Mission target signals

[Alexium67]

Can mission target signals such as "Degraded emissions. Threat 0" become threat 4 after visiting to it? For example due spawning pirates inside.

And second question. Is it possible to get lower threat level during one mission? Or it locked to mission and I should abandon the mission if don't want deal with threat 4 level?

Thanks.

 

[Jmanis]

Can mission target signals such as "Degraded emissions. Threat 0" become threat 4 after visiting to it? For example due spawning pirates inside.

Nope. Once USS type has been chosen for a mission USS, it will stay that type, short of random deviation within that type of spawn[1].

And second question. Is it possible to get lower threat level during one mission? Or it locked to mission and I should abandon the mission if don't want deal with threat 4 level?

As above, the threat level is final once chosen. So if you had a salvage mission USS which popped up as Threat 4, all spawns of that will be Threat 4.

[1] By random deviation, I mean if you had a Threat 4 USS spawn for a salvage mission, it will spawn a random assortment of enemies within it. All USS spawns for that specific mission will be Threat 4, but the types of enemies within will be random.

 

[rrobes]

From what I've seen, the threat levels are hard coded to the mission targets.

For example, an assassination mission that currently offers a reward of approx. 4-5 mil CR ends up as a Threat 4 Corvette. One that offers less than 4 mill usually is Threat 3 with a medium ship target.

Wing assassination missions are a Threat 6 , a 5+ mill CR reward, with an FDL and four Vultures. They used to come with Cutters and four Vultures, but haven't seen those for quite a while.

Signal sources also seem to quite uniform in their Threat levels.

Once you've done enough of them, you'll know exactly what waits for you.

 

[Alexium67]

Thanks all! I meant black box salvage missions. For now one mission spawned threat 4 level and I already lost my ship in it. So I will abandon that mission.

 

[VR Roxydog]

You can still do Threat 4 black box .
Full pips to shields - 2 in engine.
Scoop 1 or 2 at a time - low wake out and repeat till all are collected.
Don't fight.

 

[Riverside]

Thanks all! I meant black box salvage missions. For now one mission spawned threat 4 level and I already lost my ship in it. So I will abandon that mission.

I usually avoid the higher ranked missions that require scooping cargo in space, they usually just take too long to be worth it and grabbing them one or two at a time then jumping out is kinda cheesy imo. Collecting Bootleg Liquor (or a few variants) from a planet surface are good though; scoop in peace then the pirates come after you on the way back

 

[goemon]

or class 3 collector limpet controller with single targeting the black box or ignore list of commodities set up - 2 active collectors are fast enough to collect the blackboxes just before the spawn opens fire.

 

[Riverside]

or class 3 collector limpet controller with single targeting the black box or ignore list of commodities set up - 2 active collectors are fast enough to collect the blackboxes just before the spawn opens fire.

...Or, you know, kill the pirates maybe?

 

[goemon]

...Or, you know, kill the pirates maybe?

i use to do that after mission cargo collection - you know, mission priorities (plus depending on ship i sit in...).
doing it first a) can destroy the mission cargo (by flying into it, pirates flying into it etc) or b) take you out of sensor range of the mission cargo spawn place without chance to find it. if we would be able to mark a place, fighting the pirates and getting the mission cargo later would be a good way to go about it.

 

[Riverside]

i use to do that after mission cargo collection - you know, mission priorities (plus depending on ship i sit in...).
doing it first a) can destroy the mission cargo (by flying into it, pirates flying into it etc) or b) take you out of sensor range of the mission cargo spawn place without chance to find it. if we would be able to mark a place, fighting the pirates and getting the mission cargo later would be a good way to go about it.

Yeah I just don't do them any more

Not the games' best mission template.

 

[FrogsFriend]

or class 3 collector limpet controller with single targeting the black box or ignore list of commodities set up - 2 active collectors are fast enough to collect the blackboxes just before the spawn opens fire.

And sometimes having to use your ship as a shield between the pirate's Point Defence and the limpets, although targeted limpet's higher speed makes them a little less likely to be shot down.
A bit more challenging than the usual 'fly there, scoop, fly back' of the threat zero versions.

 

[VR Roxydog]

You can shoot the pirates if you are good enough for sure.
I've liked the black box missions from the very first time I started the game and do them in the Krait Mk2 now and pick them all up because shields are engineered but usually only shoot the pirates if there's only 2 or 3 but sometimes there's 6 or 7 - then I run like a scared cat haha.

 

[VR Roxydog]

Also if you are going into the Threat 4 ones , preselect CONTACTS on your l/h panel before entering the USS .
This makes it easier to select the black boxes through your panel to target them.
Unless you go the limpet route - I've always scooped as it's great practice and more exciting trying not to explode the black boxes by going too fast - ahh - the good ol' days in my DBX really got the heart pumping.

 

[Stealthie]

In my experience, you can - very rarely - get into fights at a threat 0 POI.

If it's classed as threat 0 it means the game isn't planning to give you a fight but then, when you arrive, there's still a random chance a pirate or scavenger will show up and start shooting.
Having said that, it's been absolutely ages since it's happened to me so maybe it doesn't happen at all these days?

Regarding the black box missions, doing them a bit at a time (in a fast ship) is the best way if you can't fight.
When you drop into the POI you'll have, say, 20 seconds before the baddies show up.
Launch a couple of Collectors, see what they grab and then jump back into SC as soon as they've delivered their loot.
You'll get another mission POI to visit.
Rinse & repeat.

 

[d8veh]

Whenever you do missions, there can be pirates or other bad guys that come after you. They're often indicated in the mission details if you take the time to check them. Also, if you have any cargo on board, random pirates are generated, or if you have a bounty on you from anywhere. Whatever the source or reason, they normally announce themselves with a message in supercruise, then they try to interdict you. If you drop out of supercruise for any reason after they've announced themselves and before they've interdicted you, the pirates/bad guys will drop out soon after you and try to get whatever they want from you. This can happen at the station, at a POI/signal source or anywhere else you drop out. In other words, they're completely independent from the POI.

 

[Cmdr Snuffler]

As above, the threat level is final once chosen. So if you had a salvage mission USS which popped up as Threat 4, all spawns of that will be Threat 4.

Not entirely true...if you have stacked assassination and massacre missions you can drop into a threat 3, with a single conda. As soon as you attack the conda 6+ railgun equipped pirates drop in along with 1-3 of your assassination targets. The Threat level 3 very quickly becomes a Threat "holy moly...leg it!" level 8.

 

[Jmanis]

Not entirely true...if you have stacked assassination and massacre missions you can drop into a threat 3, with a single conda. As soon as you attack the conda 6+ railgun equipped pirates drop in along with 1-3 of your assassination targets. The Threat level 3 very quickly becomes a Threat "holy moly...leg it!" level 8.

That's got nothing to do with how USS spawn related to the mission though.

That is, that you get tails or targets from other missions drop in to the USS for a particular mission has no bearing on what USS generate for that mission.

e.g that an assassination target for an unrelated mission drops in to your Threat 0 Salvage USS doesn't change the fact the USS for that mission will always be a Threat 0 USS.

 

[Danieros]

While the USS itself won't spawn anything to attack you if it's level 0, keep in mind if the game already spawned a pirate or a bounty hunter (if applicable) to go after you when you entered the system, they will still drop in the USS to look for you.

The best tip here is that collection from USS doesn't need to be done in one go, if you leave the USS prematurely for whatever reason, you'll just get another one spawned and so on until you have all the required cargo in your hold.

And collector limpets. Limpets massively speed up your cargo scooping.

 

[Cmdr Snuffler]

That's got nothing to do with how USS spawn related to the mission though.

That is, that you get tails or targets from other missions drop in to the USS for a particular mission has no bearing on what USS generate for that mission.

e.g that an assassination target for an unrelated mission drops in to your Threat 0 Salvage USS doesn't change the fact the USS for that mission will always be a Threat 0 USS.

True...but it does seem predetermined, rather than random.
lvl 3. Conda. Attack. You get out numbered. Leg it.
Find another lvl 3. Conda. Attack. You get out numbered. Leg it.
...every single time.

So if you have stacked missions then a single conda in a lvl 3 threat USS always means lvl 6+...in all the times I've done this the lvl 3 conda never stays a lvl 3.

personally I like this mechanic.

 

[Jack Schitt]

I don't normally stack assassination missions but I did a bunch yesterday, alongside salvage missions, and one of my targets jumped into a Threat 2 or 3 Mission Signal that had already filled with a wing of "surprise guys" part way through collection. What was quite amusing was that the new arrival starting exchanging fire with the wing as well as with me. I'm guessing this was by accident (stray shot) rather than by design (NPCs reading each others' Wanted status) but it was still kinda cool.

So yes, as others have said the Threat level shouldn't change, but activity and circumstances can result in unexpected guests arriving.

Aside: the Threat levels themselves can be a bit misleading; I've had Level 1s that have turned out to be quite heavily armed Corvettes that have taken a while to despatch, and Level 3s that have been a wing of Sidewinders and Eagles taken out in the opening salvo. I think the "threat" is based as much on the NPCs's combat ratings as on their ships or loadouts, but with a well-engineered PVE ship the smaller adversaries don't generally last long enough to bring their "skills" to the fore.