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Introduction
There are four high-end 6 items of equipment for the Skunk that are uniquely, only available through crafting. Two being available via random loot drops and two via exploration within the non-DLC systems. All related items can be found located at any time but in order to acquire the equipment, a related mission must be accepted. The mission offer may be from a random NPC type. Once crafted, each item must be taken back to the respective NPC. Ultimately, a mechanics will be utilised for completion since those NPCs modify Skunk equipment (sale of the item is also an option).Once all components of an item are collected, they are crafted via "Your Inventory" with unique means of acquisition. Four are available through dropped loot and the others are available through finding unique lockboxes. Much of the information gather together on this wiki stems from Tamina's forum thread.
High-end equipment for the Skunk available through crafting items dropped as loot:
High-end shields for the Skunk are available through crafting rare items (details here):
- Mk5 shields
- Mk5 shields (second chance to purchase them)
Crafting
Spami provided information on all crafting recipes. After all required items are collected, crafting can be undertaken at any time. This is achieved via the Inventory menu (Return-2-1-3 through sidebar, or <shift>-I). Keep in mind that Lock Boxes are fragile and that exterior explosions may nuke their contents too - be gentle with those locks! This short guide gives hints about how to acquire but if you would like full spoiler help, it's available here in Tamina's thread.
The following table describes what's on offer and gives hints on how to find the components. In general, whether Long Range Scanning is required for the Exploration items or not, it can help since related Drop Boxes have different ping sounds and colours to asteroids and ships.
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10 components that may drop as loot from destroyed ships. May be crafted repeatedly and sold for credits.
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4 are near hostile or unique stations. 1 requires Long Range Scanning. If your in a plot game, try and find the one in Maelstrom before the plot has you attacking Xenon stations 
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Installation of equipment
in order to fit most of these items, a special mission must be found and accepted (SETA does not have an associated mission). Once the item is crafted for the mission, it must be returned to the respective NPC (so don't accept these mission offers from soon-to-be hostile stations!) in order to fit it, at which point you can sell the item or ask for the equipment and you'd be directed to an NPC Mechanic who can fit it.
The Mk5 Engine & PR3 weapon requirement can be crafted & sold repeatedly without needing to find the relevant mission, but you'll lose some extra cash. The mission is only necessary to fit the equipment to the Skunk (or create & fit in the case of the PR3). SETA can be crafted repeatedly but its resale value is less than it's individual components, so not worth the bother