Pilot skill training is too easy in X4 /s

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

Opening lockboxes with rattlesnake's main batteries shows dedication. A lot of dedication.

[sh1pman]

Opening lockboxes with rattlesnake's main batteries shows dedication. A lot of dedication.

Using all 3 guns at the same time for extra style points!

[KiwiNZ]

Opening lockboxes with rattlesnake's main batteries shows dedication. A lot of dedication.

Using all 3 guns at the same time for extra style points!

You should return your Rattler to the dealer, they sold you one with a limp.

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

Opening lockboxes with rattlesnake's main batteries shows dedication. A lot of dedication.

Using all 3 guns at the same time for extra style points!

And where's the 4th gun pointing at?

[sh1pman]

You should return your Rattler to the dealer, they sold you one with a limp.

One gun must’ve been blown up by the overzealous marines during the ship’s mostly peaceful transfer of ownership from FAF

I meant 4 guns, ofc

[KiwiNZ]

[BrasatoAlBarolo]

Oh, I hoped it was pointing to the judges giving you "style points"...

[Tomonor]

Imo it would be simpler to just add training centers modules to the game.

It would obviously cost you money (and time) to train an NPC in the target field. If you owned such module it could work similarly as of shipyards, but the input resources would be highly skilled or maxed out NPCs that you had to provide for the school.

[grapedog]

At some point though, there is very little to do in space... Sure I can just fly around not doing anything, but there is little point to that, when there are stations to be built and you have to keep an eye on your dumb ai pilots, then line up 2 dozen orders for a dozen of your ships for them to do the right thing. It very much becomes a menu game, more than anything else.

I am playing a very different game than you apparently... I find there is lots to do in space... and I don't keep an eye on my pilots or queue up dozens of orders. Though I will queue up orders to fill specific needs, like making sure a defense station for my aligned faction quickly gets the turrets, shields, and whatnot it needs to function properly or claim a sector I want them to have and develop. Or manually queuing up a delivery to get some ships built at an NPC wharf which might be low on advanced electronics or hull parts. But queuing up dozens of orders... nope. My pilots clearly don't have the same issues yours do, mine function pretty well autonomously...

Oh those sparkly ones that I always ignore for like the first half of the game, because I'm more interested in the red ones for blueprints. And then ignore them the second half of the game because they just ain't worth it or have undesirable side effects like having to board, destroy or otherwise harm friendly factions...

Speaking about missions though, whatever happened to the good old mission overview, which would just list all the missions that are available in the current system / area? Like 80% of the missions are NOT listed there and you have to right click those yellow dots around stations.
At this point, what's even the point of having the list? All it does is list available guild/war missions.

Well, if you're ignoring different ways to play the game, then that's on you. There are other ways to play the game besides flooding the map with automated miners and traders... but if that's the limit of your creativity... then I wish you luck in the future with pilot skills being changed, or just modding it away, which is also incredibly easy to do.

[XGamer]

I am playing a very different game than you apparently... I find there is lots to do in space... and I don't keep an eye on my pilots or queue up dozens of orders. Though I will queue up orders to fill specific needs, like making sure a defense station for my aligned faction quickly gets the turrets, shields, and whatnot it needs to function properly or claim a sector I want them to have and develop. Or manually queuing up a delivery to get some ships built at an NPC wharf which might be low on advanced electronics or hull parts. But queuing up dozens of orders... nope. My pilots clearly don't have the same issues yours do, mine function pretty well autonomously...

It's just the same stuff all over anyway, and mostly it's tedious for little reward so yea I ignore those aspects. Not to mention it's not really presented in a nice fashion for "immersion" sake I guess. In any case I have better things to do than hugging stations in scan mode. Or even just clicking every mission icon to see if it's something worthwhile.

As for queing orders... it's about the dullest thing but if your stupid trade ships ignore the full stash of claytronics 4 jumps away and rather ferry 14 energy cells 3 jumps away, another one a mere 2 energy cells, yet another running 50 smart chips, all while their own 5 star superior is asking for more than 50k claytronics while not having any...
Still waiting for the day that we get to have an option to ignore the trade run if it would use less than x% of available cargo space on the ship... Why the hell they would run such a mindblowingly stupid job in the first place when there are infinitely better ones available is beyond me.

Well, if you're ignoring different ways to play the game, then that's on you. There are other ways to play the game besides flooding the map with automated miners and traders... but if that's the limit of your creativity... then I wish you luck in the future with pilot skills being changed, or just modding it away, which is also incredibly easy to do.

You can limit yourself and not do those things sure. Just as you can ignore all these annoying missions that don't pay enough for the effort and time they take.

[Vilmu]

Checking my main save of 212 hours; started in 3.10

My 3 nividium sector miners that I setup within the first 1 hour of the game (all in different sectors, so no competition to sell):
- Highest 2+2/3 stars, lowest is 2 stars. Issue could be that even a single medium miner is enough to keep trade station supplied, so they likely haven't been getting above average prices that often.

My station subordinate miners and traders (built the station within the first 24 or so hours of the save):
- 2x miners at 3 stars, couple at 2stars + 1/3, one still below 2 stars.
- One trader at 2+1/3, rest at 2 stars.

My 6 auto-traders that I setup at about halfway through that save, by stealing some 3 star pilots from my fighters:
- 1 at 3 + 1/3, rest have gained no extra stars.

My 6 sector miners I've been using for faction rep, setup within the first 24 hours. Been changing sectors through the save when I wanted rep with a different faction:
- 2x 3 star ones
- 2x 2star + 2/3
- 2x 2star + 1/3

Since I barely do any missions, ever, the only reasonable way for me to get high'ish rank pilots has been gate-camping gates leading to Xenon sectors.

[sd_jasper]

I've been seeing pretty quick skill increases with sending pilots to collect lockboxes. Surprised me actually.

[dtpsprt]

I've been seeing pretty quick skill increases with sending pilots to collect lockboxes. Surprised me actually.

This indeed happens BUT make sure you have your

Spoiler

Show

9 sedatives for later in the game

because they'll most likely blow up more than half of the lockboxes... The only pilot I've seen that gets 9 out of 10 is the 4 star "monster" I am supplied with in the Split FRF start, but then opening lockboxes is totally irrelevant for her...

[BigBANGtheory]

My addition to this topic (as an X4 CE edition with all the DLC) is simply this... I have no interest in online Venture gameplay because as much as anything there are some mods I deem essential therefore I feel (gameplay wise) robbed of choices and opportunity for:
- Pilot skill training to lvl3+
- modifications above basic level
- paintjobs
- other benefits

it maybe they come in the fulfilment of time, but I feel they are walled somehow in game and therefore weaken the sandbox because I have no choice but to engage in very specific activities (that I don't easily have access to) to earn them

[grapedog]

My addition to this topic (as an X4 CE edition with all the DLC) is simply this... I have no interest in online Venture gameplay because as much as anything there are some mods I deem essential therefore I feel (gameplay wise) robbed of choices and opportunity for:
- Pilot skill training to lvl3+
- modifications above basic level
- paintjobs
- other benefits

it maybe they come in the fulfilment of time, but I feel they are walled somehow in game and therefore weaken the sandbox because I have no choice but to engage in very specific activities (that I don't easily have access to) to earn them

You can Mod in the ability to earn those venture rewards too...

[dtpsprt]

You can Mod in the ability to earn those venture rewards too...

And gain what tbh? I was greatly disappointed when In saw that the paint jobs were not patterns that I could choose their basic colour. The money? negligible... The Modification elements? Nothing a good battle ground "cleanup" can not provide... the experience gain for the pilot and crew? Now THAT is a joke!!!

[BigBANGtheory]

You can Mod in the ability to earn those venture rewards too...

Yeah I had heard that might be the case and something I'll need to do. The issue is now many hrs into X4 I'm learning that its a problem and having to self-rectify vs. it just working.

tbh the vanilla game is not far off, considering the complexity its not bad at all. I should probably make a short list for Egosoft while its still fresh.

[grapedog]

You can Mod in the ability to earn those venture rewards too...

And gain what tbh? I was greatly disappointed when In saw that the paint jobs were not patterns that I could choose their basic colour. The money? negligible... The Modification elements? Nothing a good battle ground "cleanup" can not provide... the experience gain for the pilot and crew? Now THAT is a joke!!!

Except its incredibly rare, to impossible, to get exceptional mods through battlefield cleanup. While ventures, i pretty much get 1-3 ecery 8 hours, usually. Sometimes i get none from a venture. But there is a mod to make them available for purchase. And i get most od my 3 atar pilots from combat. Granted, i dont use 3 star pilots amymore, but when i did, combat was the best way to level them reliably.

[dtpsprt]

Except its incredibly rare, to impossible, to get exceptional mods through battlefield cleanup. While ventures, i pretty much get 1-3 ecery 8 hours, usually. Sometimes i get none from a venture. But there is a mod to make them available for purchase. And i get most od my 3 atar pilots from combat. Granted, i dont use 3 star pilots amymore, but when i did, combat was the best way to level them reliably.

Grapedog we are talking vanilla now... and no, at least not the way I do it... stay friendly with everybody (even as a Split siding with ZYA I immediately get my Argon rep from -21 to -12 at least before anything) and amass whatever is in the battlefield while the battle is ongoing (nobody shoots you and you get your "rep" potshots at the Xenon too while any faction's capital ship are covering you with their turrets). You won't believe what you can find this way. Of course, you have to fly the ship yourself cause the collect drops order does not prioritise drops... operates just by proximity (or it thinks it does), not to mention that it will ignore any new drops after it was issued... Mostly useful when you are toping up on spaceflies, loadstone and crystals which stay for a long time waiting to be picked up, ant that's only when the miners are on a feeding crazy (got 1000+ crystals, 600+ loadstone and 150+ spaceflies once in a period of 2 1/2 hours... the pilot did not get a pip either on skill or morale)...

[grapedog]

Except its incredibly rare, to impossible, to get exceptional mods through battlefield cleanup. While ventures, i pretty much get 1-3 ecery 8 hours, usually. Sometimes i get none from a venture. But there is a mod to make them available for purchase. And i get most od my 3 atar pilots from combat. Granted, i dont use 3 star pilots amymore, but when i did, combat was the best way to level them reliably.

Grapedog we are talking vanilla now... and no, at least not the way I do it... stay friendly with everybody (even as a Split siding with ZYA I immediately get my Argon rep from -21 to -12 at least before anything) and amass whatever is in the battlefield while the battle is ongoing (nobody shoots you and you get your "rep" potshots at the Xenon too while any faction's capital ship are covering you with their turrets). You won't believe what you can find this way. Of course, you have to fly the ship yourself cause the collect drops order does not prioritise drops... operates just by proximity (or it thinks it does), not to mention that it will ignore any new drops after it was issued... Mostly useful when you are toping up on spaceflies, loadstone and crystals which stay for a long time waiting to be picked up, ant that's only when the miners are on a feeding crazy (got 1000+ crystals, 600+ loadstone and 150+ spaceflies once in a period of 2 1/2 hours... the pilot did not get a pip either on skill or morale)...

I am aware of how it works, as ive got over a thousand hours in vanilla, and routinely have a dedicated ship assigned to each fleet guarding a xenon gate that specifically picks up drops often. I know what you get for loot, and how it will only collect loot that is dropped before the collect drops order is given, which is why you drop 2 or 3 collect drops orders on an area, so it will pick up any loot from new kills while executing the first order, when it reaches the 2nd order.

You don't get exceptional mods this way, bit you do get tons of seta parts, and tons of the consumable mod components.

And picking up loot wont really increase pilot stars, but having a fleet camped at a gate will.