agents

[Klemitch]

You mean the "Adjustment"? Or is there supposed to be a separate discount?

ps I just found know associate and inside benefactor.
pps I found a few others as well. From what I'm finding, it doesn't seem it's worth the time of smalltalk.

[A5PECT]

Smalltalk is more useful for its other rewards e.g. finding skilled employees. For trading it's much easier to just fly around a station a bit and find discounts that way.

[Klemitch]

Meh, the discounts I find aren't worth the time. Haven't found any info about skilled employees.

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

Meh, the discounts I find aren't worth the time. Haven't found any info about skilled employees.

There have been quite a few guides written or published in the past couple of years but they tend to sink down the forum so I have started listing them on wiki here. One of which is a guide to Smalltalk I wrote on the wiki here. It probably isn't perfect but since it is on a wiki, anyone can update it with new info or corrections over time.

The smalltalk guide tries to provide info on various related things, including finding skilled employees. Personally, I don't think the time involved in finding skilled employees via smalltalk is particularly worthwhile once you start of have more than a couple of ships and stations but it's a mechanic you can consider. After gaining some wealth, I just mass-hire random NPCs and put them to work to see their skills that way (firing if bad).

[Klemitch]

Good stuff Sparky.

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

You're welcome, thanks.

[Solomon Short]

Meh, the discounts I find aren't worth the time. Haven't found any info about skilled employees.

The Station discounts/commissions apply to all relevant trades with that station for duration.

You can also keep wandering around (&/or visit other docks on the station) to find more opportunities to unlock them, stacking them up.

So if you pick which stations you seek them on (I believe they're usually for station the NPC you game with is on) you can hope to apply them to expensive wares (which can be handy when you've got discounts on station building supplies)

[Carl Sumner]

In case you don't know, or for others, the trade menu and the discounts mentioned are for big trade ships. The stuff you find in crates and carry on Skunk is different.

With a big ship and money to buy lots of stuff, the small percentages add up quick. Also, look for good deals on stuff that costs more. A big percentage difference on wheat is not as good as a smaller percentage on fusion reactors. By a -lot-!

When you look at ware trades, the discounts are shown on the upper right, I think. It takes some practice to get used to the trade menu and all it can do.

To look at trades for a sector or zone, type it in the search field on the upper right of the trade screen. But don't forget you set it! 8-P

To look at trades from a station, find the station in the zone map, hit 4 for details and 2 for trades. Works for construction ships, too.

There is now a new default setting to limit to what the shown ship (at top of trade screen) can handle. Makes it easier, but remember that it might not show all trades, with that on.

Tip: always check for where you can sell, before buying. It's not a good deal unless you have a buyer for it.