Most missions are too time critical

[Nekudotayim_]

As the title states, most missions are too time critical and therefore cannot be solved.

As an example: I got a mission, that has to be solved in 10 minutes, which requires to fly through 2 sectors and I need much more cargo than a fast ship is even able to offer.

I think you should give us more time on those random missions.

[DanKara]

As the title states, most missions are too time critical and therefore cannot be solved.

It is only a problem, because you can't (yet) use your jumpdrive very often. In the starting area make use of the (one) active jumpgate or the (one) paranid jump beacon as anchor points to 'fast travel'. Outside you will have rarely see problems.
You can also cheese the game a bit. While reading the Briefing or before (finaly) accepting a time critical mission you can fly to target-sector (while Briefing/Accept is open you extend comm range and shortens the way to fly).
In starting area I would generally stick to taxi- and passenger transports (one way, plenty of time...)

[Nekudotayim_]

In the starting area make use of the (one) active jumpgate or the (one) paranid jump beacon as anchor points to 'fast travel'.

I have no clue, what you are talking about. What is a jump beacon? How can I make "use" of a jump gate?

[DanKara]

I have no clue, what you are talking about. What is a jump beacon? How can I make "use" of a jump gate?

Sorry, my fault. Thought you were accustomed to X3-games... or is it (my/)a language thing
You know you can equip your ship with a 'jump drive'? With that you can ... well... jump to jumpgate (wich most sectors have) instead of flying there. In the Starting Plot you should already have found one - in Void-alpha. To jump you press [shift+j] at default. This uses eCells as fuel. A jump beacon can also be a target for your jump drives. In most of my games, there was one in Holy Vision delta (either near the trade station or the military outpost). The 'Transorbital Accelerators' (TOA) can't be used by the jumpdrive (because of different 'technology').
By 'make use of gate' I meant instead of flying from Void-eta to HolyVision-beta the whole way, you can jump to the gate in Void-alpha or (a potential) beacon in HolyVision-delta wich would shorten your fly-time immensly.

You may read this guide for X3TC which mostly applies for X3FL too.

[Nekudotayim_]

Thank you for the explanation. Yes, I am playing since BTF but I rarely used jump drives and cannot really remember the last time I used them. The energy cell dependency was too annoying for me IIRC.

So the jump beacon is something imagenary I guess as I could not find something like that to be found like a satellite. However, I think those options do not help, as you will not be able to get to the target in time with a transporter.

I have to deny almost all missions, as they are simply impossible to do. Even the protect convoy missions are impossible to do as the transporters are not able to dock at the target station in time before the next wave will interrupt their docking.

Also it does not make much sense in most cases to set such a low time limit to missions. If someone wants me to transport something from A to B, this alone is already an accomplishment. There is no need to limit this to like 10 minutes. On the other hand, the client has to wait for a random transporter to deliver the goods which might take hours. So he can be happy, if I do deliver it in like 30 minutes in comparison.

[Sovereign01]

Thank you for the explanation. Yes, I am playing since BTF but I rarely used jump drives and cannot really remember the last time I used them. The energy cell dependency was too annoying for me IIRC.

So the jump beacon is something imagenary I guess as I could not find something like that to be found like a satellite. However, I think those options do not help, as you will not be able to get to the target in time with a transporter.

I have to deny almost all missions, as they are simply impossible to do. Even the protect convoy missions are impossible to do as the transporters are not able to dock at the target station in time before the next wave will interrupt their docking.

Also it does not make much sense in most cases to set such a low time limit to missions. If someone wants me to transport something from A to B, this alone is already an accomplishment. There is no need to limit this to like 10 minutes. On the other hand, the client has to wait for a random transporter to deliver the goods which might take hours. So he can be happy, if I do deliver it in like 30 minutes in comparison.

Most sectors actually don't have jump beacons, the beacons are most useful in sectors that only have TOAs instead of gates. What ship/s do you have available?

[Nekudotayim_]

Most sectors actually don't have jump beacons, the beacons are most useful in sectors that only have TOAs instead of gates. What ship/s do you have available?

Rajin
Fujin
Perseus
Scorpion
Delphine
Discoverer
Demeter
Susanova

[BrigandPhantos77]

Most sectors actually don't have jump beacons, the beacons are most useful in sectors that only have TOAs instead of gates. What ship/s do you have available?

Rajin
Fujin
Perseus
Scorpion
Delphine
Discoverer
Demeter
Susanova

Jump Beacons probably should not have been mentioned, as they are difficult to get personally. Especially at the games start. They are randomly placed by the AI / Factions, or you can steal them by boarding Rapid Response Ships that have one in it's cargo hold. Or by stealing them from the factory building service in game.

Those missions are meant to be hard, and require a fast ship with a larger cargo bay. For this reason, you are best running them after leaving the start area. For this reason I tend to run "personnel transport" missions instead. The most cargo space you will need is 90 (15 passengers x 6). And cargobay life support.

The game has a script running that places explorer objects in randomly explored sectors. These will include engine tunings. This is how you get a heavier ship to higher speeds to make those runs. A spring blossom is doable for many, but you have to build it yourself at the player HQ. And to do that, you have to "find" the blueprint first.

By the way, the explorers guild script does break eventually. Pick wisely what ship you want to "super-tune". Turbo Boost is also available from the Split, it is very useful for beating some of the timers.

The delivery missions where they ask for Ore, Energy Cells, Nostrop, etc... you will need to have the ware available already for immediate delivery.

[Sovereign01]

The jumpdrive is key to completing missions, the time limits only become a problem if you're traversing each sector between the start and end individually. If you can jump straight to where you need to be (or at worst next sector over if it's only reachable by TOA) the time limits shouldn't pose a problem.

For combat missions, don't bother using anything smaller than an M3, of the two you have the Perseus is the better choice, it's slower but in every other area it's superior. If it's a vanilla Demeter you have on hand, delivery missions will be difficult as it has the second-lowest cargo bay of all TS and you want to deliver the full amount in one go, being one of the fastest it's much more suited for transportation missions. There's no ship called the Delphine, if you meant the Dolphin it's got a bigger cargo bay than the Demeter but still pretty small.

The Springblossom was nerfed for FL, losing 40% of its cargo space so now its only distinguishing feature is that it's the fastest M6. You also have to craft the weapons it uses, and you only get 30 Focus Crystals to make guns for 14 mounts. Factor in that the EEMPC, PMAML & PSSC require 1, 2, and 3 FCs respectively you can see that you won't be able to kit it out exactly the way you could in TC & AP.

[fireanddream]

I may be wrong but I think mission difficulty in FL is ramped up on purpose for veteran players to grind rep faster. I hardly see any easy or very easy missions.

But to answer your question, yes the jump drive is critical. The e-cell dependency can be annoying but once you get into an M6 or larger, you hardly have to refuel on your own if you stop by your HQ once in a while.

[BrigandPhantos77]

I may be wrong but I think mission difficulty in FL is ramped up on purpose for veteran players to grind rep faster. I hardly see any easy or very easy missions.

But to answer your question, yes the jump drive is critical. The e-cell dependency can be annoying but once you get into an M6 or larger, you hardly have to refuel on your own if you stop by your HQ once in a while.

There are easy ways to keep yourself supplied with energy cells. I designated one of my Ozias as a mobile support. It keeps 8 TS (2 of which I designate as fuel tankers) and 4 open bays for docking any TS/TP bails that can dock. I keep either an M1 or TM for any M3-M5 that bail. Once you start learning boarding, they are not difficult to get. The Mobile Pirate Base can carry 24 fighters. And they are about the easiest to board.

And the Spring Blossom may be nerfed, but with a Turbo Booster I can outrun even M5's. I found that I rarely have my back to an enemy in it. So my loadout for it is Main: 6xEMP, 2xMAML, L/R: SSC, Rear: 4xEMP - Missile Defense.

My Left and Right arcs are responsible for most of my bails as they rarely miss. The EMPs though have extremely bad aim. I probably hit with about 1 of 6 shots fired collectively at anything small. About half my kills come at ramming speed. I have though learned to time my shots for max effect/hits. As for the MAML you need to hunt Ps and Qs for the ammo. That is, if you haven't opened Terran Space yet.

[FeatsOfStrength]

An easy way to make money if you're still in The Void against time critical missions is to strip the Advanced Discoverer of everything except a 1mg shield, Engine Tuning and Cargo space to Max, transfer the Cargo Life Support System from the Demeter found by the south TOA in The Void Epsilon to the Advanced Discoverer and then pick up the MIlitary and Personnel transport trade missions repeatedly, some of them can be worth ridiculous amounts of money and you will never run out of time for them, you can pick up to 10 people at a time with the Advanced Discoverer's cargo space. I've never run out of time doing this conventionally flying even on Very Hard missions.

[BrigandPhantos77]

An easy way to make money if you're still in The Void against time critical missions is to strip the Advanced Discoverer of everything except a 1mg shield, Engine Tuning and Cargo space to Max, transfer the Cargo Life Support System from the Demeter found by the south TOA in The Void Epsilon to the Advanced Discoverer and then pick up the MIlitary and Personnel transport trade missions repeatedly, some of them can be worth ridiculous amounts of money and you will never run out of time for them, you can pick up to 10 people at a time with the Advanced Discoverer's cargo space. I've never run out of time doing this conventionally flying even on Very Hard missions.

Mako Raider is best here. You have to find a random one for sale, but it is awesome at Personnel Transport missions.