Should I have any preference about which faction's station blueprints I should acquire?

[Andrea92]

I just discovered that I can't produce boarding pods on my own and am slightly sad

You can. But you have to buy the plans from the Explorer's Guild. Costs 25,000 DP and of course, you have to keep trying with the Guild until they offer it to you. If you plan on capturing ships on a regular basis, like me, it pays to be able to produce all the resources needed to build pods yourself as well.
Until then, you can use replication to buy an unlimited supply of pods at the Ceo's Sprite shipyard. Note that building pods only costs 1/30 the credits of buying them.

literally the first time I open the guild dialogue after reading this post:

Spoiler

Show

https://i.imgur.com/xBqb7hy.png

[Jimmy C]

I'm not sure whether that makes the Xenon I easier or harder to board?

Doesn't change a thing when it comes to marines on the target ship, as long as you remember to put max+1 marines on board. What does change is that M7Ms can now carry 28 marines. Enough for that max+1 by themselves without requiring a Sirokos to tag along.

literally the first time I open the guild dialogue after reading this post:

Well done. Sorry I misremembered the price, 25k was for the plot-special discovery.

The nice thing about building pods is that it puts to use all the resources needed for building things at the HQ on a regular basis. You might run out of ships you want to build eventually. But you can always expand your stockpile of pods. I usually load the HQ with enough materials and money for building 100 pods at a time and build away for the next 5 hours and 5 minutes if I have no desire to build any ships.

Yes, since I got the pod plans, I've made more use of the HQ construction capability that I ever did in AP.

[BrigandPhantos77]

I just discovered that I can't produce boarding pods on my own and am slightly sad

Use the duplication through shipyard method. You can do it in Ceo's Sprite.

As per boarding with an M7 back above, I've been able to recover my marines each time. I always send 20 (not doing Xenon yet). I've had no problems versus Dukes, Yaki or Pirates. Once I go after a higher faction ship I may push it to 25 instead. I'm sitting on 2 M7's worth of all 100 marines currently. As they hit 100 fight, I transfer them off and bring fresh ones on to train.

The only ships I seem to pop on 1 volley of Hammer Torpedo seem to me M7s or TLs. And I always use sniping tactics to get my target's attention. Usually 1 barrage of flail barrage missiles. I've got a TL completely loaded with Flails, Hammers, Boarding Pods and a few other goodies. I actually popped an M6 with a Mosquito Missile barrage once. That was amusing. Never underestimate with firing 10 barrages of those little buggers can do. I think they forgot there bug repellent. Those mosquitos can be soo annoying.

[Jimmy C]

As per boarding with an M7 back above, I've been able to recover my marines each time.

The reason I don't get to recover them first is I get all the targets to chase me. Then I begin by boarding the rearmost first. Ideally, it would be the slowest, but that's not always the case, nor do I always have the luxury of waiting until the slowest falls behind. Hopefully the boarded ship is out of weapons range of the next ship when the boarding is complete, but that's not always the case either. The result of this approach is, there's almost always a ship between me and the boarded ship, so recovery before the next boarding is unlikely.
Even when I have to board the closer ship first, the next ship is often too close to risk a recovery before I have to deal with it.

The only ships I seem to pop on 1 volley of Hammer Torpedo seem to me M7s or TLs.

I did say 6GJ and under.

And I always use sniping tactics to get my target's attention. Usually 1 barrage of flail barrage missiles.

I used to do that too back in AP during my early boarding days. But it was hard to tell when I hit them enough to get them to chase me. Now, I just shoot them from my Maru until they follow me. On Station Defense missions anyway. On Kill missions, they'll follow you if you Flail their escorts.

[BrigandPhantos77]

And I always use sniping tactics to get my target's attention. Usually 1 barrage of flail barrage missiles.

I used to do that too back in AP during my early boarding days. But it was hard to tell when I hit them enough to get them to chase me. Now, I just shoot them from my Maru until they follow me. On Station Defense missions anyway. On Kill missions, they'll follow you if you Flail their escorts.

So far I single out my targets. Then manually launch 2 flights of flails. If I am within 29km they usually turn straight into me. Before I start I always go in with my M6 to scout first. Then i lead away any gate campers and then jump my frigate in. I try not to risk letting my Kraken get into weapons range of anything. I had a Brigantine almost catch me once or twice, and a galleon did. Thankfully one of my prizes had a Turbo Mk2. That is now part of my equipment.

I did say 6GJ and under.

Aye you did. I've had a few 4 GJ survive. I still haven't capped the Pirate Carrack. My one chance so far ended with half of 2 barrage of Hammer Torpedos impacting it, and the other half targeting the gate. So needless to say, Hatikvah's Faith, both the Pirate Base and Anarchy Port are now red to me.

[Andrea92]

is there a threshold that you wouldn't cross about hiring an external service to make a complex for you?

I'm currently building my second one, this one not for making moeny but to replenish the HQ with materials. I have the blueprints but ofc you need the resources and I'm not going to hunt for microchips in the galaxy, so I'm buying the basic setup and then work up from there.

the complex costs 48 mils with all the connections, but the fee and assembly cost are 18+ millions

not sure if I should do it the old way or let them take my money to save some real time. Also I don't understand how it works (if it hires by itself all the transports, how they coordinate themselves and how ordered is the final result); also, can you choose the position and orientation of the docks?

and how does it work when you want to build it yourself, assuming you have the TL and software? do you need to already have all the stations packed in the TL before starting?

edit:

Spoiler

Show

https://i.imgur.com/w1LL3Wc.jpg

what the actual ****

[Sovereign01]

The complex building service uses a Sabre carrying a jump beacon to where the complex is to be sited so that transports can jump in and place the stations assuming you meet the notoriety requirements, I've always been OOS when it happens so I have never observed the details. The resulting stations are placed in a nice, neat square grid and get connected automatically, you just need to turn up in sector once it's done to take ownership of the complex. You'll still need to fill it up with crystals to kickstart it but it's the most convenient. And lucrative if you exploit the beacon trick! Which means you can focus on building wares, I only have two complexes running, one of which makes building materials, and missiles for my M7M. The other, being in an unclaimed sector with only silicon, makes fuel & weed. Not that I need the profits that it brings in, despite how long it took to break even.

A TL only has enough room for a few stations, it could never carry an entire complex. I believe, but never tried it myself is that the HQ has to have the stations built and ready for deployment. Something that I'll probably have to do if I plan on ever producing any Terran wares.

Looks like that TL must have been destroyed in a collision with the shipyard, that cannot happen OOS.

[DanKara]

edit:

Spoiler

Show

https://i.imgur.com/w1LL3Wc.jpg
what the actual ****

Some stations simply dislike certain ships to undock...
The (Boron) Supershipyard and HUB-station are noted for that (in case of TL and bigger ?) - Only undock those out-of-sector!
Supershipyards with internal docking are dangerous to player controlled Hyperion, Spring, Khaak Corvete - Only undock via Autopilot!

To get high amounts of microchips in a reasonable short time is to recycle Carracks. At 100% those give more than 500 chips each. If you are farming agents via station defense missions, you will see those Carracks in troves...

[Sovereign01]

edit:

Spoiler

Show

what the actual ****

Some stations simply dislike certain ships to undock...
The (Boron) Supershipyard and HUB-station are noted for that (in case of TL and bigger ?) - Only undock those out-of-sector!
Supershipyards with internal docking are dangerous to player controlled Hyperion, Spring, Khaak Corvete - Only undock via Autopilot!

To get high amounts of microchips in a reasonable short time is to recycle Carracks. At 100% those give more than 500 chips each. If you are farming agents via station defense missions, you will see those Carracks in troves...

I'm farming agents via taxi missions, I haven't really tried getting them any other way. Perhaps where the enemy is the Yaki I can have a go.

[DanKara]

I'm farming agents via taxi missions, I haven't really tried getting them any other way. Perhaps where the enemy is the Yaki I can have a go.

Taxi missions are my second branch to farm agents. Concentrate on one faction at a time. Combining taxi missions with station defense gives me a nice 'influence bonus'. I like to have that at 80% for my current 'best friends', so the costs in influence for the buying of station blueprints is fairly low...
(I am at day 11 and currently I have 2 stations left with Split, and all of Argon, Boron and ATREUS to aquire - again.)

[BrigandPhantos77]

edit:

Spoiler

Show

https://i.imgur.com/w1LL3Wc.jpg
what the actual ****

Some stations simply dislike certain ships to undock...
The (Boron) Supershipyard and HUB-station are noted for that (in case of TL and bigger ?) - Only undock those out-of-sector!
Supershipyards with internal docking are dangerous to player controlled Hyperion, Spring, Khaak Corvete - Only undock via Autopilot!

To get high amounts of microchips in a reasonable short time is to recycle Carracks. At 100% those give more than 500 chips each. If you are farming agents via station defense missions, you will see those Carracks in troves...

Just wanna say "Aran". Do not dock or undock it anywhere while "in system". In the case of the PHQ, it's model physically merges with the structure of the PHQ. Instant kaboom!

[Andrea92]

edit:

Spoiler

Show

https://i.imgur.com/w1LL3Wc.jpg
what the actual ****

Some stations simply dislike certain ships to undock...
The (Boron) Supershipyard and HUB-station are noted for that (in case of TL and bigger ?) - Only undock those out-of-sector!
Supershipyards with internal docking are dangerous to player controlled Hyperion, Spring, Khaak Corvete - Only undock via Autopilot!

To get high amounts of microchips in a reasonable short time is to recycle Carracks. At 100% those give more than 500 chips each. If you are farming agents via station defense missions, you will see those Carracks in troves...

Just wanna say "Aran". Do not dock or undock it anywhere while "in system". In the case of the PHQ, it's model physically merges with the structure of the PHQ. Instant kaboom!

it feels like something that should have been patched...

[Andrea92]

The complex building service uses a Sabre carrying a jump beacon to where the complex is to be sited so that transports can jump in and place the stations assuming you meet the notoriety requirements, I've always been OOS when it happens so I have never observed the details. The resulting stations are placed in a nice, neat square grid and get connected automatically, you just need to turn up in sector once it's done to take ownership of the complex. You'll still need to fill it up with crystals to kickstart it but it's the most convenient. And lucrative if you exploit the beacon trick! Which means you can focus on building wares, I only have two complexes running, one of which makes building materials, and missiles for my M7M. The other, being in an unclaimed sector with only silicon, makes fuel & weed. Not that I need the profits that it brings in, despite how long it took to break even.

A TL only has enough room for a few stations, it could never carry an entire complex. I believe, but never tried it myself is that the HQ has to have the stations built and ready for deployment. Something that I'll probably have to do if I plan on ever producing any Terran wares.

Looks like that TL must have been destroyed in a collision with the shipyard, that cannot happen OOS.

what about mines? do they stay where they are or are they automatically moved and integrated in the complex?

[Sovereign01]

The complex building service uses a Sabre carrying a jump beacon to where the complex is to be sited so that transports can jump in and place the stations assuming you meet the notoriety requirements, I've always been OOS when it happens so I have never observed the details. The resulting stations are placed in a nice, neat square grid and get connected automatically, you just need to turn up in sector once it's done to take ownership of the complex. You'll still need to fill it up with crystals to kickstart it but it's the most convenient. And lucrative if you exploit the beacon trick! Which means you can focus on building wares, I only have two complexes running, one of which makes building materials, and missiles for my M7M. The other, being in an unclaimed sector with only silicon, makes fuel & weed. Not that I need the profits that it brings in, despite how long it took to break even.

A TL only has enough room for a few stations, it could never carry an entire complex. I believe, but never tried it myself is that the HQ has to have the stations built and ready for deployment. Something that I'll probably have to do if I plan on ever producing any Terran wares.

Looks like that TL must have been destroyed in a collision with the shipyard, that cannot happen OOS.

what about mines? do they stay where they are or are they automatically moved and integrated in the complex?

Surprisingly yes, they are moved so you don't need to spend ages towing them within range of each other. They look much neater than if you do it manually.

[BrigandPhantos77]

Some stations simply dislike certain ships to undock...
The (Boron) Supershipyard and HUB-station are noted for that (in case of TL and bigger ?) - Only undock those out-of-sector!
Supershipyards with internal docking are dangerous to player controlled Hyperion, Spring, Khaak Corvete - Only undock via Autopilot!

To get high amounts of microchips in a reasonable short time is to recycle Carracks. At 100% those give more than 500 chips each. If you are farming agents via station defense missions, you will see those Carracks in troves...

Just wanna say "Aran". Do not dock or undock it anywhere while "in system". In the case of the PHQ, it's model physically merges with the structure of the PHQ. Instant kaboom!

it feels like something that should have been patched...

Discovered tonight that the Yaki Ryu also merges with the PHQ. On the front of it there is a tower that sticks out the top of it. I'd imagine the Valhalla probably has a similar problem, though I cannot confirm as I do not possess it.

[Andrea92]

I tested that any TL you already hired with stations inside doesn't get counted for the hire service, so I'll have to do it the old way.

I'm starting with a MVP kind of complex, totally unbalanced, that will grow up bit by bit. I'll use this chance to test the building service when you own the TL to see where you have to keep the stations.

In the meantime, eons passed and my marines are still in training. If they manage to survive, I may finally get myself that mammoth and move the PHQ from the void

[Sovereign01]

I tested that any TL you already hired with stations inside doesn't get counted for the hire service, so I'll have to do it the old way.

I'm starting with a MVP kind of complex, totally unbalanced, that will grow up bit by bit. I'll use this chance to test the building service when you own the TL to see where you have to keep the stations.

In the meantime, eons passed and my marines are still in training. If they manage to survive, I may finally get myself that mammoth and move the PHQ from the void

The service works just fine creating a new complex from the ground up, but not for adding to an existing complex. At least, I can't get that to work when I had to do that when adding production of Disintegrator Rifles for my marine barracks to my materials complex and needed two more ore mines.

My marines are similar, so far I've got 10 at 100 combat and another 11 that are fully trained in all except combat, enough to go hunting M7s and below. They're stationed in my Sirokos docked at a military outpost. Once a few more are ready I'll start boarding some the Yaki/Dukes and maybe OTAS- I've got one Boreas I'm keeping and want a second to reverse engineer.

I used an elephant for moving the HQ, its speed makes reaching the location less of a chore. Do you know where you want to move it to? I chose the Xenon Hub, below the centre.

With regards to the Aran, I found that when building it at the HQ (takes almost a full day), upon completion it just pops into existence a short distance from the station itself. No jump-flash it just appears OOS I told it to dock for the usual stuff.

The Valhalla, I have been looking for that ship actually- so far none of my ships or sats have seen one or it would appear in the encyclopedia. I've placed adv. satellites in all the Terran sectors. The placement for Earth is very problematic as the sat location is random each time, though so far I've only seen one or two small ships there. Does anyone know where I'm most likely to find the Valhalla?

[Jimmy C]

Does anyone know where I'm most likely to find the Valhalla?

Use the All-Seeing Eye. If it shows no Valhalla, then you need to remove some M2s until it spawns, capturing them would be more profitable. But I don't know if hitting any Terran M2 will do, or does it have to be ATF M2s specifically.

[Sovereign01]

Does anyone know where I'm most likely to find the Valhalla?

Use the All-Seeing Eye. If it shows no Valhalla, then you need to remove some M2s until it spawns, capturing them would be more profitable. But I don't know if hitting any Terran M2 will do, or does it have to be ATF M2s specifically.

I tried it, I was able to enable the script editor with "thereshallbewings" but couldn't get it to open despite pressing the 'o' key that it was mapped to. I must be missing something extremely obvious. In AP, Valhallas would spawn in the Argon-Terran war (captured 2 then).

Reading through the couple of threads I found about the Valhalla in FL I assumed as much, the only ATF M2 I can see is a single Tyr in Pluto with no fewer than 4 Skirnirs and 21 Thors escorting it. I just need to get my standing high enough to allow me to add to the 5 PSPs I had drop from one of the Xenon Ks I killed.

[DanKara]

I tried it, I was able to enable the script editor with "thereshallbewings" but couldn't get it to open despite pressing the 'o' key that it was mapped to.

I went with the version for AP of the 'All-seeing-Eyes'. Extracted the files to ...addon2\scripts; started the ScriptEditer with 'Thereshallbewings' and activated the script with [r] in the SE (no Hotkey). According to what I read recently a Hotkey has to be registered for a script in the game - either via a seperate script when needed or on loading a save - that step may be missing if you activate the SE midgame... (just guessing).


Regarding Valhalla: I have seen the Vahlhalla in my games only grouped with 4 Skirnirs. In my former main game I had to do away with a Tyr blocking that place in such a group (so the Val could and did spawn there). Later in that game I had at least 2 such groups of 1xVal+4xSkirnirs (at Day 20 or so). Your day-count is probably higher than my, so it may be caused by my aggression against ATF (and TER?).