Give it another try

[RainerPrem]

EDIT: Ah, never mind - I see you came right with this already!

Hi,

your advice is always appreciated anyway

Is it correct that the Taranis doesn't have any storage for trading? Can I change that?

cu
Rainer

[Alan Phipps]

It cannot carry, transfer or trade 'wares' other than jumpfuel, drones and missiles/ammo in vanilla, if that is what you mean. Even then, it usually sources and treats those somewhat differently to tradewares. Any changes to that situation would have to be through modding.

[RainerPrem]

It cannot carry or trade 'wares' other than jumpfuel, drones and ammo in vanilla, if that is what you mean. Even then, it treats those rather differently to tradewares. Any changes to that situation would have to be through modding.

Hi,

I suspected that. Am I correct that drones and ammo are bought by the defense officer? Can I dock the Skunk and then order the captain to jump to a gate or beacon?

cu
Rainer

[Alan Phipps]

Magic ammo (missiles, fight drones) is brought to the ship by means unspecified if you set them as auto-replenish (in the DO menu I think), mainly because the Taranis has no cargolifters to go and fetch stuff from stations.

Otherwise you physically refuel the jumpdrive by docking at the relevant Cell Recharge stations or by ship to ship transfer from a ship with cargolifters (this last bit can be used for fight drones and CURVs too). There is an auto-refuel option in the Captain menu. You can also order and pay for drones directly from Shipyard XL docks but the Taranis will then need to dock there to equip them.

Yes you can use the Taranis to give the Skunk a lift. Indeed that should have happened in that plot as you were invited to dock with it before the Taranis jumped away after the battle.

[RainerPrem]

Yes you can use the Taranis to give the Skunk a lift. Indeed that should have happened in that plot as you were invited to dock with it before the Taranis jumped away after the battle.

Hi,

the mission told me to "dock at HoA ship" (which I interpreted as "any HoA ship") and the construction ship was closer, so I docked there...

Thanks for the information.

BTW: Will I get the Rahanas back at any point in the campaign or do I need to buy/board another one?

cu
Rainer

[RAVEN.myst]

Am I correct that drones and ammo are bought by the defense officer?

As of 4.10, there is a slight change: capital ships with ammo now show it at the bottom of their info view. With the Taranis, you will notice it lists AstroBees, with a capacity of 40. You can replenish that at shipyards, using the Modify Ship dialog with the NPC (which previously didn't seem to accomplish much, as far as I could tell - well, the ammo option, at any rate.) 40 Astrobees for the Taranis will set you back around a half million, and I am happy to say that, so far, I've seen the Taranis only fire those in really busy furballs, which is a good thing, as I've found no way to order the DO to use or not use them - so you really don't want it to squander them at scattered or isolated fighters that would be a walkover for the Taranis or the Skank.

I haven't as yet checked out the behaviour of other ammo-using ships such as the Arawn (Astrobees and/or VCrushers, if I recall correctly) and the Sucellus (VCrushers, methinks.)

[RAVEN.myst]

Will I get the Rahanas back at any point in the campaign or do I need to buy/board another one?

Spoiler

Show

Yes, you will get it back soon after the Taranis capture, so you may well have it back by the time you read this.

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

So maybe the only real difference between your experience and what (I think) I recall happening for me is that my HoA support forces turned up to the battle before the boarding attempt. Odd.

I think your memory is fine.

The mission begins with the Skunk being asked to dock on a HoA CV, which jumps into the battle before the player undocks to attack the Skunk. A bunch of HoA capital ships should arrive with the CV.

If the HoA CV was the only friendly capital on the field at the start of the fight, it sounds like a misunderstanding, bug and/or mod issue.

[RainerPrem]

So maybe the only real difference between your experience and what (I think) I recall happening for me is that my HoA support forces turned up to the battle before the boarding attempt. Odd.

I think your memory is fine.

The mission begins with the Skunk being asked to dock on a HoA CV, which jumps into the battle before the player undocks to attack the Skunk. A bunch of HoA capital ships should arrive with the CV.

If the HoA CV was the only friendly capital on the field at the start of the fight, it sounds like a misunderstanding, bug and/or mod issue.

Hi,

there was an Arawn Close to the CV, when I started the mission, but it didn't jump with us to the Taranis. When the boarding was over and we jumped back, the ship was still there.

Nevertheless the mission worked.

One question concerning the Taranis: Is it better to sell it and buy a "real" freighter instead or does this ship have any advantages apart from being an oversized taxi?

@RAVEN.myst: It was late yesterday evening, and I also stumbled over some lockboxes to loot, so I didn't continue with the campaign for now. These big yellow circles are somehow addictive...

cu
Rainer

[RAVEN.myst]

One question concerning the Taranis: Is it better to sell it and buy a "real" freighter instead or does this ship have any advantages apart from being an oversized taxi?

The Taranis is a very capable combat ship, a light/medium destroyer. It has good speed vs firepower ratio, and packs a few plasma "beam" turrets that are versatile and effective against all target types, and is quite tough to boot. I know some people advocate selling it in order to finance economic bootstrapping, and this is a totally valid option. I personally prefer to keep it - as a "trophy" of sorts (though a very easily obtained one, heheh), and for its combat functionality, especially since I have other mechanisms for early finance, if desired. Basically, it's up to you. If you do take it to DeVries with you, it can be invaluable for helping to deal with those large Reiver raiding parties (if you are playing on Very Hard difficulty, those can be a significant PitA!)

Just a quick note on freighters (probably inspired by your use of "a 'real' freighter", heheheh) - don't underestimate the value of M-sized freighters, especially in developed systems (such as Albion.) In DeVries, however, I would advise caution using those until the pirate raiding parties have been curbed...

[RainerPrem]

One question concerning the Taranis: Is it better to sell it and buy a "real" freighter instead or does this ship have any advantages apart from being an oversized taxi?

The Taranis is a very capable combat ship, a light/medium destroyer.

...

Basically, it's up to you. If you do take it to DeVries with you, it can be invaluable for helping to deal with those large Reiver raiding parties (if you are playing on Very Hard difficulty, those can be a significant PitA!)

...

Hi,

just to give you some context: I'm playing this game basically for the first time (started once and stopped before the Taranis boarding). So "Very Hard" is very far in my future.

I however played thousands oh hours X2 and X3 up to AP. So if the Taranis is a fighter and not a freighter, how can I outfit it with weapons? Meeting a ship outfitter on one of the shipyards?

And for the commands: Should I have it follow me wherever I go in case I meet some Reivers?

cu
Rainer


Edit: Fixed quote - Sparks

[RAVEN.myst]

So if the Taranis is a fighter and not a freighter, how can I outfit it with weapons? Meeting a ship outfitter on one of the shipyards?

And for the commands: Should I have it follow me wherever I go in case I meet some Reivers?

When you capture that ship, it comes fully armed. If any of those armaments were destroyed during the fight/boarding op, the assigned engineer will eventually repair them all. (To answer your question in a more general sense: when buying a ship at a shipyard, you can order the weapons then and there, and there's really little reason not to, as unfortunately unlike in previous Xs, you can't pick and choose the weapons - each ship has a standard configuration, so your options boil down to "have this gun or don't have it" - obviously, the answer is basically always "have it". If, for whatever reason, a ship you have doesn't have a full complement of surface elements, then you can use the Modify Ship => Upgrade option at the ship dealer to rectify the situation.)

If you decide to take the Taranis with you to Albion, then you may want to add it to your squad. It will then by default follow you around. My own preference, when I have any nimble capital ships with me, is to actually stay docked on my favourite and order the captain to go wherever I need to, thus getting chauffeured around. I then undock if/when I need to visit a station, or get my own hands dirty with something. IMPORTANT: Be careful with your military ships when in Albion, which is now semi-hostile territory to you. Because PMC will now shoot your military ships on sight, it's not a good idea to travel around in/with such (well, other than your Skunk itself) - when moving around Albion, if you want to ride in style, use a capital freighter, such as your Rahanas, for example (later on, a Lepton is a nice alternative - good cargo types, very quick and nimble, and easier to dock with than a Rahanas.)

[RainerPrem]

So if the Taranis is a fighter and not a freighter, how can I outfit it with weapons? Meeting a ship outfitter on one of the shipyards?

And for the commands: Should I have it follow me wherever I go in case I meet some Reivers?

When you capture that ship, it comes fully armed. If any of those armaments were destroyed during the fight/boarding op, the assigned engineer will eventually repair them all. (To answer your question in a more general sense: when buying a ship at a shipyard, you can order the weapons then and there, and there's really little reason not to, as unfortunately unlike in previous Xs, you can't pick and choose the weapons - each ship has a standard configuration, so your options boil down to "have this gun or don't have it" - obviously, the answer is basically always "have it". If, for whatever reason, a ship you have doesn't have a full complement of surface elements, then you can use the Modify Ship => Upgrade option at the ship dealer to rectify the situation.)

If you decide to take the Taranis with you to Albion, then you may want to add it to your squad. It will then by default follow you around. My own preference, when I have any nimble capital ships with me, is to actually stay docked on my favourite and order the captain to go wherever I need to, thus getting chauffeured around. I then undock if/when I need to visit a station, or get my own hands dirty with something. IMPORTANT: Be careful with your military ships when in Albion, which is now semi-hostile territory to you. Because PMC will now shoot your military ships on sight, it's not a good idea to travel around in/with such (well, other than your Skunk itself) - when moving around Albion, if you want to ride in style, use a capital freighter, such as your Rahanas, for example (later on, a Lepton is a nice alternative - good cargo types, very quick and nimble, and easier to dock with than a Rahanas.)

Thank you very much. I see I'll still have to learn a lot about that game...

cu
Rainer

[RainerPrem]

Okay, next question:

When I docked at the CV to board the Taranis there was a yellow light and the ship suddenly was in the next zone. The same when I docked after the successful boarding.

But then I docked at the Taranis and told the Captain "Bring me to deVries". The ship - although filled to the brink with jumpcells - did not jump. It was moving, since there were messages "reaching (zone name)".

So I undocked, flew to deVries by myself and ordered the Taranis to follow. She constantly flew into the PMC fleet near the gate, was severely damaged, and didn't manage to follow me.

Is that normal? The CV I ordered to follow me to deVries hasn't yet arrived but seems to make substantial progress. Can anybody enlighten me?

cu
Rainer

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

During the boarding mission you will have destroyed the jumpdrive on the Taranis. In order for it to be repaired, an Engineer will need to be put to work on the Taranis and sufficient time for repairs will have to pass. This probably hasn't completed.

You can check if the jumpdrive is damaged or not on the ship's Detail Menu, and you can see what the Engineer is currently repairing in their Detail Menu.

Jumpdrives on capital ships only work between Sectors. If a ship is in the same sector as a Gate, it will Lways fly to the gate.

If you have a Defense Officer on the Taranis set to attack (see their Detail Menu), it will pick fights with any red object it passes. This is dangerous if you don't want that to happen under normal circumstances, and although not relevent in this case, it is often fatal near the gate to DV if a ship jumps to that Sector (due to proximity of a station to the jump beacon).

A Defense Officer can be set to Defend in order to potentially trigger less return fire.

[RainerPrem]

During the boarding mission you will have destroyed the jumpdrive on the Taranis. In order for it to be repaired, an Engineer will need to be put to work on the Taranis and sufficient time for repairs will have to pass. This probably hasn't completed.

You can check if the jumpdrive is damaged or not on the ship's Detail Menu, and you can see what the Engineer is currently repairing in their Detail Menu.

Jumpdrives on capital ships only work between Sectors. If a ship is in the same sector as a Gate, it will Lways fly to the gate.

If you have a Defense Officer on the Taranis set to attack (see their Detail Menu), it will pick fights with any red object it passes. This is dangerous if you don't want that to happen under normal circumstances, and although not relevent in this case, it is often fatal near the gate to DV if a ship jumps to that Sector (due to proximity of a station to the jump beacon).

A Defense Officer can be set to Defend in order to potentially trigger less return fire.

I waited until the ship was completely (100%) repaired before I gave her another order. The defense officer is on "Defense", the jump drive is "OK" and the tank is full.

cu
Rainer

[RAVEN.myst]

Unlike in previous Xs, jump GATES don't act as jumpdrive destinations for capital ships, only jump BEACONS do - so your Taranis will jump from its original hidey hole in Inner World to the jump beacon at Wrecksville in Lookout Alpha, then turn toward the gate in Auspicious Excavation and boost to there, arriving near the gate but still needing to "walk" the rest of the way to it. This is why in an earlier post I recommended trying to pick a "quiet"(ish) time to slip the Taranis through. That being said, there's pretty much always a small PMC guard detachment hanging around that area, and it moves around, so it's pretty nigh impossible to time it right, and so luck plays a part. It's important to do it the way you did it in your second attempt, ie. not to be present nearby: as a veteran of previous Xs, you are no doubt aware that there is quite a disparity between how in-sector and out-of-sector combat is handled in those games - well, in Rebirth this is even more so, and trying to get a battleship through that gauntlet "in-zone" is pretty much guaranteed to be a doomed quest, while doing it in absentia has a much better chance of success. If you find you can't get it through even while you're elsewhere, don't just reload and try again right away, rather wait a while for the disposition of the local forces to change, and try again later. You can also try to hasten this by flying to the Albion side of that gate, pulling faces and waving your arms and shouting "yoohoo" at the guard group, then drawing them farther from the gate before quickly bolting out of there - this *may* set up a more favourable arrangement of the pieces (just be sure to take into account the path your ship will take from the Lookout Alpha jump beacon, and draw the patrol away not just from the gate, but from that flight path.)

Ugh, sorry about that monolithic paragraph...

[RainerPrem]

Unlike in previous Xs, jump GATES don't act as jumpdrive destinations for capital ships, only jump BEACONS do - so your Taranis will jump from its original hidey hole in Inner World to the jump beacon at Wrecksville in Lookout Alpha, then turn toward the gate in Auspicious Excavation and boost to there, arriving near the gate but still needing to "walk" the rest of the way to it. This is why in an earlier post I recommended trying to pick a "quiet"(ish) time to slip the Taranis through. That being said, there's pretty much always a small PMC guard detachment hanging around that area, and it moves around, so it's pretty nigh impossible to time it right, and so luck plays a part. It's important to do it the way you did it in your second attempt, ie. not to be present nearby: as a veteran of previous Xs, you are no doubt aware that there is quite a disparity between how in-sector and out-of-sector combat is handled in those games - well, in Rebirth this is even more so, and trying to get a battleship through that gauntlet "in-zone" is pretty much guaranteed to be a doomed quest, while doing it in absentia has a much better chance of success. If you find you can't get it through even while you're elsewhere, don't just reload and try again right away, rather wait a while for the disposition of the local forces to change, and try again later. You can also try to hasten this by flying to the Albion side of that gate, pulling faces and waving your arms and shouting "yoohoo" at the guard group, then drawing them farther from the gate before quickly bolting out of there - this *may* set up a more favourable arrangement of the pieces (just be sure to take into account the path your ship will take from the Lookout Alpha jump beacon, and draw the patrol away not just from the gate, but from that flight path.)

Ugh, sorry about that monolithic paragraph...

Hi,

in the meantime it made it, and now it's on guard duty near the construction place of the campaign factory in deVries. It's a little annoying that with every successful kill of a Reiver my reputation with them is noisily set to -25. Who cares?

cu
Rainer

[RAVEN.myst]

It's a little annoying that with every successful kill of a Reiver my reputation with them is noisily set to -25. Who cares?

Indeed! The trouble with that is the overloaded/overused little bit of screen real-estate in the form of that radar-cum-notifications area - it wears too many hats, and is thus constantly spammed by all sorts of things, often obscuring the important info - especially in the later game, when you have lots of ships and stations and what-not, all letting you know about their activities. Here's hoping that in X4 the radar/target-info is kept separate from general norifications. In the meantime, you may or may not have discovered a (rather laborious, unfortunately) workaround: you can hit your radar overlay or radar mode hotkey to clear messages (text, not incoming video transmissions) - you have to do it twice, of course, to get you back where to the mode you started in. As for incoming video/radio comms that obstruct, SOME of them can be dismissed by using the Interact hotkey (F by default, methinks) or the drone menu hotkey (again, twice so as to then dismiss the drone menu itself.)

Happy hunting!

[RainerPrem]

It's a little annoying that with every successful kill of a Reiver my reputation with them is noisily set to -25. Who cares?

Indeed! The trouble with that is the overloaded/overused little bit of screen real-estate in the form of that radar-cum-notifications area - it wears too many hats, and is thus constantly spammed by all sorts of things, often obscuring the important info - especially in the later game, when you have lots of ships and stations and what-not, all letting you know about their activities.
...

As for incoming video/radio comms that obstruct, SOME of them can be dismissed by using the Interact hotkey (F by default, methinks) or the drone menu hotkey (again, twice so as to then dismiss the drone menu itself.)

Happy hunting!

Hi,

It's more the distraction that bothers me - trying to hit a mine-infested 4-lock-box and then such a message pops up ...

What bothers me much more is the inability to react to anything while cutscenes play (e.g. first Reiver attack) and the constant automatic re-targeting.

I like the fact that I need to smuggle myself through all those PMC patrols attacking me while I'm scanning a station. That really brings depth into that game.

What about those police actions? In X3 there were about ten seconds between the first announcement to be scanned and the command to drop any illegal ware - which I seldom carried myself.

In XR there is a woman saying something about dropping illegal goods, and one second later they attack me, and the station is red. I don't even have the time to open my inventory and follow her order. THAT is annoying.

cu
Rainer