Patrol?

[blackwolf0925]

Hi guys,

I bought this game I couple a weeks ago and am enjoying it so far. I am trying to see all the kinks this game has to offer. My question is how does patrol fit in to all this. I can get the gist of all the other buttons surveillance/blockade but how can you use patrol. I mean you get stop by the AI and if you have illegal goods and surrender they take away your contraband. I was wondering if you as a player could do the same. I just wanted to know if there was a way to really play patrol effectively.

[hellion7776]

From what I have read on the forums, Patrol does not interact with faction Rep in any way. You are just roaming around the grid looking for ships. This gives you the chance to pirate enemy merchants, while happily waving at your friends. As far as illegal goods, buy the trade permit for that sector and the local sheriff won't swing by to take your stuff.

[blackwolf0925]

So, say I want to take a smuggler or pirate cargo. No bad rep would befall me.

[hellion7776]

It is a little more complicated than that... but Patrol allows you to not lose rep while you pick out a target. For example, If you use Blockade or Surveilance you lose rep, and possibly run into ships. With Patrol, you just sit in space and wait for those ships to come by.

Once you run into a vessel, then you have to decide what the plan is. Attacking a merchant lowers your rep with that faction... While Pirates don't (there is an exception when it comes to Solar Allliances).

So, to make it simple, If you are Pirating, use Patrol. If you are Spying and Blockading, finding ships pretty much means you failed the action. Hope this helps.

[Deleted]

You also CAN patrol dead planets in search for aliens. But finding them is very rare.

Aliens have a salvage value of 20k, 40k with templar and 250k with veteran officer. However, aliens are much harder to find and are much more powerful than normal enmies. You need to be on difficulty demanding or higher to encounter aliens. While patroling dead planets, having a veteran officer and carrying artifacts will increase chance of finding aliens. But artifacts also have the possibility of increasing alien attack power if you do find them.

Otherwize, you can patrol in search of merchants/smugglers, for piracy and/or to participate in trade wars. The best place to find merchants are in/near the following rumors:
"Merchants hiring extra security due to particular valuable shipments"
"Swarm of refugees lowering price of everything"
"Merchant fleet exploiting local populace"

Stealth and tactics help find good ships during patrol, while pilot helps lower full-consumption so you can patrol many times in a row. Omni-stealth array upgrade helps find good ships for patrol. Speed/agility helps find ships. Contraband will cause you to encounter more military ships (bad ships).

The third way one uses patrol is to find an enemy or friend to complete a contract.

[ncaoa]

One question Ive had, if you are looking for Aliens will stealth decrease your chances?

[Deleted]

I think stealth onyl decreases encounters for deep-space and actually increases it for patrol. Though, I don't know if that applies to aliens for deep-space planet patrol too.

[ncaoa]

Ah. Thankyou. I know its suposed to help avoid dangerous encounters. Didn't kow if that applied to deliberate hunting.

[Deleted]

Well its not applied for patrol in search of merchants/smugglers. But with patrol in search of aliens, stealth might make it harder to find them. The only person who'd know that for sure is Cory.

[Cory Trese]

For Patrol, Stealth is an advantage.

The Stealth skill does not impact your percentage of finding a particular type of ship.

Patrol vs. Blockade seems to be the original poster's question. Patrol is a neutral way to look for ships, however, you're not trying to stop them and demand payment for any goods or illegal goods. Blockade offers the ability to get direct payment, but that will be heavily influenced by the Captain's power in the Quadrant. How many Ranks and Warrants does the Captain carry wil decide how many ships are required by Faction to pay tributes.