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With this kind of boarding the player uses Wildfire and Silkworm missiles (Wasp and Dragonfly missiles also work) at a long range to lower the shields of the target if no softening is performed before launching the drones.   Drones are launched at a distance of 6-8Km from the target and ordered to Attack Shields of the target.   Once the target shields are <10% the player can either start flying away from the target and uses the Launch Marines command to allow the target ship to fly into the cloud of Marines while being far enough away from the player ship that it is not actively firing towards the player and oncoming Marines (this is where you will pointlessly lose your personnel) or the player can try and fly underneath the target ship and launch the marines just as the ship flies overhead that all marines instantly contact the target hull (player is more likely to take damage with bigger targets but more synchronised boarding and lower losses however, fatal collisions with the target ship are more likely).   Ships recommended for spacewalk boarding are the TP class ships, Geochen (Teladi) (high shielding for a TP), Ocelot (Split) (has enough speed to dodge incoming fire) and Angel (Boron) (has Ion Disrupters to help reduce target shields and soften them up) and the Argon  Argon TM class ship Zephyrus (high shielding , has Ion Disrupters to help reduce target shields and soften them up and Thunderbolt Missile compatibility for depleting for depleting the shields and can carry all ships and equipment needed for clean boarding and escape tactics) and Magnetar (Has Ion Disrupters to help reduce target shields and soften them up).   It typically takes up to 50 missiles for a boarding operation of an M6 using a TP.   The Mechanical Skill of the personnel used limits what ship classes can be boarded with this method

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Boarding Operation Mechanics

Source: http://x3tc.net/abordazh-mehanika-igrovogo-processa_110.html

Personnel Training

Marines/Mercenaries have Fighting, Engineering, Mechanical and Hacking skills that range from 0 to 100 affecting their performance during boarding operations.   The Fighting Skill can only be trained by performing successful boarding operations, increasing by 5-9 points with each successful operation.   All other skills can be trained at NPC Trading Stations, Equipment Docks, Military Outposts, Military Bases, Marine Training Barracks, Rehabilitation Facilities, Pirate Bases, Stock Exchanges, Orbital Defence Stations, Orbital Patrol Bases, Research Stations and Unique Facilities for a price.   The number of stars personnel have are based on the number of Skill points divided by 17 and rounded down.   The Overall stars is based on the average of all Skills.

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