Complex planning

[Sovereign01]

...

So if I was to place that build order in ABB, would the Sabre appear in AB and from there fly to the TOA?

Yes. So nab 5 JB and proceed with complex-building.
Up until now I considered the build-fee as a compensation for 6 JB. But you.... Do you happen to be a TELADI in the disguise of a REAPER?

By "ask", do you mean "shoot"?

EDIT: I just realised I have two Ozias available for lugging upgrade kits. They're currently busy mining Nividium, when they're finished I can start work on upgrading this complex. I'm going to crunch the numbers on how many trips I'm going to need to make for each one. Looking at the complex in the planner I'm reminded that unlike the first complex all the factories are starting off at L size, so I won't be needing to bring 16S and then 16M upgrades for this one, I'll just be needing 57 L>XL upgrades, at least for now.

It appears that the shipyard in Paranid Prime Alpha would be the best place to pick up the upgrade kits from, because the shipyard is within a few KM of a jump beacon, meaning TLs have the shortest travel time.

[Sovereign01]

Well I had a go at taking a jump beacon and found the results to be similar but slightly different to how it was described, as "bailing" doesn't happen in the same way. After hitting the ship for a while I got the announcement thanking me for help with the intruder, the ship turned blue again, came to a stop and after a few seconds, self-destructed.

What I had to do was use the cargo bay hacker to transport the jump beacon off the ship before it blew up. I used a Scorpion because I had one available, it was faster than a Sabre, and could mount Pulsed Beam Emitters. I had to only have two PBEs firing as they drained the laser energy extremely quickly, and made sure the ship had a transporter equipped. I had to be extremely close to transport, as in less than PBE range. And because it had cargo bay shielding I couldn't simply transport it off as soon as it appeared. It seems you have to destroy the shielding anyway otherwise you won't be able to grab it regardless. I might have to try using a Mako equipped with Ion Disruptors instead.

EDIT: Just tried again, and yes you do have to destroy the shielding. I got one beacon but no more, I will have to bring one of the Mako variants and use IDs to fry the systems including the shielding. At least, with the next complex I build.

[DanKara]

Congratulation!

Imho the "bailing" is the same as you would approach a Xenon or Kha'ak, isn't it?
With IonDisruptors you might get the bail you want, but I would expect the CBS to survive in this.
(Instead I use SOS. Claim ship and eject JB. Needs more keystrokes, takes bit longer time... and yes even this way I lost a beacon when shields or weapons survived.)

If the first is destroyed (either by weapon fire or self destruct) HephCorp sends a next after a short while (up to 6).

[Jimmy C]

Just tried again, and yes you do have to destroy the shielding. I got one beacon but no more, I will have to bring one of the Mako variants and use IDs to fry the systems including the shielding. At least, with the next complex I build.

You can destroy the shielding? I thought that thing was indestructible. Still, my experience is the shielding is rolled for when the pilot bails, so it often doesn't stick around. That's different with these ships?

It appears that the shipyard in Paranid Prime Alpha would be the best place to pick up the upgrade kits from, because the shipyard is within a few KM of a jump beacon, meaning TLs have the shortest travel time.

Different factions offer different prices for the same upgrades. The Boron one would be 30,000 cheaper. The Yaki one is even cheaper, but... eh.

[DanKara]

You can destroy the shielding? I thought that thing was indestructible. Still, my experience is the shielding is rolled for when the pilot bails, so it often doesn't stick around. That's different with these ships?

I haven't said the CargoBayShielding (CBS, oops earlier mistake edited) is to be destoyed by the player. As you said it is (nearly) indestructable.
What I did say, atleast tried to, is that a slightly damaged ship might bail when constantly fired at with an Ion Disruptor. In this case the CBS is expected to survive (got some this way myself).

[Sovereign01]

Congratulation!

Imho the "bailing" is the same as you would approach a Xenon or Kha'ak, isn't it?
With IonDisruptors you might get the bail you want, but I would expect the CBS to survive in this.
(Instead I use SOS. Claim ship and eject JB. Needs more keystrokes, takes bit longer time... and yes even this way I lost a beacon when shields or weapons survived.)

If the first is destroyed (either by weapon fire or self destruct) HephCorp sends a next after a short while (up to 6).

That's what I did, I had to have my elephant give my arrow a lift to the HQ to get that software, then ferry it back to my Scorpion to install. Haven't had the chance to use it yet. I've managed to claim 3 jump beacons so far, it's very difficult. No. 4 the ship self-destructed very quickly, I might have to make do with 3.

I haven't said the CargoBayShielding (CBS, oops earlier mistake edited) is to be destoyed by the player. As you said it is (nearly) indestructable.
What I did say, atleast tried to, is that a slightly damaged ship might bail when constantly fired at with an Ion Disruptor. In this case the CBS is expected to survive (got some this way myself).

I will have to build an Enhanced Mako having got the blueprints ages ago and use it to soften the Sabre up with PACs then switch to IDs to get it to bail. PBEs are good for shield stripping but against a thin-skinned M4 they do noticeably damage the hull each time, even with only a pair of them firing. I'll see if I can get any more beacons.

UPDATE: Just managed to get number 4, this time by use of the system override software. The hard part of that was getting in to point blank range to use it fast enough before ejecting the beacon. Next time I do this I'll use one of the Scorpion or Mako variants, not the vanilla or sentinel versions (too slow)- the Split ships can use Mass Drivers + Pulsed Beam Emitters, the Boron ones, Ion Disruptors.

UPDATE 2: Had to save scum the crap out of it, but once I'd knocked the hull down a bit using Mass Drivers I saved, as it happened this particular Sabre bailed quite readily once I started on the shields, so after reloading a couple of times to refine things the ship stayed intact long enough for me to close in, claim it and eject its beacon (quicker than beaming it) for me to scoop up. Now I have my 5 I hope the last one will get there without issue, I'm putting together a shipment of crystals to kick off the new complex!

[Sovereign01]

Use of one of the beacons meant I could get my TLs in to apply the upgrades extremely quickly, the L>XL ones are all in progress already, once they're done the money is going to come rolling in

EDIT: Just found out that it's only the standard Scorpion that can mount PBEs, any of the others will need use of Mako assistance after all.

[Sovereign01]

Now that I'm planning a weapons complex I am of course wrestling with race notoriety so I can get the whole thing built in one go. Question is, with Hephaistos can it only place stations I have the notoriety for, or if I have the kits for the stations I can't buy ready in the HQ will it use those? Does it work with the complex construction software MK3, or do I have to subtract the stations I cannot buy and use the software to build those in a separate complex?

[Sovereign01]

Well I found out that as long as I have the plans for the stations I want I don't need the notoriety to build them, which meant stealing in the case of the larger Terran guns. With the restrictions on gaining rank if having a certain notoriety with a faction's enemy, it meant stealing the plans for the big guns. Took quite a few agents to pull that off!

Anyway, ordered its construction after the discovery of a couple more roids forced a redesign and after a while my massive 264-station complex located in Consecrated Fire Beta was ready, producing every possible laser and shield except the always-useless FBL. For reasons I cannot possibly fathom however, whenever I show up to take ownership of the new complex it decides to place the SPPs (all 28 of them) in a nice neat stack connected by a tube... 1,825 km away from the rest of the complex, followed by another tube a further 1,200 km long to one last Terran station. What the hell?

[Jimmy C]

Were the SPPs Terran? And what was the last Terran station?

[Sovereign01]

Were the SPPs Terran? And what was the last Terran station?

The SPPS were Boron, it was one of the Terran food stations (the flat rectangular one with a circular section in the centre) as far from the SPPs as the SPPs were from the rest of the complex. I enter the sector via the TOA to take ownership, same result if I do it via jump beacon. I actually have to modify the complex once done as there was a duplicate shield factory in the build order that I need to disconnect and replace with a lasertower one, I don't know if it's possible to delete stations or not.

[Hwitvlf]

producing every possible laser ... 1,825 km away from the rest of the complex, followed by another tube a further 1,200 km long to one last Terran station.

I suspect the station you're describing is not Terran Food, but the Fusion Beam Cannon Forge:

Spoiler

Show

It sounds like the same issue I had which appeared to be caused by including the Terran Fusion Beam Cannon Forge in a complex and was also reported with the Terran Orbital Laser Factory. The offending factories were set way off-center and then the Solar Plant stack way off from them. It can be difficult to retrieve the distant stations because the TL seems to have trouble plotting a path to them, but you can fly the TL to them manually, then change ships and have the TL pack them, or just 'delete' the distant factories by landing at the station and setting the self-destruct.

Once your complex is in its final form, you can manually drop the FBC or OL factory near the Complex Hub and connect it without issue. The problem only seems to happen when a TL auto-pilot tries to place the effected stations in a complex. Since the Devs haven't chimed in, I would suspect they already know about the issue and will probably fix it if another update is released.

[Sovereign01]

Disconnecting and you're right- it is indeed the FBC forge on the end which just looks a lot like the food factory. Just getting to it requires several minutes of travel in an Arrow... which is overtuned... at 10x SETA. Which means it's for all intents and purposes impossible to reach with a TL unless I send an Adv. Kestrel (which I have the blueprints for but haven't built) with a jump beacon out there.

This still leaves the question of the pancake stack of Boron SPPs halfway there, which unlike the FBC forge doesn't spawn at all until I take ownership of the complex at which point they appear halfway out, so I'll have to send a second beacon-carrying Kestrel (cargo bay too small for two) so I can have a TL scoop them up.

[Sovereign01]

Well the good news is that I found that my TL doesn't have to actually fly all the way to a station to pick it up, all I have to do is disconnect it and tell the TL to pack it up and it does it instantly. The bad news is to my chagrin I did find one problem when I was trying to place it near the complex hub which I didn't discover until zooming out from the thing- Hephaistos only went and placed said hub in the corner, inside one of the asteroid mines! So I have to be OOS if I intend to be docking anything there, assuming I can even reconnect the FBC factory and SPP pancake stack once I move them into a more sensible location because of the positioning of the hub.

[DanKara]

Hephaistos only went and placed said hub in the corner, inside one of the asteroid mines!

Haha ... additional feature: Entry control for unwanted guests!
(You can pack up the complex hub just like any other station, place it somewhere else ... and reconnect all stations to that complex again.)

[Sovereign01]

Hephaistos only went and placed said hub in the corner, inside one of the asteroid mines!

Haha ... additional feature: Entry control for unwanted guests!
(You can pack up the complex hub just like any other station, place it somewhere else ... and reconnect all stations to that complex again.)

Does that mean buying a new kit for every single individual station? Because there are a lot of stations in this complex!

[DanKara]

Does that mean buying a new kit for every single individual station?

Yes!
I don't belief, that the credits for the extension kits needed is bothering you. You can produce them eaven cheaper than just buying... You are just lazy, right?
How about placing the hub, connect the first 4 yourself and make use of HephCorp afterwards?

[ballti]

"New" complex extension kit have 200 cargo volume, basecly 400 station complex can be MK3 .

[Sovereign01]

Does that mean buying a new kit for every single individual station?

Yes!
I don't belief, that the credits for the extension kits needed is bothering you. You can produce them eaven cheaper than just buying... You are just lazy, right?
How about placing the hub, connect the first 4 yourself and make use of HephCorp afterwards?

Yeah, I am lazy . Might be something to do with the fact that there are no fewer than 264 stations in that complex. I didn't know Hephcorp could be used that way, which would be awesome. I haven't had to work out the difference between the construction and extension kits yet.

My task is twofold since I have to relocate 28 SPPs as well as the FBC forge. Unless I move those and connect them to a new hub, then connect the two resulting hubs and hopefully the new one won't be inside a mine. Then it'll just be a case of filling it up with crystals and watching it go

[Cycrow]

if you have the Build Command Software MK3, you can use that to move the whole complex. Just build an extension, and select a new position in the sector, and your TL will move every station into position.

if you need to connect alot of stations together, you can just have all the extension kits in the TL, then you can select all the factories and connect them all in one go instead of 1 at a time.

Generally, you only need 1 complex hub for a complex, and use extension kits to connect more stations