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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
So I've plunked down a small fortune to purchase the vaunted Nova and outfit it with some semi-respectable equipment. 3x5MW shields (Split won't sell me 25's), an ion disruptor (need to go buy a second one), and an alphaPAC. Could have bought a factory and had it up-and-running for this kind of loot, and I'm wishing that I had.
I've never claimed to be a fighter. Nope. I use my brains, yes I do. When it's time for rough stuff, I hire some goon hyped up on spaceweed and creatine to do my dirty work. Board rooms, not boxing rings! But, it appears that I must find my inner caveman, or the Paranid will continue their stubborn refusal to trade, keeping me from continuing my hunt for the AP Gunner.
So I rent a half dozen editions of "Ultimate Fighting Championship" from Blockbuster Holograms to get in the mood, and hop into my shiny new Nova. I decide to wander over to Priest's Pity and look for trouble. Or rather, look for an easy target- after all, I'm new to physical aggression.
I figured my burly Nova should outclass a pirate Bayamon. Why would I want a fair fight? I found that it seemed the pirate and I were just going in circles chasing each other, so I resolved to improve my Nova's rudder control after the fight. That was shortly before he decided to ram me. I think my air intake is clogged with parrot feathers and I've got splinters of his peg leg all over my windshield. I quickly checked my hull for damage and was pleased to discover that the shields had held. I set sail for the gate to give my shields time to recharge. About half way there, I noticed a lonely pirate transport ambling thru the sector. This time, I'd capture my victim. Oh yes, he shall be mine.
Sure enough, he was. After he rammed me. Knocked my hull clear down to 78% he did. So I sent my prize limping off to the nearest dock and jumped away to fix my ship. 180,000 credits to fix it??? And I only got 12,000 for the transport. Not profitable, no sir. So I cranked my rudder control all the way up. I shall conquer, for I am agile and I can get out of the way of suicidal pirates. Feeling a spring in my step (most likely from the dramatically reduced size of my wallet, rather than any sense of confidence), I returned to Priest's Pity to find another victim.
Damn transport rammed me again. Bah, I'm going back to the board room.
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
Sat Mar 06, 2004 11:34 pm |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
The answer is simple, get the 25MW shields. That means killing a few pirates in Split space. Ramming does nothing after that. Try to collect a couple of Orinocos. I sell them for nearly 400k each. Get a HEPT for your Nova as well. Last night, by capturing Pirates, I was able to buy a new SPP and TWO Mantas to service it. I still have several hundred K left and I now own 2SPP's and 6 ships. My Nova has more than paid for itself. Also, with police licences, I even get some money when they ram me and destroy themselves. Oh, and dte, I do it all on autopilot. SC24 once you target your next ship!! 
_________________
If God said it, then that settles it!
I don't use Smileys, I use Emoticons!!
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Sun Mar 07, 2004 4:05 am |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
Hull repairs are a rip-off if you ask me. Just like panel-beaters in real life... I've never had too many problems with ramming. I certainly agree it's a problem in the game but I fight at ~half speed and don't really have too much trouble getting out of the way. Anyway, Corwin's right - stick it on autopilot. For $12k, you must have blasted the hell out of the hull! 
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Editor @ RPGDot |
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Sun Mar 07, 2004 7:59 am |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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Two words.
Strafe. Drive.
Once you get a strafe drive extension dodging a ram attack is easy as anything. You can even say "Ole!" and pepper the ship with ion blasts as it whips by.
Even my TL Heracles can dodge ram attacks using Strafe. Still can't turn, naturally (takes 2 kilometers to make a 360. I am not kidding.) ... but can adroitly step to the left.
Not that I dodge ram attacks with the Herc. In fact, I invite them to slam into 750k shields. System component loss is still annoying, though. Without fail the first things to go for me are Best buys locator and transporter... both very handy for a mobile battlefortress to have.
I only use the autopilot in combat for capital ships taking out pirate bases... and that's only if I'm bored and don't want to do it myself.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Mon Mar 08, 2004 5:12 am |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
Further Memos:
So, I turned back the hands of time a bit, did enough trading to procure 2 ion disruptors and 2 alphaHEPTs. This was complicated by the fact that the Khaak seem to have taken an interest in the sectors surrounding my SPP (which wouldn't be a problem if you could control the number of jumps the crystal buyer is allowed--and why oh why is it always right AFTER the buyer picks up 80k worth of crystals that he dies) Salivating at the thought of 25MW shields, I decided to kill pirates in Split territory rather than questing with the Paranids. I cranked the rudder control all the way, and let the fighter computer take the wheel. It was a beautiful thing as I smacked an Orinoco around, barely taking a scratch. Probably should have paid better attention, though. It seems the fight attracted some Split ships that got zinged with the ion disruptors. Every Split in the universe is hostile to me now. *sigh* I think I'm going to wear out my time machine as many times as I've returned to the past... *sigh*
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Mon Mar 08, 2004 6:56 pm |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
Yes, you have to be careful where you use that ID. I try to get the pirates near the edges of the map, away from heavy traffic. If I can't, I will disable the ID and use the HEPT.
_________________
If God said it, then that settles it!
I don't use Smileys, I use Emoticons!!
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Mon Mar 08, 2004 11:17 pm |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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Additionally, your computer will automatically set your friend/foe to Foe if a faction becomes hostile to you. Every Split in the universe doesn't hate you... unless you took out like 10 transports before running like hell... it's just your onboard computer going "Brrrzt.... frzzzz... t-a-r-g-e-t .... a-qu-ir-ed. Di-plo-macy.... dis-en-gaged. Ex-term-in-ate. Ex-term-in-ate. Brrzzzt...."
My battlecruiser did this while I was clearing a sector and had to change laundry loads. Set it to attack all foes and I guess it winged a nova while doing so. When I came back there was nothing left of Home of Light save some depressed and lonely looking asteroids.
Oh, and you can control how far your crystal buyers will go. Under station properties maximum jumps controls how far ANY ship from your factory will stray. The jumps column besides crystals merely tells you how far away the closest crystal source AT THAT MOMENT is. I find that you can usually set it to 2 if you've done a good job picking a location for a SPP (I goofed with Friar's Retreat, as it never has enough crystals... but when it does it positively swims in cash. I'll probably put an Argon crystal fab and the two factories it needs there later.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Tue Mar 09, 2004 3:24 pm |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
Tonight's memo:
It's a good day to be me. 
Chalk up two pirates, add in happy Split, mix in 25MW shields, and set up a second SPP down in Red Light. Bake just right and frost to taste! Currently stalling around in Red Light to see if a single Manta set to 0 jumps can keep up with that factory's production. If not, it's back up to Argon Prime to pick up another Express; if so, it's into Paranid country to get those folks happy via a little pirate slaughter.
Next on the purchase list (depending on the Express) is to start installing Trade Mk3's on my 3 trader mantas. It's getting a little difficult to micromanage 3 traders, 2 stations with associated ships, and my Nova. Not to mention that I'll want to add another Manta to work Paranid sectors once they love me.
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Wed Mar 10, 2004 5:58 am |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
I know the feeling, but those MK3's are VERY expensive. Are they really worth the investment?
_________________
If God said it, then that settles it!
I don't use Smileys, I use Emoticons!!
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Wed Mar 10, 2004 7:46 am |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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Not really, no.
I've seen them pay off in Artreus' Clouds... thats about it. Made a fair bit of change before a Pirate blew up the Robotrader (as in... made 250k, lost 750k in ship and components.).
Plus you don't need to micromanage factory vessels, of course, and that's where the money is. Trade Mk1 and Mk2 software lets you buy and sell automatically and the station adjustment lets you control how many sectors you want to risk (the more, the longer it takes, the less profit you make, the more likely you are to get intercepted by something that wants to eat your brains).
I guess it might pay off if you had very, very heavily shielded and armed transports. Setting their turret to protect ship and having 25k or more shields SHOULD allow them to survive a bit of pounding while trundling to their next stop.
Not against an Orinocco or Pirate that's serious, though. Transports fly in straight lines... straight lines vs Beta Plasma Cannons = Free floating wreckage.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Wed Mar 10, 2004 2:17 pm |
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dteowner
Shoegazer
Joined: 21 Mar 2002
Posts: 7570
Location: Third Hero of Erathia |
Although the station traders run themselves, I still check on them once in a while to make sure they're still in one piece. The real problem with them is that they still how up on the property list. Since I spend most of my time with the property list onscreen and SETA engaged, it becomes a problem when the property no longer fits on a single screen. Right now, if I use the "ships" tab (hate to lose sight of the SPPs, but dem's da breaks), it just fits unless every ship is in a different sector. If I add another factory trader or another Manta, I can no longer see when my ships hit their docks. Letting them sit "until I get around to it" can be very expensive if the computer buys or sells while your ship sits.
I asked over at the Egosoft Modding forum if someone had made a script that would give an audio signal when your ships landed. No response after 24 hours, although I haven't looked yet today. That would eliminate the need to constantly watch the property screen.
_________________
=Proud Member of the Non-Flamers Guild=
=Benevolent Dictator, X2/X3 and Morrowind/Oblivion Forums=
Sorry. No pearls of wisdom in this oyster.
RIP Red Wings How 'Bout Dem Cowboys! |
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Wed Mar 10, 2004 4:26 pm |
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EverythingXen
Arch-villain
Joined: 01 Feb 2002
Posts: 4342
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I just check the R screen whenever I get a free moment. I only use the 'watch propery screen and hit J' when I'm trading a sector clean with my TL and its 4 Mantas. I tend to stick to sectors that start with A to D for this, though.
Good places for automated traders? Core Paranid sectors. Paranid Prime is never attacked by big Khaak groups (if it is the sheer number of M3s and M2 and M1 in the system make very, very short work of it). Sometimes your trader will trade the sector out and you'll have to wait a bit to get profit going again.
_________________
Estuans interius, Ira vehementi
"The old world dies and with it the old ways. We will rebuild it as it should be, MUST be... Immortal!"
=Member of the Nonflamers Guild=
=Worshipper of the Written Word= |
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Thu Mar 11, 2004 6:40 am |
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corwin
On the Razorblade of Life
Joined: 10 Jun 2002
Posts: 8376
Location: Australia |
I have my two SPP's in Kingdom End and Paranid Prime. There are other places I think might be successful, but I worry about the number of "Unknown Ships" in the area.
_________________
If God said it, then that settles it!
I don't use Smileys, I use Emoticons!!
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Thu Mar 11, 2004 10:02 am |
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