Quick guide to infinite riches... and more! - improvements in upcoming update 1.2

[Sovereign01]

Do TPs still need cargo life support system or is it redundant on those ships? Thanks to the dynamic rep pirate bases are now only letting me dock but won't let me buy the CLS.

Passenger Transports have life support built in. CLS is also available at:

Spoiler

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Teladi Trading Station Merchant Haven, and Strong Arms stations in Rhonkar's Trial

Thanks, that's what I thought but couldn't be sure. Looks like I've got more sectors to reveal!

[BrigandPhantos77]

I am by no means an expert. But I want to share something I learned that has helped me make a good amount of credits.

There is a widely known sector where you can mine Nividium. And does it respawn still? I have no clue. None of my Nividium has respawned as of 14 days in game.

The following ships I recommend for this operation. This is a let it go and check back operation.
Sector Location:

Spoiler

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Getsu Fune : Go north then west. Check your distance settings loading your game. There should be a distant cluster of asteroids. This initial trip should be made in a fast m4/m5 ship. Recommend at least 500 m/s speed. There are 3 asteroids available; 1, 5 and 7 in there values.

Pre-scan the whole system with a mineral scanner.

Recommended ships.
Ozias Goner TL
Consus - Roid Buster; Must have mining command software, Mobile Drilling System, Special Command Software
5 Any Type TS with Ore Collector, Special Command Software

Mercury and Demeters can equip the mobile drill. But you will have to repair them after a while. The Consus should be fine with it's 200MJ shields.
I'd recommend the following as well.
Ozias must have a Jump Drive and Transporter Device. Stay OOS doing this. I'd recommend using a TS as a fuel-energy cell hauler. Ideally you'd want a jump drive on all TS involved as well.

Jump the Ozias in. Move To the Nearest Roid containing the Nividium. Then launch the Roid Buster to mine for Nividium, launch the other 5 TS and have them collect rocks. They should collect the Nividium with the Roid Buster. Check back every so often and use the Transporter to pull the Nividium into the Ozias Cargo Hold. I actually use 2 of these TL's, using the second as a ferry to transport the mined to me HQ.

Nividium will sell regular from your HQ. You may have to drop the price a 100 credits every so often to encourage the traders to come, and occasionally it may take a while. 3000 Nividium is a hefty chunk of change when it sells.

15,974 x 3000 = 47,922,000 credits.

The value of those 3 asteroids is a lot more than a jump beacon. I've purchased so far - Boron EQ Dock, Boron Trading Station, Argon Cerberus, 2nd Ozias, Finished my 1st TOA for a HSAP. And currently sitting on 92 million personal account. So far only Strong Arms hate me, but the Paranid love me. Thinking of buying a Deimos to compliment the Cerberus.

Ozias base cost is 15,125,000 (Roguey's site) - I think in game its more like 19\20 million
Consus base cost is 6,332,000 (Roguey's site) - I think in game its more like 10\11 million
Roguey's prices feel low compared to in-game. HQ cost?
Jump Drives are 360k a piece.
Startup cost is about 33 million all together. (factoring in Mobile Drill and Transporter)

Spoiler

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I wonder if I can convince the Boron to invade Rhonkar's Trial. That way I can visit the Beta site again. You can buy Cargo Life Support also in Great Trench from the Boron Research Station. As well as Pirate Stations provided you have the reputation.

To get a Mobile Drill you may have to encourage one of the Paranid factories with the resources to make one.

[Hwitvlf]

None of my Nividium has respawned as of 14 days in game.

I destroyed several asteroids in multiple sectors and they respawned within a few days, but I noticed the asteroids destroyed by my miners OOS have not respawned after several days. I wonder if asteroids desrtoyed OOS don't come back. That would be unfortunate

[Solomon Short]

I don't know if this still applies in X3FL (as I keep failing to get back into it), but back in X3R the best way to make money off Nividium was to sell it from (modded) stations where it was deemed a product, so you could set it Max & the station would still sell it rather than try to buy it.

As such, what you probably want to do is build a bunch of Nividium Mines on low yield Asteroids of any other Mineral than Nividium, then dump your Nividium into their storage (upgrading the mine "size" whenever possible), combining them into Complexes & turning the Mines off, so they don't waste eCells is probably also an idea (Edit: Ignore this, it was my misunderstanding: especially now that mines can be moved past gates with the right TL gear), though you probably don't want your complexes too large, as the more ships that can dock at a time, the more customers you can have (when I do get back into FL, I'm hoping to arrange it so I have lots of 5*XXL complexes all over the place, so my revenue restrictions will mostly stem from waiting for the actual Nividium 'Roids to respawn).

[Hwitvlf]

As such, what you probably want to do is build a bunch of Nividium Mines on low yield Asteroids of any other Mineral than Nividium, then dump your Nividium into their storage (upgrading the mine "size" whenever possible), combining them into Complexes & turning the Mines off, so they don't waste eCells is probably also an idea (especially now that mines can be moved past gates with the right TL gear)...

Great idea so I tried it out and it does work in FL. Nividium mines placed on non-Nividium asteroids even still produce, but the cycle is extremely long. You get 16 Nividum storage per mine in the complex, and Nividuim mines can't be upgraded like others. I don't think you can move mines to a different sector though, as they can't be packed up.

Lost Order has a bunch of 0 yield asteroids so it could be a good location if you're friendly with the pirates.

[Stardolphin]

(especially now that mines can be moved past gates with the right TL gear)

How to move mines through gate with TL? I think the pack station will leave the origin asteroid?

[Novvak]

(especially now that mines can be moved past gates with the right TL gear)

How to move mines through gate with TL? I think the pack station will leave the origin asteroid?

You can't pack mines.
The only exception is when your TL with Build software Mk3 is tasked with building a complex out of existing complexes.
E.g you want to extend an existing factory by an additional mines and relocate it somewhere within the same sector. In this scenario, TL ship can pick up the mine and put it in a different location, but it doesn't end up in ships inventory.

[Stardolphin]

(especially now that mines can be moved past gates with the right TL gear)

How to move mines through gate with TL? I think the pack station will leave the origin asteroid?

You can't pack mines.
The only exception is when your TL with Build software Mk3 is tasked with building a complex out of existing complexes.
E.g you want to extend an existing factory by an additional mines and relocate it somewhere within the same sector. In this scenario, TL ship can pick up the mine and put it in a different location, but it doesn't end up in ships inventory.

Thanks for the information, I never pack mines.

The origin question is change mines' sector. Solomon Short said mines can be moved past gates with the right TL gear, I really curious how to do that.

[Novvak]

That would involve packing station, and you can't do that with mines. It is not possible to move mines between sectors, what you see is what you get.

The only way to get new asteroids you can use for mines is to talk to explorers guild amd buy an asteroid from them for discovery points. This is very rare, however.

[Stardolphin]

That would involve packing station, and you can't do that with mines. It is not possible to move mines between sectors, what you see is what you get.

The only way to get new asteroids you can use for mines is to talk to explorers guild amd buy an asteroid from them for discovery points. This is very rare, however.

Then it seems that sentence is a misinformation, thanks for confirmation.

I know asteroids can be bought from Explorers Guild Representative, but I never seem them at player owned stations. It may not be possible to get extra asteroids at player owned sector by this way.

[Solomon Short]

That would involve packing station, and you can't do that with mines. It is not possible to move mines between sectors, what you see is what you get.

The only way to get new asteroids you can use for mines is to talk to explorers guild amd buy an asteroid from them for discovery points. This is very rare, however.

Then it seems that sentence is a misinformation, thanks for confirmation.

Correct, based on a minunderstanding & not having personally tested it, but Incorrect nonethless, my apologies to all.

[BrigandPhantos77]

That would involve packing station, and you can't do that with mines. It is not possible to move mines between sectors, what you see is what you get.

The only way to get new asteroids you can use for mines is to talk to explorers guild amd buy an asteroid from them for discovery points. This is very rare, however.

Then it seems that sentence is a misinformation, thanks for confirmation.

Correct, based on a minunderstanding & not having personally tested it, but Incorrect nonethless, my apologies to all.

If you don't mind the hours of mining, just mine them and put the Nividium in your headquarters. It'll sell eventually.

[Nashaulk]

Yeah I usually have several thousand units of nividium in my HQ all mined automatically.

Every once in a while some crazy Teladi will buy 400 - 600 units. Also it'll help if these slow moving bulk freighters don't have to run a gauntlet of Xenon or Pirates to visit you.

What are they doing with all this nividium you ask? Well, sometimes not knowing is preferable.

[Sovereign01]

I am by no means an expert. But I want to share something I learned that has helped me make a good amount of credits.

There is a widely known sector where you can mine Nividium. And does it respawn still? I have no clue. None of my Nividium has respawned as of 14 days in game.

The following ships I recommend for this operation. This is a let it go and check back operation.
Sector Location:

Spoiler

Show

Getsu Fune : Go north then west. Check your distance settings loading your game. There should be a distant cluster of asteroids. This initial trip should be made in a fast m4/m5 ship. Recommend at least 500 m/s speed. There are 3 asteroids available; 1, 5 and 7 in there values.

Pre-scan the whole system with a mineral scanner.

Recommended ships.
Ozias Goner TL
Consus - Roid Buster; Must have mining command software, Mobile Drilling System, Special Command Software
5 Any Type TS with Ore Collector, Special Command Software

Mercury and Demeters can equip the mobile drill. But you will have to repair them after a while. The Consus should be fine with it's 200MJ shields.
I'd recommend the following as well.
Ozias must have a Jump Drive and Transporter Device. Stay OOS doing this. I'd recommend using a TS as a fuel-energy cell hauler. Ideally you'd want a jump drive on all TS involved as well.

Jump the Ozias in. Move To the Nearest Roid containing the Nividium. Then launch the Roid Buster to mine for Nividium, launch the other 5 TS and have them collect rocks. They should collect the Nividium with the Roid Buster. Check back every so often and use the Transporter to pull the Nividium into the Ozias Cargo Hold. I actually use 2 of these TL's, using the second as a ferry to transport the mined to me HQ.

Nividium will sell regular from your HQ. You may have to drop the price a 100 credits every so often to encourage the traders to come, and occasionally it may take a while. 3000 Nividium is a hefty chunk of change when it sells.

15,974 x 3000 = 47,922,000 credits.

The value of those 3 asteroids is a lot more than a jump beacon. I've purchased so far - Boron EQ Dock, Boron Trading Station, Argon Cerberus, 2nd Ozias, Finished my 1st TOA for a HSAP. And currently sitting on 92 million personal account. So far only Strong Arms hate me, but the Paranid love me. Thinking of buying a Deimos to compliment the Cerberus.

Ozias base cost is 15,125,000 (Roguey's site) - I think in game its more like 19\20 million
Consus base cost is 6,332,000 (Roguey's site) - I think in game its more like 10\11 million
Roguey's prices feel low compared to in-game. HQ cost?
Jump Drives are 360k a piece.
Startup cost is about 33 million all together. (factoring in Mobile Drill and Transporter)

Spoiler

Show

I wonder if I can convince the Boron to invade Rhonkar's Trial. That way I can visit the Beta site again. You can buy Cargo Life Support also in Great Trench from the Boron Research Station. As well as Pirate Stations provided you have the reputation.

To get a Mobile Drill you may have to encourage one of the Paranid factories with the resources to make one.

So to check, it's just one Consus I need for this? And should I sell the nvidium just from the HQ or would the hub be just as good?

[Sovereign01]

UPDATE: So I went to all the trouble of buying and equipping those ships, only to fall at the last hurdle- obtaining the mining command software. Turns out the only place that offers that is NMMC, which I cannot dock at because they hate me. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So I just blew all the credits I have on a bunch of ships that I cannot use because the one piece of software that holds the whole thing together and I cannot get it?

[Da-V-Man]

UPDATE: So I went to all the trouble of buying and equipping those ships, only to fall at the last hurdle- obtaining the mining command software. Turns out the only place that offers that is NMMC, which I cannot dock at because they hate me. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So I just blew all the credits I have on a bunch of ships that I cannot use because the one piece of software that holds the whole thing together and I cannot get it?

You can use agents to steal the software from them. If you have a -100 hostile diplomacy modifier because of destroying their ships/stations, you'll have to wait out the timer before trying, but once you get it you'll never need NMMC again.

Well, aside from the Build Software. You'll want to steal that too.

[Sovereign01]

UPDATE: So I went to all the trouble of buying and equipping those ships, only to fall at the last hurdle- obtaining the mining command software. Turns out the only place that offers that is NMMC, which I cannot dock at because they hate me. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? So I just blew all the credits I have on a bunch of ships that I cannot use because the one piece of software that holds the whole thing together and I cannot get it?

You can use agents to steal the software from them. If you have a -100 hostile diplomacy modifier because of destroying their ships/stations, you'll have to wait out the timer before trying, but once you get it you'll never need NMMC again.

Well, aside from the Build Software. You'll want to steal that too.

Is the only way to recruit agents via the explorer's guild? I've been going from system to system checking out trading docks, at the moment agents are very thin on the ground so no stealing just yet. I'm also trying to get in good with OTAS so I can get my Sirokos and begin boarding!

[Da-V-Man]

Is the only way to recruit agents via the explorer's guild? I've been going from system to system checking out trading docks, at the moment agents are very thin on the ground so no stealing just yet. I'm also trying to get in good with OTAS so I can get my Sirokos and begin boarding!

No, you can also get agents from Taxi Missions (they need to be done with a TP), and Defend Station missions. Not all of those mission types will offer an agent, so you'll want to check for them, It will say "agent" in the rewards area if it offers one as a reward.

[Jimmy C]

As an aside, don't bother with agents using your discovery points. If they are offered by the Guild, you can find them in missions. In fact, most of the things the Guild offers for your DP can be bought, so you should just buy them from the market. Save your DP for the things you can't buy. Like blueprints of unpurchaseable ships. Even then, you might want to consider if you can just capture those ships instead.
There's one thing you absolutely have to buy from the Guild, the plans for the Boarding Pod. Being able to build them yourself really saves on capture costs.

[Sovereign01]

As an aside, don't bother with agents using your discovery points. If they are offered by the Guild, you can find them in missions. In fact, most of the things the Guild offers for your DP can be bought, so you should just buy them from the market. Save your DP for the things you can't buy. Like blueprints of unpurchaseable ships. Even then, you might want to consider if you can just capture those ships instead.
There's one thing you absolutely have to buy from the Guild, the plans for the Boarding Pod. Being able to build them yourself really saves on capture costs.

I did buy the plans for the Adv. Express. Not sure I'll ever make the ship itself since a couple of the abandoned ships I've found were TPs, but it's there if I want it. How much were the pods in AP? I'm sure they weren't a quarter of a million before. In AP what I did was have TPs docked at all the military outposts that offered marines and bought pods whenever I bought/trained.

Are the chances of stealing success greater if standing with the target is better? Somehow I managed to complete a station building mission with NMMC (one of their guys was aboard one of the other stations in the sector who offered me the mission) so they're at least letting me land at their HQ now.