Perma Death and Difficulties.

[neddapirate]

Hmmm good info, will have to remember that.
The problem I have with trade embargoes(which I get around by continuously purchasing pardons) is that it limits the high end sales.
I usually get attacked by some weird out of the way faction/pirate/bounty hunter I try to run and get blowed up reel gude.

Thulun is usually good for this, although I just got wiped by Cadar, my own faction. The guy actually chased me down and curb stomped me, I fled twice and either two other Cadar captains happen to find me(which doesn't make for good story teling but is more likely) or one guy pursued me until I was sucked out a hole into the warm...I mean cold embrace of space.

[Alex Fury]

neddapirate - Another bit of info that can help some... At least starting. HOARD your XP... get Piloting up to at least 10-12 with char-level around 5 and stop spending XP a bit.. Also, don't take promotions save the first one (to unlock military base in ship yard).
Reason 1: enemies go directly off your LEVEL. keeping it low to start, will make sure even the 'worse' enemies skillsets are still about as weak as yours.
Reason 2: Promotion level (and overall level) will affect how hard the missions are you take. If you stay around level 1-5, most of them will be maybe 15-20 distance tops, most still under that. Soon as you start hitting rank 3-5+, expect (well paying) missions that will take you all the way across the map.

Another tip overall. Wherever you start.. max out your fuel and just hit all the planets in the area AND THEIR EXCHANGES so you can get an overall list of non-shortage/surplus trades you can do to start getting initial funding going

[Officer Genious]

@ alex fury - I did not know about hoarding or promo levels. Exalting and wishing I knew that before!

[neddapirate]

Nov 7, 2013 16:44:02 GMT -5 slayernz said:

The best way to stop being hulled and dying in the vacuum of space is to beef up your pilot skills. Having high pilot skills means the enemy is not able to get a lock on with guns at short/medium range. In fact, with high pilot skills, it is unlikely that they will ever get a chance to ram you because you're like "White Shadow" ... "W-h-i-t-e S-h-a-d-o-w" (Sorry, silly kids movie )

how much is high Pilot? Get your pilot to 15 as quickly as you can and you should see much fewer hits to your ship. Get your pilot to 20 (where your level is only 5-8) and you'll probably not see any hits. Maintain at least 2x as many pilot skill points as your level, and get a ship with a decent amount of engines for your hull size, and they'll never touch you again.

Boost your tactics up to about 10 in the same timeframe as you get your pilot up to 20, and you'll be able to do most contracts (surveillance and blockade), and you'll be able to shoot your enemy quite easily. From there, just keep your tactics up around 50% of your level.

Stealth is also very useful early on to help evade enemy torp fire (and enemies in general). Bear in mind though that in terms of your own captain level increases, Stealth makes you go up levels twice as fast as any other stat. The higher your level, the higher the enemy captain's level.

I have obviously been eating DERP sammiches.
I was confusing Captain level with the Pilot skill level.
Sorry I ramped up Pilot right after warrior. Now I am not getting sucked out the window as often matter of fact I have been apparently
Jackie Channing my way out of fights, I won while trying to retreat several times in a row. So right on with that advice.

[Alex Fury]

Also keeping the Captain overall level low (like 5, maybe 10), is that it makes it FAR easier to escape (dont combat much unless you didnt have to put much in to pilot in the first place), and makes awards/achievements that rely on time (dark century for example) FAR easier to manage on harder levels.

[neddapirate]

I can't help but get attacked. It was weird all I was getting attacked all the time, fun as it was imagining me shouting damn the torpedoes full speed ahead, it made the game very short.

[Officer Genious]

Nov 8, 2013 12:14:01 GMT -5 neddapirate said:

I can't help but get attacked. It was weird all I was getting attacked all the time, fun as it was imagining me shouting damn the torpedoes full speed ahead, it made the game very short.

Don't worry, everyone has stories like that (which is where my name comes from- I'm a bad military officer in the Cadar Syndicate). Focus on trade permits, sealth and piloting, and see if you can grab a ship with lots of engines and cargo space. If you find good deals but no good buyers, stock them on a planet wilderness somewhere.


Erm, I believe this is right anyway?

[Alex Fury]

The Vark Mordi is a passable starting ship, but can boost it with various cargo upgrades.
Low-ish cargo, but a key thing is BOTH Engines and Sails are double the hull to start.

This means 'fast'/'quick' for speed/agility. Those stats will help escape combat. Also, The higher the Sails are (esp if double hull or better) the lower fuel/move cost too.

A main thing is, DON'T FIGHT!!!!!! Not off the bat. While many enemies will be fairly easy VERY early on; the less you combat, the less chance of getting your hull killed (decompression).

Also:
You can buy 'trade permits' at about 3 rep. GET THEM!!!!!!!
If you have a trade permit, 99.9% of the time a pirate with the group you have it with WILL NOT ATTACK. If you meet one, just 'ignore'.. they will leave you alone.
This is a BIG reason to get them as fast as you can. Then the only things that will really auto-attack you will be independent pirates (if you get all 6 permits) Then as long as you don't screw up with Trade Embargoes much, you'll be able to just build rep everywhere with banned-item sales..

Honestly, once you have a Trade Permit for any given faction (gotten in The Palace of any faction planet except indie spacers), you don't need to bother with missions if you don't want, as you can gain rep from just buying/selling banned items and records

[neddapirate]

With the info slayernz sent my way, combined with my new found realization of the difference between Captain levels and the actual Pilot skill.
I have been able to go from the Fidei starter ship and now have the Royal Lifter(one of my favs) and 450k in credits. I have returned to my
galactic butt kicking self woot. Now I just need start a war with everybody, my own faction included Muhahahahaha.

Still a note in game pertaining to the importance of the pilot skill like you have for warrior would probably help alot of players.
I pay attention to the ingame suggestions for the most part.

[slayernz]

I'm guessing that because you're a space captain who flies ships, it goes without saying that Pilot is important <grin> ... glad my advice helped get you going. Beefing warrior up is only going to be of use when you are boarding or being boarded (and also when you are doing exploration). If you love to board enemy ships, then Warrior is the #2 skill after Pilot. On the other hand, if you prefer the long-range thing, then with high engines to hull ratio (at least 2x engines to hull) and high pilot, you'll almost never get a situation where you are being boarded (exception sometimes Aliens are just tenacious).

If you are getting too many encounters, boost your stealth up some. The higher your Stealth, the less random encounters you will get, and if it is at least the same as your level and above 10, you should be able to retreat from every battle. Note though, that the amount of cargo you carry affects your ship stealth signature. The more you carry, the more detectable you are to potential enemies around you. If you purchase special cargo type upgrades (eg ~25 Water Fuel Tank), then you'll notice that you can carry up to 25 units of water without it actually consuming any cargo hold (your cargo quantity would show something like 0 of 50). Carrying 5 luxury rations, on the other hand, would make your cargo show 5 of 50. Carrying restricted goods (and records) almost makes your ship have a screaming beacon and flashing red light. If you carry Artifacts, this screaming beacon is set to Alien frequencies, so there is an increased possibility that you might suddenly find yourself being probed where you would rather not be probed.

[neddapirate]

Well after getting everything up to 15, having a million plus in credits on hand, and actually purchasing a third ship, the second in my fleet I was brought down in a blaze of glory by the Rynhart<sp> syndicate.

in other words they kicked my butt for being to Jack Sparrow like.

[Officer Genious]

Alex Fury - thanks to you I actually got rapid rank 3 by year 60. Exalt again!