Why is Cracked Industrial Firmware so hard to find?

Zer0cool

Z
As the title suggests, why is this Grade 3 data item listed as common so bloody hard to come by?

I've always been able to easily find supplies of almost everything needed for Engineering including the top Tier Grade 5 stuff, but it seems this one elusive item is the exception to the rule.

Yes I know the new materials trader will mean I can trade down my ample stocks of MEF at a decent rate, but that does not explain or excuse the difficulty find this common item now.

I have of course looked on Google and YouTube, and I know about the Mario Kart relays, I've even been to a few but the RNG means after 3 hours I got no CIF, just MEF.

Mission Rewards are not much better either. It spawns so very rarely.

FDEV needs to have a think about this, I'm not suggesting making it too easy, but also not so difficult that 3 hours of searching yields 0 results.
 
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Crank Larson

Crank Larson
Of all data, CIF is one I always have in abundance. I'm always getting it in mission rewards. Chances are that you are just having a bad run of RNG.

I think CIF etc. are more likely to spawn as mission rewards if you are allied and also highly ranked (Elite is best, obviously :D ). Don't quote me on that, though.
 

Aashenfox

Aashenfox
The mario kart runs are all you can do, except missions (evacuation missions spawn a lot of CIF at burning stations).

P.S. 3 hours and NO CIF? I will admit the drop rate from base scans is definitely cruel and unnusual, but I can get 24 in two hours every time.

I use this list, I visit all except gagnan reach or I want to kill myself, whichever happens first...

System: --------- Body: ------- Port Name: ----------- Distance to Sol: -- Notes:
LHS 380 --------- B4c --------- Altshuller Terminal -- 14 LY <----I don't usually bother with this one, it's a LOOOOONG way out.
LHS 2037 -------- 3c ---------- Springer Prospect ---- 37 LY
LHS 332 --------- A1c --------- Gagnan Reach --------- 50 LY <----This one was hostile twice, I don't go there any more, lol
LU Velorum ------ 1 ----------- Bakewell Laboratory -- 50 LY
LU Velorum ------ 5b ---------- Velho Relay ---------- 50 LY
Kokoto ---------- 3c ---------- Terry Camp ----------- 63 LY
Kutkha ---------- A2A --------- Ali Survey ----------- 64 LY
Huangais -------- A1 ---------- Stairs Settlement ---- 74 LY
Nebtete --------- A3a --------- Shaw Prospect -------- 76 LY
Nebtete --------- A7a --------- Bacigalupi Landing --- 76 LY
Tamor ----------- 8D ---------- Armstrong Relay ------ 76 LY
KZ Andromedae --- 1A ---------- Baxter Camp ---------- 77 LY
CPD-51 3323 ----- 1d ---------- Hunziker Enterprise -- 78 LY
CPD-51 3323 ----- 1d ---------- McDivitt Vision ------ 78 LY
Aasgay ---------- A4 ---------- Forstchen Terminal --- 86 LY
Miao Thixo ------ 2A ---------- Sekelj Laboratory ---- 88 LY
Miao Thixo ------ 2A ---------- Wellman Survey ------- 88 LY
Komovoy --------- B4a --------- Vogel Lab ------------ 88 LY
89 Leonis ------- 3C ---------- Ozanne Observatory --- 89 LY
89 Leonis ------- 7D ---------- Burgess Holdings ----- 89 LY
89 Leonis ------- 7D ---------- Payne's Inheritance -- 89 LY
Bestia ---------- A2E --------- Blackwell Laboratory - 92 LY
Click to expand...
 

B1rdy

B1rdy
Crank Larson said:
Of all data, CIF is one I always have in abundance. I'm always getting it in mission rewards. Chances are that you are just having a bad run of RNG.

I think CIF etc. are more likely to spawn as mission rewards if you are allied and also highly ranked (Elite is best, obviously :D ). Don't quote me on that, though.
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They are more rare when being Elite actually, because FDev doesn't classify it as rare data.
 

Aashenfox

Aashenfox
Crank Larson said:
Of all data, CIF is one I always have in abundance. I'm always getting it in mission rewards. Chances are that you are just having a bad run of RNG.

I think CIF etc. are more likely to spawn as mission rewards if you are allied and also highly ranked (Elite is best, obviously :D ). Don't quote me on that, though.
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You don't do a lot of long range weapons, dirty drives or charge enhanced distributors I guess. It's the only material that gives me real headaches cos those are my three most important rolls in all my ships, and they all need CIF :(
 

GreyAreaUK

GreyAreaUK
B1rdy said:
They are more rare when being Elite actually, because FDev doesn't classify it as rare data.
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Didn't a Dev say something to the effect that CIF availability increases up to about Master combat rank, then decreases after that? Going from memory so may well be wrong.
 

Aashenfox

Aashenfox
GreyAreaUK said:
Didn't a Dev say something to the effect that CIF availability increases up to about Master combat rank, then decreases after that? Going from memory so may well be wrong.
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Yeh, they did say that (Dom). But honestly, I'm not sure if I believe it, because a lot of things he said (in that particular thread) had to be taken back (or were proven to be inaccurate) later. I sometimes doubt how well the devs know their own mechanics, and it's not a slur, because I appreciate that it isn't always obvious what changing one parameter of a procgenning algorithm will do. I am Master in combat, and I trawl missionn boards in several systems where I am allied with everyone (for assassination missions) and have found htis to be by far the worst way to get it. When it does pop up, it is usually only 1 CIF. ONE! It's like it's playing with my pain (greek phrase translated, lol). You can get up to 8 in one mission though, and 4s definitely seem to spawn at burning bases often.
 
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Stealthie

Stealthie
B1rdy said:
They are more rare when being Elite actually, because FDev doesn't classify it as rare data.
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This is the biggest problem with it.

Personally, I don't use a lot of it but when I'm building a combat ship I just have a session of using my Python to do any missions which offer CIF as a reward and I can usually pick up a dozen or so per hour.
 

Lateralus

Lateralus
Fdev have probably made this a deliberate bottle-neck to stop too many pvpers getting god-rolled mods.. It's a key data mat for max-engineering several vital PvP modules.

If it wasn't it would drop as much as any other data.. but it doesn't, and its noticeable (it's supposedly level 3 rarity afterall, not 5). I seem to get loads of Modified Embedded Firmware incidentally, which is supposed to be rare (5).

The worst part is that it seems to be the hardest data to get even from base raids.. you can waste hours raiding bases and get none at all.
 
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Crank Larson

Crank Larson
Aashenfox said:
You don't do a lot of long range weapons, dirty drives or charge enhanced distributors I guess. It's the only material that gives me real headaches cos those are my three most important rolls in all my ships, and they all need CIF :(
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They're my most common mods. All my ships have them with good G5 rolls. I've just been lucky with CIF, I guess. It's the pharmaceutical isolators and chemical manipulators I always have to go and look for.
 

Zer0cool

Z
Crank Larson said:
They're my most common mods. All my ships have them with good G5 rolls. I've just been lucky with CIF, I guess. It's the pharmaceutical isolators and chemical manipulators I always have to go and look for.
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Things is, with those items I know for 100% certainty where to get them from.

PI's. If I go to a an Alliance System in Outbreak state, travel at least 100,000 LS from the main star, travel at 100C and wait for High Grade to pop up I will 100% eventually get some.

CM's. Dav's Hope or Tanker. 100% certain to get them.

But CIF, there is no confirmed source, its all just so bloody random.
 

Bob McBobblehead

Bob McBobblehead
Crank Larson said:
They're my most common mods. All my ships have them with good G5 rolls. I've just been lucky with CIF, I guess. It's the pharmaceutical isolators and chemical manipulators I always have to go and look for.
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I've got 26 chemical manipulators and 103 pharmaceutical isolators, it's the Datamined Wake Exceptions I always have trouble getting.
 

Smecca is BMFE

Smecca is BMFE
I honestly believe CIF drops are artificially lowered on purpose. It's beyond RNG. They're the most important material for engineering a combat ship.

More hours logged hunting crack is more hours logged in the game.
 

Crank Larson

Crank Larson
Zer0cool said:
Things is, with those items I know for 100% certainty where to get them from.
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There is that. It never takes me long to get them, it's just that I have to make a special trip to do it (which I don't for most other stuff, as I pick it up as I play). The only other trips I take sometimes are to wake scan ships at distribution centres (I think for the FSD mods).

Bob McBobblehead said:
it's the Datamined Wake Exceptions I always have trouble getting.
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lol, those are the ones. :) An hour at a distribution centre with a scanner will get you loads.
 

MarkAusten

MarkAusten
Bob McBobblehead said:
I've got 26 chemical manipulators and 103 pharmaceutical isolators, it's the Datamined Wake Exceptions I always have trouble getting.
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Datamined Wake Exceptions I found easiest by wake scanning the departures from a distribution centre in famine systems. Other people just wake scan departures from busy stations.
 
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