Why have mission to kill traders in your own system?

[talharbash]

This doesn't make any sense. Why would dominant faction in a system ask me to kill traders? I can understand pirates but not traders.

Most of these missions make no logical sense (like the naval progression ones where I need to bring in illegal goods).

 

[ElleShaped]

A lot of the time it is because the faction's primary enemies in the system are traders - I see those kind of missions a lot in 82 Eridani, and I know that their main enemies are expansionists from the corporate system next door.

 

[DUST2DEATH]

Good question. Id like to extend to it if I may cause I would like someone more knowledgable to assist with my frustrations.

My post in another thread:

I just want some clear mission structure and resolution.

Ive taken another "kill 2 traders mission".

Ive spent the last 1.5 hours flying around in supercruise. Got a couple bounties. Found 2 haulers (both clean), interdicted, blew them to pieces. Got a bounty of 5K stuck on my head for the system Im supporting which is 8100 to pay off x2 (16200). Neither have apparently counted towards the mission.

So not only have I just lost 16K, Im about to take a rep hit again when I abandon cause it doesnt count. If there is something Im missing? its not specified in the mission description. There is nothing to say whether they need to be from this group, or that group. Nothing to say haulers, adders or any other ship.

What gives?

 

[ElleShaped]

Good question. Id like to extend to it if I may cause I would like someone more knowledgable to assist with my frustrations.

My post in another thread:

I just want some clear mission structure and resolution.

Ive taken another "kill 2 traders mission".

Ive spent the last 1.5 hours flying around in supercruise. Got a couple bounties. Found 2 haulers (both clean), interdicted, blew them to pieces. Got a bounty of 5K stuck on my head for the system Im supporting which is 8100 to pay off x2 (16200). Neither have apparently counted towards the mission.

So not only have I just lost 16K, Im about to take a rep hit again when I abandon cause it doesnt count. If there is something Im missing? its not specified in the mission description. There is nothing to say whether they need to be from this group, or that group. Nothing to say haulers, adders or any other ship.

What gives?

If you take a 'kill x of type y' mission, don't fly aroudn looking for ships in the system. You will much more reliably find yoru targets in USSes.

And you can often tell who is who...

Pirates are theo nes who, when you drop in, scan you and say something like, 'Let's see what you have for us today!'
Traders are often in haulers or Lakon 6/7/9s and are usually being attacked by pirates in the USS
Bounty Hunters scan you but they don't talk about what you're carrying.

Etc.

 

[Dabba]

Its more than just the primary faction giving you the missions, most systems have a variety of different smaller factions all with their own individual goals and motivations. Its very possible to be in a Federation system and take an Alliance, Empire, or Independent factions missions.

The system is a lot deeper than go to Empire space, take Empire mission, do Empire mission, collect reward. You have to realize who is offering you the work, think about what their motivations are, and decide if its something you are on board with or not. You can see the name of the mini faction offering each mission on the bulletin board, and you can read about all of them, who they back, and what their motivations are in the right hand console.

 

[talharbash]

I haven't figured out a way to detect traders reliably, other than just spotting them.

Not a big fan of USS.

For pirates, if you carry a ton of anything valuable they will aggro you after scanning so that's one sure way of getting them to come to you. Go to any RES or Nav point and have fun

For bounty hunters, I also don't know of a reliable way to detect them. I know they will scan you and sometimes tell you you're clean (I've had that happen with non system security vessels).

I'd rather see this mission just point to pirates for now until there's a reliable way to detect the others.

 

[ElleShaped]

I haven't figured out a way to detect traders reliably, other than just spotting them.

Not a big fan of USS.

For pirates, if you carry a ton of anything valuable they will aggro you after scanning so that's one sure way of getting them to come to you. Go to any RES or Nav point and have fun

For bounty hunters, I also don't know of a reliable way to detect them. I know they will scan you and sometimes tell you you're clean (I've had that happen with non system security vessels).

I'd rather see this mission just point to pirates for now until there's a reliable way to detect the others.

Why aren't you a fan of USSes?

All you have to do is throttle down to zero and wait for them to spawn. They appear within 'safe disengage' range immediately and you just drop out, check 'em, and then pop out again if they're the wrong one.

 

[simon terlecki]

One reason is if said traders have begun flooding the markets with junk that is negatively affecting market trends for the group asking for the deed to be done.

 

[DUST2DEATH]

If you take a 'kill x of type y' mission, don't fly aroudn looking for ships in the system. You will much more reliably find yoru targets in USSes.

And you can often tell who is who...

Pirates are theo nes who, when you drop in, scan you and say something like, 'Let's see what you have for us today!'
Traders are often in haulers or Lakon 6/7/9s and are usually being attacked by pirates in the USS
Bounty Hunters scan you but they don't talk about what you're carrying.

Etc.

But this is the thing. The first time I did that. I went through both systems, using only USS. I killed 5 traders (haulers) in the uss's across 2 systems. Again, nothing seemed to count.

The more I researched it was said for trader missions, you have to do it in supercruise. For pirates you do it in the USS.

This is what I mean about clear mission structure and resolution. Ive done it both ways, and both times it doesnt seem to count. So infuriating.

 

[talharbash]

Why aren't you a fan of USSes?

All you have to do is throttle down to zero and wait for them to spawn. They appear within 'safe disengage' range immediately and you just drop out, check 'em, and then pop out again if they're the wrong one.

Too much work. If I'm looking for pirates its better to just go to a RES or Nav point. Otherwise I'm going through a number of USS points until I find that one rat to smoke.

It's more efficient not using USS points.

 

[ElleShaped]

But this is the thing. The first time I did that. I went through both systems, using only USS. I killed 5 traders (haulers) in the uss's across 2 systems. Again, nothing seemed to count.

The more I researched it was said for trader missions, you have to do it in supercruise. For pirates you do it in the USS.

This is what I mean about clear mission structure and resolution. Ive done it both ways, and both times it doesnt seem to count. So infuriating.

I've done 'kill' missions for traders, pirates, and system authority ships, and I did the first two solely through USSes. They do work. It could be that you were misidentifying someone as a 'trader' when they weren't.

 

[talharbash]

I've done 'kill' missions for traders, pirates, and system authority ships, and I did the first two solely through USSes. They do work. It could be that you were misidentifying someone as a 'trader' when they weren't.

How did you identify traders? Just by the type of ship and their record?

 

[ElleShaped]

How did you identify traders? Just by the type of ship and their record?

There's a USS that has four or five ships; two or three are pirates (and one will scan you almost immediately when yo uarrive) and the other two are traders, who are the targets of the pirates. One of them is almost always in a hauler or a Lakon, and when you attack them, the other trader<s> in the USS become hostile, making them easy to identify.

 

[DUST2DEATH]

I've done 'kill' missions for traders, pirates, and system authority ships, and I did the first two solely through USSes. They do work. It could be that you were misidentifying someone as a 'trader' when they weren't.

how do you Identify them as a trader other than ship? Is there a specific ship you need to hunt for those missions? ie: type 7 instead of hauler? adder instead of hauler?

all the mission says is "traders". No related factions, no ship types, nothing..

 

[Hope42]

Yeah well.

As postet before. There are not only Fed, Ally and Empire in here. Every Company has its own missions.

And THIS is why traders can be enemys. The ones who help OTHER Companys or groups to grow. If you could read you would see that some of the Groups you may fly for will lead to a Civil war cause they run against the local Authoritie. So.. before you take a mission. Read WHOM is giving you this and what are theyre goals.

And pls.. do NOT ask for simplify this cause its the ONLY thing in ED till now that makes ANY Sense.

If you kill stuff that does give you - standing in the system you are.. you should trade and not BH .

 

[DUST2DEATH]

There's a USS that has four or five ships; two or three are pirates (and one will scan you almost immediately when yo uarrive) and the other two are traders, who are the targets of the pirates. One of them is almost always in a hauler or a Lakon, and when you attack them, the other trader<s> in the USS become hostile, making them easy to identify.

I did that the first time around, exactly as you just mentioned, still didnt count.

 

[ElleShaped]

how do you Identify them as a trader other than ship? Is there a specific ship you need to hunt for those missions? ie: type 7 instead of hauler? adder instead of hauler?

all the mission says is "traders". No related factions, no ship types, nothing..

See my previous post

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I did that the first time around, exactly as you just mentioned, still didnt count.

And you were in the correct system? Sometimes the mission asks you to go to a neighboring system instead of getting the kills in the system you get the mission.

 

[DUST2DEATH]

See my previous post

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And you were in the correct system? Sometimes the mission asks you to go to a neighboring system instead of getting the kills in the system you get the mission.

Correct systems, for both mission instances. The second was in the same system as the mission was given, hence my bounty and super annoyance this second time around.

The first istance was 4 traders over 2 systems. I killed 2 in both, went back to the station that gave the mission via uss in each system. Meeting them either alone, or in a group as you previous posted. I went back to the second system again after the station wouldnt let me cash it in, got another "trader" in a uss which would make 5. I did at one point in a uss get offered the "alt" which I ignored and kept going.

The second instance was 2 traders in the same system I got the mission in. This time I did both via SC and interdictions as I read during my research after the first annoyance it should be done in supercruise and not uss for the kill traders.

I also read there is a bug that resets the kill counts if you get the alt offer?

Either way, I wish there was a way to track targets killed as well as it doesnt change on the transactions details either.

EDIT: Im not asking to simplify anything. I just want clear structuring and tracking so Im not left wondering, trauling forums for answers to something that should be clear in game, and its just not.

 

[Phaedra]

I've done 'kill' missions for traders, pirates, and system authority ships, and I did the first two solely through USSes. They do work. It could be that you were misidentifying someone as a 'trader' when they weren't.

Indeed. Some "trading" vessels are in fact smugglers. However, I can confirm that you can complete the kill traders missions at USS if you find the right ships.

On the original question of why do non pirate minor factions give these missions, as others have said, it's about increasing their influence in a system at the expense of other minor factions, even minor factions in the same major faction. For example, there is an "Expansion" system event in Synteini atm and the controlling faction (Imperial Society) is offering lots of kill trader, bounty hunter etc... missions in neighbouring systems as it seeks to expand its influence in them.

 

[ElleShaped]

Correct systems, for both mission instances. The second was in the same system as the mission was given, hence my bounty and super annoyance this second time around.

The first istance was 4 traders over 2 systems. I killed 2 in both, went back to the station that gave the mission via uss in each system. Meeting them either alone, or in a group as you previous posted. I went back to the second system again after the station wouldnt let me cash it in, got another "trader" in a uss which would make 5. I did at one point in a uss get offered the "alt" which I ignored and kept going.

The second instance was 2 traders in the same system I got the mission in. This time I did both via SC and interdictions as I read during my research after the first annoyance it should be done in supercruise and not uss for the kill traders.

I also read there is a bug that resets the kill counts if you get the alt offer?

Either way, I wish there was a way to track targets killed as well as it doesnt change on the transactions details either.

The transaction details -do- track targets killed.

Until you kill your first one, it doesn't show anywhere, but once you get your first kill it adds a line above the 'targets - 5' line, to show how many are killed.

When you get offered the alternate, it doesn't reset your kill count but it does disappear. Once you get your next kill, the 'kills - #' line will reappear and it will show your kills correctly again.

Also, once you have gotten all of your kills, you get a blue triangle popup with the words 'Objective Complete' where you see your other blue popups, like bounties obtained and the like.