X3:TC - New Player Outfitting first Rapier

cjoshuav · Post by **cjoshuav** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 20:45

So I am so new that the seats in my Sabre have that "new ship" smell and the area behind my ears is positively sopping wet.

I'm playing through the X3:TC campaign as a Terran, and I have found my way to Mars where a brand new Rapier was awaiting me. I maxed out its shields (5x1 MW), but I can't seem to find any guns for it and the ones from my Sabre seem to run out of juice very quickly.

I would be very grateful for any suggestions.

Post by **Nanook** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 20:50

Don't bother trying to give the Rapier, any Rapier, guns. A single EMPC costs many times what the Rapier is worth, and the Rapier will die real quick if put in combat, losing those very expensive EMPCs in the process. Use it for a scout or high speed personal runabout. That's my advice.

Honved · Post by **Honved** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 22:33

If you don't want to sell it, you can park it in a sector so you can see remote prices, like a Navigational Satellite. Otherwise, it's not worth keeping.

Post by **Nanook** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 22:48

I disagree that it's not worth keeping. It's a good ship to do the pirate base scanning mission. It's also quite useful as an explorer when equipped with a duplex scanner and explorer software. It can also be employed to quickly buy, say, weapons deep in Terran territory. There are all sorts of uses for a very fast M5 such as the Rapier. It's worth a lot more as an asset than the few thousand credits he'd get by selling it, IMO.

bizbag · Post by **bizbag** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 22:53

I keep a fast M5 (usually a Valkyrie, but a Rapier will do) aboard my Hyperion to perform asteroid scanning missions quickly or to drop satellites.

cjoshuav · Post by **cjoshuav** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 23:05

What a friendly, helpful place this forum is.

I guess I'd like to hang on to it as a scout, then (maybe someday I'll capture a Hyperion to dock it to, just like bizbag

)

Is this a good point in the campaign to pause and build up some credits so I can upgrade my current fighter, or should I press on for a bit?

Thanks very much for the tips.

darth_adversor · Post by **darth_adversor** » Wed, 3. Jul 13, 23:20

Yes, this is easily the most friendly forum I've ever seen.

As for the Terran plot, I only did like the first 3, maybe 4 missions, before I went off and started my empire. You can come back to it when you're ready.

It's probably a good idea to hop into either of your ships (the Rapier is faster), and start mapping the universe. That advice was given to me early on, and it worked out well.

FWIW, I agree that you should keep the Rapier.

cjoshuav · Post by **cjoshuav** » Thu, 4. Jul 13, 00:24

darth_adversor wrote:Yes, this is easily the most friendly forum I've ever seen.

As for the Terran plot, I only did like the first 3, maybe 4 missions, before I went off and started my empire. You can come back to it when you're ready.

It's probably a good idea to hop into either of your ships (the Rapier is faster), and start mapping the universe. That advice was given to me early on, and it worked out well.

FWIW, I agree that you should keep the Rapier.

So beef up the Rapier and fly around snagging as many missions as possible? Should I bring my Sabre with me?

I know how to get myself around the universe, but I'm not really clear on how to get my ships and goods (if they are not in my main ship).

I'm also wondering if I should sell the Rapier and get a ship with a larger scanner.

darth_adversor · Post by **darth_adversor** » Thu, 4. Jul 13, 00:48

The Rapier is great as a scout ship, but I wouldn't fly it into any combat situation involving more than a couple of M5's. I'm not sure how familiar you are with ship classes, but M5 (including the Rapier) is the scout class. The Sabre (M4 - interceptor class), while a little slower and not as good for scouting, is way better for combat. And it's still decently fast.

The following is a minor spoiler, doesn't ruin the story for you by any means, but could be helpful to you in the early game:

Spoiler

Show

Fairly early in the Terran plot, you're given 3 additional Rapiers to use as wingmen. Your Sabre can mount 4 EMPC's, so strip a couple off the drones to get your Sabre fully tricked out. You can then sell the ships for extra cash.

If you feel like you want to have another ship with you on your travels, you can order it to follow you. Orders => Follow Me. Alternatively, you can open up the Command Console for additional commands.

Travel is much easier once you can afford to start outfitting your ships with jumpdrives.

Hope this helps!

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X3:TC - New Player Outfitting first Rapier

X3:TC - New Player Outfitting first Rapier