CLS 2 vs ST/UT?

[Patholos]

Hi there, had one question regarding trading. I've away from mistress X3Tc for the last 2 years so need a few pointers again

I was wondering if anyone had tried to do trading between npc stations using cls 2 instead of ST/UT?

I was thinking that you get much better control being since you can designate the the big cargo ships to handle resources(ores, energy foodstuffs) while the fast nimbly ones can pick up the products (shields,guns etc). Of course this means quite a bit of listmaking and micromanaging.

Pro with this is the low cost of setting up an automated trader plus more control.

Con is probably when GoD wields his mysterious powers and removes stations while adding new ones, making me needing to update from time to time.

ST/UT has high initial investment cost due to Trade MK 3 which could turn out an instant loss due to pirates irresponsible use of laserweaponry in the vicinity of my ships.

Also, do cls2 trades between npc stations add to trade rank?

Thanks in advance.

(ah, good to be back in good ol' Omicron Lyrae )

[StarSword]

It's a decent idea. I tried that once upon a time without success, but I suspect that was a bad example because I was trying to use a green pilot.

As for GOD, if a station's getting regular business GOD won't remove it. And yes, trades by your AI ships add to your trade rank.

[Triaxx2]

Depends on the area. CLS tends to be a little brighter than a UT when it comes to survival, almost never leaving area's where it's been told to go. Of course, the fact that you'll be customizing them for their individual goods, or missions, means you'll be able to use what ship is right for the task. Q infested area? Something fast enough to duck in and out without getting blasted. Safe zone? Something with huge amounts of cargo and terrible speed.

Plus since you can control JD usage, you can escort them without the escorts trying to fly the long way through a Xenon sector.

[oddgit]

I use the CLS pretty regularly for NPC stations, mostly food stations, like cahoona bakeries. I found that keeping the food factories up and running keeps the whole galactic economy running as a whole. I dont really pay attention to making money via the CLS agents stocking factories, but i know all of the npc factories have food so they are usually producing stuff that my ST/UTs can buy and sell. I have 15~20 CLS agents picking up Ecells from a storage facility, selling them to the components of food factories, then buying cows and wheat then bringing them to the bakery. I have some doing similar stuff for computer components and microchips to keep NPC factories up and running as well.

I started doing this because i my games food was always in short supply, even if i built factories.

And to add to your trade rank question, it does. plus it increases race relations. It is how i up my Terran and ATF ranks, set up a CLS loop for ammo and what not in the Terran spaces and watch your rank go up.

[DrBullwinkle]

I use CLS2 to supply resources to IBL and PBG factories, and to buy the weapons from them. (Incendiary Bomb Launchers and Plasma Burst Generators).

There are only a couple of each of these factories in the game (and they are great weapons). But the factories produce slowly due to lack of resources, which is where CLS2 shines. A single CLS2 can supply several factories with resources and can collect weapons from all of them.

For everything else, I use Optimized UT's.