Any interesting new Trading strategies?

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minderbinder77
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Any interesting new Trading strategies?

Post by minderbinder77 » Fri, 22. Jun 18, 21:36

I’m coming back to x3 tc after a couple of years’ absence and was wondering if there are any new interesting guides out there on trading strategies.

I am familiar with Trapper Tim’s excellent resource backbone guide. I am going to play around with this but if there are any other guides out there with creative approaches to trading please would you point me in their direction.

Many thanks
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P.s. I have never tried AP. Any thoughts on whether I should stick with TC or try something new? Bear in mind what I enjoy most about this game is building up a trading empire.

Timsup2nothin
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Post by Timsup2nothin » Sat, 23. Jun 18, 00:52

It took me a long time to get to it, but I am pretty happy having made the switch to AP. Trading around the war sectors has to be put off until late game though.
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

DrSuperEvil
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Post by DrSuperEvil » Sat, 23. Jun 18, 01:31

AP has more ships then TC and Rapid Response fleets which make combat against major races harder. There are also the war sectors which add opportunities and problems.

Here is how I typically start up in AP without using stock market manipulation. Salvage missiles from the war sectors early on (RGWs are worth 75k each). Use spare missiles to cap TS ships (probably from Dukes), build a Dragonfly Missile factory in Wretched Skies using a hired TL and use 5 TS ships to work for it (3 as mobile ore miners, one to buy food and energy and one to store missiles to sell them manually in bulk). This will net a >130k/h steady income and pay for the factory in under 8 hours. Build additional Dragonfly Missile factories in Lucky Planets and work on making them self sufficient (the sector can support 9). While this is happening I fly a Kestrel doing taxi and personnel transport missions to improve Race Rank with various races. I then start building a 30 strong trading fleet of Hayabusas to act as UTs. I build an illegals complex in Hatikvah's Faith to get rep with any very hostile races and pirates until I can get them neutral with missions. I make a few self sufficient complexes including 10 Lasertower factories so I can ringfence my complexes in clusters of 10 Lasertowers in preparation for the plot related attacks and some missile factories for personal use or Shadow Missile factories since they have the highest profit margin of any factory. Finally I turn Savage Spur into a giant laser and shield production complex to supply the PHQ while selling the spare. I then build a deathfleet of Xenon Js and go to war with a major race.


The fastest starts always involve a mix of trade and piracy.

jlehtone
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Post by jlehtone » Sat, 23. Jun 18, 12:40

The AP has more UI options. See the sticky: https://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=311327

Graphs. Player account size. Equipping ships. What and how scripts can do.
These all assist the trader.

Yes, the X3AP War is a no-go zone for AI traders, but the player can end the War (via "plot/story" set of missions). There are still plenty of trade partners outside of the war sectors and traders can be configured to stay out.


Strategies? I'm no trader, so cannot tell what those are. Haven't followed those writeups either. (Alan is the current "can recite and recall every Forum post" wizard.)

Nevertheless, I'd put all trade to three bins:
  • Margin. Buy only the cheapest, and sell high. A focus on trade runs that yield high profit margin.
  • En masse. Make all possible trade runs. Huge volume of low profit still yields a lot of profit.
  • Sell what you did not pay for. Stolen or manufactured.
There are multiple ways to implement all three.


In my X3TC game I did avoid building Stations, both for myself and the generic missions for NPC, -- even though or exactly because -- those missions are "easy credits". In my X3AP game I'm building for NPC, if one of these applies:
  • Client is a Pirate
  • Factory will run on locally available resources
Many a time someone on the Forum has asked how to get rid of "competing NPC factories". I disagree. I want as many potential NPC trade partners as possible.

Call it "strategy", if you will.
Goner Pancake Protector X
Insanity included at no extra charge.
There is no Box. I am the sand.

Timsup2nothin
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Post by Timsup2nothin » Sat, 23. Jun 18, 22:32

jlehtone wrote:
Nevertheless, I'd put all trade to three bins:
  • Margin. Buy only the cheapest, and sell high. A focus on trade runs that yield high profit margin.
  • En masse. Make all possible trade runs. Huge volume of low profit still yields a lot of profit.
  • Sell what you did not pay for. Stolen or manufactured.
There are multiple ways to implement all three.
The strategy lies between bins one and two. By controlling trade you can make all possible trades (bin 2) while doing either buys very low OR sells very high (half of bin 1). Half the profit margin from bin 1 at the same huge volume beats bin 2 by a landslide. Even at half the margins the huge volume beats bin 1 by a landslide.

Bin 3 is an entertaining sideline more than a strategy.
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

minderbinder77
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Post by minderbinder77 » Sun, 24. Jun 18, 02:39

Thanks for the responses. I’m just refamiliarising myself with the basic mechanics at the moment but it’s starting to come back to me.

I’m going to finish this playthrough of TC and then I’ll give AP a go after I have read some of the recommended material.

jlehtone
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Post by jlehtone » Sun, 24. Jun 18, 13:57

Timsup2nothin wrote:Bin 3 is an entertaining sideline more than a strategy.
True. Closed, self-sufficient sectorcomplexes are Build rather than Trade.
Goner Pancake Protector X
Insanity included at no extra charge.
There is no Box. I am the sand.

Timsup2nothin
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Post by Timsup2nothin » Mon, 25. Jun 18, 07:11

jlehtone wrote:
Timsup2nothin wrote:Bin 3 is an entertaining sideline more than a strategy.
True. Closed, self-sufficient sectorcomplexes are Build rather than Trade.
Oddly enough, I had completely skipped the word "manufactured." I saw "sell what you did not pay for" and my mind immediately fell into a track. :pirat:
Trapper Tim's Guide to CLS 2

On Her Majesty's Secret Service-Dead is Dead, and he is DEAD

Not a DiD, so I guess it's a DiDn't, the story of my first try at AP
Part One, in progress

HEY! AP!! That's new!!!

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TTD
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Post by TTD » Mon, 25. Jun 18, 12:03

AP is good. but maybe play TC to re-familiarise yourself with gameplay...up to you really.
I always start trading in silicon , and anything else that is readily available for good profitssss marginssss
As hinted above, free loot that remains after battles are also a good earner.
check local needs and build accordingly,supplying those needs.

apart from the war sectors, AP is good for the trader, but you can lose your ships in that area, if you are not careful.
Of course there is a plot that lets you choose if you want the war to continue or not :-)

jlehtone
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Post by jlehtone » Wed, 27. Jun 18, 17:41

Timsup2nothin wrote:Oddly enough, I had completely skipped the word "manufactured." I saw "sell what you did not pay for" and my mind immediately fell into a track. :pirat:
To quote an another spacefarer: "It's a Trap!" :boron:

Towing Mines for "neat" Complex is definitely a sideline, with very dubious amount of entertainment.



This is no strategy, just an implementation of something:

I have Stations. Some are scaled up Stations, multiple stations of same type connected together. (I have a Complex with both Flail and Hammer, and Complex with Bio and Food, but mostly just Stations.)

All of them have CAG. All of them buy only cheap resources (e.g. ECells @ 13cr, Ore @ 60cr). All of them require high price for product (except guns and passively sold unlicensed products). These follow the "trade only, when profit is good".

The high end "consumables" have an auxiliary outlet too. Those stations have CLS1 ships that deliver to my Corporate HQ (X3AP perk), with price set to barely above the production costs. "Resource producers" (Mines, SPP, Bio, Food) can have similar CLS1 to ensure base resource supply of colleagues.

The HQ has CLS2 traps for Docks have pitiful stock capacity. The (Dolphin SFX) traps buy from the HQ at price that exceeds at least the CLS1's demands.

The HQ does buy and sell with CAG, mostly at below average price. With guns that ensures profit, for NPC takes guns at average price. Some wares are at average+1 to ensure that they accumulate at HQ.

The HQ does host some Local Traders, although the PHQ has more of them.


What effectively happens is that a sum is transferred from player account to HQ account (who keeps a slice), from HQ to Station account (who keeps a slice), and from Station account to NPC Factories (which is reputable trading). What I do get for my credits is ships full of Tomahawks (etc).

How I convert Tomahawks into credits is not a Teladi approved form of trade. Lets just say that it involves Terran Cartels. :split:
Goner Pancake Protector X
Insanity included at no extra charge.
There is no Box. I am the sand.

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