Complex planning

[Deathifier]

Don’t you know how to get reliably JumpBeacons without searching/fighting/boarding/looting RRF- or Xenon-Capitals (vanilla, 1.3)?

The reusable ones are only on RRF and Xenon capitals, the single-use ones you can buy from TerraCorp.

[Sovereign01]

Don’t you know how to get reliably JumpBeacons without searching/fighting/boarding/looting RRF- or Xenon-Capitals (vanilla, 1.3)?

The reusable ones are only on RRF and Xenon capitals, the single-use ones you can buy from TerraCorp.

I would have to steal those, Terracorp currently hates my guts!

[Jimmy C]

I would have to steal those, Terracorp currently hates my guts!

Even if they were friendly, you'd need nearly max rep to buy. Just steal them. Get friendly and you can sell them back too, for the most valuable of such transactions!

[Sovereign01]

By "single-use", does that mean "only good for one jump", or as in "cannot be picked up again once placed", or both? I had a feeling those guys were good for more than just jumpdrive installation kits. I need to take the edge off their hostility anyway, got half a dozen of their ships red to me in the Xenon hub. I should get an OTAS Boreas while I have the necessary rep.

[Jimmy C]

By "single-use", does that mean "only good for one jump", or as in "cannot be picked up again once placed", or both? I had a feeling those guys were good for more than just jumpdrive installation kits. I need to take the edge off their hostility anyway, got half a dozen of their ships red to me in the Xenon hub. I should get an OTAS Boreas while I have the necessary rep.

From what I heard, cannot be picked up again and they expire after a while. However, at the low, low price of 2.2 million, they are worth deploying for things like complex construction in a remote sector or bringing in a ship to capture an M1 or M2. After all, you need an alternate before you can go after a beacon.

And since it's more practical to steal it, who cares about the price?

[Cycrow]

The single use jump beacons can not be picked up once deployed, and they last for 5 minutes.

so you can jump a whole fleet into them

[Sovereign01]

If it's only 5 minutes then I definitely need to board some Atmo Lifters so I can carry as many station upgrades per trip as I can.

EDIT: seems it's the kind of equipment that can't be stolen using agents but with a suitably-equipped ship, and Terracorp HQ only has 4 of them at a time.

[DanKara]

Don’t you know how to get reliably JumpBeacons without searching/fighting/boarding/looting RRF- or Xenon-Capitals (vanilla, 1.3)?

The reusable ones are only on RRF and Xenon capitals, the single-use ones you can buy from TerraCorp.

No, that’s not the case.

Spoiler

Show

To get reusable JumpBeacons reliably, order HephCorp to build something somewhere with some distance to the nearest Jumpgate. They send a M4 Sabre with a JumpBeacon. Ask him to bail. But be quick about it afterwards (they self destruct in 1 to 10 seconds). Optional: Rinse and Repeat. After 6 tries HephCorp will terminate the build order.

[Sovereign01]

Don’t you know how to get reliably JumpBeacons without searching/fighting/boarding/looting RRF- or Xenon-Capitals (vanilla, 1.3)?

The reusable ones are only on RRF and Xenon capitals, the single-use ones you can buy from TerraCorp.

No, that’s not the case.

Spoiler

Show

To get reusable JumpBeacons reliably, order HephCorp to build something somewhere with some distance to the nearest Jumpgate. They send a M4 Sabre with a JumpBeacon. Ask him to bail. But be quick about it afterwards (they self destruct in 1 to 10 seconds). Optional: Rinse and Repeat. After 6 tries HephCorp will terminate the build order.

So if I was to place that build order in ABB, would the Sabre appear in AB and from there fly to the TOA?

I was eventually able to procure the 4 beacons at Terracorp HQ, I had to survive the two medium orbital weapon platforms lobbing missiles at me to get close enough and then beam them out.

[DanKara]

...

So if I was to place that build order in ABB, would the Sabre appear in AB and from there fly to the TOA?

Yes. So nab 5 JB and proceed with complex-building.
Up until now I considered the build-fee as a compensation for 6 JB. But you.... Do you happen to be a TELADI in the disguise of a REAPER?

[Sovereign01]

...

So if I was to place that build order in ABB, would the Sabre appear in AB and from there fly to the TOA?

Yes. So nab 5 JB and proceed with complex-building.
Up until now I considered the build-fee as a compensation for 6 JB. But you.... Do you happen to be a TELADI in the disguise of a REAPER?

By "ask", do you mean "shoot"?

EDIT: I just realised I have two Ozias available for lugging upgrade kits. They're currently busy mining Nividium, when they're finished I can start work on upgrading this complex. I'm going to crunch the numbers on how many trips I'm going to need to make for each one. Looking at the complex in the planner I'm reminded that unlike the first complex all the factories are starting off at L size, so I won't be needing to bring 16S and then 16M upgrades for this one, I'll just be needing 57 L>XL upgrades, at least for now.

It appears that the shipyard in Paranid Prime Alpha would be the best place to pick up the upgrade kits from, because the shipyard is within a few KM of a jump beacon, meaning TLs have the shortest travel time.

[Sovereign01]

Well I had a go at taking a jump beacon and found the results to be similar but slightly different to how it was described, as "bailing" doesn't happen in the same way. After hitting the ship for a while I got the announcement thanking me for help with the intruder, the ship turned blue again, came to a stop and after a few seconds, self-destructed.

What I had to do was use the cargo bay hacker to transport the jump beacon off the ship before it blew up. I used a Scorpion because I had one available, it was faster than a Sabre, and could mount Pulsed Beam Emitters. I had to only have two PBEs firing as they drained the laser energy extremely quickly, and made sure the ship had a transporter equipped. I had to be extremely close to transport, as in less than PBE range. And because it had cargo bay shielding I couldn't simply transport it off as soon as it appeared. It seems you have to destroy the shielding anyway otherwise you won't be able to grab it regardless. I might have to try using a Mako equipped with Ion Disruptors instead.

EDIT: Just tried again, and yes you do have to destroy the shielding. I got one beacon but no more, I will have to bring one of the Mako variants and use IDs to fry the systems including the shielding. At least, with the next complex I build.

[DanKara]

Congratulation!

Imho the "bailing" is the same as you would approach a Xenon or Kha'ak, isn't it?
With IonDisruptors you might get the bail you want, but I would expect the CBS to survive in this.
(Instead I use SOS. Claim ship and eject JB. Needs more keystrokes, takes bit longer time... and yes even this way I lost a beacon when shields or weapons survived.)

If the first is destroyed (either by weapon fire or self destruct) HephCorp sends a next after a short while (up to 6).

[Jimmy C]

Just tried again, and yes you do have to destroy the shielding. I got one beacon but no more, I will have to bring one of the Mako variants and use IDs to fry the systems including the shielding. At least, with the next complex I build.

You can destroy the shielding? I thought that thing was indestructible. Still, my experience is the shielding is rolled for when the pilot bails, so it often doesn't stick around. That's different with these ships?

It appears that the shipyard in Paranid Prime Alpha would be the best place to pick up the upgrade kits from, because the shipyard is within a few KM of a jump beacon, meaning TLs have the shortest travel time.

Different factions offer different prices for the same upgrades. The Boron one would be 30,000 cheaper. The Yaki one is even cheaper, but... eh.

[DanKara]

You can destroy the shielding? I thought that thing was indestructible. Still, my experience is the shielding is rolled for when the pilot bails, so it often doesn't stick around. That's different with these ships?

I haven't said the CargoBayShielding (CBS, oops earlier mistake edited) is to be destoyed by the player. As you said it is (nearly) indestructable.
What I did say, atleast tried to, is that a slightly damaged ship might bail when constantly fired at with an Ion Disruptor. In this case the CBS is expected to survive (got some this way myself).

[Sovereign01]

Congratulation!

Imho the "bailing" is the same as you would approach a Xenon or Kha'ak, isn't it?
With IonDisruptors you might get the bail you want, but I would expect the CBS to survive in this.
(Instead I use SOS. Claim ship and eject JB. Needs more keystrokes, takes bit longer time... and yes even this way I lost a beacon when shields or weapons survived.)

If the first is destroyed (either by weapon fire or self destruct) HephCorp sends a next after a short while (up to 6).

That's what I did, I had to have my elephant give my arrow a lift to the HQ to get that software, then ferry it back to my Scorpion to install. Haven't had the chance to use it yet. I've managed to claim 3 jump beacons so far, it's very difficult. No. 4 the ship self-destructed very quickly, I might have to make do with 3.

I haven't said the CargoBayShielding (CBS, oops earlier mistake edited) is to be destoyed by the player. As you said it is (nearly) indestructable.
What I did say, atleast tried to, is that a slightly damaged ship might bail when constantly fired at with an Ion Disruptor. In this case the CBS is expected to survive (got some this way myself).

I will have to build an Enhanced Mako having got the blueprints ages ago and use it to soften the Sabre up with PACs then switch to IDs to get it to bail. PBEs are good for shield stripping but against a thin-skinned M4 they do noticeably damage the hull each time, even with only a pair of them firing. I'll see if I can get any more beacons.

UPDATE: Just managed to get number 4, this time by use of the system override software. The hard part of that was getting in to point blank range to use it fast enough before ejecting the beacon. Next time I do this I'll use one of the Scorpion or Mako variants, not the vanilla or sentinel versions (too slow)- the Split ships can use Mass Drivers + Pulsed Beam Emitters, the Boron ones, Ion Disruptors.

UPDATE 2: Had to save scum the crap out of it, but once I'd knocked the hull down a bit using Mass Drivers I saved, as it happened this particular Sabre bailed quite readily once I started on the shields, so after reloading a couple of times to refine things the ship stayed intact long enough for me to close in, claim it and eject its beacon (quicker than beaming it) for me to scoop up. Now I have my 5 I hope the last one will get there without issue, I'm putting together a shipment of crystals to kick off the new complex!

[Sovereign01]

Use of one of the beacons meant I could get my TLs in to apply the upgrades extremely quickly, the L>XL ones are all in progress already, once they're done the money is going to come rolling in

EDIT: Just found out that it's only the standard Scorpion that can mount PBEs, any of the others will need use of Mako assistance after all.

[Sovereign01]

Now that I'm planning a weapons complex I am of course wrestling with race notoriety so I can get the whole thing built in one go. Question is, with Hephaistos can it only place stations I have the notoriety for, or if I have the kits for the stations I can't buy ready in the HQ will it use those? Does it work with the complex construction software MK3, or do I have to subtract the stations I cannot buy and use the software to build those in a separate complex?

[Sovereign01]

Well I found out that as long as I have the plans for the stations I want I don't need the notoriety to build them, which meant stealing in the case of the larger Terran guns. With the restrictions on gaining rank if having a certain notoriety with a faction's enemy, it meant stealing the plans for the big guns. Took quite a few agents to pull that off!

Anyway, ordered its construction after the discovery of a couple more roids forced a redesign and after a while my massive 264-station complex located in Consecrated Fire Beta was ready, producing every possible laser and shield except the always-useless FBL. For reasons I cannot possibly fathom however, whenever I show up to take ownership of the new complex it decides to place the SPPs (all 28 of them) in a nice neat stack connected by a tube... 1,825 km away from the rest of the complex, followed by another tube a further 1,200 km long to one last Terran station. What the hell?

[Jimmy C]

Were the SPPs Terran? And what was the last Terran station?