@Molgrips however much they paid you it was not enough!

Matt

All,

I have done a little mining over the last few days, so I will be adding a shipyard to my carrier Moon’s Spawn.

The idea is that I will announce when I am doing something which may be of interest and people can join if that is useful.

For example, in the next few days I will be jumping to Alioth to unlock Bill Turner and get various modules engineered (long range PAs anyone). I will probably go late one day then back the same time the next day. I’ll be mining bromelite tonight so will shout if I have spare.

I would also be up for the same kind of trips to a mining location, celeano for a bug hunt, guardian locations anywhere useful really. Once I’ve added the shipyard I’ll shout.

Matt

How does that work if someone on you carrier doesn’t have the Alioth permit?

Are carriers restricted from jumping to permit locked systems?

Carriers can’t jump to permit locked systems. I will be getting as close as possible. I don’t even have a permit myself at the minute.

Matt

@Molgrips however much they paid you it was not enough!

Yeah but you know what, this is Elite, and we wouldn’t be here if we didn’t have bloodyminded determination.

I need to mine, but currently I am half way to Elvira Martuuk in my unengineered Fer de Lance which is taking sodding ages.

That’s the thing that puts me off engineering my Krait, it is a long way from the Plieades to practically anywhere and I need to visit about 6 engineers.

Matt

I need to mine, but currently I am half way to Elvira Martuuk in my unengineered Fer de Lance which is taking sodding ages.

Oof, bit late now but did you strip out the modules you weren’t engineering and fit a massive fuel scoop?

Do we know what happens to ships if they are in your carrier and you disable shipyard facilities? Dropped off at the nearest station perhaps?

That’s the thing that puts me off engineering my Krait

armor is the only thing you need to visit the engineer with that particular ship to get upgraded, any other module you can either load onto an anaconda or other ship with a big jump range or store the module, travel to engineer in a long range ship **that can fit the module** and pay to transfer it over (you should definitely do one of these with federal or other fighty ships with terrible jump ranges).

Pinned blueprints saves a LOT of legwork tho, you just have to be clever about which ones you pin, i went for similar to this with a few tweaks for personal preference (qwent armoured pp, todd overcharged MC etc) visit each engineer in a long range ship, pin the blueprints then upgrade from comfort of your home station, then you only have to transport a module to the engineer if you want a secondary effects.

************ Newsflash ***************

Amazing scenes here in the normally tranquil system of Kuwembaa, where the Grovicele Movement have made an audacious attempt to ‘invade’. This unexpected and frankly unwanted incursion has resulted in a war between the Grovicele Movement and the Karahua Network.

Loyal sons and daughters of Kuwembaa and the Federation are being asked to take up arms in support of the Karahua network.

****************************************

Oof, bit late now but did you strip out the modules you weren’t engineering and fit a massive fuel scoop?

I have a tiny class 2 fuel scoop. I tried not to strip much out because I wanted to get into a few scraps on the way. I did swap a hull reinforcement module for a larger fuel tank but of course a larger scoop would have been more sensible.

Pinned blueprints saves a LOT of legwork tho

Yes, I used these to engineer my Anaconda, but now I have discovered I have nowhere near enough engineer rep to unlock the stuff I want (shields, thrusters), fortunately I have enough ships (hopefully) to rectify this.

EDIT do we need to go once more unto the breach to defend our new home system, or will they handle it?

@D0NK yes that’s what happens to docked ships when the shipyard is removed or the carrier is decommissioned.

You are right of course about the pinned blueprints and module shifting. The DBX is actually quite handy for weapons as it has one large and two medium hardpoints. The Krait/Python is my biggest ship atm!

The trouble with the Krait is it’s a Xeno build, which means that it is different to a lot of my pinned blueprints (armoured on the power, enhanced low power on the shields, no resistances on the boosters etc). And of course I’m easily distracted!

Matt

do we need to go once more unto the breach to defend our new home system, or will they handle it?

Don’t we also have an election to win?

a war between the Grovicele Movement and the Karahua Network

doesnt appear we have any skin in this game, but presumably it will affect the BGS, so we fight for Karahua network then? If we overkill it tho will that increase KN influence too much? Or will handing in bonds always boost NKL as we have control of the system?

The trouble with the Krait is it’s a Xeno build, which means that it is different to a lot of my pinned blueprints

good point. Low power shields because weapons aren’t engineered to be efficient? Otherwise I thought reinforced & max MJ all the way.

@D0NK yeah, I want all the power for 4xGauss cannon, otherwise yeah max points all the way. Those Guardian Module Reinforcements suck up the juice as well.

It also gives me a recovery of 1:30 which is more than a minute quicker than reinforced.

I’m fighting for KN, for the status Quo and the Federation. I imagine I can get Molgrips on side there!

Matt

[Edit] No engineering possible on Gauss

@matt_bl I’ll hitch a lift to Alioth if I may. I fancy a play with PAs.
I’ve just been to do some mining and picked up some Bromelite fairly quickly from a hotspot at ODINJA 1. Just one jump from Akuntsu. There seemed to be plenty of surface deposits so mining appears to be working again at least for Bromelite. There’s also some LTD and Tritium hotspots in the ring there which will be worth investigating.
I’ll spend a bit of time materials hunting as well as NKL duties over the next little while see if I can finish some of the Blueprints I already have as well.

@crewlie I’m just getting my bromellite so I’ll give you a shout. There are some hotspots (LTD and Tritium) on the 7th planet at HIP 47839, which I have had some success with.

If you need raw materials give me a shout, there is a planet for everything within 15Ly.

Matt

Been running election missions in Akuntsu.

Stopped doing stuff in Velniat as we’re within 5% of the controlling faction now.

Perchy, yes we want to match in Velniat, as we can’t do anything until the election is finished. I ran 5 missions so I’m predicting a solid win on the second day.

I also won a couple of combat zones for KN in Kuwembaa, so that might push day 1 for them.

Matt

I ran about 6 missions, maybe 7 this morning. ARP gonna smash this [/troll]

@D0NK – thanks for the Reddit link for blueprints to pin. I’ll take a closer look tomorrow. I’d seen this one from D2EA, a quick scan and there’s a few similarities in choices;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5FqzeVRDAs

Has anyone ever had a comms message tip off from a “mysterious stranger”? I’m being asked if I want to go on a mission to collect some high value data, co-ords for a planetary landing, expect some opposition there apparently. No idea what it’s about, got it after one of my missions yesterday.

@son-of-mike yeah it’s usually a pretty straightforward low value affair, but worth doing, you never know what system you may end up in.

I will be taking the carrier to Alioth, well 78 Ursae Majoris, around 1300 tomorrow and I’ll be jumping back around the same time on Sunday, if I get Bill Turner sorted. Anyone who wants to join me is welcome. The shipyard has been added.

Matt

A load of NKL missions* in akuntsu and kuwembaa tonight and a couple of combat zone wins for KN, only low intensity, do medium/high offer more influence or is that just for entertainment value? Combat zone seemed easier than the last few Ive done so dunno if I’m improving or theres variation in difficulty even for “Low”. Heavily engineered FdL tho, so it’d be a travesty if I wasn’t kicking PVE arse.

*and 1 or 2 for other factions, cant help myself when theres profitssss to be had

Thanks for adding the shipyard Matt.
Ships now aboard Moon’s Spawn. I’ve donated a few t’s of Tritium and have spare Bromelite, but I’m not sure how to pass it on if anyone wants any.
Bill Turner does a quite a few mods that I’d like to get as well as the PAs. Lightweight sensors and improved DSS should be useful for exploration. Shame you can only pin one blueprint per engineer.
What’s anyone’s suggestion for the best experimental for PA. Not sure I’d ever hit anything with long range fixed weapons, at least not with my current skill level 😉

@D0NK yes the medium and high intensity CZs count for more. I thought the low were pretty reasonable yesterday. I finished with 100% hull in the Vulture and it’s not that tough. I was mainly fighting pythons and crusaders.

@crewlie that’s why I’m pleased I can take the carrier, I want to do the DSS on my phantom and some scanners on my bubble-bus. A lot of people like long range on the PAs as it doubles the shot speed (helping aiming I hope). I’m going to try that with phasing experimental on the mediums. I don’t know what experimental to put on the large, but that is a relatively quick/cheap change later.

If you don’t need the bromelite I can buy it from you and store it one the carrier and pass it on later.

Matt

@matt_bl I’ve got 20t excess Bromelite, happy to donate it to STW stores. Can I just sell to the carrier, at 0 price or near to it.

OK, when I move the carrier I’ll set up a buy order. I have 100 or so spare so I’ll include them.

When I was mining last night I thought tritium was really abundant in a single, as was bromelite. LTDs not so much! I might try a proper run at tritium, I think there is about 200t per hour with a mix of surface and SSD.

Matt

Heads up for FC owners.

Looks like another bug to look out for!

Thanks for the heads up. I jumped successfully last night later than the reported times, so I might be lucky.

Matt

@crewlie did you get everything done that you needed? If not I can leave the carrier on site for another day and jump back in the bubble bus?

I took the opportunity to see Selene Jean at Kuk, so a really useful trip. Just need some more mats now!

Matt

@matt_bl Pretty much, though I underestimated how long it would take to get allied with Aolith, everything seemed to be mining or planetary scan missions. I knew I would be biking this morning so it ended up as a late night and a bit of stress trying not to get a rebuy and losing my Bromelite 🙂
Had to leave a few things undone (although up to 90% complete) as I ran out of materials, but got my access up to level 5 and put experimentals on all the PAs I took over with me.
I’m still down at the Engineers with my ASP but it’s only 5 jumps back from there and I might just have a nose around the tourists sights here and see if I can collect a few mats and finish getting my sensors up to L5. So if you’re still here I’ll dock if not I’ll pick the other ships up later.
Thanks for the lift, it proves that FC can be very useful if actually used for a purpose rather than just bought because you can.

@crewlie you’re welcome. I found the same thing, when I allied with Eurybia for another engineer it took two missions or something ridiculous. Last night I ended up mining Lithium Hydroxide at 0130.

I’m hoping to use it for more of this type of thing, so if you have any suggestions, give me a shout.

In that case I’ll jump back around 1700.

Matt

That’s fine, I’ll finish up here then get back to NKL election business tomorrow.
I need to do the same thing at Sirius next so I can get Marco Quent but only really to get access to Palin, so that should only need one ship, I think. Most of his things are better elsewhere.

Got some time to play tonight. Working on unlocking engineers (unless anyone fancies causing some trouble?). I need thrusters which means I need Professor Palin, and to unlock him I need Marco Quent, and to get him I think I need a Sirius permit.

Anyone tried their PAs yet? Went out in a vulture earlier with some long distance APAs (which iirc do run a bit hotter than standard) and kept cooking myself. Back to the efficients on that ship I think. Also shieldless in a CZ is not ideal, fought a viper and toook aaaaages to kill it, down to 38% hull at the end of it. Took on a python and then another and only lost a few % between them. Definitely need to pick your target, which can be tricky in a CZ. Tried an all frag chieftain too, does the job but eats thru ammo shockingly quick, not great for CZ but would make a great assassin ship.

A few more glorious victories for KM!

Hows the election going? I presume NKL are kicking arse?

Winning the last 3 days, so all good so far.
I’ve just engineered my PAs to long range, I’ll try them tomorrow. Hopefully I won’t be trekking back to change them.

The numbers are looking good for NKL. We will win the election when the Tick happens tomorrow, unless ARP have suddenly found some support.

KM are winning the war in Kuwembaa 2:0.

All of the other systems are steady, but in positions which we are happy with/are improving.

I tried the PAs briefly tonight. They are certainly easier to hit with using the higher shot speed of focussed or long range. I like cannon builds, I have shock cannons on a courier which is good fun, they use ammo quickly as well. D2EA has a Chieftain with cytoscramblers on the smalls then enforcer cannons (definitely some kind of cannons) and wrecks a conda in about 15 seconds. Vipers in CZs are MkIVs typically and well tanky, I hate them and swerve off to fight a challenger or python. That’s in the funship.

If anyone needs any bromelite there is still 130t on the carrier, let me know and I’ll set up a buy order.

Matt

I’ve been doing the rep missions, have a load to finish then will hit the CZ. Gonna miss the tick anyway so will just take the moolah.

Why is everyone in about PAs and other weapons I have never heard of? What’s d2ea and cytoscrambler?

A couple of us were unlocking Bill Turner this weekend. He does a load of stuff, but you could say his specialty is PAs. If you can hit stuff (not a guarantee for me by any means) you can get a lot of damage from PAs, as a significant proportion is absolute, so ignores resistances.

Cytoscramblers are the small burst lasers that you can get from Archon Delaine in powerplay. They do almost zero hull damage but are super effective against shields. You can combine them with frags and cannons to kill large ships very quickly.

D2EA = Down to earth astronomy, a Danish youtuber.

Matt

indeed, I signed up to Archon last week, I had heard about cytos but hadnt realised how good they could be if used correctly, so should have some in 4 weeks or so. Advanced PAs are another power play weapon, rapid fire*, 20 round magazine (as opposed to 5) with corresponding less damage per shot than standard PAs. I use both PAs and APAs on different ships, fun way to play while not necessarily faster to kill stuff than beams/multis, but if you’re a good shot they’ll eat thru shields and hull ignoring resistances.

*so more frequent opportunities to hit (or miss) and apply secondary effects.