Trading after 2.7M impossible..? (Pirates)

[Spirit]

Hi, I'm new to the game, and still learning... (read the forums, etc.)

After some reading i startet trading and it went quite good for a while... I' currently in the Stirling system, and was trading betwen the mining station and the factory and commerce station. I was able to get some cash fast, and got a Plowshare, to increase the income with one flight. All went well, until i reached about 2.7 millions cash.

Now it's simply IMPOSSIBLE for me to get one load of cargo to another station!!! Each time i launch, after 3-5 minutes I'm swarmed with pirates! There are so many, I just can't fight them off, that the Plowshare is slow as hell, and only has two fuckin' weapon-mounts does not help either... What bewilders me, is that there are first just one or two little fighters, but while i destroy them, there are coming 2-3 large ships (like Mules and Gleaners) and whole loads of fighters...! And in a couple of minutes I'm dead...

I repeated this time, and time, and time, and again!!! And it really starts to get boring... Is there really only the option to edit the savegames to get any farther?

Or am I doing something wrong???

Oh, by the way, the targeting should be enhanced FAST!!! There is NO sense in cycling through all the hostiles (pressing "h") that are thousands of kilometers afar, and I'm blasted by a handfull of ships in close combat! And can't find them fast!

Oh, and one more question, i'm searching for a ship that better fit's my needs. I would like to fly something, thats reasonably fast, can hold some cargo (at least about as much as a llama) and is able to deliver quite a punch...

Is there some ship like that in the game? Some sort of "jack of all trades"? I took a look at the Franklin, and it was some kind okay, but maybe there is one better? (So it's possible to outrun/outgun these damned pirates...)

[loki1950]

Welcome Spirit one thing the bigger your bank balance the harder the game becomes
and about the targeting there are some keys just for the bad boys actually shooting at you

Code: Select all

<bind key="h" modifier="none" command="NearestTargetKey" />
	<bind key="T" modifier="none" command="ReverseTargetKey" />
	<bind key="r" modifier="none" command="NearestHostileTargetKey"/>
	<bind key="R" modifier="none" command="NearestDangerousHostileKey"/>
	<bind key="k" modifier="none" command="NearestFriendlyKey"/>
	<bind key="K" modifier="none" command="NearestBaseKey"/>
	<bind key="k" modifier="ctrl" command="NearestPlanetKey"/>
	<bind key="k" modifier="alt"  command="NearestJumpKey"/>

The "R" is usually the ship that can take you out with one shot like one of the capital ships pirates sometimes have Corvettes I like the Derivative not much cargo space but lots of legs and fire power it's a missile based interceptor if you can't kill it you can run away at least.

Enjoy the Choice

[athomic1]

Be VERY careful with your targeting, and DON'T use 'h' to pick your targets in battle. It'll cycle through EVERYONE who's even just a little unfriendly. What you want to do is focus on ships that are actually attacking. For that, use shift-'r'.

The problem with 'h', like I said, is that it cycles through ALL unfriendly or not-friendly ships, even those just a LITTLE unfriendly, and even when they're not attacking. Unless you're actually out looking for a fight, you don't want to shoot at anyone who isn't already shooting at you. Most of them are happy just to live and let live, but shooting 'em will turn 'em hostile FAST.

Something else: watch your faction ratings. How the factions view you has a lot to do with their eagerness to attack. Friendlies simply won't. Hostiles probably will, but if their faction is only a little negative toward you, you can talk them out of it. F1 is your friend, here (Check the manual for more info on communication). This won't help you against pirates, but killing them will get the Uln (and Forsaken?) on your back. The difference is, you can talk the Uln and Forsaken out of it, if you haven't been wasting them along with the pirates already.

Unfortunately, the Plowshare is all but worthless as a hauler for much of anything heavier than food and the like. The numbers are all against it: its top speed is about half the Llama's to start with, the overdrive doesn't seem to help much, and while it can carry five times the Llama's volume, its base mass is only three times as much. That means you can overload it almost twice as much as you can the Llama. That in turn slows it down more, relatively speaking, and with only half the Llama's speed to begin with, you're down to a crawl!

You're right about the weapons, too, but I think the REAL problem here is the missile bays: friend-or-foe missiles are a godsend to a slow-moving ship like the Plowshare, but it can only mount two of them. Even a few more could make things a LOT easier, but there's really no (legitimate) way to expand your capacity there.

SO, what can you do? Well, let's see...

I'd probably switch back to the Llama, myself. That's effectively what I did, after my one Plowshare fiasco. I'd bought one at a commerce center to haul more mining and construction equipment, kitted it out with the best armor, maximum overdrive, and all the best weaponry I could find there for the thing. It made it out maybe 20km from the base. Actually, I think it was run over by a Gleaner. In any case, I decided a Plowshare just wasn't going to cut it, switched back to the Llama, and made a point of watching cargo mass a LOT closer. Keep it within 1000-1500% of base mass, and you'll be okay, if a bit sluggish. You'll find hauling heavy cargo to arid/ice planets MUCH easier than trying to dock with bases, too.

Alternately, you might consider adding a light or medium fighter to your fleet, and taking the fight to your enemies. Just go around the system, wiping 'em out or talking them down (remember about the factions!), and when you've whittled them down some, pull one of the haulers back out (again, I'd go with the Llama, but that's me). The Robin or Sickle is a good, cheap fighter for the purpose, with good speed, and decent mountings. I especially like the Sickle's missile capacity. The Hyena's usable too, but it's about double the cost of the others, and only mounts light weapons. Just one missile, too, IIRC. Of course, with almost three mil, you could probably afford to splurge on even better ships, but don't forget to figure in upgrades.

Now, if you're absolutely wedded to the Plowshare, there's one more possibility I can think of, but you'll have to do some exploring to find it. In fact, it may be quite a bit of exploring. What you'll be looking for is at least one turret you can mount to your ship. Two or more may be better, but like I said, it takes some exploring. Turrets don't crop up just anywhere. You'll probably find your best luck at fighter bases and star fortresses, and maybe Trantor planets. The benefit of these is, you can mount them on just about any ship, shoot at anything in its firing arc without having to turn the whole ship, or don't even do the shooting yourself! Just assign your current target, and leave it to the turret's AI.

As long as you're out shopping, you might also look for autotracking for your existing mounts. It may not be QUITE as helpful as turrets, but a lot easier to come by. Military bases and trantor planets should be good sources, and commerce centers, as well. Autotracking mounts make it a LOT easier to hit a target in front of you, provided you lock it in ('l' key to do this). You'll still have to maneuver to keep your target in front of you, but you won't be quite the sitting duck they were expecting!

Anyway, there's a FEW (long-winded) ideas for you to consider. Wingmen are one other option, but I won't discuss them in detail here. I haven't really used them myself, much, but a couple of guys on your own side can help make space seem a LOT less hostile. In any case, maybe something will prove useful, here.

Good luck!

[Genghis Prawn]

I like playing with the plowshare but it is quite slow. I prefer the Pacifier . . lots of weapons mounts . . better speed than the LLama, with lots of upgrade space. I go around buying all the cargo upgrades I can find (oceanic planets and mining bases) until I get as much or more cargo space than the LLama.

Go for lighter more valuable trade cargo .. speed is the key to keeping the pirates away from you. When you are big, slow and loaded down with lots of booty they think you are a much better target. Speed (especially ability to accelerate to speed quickly) makes you less interesting to the pirates, and if they come anyways ... speed allows you to run to a planet or jump point. Stations are difficult to dock at when moving fast so I don't recommend them.
My favorite cargo . . . under industrial goods .. Mining and electronic. Good value to mass especially the electronic cargo . . go from the commerce center to a mining base (or fighter barracks) and don't bother to bring anything back from the mining base . . .the value is too low and the mass is way too high. Once you graduate to the AI cores (about 10 mil) you can make loads of cash on those runs . . making about 4 mil per core. The first three runs you carry 1, after that it goes up quickly and money is just raked in. Once you get so stinking rich off of that kind of trading there is no where to go but bounty hunting .. especially after those problem pirates!

I recommend playing the development version for that ... the pay for bounty is significantly improved over the main stable release (0.5.0).

Another thing to think about .. when you use the same trade route over and over you attracts competition (especially pirates). So explore a little and find a new trade route.