Thinking of grinding for prismatics. Advice?

[[VR] Deggial]

Not actually an advice ... but what I did was to purchase and store a larger selection of shields even for ships I don't own at the moment.
My Anaconda is outfitted with one, an equally large is neatly stored at Jameson's Memorial waiting for the day I finally managed to reach the required rank. Close nearby this module sit some for smaller ships, awaiting their use.

(This is of course only feasible provided the fact that you actually own at least one of the large ships, have set enough credits aside in order to purchase so many (currently useless) shields in advance an still have enough storing capacity to put them in mothballs until needed.)

Edit: Oh well, scanning the previous posts, this was already recommended. I'm too late to the party, as it seems.

 

[John Tenzer]

I disagree. There is nothing in this game that cannot be played "early game," or for that matter casually. Maintaining a rating level of two is fairly trivial, doesn't have to cost a player a credit, and the bonuses and payouts, while not significant to an established player, can help out a novice player.

Well, I'd generally say "Yes", unless you want to get hands on the Prismatic Shields.

These things are mighty expensive in a higher Grade, so it makes sense to get them later as bulk buying, when one has reached one of the big 3's to store and use the higher class shields. Thus you prevent having to repledge yourself to Space Khaleesi and to wait your 3 weeks again before being able to access the Prismatic Shields.

Every other PP-item is pretty much "one size fits all", thus only a necessity for a one time pledge period, if you don't like to be attached to the power players for any other reason.

EDit: Damned Thargoid-Ninjas!

Q about timing (did PP a long time ago), I can pledge on a Wednesday, the tick occurs on Thurs, does that one day count as a week?

You need to be pledged to the respective power for full 28 days before you can access the PP-item. If you start on Wednesday, 01.11., then the item gets unlocked on 29.01, not on Thursday 23.11. (european date format).
The ranking is always evaluated on any new thursday though, by halving your merit pool, paying your rank for the PAST week and putting you on the achieved rank.

 

[EUS]

You need to be pledged to the respective power for full 28 days before you can access the PP-item. If you start on Wednesday, 01.11., then the item gets unlocked on 29.01, not on Thursday 23.11. (european date format).
The ranking is always evaluated on any new thursday though, by halving your merit pool, paying your rank for the PAST week and putting you on the achieved rank.

Interesting.

 

[Achibot]

You need to be pledged to the respective power for full 28 days before you can access the PP-item. If you start on Wednesday, 01.11., then the item gets unlocked on 29.01, not on Thursday 23.11. (european date format).
The ranking is always evaluated on any new thursday though, by halving your merit pool, paying your rank for the PAST week and putting you on the achieved rank.

I don't think that's the case man, I had access to the shields right after the 4th PP tick, which means I definitely had not been pledged for 28 days. Unless I miscounted and was pledged for 5 ticks, but that seems *very* unlikely to me...

 

[Maxmilian Czhilli]

I recently set an objective to getting pack hounds, so for the past four weeks I've been pledged to Li-Yong Rui (has been four weeks, but only three ticks, so I won't actually get them until this Thursday). I read up on PP enough to get the basics and signed up. I started by doing a few fortification runs during my spare time, but since I'm in the midst of a long term project of recomissioning my anaconda from an exploration class to a combat class ship, I quickly abandonded that strategy and went to undermining Parnav Antel.

I read some of the other posts about looking for convoys and relogging, and working in controled anarchy systems, and while I did initially seek out anarchy systems, it really isn't needed. Sure, I had to get used to carrying massive bounties (for me anyway) but I have to say that the game play has been quite rewarding.

I've worked about three or four Parnav controlled systems and I left three of them in lockdown/civil war after my reign of terror. Just go to any controlled system for your target faction, and scan shipping lanes for faction members (there will be lots of them in the controlled systems). When you see one, interdict, kill, and wake out before security forces arrive. The first system I messed up a bit as I was declared an enemy of the controlling faction. While this can be exciting for a few minutes, having five to six vessles swarm on you everytime you drop out of SC gets in the way of your work.

By the third system, I pretty much have my strategy down. On arrival, I drop into a hazres for 30 min or so and claim some bounties. I then travel to the nearest station, cash them, and say "hi" to my new "friends." I then go out and murder five or six of Parnav's cultist. I'm wanted at this point, but take care to not kill system authority vessels (until I'm finished with that system anyway ).

In between murder sprees, I take out a few wanted ships as well and go hand those off at the local station. Of course, this means low waking into the orbitals to avoid scans, and the annie doesn't exactly stop, but so far I haven't crashed yet.

After the first or second murder spree, I will pop in a hazres. I guess it is a combination of being hostile and the murders (ya think?) but after a few minutes I'm usually attacked by one of Parnav's uber cult leaders, who is then joined by three to four others. This is a lot like taking on system authority vessles, except that do not seem to constantly send in reinforcements. You'll have to fight and need to be fairly competent at handling multiple enemies at once (SLF helps draw fire away from other ships) but you can easily leave a system with 700 merits after an hour or so.

To each their own, but if hauling PP propaganda isn't your thing, I highly encourage you try undermining.

A side benefit is that you will be harassed by bounty hunters everywhere you go for the next week, which does spice things up a bit. Ironically, oftentimes they will attack you before they've scanned you, which causes them to become wanted. I've covered most of my fines by killing the bounty hunters that have come to collect on me!

Oh, and if you really want to go all in with the spirit undermining, before you leave the system, take out a system authority vessle, and then take out as many of the reinforcements as you can before high waking out. You've got your merrits, and ruined the hostile faction's system for a few days.

Yay!

I was pledged to LYR recently and am now happily using my pack-hounds in the service of Denton Patreus.

My understanding is that groups leading LYR and Pranav Antal have signed a non-aggression pact. Those who like to role-play their game might like to take this kind of thing into account.

Similarly there is an agreement between the imperial powers and Grom.

You may also find internal power struggles within powers or powers in conflict with player factions occupying the same space.

Players are of course free to ignore all this stuff. From a mechanistic point of view power play doesn't have much to offer. It's only by learning about the politics and using it to inform my actions that my involvement in power play has become a part of the story of my commander. I've been enjoying it more than I thought. Once I'm done with collecting all the power specific modules I want I'll be putting my mercenary ways behind me and looking at settling with a power for the long term.

Each to their own of course, but I find I need a character motivation beyond "get all the stuff", "get all the money" or "get all the ranks" in order to enjoy the game.

 

[CMDR ANCALAGON]

I don't think that's the case man, I had access to the shields right after the 4th PP tick, which means I definitely had not been pledged for 28 days. Unless I miscounted and was pledged for 5 ticks, but that seems *very* unlikely to me...

I have been pledged to Yi-Long Rui four four weeks as of yesterday, but my ranking and merits will not get applied until Thursday, so I won't have access to the pack hounds until that happens.

 

[Taranis Dekker]

They're the one module left that I would love on my Cobra. I know the first three weeks I can just do nothing... But I've actually been having a lot of fun making an adventure out of Elite.

Thus I might actually do PP proper, at least for the prerequisite time for the shields.

Anything I should know?

I went through it for prismatics, as well as other PP special items. I think I just signed up, ignored it for 3 weeks, and then went and did fortifications until I had enough merits to reach the required level. I bought my extra merits though, rather than sit waiting, so it did cost a small fortune, and I ended up with a finger ache from so many repetitive button presses.

To be fair to the CMDRs who actually still PP, I did try to deliver to locations that actually needed fortifying, rather than those that had already reached the target %.

 

[Crank Larson]

Fair warning... Buying the materials is a pain in the ASCII, especially at the lower ranks. You get a specific allotment, and have to 'refresh' it each time for credits, then hold down the button to 'fill' the hold, just like you do in the Commodities menu. Only it's far slower than buying commodities.

I timed it once... It took three minutes to load up my 260t Python. Now I just get the half-hourly allocation, and do mission running in-between. I've maintained Rank 4 without having to spend any money on it for the last couple of weeks. Mind you, I'm thinking about giving undermining (by attacking ships) a go, as that looks to be a nice change (I wasn't sure how it worked ).

I got my Prismatic shields quite a few weeks ago now, and have enough for all my ships. I've carried on with the PowerPlay as it is an easy 5m each week to fit around what I'm doing anyway. I might have to pledge to a new power at some point, though, to see what other goodies there are.

 

[EUS]

I have been pledged to Yi-Long Rui four four weeks as of yesterday, but my ranking and merits will not get applied until Thursday, so I won't have access to the pack hounds until that happens.

So you've been through 4 PP ticks, but you didn't have the rank 3 standing at the time?

 

[John Tenzer]

I timed it once... It took three minutes to load up my 260t Python. Now I just get the half-hourly allocation, and do mission running in-between. I've maintained Rank 4 without having to spend any money on it for the last couple of weeks. Mind you, I'm thinking about giving undermining (by attacking ships) a go, as that looks to be a nice change (I wasn't sure how it worked ).

I got my Prismatic shields quite a few weeks ago now, and have enough for all my ships. I've carried on with the PowerPlay as it is an easy 5m each week to fit around what I'm doing anyway. I might have to pledge to a new power at some point, though, to see what other goodies there are.

I think the top 3 from top to bottom are:

1. Packhound Missile Rack (LYR)
2. Prismatic Shields (AD)
3. Imperial Hammer (ALD)

Everything else reads itself rather gimmicky to be of any real use over their generic pendants.

 

[CMDR ANCALAGON]

So you've been through 4 PP ticks, but you didn't have the rank 3 standing at the time?

Correct, but when the fourth tick hit, I also hadn't been pledged for four weeks yet.

I pledged on Monday, 25OCT. The first tick was that Thursday, at which point I had only been pledged for three days. When the fourth tick hit on 19OCT, I had been pledged for three weeks and three days. The requirement for Pack Hounds is Rank 3 and four weeks pledged. I have the merits for rank three and I have the four weeks for the pack hounds, but the rank will not update until this Thursday, so I am still at Rank 2.

Honestly, I wasn't quite clear on the rank progression and thought that I had to move from Rank 1, to Rank 2 and so on. I assume that I could have had the merits for Rank 3 last week had I realized that at the time. This would have put me at Rank 3 last week, and I would have been able to procure pack hounds starting some time yesterday.

If I am at Rank 2 right now, and am sitting on 850 merits, if I earn the additional 550 merits required for Rank 4 (1400) before the tick, will I skip from Rank 2 to Rank 4?

 

[Achibot]

If I am at Rank 2 right now, and am sitting on 850 merits, if I earn the additional 550 merits required for Rank 4 (1400) before the tick, will I skip from Rank 2 to Rank 4?

Yes, you will. In the same way if you have 0 merits 1 day before your 4th PP tick you can get 750 merits and be promoted to Rank 3 as soon as the tick happens.

I am also reasonably sure that you don't need to wait for the 28 days to elapse, you simply have to be pledged for 4 ticks. The only way I could be wrong on this is if I miscounted the number of weeks I was pledged because as far as I can tell I was only pledged for 22 days when I got my Prismatics.

 

[nathanc213]

I need to do this soon so your welcome to join me if you want.

 

[John Tenzer]

If I am at Rank 2 right now, and am sitting on 850 merits, if I earn the additional 550 merits required for Rank 4 (1400) before the tick, will I skip from Rank 2 to Rank 4?

(1500) for Rank 4, and yes, you can immediately skip ranks as far you like to go....

 

[CMDR ANCALAGON]

I was pledged to LYR recently and am now happily using my pack-hounds in the service of Denton Patreus.

My understanding is that groups leading LYR and Pranav Antal have signed a non-aggression pact. Those who like to role-play their game might like to take this kind of thing into account.

Similarly there is an agreement between the imperial powers and Grom.

You may also find internal power struggles within powers or powers in conflict with player factions occupying the same space.

Players are of course free to ignore all this stuff. From a mechanistic point of view power play doesn't have much to offer. It's only by learning about the politics and using it to inform my actions that my involvement in power play has become a part of the story of my commander. I've been enjoying it more than I thought. Once I'm done with collecting all the power specific modules I want I'll be putting my mercenary ways behind me and looking at settling with a power for the long term.

Each to their own of course, but I find I need a character motivation beyond "get all the stuff", "get all the money" or "get all the ranks" in order to enjoy the game.

I've been enjoying my entry into Power Play much more than I expected, and for the first time have actually gotten into more of a RP experience.


In fact, I'm not sure that some old-establishment, imp latchkey CMDR such as yourself is in any position to dictate my RP experience.

I take my orders directly from Li-Yong Rui, who has given explicit orders to undermine Pranav Antal by destroying his cultist followers, which I have done with great efficiency and satisfaction, having sent no less than 31 of the cultist to their Utopian Dream in the last three days alone. I'm not sure of these groups of which you speak, but if they are engaged in some non-aggression pact with Parnav, then that is in violation of direct orders from Li-Yong Rui and should be dealt with accordingly.

 

[CMDR ANCALAGON]

Yes, you will. In the same way if you have 0 merits 1 day before your 4th PP tick you can get 750 merits and be promoted to Rank 3 as soon as the tick happens.

I am also reasonably sure that you don't need to wait for the 28 days to elapse, you simply have to be pledged for 4 ticks. The only way I could be wrong on this is if I miscounted the number of weeks I was pledged because as far as I can tell I was only pledged for 22 days when I got my Prismatics.

The requirement listed in game for the pack hounds is in the description for Rank 3, and has in parenthesis "unlocked after four weeks" or something to that effect. It seems clear that the requirement is Rank = 3 AND pledge time = 4 weeks.

 

[EUS]

The requirement listed in game for the pack hounds is in the description for Rank 3, and has in parenthesis "unlocked after four weeks" or something to that effect. It seems clear that the requirement is Rank = 3 AND pledge time = 4 weeks.

Yes, but the 4 weeks may not be calendar, but measured in ticks. It's been a long time, so I don't even remember when I was able to buy the shotguns.

 

[Achibot]

The requirement listed in game for the pack hounds is in the description for Rank 3, and has in parenthesis "unlocked after four weeks" or something to that effect. It seems clear that the requirement is Rank = 3 AND pledge time = 4 weeks.

I can't prove otherwise given the nature of the requirement, all I can do is speak from my own experience a few short weeks ago. Perhaps I am simply being arrogant (if I was I would presumably be the last to know) but it seems extremely unlikely to me that I miscounted the number of days that had elapsed by an entire week in a 4 week process. Everybody does make mistakes, obviously, but I truly don't think I did here. Something I'll make sure to double-check if I go for the Grom Missiles at some point.

 

[Necronaught]

Remember since 2.4 you have to have merits at every tick or your pledge will be lost. No idling for 3 weeks you have to actually earn merits regularly, weekly at the least.

 

[Achibot]

Remember since 2.4 you have to have merits at every tick or your pledge will be lost. No idling for 3 weeks you have to actually earn merits regularly, weekly at the least.

That was a once off action prior to the patch, they aren't trimming the list every week. I have been on 0 merits for 2 weeks since the merits I earned for the shields ticked down.