Ok the thing is very simple.
I fly for 1 week now the asp explorer and take all kind of missions just to earn money
and obtain the upgrades I want, I suppose that you all understand... the usual drill.
Well today I've been shot down 7 times (That means roughly 7.500.000 cr)
5 from the same NPC!!!!!!!
What the !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Excuse me for being, I just want to play!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The last 2 shot downs I was EMPTY!!!!!!
WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO HERE??????
Screw the dynamic universe that is !!!!
I love the game and I don't intend on quitting but COME ONE MAN----
Give me a little slack here!!! What kind of pimping is that?????
At the bottom line I don't care about battles I just need credits to make my ship travel
far away.
Ok Frontier put a leash to your hounds because you make me real tired.
I have a life and job I can't stay online for ever!!!!!!!
I've paid for the game I want the joy I once had with it.
DO SOMETHING IT'S ANNOYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Slightly different take from me, but I am a long-standing Elite pilot so I have some insight here too.
I am familiar with what the OP is talking about because I just did a Modular Terminal grind in SOL a couple weeks back, and ran into exactly what the topic is; A persistent NPC that won't go away no matter what you do (mode switch included). I even pulled this persistent NPC into a station instance and he was killed by the station, only to have the same "Hostile NPC" respawn (guess the mission I delivered wasn't the one he was sent for) on the next run. It was actually kinda creepy.
So, what I do (and I wouldn't recommend it if you are low on credits, its an experience thing I guess) if I'm close-ish to the station is leap frog my way in to the station and pray the mission I'm delivering was the cause of the persistent NPC. I hate having to re-makeup that ground again because that's exactly what would happen if you jumped out, have to do it all over again. Also, I'm stubborn and impatient
If you pop into a system and you get a "tasty cargo" message or the "I've come a long way blah blah blah" message or any of the other hints you can either just jump back out and jump back in and see if you still get that, or just keep on keeping on. This is dependent on the distance to the station. If it's a hike then maybe jump in and out a couple times and see if it's a persistent NPC or just a random encounter, watch the NPC names in the messages.
If you manage to get close to your station but get interdicted, boost boost jump boost. If you get the "tasty cargo" or other messages like before immediately throttle back and drop right there. boost boost jump boost. The object here is to AVOID the interdiction because that pulls you back away from the station and you either have to jump out and start over again or just keep getting interdicted hoping the interdictions would stop. If it's a persistent NPC, odds are they won't stop.
A few other things:
The Pips to SYS or to ENG thing, I don't necessarily agree with the the general bent here. It's a frame of mind thing. If you are going to haul or deliver missions and have no desire for combat whatsoever, you'd want max-boost;
1) Unless you are in open or are suffering a Mobius invasion. If you are getting interdicted by a commander, MAX SYS. In my experience these brave souls spawn right on top of you and are almost never alone.
2) If you are curious about what the intentions are of the interdictor or want to see if you can finally get the NPC to carry on an intelligent conversation, MAX SYS, check your credit balance, make a business decision.
3) If you aren't comfortable what what to do, or are inexperienced, MAX SYS. Use regular interdictions as practice on what works best for you. I find nowadays that if the NPC isn't a persistent NPC, they usually pull me down once maybe twice but otherwise arrive at the station just fine. Although I am not a huge fan of Engineers myself, personally, I determined it wasn't going away due to my disapproval so I upgraded my ships on the PC and the XB1 with dirty drives. Nothing catches me now. I would only have to suffer the persistent NPC, which I would still handle the same way as I described above (the leap frogging). I rather enjoy pulling these into a station now and before Engineers. Take a crappy situation and make it fun and challenging.
4) 4 Pips to ENG - 2 to SYS. Boost Boost Jump Boost. The first boost is right at the moment you drop. I've been doing that for a year and a half and never never never never ever lost a ship to a NPC doing that. And I rarely jump out of a system because I hate to re-conquer ground I've already covered. Getting interdicted by humans is a different animal, a persistent NPC is also its own drama. But, I am also very experienced so maybe I'm just better at it, who knows.
Final thing is about focus. Some folks like the interdictions and take it as a pewpew opportunity. Some folks can't deal with them and are annoyed by them. Some folks couldn't care less about them (like me), maybe slightly annoyed that my progress was interrupted. It you aren't going to fight the interdictor, then don't look at your left panel to see who it was or what they are flying, who cares. The only mental note I take is the NPC name in the messages. What they fly or their rank, couldn't care less. Stay focused on your situation and get out of there. As soon as you get curious, 4 pips to SYS and re-read #2 above
I think I've had the persistent NPC happen to me just a few times, btw, if you take a lot of missions you've probably had it happen to you a few times too. These are different than your average interdictions.
As always, this is just my opinion, and the way you are doing it is totally awesome for you. All the above information is spurious and no warranty is implied. Supplies are limited.
