Captain Black Spike Reporting For Duty

[blackspike]

Hello, and thanks for creating such a great game! I've been playing for a while now, and have got the hang of the basics, but am now looking for some tips!

I have reached Crazy level, mainly running delivery/passenger contracts, carefully watching my Faction Rep, and having the occasional fight. I tend to play as a Pirate, so that I don't lose Morale to Indies.

I have now decided to try an Explorer, and am struggling a little. I've found a few decent planets to Explore, and bring in a decent (I think!) income, but keep running into problems:
1) Healing is expensive. I've pushed STR up to 20 to try to offset this a little.
2) People keep trying to steal my Artefacts! And often succeed. When they just loot me, I can cope (so long as I've built up enough cash to repair and regroup) but sometimes they kill me
3) My Holds aren't big enough! When I arrive at a Wild Zone, I dump most W/F into a cache, and go Exploring. Having killed some of my crew and (hopefully not) taken a few injuries, I find that I am often overflowing with cargo, so pick up my cache of W/F and head for home. But it never seems enough! And I have to make several runs, risking attack! Javat Mining Camp helps, as do a couple of other places, where I can dump some cargo and buy W/F. (OK, I know "having too much cargo" shouldn't be a problem, but it doesn't leave much room for W/F, and means i have to leave the planet earlier than I would like. Solution: get more cargo space, including W/F tanks, Weapon Cabinet, etc)
4) Trade Wars. The factions keep putting up Embargos and ruining my rep! I always try to get a Political Officer (along with Scout) to warn me of this, and have to fly off to other planets to sell my loot (risking being attacked by Artefact-Envy Pirates!). I also need to get lots of Trade Permits, so I have options on where to sell. I find this tricky at the start.

I've got some ideas of how to cope, and have read some Survival Guides, but would appreciate some extra tips!
The other main questions are:
Skill/Attribute progression. Where to put my points? So far, I go for STR 20, then Explore 10. After that, I'm thinking more Explore, and maybe some Stealth to avoid encounters. Do I need Negotiate? Intimidate? Warrior? Pilot?
What kind of ship should I buy/build? (I have the Ship designer, and tend to start with either the default ship or the one with Water Tanks). Tips for an early replacement, and a ~800k Big Ship would be nice!

Anyway, thanks again!

[abysmal]

Personally, I do a few small contracts for each faction before pushing my exploration. It builds your rep and usually at about 5-10 rep you can buy a trade permit. Get said permit so when you are attacked by a faction that you have that permit for, you can surrender to them, keep your stuff, and get extra XP. If you are using the Explorer job, increase your pilot to make it easier on fuel consumption. If you are a star trader, increase your explorer to about 13, then get your pilot up. Try and say in the green circles as often as you can as it is safe space.

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2

[beuns]

blackspike : welcome to the forum !


I've never played an explorer so my advice are the ones that are good for any captain. I'm sure slayernz would have better ideas than mine on the matter so : I SUMMON THEE GREAT CAT !

Sorry Black Spike about that joke

So, here are my advices :

Always try to raise pilot at twice the Hull of your ship in order to maneuver it to be able to flee your enemies if need be and to keep your w/f consumption low.

Make yourself the ship that you need. IMO for an explorer you should aim at high cargo/crew, high engine/sails, low Hull/armor to keep agility as low as possible and look at the consumption rate (red/green lines at the bottom of the designer) try to reach 0 if possible.

I hope those were helpful.

[slayernz]

blackspike, I trust you read the guide that Koles wrote a loooooooooong time ago:
startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/178/explorer-class-guide

Great planets to start with:

Apr 30, 2013 19:12:42 GMT -5 slayernz said:

For exploration, when I started out, I focused on planets that had high Explore/Hazard ratio. Some made a lot of sense, others not so much. Nonetheless, here is what I would recommend as good planets to focus on.

Planet	X	Y	Hazard	Explore	Harvest	Cache	Ex Rat	Ha Rat
Ghactllli	13	-9	6	7	2	3	1.17	0.33
Ihaca-3	19	-9	6	7	3	12	1.17	0.5
Refuge Camp	-9	-9	8	8	4	8	1.	0.5
Tucanae-Javat Mining	-2	-5	4	4	4	4	1.	1.
Kalflange Outpost	-8	-3	6	6	6	3	1.	1.
Zat Ogotthana	-1	-3	10	10	1	2	1.	0.1
Rift-Leporis 4	6	0	10	10	1	1	1.	0.1
Caabhosi	10	2	10	10	1	1	1.	0.1
Leiwin-A	33	16	19	19	11	3	1.	0.58
Antronin	18	33	23	23	12	4	1.	0.52

If you wanted to forsake exploration, then certainly, focus early on shortages and surpluses. If you have to choose between a shortage and a surplus, choose shortage every time.

IF you have some buffer of cash (eg around $200k + a nice ship), then definitely start caching surpluses rather than selling outright.

Maintain relationships and get trading permits. Watch conflicts like a hawk because as an explorer or trader, you're at the whims of factional politics and there is nothing worse than trading in a shortage, only to find that one of your friends now despises you because of a trade embargo.

A tip about starts and crew numbers
Javat is a great faction to start off with as an explorer.
1) You have at your disposal, the Javat Mining Colony (aka Tucanae-Javat Mining), and the bonus is that it has an urban area AND a wild area so you can flit between the two locations with ease.
2) You can buy that amazing basic rank ship, the Javat Cutter, which offers pretty good all-round capabilities and is an excellent second ship to move up to.

Crew - never go an do an exploration with every one of your crew. A good number would be around 20 - 25.
Remember that there is a formula floating around somewhere (I reeeeallly forget where) ... that says you get a max discovery of 150% of your crew size. That means if you use a crew of 20, you get max 30 items found. I say this because if your hold is only 30, then you don't wan to throw more than 20 crew at the search.

As soon as you start losing lots of crew and not find anything, go to a different planet. Really really important because if you search a planet too many times, it goes barren for the rest of eternity and you will only find pain and suffering and Arghblargles

[Cory Trese]

The Koles explorer guide, gold standard. =)

[beuns]

slayernz : I knew your help would be invaluable

[blackspike]

Thanks for the info! That's a handy guide.

I'm still interested in a little more detail on how to level up/where to spend skill points.

I've got (another) new captain (aliens, pirates, bounty hunters ... its a dangerous Quadrant out there! ), so will be trying out the new info!

[blackspike]

A couple more questions come to mind:

Officers: Obviously the Scout (Smuggler) Officer is important. i tend to use the Political Officer to get forewarning of Trade Wars etc. Do I need the 1st Mate? Is there a better replacement? I do tend to have some Morale problems early on (Low W/F, anti-Indie contracts), but later, this should clear up, and I can get someone else?

How safe are caches? I know Explorer gets a bonus, but without base chances, this means little! Can I safely cache large amounts of stuff all over the Quadrant and rely on it still being there later, or is it a big risk, turned into a medium risk by being an explorer?

[cab]

I see you already got some good input on the usual advice for explorers e.g. the list of good planets to start with.

I personally have only found exploring to be useful as a kickstart to the game i.e. you can make good money as fast or faster with an explorer than other classes but mid-game it really doesn't seem that way to me and it gets boring.  That's my take based on really only one serious attempt to play as an explorer all the way through the game.

Anyways ....

I've never gotten the hang of caching honestly.  My advise is to stick to the planets that have both urban and wild zones so you can sell your loot right away.  Or travel to the nearest indie world.  I don't see caching for bigger money later or having to travel far profitable at least early on for the reasons you mention.

I recommend sticking with the Aperio Caliga.  Hold may not be big enough but it's the best out there as a starting ship for hauling cargo IMO.  Plus you are never tempted to go less than 25 W-F to cram more cargo because there is no point.  I've never been able to build a starting ship I have found more useful than this ship either.  Maybe if I was going to go fighting right away but an explorer isn't going to do that.

As far as embargoes go, my advise is to just accept that you have to check for them before EVERY SINGLE transaction at the exchange.  Pain in the woohoo that really slows down the game?  Yup.  But that's just the way the game is.  Also, I recommend making a test purchase of just ONE water-fuel as your first purchase every visit to the exchange.  That limits the damage in case you missed one.  Or you could keep the political officer around.  I used to do that but then decided I wanted other officers instead.

Get the scout officer as soon as you can every game if you are an explorer.  Assuming you go and also get the exo-planetary crawler you are reasonably well cushioned against crew losses.  Yeah, I know they are free but flying around looking for replacements constantly isn't.  I have never found the secret stategy for minimizing wounds taken.  When you find out let me know?    I think stealth/strength/warrior are generally recommended in that area.  Negotiate is worthless unless you are a serious merchant.

To answer your question below, I never found the first mate that helpful until I unlocked the combat mutiny special ability.  Now I usually keep him around just for that use.  I sometimes get the badyguard too to help ward off wounds.  I'm not positive when her ability counts but I figure I don't need more wounds from any source if I am an explorer, yeah?

[pendell]

Hello and welcome!

"Officers: Obviously the Scout (Smuggler) Officer is important. i tend to use the Political Officer to get forewarning of Trade Wars etc."

You do not need the political officer if you religiously check the faction conflicts status (under the status menu) before conducting any trades.


" Do I need the 1st Mate?"
No. The first mate gives good advice which you can dispense with after about your third or fourth playthrough. He gets a special mutiny-quelling ability if you get a particular achievement on insane difficulty level, but that isn't an issue for you.

His moral improvement is minimal, at least on the demanding level of difficulty I play at. It is greatly dependent on having vudka aboard which means I'm not storing water-fuel. At the early levels, there is no such thing as enough water-fuel. If you want to keep your crew happy, at least on this level of difficulty, there are some easy steps to maintaining a morale of 10:

1) Never run out of water fuel, and keep at least 1 luxury ration aboard. This is the most critical factor in keeping the crew happy -- starving to death makes morale plunge in a hurry.
2) Bring in lots of money. Crew morale shoots right up when you drop in $10K or $20K from contracts.
3) Touchdown at a planet, even if you do nothing but read the rumors, every 10-15 moves or so. Extended space travel makes the crew crazy.
4) Stay out of boarding combat, which generates morale hits. Also try to avoid surrendering to pirates or bounty hunters if you can help it, as being robbed also demoralizes the crew.
Of course, if you're a fighting captain boarding combat is a vital part of your operations, so between combat missions take a few quiet deliveries to build up your bank account and let the crew morale recover.
5) Recruit from faction spice halls. There is a smaller proportion of independent spacers, and consequently less of a morale hit from taking missions against independents. I almost never take any missions EXCEPT against independents, and my morale remains at 10. Money covers a multitude of sins in Star Traders.

Do these things and you can sack your first mate on the first move of the game, which I typically do, as soon as I set foot on my faction homeworld.

"Is there a better replacement?"

Many. For an explorer I would suggest the bodyguard or the Templar officer, as both of those help protect the captain on the planet's surface, which means fewer losses of health points. Both can be found in the wild regions of planets when certain rumors are in effect. As a rule, if you are an explorer, the officers for you are in the wild areas. There's also the ship's pilot, found in urban zones, who gives a bonus to landing.

Also, if you're exploring you're uncovering artifacts, and if you're uncovering artifacts on wild planets and traveling through red space you're encountering aliens. Some aliens can only be defeated by boarding, so the military officer, the bodyguard, the alien veteran, and the various templars will all help a great deal.

"How safe are caches? I know Explorer gets a bonus, but without base chances, this means little! Can I safely cache large amounts of stuff all over the Quadrant and rely on it still being there later, or is it a big risk, turned into a medium risk by being an explorer?"

Can't answer, because I don't use caches. Anything I dig up goes directly to market at the nearest faction planet that is not embargoed. If all factions are embargoed, I sell to indies. Indies are notorious for giving terrible prices, but considering I got the goods for free I still come out ahead.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[blackspike]

Thanks for the replies.

How do I find a Templar?

I'm not keen on caching, either, but my last game had a whole bunch of embargoes! i don't like selling to Indies (all that rep I lose out on! ) but it might make a better idea than caching it until the embargoes are over.

As Explorer, I haven't been taking many contracts, apart from a few at the start to build up enough rep to buy Trade Permits.
Bringing cash in helps Morale? That's cool, but does it only apply from Contracts, or does The Exchange work, too? I know I can Entertain and Buy Rounds of Spice, but these seem limited.
I din't realise long space jaunts lowered Morale! I just set a way-point 30-40 away, and sail off! OK, time to take some R&R breaks along the way! Makes sense, I suppose (so long as the contracts don't run out!)

OK, I've got a bunch of stuff to work with (apart from Skills. Still not sure where/when to spend these ... I'll be back!)

[cab]

Check the writeup on rumors in the game help.  Basically, look for the rogue trader clearing out everything of value rumor and head to that wild zone for the templar.  I think you can get any of the three types of templar officer that way so it's a bit random on that point?

I'd recommend getting over the matter of not getting rep for selling to indie worlds.  You can get plenty of rep later.  Not getting robbed and wounded is more important early on.  Of course do get the rep when you reasonably can especially if you can then get trade permits.  Those are gold.  I like to, how did Cory put it, sit on the deck drinking coffee waving my permits?  Something like that.

Unless you are trying to play as a purist of some type (merchant, explorer, ...) contracts are an integral part of the game.  It's very hard to beat the money.  The early gains from exploration are about the only way but if you do that AND take easy lucrative contracts too .....

Speaking of which, if it fits into your plans the smuggler's hold is, in my opinion, about the best investment in the game as far as making money goes.

I can't answer the rest of the questions.  Pendell seems to know a lot more about morale than I do.  I did notice an impact of completing contracts but I didn't (and still don't) know how much of that is completing a contract versus the money I get for completing a contract.  I'm playing a fairly purist merchant at the moment so I'll try to watch to see if morale improves when I make a big sale.

[pendell]

"How do I find a Templar?"
As cab said, troll the spice halls and palaces for rumors. Eventually you'll be told "rogue traders have cleared almost everything of value from (x)". Go to X, and there should be one of the three templar types in the wild zone. The rumor will also be clearly marked on the star map.


"I'm not keen on caching, either, but my last game had a whole bunch of embargoes! i don't like selling to Indies (all that rep I lose out on! ) but it might make a better idea than caching it until the embargoes are over."

To each their own. ISTR Cory Trese insists that caching is crucial to the higher difficulty levels, but I've heard others say this isn't true. For myself, I prefer to trade stuff for money. There will always be more later.

"Bringing cash in helps Morale? That's cool, but does it only apply from Contracts, or does The Exchange work, too?"

The exchange works too. Drop in a full cargo hold from a 100+-hold ship and you'll rake in somewhere around 100K-200K creds, which will make your crew very happy indeed and dramatically boost your faction rating, if you're trading at a faction world.

The crew also likes small profits of 10-20K, as well. Essentially, as long as you are bringing in a few thousand , your morale should go up.

" I know I can Entertain and Buy Rounds of Spice, but these seem limited."

They are. So far as I can tell entertainment is usually a waste of money, as there is the risk of crew desertion. The only time i'd use them is if there was no spice round available and my crew was on the verge of mutiny.

"I din't realise long space jaunts lowered Morale! I just set a way-point 30-40 away, and sail off! OK, time to take some R&R breaks along the way! Makes sense, I suppose (so long as the contracts don't run out!)"

The contracts won't run out if you just touch down, listen to the rumors, and at most repair your solar sails and refuel with water. What's going to eat up all the time in port is if you start trading onboard goods. IME you lose 0.1 time units for every type of thing you trade, so you can quickly trade away the contract time. But if you limit yourself to water and solar repair, you should be good.


There's another little tip you might find useful. Actually, two:
1) The explorer difficulty gets harder the longer the game goes on. So you are going to have to keep increasing your explorer skill to continue finding anything of value.

2) On the higher difficulty levels, it is possible for a planet's wild zone to be exhausted PERMANENTLY. On all levels, there's a fixed amount of goodies to find in a wild zone on any given trip, but they will be replaced over time on the lower levels. On the higher levels .. I'm not sure of the exact formula, but there is an excellent chance you will completely exhaust a wild zone.

These two factors mean that, on the higher difficulty levels, your explorer shouldn't expect to make a full career out of it. The payoffs will get less and less while your explorer routinely loses eyes, arms, and crewmembers on each planet. So it's a good jumping point but you might build your character with the intent of transitioning to a different line of work.

Respectfully,

Brian P.

[blackspike]

Thanks for all of the tips! Some great info there!

I did manage to curse myself by writing a post here (that didn't post, due to dodgy wifi), saying how my latest captain was doing fine, bought a new ship (750k's worth!), got my Clan Hero badge, and looking forward to recovering my rep with Cadar after I accidentally sold a Hold full of Artefacts during an Embargo (apparently that makes me a Terrorist?) ... and guess what heaves-to off the port bough? You got it ... ALIENS! Despite having pushed Pilot and Stealth, and having loads (30+) of engines and sails, they closed in, boarded and ate me, my crew, my guns, even my emergency vudka rations! *shakes fist at Alien Craft* grrr!

Oh well. I got a Badge, and some good experience. If at first you don't succeed, go play Heroes of Steel. And then come back for another go at Star Traders!

[pendell]

Jun 18, 2014 12:54:49 GMT -5 blackspike said:

Thanks for all of the tips! Some great info there!

You're welcome! 

 
Despite having pushed Pilot and Stealth, and having loads (30+) of engines and sails, they closed in, boarded and ate me, my crew, my guns, even my emergency vudka rations! *shakes fist at Alien Craft* grrr!

 


They ... they ate your vudka? That's cruel and inhuman .. well wait, it's aliens of COURSE they're inhuman.  


Some additional advice since I just survived to pull in $10mil on demanding.  


1)  You need 50+ sails to outrun aliens, not 30+.   There are a few ships out there that have those stats.  
2)  You need a lot of pilot and stealth, as you said. 
3)  Torping an alien gives you a 100% bonus to your next action, so the best way to evade an alien, I'm told, is to first shoot them with a torpedo THEN retreat. 
4) Aliens are drawn to full cargo holds in general, but they have a preference for restricted cargo. And they just LOVE artifacts.  So the artifact isolation chamber might be a very useful thing, if you carry 25 or fewer artifacts.  
5) Aliens can also be found at the gas giants, at any alien or war rumor, and they are more common in the red space at the lower right end of the map.  

Oh well. I got a Badge, and some good experience. If at first you don't succeed, go play Heroes of Steel. And then come back for another go at Star Traders!

 

Agreed! Although in my case it's Templar Assault, Star Traders 4x, or Final Fantasy VI which square made available on droid.  

Respectfully, 

Brian P.