become a great scourge of the Alien and Narvidian. You must, at all times, remember your purpose in this life. You are, or will be a Xeno hunter. To best accomplish this, eschew the conflicts of the factions for the peace and quiet of the void. Your goal should be to have positive rep with all factions along with at least one rank and permits, but do not waste time and money pursuing high rank. However, also avoid negative rep. The last thing you need is some opportunistic bounty hunter finding your ship limping back into port after destroying a monster ten times more terrifying than himself.
It may surprise you to know that I began my captain's career as a pacifist merchant flying the Fidei Defensor. If you know the trade routes, it is the most certain way ensure a good start. Avoid trade embargos and illicit goods until you have permits. Let them search you and plunder your goods, if they will. Be patient, one day you will have killed so many pirates that it will be impossible to say that you ran out of cowardice. You are an Alien killer.
Once you have a decent ship and your skills are beginning to come up, use Spy Wars and Solar Wars to rapidly gain xp and reputation all around. At this point, consider purchasing other ships upgraded for things like spying and blockading and begin to keep your eyes out for a Battle Frigate or Resilient Cruiser, which can be equipped for Alien hunting.
I began to write this unwillingly, but now that it is on paper I have great joy in the thought of the many Aliens and Narvidians that will burn at the hands of many eager hunters. What a glorious joy, now I am truly ready to face the end. May Alfaan bless and keep you.
Surviving Aliens for the Non Combatant by Cory Trese
Avoid large stashes of artifacts in the hold will reduce the chance of finding xeno ships.
High stealth will avoid the chance of running into them at all.
Install an Escape Shuttle and Dry Dock backup ships -- this should be priority 1 for a non-combat captain.
Fly ships with Speed of High, and raise stealth. Start a battle again the xeno with
1. Torpedo
2. Retreat
Every time you get out to Long Range, repeat that cycle. This gives you the best chance to avoid.
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Read more: startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/9525/alien-survival-kranng#ixzz3Xwnmjvcq
PS: THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS
