[Spaceship RPG] Rebel Galaxy

[Daehawk]

Scratch my pirate lord question...just killed one. Seems the trick is not to chase them in warp but to go around them and get in front of them then drop out of warp and turn into them. I did that and checked my map when nothing was in sight of my ship but the map showed me on top of the lord so I go back to the ship and Ive rammed into him lol. Tough fight but got ok rewards in money and junk items to sell like a booster and weapon.

[Daehawk]

Ok Im in the 2nd system and have run a few missions and replaced 2 or 3 MK1 lasers with MK2 lasers, It seems to have helped a lot. Before I could barely kill a ship but now I can easier. Have about 4 more lasers to upgrade.

So does this seem the right strategy? Weapons then shields and armor then engines?...it is taking me forever to get anywhere..considering a new warp drive.

[KDH]

my suggestion would be ...

defense first, so that you survive long enough for less than perfect weapon set to win-out .. (hull, shield, deflector)

weapons second .. you'll be in a mild sweet spot for a bit, weapon-wise .. being able to whittle down shields is very important starting mid-game for anything approaching dreadnaught-class opponents ... I use proton thingamabobs for broadsides they are 145% vs shields, and I use a mix of mining lasers and viridion (?) (salvaged) ... mining lasers are 2k-2.6k range vs 3.6k for viridion

speed items, like warp drives, will never give a noticeable benefit .. you will never out warp anything you are chasing (you will magically catchup to it from across the map with any warp-drive) .. and you could say it is just for player convenience getting across the map quicker, but then you have all the distress call and interruptions that will sap any benefit from warp-speed

... weapon class spoiler

Spoiler:

I'm approaching the end of the game (I think), and weapon class has reached mk6 and costs 3.5 to 5.5 million each (roughly) .. but I don't know if my reputation standing is affecting what I can buy (or see) (or spend) in the shop .. defense purchases in this range are closer to 1.5 to 2.5 million

and then you have your target end-game ship to factor-in to your finances ..


keep in mind that regardless of how many Broadside or Secondary ports your target ship has .. it is only one purchase for each category .. which you already have covered in your current ship ... 20 broadside ports is ONE weapon ... save a few higher-end turrets that you tractor in, to cover different ship configs

[Daehawk]

Ok thanks. Ill look into the defense stuff.

I just joined the merc guild. We'll see how that goes.

[killbot737]

I just joined the merc guild. We'll see how that goes.

Read your client names first with those Merc missions - if you do escorts or protection you might be fighting a faction you don't want to lose standing with. Pirates put out missions to be protected from the Merchant guild, for example. You might even end up fighting other mercs (and losing more rep than the mission would have given you)!

[Daehawk]

Holy crap...I didn't know that. Thought we were the good guys. Actually I thought I was joining the bounty hunter guild but I couldn't find that one. I did enjoy the intro mission escorting the old battlewagon in low warp.

[KDH]

There are a few confusing alliances you'll encounter .. like militia escorting pirate lords ... militia with a bounty on their head .. militia blockading a station and opening fire on you just because you showed up

I've grown weary of the militia jacking me up for a couple measly tons of contraband ... I mean, I'm just holding it for a friend .. these aren't even my pants

[Daehawk]

I thought that militia attacking me at a station was a bug.

Also theres a station with a ton of mines around it..nothing seems to attack them bu they just to glue to me. Even my turrets wont attack them.

Also Im no longer sure how to just a mission difficulty rating at all. Its like once I got this Scarab that it went out the airlock. before I could not do high or high risk...then I could do high risk...now those themselves seem tough but then ones rated tougher seem about the same as those.....just not sure..I seem to take my life into my hands every mission.

Heck a bit ago I ran into a giant ass pirate ship that pulled me out of warp. How the hell do pirates have a cruiser lol. One shot and my port shields and armor were gone and I was on fire running my ass off.

[Daehawk]

I kind of have my goal on the Polaris now. It looks like a cross between something from Battlestar Galactica and Dead Space. But I think due to costs Ill have to have a in between...or two. Although I am getting on average 25k - 45k per mission.

[GreenGoo]

I've kind of reached a sweet spot as far as cargo/firepower/maneuverability are concerned.

I can now improve any 2 at the expense of the 3rd.

[KDH]

When I first started playing, I found broadside fighting to be a bit off-putting .. my ship would always wind up between my eyes and my target and I couldn't see my aiming indicator. So, I switched to turret fighting and was able to enjoy the game .. But as I began to encounter larger ships, doing without the broadside firepower was hurting my ability to win, and I had to leave a few random encounter flagships behind ... your broadside weapons won't fire on their own, but the turrets will (rather nicely) .... so I started to re-incorporate the broadsides back into my routine. You can even snipe at distant fighters with a fully focused BS volley and hit 'em, if they don't jink at the last second .. the shot will lead and arc right into the nefarious ne'er-do-well

My ship is currently a Radovich (the flying carton of cigarettes). While I do have a Mk6 defensive trio, I am using a mix of mk2-->mk4 lasers with a Mk6 Proton Cannon broadside array ... I have the money to upgrade the lasers, but that will nix my ability to get a final ship (soon) .. I'm leaning towards a McKinley or a Blackgate .. primarily because, as a first play-thru, I want to sample a slow-moving dreadnaught class to see if I like the handling

[wonderpug]

In one of the patches they added an option in settings to change your zoom level. Zooming out really helps with the broadside visibility issues you mention.

[GreenGoo]

In one of the patches they added an option in settings to change your zoom level. Zooming out really helps with the broadside visibility issues you mention.

I moved my camera out a couple of zoom levels just because it lets me see the action a bit better, making for a more interesting game, visually.

I'm starting to get worried I've run out of ships. I too am running around with a Radovich, but the only ships available for upgrade are the 3 dreadnaughts (one is a hauler from the merchant's guild) and the manticore.

That's a bit disappointing, as it felt like I had several sectors to go. I realized last night that most of them are marked as "normal" threat now though.

I was going to move up to the Manticore last night but instead upgraded a pile of systems, so I'm now mostly Mk V on defensive systems, with a couple of MK V weapons (with a mix of III to IV for the rest) but unable to afford a new ship for a bit. I replaced some Vridian Mk II lasers with Mk V mining lasers, so that was a huge upgrade, but I lost about 50% range doing that, which was very noticeable in combat.

The moment I moved up in tech I ran a mission (one I had previous to the upgrades) and immediately got swarmed and killed. I also noticed that I was barely able to dent the mining versions of ships in that fleet (I don't recall what they were off hand) before their shields regened. Which is good, as combat had been too easy for awhile (I rarely used my secondaries or deflectors, there was no need).

So I guess the end game is in sight. With Mk V's beams costing 1.5 mil each, I guess I'll grind out a few of those and then move to a tougher ship.

[wonderpug]

I'm starting to get worried I've run out of ships. I too am running around with a Radovich, but the only ships available for upgrade are the 3 dreadnaughts (one is a hauler from the merchant's guild) and the manticore.

That's a bit disappointing, as it felt like I had several sectors to go.

I've been having a lot of fun with the game, but I think it has pacing issues right around that point. (I'm just a bit further than you.) There just seemed to be more of a grinding feel and less available new stuff to try. More ships would be nice between the Radovich and end-game ship tier, but that'd also have been a nice stage in the game to introduce some new types of weapons or something.

[GreenGoo]

I've started a new game vowing to only use projectiles and missiles. I'm interested in seeing just how they compare as you progress in the game. I'll return to my other game at some point.

I've forgotten how weak you are at the start. You can't even handle corvettes until you've run a number of the story plot missions, so rescuing people is right out, at first.

After a slow and questionable start, I've moved up to the next ship, bought a small cargo extender and have 1 mk II double barrelled turret (forget what they're called).

I'm also using anything else except HS missiles in my secondary slot, as I used nothing but missiles in my first game. I will say that flak cannons are kind of useless at 480 max range. It's so rare that anything gets that close that they are just wasted space. At least they don't have ordinance that needs to be replaced.

[Daehawk]

I just ran a hella fun mission...and got me a Viridian Laser. Still in 2nd system..will be forever I think Im in a Scarab and was escorting 2 pirate Tennhausens or whatever class cap ships. Ran into some enemy with a destroyer. Figured I was toast but hung around helping and scanned it..Viridian Laser..shit. Finally. It said I scavenged it but I couldn't find it in my inv and was worried until I got to base. Awesome. Its in with all MK2 mining lasers now. Im finally getting geared up.

Also while in paired warp the ones I was tied to simply flew right throug ha field that would have dropped me out of warp 2 parsecs out lol. Lucky bastards.

Finally if Sparrow says "boy'yo" a few more times Im going to gag her.

[Daehawk]

Can you join multiple guilds or will it kick you from your last one?

[Paingod]

Can you join multiple guilds or will it kick you from your last one?

You can be a Mercenary and Merchant at the same time. No harm, no foul - just access to new ships and missions.

[wonderpug]

Can you join multiple guilds or will it kick you from your last one?

You can be a Mercenary and Merchant at the same time. No harm, no foul - just access to new ships and missions.

But you might want to rank up Mercenary as high as you want, and then work on Merchant. If you're not super careful about which Mercenary missions you take, you can end up making your Merchant reputation plummet.

[Paingod]

Can you join multiple guilds or will it kick you from your last one?

You can be a Mercenary and Merchant at the same time. No harm, no foul - just access to new ships and missions.

But you might want to rank up Mercenary as high as you want, and then work on Merchant. If you're not super careful about which Mercenary missions you take, you can end up making your Merchant reputation plummet.

I don't know how much it matters, either. As far as I can tell, it's just for purchasing ships. I don't think the Merchants have a Dreadnaught, so if you've gone past the Radovich, it's probably safe to piss them off.

[wonderpug]

Can you join multiple guilds or will it kick you from your last one?

You can be a Mercenary and Merchant at the same time. No harm, no foul - just access to new ships and missions.

But you might want to rank up Mercenary as high as you want, and then work on Merchant. If you're not super careful about which Mercenary missions you take, you can end up making your Merchant reputation plummet.

I don't know how much it matters, either. As far as I can tell, it's just for purchasing ships. I don't think the Merchants have a Dreadnaught, so if you've gone past the Radovich, it's probably safe to piss them off.

Some specific ship upgrades are faction-dependent, too. Merchants have better cargo bays available, and I think they're the only place to get organic ship armor, which decreases damage from fighters.

[Paingod]

Some specific ship upgrades are faction-dependent, too. Merchants have better cargo bays available, and I think they're the only place to get organic ship armor, which decreases damage from fighters.

I had forgotten about that. I find the Organic Armor quite useful since I can control the beatings I take from capital ships somewhat, but fighter swarms can be impossible to escape quickly without getting ripped up a bit.

I hadn't tried the Explosion-Resistant armor (Webbed?) but imagine it's basically for missile protection - which is what my Deflectors are used for a lot.

[GreenGoo]

I've been using EMP flak as recommended earlier in the thread (don't recall by who, might look later).

I ran 3 Korian swarm missions back to back to back. Was some of the most fun I've had at this stage of the game. I ran away from the swarm in an S pattern, while holding down the flak button. Eventually swarms of fighters/gunships flying past me, spinning out of control. Was hilarious. There'd be like 10's of these gunships and they'd all be flying past with little electrical storms on their surface. My cannons would just chew them up while they were helpless.

As long as I could avoid the initial alpha strike swarm, it was some of the easiest "high" danger missions I've run.

[Paingod]

I've been using EMP flak as recommended earlier in the thread (don't recall by who, might look later).

Totally forgot about those guns and this reason. I don't use my Homing Missiles much unless something already has a gaping hole in it's shields, but I could get into crippling fighters all the time.

[GreenGoo]

I've started a new game vowing to only use projectiles and missiles. I'm interested in seeing just how they compare as you progress in the game. I'll return to my other game at some point.

Well, it works fine. The mark I's are crappy, but the Mk II and higher of the Pulse turrets are plenty strong enough. I threw on a Mk II viridian laser to help with mining, and while it seems like it's more powerful because when it turns on it kills something, I'm not sure it is that much more powerful than the pulse turrets that have no cooldown/charge time.

I picked up the Turath (a merchant ship) since I missed it in my first game. It handles like a brick in water, but it's fairly fast in a straight line and has good cargo space. With only 4 turrets, it's great when you first get it but is running a bit long in the tooth. It's got a very unique look to it that fits nicely into the Firefly type motif.

I'm going to pick up "something that starts with D" the Dravius when I've saved enough money, and if I can remember where I saw it, as it's not part of the usual shipyard.

[Daehawk]

I just saw a mission for $250k . It was 1 jump over so I didn't take it.

Also im reconsidering a destroyer. I tear through them fairly easily with my light frigate. They dont seem very hardy.

EDIT: Holy shitballs! I just took out a dreadnought in my little light frigate Scarab all by myself..and a little Sparrow.

[GreenGoo]

I just saw a mission for $250k . It was 1 jump over so I didn't take it.

Also im reconsidering a destroyer. I tear through them fairly easily with my light frigate. They dont seem very hardy.

EDIT: Holy shitballs! I just took out a dreadnought in my little light frigate Scarab all by myself..and a little Sparrow.

I didn't finish my first playthrough, but I've played up to the Radovich twice now (or near enough) and I can now say what I've suspected based on your posts. You're being too cautious.

Depending on where you stand in terms of ship/armament, the least frightening part of a $250k mission is having to jump over 1 system. If your missions are say $50k on average, don't you think going the extra mile for $250k is worth it? The fact that the game has zero consequences for dying (well, you've got to reload, but auto save covers 90% of that, and a quick exit/continue covers the last 10%) and is not particularly difficult unless you decide to let yourself get swarmed means you should definitely be taking the missions with the largest rewards possible, whatever the actual content of the mission. I sometimes take cheaper missions if they're close by, but otherwise, go where the money is that.

The game is basically one long climb through technology, and money is your "research points". You need to start taking some risks, and by risks, I mean harder missions with bigger payouts. but it really isn't risky, since even mediocre combat skills will result in a win, and even if you die, you just reload anyway.

Money. You need it. Missions have it. Go get it.

This second play through I take the highest reward missions I can find. I guess I kind of avoid red "Very High" risk missions, but I probably don't even need to do that. Orange "High" risk missions don't even register on my "should I take it or not" decision making, although admittedly they do register on my "how cautious do I need to be" radar when actually doing the mission.

Stop being a 'fraidy cat and go get paid.

edit: exactly. Last night I killed 3 dreadnaughts of similar tech with my 4 turret *merchant* ship. Maybe once in a blue moon I misjudge and get my ass kicked, but then I reload and the cost of that mistake is zero.

[wonderpug]

Maybe once in a blue moon I misjudge and get my ass kicked, but then I reload and the cost of that mistake is zero.

Plus, there's no penalty for dropping a mission. Try something hard and see how you do. If you fail, try again or drop it.

[GreenGoo]

To any new players who have finally gotten far enough in the plot to require a jump drive, I recommend jumping 2 systems away and hiring "steve" for about $100k or thereabouts.

He can literally destroy anything in the first and second sectors all by himself without your help. Steve is better than you. And he knows it. I'd say there is zero risk of losing steve in the first two sectors, but then I drove into a planet and he followed me in. Steve didn't like that.

$100k investment in Steve is the best place to put your 100k at that point in the game. The earlier the better.

[GreenGoo]

Another newb tip I noticed that I missed the firs time around:

1) Early mining actually has a chance for major payoff.

I hacked a transponder but when I arrived at the location there was nothing there (I didn't bother to read the transponder text, that's crazy). I pinged, and saw about 4 mineable asteroids. I mined them. I got gold, diamonds and water. When the first upgrade ship is $43k and a diamond sells for about $20k and your missions are paying out about 2k each, that's a HUGE step up.

So if you feel lucky, you can mine early on when you don't have the firepower to actually accomplish much of anything else. A little luck is a game changer at that stage.

Later on, missions, and then missions/cargo and then just killing random dudes with bounties are the fastest way to make cash, but finding a diamond before you've gotten your second or 3rd ship is a huge deal.

Admittedly metallic ore isn't worth much, so it's hit or miss, but hits make a big difference.

[Freyland]

In my first system I found an asteroid field where each of the minable asteroids had 1 Face of Gozu and several gold ingots. Obviously helpful. Of note, the asteroid field was not named and did not show up on the map after I "discovered" it. The asteroids in question where large geohedron type things, which took forever to mine through with my level 1 mining laser.

[wonderpug]

To any new players who have finally gotten far enough in the plot to require a jump drive, I recommend jumping 2 systems away and hiring "steve" for about $100k or thereabouts.

He can literally destroy anything in the first and second sectors all by himself without your help. Steve is better than you. And he knows it. I'd say there is zero risk of losing steve in the first two sectors, but then I drove into a planet and he followed me in. Steve didn't like that.

$100k investment in Steve is the best place to put your 100k at that point in the game. The earlier the better.

The mercenaries scale in quality in price along with you. You could have a $50k Steve, have him die, then hire a $100k Steve later on. The $100k Steve will be much better than the $50k Steve.

Pretty much any merc you hire at the $100k point should be pretty awesome at that stage in the game.

[KDH]

My experiences with the transponders was less than stellar .. I even purchased the hack-time extender because I needed the time. I was going to ask if everybody was happy with those 'payouts'.

I received:

a station pricelist
a list of bounties in the area (5 or 6)
several mining locations which really weren't worth the time, but that's probably my patience issue

then I unequipped the module, but kept it in case any missions required hacking

[GreenGoo]

To any new players who have finally gotten far enough in the plot to require a jump drive, I recommend jumping 2 systems away and hiring "steve" for about $100k or thereabouts.

He can literally destroy anything in the first and second sectors all by himself without your help. Steve is better than you. And he knows it. I'd say there is zero risk of losing steve in the first two sectors, but then I drove into a planet and he followed me in. Steve didn't like that.

$100k investment in Steve is the best place to put your 100k at that point in the game. The earlier the better.

The mercenaries scale in quality in price along with you. You could have a $50k Steve, have him die, then hire a $100k Steve later on. The $100k Steve will be much better than the $50k Steve.

Pretty much any merc you hire at the $100k point should be pretty awesome at that stage in the game.

That could be. In my sample size of two games, steve has been the first $100k merc I've run into.

[GreenGoo]

My experiences with the transponders was less than stellar .. I even purchased the hack-time extender because I needed the time. I was going to ask if everybody was happy with those 'payouts'.

I received:

a station pricelist
a list of bounties in the area (5 or 6)
several mining locations which really weren't worth the time, but that's probably my patience issue

then I unequipped the module, but kept it in case any missions required hacking

Typically hacks have resulted in coordinates for cargo containers. Those are hit or miss, but when they hit, they are pretty awesome (see: vridian lasers).

You're right though, that they can produce lots of less than game changing results, but they are one more thing to do, and I find them fun. Drive to X on the map and see what's there. Sometimes it's treasure, sometimes it's crap, and sometimes it's a trap.

[Daehawk]

Didn't play yesterday...was gone until 6pm then fell asleep and just woke up . I guess you're right on those 1 jump away missions. As is right now in the light frigate Scarab I can kill dreadnoughts. So I should be pretty safe.

[Daehawk]

Is there some way Im missing on targeting tractor beam loot? Like I save a merchant and the bad guy drops a diamond. But my hold is full so I have to drop nuts and biolts . But then tryng to get the damn diamonds targeted instead of those nuts and bolts is hell I tell ya. I could fly a ways off to drop something but then Im worried someone like that merchant hanging around will steal my diamonds loot. It would be SO nice if the dev added a way to change tractor target with the pad.

[Hyena]

Is there some way Im missing on targeting tractor beam loot? Like I save a merchant and the bad guy drops a diamond. But my hold is full so I have to drop nuts and biolts . But then tryng to get the damn diamonds targeted instead of those nuts and bolts is hell I tell ya. I could fly a ways off to drop something but then Im worried someone like that merchant hanging around will steal my diamonds loot. It would be SO nice if the dev added a way to change tractor target with the pad.

If I'm not mistaken, you can go into the scan menu (TAB) and lock on to that container.

[wonderpug]

Is there some way Im missing on targeting tractor beam loot? Like I save a merchant and the bad guy drops a diamond. But my hold is full so I have to drop nuts and biolts . But then tryng to get the damn diamonds targeted instead of those nuts and bolts is hell I tell ya. I could fly a ways off to drop something but then Im worried someone like that merchant hanging around will steal my diamonds loot. It would be SO nice if the dev added a way to change tractor target with the pad.

I think you're overcomplexificatering the gameplay a bit. The vast majority of the time there's going to be no need to sift through the loot options with a fine tooth comb. You'll just want to hold down the tractor beam button and scoop up the whole lot one after another.

[Paingod]

But in the instance where your hold has been stuffed with biowaste & bolts and there are diamonds sitting in front of you, there isn't an easy way to skip eject the garbage and not have it appear immediately at the top of the list of things to hoover in.

I wouldn't mind an exclusion list - just block certain items from even dropping or appearing in enemy holds. Later in the game, I'd rather an enemy have nothing to give me than to give me Soy Paste.