Newbies - The Fast Way to a Half Billion Credits

Post your best tactics and strategies for getting the big bux in Vega Strike
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eracc
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Newbies - The Fast Way to a Half Billion Credits

Post by eracc »

Hi Newbies. I presume you are just starting out in the VegaStrike (VS) universe and need credits for all those ships and upgrades over which you are salivating. Here is how I made over a half billion (500,000,000+) credits in about three days of sporadic game time on version 0.5.0 "stable".

Convention used: Keys that get pressed in game are in []. Like this - [F1].
  • At the start, SAVE OFTEN and DO NOT fight anyone.
  • Use your [F1] key to "talk nice" to every ship you can [t]arget in all factions you can [t]arget, especially ULN, ULN Citizens and Purist citizens but not Luddites. SAVE OFTEN. We will hunt Luddites later to build faction relations, so do not care if they LOATHE us. SAVE OFTEN.
  • If you are attacked and can't get away, be willing to "die", then quit and start with your last saved game. SAVE OFTEN.
  • Buy entertainment, wines and coffee on the Ocean planet in Cephid-17 to trade with the mine on the other side of Cephid-17. SAVE OFTEN.
  • Buy *ium crystals/metals, Anti Corrosives/Gold/Rare Earths/Alkali Metals/Base Metals to trade with the Ocean planet on the other side of Cephid-17. SAVE OFTEN.
  • When you run out of items on the mine, quit and restart the game for the mine to be restocked. SAVE OFTEN. Do the "quit and restart" as many times as you need. SAVE OFTEN.
  • As soon as you get to about 500,000 to 1,000,000 credits doing this (which should take about an hour or two of game time) then buy a jump drive for your Llama and beef it up just a little on capacitor, reactor and shields for some exploration. SAVE OFTEN. Make sure to keep at least 100,000 credits for trading. SAVE OFTEN.
  • Jump through the near systems and look for one with a Commerce Center and Ice, Ocean/Arid planet(s) in that order. SAVE OFTEN.
  • Start trading PAI Wetware (Buy for ~9,600 credits each.) from the Commerce Center to any of these planets for ~12,000 to ~14,000 credits, preferably Ice as you get more profit from Ice. SAVE OFTEN. Do not worry about trading back to the Commerce Center, just fly back to it empty so you can trade PAI Wetware faster. SAVE OFTEN.
  • When you get to the point you are emptying the Commerce Center of PAI Wetware then save and quit for it to restock. SAVE OFTEN. I do the save + quit + buy over and over until I use about half my credits on hand then go sell and do it again. SAVE OFTEN.
  • Do this until you have your first 11,000,000 credits, then start trading AI Cores (Buy for ~10,600,000 credits each and sell at an Ice planet for over 14,000,000 credits each!). SAVE OFTEN. Now you are making serious credits on each transaction. SAVE OFTEN.
  • Quit and restart as needed to restock the Commerce Center. SAVE OFTEN. Do this until you have as much credit as you want. SAVE OFTEN. My rule of thumb is to get double what it would cost me to by a Clydesdale at 300,000,000 credits. :) SAVE OFTEN.
  • Oh, in case I forgot to mention this ... SAVE OFTEN. :D
So, that my dear Newbie is the fast way to a half billion credits. Once you can outfit a ship for bounty and clean sweep missions you can start hunting Luddites to make everyone but ULN, ULN citizens and Purist citizens love you. You have to keep spawning [F1] with those guys to get any love. ;)
Last edited by eracc on Fri Oct 16, 2009 4:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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eracc
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Re: Newbies - The Fast Way to a Half Billion Credits

Post by eracc »

I just looked in my saved game file to see my exact credits made this way. After spending some here is what is left in the save game file: 645114048.000000 :D
http://www.eracc.com/ - Linux, Unix, eComStation (Get rid of proprietary Microsoft and Apple!)
Custom Built, Preloaded PCs, Workstations and Servers - Business, Home and Gamer systems
My custom built Linux Gamer/Personal/Business box: Mageia Linux on - ASUS M4A78, 4GB RAM (Linux "sees" 3.2 GB with a 32-bit kernel), AMD Phenom Quad-core @ 2.6GHz, Radeon X1650 Pro PCIe, "sda" 250GB WD2500AAKS-0, "sdb" 150GB WD1500ADFD-0 (Raptor), "sdc" 150GB WD1500ADFD-0 (Raptor), "sdd" 500GB ST3500418AS, "xfs" file system on all but the / partition which is using "ext4".
bokid 1603
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Re: Newbies - The Fast Way to a Half Billion Credits

Post by bokid 1603 »

The PAI and AI core runs can also be made to an Agricultural station if an Oceanic planet is unavailable :wink:
Nittalope
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Re: Newbies - The Fast Way to a Half Billion Credits

Post by Nittalope »

Well, maybe I think different, but don't see that much of fun in doing this.
Save often and start again to refurbish the Commerce Center and Mines? Well... maybe start your exploration early and find new Commerces and Mines, no?
Easiest way is to hack the save file, then... but that's lesser fun too...

I've died a lots of time in VS, and started again to find new strategies... don't like to hack the system... still I haven't reached the half million, but like the game this far.
eracc
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Re: Newbies - The Fast Way to a Half Billion Credits

Post by eracc »

Nittalope wrote:Well, maybe I think different, but don't see that much of fun in doing this. Save often and start again to refurbish the Commerce Center and Mines? Well... maybe start your exploration early and find new Commerces and Mines, no? ...
Heh, well, if one can succeed at exploration without having a large bundle of credits then one might do that. I found that trying to explore early in just the starting Llama ended up being more frustrating that fun. Mainly due to poor faction relations and aera / pirate attacks. The starting Llama is no match for aera at all or more than two or three pirates. I'm probably being generous with the pirate estimate. :)

I think of the save + quit + restart cycle as my character in-game goes to bed, sleeps and wakes up to do more work. It is just a mental thing for me but it makes the grind of trading more amenable. Just hacking the save file is faster, but no challenge at all. ;)
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Nittalope
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Re: Newbies - The Fast Way to a Half Billion Credits

Post by Nittalope »

eracc wrote: I found that trying to explore early in just the starting Llama ended up being more frustrating that fun. Mainly due to poor faction relations and aera / pirate attacks. The starting Llama is no match for aera at all or more than two or three pirates. I'm probably being generous with the pirate estimate. :)
That's quite true, but trying not to fight at all could help you out... and of course hacking the factions.xml file to change some relations, like the uln ones, like it is explained in some place here in the forums. This gives you more chances to make money, obviously slower.
But when you found yourself in aera space or near, better run. ;)

Still I haven't bought myself nothing more than a Ploughshare... :( but my learning curve is slow!

Now I'm in Cephid trying to build up a little fortune before to move to a new system to start again... and so on. I prefer this way because is more a "natural" way, and I like to do this in a simulation... but if you have fun, whatever way you choose is the good one!
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Re: Newbies - The Fast Way to a Half Billion Credits

Post by Genghis Prawn »

The more loaded down your ship is . . the more attractive it is to marauding pirates. Keep it light and fast and I find that the pirates aren't interested as a rule . . and if they decide to take a swipe at you, you have the ability to accelerate and run. For the running I just hit the y key to engage travel mode then hit the afterburners till I get some distance then spec away. Load your ship with a lot of expensive and heavy cargo and you are nearly guaranteed to attract the attention of the pirate looking for booty.


GP

---------------------------------------

Spec Away! Spec Away!
Munno
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Re: Newbies - The Fast Way to a Half Billion Credits

Post by Munno »

I earnt 500k in only an hour trading Mining items like the Material Refiner between a commerce centre and a mining base... Now I've got myself a little fighter with some Heavy weapons and 1 torpedo installed and I'm off hunting Aera...
Much love shall be extended to this excellent game and it's amazing community.

Munno's (outdated) guide to hacking VegaStrike Saved files!

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Re: Newbies - The Fast Way to a Half Billion Credits

Post by Rattan »

Don't pick any fights early on, there will be plenty of time for that later when you're very used to your controls and have upgraded enough. The trip from the Ocean planet to the mine is a bit of a long haul at first. Upgrading engines first is probably the most practical way for a newbie to make it shorter. It'll still get to feeling tedious after the first few times though, and when that happens you can leave the autopilot off and actually pilot your way back and forth. Make use of that long easy run to practice a few manoeuvres, like heading off in a random direction and then using your scanners and piloting skills to get back on course. Try disengaging the inertia and spinning to face in the direction you were coming from, see how fast you can turn 360 degrees under full power, try some loops. Rolls and banked turns as well, if they're something you'll use in your fighting style

Don't try to fill the ship on those cargo runs. It slows you down way too much. Take a paper and pencil or whatever and jot down prices at the Ocean planet and the Mining asteroid so you can see what will make you some money to carry. Keep enough credits onhand to be able to buy enough to make your runs profitable, and spend some credits on engines, capacitor, shields, and armour.. When you get all those upgraded to between levels 3 and 5, maybe consider a missile or two just in case you run into something you can't outrun. Upgrading engines, caps, shields and armour a notch at a time will keep you busy for a bit. Upgrade the armour a little less than you do everything else

Don't knock yourself out too much by playing too hard at first. Play for an hour or two, then save and quit. Do something else for a bit, and then go back to the game. When you've got engines and cap and shields upgraded a bit and maybe bought a couple missiles, then try some other places in the Cephid system and see what's there that you can make some money trading. When you've got engines, cap and shields up to about level 5 and armour to 2 or 3, and you have a fair amount of experience actually piloting your ship, then maybe consider saving and trying a small bounty mission. Pick easy ones, where you'll only be going up against a pirate or 2 or a Luddite or two. At first I'd rely more on missiles than shooting, unless you've spent time in other space or air combat games and are already comfortable with flying and shooting at once. Don't overdo the bounty missions at first. They don't pay that well and they always tick off somebody. But if you can win a fight with a pirate or two, then it'll be a good time to get a jump drive and try a little exploring to find systems with better money-making potential as already mentioned elsewhere in this thread.

The llama is a bit small for serious cargo hauling, so after you find places where moving bigger industrial or agricultural gear can be good profits, consider buying a plowshare. Upgrade that with better engines and caps and some shields and a little armour and you can make some very profitable runs in systems with an Ocean world or Commerce center and a desert planet or two. Again, don't load it too heavy. A heavily loaded merchant ship is too easy a target for pirates. Use the F1 and F2 keys a lot when anybody says anything to you to try and stay everybody's buddy. At least until later, when you've made some serious credits and have outfitted your dream gunship and maybe decide to bounty hunt or clear the system or whatever. LOL But by then you'll have a pretty good idea what you're doing.

Daniel
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