Engineers As a space trucker, should I even bother?

As everyone has pointed out, at least get FSD range increase mod. +44% jump range is a huge buff, might be higher with secondary effects. It will open up so many trade routes or shorten your current route. I feel that this mod is a MUST for traders.
 
As everyone has pointed out, at least get FSD range increase mod. +44% jump range is a huge buff, might be higher with secondary effects. It will open up so many trade routes or shorten your current route. I feel that this mod is a MUST for traders.
But 40%+ rolls are lucky and relatively rare ones. I had to do like ~8 rolls on class 5 FSD to finaly get there.
Most of them were ~30-35%, few were as low as 25-28%.
So it will be more realistic to expect something around 30-35%...
 
But 40%+ rolls are lucky and relatively rare ones. I had to do like ~8 rolls on class 5 FSD to finaly get there.
Most of them were ~30-35%, few were as low as 25-28%.
So it will be more realistic to expect something around 30-35%...

Haha, can't argue with that.
 
So I looked up the requirements to actually meeting the Engineers that would actually be useful and the general responses I found myself having were "What a pain in the butt." and "What a waste of time." looks like I'll be passing this stuff up until I finally get my dream ship (Cutter or Anaconda) right now it would be a waste of time that would slow me down on that goal the way things are set up now. Just not interested in wandering aimlessly scanning stuff just so an engineer will decide to let me grind crap for them so they might give me a better FSD.

Now if I could just pay them and be done with it that would be one thing but right now I'd have to get a whole other ship or really rebuild what I have, neither of which are attractive options, so I'm gonna stick to my trade routes.

Don't hold your breath for the Anaconda trader.
Mine is weaponless A rated with shield boosters and engineered shields. I've lost three of them from AI wing interdictions in stars. Inescapable. It's not like I'm new to the game having played it daily for a year now.
Since Engineers, I've lost more credits than I've earned.
FD has engineered me as a trader right out of the game listening only to the Elite combat lobby insisting on unbeatable AI.
It's increasingly obvious to me the staff at FD does not play the game they created.
-Pv-
 
Since Engineers, I've lost more credits than I've earned.
-Pv-

Here's a hint, change your methods, you could have been playing the game everyday since Alpha, it means nothing if your escape or combat technique lacked basic foundations like PIP management, high waking,situational awareness.

The devs got rid of engineered weapons, hopefully they will tone down interdiction rates for truckers hauling low value materials. It would be a shame if they neutered the AI purely because a set of cmdrs refuse to admit that they need to start learning the basic methods of survival in this game.
 
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I have not survived a year knowing nothing about pip management.
As for combat techniques, a weaponless trader Anaconda does not use combat techniques. I know every escape technique in the book and they are no longer as effective as pre-engineers.
The AI does not need to be neutered. Just not give them power the player does not have or defy physics.

Interedictions require the interdicting ship be BEHIND the interdictee. If I'm flying to escape a star 90 degrees from it, where is the interdicting ship?
Behind me supposedly. Even closer to to the star than I am, or inside it, or behind it. Yet, the AI interdictors seem to suffer nothing from it and can slug my 4 pip 170% shields down to nothing in seconds.
This defies all reason.

My advice to traders is switch to combat or go exploring as far from AI as you can get.
-Pv-
 
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At this point I may look into it once my current route dries up, since it's a single jump both way and I'm making a 1 mil a loop its too good to let go of right now
 
I have not survived a year knowing nothing about pip management.
As for combat techniques, a weaponless trader Anaconda does not use combat techniques. I know every escape technique in the book and they are no longer as effective as pre-engineers.
The AI does not need to be neutered. Just not give them power the player does not have or defy physics.

Interedictions require the interdicting ship be BEHIND the interdictee. If I'm flying to escape a star 90 degrees from it, where is the interdicting ship?
Behind me supposedly. Even closer to to the star than I am, or inside it, or behind it. Yet, the AI interdictors seem to suffer nothing from it and can slug my 4 pip 170% shields down to nothing in seconds.
This defies all reason.

My advice to traders is switch to combat or go exploring as far from AI as you can get.
-Pv-

have not traded much since returning with 2.1, but used to trade a lot and still own my Space Cow.

you forgot to add NPC bizarreness like: (affects all players not just traders, but really sucks for pure haulers)

1. Seemingly incredible low cool down down or no cool down time. NPCs interdict, you submit then boost out asap when your fsd cool down charges, yet NPC is right back in space interdicting you again with either no or so low cool down it is same effective thing

2. It is not just one NPC interdicting multiple times with less cool down than players who interdict, but multiple NPCs that can chain interdict you half dozen times on way to station in same system. Does not happen all the time, but enough times it seems like FD never really tested how new interdictions plus new NPCs affected non-combat players

3. My favorite NPC cheat - the magic teleport paradox: say you decide to add some delivery or sourcing missions to rank up some factions while you trade on that same A-B route, you get interdicted by that mission NPC who you eventually escape and jump away from....only to find him waiting in the system you jump to, saying 'oh look, there's the ship with the huge haul I've been looking for..."
 
"1. Seemingly incredible low cool down down or no cool down time. NPCs interdict, you submit then boost out asap when your fsd cool down charges, yet NPC is right back in space interdicting you again with either no or so low cool down it is same effective thing"

Yes, the chain interidiction caused by NPC having no cool-down when the player submits is a LONG TIME BUG which has been COMPLETELY ignored and like you say, just adds to the ridiculous interdictions added on top of that by Engineers.

-Pv-
 
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I have not survived a year knowing nothing about pip management.
As for combat techniques, a weaponless trader Anaconda does not use combat techniques. I know every escape technique in the book and they are no longer as effective as pre-engineers.
The AI does not need to be neutered. Just not give them power the player does not have or defy physics.

-Pv-

No point discussing pre engineers, an escape technique was not required unless you flew in Open and got pulled out of warp by a hostile cmdr.

Obviously you don't know every escape technique, most importantly the one we have demonstrated in multiple videos. It's pretty simple, there are those on here that say they have mastered everything and have nothing to learn, the AI is simply pulling off maneuvers in normal space that are impossible to escape from, then they post a video showing themselves failing in the most basic parts of the escape method.

How about posting a video to show your perfected technique that is sending you back to an insurance screen or resulting in a damaged ship? As a deal I'll post a video of using a fail safe escape tactic in any unarmed freighter against an NPC ship and rank level of your choice.
 
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No point discussing pre engineers, an escape technique was not required unless you flew in Open and got pulled out of warp by a hostile cmdr.

Obviously you don't know every escape technique, most importantly the one we have demonstrated in multiple videos. It's pretty simple, there are those on here that say they have mastered everything and have nothing to learn, the AI is simply pulling off maneuvers in normal space that are impossible to escape from, then they post a video showing themselves failing in the most basic parts of the escape method.

How about posting a video to show your perfected technique that is sending you back to an insurance screen or resulting in a damaged ship? As a deal I'll post a video of using a fail safe escape tactic in any unarmed freighter against an NPC ship and rank level of your choice.

Whatever he does - please post that video :p I just returned after playing other stuff for a few months and it's a terrible experience. Last thing I did before I left was buying a T7. First thing I did today was loosing that (crap fit) T7 to the first interdiction within seconds. Switched back to my T6, which WAS decently fit when I left. Not good enough for the constant interdictions these days. It's over the top and being a more or less pure trader I HATE IT!

Spent a few hours driving the Scarab around on a planet gathering cotainers. Just to be reduced to 50% armor by the next interdiction. If this persists I'll just stop playing again :/
 
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