A nice little earner sector trader advice needed

General discussions about the games by Egosoft including X-BTF, XT, X², X³: Reunion, X³: Terran Conflict and X³: Albion Prelude.

Moderator: Moderators for English X Forum

Nuvibe
Posts: 29
Joined: Fri, 7. Oct 16, 09:42

A nice little earner sector trader advice needed

Post by Nuvibe » Sun, 30. Oct 16, 13:37

Hi new to X3TC and just equipped a Sector trader (hated spending 500k on the MK3 upgrade heh) Anyone have advice where to set it to work? I'm currently having it work in Power Circle, but income seems slow. Can I set it to work elsewhere so I can explore other aspects of the game? I'd like to run missions but don't know if the starter Mercury is up to that?

Any advice appreciated :)

AleksMain
Posts: 907
Joined: Thu, 21. Sep 06, 11:05
x3tc

Re: A nice little earner sector trader advice needed

Post by AleksMain » Sun, 30. Oct 16, 17:26

Nuvibe wrote:Hi new to X3TC and just equipped a Sector trader (hated spending 500k on the MK3 upgrade heh) Anyone have advice where to set it to work? I'm currently having it work in Power Circle, but income seems slow. Can I set it to work elsewhere so I can explore other aspects of the game? I'd like to run missions but don't know if the starter Mercury is up to that?

Any advice appreciated :)
Here are these: Home of Light, Seizewell.

At first stages of game I not use sector trader.

All income I use to buy better ship for battle missions.

I set Sector trader just when manual trading not worth my efforts.
Last edited by AleksMain on Sun, 30. Oct 16, 17:29, edited 1 time in total.

Cpt.Jericho
Posts: 4503
Joined: Mon, 17. Jul 06, 15:44
x3tc

Post by Cpt.Jericho » Sun, 30. Oct 16, 17:26

Power Circle is not a bad place to start an ST. But you need to let it level up and use a rather fast ship (capacity is not that important). Any sector that has energy, bio-products and food fabs is viable to earn a little before the sector is saturated. And it will level up fast enough, too.
Once it has leveled you can turn it into a Local Trader which can be set to serve in more than one Sector (jumpdrive isn't needed for that but I strongly recommend it).
Personally, I never set the range higher than two or three sectors as it tends to cross more hazardous sectors. But then again, I don't use autotraders to net in fat profits but to keep the economy running in areas I have special interest in.
Anyway, if your LT has leveled up enough you can turn it into a Universe Trader. That one has no limit to its range but in TC often ventures into dangerous sectors and gets itself destroyed.
Winner of 350 Mil class of X-Verse Fleet Fest Italiano
Boycotting Steam since 2003

Nuvibe
Posts: 29
Joined: Fri, 7. Oct 16, 09:42

Post by Nuvibe » Sun, 30. Oct 16, 18:42

Ty for the tips :) Well on my next play session I think my auto trader must have ranked up? As I had to enter a jump range and credits started rolling in and I almost had 2 million. I found a mission to pick up and deliver a few items with a 23 minute time limit, thought great a change from trading. Well it seems my little Mercury's engines wasn't up to it and I ran out of time before even reaching pick up point. I now have bought a second Mercury (L), which I now use selling my old one. I had been following CMDRDAVE'S YouTube tutorial up this point but the starter Merc's speed was depressing me. Once I have a combat ship I will turn it into a second trader (hope this strategy works heh)

I'm praying I find a Buster as Dave did in his tutorial...any advice on which fighter I could buy to do station defence missions or scanning? :)

RAVEN.myst
Posts: 2585
Joined: Mon, 20. Jun 11, 13:16
x3tc

Post by RAVEN.myst » Sun, 30. Oct 16, 20:29

I'm surprised not to see THE best sector for this mentioned here yet - Empire's Edge. Of course, that assumes that you are friendly with the Paranid, and want to trade in their space. Empire's Edge has a broad selection of industries, meaning that your ST will always be busy, and the sector is quite densely built up, so on average the distances the trader has to cover are not long, yielding fast turnover.

Wherever your sector traders operate, because of their constant, autonomous trade transactions at those stations, you will gradually build up your reputation with the corresponding faction. If you want to make friends with Boron while training your sector trader, I recommend Shore of Infinity, it's very nearly as good as Empire's Edge. For Argon, Power Circle (which you have already chosen) is a decent option.

The general guideline is that you want a sector with power generation, and ideally at least two more tiers of industry represented therein - as many as possible of the following: mining, agriculture, food production, technology manufacture (weapon/shield factories, munitions fabs, etc.) Secondarily, as hinted at above, you want the sector to be compact if possible, to ensure the ST doesn't have to make long trips - this, however, is not always an option.

How good a sector is initially after these factors is dependent on the so-called GoD engine - at start of game it randomises the available stations a little, and then tweaks their presence/absence according to demand and economic participation - so for example, you may find in your game that Empire's Edge isn't as good as usual because one of its power plants is absent, or some of its farms. However, it's still a good idea to run a ST there, as it will stimulate trade and will eventually lead GoD to reinstate the missing station/s.
-
Boron passenger: "You must hurry - my testicles are drying out!"
-
Born on Lave, raised on Freeport 7...
-
The Write Stuff

Cpt.Jericho
Posts: 4503
Joined: Mon, 17. Jul 06, 15:44
x3tc

Post by Cpt.Jericho » Sun, 30. Oct 16, 22:29

Nuvibe wrote:...any advice on which fighter I could buy to do station defence missions or scanning? :)
For station defense an M3 is the ship of your choice (exept maybe Teladianian - those are pretty slow). Just something that has a bit of a punch and enough shield to survive some punishment. Make sure, you can choose between weapons; PACs are great against M5 and M4, HEPTs will finish anything smaller than an M7.
Both guns are rather easy to come by and they wont fail you.

P.S.: The best sector to train trader is still Aldrin. Every ware tier is traded there and your ships are almost perfectly safe. Only drawback are the distances between stations. But Caimans are pretty fast and their cargobay isn't that small.
Winner of 350 Mil class of X-Verse Fleet Fest Italiano
Boycotting Steam since 2003

RAVEN.myst
Posts: 2585
Joined: Mon, 20. Jun 11, 13:16
x3tc

Post by RAVEN.myst » Sun, 30. Oct 16, 23:06

Personally, I wouldn't recommend Aldrin (especially since it's only available after completing the main plot), as although it's true that your freighters will never be idle thanks to all the tradeable resources, and yes it's safe - but each trade trip takes very long even for a fast freighter like a Caiman or Mistral, and even Springies take long to train up there, and profits are very slow.

Regarding fighters: seeing as you're playing X3TC here, I would HIGHLY recommend taking employment with OTAS corporation - as you gain their respect, they will reward you with combat ships. It does take some time, but you are assured a steady stream of missions, and hence both income and exposure to mission types (ie. you gain personal experience with the game.)

The ships you are given are, in order:
Solano - M4+ ship that is fast (210, if I recall correctly) with M3-grade shielding of 3x25MJ. (Small cargobay, though)
Venti - advanced M3 with 4x25MJ shields and 10 frontal guns, as well as a rear turret, and very good speed in its class (195)
Skiron - a heavy corvette (M6+) that is a veritable light battleship. It's fast in its class (149), with good weapons and excellent shielding (5x200MJ)

All the OTAS ships are considered by many to be really effective, and good lookers too. If you intend to play your fighter combat in a lethal sort of way (ie. kill enemies AQAP), then you may want to try using Mass Drivers as weapons - they get around laser generator limitations, as well as bypassing enemy shields, hitting the hull directly. The shots are fast-travelling and fast-refiring, so they basically can't miss. The only downside is the MD's short range - you have to get right in there, but that isn't a problem with OTAS ships' high speeds. I recommend MDs for use with the Venti and especially the Solano, but not on any M6 - these latter, especially the heavy corvettes, have powerful laser generators, so energy weapons are typically a better bet.

I also HIGHLY recommend getting yourself a TM to operate from (especially if you opt for MDs, which use ammo, so your TM can keep reloads for your fighters.) Sticking with the OTAS theme (which is by no means obligatory, mind you), I again recommend an OTAS ship for the TM - their Zephyrus is among the faster ones at 140m/s, and has the strongest weaponry in its class (it's the only one to feature not just the front and rear turrets, but also a pair of coaxial frontal guns), and is tied for toughest shields in class with its Teladi equivalent (which is much too slow moving), at 3x200MJ. The Zephyrus's only downside is its below-average cargobay, but it's still plenty good enough for ample jump fuel, and missile and ammo reloads (and satellites.) As with other TMs, it has 4 fighter docking bays, so you can keep your fighter/s on it, and jump into your favourite fighter when you need to fight (I *HIGHLY* recommend a docking computer for quick re-docking - available at... can you guess? That's right, OTAS sell docking computers, as do the Paranid and the Boron corporation called Atreus.) Additionally, you could also keep a M5 on your Zeph (or other TM) for when you need speed, if you do asteroid scans, for example. Also, you can keep a couple of different fighters configured differently, and then you can select the best tool for the job at hand - for example, you could have a Solano with MDs for hunting down and quickly disposing of light enemies (M5s and M4s, and some M3s), and perhaps an M3 fighter equipped with Ion Disruptors, PACs and IREs for capturing ships.

Anyway, I could (and tend to!) go on and on... If you haven't checked them out already, do snag yourself a TM as described above - having a versatile mobile base like that to operate from will truly transform your game experience (for the better.)
-
Boron passenger: "You must hurry - my testicles are drying out!"
-
Born on Lave, raised on Freeport 7...
-
The Write Stuff

Snafu_X3
Posts: 4472
Joined: Wed, 28. Jan 09, 15:14
x3tc

Re: A nice little earner sector trader advice needed

Post by Snafu_X3 » Mon, 31. Oct 16, 01:40

Nuvibe wrote:Hi new to X3TC and just equipped a Sector trader (hated spending 500k on the MK3 upgrade heh) Anyone have advice where to set it to work?
As others have said, an ST is good in a system with lots of differing resources plus energy. Power Circle has lots of nrg but only 1 or 2 mines, so once the mines are maxed there's nothing left for the trader to do until the mines work their way through the resources

As others have said, Empire's Edge is /the/ best ST training area, however Queen's Space & Ore Belt approach that potential (I'm giving nearby systems here; other areas may be better). /Remember/ that you need to have visually ID'd a station (ie it appears on your map) to make use of its trading potential: simply flying thru a sector won't gain you all the trading partners you'll need

Once your ST pilot rank has reached lvl6 (it may be shown in the details or you may need to enable it, I can't remember ATM) it can be converted to a Local Trader (LT) which will
  • Automatically advance in rank to max L20
    Use (& refuel) a jumpdrive (JD) as & when necessary*
    Allow trades in more than 1 sector**, vastly increasing profitss
*LTs will /not/ buy JDs autonomously - this privilege is for Universal Traders (UTs) only, at a 10% surcharge (even in Aldrin with undiscovered gates): if you want an LT to use a JD you'll have to equip it manually. Once equipped, however, they'll be quite happy to fuel & use their new toy (unlike CAG/CLS pilots who have to be explicitly told to use the JD but can't buy it autonomously)

** Once the trader gains L6 you will have to manually reassign them to LT work (with sector range restricted to 0). After that, every 2 lvls of trader gains 1 sector radius.. which also has to be manually assigned

Most experienced players ignore UTs. They'll train STs to a certain lvl (usually 8, but max lvl is 10 so it doesn't matter if one is ignored/forgotten for a while) then assign their new LTs to specific spots with 2- or 3-sector radii in order to keep incidental losses & travel distances to a minimum (& profitss to a maximum), then reassigning some more trainees if/as necessary

I've yet to hear if there is an advantage to reassigning fully-trained UT pilots (ie L25) to LT (max lvl 20) work, despite asking several times..
Wiki X:R 1st Tit capping
Wiki X3:TC vanilla: Guide to generic missions, Guide to finding & capping Aran
Never played AP; all X3 advice is based on vanilla+bonus pack TC or before: AP has not changed much WRT general advice.

I know how to spell teladiuminumiumium, I just don't know when to stop!

Dom (Wiki Moderator) 8-) DxDiag

ancienthighway
Posts: 1663
Joined: Tue, 24. Apr 07, 05:25
x4

Post by ancienthighway » Mon, 31. Oct 16, 10:05

While Empire's Edge was first on my list to set up STs, Ceo's Doubt can be very profitable also. There is a slight chance of the pirates interfering, but I've never lost a ship there with them running to the nearest station until it's all clear.

As experience is gained, New Income (bio, food, energy) and Great Trench (energy) open up, and then the prize, Ianamus Zura with all it's tech and armaments production.

Nuvibe
Posts: 29
Joined: Fri, 7. Oct 16, 09:42

Post by Nuvibe » Mon, 31. Oct 16, 11:20

Wow...thanks for the advice. There's so much to do in this game and the learning curve is steep. I did buy a Discovery from an Npc that was selling one and docked it up to check it out, followed by a Scorpion. The Scorpion I lost almost immediently while doing an "easy" kill 3 freighters mission heh

It's very much a trial and error experience for me so far but it's still great :)

AleksMain
Posts: 907
Joined: Thu, 21. Sep 06, 11:05
x3tc

Post by AleksMain » Mon, 31. Oct 16, 14:00

Nuvibe wrote:Wow...thanks for the advice. There's so much to do in this game and the learning curve is steep. I did buy a Discovery from an Npc that was selling one and docked it up to check it out, followed by a Scorpion. The Scorpion I lost almost immediently while doing an "easy" kill 3 freighters mission heh

It's very much a trial and error experience for me so far but it's still great :)
3 TS ships in mentioned by you Assassination mission have rear turrets and these ships are more dangerous than 3 M3 Falcons for player.

In X3:TC Defend station missions are best for start.

Here are advantages:
1. Enemy ships attack station with shield, which you can't have on your light ship or medium fighter.
2. Sector defenders almost always attack enemy ships.
3. You can select any enemy ship (if you can kill or capture it).
4. In some missions you can stay and wait, while enemy ships will be killed and then get reward and drop (if you can't fight them).
5. For each such mission you gain reputation (while you loose it in above Assassination mission for each killed TS ship)

Example:
You got mission 25000 Cr worth.

Falcon have not turret and can be easy captured during such mission (if it exist among attackers).

You can repair and sell it to Shipyard for few millions credits.

Nanook
Moderator (English)
Moderator (English)
Posts: 27829
Joined: Thu, 15. May 03, 20:57
x4

Post by Nanook » Mon, 31. Oct 16, 20:06

Nuvibe wrote:... Well it seems my little Mercury's engines wasn't up to it and I ran out of time before even reaching pick up point. I now have bought a second Mercury (L), which I now use selling my old one....
If I understand this right, you bought a second Mercury and sold the old one because it was too slow. What type of Mercury did you buy and what type did you sell? The starter Mercury is actually the fastest of the bunch once you upgrade the speed to 100. Also, any hull damage will cause it to slow down, so you'd need to use your repair laser to fix it.

As for getting around quicker, get a jumpdrive. You shouldn't have any problems completing those missions then. Profitssss to you. :teladi:
Have a great idea for the current or a future game? You can post it in the [L3+] Ideas forum.

X4 is a journey, not a destination. Have fun on your travels.

Nuvibe
Posts: 29
Joined: Fri, 7. Oct 16, 09:42

Post by Nuvibe » Tue, 1. Nov 16, 10:34

Nanook wrote:
Nuvibe wrote:... Well it seems my little Mercury's engines wasn't up to it and I ran out of time before even reaching pick up point. I now have bought a second Mercury (L), which I now use selling my old one....
If I understand this right, you bought a second Mercury and sold the old one because it was too slow. What type of Mercury did you buy and what type did you sell? The starter Mercury is actually the fastest of the bunch once you upgrade the speed to 100. Also, any hull damage will cause it to slow down, so you'd need to use your repair laser to fix it.

As for getting around quicker, get a jumpdrive. You shouldn't have any problems completing those missions then. Profitssss to you. :teladi:
Yup upgraded my Mercurys engines to 100 but when i watched my Mercury L zooming around the sector i thought it had to go heh. Well i now have two Mercury L's sector trading and been dabbling with missions....

That will lead me onto my next forum thread heh

User avatar
BugMeister
Posts: 13647
Joined: Thu, 15. Jul 04, 04:41
x4

Post by BugMeister » Tue, 1. Nov 16, 20:43

I usually start out shipping ore around Argon Territory..
..if you install advanced satellites in surrounding sectors
there's some good creds to be made..

branch out into Paranid Space, via Empire's Edge..

- patience will bring great reward.. :goner:
- the whole universe is running in BETA mode - we're working on it.. beep..!! :D :thumb_up:

jlehtone
Posts: 21801
Joined: Sat, 23. Apr 05, 21:42
x4

Post by jlehtone » Tue, 1. Nov 16, 21:21

Nuvibe wrote:Mercury L
There is no such thing. There is Mercury.

The S/M/L merely tell how much additional equipment was included in the "deal". See this FAQ entry


There are (in X3 TC and AP) TS ships, where extra letters actually mean something: the XL variants.

Variants of TS class for one race:

Code: Select all

foo
foo Tanker
foo Tanker XL
foo Freighter
foo Superfreighter
foo Superfreighter XL
Replace "foo" with Mercury, Caiman, ...

The "foo" and "foo Tanker" of a race look different, but have identical specs. The other variants are larger (but slower).

Some Argon Shipyards have a price for "Mercury Superfreighter XL S". Its just a Mercury Superfreighter XL with minimum equipment.
Goner Pancake Protector X
Insanity included at no extra charge.
There is no Box. I am the sand.

Nuvibe
Posts: 29
Joined: Fri, 7. Oct 16, 09:42

Post by Nuvibe » Wed, 2. Nov 16, 10:32

jlehtone wrote:
Nuvibe wrote:Mercury L
There is no such thing. There is Mercury.

The S/M/L merely tell how much additional equipment was included in the "deal". See this FAQ entry


There are (in X3 TC and AP) TS ships, where extra letters actually mean something: the XL variants.

Variants of TS class for one race:

Code: Select all

foo
foo Tanker
foo Tanker XL
foo Freighter
foo Superfreighter
foo Superfreighter XL
Replace "foo" with Mercury, Caiman, ...

The "foo" and "foo Tanker" of a race look different, but have identical specs. The other variants are larger (but slower).

Some Argon Shipyards have a price for "Mercury Superfreighter XL S". Its just a Mercury Superfreighter XL with minimum equipment.
Thanks for that bit of info :)

Cpt.Jericho
Posts: 4503
Joined: Mon, 17. Jul 06, 15:44
x3tc

Post by Cpt.Jericho » Wed, 2. Nov 16, 21:14

I think, "freighter" means the "hauler" version of a TS. There are also "miner", "prototype" and "enhanced" versions of some TS. The latter two can't be bought at shipyards but can be obtained during storylines or - if you're lucky - by capping NPC traders (they sometimes use those versions, too).
Winner of 350 Mil class of X-Verse Fleet Fest Italiano
Boycotting Steam since 2003

Honved
Posts: 1252
Joined: Sun, 20. Jun 10, 14:53
x3tc

Post by Honved » Thu, 3. Nov 16, 15:53

Engine tunings are one of the best investments you can make, since the faster speed means more trips by the freighter in the same time, and better chances of getting to a trade deal before the NPC freighters take it. Any Trade Station or Equipment Dock should be able to do the engine tunings.

Maneuvering thrusters are dependent on the ship and application. If you're using the Trade Extensions software to trade remotely via your freighters (Manually Operated Remote Traders - MORT), then it doesn't matter how fast they turn because that's not calculated into the Out of Sector (OOS) movement speeds and docking times. If it's on an M5 that you're flying, then your ship is already absurdly maneuverable and doesn't need to be any more "skittish". If you're flying a large capital ship like an M2 or M7, then every last bit of maneuvering ability you can eke out of the plodding monstrosity is worthwhile, no matter how much it costs.

Cargo space (via cargo hold compression) is also of variable use. For a freighter, a few extra (or a hundred or so extra) cargo spaces are dirt cheap, but each additional space cost progressively more, until at some point the cost of another ship becomes more affordable "per space" than adding more cargo spaces. This obviously varies depending on the shields, weapons, and other equipment (like Trade Mk.3) you put on the ship. On most combat ships where hold space is limited, it generally pays to max out the cargo capacity, unless you're using it for remote recon or as a cheap, disposable swarm fighter.

Note that while larger ships as LT or UT traders are able to carry more goods, their slower pace means that they tend to lose out on some of the most lucrative deals. I lean toward smaller and faster ships in areas with high-tech goods, and larger and slower haulers in areas with mostly bulk or low value ore, energy, and silicon.

Ore Belt is a favorite spot of mine for starting out STs, although Empire's Edge is another good spot. Antigone Memorial (next to Power Circle) is acceptable, although a second freighter hauling stuff between there and the other Argon sectors will be needed to make it a reasonably active zone.

Once you have a Local Trader or two set up (LT = Sector Trader with Range > 0), the Argon Prime region starts to kick up into higher gear, and several of the sectors become far more active to support STs, and eventually LTs of their own. Note that one LT centered in Argon Prime with a Range of 3 can cover the entire Argon region without straying into Pirate or Xenon space. More than around 2 LTs with that range will be overkill, and tend to clump in one spot, while placing LTs with a range of 2 in the northern and southern halves of the region will provide better local coverage instead. Eventually, you'll figure out what makes for a good spot, and it does vary between games as the "god" engine removes inactive stations or sends TL transports to build a few new ones.

Nuvibe
Posts: 29
Joined: Fri, 7. Oct 16, 09:42

Post by Nuvibe » Thu, 3. Nov 16, 19:45

Thanks for the further tips :) I did make a new ST to start work in empires edge but was informed the ship couldn't dock anywhere..guessing it's a faction standing issue so I've been doing missions there.

Missions especially combat, surveillance, ship delivery etc are proving problematic...but that's for another thread :)

Cpt.Jericho
Posts: 4503
Joined: Mon, 17. Jul 06, 15:44
x3tc

Post by Cpt.Jericho » Thu, 3. Nov 16, 21:09

Shooting a few pirates in Paranid space will solve the problem of not being able to dock in no time.
Winner of 350 Mil class of X-Verse Fleet Fest Italiano
Boycotting Steam since 2003

Post Reply

Return to “X Trilogy Universe”