Where can i find a Tractor Beam??? (AP)

[stavros]

I'm currently playing AP and have visited all but about 3 or 4 of the sectors. However I can't seem to find anywhere that I can purchase a Tractor Beam for moving my ore and silicon mines around in certain sectors.

Where can these be found??

[Servile]

Try Roguey's X3 AP site for all the stuff you can't find:
http://roguey.co.uk/x3ap/wares/get.php?id=160

[Sabrina Bergin]

Third Redemption.

[Baratheon79]

Third Redemption.

Yeah, should be 2 factories there. However, if you're more than a couple days in, they could have been removed (there's no demand for them, so they factories will stay full). If that's the case, you may have to buy a factory of your own and build them yourself. I had to do that in one TC playthrough; in my current AP game, however, I'm now a bit over 10 days in and only 1 of those factories is gone. (Of course, since I'm more or less at war with the Paranid, and Third Redemption is right next door to the sector I'm using for my home base, the other one might be gone as well before long, along with everything else in that sector. )

[pref]

Third Redemption.

Yeah, should be 2 factories there. However, if you're more than a couple days in, they could have been removed (there's no demand for them, so they factories will stay full). If that's the case, you may have to buy a factory of your own and build them yourself. I had to do that in one TC playthrough; in my current AP game, however, I'm now a bit over 10 days in and only 1 of those factories is gone. (Of course, since I'm more or less at war with the Paranid, and Third Redemption is right next door to the sector I'm using for my home base, the other one might be gone as well before long, along with everything else in that sector. )

I remember this being fixed in AP - so there is at least one beam fab.
Maybe im wrong though.

[Nehlis]

Third Redemption.

Yeah, should be 2 factories there. However, if you're more than a couple days in, they could have been removed (there's no demand for them, so they factories will stay full). If that's the case, you may have to buy a factory of your own and build them yourself. I had to do that in one TC playthrough; in my current AP game, however, I'm now a bit over 10 days in and only 1 of those factories is gone. (Of course, since I'm more or less at war with the Paranid, and Third Redemption is right next door to the sector I'm using for my home base, the other one might be gone as well before long, along with everything else in that sector. )

I remember this being fixed in AP - so there is at least one beam fab.
Maybe im wrong though.

Are there some factories given immunity from the GoD system? There is one Tractor beam factory in my game in third redemption that has been visited a total of 1 times and it hasn't gone despite being full of stock and uninvited for the past several weeks.

[ajax34i]

Yes some factories are given immunity.

[Nanook]

...
Are there some factories given immunity from the GoD system? There is one Tractor beam factory in my game in third redemption that has been visited a total of 1 times and it hasn't gone despite being full of stock and uninvited for the past several weeks.

TB factories have been given immunity from the GoD engine in both TC and AP. However, that doesn't mean pirates or other enemies can't destroy them. If that does happen, they'll probably get replaced, after a while. That's been my experience in TC 3.2, anyway.

[rzadzins]

Hi guys. I'm in a similar situation. Not entirely happy to start business with the paranid, but all the places selling TB are gone or have 0 stock. I don't think they got destroyed (only these factories missing is a bit of a coincidence?), so I assume by what you write - they got removed. In such cases, do they get respawned or am I doomed to build the factory after all? What about the EQ docks in Zyarth or Albion - any chance for the TB to appear there, since it's listed?

[Sabrina Bergin]

No, build a factory

[Nanook]

Hi guys. I'm in a similar situation. Not entirely happy to start business with the paranid, but all the places selling TB are gone or have 0 stock. I don't think they got destroyed (only these factories missing is a bit of a coincidence?), so I assume by what you write - they got removed. In such cases, do they get respawned or am I doomed to build the factory after all? What about the EQ docks in Zyarth or Albion - any chance for the TB to appear there, since it's listed?

As already posted above, in this now rather old thread, GoD does NOT remove tractor beam factories. If you can't find them in Third Redemption, most likely the Argon have come through at some point and blasted the factories to space dust. However, given enough time they will be rebuilt. So don't listen to shaun.

If you do see TB factories in Third Redemption, but they're not producing, simply supply them with the needed resources and sit back and wait a while. Sorry about not wanting to do business with the Paranid, though. They have a monopoly on Tractor Beams, so if you want one, you gotta deal.

[Gold Dragon]

Building a factory is simply the quickest. It's not necessary, but does keep the trading with the paranid to a minimum.

[Nanook]

It's also, by far, the most expensive, even if you have the Paranid rep required to buy the factory. And if you decide to recoup the cost of the factory by selling excess tractor beams, you have to do it manually to equipment docks, since there's no place that buys them normally. It takes a very long time to make even one, so the payback can take far longer than just waiting for the Paranid to produce one for you. And finally, the profit margin isn't that great, either. I would not recommend building a factory unless it's as a last resort.

[Orion1632]

I had to build a factory in my game, I can't find a TB factory anywhere.

[rzadzins]

As already posted above, in this now rather old thread, GoD does NOT remove tractor beam factories. If you can't find them in Third Redemption, most likely the Argon have come through at some point and blasted the factories to space dust. However, given enough time they will be rebuilt. So don't listen to shaun.

So you're saying that something came and destroyed exactly those two factories? And for some reason this happens to most other players? Why are TB so hated across the universe that armies just march in, ignore head quatters but destroy these instead?

Also, can someone pls answer my question about the EQ docks refilling the TBs if they have them listed? Is there a chance for that or does the universe have to have at least one functioning factory?

[Nanook]

As already posted above, in this now rather old thread, GoD does NOT remove tractor beam factories. If you can't find them in Third Redemption, most likely the Argon have come through at some point and blasted the factories to space dust. However, given enough time they will be rebuilt. So don't listen to shaun.

So you're saying that something came and destroyed exactly those two factories? And for some reason this happens to most other players? Why are TB so hated across the universe that armies just march in, ignore head quatters but destroy these instead?

Enemy fleets can be tasked to destroy individual stations, or devastate sectors. Equipement docks and shipyards have much bigger shields and hulls than factories, so if a defending fleet is present, it can prevent total devastation from happening. There's some randomness to target selection, but there may be other criteria, too. I've noticed, for example, that SPP's are prime targets, as are some weapons factories. So TB factories may indeed be in the list of prime targets.

Also,Third Redemption, where the only tractor beam factories are located, often gets Argon task forces coming through, not to mention the occasional pirate patrols. When a sector does get devastated, the 'government' stations respawn relatively quickly. However, destroyed factories will be replaced by NPC TL's, so that can take a lot longer. I've personally seen these kinds of things happening in my games, involving other sectors and other factories. However, in my current AP game, which is 15+ game days old, both tractor beam factories are present, and have been since gamestart. So no, I don't think it happens to "most other players". You just hear about it from those that it did happen to.

Also, can someone pls answer my question about the EQ docks refilling the TBs if they have them listed? Is there a chance for that or does the universe have to have at least one functioning factory?

What equipment docks carry Tractor Beams? I've never seen any myself. In fact, the reason the factories used to get removed by GoD before it was fixed in a patch is because there was no market for them, so the NPC's would never trade with the TB factories.

In general, though, equipment dock stocks are filled by NPC's who buy from factories and sell to the EqD's. They are not filled automagically.

[rzadzins]

I wrote "it happens to many other players" because before posting I did a search on the forum only to notice many people surprised by this. For some reason they don't write about other stations, but maybe it is because TB are so scarce.

As for EQ docks: split zyarth's stand dock has it, as well as jonferco development station and equipment dock in albion beta and gamma (typing from memory).

BTW, while playing I've discovered a number of bugs in my vanilla game, wondering if there's anyone interested in them? They're rather not questionable, like replicable crash in a given scenario, etc and I'd be happy to contribute making the game better provided there'd be someone willing to listen and take care of them...

[PDouma39]

In my 5 game days old game, there's only one TB factory left in Third Redemption, another I build thanx to a random Paranid mission in Friar's Retreat, so that was lucky I guess.
Later on I build a complex of my own with a TB-factory in it, just to make sure a TB was in store when needed.

[Sabrina Bergin]

Nanook:

You are in error in suggesting the poster should ignore my advice
If you include the TB factory as part of a complex once you have a full stock of them it is simple to switch off production and sell the intermediates so you quickly recover the initial outlay.

Plus with the support stations in place you can add another end product fab for something else you want from the Paranid.

[Gruber1232002]

Apologies if this is obvious and everyone has already done it, but when I needed a TB I just looked it up in the in-game encyclopedia and went to the sector and sure enough there was a factory with 3 in stock. No idea which sector since it was a couple of weeks ago. Same goes for freight drones. I can never remember where I saw them, so I look them up, check the factory via Adv Sat. and visit if they have any.