HGE-USS seem entirely random now and very rare . . .

[down] Apparently skill, experience and knowledge count for nothing anymore, High-Grade USS drop frequency seems based entirely on a roll of RNGebus dice now . . . we all might as well be playing Dungeons & Dragons.

It used to be (before the latest "upgrade") if a CMDR knew what a system's Allegiance, Systems State and Population were, they could reliably find multiple HG-USS and collect known materials. Now we get to go from system to system, wasting time hunting, hunting, hunting, hunting and maybe, just maybe there might be a single HGE-USS in 1 system out of 10, usually far enough out that the decay count-down timer will almost reach zero by the time we get there or, if we are lucky there might be 3 or 4 minutes left on the timer.

Given the astronomical, multi-month/year learning-curve of the game I am unhappy the way FDev has thrown all that learning out the window so that now we get to fly around almost completely randomly from system to system searching for a single, appropriate USS to collect materials from. [knocked out]
 
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The OP is basically correct. When the Krait Phantom came out, I had already partially prepared mats to do a full exploration build. I got it almost all done, except for the shield gen, for which I had to get those damned Military Capacitors. I couldn't find 1 of them. I basically ground and ground to get mats to trade for them, only way I could get it done. Once it was finished I just felt utterly disinclined to do any more mat hunting, and I may well leave it there for a good long time.
 
Engineers and USS never had anything to do with skill, experience or knowledge. You were just lucky. The spawning rules are exactly the same, the only difference is that now you don't have to roll the dice one at a time.
 
Engineers and USS never had anything to do with skill, experience or knowledge. You were just lucky. The spawning rules are exactly the same, the only difference is that now you don't have to roll the dice one at a time.
Spawning rules are not exactly the same because systems can now have multiple states simultaneously and every USS spawned can be spawned by the states of ANY faction rather than just the controlling one. With so many different spawn "seeds" in play, the end result is more variable and functionally more random for the player.
 
They weren't just spawned from the controlling faction before, you could get things like pharmaceutical isolators if any faction was in outbreak, it was just less likely. Now its easier, since it tells you the faction and state of the USS. But either way, the OP is wrong, it had nothing to do with skill then and doesn't now.
 
been trying to find a famine system for a distribution center to work on some DWE but there don't appear to be ANY famine systems according to galmap. Even eddb says there aren't any right now.

I randomly happened on an HGE containing some military composites but I havent seen many. HGEs can still spawn randomly like under the old system but it feels like thr new bgs has borked USS spawns.
 
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No skill? Before the update a CMDR had to know a system's Allegiance, System State and Population, had to fly to the system, fly out a certain distance, circle the star at a certain speed and HGE-USS would appear by the dozens over time, all in a single system. Now, even if a CMDR knows a system's Allegiance, System State and Population if he or she goes to that system, 9 times out of ten there is not a single HGE-USS. All of the old stand-by USS are there, encoded, degraded, weapons fire, etc. etc. where are the HGE USS?

NOW, there is no skill involved, it's all RNG! And the drop frequency for HGE-USS has been nerf-hammered almost into non-existence. Jump, jump, jump, jump, scan. Jump, jump, jump, jump, scan. Jump, jump, jump, jump, scan. Jump, jump, jump, jump, scan. Oooh, a HGE-USS! Then, after flying 45,000 LS in the right type of system with the right conditions . . . it has the wrong mats . . . waste of time.
 
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They weren't just spawned from the controlling faction before, you could get things like pharmaceutical isolators if any faction was in outbreak, it was just less likely. Now its easier, since it tells you the faction and state of the USS. But either way, the OP is wrong, it had nothing to do with skill then and doesn't now.

So, you are saying it was always random, a CMDR could go to any system and the chances were the same for any mats to be dropped by any USS? You are incorrect. You had to know which mats were dropped by what type of USS in systems of a certain alliance and in certain states. If you didn't know those factors you were just jerking it in the dark and not knowing where it went. A CMDR had to know that if he or she wanted pharmaceutical isolators they needed a high-population system in Outbreak state with either Independent or Alliance allegiance. If the CMDR tried Federation or Imperial systems with those same secondary factors the CMDR stood a really outstanding chance of finding absolutely nothing.

A good CMDR knew that if he or she wanted to gather Core Dynamics Composites they needed to look in Federation systems in Election state. If a CMDR tried the same search in Imperial systems they would get Imperial Shielding instead.

So yeah, there was Skill involved. Experience. Learning.
 
If you have that much problem finding specific mats.. farm something else and trade.

I use this method: https://youtu.be/9GxneGB3j2o

But I agree, there are things that I just can't find. For those, I just farm whatever HGE I can find, max out whatever it drops and then head to a Material Trader and trade them for what I want. Yeah, the exchange rate sucks, but when you can get 100 of them in 10 minutes it really isn't a big deal.

Just farm whatever HGE is in the system you happen to be in and then trade it for what you need. I have been doing this since the update dropped and IMO getting Engineering Mats has never been easier.
 
1. You buy a new ship.
2. You use the lower lvl mats you have an abundance of (because you look in loads of decoded and encoded USS's don't you) to upgrade to lvl 4 engineering adding special effects and then pinning the important BPs.
3. You fly around having fun in your new ship and if you really need a lvl 5 upgrade, like FSD, you trade for the bits you don't have.
4. You continue to fly around for a while trading stuff, finding stuff, sorting out that odd lvl 5 upgrade with your pinned BP, and not complaining that you can't have everything right now, until you get what you need to complete the full upgrades you desire.

It's not so difficult.
 
So, you are saying it was always random, a CMDR could go to any system and the chances were the same for any mats to be dropped by any USS? You are incorrect. You had to know which mats were dropped by what type of USS in systems of a certain alliance and in certain states. If you didn't know those factors you were just jerking it in the dark and not knowing where it went. A CMDR had to know that if he or she wanted pharmaceutical isolators they needed a high-population system in Outbreak state with either Independent or Alliance allegiance. If the CMDR tried Federation or Imperial systems with those same secondary factors the CMDR stood a really outstanding chance of finding absolutely nothing.

A good CMDR knew that if he or she wanted to gather Core Dynamics Composites they needed to look in Federation systems in Election state. If a CMDR tried the same search in Imperial systems they would get Imperial Shielding instead.

So yeah, there was Skill involved. Experience. Learning.

You didn't understand his post.
 
I hope eventually the bgs settles, and materials that are unobtainable now will be relevant again.

Used to be there were many hge in a single system, you were just flying around till you found a sweet spot. Fun for some, frustrating for most, and there was luck included. With 3.3, there is rarely more than one hge in a single system, and the way to gather them now is relogging. I can't imagine the system working without relogging, cause even jumping out and back in the system tends to give the same uss, so a system is now worth only one hge for like 30 minutes. So I see frontier trying to balance the grind and the permanent nature of the new uss, but logging becoming part of it ain't the best way..
 
We were kinda sorta promised a Bright New Age of HGE hunting. Instead we're left with a mess that looks like FD's office cat ate something it really shouldn't have.

On the one hand anything but Core Dynamics Composites and Imperial Shielding seems almost as scarce as the proverbial hens' dentures. Even with the BGS crawling its way back to normality - well, yesterday I checked half a dozen high-population Alliance and Independent systems in boom. In the first I got one HGE - Proto Heat Radiators when I was looking for Proto Radiolic Alloys, but at least that's exactly as it's always been.

In the next five systems - nothing. Sadface emoji.

On the other hand, I then went to a Federation system in state None, and immediately found two HGEs. I emptied the first, and in the second deployed the relogging technique mentioned above, gorged myself on Core Dynamics Composites, then went off to the Material Trader to swap for the PRAs I was looking for.

So, if you're an experienced player with an ear cocked for the latest exploits, you can cope with the current mess.

Which doesn't make it any less of a mess.
 
We were kinda sorta promised a Bright New Age of HGE hunting. Instead we're left with a mess that looks like FD's office cat ate something it really shouldn't have.

On the one hand anything but Core Dynamics Composites and Imperial Shielding seems almost as scarce as the proverbial hens' dentures. Even with the BGS crawling its way back to normality - well, yesterday I checked half a dozen high-population Alliance and Independent systems in boom. In the first I got one HGE - Proto Heat Radiators when I was looking for Proto Radiolic Alloys, but at least that's exactly as it's always been.

In the next five systems - nothing. Sadface emoji.

On the other hand, I then went to a Federation system in state None, and immediately found two HGEs. I emptied the first, and in the second deployed the relogging technique mentioned above, gorged myself on Core Dynamics Composites, then went off to the Material Trader to swap for the PRAs I was looking for.

So, if you're an experienced player with an ear cocked for the latest exploits, you can cope with the current mess.

Which doesn't make it any less of a mess.

Don't grind at it.
 
Currently system LP 98-132 gives a lot of improvised components. System is in civil unrest state and 3 factions give hge signals. One of the factions is also in civil unrest state.

So i found the hge with civil unrest state and the first time it made no sense. I got proto radiolics. I was like what the hell! It must be a bug or something. Second time i found another civil unrest hge and this time i got the improvised comp. and it worked like how it should be working.
 
A real slap in the face is when you finally find an HGE in the state you're looking for (Boom, in my case), that you can actually reach before the timer expires: you drop in and it's empty.

Happened to me more than once now.
 
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