2.2. z0r's survivalists guide
Since
there is a lot of new people and a lot of random tips strewn throughout
the forums, I was asked to write a comprehensive guide. And just in
case you don't trust my credentials, I made level 68 last round (under
a different level equation, but that was highest in the alliance and
when I quit leveling it was top 20 material) before I was forced into a
warbird and I never died as a trader. I also recommend trading as
stepping stone for hunting, raiding, or being a repair carrier if this
is your first round. You'll learn more that way. And now for the guide.
Docking
The
most important thing to remember is NEVER EVER stay in space longer
than you have to. Do not log off in space! Previously the visibility
equation was such that someone might not see you, but now always assume
they will see you (this isn't always true but it's a good rule of
thumb). Currently we have one of the busiest systems in the galaxy, so
logging off over a station or over a port in a cluster is a death
sentence. Always dock at a port!
Ports have levels, which
determine their strength. Try to log off at higher level ports.
However, logging off at a slightly lower level port can be safer if
there are lots of people docked at the high level ports. Generally, I
would stay away from docking at anything lower than about 8 right now
(that number will increase as the round goes on, as ports level). Try
to always dock at higher level ports. Also shy away from docking at
stations as they cough up huge amounts of cash and will be prime
targets once raid teams start going up (it will probably be one of our
first targets).
Planets can be upgraded to a point where they
are as safe or safer than ports. For now, while our main planet is very
defensible against frigate raiders and their kin, it still might not be
able to withstand a 5 man raid team. For now, don't log off at it. When
it is completed, traders can and should dock there (we're about a month
away from reaching this point). The other two planets should not be
docked at. They are easily takable at this point. Planets refresh at
the :15 and :45 mark (every half hour at the two quarter hour marks)
and regain 5% shield, power, and however many drones the assemblers can
make and goods are consumed. Planets use maintenance money at this time
(note: planets need around 20 million to function properly or the
shields go down, be careful about this when building).
On a
somewhat related note, to dock at a station you need to be within 100
alignment of the station to have a 100% chance to dock. For every point
greater than a 100 alignment away, subtract 1%. This does not apply to
quelaar (they can dock at any station regardless of alignment).
Movement
Moving
quickly is the second most important part of survival. Granted, part of
this is linked to connection, but by not messing around while in space,
you minimize the risk. Do not do the following while in space: read the
forums, check your messages, check the online players list, go to the
bathroom, get a drink, talk in irc, etc. In fact, this applies to lower
level ports later in the game as well (ie, level 5). Every second you
are in space, you are vulnerable.
Running out of turns is also
an easy way to die. Particularly this early, we don't always have
hunters to sit in space with you so someone doesn't blow your ship up.
So keeping track of your turns is absolutely vital. Turn usage is as
follows:
Normal movement takes: TWO TURNS
Docking (planet or port) takes: TWO TURNS
Using a SSJD takes: TWENTY TURNS (SIXTEEN for Tamaran)
Undocking takes: ONE TURN
Using a jump node takes: TEN TURNS
Movement in a speed aura takes: ONE TURN
Building on the planet takes: TWICE YOUR SPEED IN TURNS (ie, everyone builds at the same speed regardless of ship speed)
Initiating combat takes: EIGHT TURNS (and every subsequent round takes 8 turns as well)
If
you are running low on turns, pay particular attention to your turn
usage. You're supposed to keep 15 hours of turns for emergencies
anyways, but I know that sometimes we cheat on that (especially this
early).
Distractions
This is where some people might
disagree with me, but I would highly suggest not buying weapons (note I
said weapons, not drones.. drones on frigates are useful for defense)
or trying to kill other traders for that matter. Why?
It leaves
you very vulnerable and generally doesn't contribute to the objectives
behind trading (making cash and exp). For one, you're in space for a
long time when not made to fight. An enemy warbird could very easily be
trying to blow you up and you don't see him. Sitting in a sector leaves
you dead in the water. Also the new maneuver and shields/armor for the
tradeships have been raised, making substantially harder to kill
another tradeship.
And even if you do, you alert hunters to
your presence which will leader to a quicker death. Stay focused, and
you'll reach your goal faster and get in a ship that can blow up stuff
much more effectively, much more quickly.
Identifying Threats
Staying
out of space eliminates the "gimme" kills, but they are not enough to
protect you against competent opponents. They key is to identify
threats and to stay out of their way and to alert other traders in the
alliance of their presence.
The first thing you should once you
log on (after reading the forums) is to check the notices, specifically
the filtered notices. This will give you a good idea of hunter
activity, aggressive forces (aggies), and the like. Hunters and sector
forces (drones) are the main threats you will face while online.
If
there is an active hunter present, click his name on the notices. Check
to see if he is online and when was the last time he was active. If the
time he was last active keeps updating, chances are he's hunting in the
system at that moment if his last kill was in the system (don't assume
he's gone just because he got a kill another system either).
There
are two things you can do: if you're confident in your skills, keep
trading but do it very quickly, or stay docked until the hunter goes
inactive. Please note: good hunters often go inactive for 10 minutes
and then try to catch you at the refresh. Don't assume that a hunter is
inactive just because he is offline.
There are other means of
identifying the presence of a hunter in the system even if he has not
been in the notices. If a hunter's drones are in the system, he is
probably close by. If an unnatural aura suddenly appears (interdiction
fields stop you from moving half the time), there is probably a hunter
within a sector of you. If drones suddenly appear (particularly 1 aggie
stacks: if you run into an aggy stack a combat screen will appear,
return the previous sector asap and dock immediately- if it was a full
stack, you'll be dead anyways and this will save a click), the hunter
is actively hunting you. The first one isn't too worrisome, but if the
latter two occur I highly recommend you stop trading until he leaves
you alone (even I'm not arrogant enough to continue in most cases).
Remember to alert other traders of his presence.
There are two
types of drones to worry about: aggressive and neutral. Aggressive
drones attack anyone not in the alliance of the person who laid them,
and if activated they will generally kill a tradeship. If someone has
been killed by aggies, do not jump around! Jumping circumvents aggies
between the sectors jumped, but if you jump into a sector with aggies
they will trigger. Be sure to scan any sector you move to before you do
any trading.
If the forces are neutral, you don't have to worry
about them unless we're at war. Neutrals only attack someone if the two
alliances are warring. Otherwise, they only respond if attacked. Please
note: drone stacks always win initiative and thus get first shot.
Fly
on 2x (or primaries or secondaries weapons only) so if you do run into
drones there's a greater chance of survival (you probably won't survive
anyways unless the level difference is in favor of you by a wide
margin). The main defense against hostile sector forces are scanners
(so you can scan any sector before you move into so you don't ram into
drones) and drone transponders (which give you a 50% chance of not
getting attacked by them if you do run into them, 75% if sniv). More on
this later.
Try to contact a warbird as soon as possible to
clear the stacks. And make sure they have one strong enough to survive
(I've killed two wraith warbirds with neutral stacks of drones). Shield
based ships are particularly weak against drones.
Trading Basics
Ports
with less than 25k of a good buy that good. Ports with more than 25k of
a good sell that good. Goods are cheaper and give more experience if
they're purchased from a 50k stack instead of say a 28k stack. The same
is true about selling: the closer a port is to 0 of a good, the more
experience and cash you get from the sale of that good. Always try to
buy at 50k and sell at 0k. Don't fill up a port too much or the
experience and cash become less desirable. Ports refresh at :00 and :30
(every half hour), which means the goods change randomly and you can
resume trading if you've filled up and drained a pair of ports.
Goods
on the left are experience goods, with food giving the most experience,
goods on the right are cash goods, with narcotics giving the most cash.
The rest vary somewhere in between. Illegal goods circumvent that rule
to an extent, as they give higher experience than their counterparts
that are sold at similar prices, thereby making them ideal trade goods.
Since our systems alignment is negative, the illegals trade is
in part why our system is attractive. Always trade illegals when
possible! However, your alignment must match the port's you are trading
so that you are never scanned and caught with illegal goods. If you are
caught with illegal goods, you lose turns, cash, the goods you were
going to sell, and alignment.
Try to not focus on trading
certain goods. While you can prioritize them, don't completely ignore
food if you're trading for cash. If you're trading narcotics on the
other side of the route, the two balance out and form a nice medium. It
is better to trade a 50k/0k food/narcs stack than a 35k/15k narcs/lux
stack. Try not to trade a port to 25k, as you may end up with leftovers
that you have to trade to some other port or jettison (which is very
wasteful).
As a resourcer, stay away from crystals as a general
rule. Purify ore into precious metals and refine fuel into chemicals.
Resourcing gives terrible cash, but you make experience faster.
Generally you'll want to stay away from resourcers unless you don't
have much time or are a zallun (or if you have someone funding you). As
a resourcer, since experience is the priority, selling right up to 25k
is acceptable as you still make 100% exp purifying or refining.
Tradeship Design
As
a freighter, the only thing you'll want is speed and cargo holds
upgrades and the following pieces of equipment: scanners, cloak, drone
transponder, sub-space jump drive, and spatial rift generator. Do not
upgrade anything else. Some of these items are difficult to locate, as
the stations list is not up. However, you can purchase a ssjd at the
station.
As a resourcer, you'll need to upgrade speed, cargo
holds, and drone hangars (so you have resource drones). Upgrade speed
and cargo holds to the desired level, then add drones until you reach
your desired refine/purify rate if you don't have money. If you buy
these out of order, it will cost you money. Resourcer equipment is
external resourcing module, improved processing module, micro purifier
module, micro refinery module (skip this if you're resourcing in 23k,
as we don't have any gas clouds over ports), and ssjd. Replace the
refinery module with resource scanners, scanners, or a dt. Please note:
some of the equipment will be hard to find until the stations list is
up, a lot worse than hunting for freighter equipment will be.
Tradeship Theory
There
has been a lot of argument about whether speed or holds is better
within the community. Some say speed, some say holds. My take on this:
heavy on holds is better, but a combination is best. A good rule of
thumb for freighters is 1 speed upgrade for every 4 or so cargo holds
upgrades. For resourcers, speed is usually better. And speed is always
better for zalluns.
My recommendation for a freighter is 24
speed and 1700 holds for non-tamarans (a level 150 ship which costs
around 700 mil) this early in the round, which equates to 24 speed and
2000 holds for a tamaran. That is As the round progresses, more
expensive freighters will popup, but for right now that's the most
efficient you can get and still not feel a ton of pain if you get
podded. I don't recommend using freighters for zallun.
For
resourcers, 6 cargo holds, 5 main engines, and 7 drone hangars
upgrades, which is 850 cargo and 30 speed with 90 resource drones for
about a level 180, 667 mil ship. For zalluns, 7 main engines, 7 cargo
holds, and 6 drone hangars gives 32 speed, 807 holds, and 80 resource
drones, which is level 200 which costs about 1.5 bil. I don't recommend
using resourcers for tams. Please note: sniv have slight resource drone
bonuses that modifies their ship a bit. It results in a ship with 6
upgrades of cargo holds, main engines, and drone hangars.
Any
other ships generally don't make good tradeships. Frigates and
interceptors do work to some degree, but it's not recommended. They
tend to have higher speed and less holds and are not quite as
efficient. Corvettes can make some interesting tradeships as well, but
they're as slow as freighters without as many holds. So sticking with
resourcers and freighters is in general, a good rule to follow.
And that concludes my guide. I hope it helped and any questions or comments are appreciated.