Help with crazy difficulty

[C1unk]

Hello all! Ive been playing ST for awhile now, and want to get the award that unlocks the syndicate honor ships. After many dead captains... At least 15, Ive pretty much given up. Ive made the most progress oth the explorer class, but still end up dying.

Does anyone have any tips for me to survive on crazy difficulty?

[Swami]

I'm new but my captain is doing ok and I have unlocked the clan ships and am about to unlock the syndicate ships.

As an explorer, I have tried to make NO enemies, but when I did, I paid em off relatively quickly. I was patient and waited for trade alliances to get favor with them after I passed the BIG hump of getting cash together.

I have almost died a few times to independent pirates and have surrendered even though it cost me all my records and such.

I think you should be able to succeed with:

1) Luck
2) Patience
3) Skill

Sorry I can't give more specifics, but

startradersrpg.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tips&action=display&thread=178

Was my means of success.

S

[Cory Trese]

I love playing Star Traders on Crazy, once you master Impossible you'll look back on Crazy the way you look back on Demanding. It's a progression.

So, first question -- are you doing well on Hard before trying Crazy? This is what I would recommend.

I think you should be able to succeed with

1) Strategy
2) Patience
3) Practice

The big question for me is -- what's killing you on Crazy? Pirates? Wounds from Explorer?

[shallowthought]

There's a few strategy guides in the help file of the game which are basically a round up of all the useful posts from these forums, I'd have a read of them and see if you can pick up on any areas of the game you're not playing optimally. Or try on impossible a few times and crazy will be simple enough

[slayernz]

If you are struggling on Crazy, then playing Impossible with be disheartening to say the least. Nobody enjoys spending 1 minute creating a character, and 3 minutes playing before you die.

For Crazy, I always focused first on doing some shortage trades ... avoiding missions until I had at least a couple of hundred thousand credits. The good thing with shortages is you don't have to trade in restricted items to make some reasonable cash. What you do need is the Water Fuel tank, a couple of good shortages within 10-15 AU of your location, and a little luck wouldn't hurt.

Surrender lots - if you don't have any restricted items on board, there is no harm in surrendering to anyone but a pirate.

Buy trade permits for as many nations as you care to trade with. You should have enough RP with your starting faction to buy one pretty quickly. Getting TP's does mean playing nice and cautious and not provoking factions in the short term. Swami reinforces that in his post.

Pay close attention to factional conflicts. Avoid trading on Trade Embargoes.

If you have unlocked a spy, then that is a fantastic starting character to use because you already start with good pilot, stealth, tactics. Focus on Pilot and Stealth until Pilot is at least 20, Stealth is at least 15. Then if you are doing some combat and find that you're not hitting your target easily, add to Tactics. Some other folk here would also recommend warrior to help you in boarding situations, but I'm a player who avoids boarding unless it's unavoidable.

If you haven't got a spy, then the venerable Star Trader is actually a really good starting class. You get a good balance of skills to begin with.