Complex Help - Using multiple TLs

[BrigandPhantos77]

How do you assign and get multiple TLs to build a complex together using Build Mk3 software?

I have 3 TLs with factories loaded, they were packed from another location. How do I get them to work together and put the complex together? Or do I need to keep using add to existing factory / complex from just 1 TL?

[BrigandPhantos77]

Well... I just taught myself a lesson. Save for the win. You can upgrade a station. Pack the station. Re-deploy the station. ANd keep your upgrades. But for sake of keeping those upgrades, don't use the software to re-deploy them. It places them fresh without there upgrades. Deploy them manually then use the software to build the complex "afterwards".

In the words of Homer Simpson..... DOH!!!!!

File this lesson on how to throw away 25 million credits per station in a few seconds.

[Sovereign01]

I was always under the impression that you couldn't use more than one TL to do it, but because I only ever used the complex deployment tool for that task I've never had to. I don't know if the software can be used to automate station upgrades, I've had to do each one individually. I would have the smaller TLs set to follow the big one to shipyards to load up on upgrade kits, even the biggest TLs can only haul 2 or 3 XLs. Takes a while when a complex has hundreds of stations!

[BrigandPhantos77]

I was always under the impression that you couldn't use more than one TL to do it, but because I only ever used the complex deployment tool for that task I've never had to. I don't know if the software can be used to automate station upgrades, I've had to do each one individually. I would have the smaller TLs set to follow the big one to shipyards to load up on upgrade kits, even the biggest TLs can only haul 2 or 3 XLs. Takes a while when a complex has hundreds of stations!

I kinda figured that out the hard way. I'm making the assumption you are right on that. I thought I read somewhere in the forum about using multiple TLs. I think I may have been mistaken.

The TL will though go back to PHQ to pick up any factories it needs there over going to shipyards.

One thing I learned the hard way on this, when it comes to "packing up" an existing factory that has upgrades, do not let the TL place automated as part of the complex building from a packed state. Jump in and place it manually first. If you do not, it will lose all the upgrades. Good thing I saved prior to the move.

I moved 4 factories from Great Reef Alpha to Ianamus Zura Gamma to get them out of Boron space.
Factories:
Chip Plant XXL
Crystal Fab L
Computer Plant L
Quantum Tube Fab L

When I let the TL fully automate everything it reset them all to S size. But when I placed them myself, they placed back at there pre-packed size with upgrades. Then I still built the complex, but used the add existing factories and everything worked perfect. Even had them placed tightly when all was said and done. I like what Cycrow did to get them soo tightly packed together. Having them spaced apart several KM is messy and always bugged me.

I have another set of factories to do this again too. All ion weapons factories. Also with upgrades. Then to be followed with a XXL sized Hammer Torpedo fab and XXL sized Flail Barrage factory. I definitely do not want to have to buy the upgrades again.

On an up note, I built my first Kyoto and Tokyo.

Only Terran blueprints I am now missing are Valhalla, Tyr, Wodan, Macanna and Odin. My combat rank dropped back to Conqueror. So I guess my option is to rocket it as high as possible or tank all my reps getting that 7th green bar with them. Course, can only get a Lifter through boarding as well. Is the Lifter even worth it though.

[Sovereign01]

How long did the Kyoto and Tokyo take to build? Must have been several hours at least I still have my captured Kyoto, and sent my Tyr for Reverse Engineering, it's at the back of the queue. Currently in the process is the Odin, not planning on making one I just want the BPs

Did a couple of station defence missions in Mines of Fortune back-to-back against Yaki enemies, ended up capturing 1 Akurei frigate from the first and 2 from the second for recycling materials. I'll probably stick to taking one at a time in the future since taking 2 close together there's the chance that one will destroy the other if they finish boarding at different times. It's possible mainly because the Yaki and Pirate M7s have the weakest shields in the class that my Maru can bring them down with concentrated fire from half a dozen M/AMLs

I'm still going after a Woden, I'm hoping when I reach Conqueror (99% there now) I'll get them as an option for ATF assassination since my Terran rep is capped for buying them, since I can't get them to spawn and I've blown up a dozen Odins hoping for a replacement that isn't another Odin! I got myself the Maccana via boarding, can't remember if it was in Jupiter or Saturn Beta/Gamma. Wasn't even properly defended so was a cakewalk

Did you overuse the SETA to cause your rank to drop?

Atmospheric Lifter is worth it, the 80K cargo capacity makes a difference when you're lugging station-sized cargo around. If you have access to it, the Sirokos is the perfect ship for the job. Because the lifter is usually found far off the beaten path a fast ship is best, and when it comes to launching boarding pods the Sirokos is the fastest ship there is. It also has a front turret that is able to fire 8 PRG/PBEs, more than capable of suppressing the shields of an unarmed TL such as the Atmospheric Lifter. Both of these things mean it can handle the boarding all by itself, all it needs is a JD kit and enough ecells and you can take the ship right out from under the Terran's noses!

[BrigandPhantos77]

How long did the Kyoto and Tokyo take to build? Must have been several hours at least I still have my captured Kyoto, and sent my Tyr for Reverse Engineering, it's at the back of the queue. Currently in the process is the Odin, not planning on making one I just want the BPs

Did a couple of station defence missions in Mines of Fortune back-to-back against Yaki enemies, ended up capturing 1 Akurei frigate from the first and 2 from the second for recycling materials. I'll probably stick to taking one at a time in the future since taking 2 close together there's the chance that one will destroy the other if they finish boarding at different times. It's possible mainly because the Yaki and Pirate M7s have the weakest shields in the class that my Maru can bring them down with concentrated fire from half a dozen M/AMLs

Kyoto took 21 hours, Tokyo about 7. I use seta a lot, so I typically don't notice the times.

I'm still going after a Woden, I'm hoping when I reach Conqueror (99% there now) I'll get them as an option for ATF assassination since my Terran rep is capped for buying them, since I can't get them to spawn and I've blown up a dozen Odins hoping for a replacement that isn't another Odin! I got myself the Maccana via boarding, can't remember if it was in Jupiter or Saturn Beta/Gamma. Wasn't even properly defended so was a cakewalk

Did you overuse the SETA to cause your rank to drop?

Sometimes. I'm back at Overlord again though atm.

The best place for nabbing ships to recycle for me is in Lasting Vengeance. The Zeus respawns every 5 to 15 minutes. Or something like that. And there is usually 2 M7M roaming about. You can get away with mostly 40 rated fight ranked Marines. I've even sent some less than 10 combat skill and gotten them to 100. Crap I got over 550 marines. Most of them are max combat now.

Atmospheric Lifter is worth it, the 80K cargo capacity makes a difference when you're lugging station-sized cargo around. If you have access to it, the Sirokos is the perfect ship for the job. Because the lifter is usually found far off the beaten path a fast ship is best, and when it comes to launching boarding pods the Sirokos is the fastest ship there is. It also has a front turret that is able to fire 8 PRG/PBEs, more than capable of suppressing the shields of an unarmed TL such as the Atmospheric Lifter. Both of these things mean it can handle the boarding all by itself, all it needs is a JD kit and enough ecells and you can take the ship right out from under the Terran's noses!

I'll go after it eventually. I am playing nice with the Terrans. I am seeing what pops up for rewards from the explorers guild. I was shocked to see the Valhalla make the list, but the price wasn't a shock. Almost double that of the Aran. I'm thinking of going after it that way. Lots of saving to do with exploring. (Plus let's me focus enough not to drift back to base building in Minecr***). :Lol: The biggest distraction of all.

Just had another bug with the complex builder. This one not soo funny.

System: Profit Center Alpha "B".
Complex:
Fusion Beam Cannon Forge
M sized Protein Paste
M sized USC Food Logistics

Automated process.....

Placement of food factories was good.
Placement of FBC Forge, not so good. Placed at about -3000 km south. (It says -2864) And it did link up.

I have a TL going to retrieve it to bring it back so I can place it manually. And no your not reading those numbers wrong.

See for yourself. That TL is gonna be busy for a while.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zDDcoc ... W5Nsp/view

[Sovereign01]

It's a known bug with the FBC forge, I had that happen when I built a complex containing one. The huge weapon plex created a pancake stack of 28 SPP XLs a thousand kilometres from the rest of the complex, and from that ran another thousand-kilometre tube with the FBC forge on the end of it.

That TL probably won't make it by itself, you can give the order but the ship won't be able to get there, I tried that with an M5 and failed. What did work was flying to it in an Advanced Kestrel (took a few minutes even with SETA) with a jump beacon on board so that I could order the Atmospheric Lifter to jump in and scoop up as many SPPs as it could carry and jump to a second beacon near the complex to place the stations in a more sensible location. And putting them side-by-side I wasn't out of the woods since it made connecting them more difficult because of the limit on how far apart stations can be before they can no longer be hooked up.

PS, the Turbo Booster MK2 can be obtained from a handful of Terran and Split equipment docks, it's not a Strong Arms exclusive.

[BrigandPhantos77]

It's a known bug with the FBC forge, I had that happen when I built a complex containing one. The huge weapon plex created a pancake stack of 28 SPP XLs a thousand kilometres from the rest of the complex, and from that ran another thousand-kilometre tube with the FBC forge on the end of it.

That TL probably won't make it by itself, you can give the order but the ship won't be able to get there, I tried that with an M5 and failed. What did work was flying to it in an Advanced Kestrel (took a few minutes even with SETA) with a jump beacon on board so that I could order the Atmospheric Lifter to jump in and scoop up as many SPPs as it could carry and jump to a second beacon near the complex to place the stations in a more sensible location. And putting them side-by-side I wasn't out of the woods since it made connecting them more difficult because of the limit on how far apart stations can be before they can no longer be hooked up.

PS, the Turbo Booster MK2 can be obtained from a handful of Terran and Split equipment docks, it's not a Strong Arms exclusive.

I'll try it with an Arrow (I wish), Advanced Kestrel too I guess. I got 2 jump beacons, 1 isn't serving any purpose except allowing the Boron to jump into the Void. I got the lifter by the way. It popped up with the Explorer's Guild rewards. I took it. It's gonna build before my second Osaka starts. The TL I sent got stuck at like 2200 km and it started flipping between positive and negative. I'll have to remember that. I bought a new FBC forge and placed it manually.

Yea I saw them in Terran space. I'm working on there factory list first. Then I'll go after it. I love there mines. So much better than Commonwealth ones. I like the imposing look of them. I wish there were a way to remote self destruct a station. I was gonna try that, but it's only available when you dock.

Update: I got it. That worked. Thanks!

I put a Turbo on the Kestrel. Had to buy one since I didn't actually have one. Thankfully the Teladi station is perma-unlocked with its special ships.
The turbo cut down the time significantly to get to it. Guess the game only allows flying to that range when your in system.

[BrigandPhantos77]

I'm still going after a Woden, I'm hoping when I reach Conqueror (99% there now) I'll get them as an option for ATF assassination since my Terran rep is capped for buying them, since I can't get them to spawn and I've blown up a dozen Odins hoping for a replacement that isn't another Odin! I got myself the Maccana via boarding, can't remember if it was in Jupiter or Saturn Beta/Gamma. Wasn't even properly defended so was a cakewalk

Found some data for you!
- Explorers Guild -
- Terran BP Ship Point Prices - (All observed)

Valhalla 42 million discovery points
Tyr 20 million discovery points
Woden 18.9 million discovery points
Odin 17.6 million discovery points
Tokyo 5.5 million discovery points
(Osaka - no chance to observe; got prior to opening Terran plot.)
Lifter 3.9 million discovery points

The Woden does appear for discovery points. But as you can see, it's expensive. I saw it in Spring of Belief, obviously it's random. But it did appear. All prices are fairly close as I rounded up slightly on most.
I didn't write down the fighters or the mobile mining base. Its probably just under the lifter though.

I didn't observe the M7s.

[Sovereign01]

It's a known bug with the FBC forge, I had that happen when I built a complex containing one. The huge weapon plex created a pancake stack of 28 SPP XLs a thousand kilometres from the rest of the complex, and from that ran another thousand-kilometre tube with the FBC forge on the end of it.

That TL probably won't make it by itself, you can give the order but the ship won't be able to get there, I tried that with an M5 and failed. What did work was flying to it in an Advanced Kestrel (took a few minutes even with SETA) with a jump beacon on board so that I could order the Atmospheric Lifter to jump in and scoop up as many SPPs as it could carry and jump to a second beacon near the complex to place the stations in a more sensible location. And putting them side-by-side I wasn't out of the woods since it made connecting them more difficult because of the limit on how far apart stations can be before they can no longer be hooked up.

PS, the Turbo Booster MK2 can be obtained from a handful of Terran and Split equipment docks, it's not a Strong Arms exclusive.

I'll try it with an Arrow (I wish), Advanced Kestrel too I guess. I got 2 jump beacons, 1 isn't serving any purpose except allowing the Boron to jump into the Void. I got the lifter by the way. It popped up with the Explorer's Guild rewards. I took it. It's gonna build before my second Osaka starts. The TL I sent got stuck at like 2200 km and it started flipping between positive and negative. I'll have to remember that. I bought a new FBC forge and placed it manually.

Yea I saw them in Terran space. I'm working on there factory list first. Then I'll go after it. I love there mines. So much better than Commonwealth ones. I like the imposing look of them. I wish there were a way to remote self destruct a station. I was gonna try that, but it's only available when you dock.

Update: I got it. That worked. Thanks!

I put a Turbo on the Kestrel. Had to buy one since I didn't actually have one. Thankfully the Teladi station is perma-unlocked with its special ships.
The turbo cut down the time significantly to get to it. Guess the game only allows flying to that range when your in system.

Yep, flipping between + and - is exactly what happened to me. Had to be the advanced Kestrel because beacons are M sized, I had to build mine at the HQ since I had the blueprints but had no need for the fastest ship that could carry a jump beacon until then and being an M5 it built in minutes . I'll need to do the same if the all-seeing eye says an engine tuning or rudder optimisation is at a stupidly distant part of a sector. Why bother waiting for a ship to make the journey at a snail's pace when I can jump to the sector in the big ship, hop in a docked M5 and hotfoot it there in a Kestrel and drop a beacon? Assuming such a thing will spawn after I've picked up 3 discoveries, I have a Valhalla that could use a speed boost

I actually avoid using Terran mines- like their solar power plants they're noticeably bigger than their commonwealth counterparts yet perform identically.

Now I need to find an assassination mission that targets the ATF, see if I can get a Woden at last.