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Argon: Omicron Lyrae is safe to salvage in/Early access to Firestorm Torpedoes, PRGs and Mass Drivers/Early access to Space Fuel Distilleries/Argon corporation headquarters and research stations have a broad variety of equipment for ships/Home Of Light is a good sector to train Universal Traders
Often have civilian TLs in poorly defended sectors/The large number of Argon corporations mean an equally large number of traders to plunder/Albion sectors have a poor RR response and isolated ships to cap/High density of equipment docks to loot
Boron: Early access to Ion Disrupters and Recon Drone Construction Facility/Cheap stations for converting Silicon into Energy Cells
TS and most TP ships are unarmed and have a 1.5% higher bail chance than other races/Capital ships have blind spots/Only have 1 RR M1
Goner: Hard to regain Race Rank if very hostile/Have very little worth taking
Completely defenceless
Paranid: Have the monopoly on Tractor Beams and Huricane Missiles/PSGs are lethal to use but make boarding harder/TS ships are cheap
Paranid ships often traverse across Pirate owned sectors like Desecrated Skies and Hatikvah's Faith/Boarded Hyperion Vanguards are good ships to own and sell for alot/Perpetual Sin has constant RR ships but no other military presence/All Paranid sectors are close to a neutral sector from which to operate
Split: Have the monopoly on Turbo Booster equipment/Early access to Mass Drivers, ISRs, PBEs, Thunderbolt Missiles and Tornado Missiles/Ships are low cost, high speed and deal good damage/The constant Xenon activity in Zyarth's Dominion makes reputation manipulation easy
Ships have low shielding and hull/Strongarms has alot of weapons dealer TMs to board/Pteranodons are poorly equipped and isolated/RR fleet is usually busy in Zyarth's Dominion
Teladi: Early access to Bliss Places/Early Access to EBCs, Gauss Cannon, FAA and Typhoon Missiles/Teladi Stock Exchanges are easy to unlock and the most profitable/One of the two suppliers of Trade Command Software MK3, Explorer Command Software and Carrier Command Software
Ships have poor mobility, carry alot of freight and many have poor laser regeneration/RR fleet is usually busy in Grand Exchange or Ceo's Wellspring/Few Military Outposts to launch counter attacks
Terran: Springblossom and Hayabusas are very effective traders/Large M7M fleets patroling keep trouble out/Economy is highly dependent on the player
Poor RR response/Most Terran lasers have a slow projectile speed making them easy to dodge in the player ship/Water Purification civilian TS ships have extremely low morale/Easier access to Aldrin laser factories/Valhallas sell for over 160 million credits and other Terran capital ships are also high value
Pirate: Have the monopoly on Software Signature Scrambler and System Override Software equipment/Generate alot of salvage when following patrols/Buy alot of illegals/Early Access to IBLs and PBGs/Avoid having player owned Universal Traders being harassed/Cheaper station hacks
Ships are usually poorly equipped and have inferior stats/Outside Mercenaries Rift wings are seperarated and in small numbers/Often distracted by other opponents/Often the target of Fight type random missions/Most races consider Pirates their enemy/Offer minimal retaliation
Yaki: Economy is highly dependent on the player/Early Access to IBLs/Have the monopoly on IBL and PBG Forges and sell other illegals stations if sided with during Shady Business/Sectors are rich in resources
Lots of weak and overpriced boardable ships that are poorly defended over a span of 3 sectors/Ships are usually poorly equipped and have inferior stats/Offer minimal retaliation
Early game
Exploration
The X-Universe is a big place consisting of 241 sectors. What sector the game starts in is starting scenario dependent and in the case of the Lost Lar, Poisoned Paranid and Unholy Traitor may not be friendly. The starting sector will have a defined number of stations of a limited variety which will not sell certain wares and pieces of equipment and only may present a limited number of periodic trade opportunities. As the player begins with low Race Ranks (Argon Peacekeeper excepted) there is only a low spawn chance for random missions. These factors mean the player will need to visit other sectors to find safety, increase the number of trade and shopping opportunities and to spawn new random missions. Some sectors may even offer opportunities for construction, salvage and piracy. The Universe Map under the Navigation menu will only show sectors that have been previously visited. To go to a new sector requires the player ship to fly through a Jump Gate or Transorbital Accelerator or order another player owned ship to do so using the Fly Through Gate command of the Explorer Command Software. When in a new sector fly within scanner range of any stations and Jump Gates that look interesting to get them on the map. Once the player has additional ships with the Explorer Command Software this process can be automated using the Map Sector command.
In the starting sector or the first friendly sector entered will be a Flight Instructor M5 with a tutorial think mission. It is entirely up to the player if they do the tuorial mission. For default key configutations Tab and X accelerate, Z and Backspace brake, the arrow keys and left mouse button steer, the Ctrl button and right mouse button shoots (requires installed lasers), the WASD keys strafe, the Q and R keys roll the ship and the D key orders the ship to try and dock at the selected target. To pick up wares in space requires the player ship to have a cargo class greater than or equal to that of the ware and enough free space in the Freight for the ware before flying into them or to use the Collect Ware/Collect Wares In Sector commands (requires the Special Commands Software MK1). Passengers and Space Suits require a Cargo Lifesupport System to be installed to be collected while Marines and Mercenaries also require to be picked up by TP/TL/M6/M6+/M7/M7M/M7C/M2/M2+/M1 ships. It is advisable to dock at a trading dock/port, equipment dock or military outpost to upgrade the Engine Tunings and Rudder Optimisations of the starting ship to make navigation easier and to later pick up other useful ship equipment like a Cargo Lifesupport System, Jump Drive, Triplex Scanner and Trading System Extension as soon as the player has the spare credits. How players go about increasing their credits and assets usually involves a combination of tactics (unless deliberately avoided for role playing purposes) so the following paths represent extremes of each approach with steps that may be skipped if the player is confident in their skills or uncommon opportunities arise. Where the different paths can feed into each other will be stated.
Path of salvage
When NPC ships die they have a Fight Rank based chance to drop some of their freight. Usually this is some kind of missiles. This means Pirate sectors with heavy traffic, sectors bordering Xenon sectors and the war zone sectors which have alot of ship deaths are good places to gather missiles and other wares dropped from the conflict which can be sold nearby.
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With an M4 the player can tackle civilian and unescorted TS/TP ships with ease by keeping infront of them and overpowering any deployed fighter drones (using nearby objects to break up their formation if needed). If the player does not intend to make peace with the Pirates race then Duke's Dangerous Goods/Materials ships in the south of Merchant Haven make good targets. Smaller police patrols avenging capped civilian ship should be able to be outright defeated if the player does not care about the loss of Race Rank with the major race. Corporate TMs should be engaged with caution since they can have multiple PBG equipped M3s as escorts. As TMs do not bail it is recommended to only engage them if the freight scan shows they are carrying a valuable cargo. The starting ships of the Argon Patriot and Nostalgic Argon starting scenarioes will be slightly less efficient at bail capping however they can rely on the long rage range of PRGs to stay out of the range of the targets. It is recommended to start using a second ship to place Advanced Satellites 7 squares above high traffic sectors so the player can remotely spot good targets. Spare capped ships can be sold to improve the player ship, buy missiles, repair and equip capped TS ships for use as UTs or CAGs (path of trade) or to build capital in preparation for boarding. Once the player has just over 1.5 million credits spare it is recommended to purchase a hack for Duke's Headquarters in Lasting Vengence and purchase the Software Signature Scrambler (932,996 credits) and System Override Software (601,596 credits) to enable the player ship to claim abandoned ships without ejecting (useful in hostile sectors). It is recommended to keep a supply of fighter drones (2-5) obtained from bailed TS ships incase the player get surprised by a large hostile wing. It is advisable to set aside one TS to act a store for spare missiles and lasers that are looted for later use. When engaging M3s that are not civilian, care must be taken to avoid the the main laser battery which will often contain very high damage PBGs or long range HEPTs (which are easier to dodge by strafing) and to keep strafing when behind the ship since many M3s also have a rear turret capable of dealing moderate damage. The player should aim for capping the Split Chimera (or Mamba Raider as an alternative) which can be found acting as Freight Transporters (most commonly Split) since those have PBE compatability with a good laser energy reload rate and PAC compatible front and rear turrets for missile interception.
An M3 Fighter has enough laser energy to be able to use two high damage lasers almost continuously while the turrets found on many offer good automatic protection from missiles and fighter drones. With this much fire power and multiple 25MJ shields, lone ships can be sequentially engaged with minimal breaks and even heavy police patrols engaged head on. The Bankrupt Assassin and Unholy Traitor starting scenarios are able to begin pillaging civilian ships and trade lanes from one of their hostile races as soon as the starting scenario specific hostile ship spawns finish. The starting ship of the Unholy Traitor starting scenario has the additional advantage of being able to use salvaged Firestorm Torpedoes and Typhoon Missiles to easily destroy entire wings and even M6 corvettes. The Aldrin Adventurer starting scenario will have difficulties going into piracy immediately since the slow projectile speed of the starting weapons will make intercepting fighter drones hard while additional weapons are only obtainable by pirating the few small Aldrin ships which are deep in Terran territory or the player will have to gain >+5? Terran Race Rank and pay high prices for the compatable compatible lasers (path of trade). Once the laser shortage has been overcome the Spitfyre is good for raiding using PM/A-MLs which have both long range and high damage and a top speed that is faster than many M5s allowing it to take down much larger opponents however frequent trips will need to be made back to Terran space for additional ammo until a dedicated supply TS can be organised. The Argon Peacekeeper starting ship begins well equipped allowing for immediate piracy of ships (probably Terran) even though yields will be less efficient than PBE compatable ships however the Ion Disrupter compatability and immediate entry into the Commonwealth main plot (path of missions) make aiming directly for an M6 corvette preferable over obtaining a better bail capping ship.
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