Could use some guidance

[Geek.Verve]

I've got a small fleet of local traders that have been running for days, and I've amassed a tidy 125-million credits. I find myself at a point, where I have a lot of options but little knowledge or experience with most of them. I've built individual stations and a complex in past games, and I will likely proceed down that path this time around as well, but I would also like to try my hand at some of the more combat-related stuff as well, though combat is not one of my strengths.

When researching options for a capable personal ship that could hold its own in a scrap, it was pretty clear that the Springblossom and Hyperion Vanguard were the ships of choice for the majority of players, but I just don't have access to them at my present level of play (don't know how to cap the Hyperion, if I were to even find one, and having started the AP plot for Humble Merchant, the Terrans aren't going to be keen on selling me a Springblossom any time soon). I've settled on an OTAS Venti with max shields and six EBCGs (all I could find atm) for now. More research on effective weaponry is needed.

AP Plot
As I mentioned, I am in the very early stages of the Argon/Terran war plot. I just finished spying on the Jonferco rep's meeting with the Paranid. The combat up to this point has been a bit...awkward. For starters I can't seem to get the hang of using the mini map, so I basically pop open the sector map and target enemies, if they're not right in front of me. Secondly, I'm supposed to be fighting the Terrans, but they don't show up as hostiles on the sector/mini map. This creates a level of uncertainty. Should I just consider all Terran to be enemy combatants, shooting them on sight - well, in the contested sectors, anyway? I'm not necessarily looking for spoilers, but I don't know what I'm going to gain from completing this plot line. Some sweet ships? A private player station of some sort? I just have no idea how, if at all, it might affect or contribute to other courses I may choose to pursue.

Capping/Boarding Ships
Up to this point, I've forced a couple pilots to bail out of their vessels, but that's been the extent of my capping exploits. I would like to learn more about training up marines and boarding larger ships. Any suggestions on where to start and what to avoid would be helpful.

Waging War on the Xenon
I'm still far from having a big enough war chest for it, but at some point I would like to begin building enough of a navy to begin staging attacks on Xenon targets. I would appreciate any tips on waging war on this scale, particularly what ships would make up a good start to such a fleet. Should I start with an M2, M1 full of fighters and a couple of M6's? I'm guessing a heavy weapons and/or ammunition complex or two is going to pretty much be a requirement for this. I'm ok with that.

Like I said, I know I have a lot of options. Outside my trader comfort zone (I'm up to 7th or 8th reputation rank with most races at this point, primarily from trading), however, I'm just pretty uncertain on how to proceed. Any suggestions or just insight on your own game progressions would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

[Nanook]

You've got quite a nice little nest egg there. With it, your options are wide open. I could tell you how I might use it in any given playthrough (they're all a bit different) and then many others will give you their ideas. I can also tell you that every one will be different.

So here's my suggestion. Save your game in a spot you won't overwrite. Then try different things. Reload your 'permanent' save if you don't like the way things are going. There are a number of guides to various aspects of the game, including boarding ships, in the Guides sticky at the top of the forum. Make use of them but don't take any of them as 'gospel', because they're just guides, not bibles.

You're at the point that most of us wish we still were, discovering new things in the game. Once you've played through the game once or twice, nothing will ever be new again and you'll lose that thrill of discovery. Enjoy discovering the game your way.

[RAVEN.myst]

I'm going to give an uncharacteristically brief reply (sorry, on my way out, heh), but here are a couple of options to toy around with:

- If you don't already have one, get an OTAS Zephyrus as a mobile base for your Venti and yourself, and see how your game evolves.
- Alternatively, if you want to cruise around in a combat-capable ship in similar fashion to the Springy and the Hyppie Van, you might consider the OTAS Skiron - it's not as fast as either (but not bad at all!), but helluva tough and packs a serious punch.

Either of those options is very thrifty - you'll use up only a small fraction of your savings (the bulk of which I would, personally, still invest into expanding economic operations, in order to keep growing one's income.) However, if you want to invest more heavily, I can also suggest:

- Argon Griffon. This is a compact but fairly quick little carrier frigate, and tough to boot. It can field 9 fighters, and has a capacious hold, and is very nimble for its class. This is the option I would suggest at this point if you are keen to taste capital ships - it's not as sluggish as most, so it won't be as much of a culture shock, and is not as ungainly oversized as some (which can cause all manner of unfortunate accidents until you get used to the larger scale.)

Happy hunting!

EDIT: There is also another interesting alternative to the Griffon, the Split Panther, which in one way is more like a capital ship - no main frontal gun array directly controlled by the player, replaced instead by a battery of turrets, more like full-size carriers sport. Also, the Panther has a much larger fighter complement capacity.

[Sinxar]

You're at the point that most of us wish we still were, discovering new things in the game. Once you've played through the game once or twice, nothing will ever be new again and you'll lose that thrill of discovery.

Pfft, speak for yourself. I learn something new every playthrough still!

Last time I learned you can insert the hub between the gates of the player sector and create a peaceful island. This is because it is shorter to go through the hub than it is to go through your sector. If I didn't know better I would say they made the player sector so wide for this purpose. As long as you don't attract NPCs there with stations, the only thing that shows up is recon ships and TPs bringing employees to your HQ if you put it there. Here is an image to confuse anybody who reads this:

[ external image ]

[Nanook]

You're at the point that most of us wish we still were, discovering new things in the game. Once you've played through the game once or twice, nothing will ever be new again and you'll lose that thrill of discovery.

Pfft, speak for yourself. I learn something new every playthrough still!...

You know what I meant! I wasn't talking about small details.

[birdtable]

I do agree with Nanook, save game into a secure folder and enjoy the different journeys that open up ,, relish them.
RAVEN.myst gives good advice with his selection/options for ships/trade/combat.
Stepping outside your comfort zone makes for a great journey ....

Edit .. Forgot ...Guidance ... I always travelled in an anti clockwise direction around Friars Retreat,, Sacred Relic, Cardinals Domain etc looking for Hyperions but countless others will have different suggestions.
Always liked Argon Sector M148 as a location for marine training,, well defended, good missions ......
Bugger me,,, I am going to have fire the game up getting all nostalgic again.... If only I could stand on a deck (Rebirth) and watch the world go by... Ahhhh magic moments in time.

[Sinxar]

It may be worth noting that training marines for boarding takes a very long time. It is one of those things you should have done early so you don't have to wait around for ages. Just go ahead and get 20 of the best marines you can find (ideally with a decent fighting skill) and get them all training.

While they train you can build up the infrastructure for your boarding operations. A few flail and hammer factories if you are going to fly a commonwealth ship. You can also get a CAG to go buy boarding pods for you and bring them back to the hub or your PHQ if you have it.

People tend to pick the Cobra for their M7M but in reality it doesn't matter. Any M7M with turbo can outrun anything that is even a remote threat. Because of this, I always go with the Kraken just because I like how it looks since I tend to do boarding ops with the 3rd person camera. You can do that since you don't have to aim any guns, just select targets and launch missiles.

[jlehtone]

Paranid Military Hyperion Vanguard usually patrols near Friar's Retreat and/or Trinity Sanctum. It is not the easiest ship to board. Practice (and train the fight-skill of marines) with something else.


Simply put, there is no "war" against Xenon. The Xenon are cattle to be herded. If you push the right buttons, they react predictably. Cattle to be herded to where you want them for milking and slaughter.

They are also quite eager to "reprogram" their shepherd, should you doze off.


This old tale reveals something about warfare. Sadly, the images are long gone. Bill Huntington has written more recently about controlling the Xenon.

Soviet Union did prevail in Great Patriotic War partly due being able to produce tanks faster than the enemy could destroy them. A Destroyer can be demolished in seconds. Billions could burn each hour of war in the X-Universe. The Xenon can afford that. The player ...


... can dive in with a single ship to wreak havoc.

[Triaxx2]

Nuts to popularity. Start at the bottom and work your way up. Your trade empire is probably self-sufficient now right? Get yourself a Teladi Kestrel and start attacking M4's. Speed is life, and sitting under shields gets you killed as soon as they reach the hull.

If you want to learn to fight, you actually have to fight. If the Terrans don't like you, that means you've got a license to 'acquire' as many of their ships as you can. The Capitals are going to be a bit out of reach for the moment, but fighting the fighters should be doable. Learn to use the strafe drive, the throttle and missiles.

Work your way up without just buying yourself a top of the line you don't know how to fly, and then getting frustrated by the enemies.

[RainerPrem]

...
Capping/Boarding Ships
Up to this point, I've forced a couple pilots to bail out of their vessels, but that's been the extent of my capping exploits. I would like to learn more about training up marines and boarding larger ships. Any suggestions on where to start and what to avoid would be helpful.

...

Thanks.

For boarding ships you need
1) M7M ship (any one capable of carrying Flails/Hammers and Pods will do)
2) 20 Marines
3) An assortment of attack missiles, 5 Pods

Buy yourself a bio scanner and send a TP around to buy marines. You need to buy around 50 Marines, each with at least 3 stars in any of the three technical disciplines. Fighting stars are not too relevant, but having a couple of 4 or 5 star fighters helps at the start. Look for expensive marines, they often have fighting stars and specialist stars.

Hint: If you buy a second hand TM, you most likely find some good marines on board. If you see a battle involving M7Ms, you can find good marines flying in space.

You need to train all your marines at the same station, so you can always decide which one to take out of training and put into your M7M.

You need 4 * 4-5 star mechanics, 4 * 4-5 star hackers, all other 4-5 star engineers. Don't start with less than 16 marines. You need a total of ~40 fighting stars

Train with hired TLs. Send them into Unknown sectors or at least sectors not sporting a local fighting group. Then give it a go. Save early, save often.

Have fun
Rainer

[Honved]

As said, training Marines takes a lot of time. Buy up any with high Combat rank, because you can't buy Combat training. The only way to increase that is by boarding ships, the other skills can be trained up at Military bases. Typically, I start by giving them at least 50 points of Engineering skill, so they don't wreck the ship they're boarding. Then you need at least 2 Marines with high Mechanical skill (as in 4-5 stars) in each boarding party; more than 2 Marines with the skill won't add anything other than insurance in case one of the two get killed. At the end of the fighting, once they reach the target's core, you'll need 2 with Hacking skill; again, more than 2 makes no difference, as long as at least 2 survive to attempt the hack. Whether you train all your Marines to 5 starts across the board, or only train half of them or less in those two "specialist" skills, is up to you.

"Spacewalk" boarding is possible (usually with 5-50 reloads), but the process is 10 times easier with an M7M and boarding pods. If the target has Hull Polarization, the attempt is virtually impossible without boarding pods (I gave up on one target after 50+ reloads).

I've used M7s as my personal ship, once I got beyond the "fighter" stages of the game, and strongly prefer one that can carry a few fighters, including my personal M3 and M5. As said, the Split Panther is one option, and I've taken an odd likiing to the Paranid Diemos. The Argon Cerberus handles pleasantly, and is a good anti-fighter platform, but is seriously undergunned against other capitals.

I often bypass the M6 class completely, because they're not maneuverable enough to dogfight (the Hyperion Vanguard is a rare exception, which is one reason it's so popular), yet generally not powerful enough to take on larger capitals easily. M1 and M2 class ships are typically too pathetically slow for me to want to fly, although an M2 can be downright scary. M1s are basically about outspending the opponent, and throwning more fighters at them than they can shoot down, not a financially sound investment, in my opinion, unless you're at the point where money doesn't matter.

[AleksMain]

As said, training Marines takes a lot of time. Buy up any with high Combat rank, because you can't buy Combat training. The only way to increase that is by boarding ships, the other skills can be trained up at Military bases. Typically, I start by giving them at least 50 points of Engineering skill, so they don't wreck the ship they're boarding. Then you need at least 2 Marines with high Mechanical skill (as in 4-5 stars) in each boarding party; more than 2 Marines with the skill won't add anything other than insurance in case one of the two get killed. At the end of the fighting, once they reach the target's core, you'll need 2 with Hacking skill; again, more than 2 makes no difference, as long as at least 2 survive to attempt the hack. Whether you train all your Marines to 5 starts across the board, or only train half of them or less in those two "specialist" skills, is up to you....

You can use even less skilled marines for first boarding, if you have M7M.

For boarding of the Pirate Brigantine I used marines with Mechanical skill 50+ (3 stars).
Same for Hacking skill - you can use marines with 50+ Hacking (3 stars).

Terran, ATF and Xenon ships have higher skill requirements.

Anyone can see more details reading Boarding Hints.

[ajime]

You're at the point that most of us wish we still were, discovering new things in the game. Once you've played through the game once or twice, nothing will ever be new again and you'll lose that thrill of discovery.

Pfft, speak for yourself. I learn something new every playthrough still!

Last time I learned you can insert the hub between the gates of the player sector and create a peaceful island. This is because it is shorter to go through the hub than it is to go through your sector. If I didn't know better I would say they made the player sector so wide for this purpose. As long as you don't attract NPCs there with stations, the only thing that shows up is recon ships and TPs bringing employees to your HQ if you put it there. Here is an image to confuse anybody who reads this:

[ external image ]

oh shiee... thanks for the tips.