Finding some beginner pirates.

[BMEdwards37]

Hey guys, been researching all night, trying to search before I bother you. Alas, my search has turned up nothing and here I am; the one thing that remained constant through research was that this was the place for advice, so here goes:

I started as a humble trader, worked from one ship to two, and then bought my first combat ship, m4 buster with 3 5mj shields and 2 particle accelerator cannons. Three questions rise from this.

1. Everywhere i look (equipment seller, light weapon manufacturer) they're out of particle accelerator cannons, what gives?

2. How should I outfit the ship? Right now I've got 3x 5MJ shields, 2 particle accelerator cannons, and 2 impulse ray emitters. Good, bad, indifferent?

3. Where can I find some beginning pirates? I've tried two sectors with a supposed pirate base (Ore Belt, Atreus Clouds) and in Atreus I finally found a couple pirates attacking some ships that were dead before I could arrive. Aside from this I've seen nothing.

I appreciate any advice.

[Zaitsev]

1. Everywhere i look (equipment seller, light weapon manufacturer) they're out of particle accelerator cannons, what gives?

Check the stations and see if they lack any resources. They might be out of energy, ore or food, any of which will grind production to a halt. It also take some time to produce weapons, and NPC traders can come along and swipe everything if you're not careful, so you might need a lot of patience and a little luck

2. How should I outfit the ship? Right now I've got 3x 5MJ shields, 2 particle accelerator cannons, and 2 impulse ray emitters. Good, bad, indifferent?

In my opinion, not the best but good for starters. The Impulse ray emitter is a relatively weak weapon, so I prefer the bigger punch of the particle accelerator cannon. On a side note, did you upgrade your speed, rudder and cargo bay capacity? Those can mean the difference between a hefty reward and, in a worst case scenario, game over.

3. Where can I find some beginning pirates? I've tried two sectors with a supposed pirate base (Ore Belt, Atreus Clouds) and in Atreus I finally found a couple pirates attacking some ships that were dead before I could arrive. Aside from this I've seen nothing.

Pirates spawn randomly, but they tend to get wiped out in race sectors. Also, a pirate base doesn't necessarily mean there will be any pirates in the sector, but head south from Atreus' Clouds into Farnham's Legend. That's the northwest end of what we tend to refer to as "Pirate alley", and it's the closest chance you'll have to find pirates.
A word of warning, though - if you plan on hunting pirates you have to be careful, or they'll gang up on you and roast your ship before you can say "the cake is a lie." Watch out for plasma burst generators.

[Bill Huntington]

BMEdwards37, Welcome to TC !

You did come to right place, but you haven't told us enough to really advise you. I can give some generic advice for now, but we need to know what game your are playing, TC or AP.

Early in the game, it is common to have the Eq Docks and even the M Outposts (MO) low or out of stock. Keep looking and also look at the places that will have them. The Rolk's Fate Light Weapons Station usually has the weapons, and close to them are more shields. But you will need $ and Boron rank to get them. Omicron Lyrae usually has light weapons.

But you have exactly what you need to start a life of crime. More later.

Do you want to learn combat, and increase your fighting rank ? Do you want to just kill pirates ? Or just kill anything ? Do you want to make some money capping the small ships ? Do you want to cap an M3 to move up to the next level ? We don't know. Tell us.

I have enjoyed some of the TC starts where you start with a Harrier and little cash. You have to scavenge and such to get $3 k, to get Fight 2. Eventually you cap a better M5, then an M4, a better 4, an M3, then a better M3. My goal is a Mamba Vanguard or Mamba Proto. For a newer pilot, getting an all - rounder like the Nova Raider would get you well into combat and everything. It has a rear turret which will help you a lot with enemy missiles. The Buster is not that bad, just set the PAC on button 1 and the IRE on button 2. Use the PAC to bring shields down, change to IRE when the hull is at 87%. There is more strategy here, so check on that.

Sorry to tell you this, but just killing pirates is not a smart thing to do. If you kill too many, then there are more and more red pirates in the game, and they will attack you and all your ships everywhere in TC. You do increase your fight rank, and that about it. Before long, you will get enemies you have no chance with. So you have to move up with your increasing fight rank, in ship, in shields, in weapons, in skills.

Harder than killing the enemy is to cap him, make him bail out, ... and leave you his ship to claim, repair, and then keep or sell. A regular M3 can be sold for $1 Mil, and some for $3 Mil.

If you choose capping, your next choice is the right enemy. It is usually either pirates or Paranid. I usually choose Paranid because their TS ships are good targets, and the biggest one sells at the SY for $ 1 Mil.
If you cap a Paranid ship in Argon space, you actually gain rep for doing it. And rebuilding Paranid rep is not that hard, when you are ready to do it.

Again, Welcome to TC !

[perkint]

Have a wander over to Elena's Fortune. There's often some pirate traffic through there. If you want an easy target, wait for a group to actually make it across the sector (may happen - if it doesn't just keep picking up the debris from them getting toasted & flog it for good early game cash!) and then, when only one of the group has not gone through the gate, attack him! The others won't come back through and it gives you time to hit him fairly hard (at least as hard as a couple of PACs and IREs can!) before he starts to fight back. Just make sure your shots don't hit the gate as the locals won't like that.

I tend to start out aiming for falcons - with no turrets they are fairly easy targets and can make good cash if the pilot bails!!

Tim

[insolent1]

Non mission pased pirate m3's nearly always have plasma burst generators and they are to be feared.

Also learn to use the ingame encyclopedia, it records everything you or your property come in contact with and is great way to learn about everything in x3tc.

Get a better ship, buster is slow and weak shields I would recommend the argon M3 nova raider. The encyclopedia will allow you to compare and evaluate ships before buying them.

Try the combat missions the money is terrible at the start but they should be easy until your combat rank increases. They are also some of the easiest ships to capture.

[BMEdwards37]

Ok wow, go to bed and everyone replies quickly here. Thank you all. I'm going to attempt kind of a block reply and try to provide some more info.

I am playing Terran Conflict.

My Buster Vanguard does have the engine, rudder, cargo, duplex sensor - basically the upgrades I can find, along with the rudimentary trade ones allowing me to see prices in the sector and whatnot. I've got the 3 5MJ shields, 2 PACs (came with it, only Buster Sentinel M was available, L was sold out) and the 2 Impulse Ray Emitters just because I can't currently find PACs.

I've got my trading start going, 2 automated ships, working up money, eventually building a station, etc etc. I've got a guy's series on youtube i'm following to learn this. I've got my m4 now, I guess pirates was the only thing I could think of for combat (I had it in my head the crosshair combat missions were hard) and what I'm really looking for, I guess, is how I should break into combat as my traders trade. I like the paranid in argon space idea, does this cause them all to become red moving through the zones? Are they just TS or will my automated traders in argon space get killed by pissed off paranids? Are combat missions my best bet to break into combat (I'd like to make some money too, now or eventually, from combat also) or is there another way?

And for ship outfitting, aside from getting another ship (this is the only one I had rep for, it's what I bought, for better or worse it's what I've got) what advice do you recommend for outfitting? 3 x 5MJ Shields are on now, the max I think, and the above-mentioned guns. I'm looking for more PACs, do I want 4? 3? And i have some silkworm missiles I picked up to go with but have never even fired one before.

I know getting into combat is easier with the Terran defender start, I went through mission one, patrolled, waited waited waited (no ships would come, just wait, move on), move on, etc until it told me to go to last system. Went through gate, it stopped my ship to zero for cinematic and to tell me to dock, I clicked the station and BOOM something rammed me from behind, entering through the gate, and it was game over. I didn't feel like waiting through all of those patrols again right away.

Oh and last thing, as far as looking for equipment, I've checked weapon manufacturers and they've got the materials so I just need to wait. It's the equipment docks that I wonder about, they're always empty, shouldn't they at least sometimes be stocked? or do they realistically receive their stock via traders and the factories?

Thanks guys! I have class all day today so I won't be able to check in until this evening (about 11 hours) but I will be back! Feel free to add any other info you think would benefit me.

Edit: Oops! thought of one more thing. Haven't seen this in videos yet - As far as automated traders go, I see that i can do trade routes (specific station to specific station), or i can do remote best buy (to a selected sector) or remote best sell (current sector). Right now it's Remote best buy, navigate to sell sector, remote best sell and they trade away in the background. Is there any way to automate this more? Such as a trade route but instead of specific stations it just goes between two sectors best buying and best selling?

One more edit: Which paranids in Argon space should I kill? Tried a weapon trader and his escorts smashed me, a fresh food trader was a softer target but my lasers ran out of charge (I found a third PAC) and i screwed up. I need to practice combat more.

[insolent1]

For automated trading you need trade MK 3, this can be bought at terracorp HQ in home of light it also sells jumpdrives and transporter device.

Mission payouts and enemies are based on your fight rank if its low you will only face weak enemies, although in a buster you will have a hard time dealing with m5's.

The economy takes a while to get going and its patchy at best if your looking for PAC's military outposts are the place to find them aswell as the PAC fabs(use the encyclopedia).

I'd leave the paranid alone they are superior beings afterall

[Nanook]

...
Oh and last thing, as far as looking for equipment, I've checked weapon manufacturers and they've got the materials so I just need to wait. It's the equipment docks that I wonder about, they're always empty, shouldn't they at least sometimes be stocked? or do they realistically receive their stock via traders and the factories?...

The equipment docks are stocked by traders buying from weapons factories and selling to the docks. If it was any other way, you, the player, couldn't make money selling weapons. Also, the inventory in the equipment docks 'evaporates' over time, simulating NPC's buying them for their own ships (which doesn't actually happen, btw).

There is quicker, albeit more dangerous, way to acquire those PAC's you're looking for. Go into pirate space, scan weapons and high tech traders, and you may find some carrying extra weapons. Beat their shields down and do a little damage to their ship and then comm them. There's usually an option to 'surrender and drop freight' in the comms menu, and using that, they'll often drop some of their cargo. Do it repeatedly and you can pretty much empty their cargo hold.

But beware if they have fighter drones on board. Your little Buster will have a hard time defending against and surviving an attack by multiple drones, unless you use the Mosquito Missile Defense system from the Bonus Pack. Good luck and good hunting.

[Bill Huntington]

Good start, Pilot ! You are trying things and seeing if it works. Attacking a Weapons Carrier with an escort will not usually end well, especially in a Buster. At first, it is smart to attack TS targets, to develop your skills. Avoid Paranid military targets at first. The M4 and M3 targets that are traders will be easier to deal with.

Salvage Insurance is a wise precaution. It gives you the choice to repeat an operation over and over, until you see what it takes to work, and then to do it. Before you get Salvage Insurance, you can use a nearby Station and begin the operation from there.

All the info about a ship can be helpful. One number is important to decide if a fighting ship is good. That is Laser Energy Reload. That tells you how much energy is generated on a constant basis. If you run out, you simply can’t fire any more. That is why having 2 PACs in almost the same as having 3 PACs on the Buster. 2 PACs is enough to lower the shields of the enemies that you will be hunting right now, and that is what matters.

I usually just pick on the biggest Paranid TS, for the $. After you take a few, they upgrade their defenses.

When you can, go to a MO and pick up the Triplex Scanner. Seeing further helps a lot. Putting up Advanced Satellites in every sector where you want to hunt or trade will help. Carry Mosquito missiles and activate Mosquito defense. It will help with Fighter Drones and missiles. I usually carry 10. Since I usually want to cap a ship, I rarely use other missiles. The Wasp is the only one I carry early in the game.

Learning to strafe is vital to your survival in combat. Learning to fire weapons on target and strafing at the same time is a key skill to develop. Strafing avoids enemy fire. The enemy is firing to where you will be at your current speed and heading. Strafing changes that, and quickly. So you are hitting him, and he is not hitting you. You can strafe with 2 keys at the same time, with more effect. W,A,S, & D are the strafe keys. You can hold W & A at the same time, or W & D, but not W & S and not A & D.

There is a pirate version of the Nova Raider that is not so good. The regular Nova Raider is sold at Omicron Lyrae SY for about $2 Mil or maybe $2.5 when outfitted. It is regularly offered as a Used Ship, for about $.5 Mil. Make sure you get the regular Nova R, with a speed of 190. The pirate version has a speed of 140 or so. Learning to use your astronaut repair laser will save many $ and much time.

You mentioned rookie pirates in your first post. Usually they aren’t. But you can check on it, and your pirate rep. Just access Change Name, and put in “Thereshallbewings”. This will allow you to check on your pirate rep, and even the morale of the pilot of another ship. A pilot with higher morale won’t bail as easy. This will get your game a Modified Tag, so it is wise to reload after you check. Once you do the Change Name, you get to the Command Console, scroll down to the Script Editor, hit Return twice, and then choose Additional Info, and change it to Yes. Then access a pirate or pirate base, and scroll down to the end of Info.

There are better Game Starts in TC for combat. Argon Patriot is an average start, but good for a new pilot, since you can do either combat or trade. I would advise you to continue with your present game until it makes sense to restart. You have a lot to learn, and you can do a lot of it right now.

By the way, the Buster is not bad for a ship. You can do a lot with it. I’ve had a Harrier with 1 x 1MJ shield and 2 IRE and went up from there. You can improve where you are, and the Buster is something to do it with.

Good Hunting !!

[Kirlack]

By the way, the Buster is not bad for a ship. You can do a lot with it. I’ve had a Harrier with 1 x 1MJ shield and 2 IRE and went up from there. You can improve where you are, and the Buster is something to do it with.

Agreed. I used a Buster Raider for a while near the start of my Dead is Dead game and had a fair bit of success with it. I like to use a couple of Phased Repeater Guns as my primary weapon though, for the extra range over the PACs. That ship kept me going for a while 'til I capped a Baracuda Vanguard with it

Which paranids in Argon space should I kill? Tried a weapon trader and his escorts smashed me, a fresh food trader was a softer target but my lasers ran out of charge (I found a third PAC) and i screwed up. I need to practice combat more.

Was the Weapon Trader a TM by any chance? They can be pretty dangerous, especially in an M4 I wouldn't try tangling with them + escorts until you get a decent M3 or M3+. As Bill suggested, the Argon Nova Raider is a good solid fighter and a lot of players either learned to dogfight in one or still fly one as a personal ship. I don't though, I'm a member of the Yaki Tenjin fanboys

Try shooting down some Split M3s in Boron turf (assuming you're not worried about being on good terms with the Split), or the other way around, (if you're not worried about being on good terms with the Boron). Since most versions of the Split Mamba, and all versions of the Boron Baracuda, don't have rear turrets, if you can just get in tight behind one your three PACs should do fine for stripping down his shields and hopefully forcing him out of his cockpit Watch out for nasty missiles though Every now and again you can just wander off and take a mission or two to get your rep back to evens. It can take a while to force a pilot to bail, but it gives you a chance to practice combat

Depending on your combat rank, try taking some station defence missions. These are pretty easy early on, as the incoming ships are interested in the station, not in you, so you can just hit them at your leisure. Be warned though, at some point the missions will start to outstrip either your combat skill or the abilities of your ship. They get harder as your combat rank increases. And when the AI sends in two M8 bombers and a wing of scouts you're in trouble

[BMEdwards37]

Wow again, you guys are great. Nowhere else would replies blow up like this.

Couple more follow-up questions. I've got a save file before I bought the buster and haven't played too long since. It's got 1.2m disposable income to spend on a ship, what should I have bought?

Where can I buy used ships? Where might I find a glorious m3 for 500k? Hell I'd keep my Buster and just buy one anyway.

What exactly does salvage insurance do? I have bought a few, three I think.

I feel like I had another question, but I don't currently remember it. I'll edit it in if I remember here shortly.

Thank you guys a bunch for your continuing advice, I'd have never thought I'd get to even this point based on the first time I tried to play the game.

Edit: Remembered my other question, it was mentioned that my ship couldn't handle the m5s in the easy combat missions. Do the ships not get better in sequence, m3>m4>m5? What deals with this easier, something of the same class or the Nova Raider I keep getting advised to purchase?

[WeaponisedCookie]

1."1.2m disposable income to spend on a ship, what should I have bought?"
It's my personal opinion that better fighter cost more than 1.2 million and really you should only bother with earning more dough before you look into ships as buying and outfitting the best costs quite a bit. Even capturing costs money so get up some factories/trader/play the stock exchange/do high value missions first. You really need that cash for now. You'll want to look into M7s or M6 for a serious combat ship.

2."Where can I buy used ships"
Some ships you see in the map have cash symbols above their head. This means they're willing to sell their ships. Cash symbols at trading docks and shipyards might mean someone want to sell their ship too. Always know the market prices of the ships you buy. You may get a bad deal.

3."Where might I find a glorious m3 for 500k?"
You can buy one at Terracorp HQ in home of light.

4."What exactly does salvage insurance do?"
It allows you to save without docking at a station.

[BMEdwards37]

3."Where might I find a glorious m3 for 500k?"
You can buy one at Terracorp HQ in home of light.

Currently at Terracorp HQ, Home of Light, I don't see any ships for sale at all.

[Kirlack]

I think WeaponisedCookie got an M3 class fighter confused with Mk3 trade software

He's right about the used ships for sale though, they'll quite often appear in sector with a credit symbol noting they are for sale. I tend to find credit symbols on shipyards are usually second hand ships for sale as well, but that might just be me. For what it's worth I picked up an M5 for less than 2000 credits not so long ago

[WeaponisedCookie]

D'oh, must be all that time I spent equipping those damn traders . You can get a M3 for free however, either,

1. Make a race trust you by doing a ton of missions. Take a mission where you have to recover a ship. Don't return said ship and you've got a spanking new M3 for absolutely nothing! Except the ships will be counted as stolen and you'll lose some reputation. Besides that, it's free!

2. Attack pirates/xenon (if you don't want to piss the main races off) and hope they bail. IBLs can be obtained from the yaki anyway.

Now that 500k can be spent on glorious upgrades. Well, as glorious as an M3 gets.

[BMEdwards37]

So say i were just offered an 85% hull nova vanguard for 822k, would that have been a good deal to take? The wiki says they cost 2.8m and 15% hull damage isn't so bad.

[Kirlack]

I'm not a fan of the Nova Vanguard, but it would likely have made more at the shipyard than you paid for it Remember, your reputation with the race you're selling the ship to determines how much you'll get for it. Also, 15% damage is a pretty quick fix with your space suit's repair laser

[BMEdwards37]

That's what I was thinking. Would it be better to outfit this than my Buster? I did buy the Nova Vanguard though it came equipped with nothing. How should I outfit it? Or am I better off selling it for profit (I'm a trusted ally of the Argon) and saving up for a different m3?

[Kirlack]

Well, let's compare shall we?

The Buster is ever so slightly faster and more manouverable, but lacks cargo space compared to the NV. The Vanguard, being an M3 has far higher shielding and a larger weapons generator. Also, being both Argon ships anything you bough to outfit the Buster will also fit the Nova.

So. Personally I'd look into getting 2-4 Phased Repeater Guns for your main bank, with either High Energy Plasma Throwers or Energy Bolt Chainguns to fill out the slots. The PRGs will serve you well for shooting down smaller, fast moving targets, M5/M4 and maybe fighter drones. The HEPTs or EBCs make a great choice for breaking, well anything below M7 class really With a bit of practice you can squash most M6 with a heavy fighter. Hell, even if you just got up to 8 PACs and put them in the main laser bank you'd still be pretty deadly

I'd suggest sticking something fast firing into your rear turret, a PRG or Mass Driver (if you can source ammo for it) both work well for missile defence. Failing that, a single PAC in the turret should keep you fairly safe.

[BMEdwards37]

Does the fact that i meant that i have a Buster Vanguard with a top speed of 193 change that opinion at all by chance? And where is my best place to find all of this heavy weaponry, equipment docks and factories? Which factories in particular?