Easy Money (hint+explicit spoiler)

[Aures]

I have a bit of time to spare so I thought I would lay out some of my patented word salad (err, explicit money making advice is what I meant to say). This is for some of the newer players who are taking a shall we say less than optimal route to riches (mining of all things *shakes head*) because they don't know of a faster way.

Within 5-15 hours of starting a profile you should be able to make more than 5 million credits a minute. Anything that makes less than that is only worth doing because it is fun, the money doesn't matter. Don't get me wrong, mining is great. But only at the start of the game. It is probably the first thing you should do if you take the miner/trader start.

For those who only want a hint rather than an explicit spoiler, do the IMG quest. Buy the most expensive stuff you can afford from where you do the last mission and haul it to where it tells you to go next. You don't need anything that expensive to finish the quest. Once you do, you should have enough money to buy a full load and do this trade run for about 50-100 million in a 5-15 minute round trip.

If you don't want explicit spoilers, stop reading now.

To make more than 5 million a minute you don't need to do any of the IMG quest. Just get some cash (ideally at least 2.5 million, anything over 500k will do but will take longer) and go to Port Oasis (in orbit around the planet Oasis) in the Pearl system. Buy whatever high tech items you can afford (fulcrum torpedo, afterburner drive, missiles, anything really) and take them to the hidden planet in the Pearl system (not too hard to find yourself, but if you are lazy I'm sure the coordinates must be on SeeJay's website). Takes just under 2 minutes 30 seconds each way on autopilot. With the profit you make from that trip you will be able to buy more stuff on the next trip. Soon you will be limited by the amount of stuff you can fit (once your frame is maxed out) or buy at once rather than your cash. At that point (or earlier if you like) buy a license at Port Oasis to increase your profit margin. You can now make more money in an hour (more than half a billion if you are efficient) than you could do by mining (or pretty much anything else except do the same kind of trade run between less profitable points) in a week of solid play.

If your cash is all tied up in your ship just fly directly to Pearl hidden and sell everything. Fly back to Oasis in the cheapest frame (even the smallest fuel tank, 400 is plenty for a round trip) and use the cash you raised to start the trade run. Finishing the IMG quest is still not a bad idea, it will give you enough cash to begin doing this trade run properly. If you want you can just do the quest until you get the first container location, selling stuff from that gets you enough cash for serious trading pretty quickly.

The best cash per trip can be obtained by reloading several times in Port Oasis so you can get as many auto CM launchers and AM systems as you can carry (more than 7 million profit per piece of equipment). You can just wait around a while for new stuff to show up and/or land at the actual planet Oasis if reloading isn't your style. I find it quicker to just take whatever high priced equipment is there and fill the rest up with fulcrums. What yields more profit per minute is debatable and depends on the luck of the draw.

I have yet to find somewhere cheaper to buy the best items than Port Oasis or that buys them at a higher price than Pearl Hidden. If anyone else has found a better trade route (even in terms of profit per trip, but better profit per minute is preferred) this thread would be a good place to share it if you are willing. Please give names but don't give coordinates, anyone who wants to can grab them from SeeJay's site. I know there were more profitable routes in Legends and I'm hoping the same is true in Mercenary.

[SeeJay]

Excellent trade-lane. I actually used it for a short while. What do you think about adding trade-lanes to the website?
Maybe toooooo much help????:D

[Aures]

Good idea, provided there are a bunch as at least as profitable as Oasis to Pearl Hidden. That one is handed to you (almost on a platter) as part of the IMG quest. Seems a bit pointless logging other routes while that is the best one there is. I was actually a bit disappointed to find that every other high tech hidden place I have been to has prices that are lower than Pearl and higher than Oasis. Hopefully it is just bad luck and the fact that I have mostly been to pretty famous places. I still haven't been to most of the other hidden planets in known systems in Mercenary, maybe one of them has higher prices.

I wrote the OP mainly to point players who are afraid of finishing the IMG quest in a more productive direction than cleaning solar arrays and staring at rocks. If you like the idea of trading (as I do) it is probably still worth seeking out other trade routes. In that case it might be worth finding something good in a list of trade routes if your site included them. Maybe there is multi stop trade circuit that is more fun than Oasis-Pearl hidden even if slightly less profitable.

[SeeJay]

I think I could take a job as a window cleaner now with my rookie -cleaning-experience. LOL

I like the trading as well. (Even if fighting is a lot of fun as well.)
Trading in hostile areas get you both trade and fight!:P:P

I'll set it up then. I could add some "Grading" to show how profitable the specific Trade-Route even thou it
might vary depending on the current prices. It will be an indication at least.
(T1=$1-$5M /T2=$5-$20M T3=....) or something like that.
The higher the number, the better profit!?!?!

The OP you wrote is excellent for newbies. Even if it is a little spoiler, there is sooo much more to do out there, so a little hint can't be that bad.:P

[Maarschalk]

Yes, nice for rookies to get started.....

[Aesir Rising]

I stopped at the word "Oasis" in the top post.

I wasn't sure if I wanted a full spoiler or not. I guess I didn't.

For those rookies (actually, just for me please...) that don't want to go from least optimal path to riches to most optimal path making 5m credits/minute, but would rather just try a bit of a gear shift from mining Plat-25, I have a question:

I want to build a set of stations, one of each, in Sapphire. I see the build menu. I don't see build constructor ship equipment anywhere. What do you do to build your first station?

Am I missing some pre-requisite faction level with the Miners or Guild or something? Do I need to get out of Sapphire before I can build structures?

Also, more relevant to the top post:
2nd IMG mission has you race. I get creamed every time. What's the min frame, engine, and wing needed to win that race? Is it just a matter of gaining experience with Inertial drive skillz and the afterburner key?

[PandaBear]

Aesir Here the answer to both of your question.
You will need to equip your ship with the build construtor before you can build a station. I am not sure you can find 1 in Sapphire, but you can surely find 1 outside of sapphire.

As for the race. You will need to improve you piloting skill before you can win it. The game setup so that you race the same frame/wings as your ship. Make use of your afterburner if you want to win

[Von Paulus]

Originally posted by Aesir Rising
2nd IMG mission has you race. I get creamed every time. What's the min frame, engine, and wing needed to win that race? Is it just a matter of gaining experience with Inertial drive skillz and the afterburner key?

I hate races, but it's good for getting some skill in maneuvering the ship.
From a rookie to a rookie:
I don't advise to use Inertial mode. You need to control the ship and for maneuvering it's easy and better if you use IDS mode.
Never use afterburner before a curve, like when driving real cars.
Use it when there's a line of straight rings.
I use a lot of the rudders (roll) when I'm getting near the edge of the ring, to pull the ship to the center of the ring. Try to keep always in the center.
Avoid looking to your opponent race, just stay focus in your flying.
I think you don't need to buy a special wings or engine. But it will help if you do an upgrade to both.

[Aesir Rising]

Thanks for the info on the race. I'll give it a go again.

And, I'm going to ask for the full spoiler on stations then. I've hit the known stations in Sapphire, Olympus, and Lambda systems so far. Do I need to go further out? Is there a faction reputation minimum before I get offered a constructor?

This is holding up my plans for unversal dominance, so please factor that in with respect to speedy responses. Thanks!

[PandaBear]

Head on south. once you get to rucker you will be able to get them. Once in rucker head to the pearl gate, but do not enter it. Stay east from the pearl jump gate and keep your eye on your sceen 1 to 2 sector from pearl gale you will see a purple blip. Follow it to you get to the gate there. It a supprice.

Would help if you got a good Nav crew

[Edited on 10-22-2010 by PandaBear]

[Crashdown]

I haven't got a build constructor yet, but I got my hands on a deploy constructor.

As far as I am aware there are no reputation requirements, you just have to find somewhere that is selling one. I would advise travelling to a high-tech system. The best bet might be in the north, there's a system near Sierra (forget the name) with a high tech rating, might be worth a shot. Check the quadrant/economy map, you should be able to spot it.

Sorry if any of this is wrong/misleading, but I'm still a bit green.

[Aesir Rising]

It's all good info. I'm pretty sure since I'm having trouble beating reds in Lambda without blowing up, that the trip to either rucker or sierra is going to be interesting.

I may need to purpose-build a ship with shielding and engine focuses. I've been flying ships with an even distribution of equipment, jack-of-all-trades approach.

[PandaBear]

Hehe who said you got to fight to get from 1 sector to another? use the "[ ]" to add more power to your weapon. It is not use for fighting at this time, but to recharge your jump drive faster, so you can jump out if hostil sector faster and reset your next jump

[Aesir Rising]

Wouldn't matter...Sierra was all red. I raced to dock and enter the hanger, but quite a large number of missles impacted before the voice even finished saying I was docked. Sierra looked like a quicker trip on the quad map, and I'm pretty sure Rucker will be worse than sierra, given proximity to Pearl. Anyway, none of this has much to do with the top post. I'm looking for something between mining and making 5m credits/minute and wanting to build bases in each system as I progress out from Sapphire.

[PandaBear]

Each sector have defferent Rep. The gate I show you on rucker may not be as a big money maker as pearl, but it is much safer for new pilot then heading pearl planet. Much safer then try to land on a hostile planet

[Aesir Rising]

Found one in Sirius, where I docked to save on the way to Rucker, and the ships at this station aren't all red to me.

Thanks. I need to mine here for a bit to earn the credits to buy one. But my empire begins today.

[Aures]

Lol, sorry Aesir rising but I couldn't help it. I lost a race once because I was trying to get used to using more afterburner in races (prep for maybe racing a human) and I got turned around one too many times. But, I remember thinking how much of a dawdle my first race (the IMG one, which is just like any other) was. Of course, that was before the patch where the AI was made better at racing and I played Legends before Mercenary. But racing is relatively easy, just get in front of the other guy and use IDS with some tapping on the afterburner. It is one of the few times I still use IDS, racing with it turned off is a much more demanding art.

I just hopped into a talon with a level 1 engine and wing sys to see what the minimum needed for racing is (and lost another race or two in the process). Try to keep your speed at about 1000, don't go much higher than that. Tapping the afterburner so it is on about a quarter of the time should do it. You can use it during curves no problem, just don't go too fast and especially don't get leadfoot and get up to crazy speeds on the long straights (you can open up the taps a little, but make sure you have plenty of room to slow down). Rolling is not required at all (at least for racing the AI, I imagine it becomes vital in high level pvp competition) but I think Von Paulus meant to say lateral and vertical inertial thrusters. Those are indeed very helpful and should be one of the first things you learn how to use in a race once you are confidently winning against the AI.

You don't need to keep the the center of the ring, once you figure out how far you can go it is quite easy to stick to the "inside" edge of the rings and cut some distance off your journey. Works on race tracks on Earth, works in space. Get as close to the inside as you are comfortable with, face the next ring (or more precisely, the bit of the ring closest to the inside edge that you are comfortable with, I usually end up with the edge of the ring slicing through the middle of the side windows in the main cockpit view), keep tapping the afterburner and keep an eye on your speed. You should finish the race when the AI is around ring 80 (my result in the talon today) or so using that method if you don't miss any. Sorry my advice is contrary to yours Von Paulus.

Once you start using more advanced techniques the races are even easier. I have had a few where I have missed several rings and had to double back multiple times in one race and still won by a comfortable margin. I think that was before I even got the afterburner drive.

As for build constructors, no rep requirements or anything. Just dock somewhere that can stock them and make the RNG gods give you one (ie reload until there is one in stock, or just travel station to station waiting for one to spawn if that seems like fun to you). Only thing with a bad rep in a system is docking fees and hostiles, no such thing as someone not selling you something because they don't like you in Evochron. Sorry, I don't know whether stations in Olympus and Lambda stock them or what the lowest level station that stocks them is.

If I may ask, given the amount of time you have been playing why are you still confining yourself to those systems? As long as you are vigilant and ready to jump you can go anywhere in known space with a brand new profile (although some petty cash for docking fees and fuel plus a decent jump drive certainly helps). If it is some kind of role playing thing more power to you and props for holding yourself back. But otherwise one hostile system is about as dangerous as any other if you don't plan to turn around and fight. Just look at the economy map, go for a system with a highish economy and check any station to see if they have a constructor. I have seen them all sorts of places. I think there is a chance to spawn them in any system with a blue or green economy and war zones. I just saw one in Rucker and I have seen them in multiple war zones. Maybe they will show up in a pink system but I doubt you will find them in yellow or red.

BTW I just travelled from Rucker to Olympus and Onyx to check for build constructors. I did it in the talon with a level 1 shield I just got to test racing with no problem. Travelling around known space is nothing to be scared of. It is not like some levelled area/dungeon system in an RPG where you will get instantly smushed if you go into an area too early.

EDIT:gah everyone was busy while I wrote that, knew I should have checked before posting. Oh well, glad you found a build constructor Aesir.

[Edited on 22-10-2010 by Aures]

[Aesir Rising]

Originally posted by Aures
If I may ask, given the amount of time you have been playing why are you still confining yourself to those systems?

Probably a combination of reasons. Here are some thoughts...

I am a completist, or completionist, whatever the term is that applied to a gamer means I have to do everything at Location A before moving on to B.

I get hung up on details. So my entire play time yesterday was devoted to flying around a black hole I randomly found. I wanted to see if there was an event horizon. Then I wanted to see how close I could get under IDS and pull away. Then I wanted to see similar under Inertial drive. Then I wanted to see if I could find an ecliptic partial orbit that would "sling-shot" me really fast and far towards some other place. I tried flying directly into the heart of the black hole. I tried flying into the edges of the blue outline of it. That was probably the first 30 minutes. I had 2 more hours at it, but I'm probably one of the universe's leading authorities on black holes now.

I spent the day prior trying to resolve why sometimes my out-of-jump approach is all facocta, whether I've zeroed my orientation or not. Then I blew up again exiting a jump to close to planetary atmosphere. So I decided to see if I could standardize on an altitude to set my jump markers for planetary approaches.

I haven't gotten around to racing or exploring the entirety of Sapphire, and the immediately surrounding systems.

P.S. Don't go by forum registration date. That isn't when I started playing. 1.088 was already in beta when I started.

[Edited on 10-22-2010 by Aesir Rising]

[Marvin]

Originally posted by Aesir Rising

Found one in Sirius, where I docked to save on the way to Rucker....

Of course.

-- Marvin the Robot, another fine product of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation

[Aesir Rising]

Geniune People Personality.

[Marvin]

Btw, I never expected to win the race the first time I tried it. But, having raced numerous times against Oasis, racing against the AI was fairly easy. Full throttle. Stay on the inside of the curve. Don't look back. Afterburner to a minimum ... and only on the straightaways. Never drop out of the track (else, you might just as well start over).

[Aures]

Thats fine Aesir, I commend you for your approach. And I didn't even peek at your registration date, I just went by how long I remembered you posting here for compared to how long it took me to get to Pearl in Legends. How long it took me in Mercenary wouldn't have been a fair comparison (Saturday of the first weekend after launch, ie the day after I started playing).

It is good to see someone else who gets joy out of treating games as labs to be experimented in. I toyed with the idea of messing about a black hole the way you have but other things lured me away. I am more of a reductionist (at least for games) than a completionist. I want to figure out how games work and for me it is mostly the changes between the Legends and Mercenary universe that I am still trying to figure out. Any changes to behaviour close to a black hole are interesting, but I am still holding out for something that might actually be useful.

EDIT: As I said afterburners are fine in corners, just don't hold it down continuously. Only time I ever drop below 1000 is just before I tap the afterburner or when I'm not paying enough attention to my speed. That is when I am racing in a basic style with no advanced techniques. Afterburner is far more dangerous on straights because it is easy to speed up too much.

[Edited on 22-10-2010 by Aures]

[Aesir Rising]

What's driving a lot of this for me is the AI. I'm under the impression that as you build network of stations, the AI will add those stations as nodes to the overall trade network. I want to see if I can make these systems come to life. Lambda is in dire need of population, and there's even a corner of Sapphire up by a carrier and an AI constructor station that should benefit from a set of player stations. At the very least, I want a suite of stations in each system on the quad map.

Then build from there.

[rdodd]

Originally posted by Aesir Rising
It's all good info. I'm pretty sure since I'm having trouble beating reds in Lambda without blowing up, that the trip to either rucker or sierra is going to be interesting.

I am still a relative newbie, but for me getting out of Pearl was pretty hairy because like a dozen baddies were mobbing the jump gate. Still I got out without any damage, but it raised my pulse a bit. They also mob stations pretty well sometimes, but that is only a problem if you need to get into that station. Even then, you can do a mad dash and then "enter station".

Another tip is that as soon as it lets you hit the nav button when you are coming out of a jump or jump gate, pick a spot in the middle of nowhere that is near enough to jump to. That way, if you find yourself in the thick of it, just jump out of the way.

A superb system for mining is the Atlas system, it is also pretty safe and you can sell your ore for high prices. I am pretty sure they sell build constructors there too.

[49rTbird]

Hello rdodd, Welcome to the forum and the Sim. See you out there sometime.