Well, my only other thought is that you have taken on wing missions by mistake. In standard pirate massacre missions you are attacked only by the ship you are attacking, the other ships just pootle around and then wake out, so the challenge is destroying as many as you can before they go...
Personally I haven't taken wing massacre missions, but that would be my next guess, as pirate lord assassination missions are much more challenging than standard ones, and perhaps this is typical behavior for a wing mission. Might make sense...
Well you have ruled out the following.
Cargo on board.
Rank increase.
Reputation increase with issuing faction leading to harder missions.
Change in mission type.
Becoming hostile with pirate faction.
Alterations to your ship.
So has the system state changed? Would that change the behaviour of NPCs?
Is this aggressive behaviour actually normal and the previous passive behaviour an anomaly?
You could consider contacting support and asking them if they know of any reasons for the change if you can tell them the date the change occured.
To be honest this type of thing is why I have rarely bothered with the complications of missions.
yes, I thought about this too but I've tried 8 of these missions in different systems and its always the same. since this began i went to do some lighter missions (threat 2) and the behaviour is normal (i mean in my view normal, so like in the first video. only one aggroes at a time and there is no extra-big main ship) then i've done a threat 4 kill mission (not massacre, just solo kill) was an anaconda, no support, took him down with a little tougher fight but went down. So I gave up thinking on this, I just avoid those wing missions for now and i will get back to them a bit later, though i start to have the feeling fd might be adjusting mission difficulty to the new bounties? im not sure. its still doable though just have to go to an extraction site and keep shooting mission targets
about the support, I just have no hope they will care for anything but a copy/paste text so I dont bother
Maybe there is easier explanation and you can do some testing by yourself. Search systems with anarchy faction presence and do missions for them when accepting mainly reputation reward. Reputation changes from hostile to allied and is possible that you at first weren't attacked by support bcs your reputation was higher as some threshold. If you will be not attacked when they will be allied, you will know that this was the change which you are searching.
In Elite Dangerous players can change their Reputation with the three major factions (Federation, Empire, Alliance) and countless minor factions to either Allied, Friendly, Cordial, Neutral, Unfriendly, or Hostile. All players start out as Neutral with all factions and by doing missions or other...
btw single pirate assassination (wing variant) have npcs with engineered ships. It's wise to avoid these missions unless you have good enough prepared ship (or you know how to trick them, but it still need at least ship faster as support) For this mission type is very important if its wing variant or not.
yes, I thought about this too but I've tried 8 of these missions in different systems and its always the same. since this began i went to do some lighter missions (threat 2) and the behaviour is normal (i mean in my view normal, so like in the first video. only one aggroes at a time and there is no extra-big main ship) then i've done a threat 4 kill mission (not massacre, just solo kill) was an anaconda, no support, took him down with a little tougher fight but went down. So I gave up thinking on this, I just avoid those wing missions for now and i will get back to them a bit later, though i start to have the feeling fd might be adjusting mission difficulty to the new bounties? im not sure. its still doable though just have to go to an extraction site and keep shooting mission targets
about the support, I just have no hope they will care for anything but a copy/paste text so I dont bother
Though I haven’t had to use them for anything like this support were helpful when I did need them, there is certainly little harm in asking them as the worst that will happen is a copy paste null response which while of no benefit to you certainly doesn’t make your situation worse.
I do these missions and I use these missions USSs because it's part of game background simulation (BGS) and I'm quite involved in it. Payouts aren't important, influence gain yes. My experience is that support go hostile when I attack main ship (it's always anaconda in this type of scenario). There are MANY things in this game where players can only guess or give the best estimate why something works certain way. It's part of this game for hmm, I think more as 5 years when I first time launched my sidey from landing pad. My advice is: adapt to changes, be prepared that combat can be harder. There are multiple ways how to improve your ship and also yours piloting skills. ED is not easy game for new starter, but it was much harder initially and I loved it. It feels little too easy imo now, but things changes. Is up to you decide if use numerous advices how to advance, or if you want continue hunt for perfect explanation of game mechanics which we players can't give you, bcs it's not how it works here. FDev never (or maybe very very rarely) explained how things works in detail, it always was for us to figure things out.
its very easy, getting 200 mill and one of the biggest ships in just 4 days is actually ridiculously easy, i made some 40 mill in missions and bounties since im typing these answers this morning so its not difficult and im sure there will always be missions i cant do, this is not the problem. i can very much advance, the only problem is that i was set on these missions as they had a fair enough payout for the effort i put in and it was more fun than running deliveries. going for cheaper missions is just dull, i can just 1 or 2 hit kill any smaller enemies, even vultures or fdl-s are not really enemies. these were balanced to my ship and my knowledge and they have changed from one day to the other. now i have the option to scale down to dull fights or go back to deliver gold and silver... atm there are only very easy and impossible missions as choices and no balanced ones
Maybe there is easier explanation and you can do some testing by yourself. Search systems with anarchy faction presence and do missions for them when accepting mainly reputation reward. Reputation changes from hostile to allied and is possible that you at first weren't attacked by support bcs your reputation was higher as some threshold. If you will be not attacked when they will be allied, you will know that this was the change which you are searching.
Or do something else. Money progress is much less important (in terms how to make play more easier going), as is possibility engineer your ship equipment. And here I do not mean do all at once (which is sadly very popular), because it can feel very grindy. Instead try unlock one engineer and improve little ship modules. I again will repeat, do this for parts, mix it with community goals, money making, materials gathering and so on. There are also further things, but on start try make your game more diverse and interesting. For example guardian area offer really cool environment and all you need is basic A rated DBX with point defenses. Ok, I think this is enough for now. Cmdr is up to you decide how to play and how much fun you can get from this game. Safe voyages! o7
When the game loads, it will say:
COMBAT RANK
As your combat rank increases, so does the likelihood of encountering hostile pilots with increased rank to match.
You just experienced higher difficulty targets, as you should. Just because you had easy kills up till now doesn't mean they will be that way forever. Now you're facing higher difficulty targets and that is normal and expected. If you think a wing assassination is hard go try a combat zone or better yet, go into open in Deciat with that attitude.
And before you argue with me too and try saying your combat rank didn't increase, well yes it did. It increases after every single kill
When the game loads, it will say:
COMBAT RANK
As your combat rank increases, so does the likelihood of encountering hostile pilots with increased rank to match.
You just experienced higher difficulty targets, as you should. Just because you had easy kills up till now doesn't mean they will be that way forever. Now you're facing higher difficulty targets and that is normal and expected. If you think a wing assassination is hard go try a combat zone or better yet, go into open in Deciat with that attitude.
And before you argue with me too and try saying your combat rank didn't increase, well yes it did. It increases after every single kill
I'd be angry too in such a slow moving ship - maybe not angry but would definitely fall asleep in combat.
I haven't been in any of the large size ships yet.
Do the wing missions have a blue circle or something like that in the selection screen.
I know there is recommend wing missions which would be like your easy one with lazy pilots , but the harder one may have been one where you REALLY need some wing help.
I'm at Master level for combat and I can do the harder types but I'm fully engineered and even then I'm almost dead and only killing the main target.
Difficulty based on current rank/skill. A Threat 3 could have one Dangerous ship and a Threat 4 could have numerous novice ships. I believe even the ship that is used helps determine what foes will be faced. When I go out in a smaller ship, seems like I get weaker enemies compared to when I venture out in a large ship I get significantly more difficult enemies, maybe other cmdrs can confirm this. Even as you build your ship stronger and stronger, the enemies get more and more difficult. So I get, why you're frustrated, after spending so much, getting such a nice ship, and enemies aren't much easier. It's like that for the rest of your days in this game until you just get better, recognizing difficult situations, strategy, pip management, targeting, etc...
Honestly a lot of them make no sense and they're fairly arbitrary. For instance, a threat 2 civil war convoy dispersal pattern will spawn a military type-9 escorted by two anacondas, or two T9s escorted by four vultures, carrying uncommon goods like rare artwork and the like. They're nonhostile, sure, but if you try to pull a heist you'll quickly find that they're pretty damn threatening for a "threat 2".
Meanwhile, the scenario that spawns half a dozen T7s carrying insulating membrane and domestic appliances, with the option to defend the convoy or join the attack when some pirates jump in, is threat 3 or 4. The most dangerous thing you'll face there is the authority vessels if you join the pirates.
So while I think there is some merit to what people are saying I think there is a fundamental point here that's being missed.
One particular spawn in threat 3 mission targets is a lone anaconda, often ranked around dangerous, sometimes with minor escorts (although last time I did this it was 2 deadly pythons) that when attacked brings in a lot of small enemy ships.
It's a trap because the difficulty of that instance is way above any other mission spawn. Without a seriously engineered ship you get thumped by a huge number of small fighters and then missle spammed to death. It's not even close about how much harder that spawn is than the majority of threat 4s. The balance is completely out of whack compared to others and I would even say that I don't think any non-engineered ship would survive that without running untill the local system enforcement team turns up to thin out the numbers, which is what I end up being forced to do in my non engineered ships.
I know a lot of people go to res sites to do their kills because it's a lot more consistant than the signal sites, but that particular level 3 instance is just very different to every other level 3 rated mission signal source.
essentally if you see a lone anaconda and you're new, not winged up, and not in a heavily engineered ship, it's either hit and run till system authority comes in and you can pick up the peices, or just don't bother and go find the next mission signal source.
So while I think there is some merit to what people are saying I think there is a fundamental point here that's being missed.
One particular spawn in threat 3 mission targets is a lone anaconda, often ranked around dangerous, sometimes with minor escorts (although last time I did this it was 2 deadly pythons) that when attacked brings in a lot of small enemy ships.
It's a trap because the difficulty of that instance is way above any other mission spawn. Without a seriously engineered ship you get thumped by a huge number of small fighters and then missle spammed to death. It's not even close about how much harder that spawn is than the majority of threat 4s. The balance is completely out of whack compared to others and I would even say that I don't think any non-engineered ship would survive that without running untill the local system enforcement team turns up to thin out the numbers, which is what I end up being forced to do in my non engineered ships.
I know a lot of people go to res sites to do their kills because it's a lot more consistant than the signal sites, but that particular level 3 instance is just very different to every other level 3 rated mission signal source.
essentally if you see a lone anaconda and you're new, not winged up, and not in a heavily engineered ship, it's either hit and run till system authority comes in and you can pick up the peices, or just don't bother and go find the next mission signal source.
the only problem is that now I just and only get these. there are no other mission signals, always anacondas with the incoming help. I wish i could just abandon this mission and get an other, but tried 8 of them and all are just solo anacondas a with loads of incoming. simply hopeless... but there is more, I tried different quests, like destroy infected ships...there are NONE. no matter how I go to mission signals, there are just wanted ships saying "stay away we are contaminated", but none of which is mission target and no matter how i shoot them, no advancement in the mission. had to abandon this mission too so getting bored really. was looking for the next dlc but it will be a no from me after all these... its not enough to just create a shell for a game, it has to be balanced and fixed to a playable level and this game wasnt released yesterday...
Difficulty based on current rank/skill. A Threat 3 could have one Dangerous ship and a Threat 4 could have numerous novice ships. I believe even the ship that is used helps determine what foes will be faced. When I go out in a smaller ship, seems like I get weaker enemies compared to when I venture out in a large ship I get significantly more difficult enemies, maybe other cmdrs can confirm this. Even as you build your ship stronger and stronger, the enemies get more and more difficult. So I get, why you're frustrated, after spending so much, getting such a nice ship, and enemies aren't much easier. It's like that for the rest of your days in this game until you just get better, recognizing difficult situations, strategy, pip management, targeting, etc...
its a nice try but I went out on both days in the same ship with the same fitting doing the same mission with the same threat level except one day it was easy, the next day it was impossible and is impossible ever since... i did not even upgrade the ship between so i didnt become any stronger...
Game working as intended.
The difficulty is not linear, and sometimes not fair as well. There are jumps in the proficiency of the AI pilots, depending on rank. The biggest I noticed was betweend Novice to Competent AI. And a newbie in an Anaconda with 5 PvE kills more than yesterday is still - a newbie.
Don't like the results? Listen at what advice the really friendly people here give, and improve your play.
Or abandon the mission, do something else you enjoy, and maybe try again later. Nobody in the 400 billion star systems forces you to do that mission, except you.
By chance, I did a few wing massacre missons for the CG two weeks ago, that gave me those threat 3/4 signals - sometimes passive pirates like in the first vid, sometimes the Conda with 3 Eagles and 2 Cobras as back-up. I enjoyed the latter way more, because it better suited my skill in the semi-engineered FDL I was flying. Perfectly doable, but not for you with you current ship and your current skill.
I have like 800 hours into the game and manage a High CZ solo in the same FDL. Yet I don't fight Thargoids because I am sure I am not good enough with FA off. Maybe i'll learn it some day, maybe not. I could whine and complain, but the galaxy doesn't care.
Man, these are fun if you take them on in a squishier ship. Especially if you stack them with some pirate assassinations so there's a chance a corvette might crash the party. Especially when they get mad about getting caught in the crossfire.
Little over 500 shields and 2000 hull. Decent-ish resistances, I guess, the build wasn't really finished since I knocked it together from what I had lying around, I've not done bounty-stacking for a while.
I coulda flown more defensively I guess but that's boring.
Game working as intended.
The difficulty is not linear, and sometimes not fair as well. There are jumps in the proficiency of the AI pilots, depending on rank. The biggest I noticed was betweend Novice to Competent AI. And a newbie in an Anaconda with 5 PvE kills more than yesterday is still - a newbie.
Don't like the results? Listen at what advice the really friendly people here give, and improve your play.
Or abandon the mission, do something else you enjoy, and maybe try again later. Nobody in the 400 billion star systems forces you to do that mission, except you.
By chance, I did a few wing massacre missons for the CG two weeks ago, that gave me those threat 3/4 signals - sometimes passive pirates like in the first vid, sometimes the Conda with 3 Eagles and 2 Cobras as back-up. I enjoyed the latter way more, because it better suited my skill in the semi-engineered FDL I was flying. Perfectly doable, but not for you with you current ship and your current skill.
I have like 800 hours into the game and manage a High CZ solo in the same FDL. Yet I don't fight Thargoids because I am sure I am not good enough with FA off. Maybe i'll learn it some day, maybe not. I could whine and complain, but the galaxy doesn't care.
Problem here is it's wrong to argue that threat level 3 is something for nearly end game content, such as your semi engineered FDL. I do these in unengineered Vipers, Vultures, and a Mamba. Just because I can dance in that level 3 and come out shining doesn't remotely mean that it's balanced around other Threat level 3. For reference these are entry level missions in combat, not assassinations vs engineered wings or wetwork, basic mop up and the first missions you get access to. It also completely flies against any other threat level 3 signal source mission where the enemy is basically harmless or mostly harmless and it's a shooting gallery. There's a signficant hump to overcome between the scale of these missions, and there's one level 4 were several ships start shooting at you, but there's generally less and they don't have an anaconda providing firepower support to them.
For reference a Level 3 threat is something a novice pilot is supposed to handle, so if you need a semi engineered FDL then it's clearly not working as intended as that ship should handle threat levels 5/6 and beyond.
The proficiency of the enemies in this particular mission do not scale signifcantly based on rank. It's also not about the level of the foes, rather the number. 6 comptent ships will shred nearly any non engineered ship too fast, chaff can only do so much so it becomes a numbers game, and then you're forced into evasive until system security comes up and thins out the numbers. The alternative is an engineered ship with essentially double the damage and tank which trivialises most engagments and will beat this one out by just being flat out better than what you're fighting.
The other way to cheese the anaconda is to go 4 pips in shields and just ram the damn thing into the dirt. It wont aggress as ramming isn't a combat flag, and therefore will let you essentially kill it before it spawns its 4-6 small ship escort. Are we to say that's working as intended as well?
