A
Guide To Safe Trading
by
Gunslinger
There is more to the art of trading safely and efficiently
than just knowing a good route and having 1000 relations with that race. I’m not going to address the basic principles
of trading at this time (maybe in the future if I feel motivated and if I feel
like it will benefit us). If you have
any questions about any of the concepts or terminology I talk about in here,
just ask me.
First and foremost you should be extremely knowledgeable
about that galaxy that you are trading in.
You should know off the top of your head, or have written down in front
of you, the following sectors:
-The racial HQ so at the very least
if you have to make a run for Fed Space you can plot to the HQ and know you are heading in the right
direction
-All of
the unos in the galaxy
-All of
the banks in the galaxy
-3 to 5
trade routes that you can quickly switch between if one happens to be dry
That last item is very important because speed is your
greatest asset, as well as your best defense.
The faster you can trade, the less time other traders have to drain your
ports. The faster you trade, the less
time you are exposed to attack.
Another way to increase your speed is to avoid using the
course plotter. The course plotter takes
time to program and you are blind while you are doing it. If you are trading on a 3x3 route, you should
know the route and be able to manually click on each sector you want to move
to. With 1000 relations you can trade
without ever having to enter a number.
If you are using a longer route that isn’t as easy to
manually navigate, here’s a tip that I use.
As soon as I arrive in sector, before I go to the port to sell my goods,
I plot the course to the next port. Then
I drop into the port, sell and buy goods, and when I come out of the port the
course is already plotted. Nothing to
think about, just punch the next sector button and I’m on my way. This can be a life saver if you are attacked
while in the port and you’re blind. Just
hit ‘current sector’ and punch the next sector button to get the hell out of
there. When you think you are safe you
can plot to Fed Space.
In addition to being fast, using your intelligence will
keep you alive to trade another day.
Being able to identify less than inviting trade situations before you
leave Fed Space will keep you safe, save you from wasting turns, and save you
from having to spend money to replenish shields lost to the hunter that was
sitting at your port waiting for you.
Every time you log in, you should read the news. All of it.
Even if there are a hundred entries.
What you want to look for are killings that happened in your trade
galaxy, and especially killings that happened at the ports you trade at. Pay attention to both parties involved. Get to know who the hunters are and know who
the traders are and keep this list in the back of you mind (or write it
down). Of course, the most important
news entries are the ones that have occurred within the past half hour in your
trade galaxy.
After reading the news, look at the Current Player List
(CPL). If you see a hunter on that you
know patrols your galaxy, it’s not a good time to be trading. If you see a known trader on, he’s probably
drained your routes and it might not be a good time to trade.
But then there is the problem of lurkers. It’s possible that a hunter is sitting at one
of your ports, or somewhere in the galaxy, and is not on the CPL. He may have scouts set out to alert him of
anyone using the known trade routes and is refreshing his messages waiting for
the signal to move. There’s not a whole
lot you can do to ascertain this situation from Fed Space. The recent news will tell you if there was a
killing recently in the galaxy, and you can assume the possibility exists that
the hunter is still in galaxy, but there really isn’t any way to know for sure.
You could take the time to check the CPL while you are
trading to see if any hunters have popped up-and you should- but it slows you
down and makes you blind while you’re studying it. So before leaving Fed Space, open the chat
window and resize it so that you can fit it on your screen next to the game
window. Get into #crew and ask someone
in the room to watch the CPL for you while you trade. Tell them the specific hunters you are
looking for. Then while you trade just
watch chat to see if anyone gives you a warning. Of course, people do get wrapped up in
chatting and don’t watch the CPL as closely as you might like, so it’s good to
still check it yourself once in a while.
If you have someone watching the CPL for you make sure you
relay them the names of the owners of any scouts that you trip. If you trip a hunter’s scout and they come
after you, they will show on the CPL and your ally should be able to warn you.
Now for some tips on the more tangible things that will
keep your butt out of a pod.
The first consideration is what ship your are
piloting. Generally speaking this debate
is null and void if you are Alskant. But
for the other races, the neutral trade ships are far better than the racial
trade ships available. And the general consensus
is that the IST and the PSF are your two best options. The IST has half the holds of a PSF and
accumulates turns almost twice as fast.
Therefore the PSF has a slight edge in potential experience and profit
earned per hour. But the snail’s pace at
which it accumulates turns is enough to drive a professional chess player crazy.
The IST, on the other hand, gives you unequaled
flexibility and practicality. The extra
turns allow you to go to the bank frequently, travel a greater distance to
reach a route, and vary your route to avoid scouts. The number of holds (300) is more practical
than the PSF (600). Quite often a port
will have between 300 and 600 of the important good and there’s no sense in
buying less than a full load in a PSF.
You might as well save your turns and go home. But the IST can make a run with a full load
and still have turns to find another route to trade on. One other advantage to an IST is that it
supports a jump drive. I have not fully
investigated the potential benefit of a jump drive so I’m not going to comment
on it here.
The Achilles heel of the IST is it’s lack of defense. With only 375 shields and 250 armor and 15
combat drones, an experienced hunter can pod an IST with one shot, two at
most. Hitting one mine in an IST is
cause for concern because the 20 shields you just lost might be the difference
between life and death if you’re shot at.
So there is a high degree of vulnerability and upkeep that comes with
the IST. You’ve got to keep it at full
defenses at all times, and in order to keep it fully defended, you need to
visit a CA as well as an UNO.
The PSF causes no such concern. It carries 500 shields and 1000 armor. Expensive to equip, but no need to refill
after hitting a few mines here and there.
It also takes 2 solid shots to kill in best case scenario. More likely it takes 4 or more shots. So shelling out for a PSF could be worth it
in the long run. Especially if you have
a slow connection or you are still learning.
The bottom line is, pick the ship that suits your trading style and
expertise best.
Once you’ve picked your ship and you are on your way
trading, how can you increase your chances of staying out of a pod?
-Line
your trade route with one mine and one scout in each sector. If a hunter trips the scouts, you run while
the hunter is tangled up with
the mines. Having your route lined also gives the option of backtracking on the mines if there is a hunter at the port on one end of the
route. If the hunter chases, he will be
slowed by your mines giving
you valuable time and distance between you and him. Don't forget to retrieve your forces when
you're
done
trading. Leaving them there costs you
money, gets you more scout messages than you can handle, and
broadcasts your trade route to anyone who happens by.
-If you run across a trader from a strong
enemy alliance in your route, you better believe he is relaying information
about you to his hunters in chat. Might
be a wise idea to pack it up.
-If you
ever do run into a hunter, you should immediately stop trading for a
while. See if any allies are in a WB nearby who can chase the hunter
away. Otherwise be extremely careful
when you go back out.
That’s all for now.
I’m sure there will be updates and things added as I learn more and get
some feedback. Happy trading!
Guns
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