Another possible noob question.

[CoyoteXStarrk]

I want to begin taking part in the Powerplay and BGS once I get my Clipper (Its what I want my main ship to be) and I decided before I ever got the game that I wanted to be apart of the Empire (They seem like the lesser of the 3 evils in my mind) and that I wanted to serve Aisling Duval due to her wanting to turn the Empire into something better than it already is.


Here is my hitch though.


Once you get past the ideological part of choosing what and whom you wanna serve you get to the actual part of DOING it and that is where I am getting confused.


I know there is plenty of videos out there explaining this, but most of those videos explain it to you as if you are already are familiar with the game as a whole which I am not. Which makes it rather difficult for me. I also went through old threads and none of them seemed to answer my main question.


Do I need to match my playstyle with who I support?


For example I prefer to trade and shuttle tourists at the moment and I support Aisling Duval, but when I go to her Inara page I see that she has 3 items under her name.


Preparation: Social

Expansion: Finance

Control: Social


And while the meaning of the words are fairly easy to understand I am having issues trying to determine just much they affect my ability to support my chosen faction. So here is my basic questions.


1) Do I need to match my playstyle to the ways the leader I choose asserts their influence?

2) Does it really matter? As in does the way they expand really matter in relation to my ability to support them with my chosen playstyle?

3) If my playstyle does not match the way my leader expands their influence am I essentially wasting my time with that leader?




Thank you in advance for your help, and I apologize for the Noob threads. I just wanna get up to speed ASAP before 2.4 gets here as I understand its a big deal.

 

[Villainous Ruffian]

1. Nope, all activities are available to all powers, but in different amounts.

2. Yes, some are unable to expand though combat, for example.

3. Nope, do as you please, there are always ways to help. BGS and a few things affect PowerPlay, help anywhere is always needed.

You want to start here, so you don't accidentally hurt your power, it's surprisingly easy.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AislingDuval/

Even though Reddit is not used much by PowerPlayers any more, on this page you'll find objectives, allies and Slack (Aislings version of Discord, she likes to be different). There's a large and vibrant PowerPlay community, it's one of the most active multiplayer parts of the game.

 

[CoyoteXStarrk]

1. Nope, all activities are available to all powers, but in different amounts.

2. Yes, some are unable to expand though combat, for example.

3. Nope, do as you please, there are always ways to help. BGS and a few things affect PowerPlay, help anywhere is always needed.

You want to start here, so you don't accidentally hurt your power, it's surprisingly easy.

https://www.reddit.com/r/AislingDuval/

Even though Reddit is not used much by PowerPlayers any more, on this page you'll find objectives, allies and Slack (Aislings version of Discord, she likes to be different). There's a large and vibrant PowerPlay community, it's one of the most active multiplayer parts of the game.

I appreciate that link.


So just to make double sure I am getting this. I am good no matter my playstyle so long as I coordinate with other supporters of my chosen faction?

 

[Villainous Ruffian]

Yup. I work for Arissa, she's mostly a combat power, and so attracts mostly pew pew people. But she always needs more haulers for forting, and the Feds are always trying to cause unrest with the local factions, so there's missions to run, wars to fight, exploration data dumps and yeah. Heaps to do.

 

[CoyoteXStarrk]

Yup. I work for Arissa, she's mostly a combat power, and so attracts mostly pew pew people. But she always needs more haulers for forting, and the Feds are always trying to cause unrest with the local factions, so there's missions to run, wars to fight, exploration data dumps and yeah. Heaps to do.

Well thats good to know at least.

Aisling Duval seems like a great choice due to her willingness to change the Empire for the better, but seeing the game is very fluid and things can change at any time I wanted to make sure that if I chose to serve someone else that prioritized Combat/Covert that my trading/hauling abilities would also be appreciated there.

 

[Villainous Ruffian]

The Empire teams are all friendly, they lend pilots out to each other too, so you might end up volunteering for that anyway. We also have an alliance with the Grombles, called ZYADA. Zemina, Yuri, Arissa, Denton, Aisling all work together in a fairly anti-Federation way.

 

[CoyoteXStarrk]

The Empire teams are all friendly, they lend pilots out to each other too, so you might end up volunteering for that anyway. We also have an alliance with the Grombles, called ZYADA. Zemina, Yuri, Arissa, Denton, Aisling all work together in a fairly anti-Federation way.

Okay that makes sense to me now.

I was wondering why the 2 main Federation leaders were in the middle of the pack systems wise.


I assume thats why?

 

[Smykes]

I pledged to Aisling Duval for the same reason, she seems to fit in with my ideals..

Every Friday I go to https://www.reddit.com/r/AislingDuval/ and https://trello.com/b/HBY3rRZR/aisling-duval to see what systems require fortifying/ undermined/ preped
and do what I can..rank5 gives me the 50mill credits each week but I dutifully plough those back into fortification..
(10 trips at 550t fortification materials gives me back the 50mil for next week)

..The rest of the week is mine.. sometimes I roleplay, head into Arissa or Torval space and "free" some Imperial slaves ..
or go to Zach Trump..sorry Hudson.. systems and shoot up a few Fed Agents for more merits..
If there are any CGs that benefit the Empire I'll run those .. helping to force a lockdown against Fed systems is fun

Im not interested in Open atm.. too many idiots for my liking.. maybe someday..

 

[CoyoteXStarrk]

I pledged to Aisling Duval for the same reason, she seems to fit in with my ideals..

Every Friday I go to https://www.reddit.com/r/AislingDuval/ and https://trello.com/b/HBY3rRZR/aisling-duval to see what systems require fortifying/ undermined/ preped
and do what I can..rank5 gives me the 50mill credits each week but I dutifully plough those back into fortification..
(10 trips at 550t fortification materials gives me back the 50mil for next week)

..The rest of the week is mine.. sometimes I roleplay, head into Arissa or Torval space and "free" some Imperial slaves ..
or go to Zach Trump..sorry Hudson.. systems and shoot up a few Fed Agents for more merits..
If there are any CGs that benefit the Empire I'll run those .. helping to force a lockdown against Fed systems is fun

Im not interested in Open atm.. too many idots for my liking.. maybe someday..

Yeah that is my next challenge.


I have absolutely NO idea how this "Fortification, undermining etc etc" works. Not the slightest clue.

 

[Zambrick]

I appreciate that link.


So just to make double sure I am getting this. I am good no matter my playstyle so long as I coordinate with other supporters of my chosen faction?

Correct. How you make credits really does not matter as long as you support your PP person. Doing voucher runs or undermining a systems finances. That can be done in addition to your day job of being a tour guide or trader.

 

[Zambrick]

Yeah that is my next challenge.


I have absolutely NO idea how this "Fortification, undermining etc etc" works. Not the slightest clue.

For you your undermining effect is financial so you go to that system and find the local Ailsing person in the star port and you run trading missions for them to upset the BGS.

Social is generally considered voucher runs and making systems safe for others of the Empire.

 

[CoyoteXStarrk]

For you your undermining effect is financial so you go to that system and find the local Ailsing person in the star port and you run trading missions for them to upset the BGS.

Social is generally considered voucher runs and making systems safe for others of the Empire.

How do I know who is the "Aisling person"? Also what are voucher runs?


When I say noob I mean I am a window licking wandering in the dark moron lol I am solid on the lore and people, but the actual mechanics are a comeplete mystery to me at the moment.


Its probably why I have been doing trading/passenger stuff. Its very easy lol

 

[Smykes]

Delivering Forification materials is the fastest way to earn merits.. but it can be expensive if you arent paying attention..it costs me 500000 credits to fast-track the cooldown to buy more materials
You never make any real money with Aisling.. you are doing it for the dedication to Empire..

Id suggest heading here https://www.reddit.com/r/AislingDuval/comments/6lyd44/weekly_objectives_for_cycle_110/ to have a read what is happening this week..
and to read what we achieved last week

07

edit: fastracking costs me 500000

 

[Villainous Ruffian]

Okay that makes sense to me now.

I was wondering why the 2 main Federation leaders were in the middle of the pack systems wise.


I assume thats why?

Nah, the powers are all roughly where they started, their expansion is limited by cost increases the further from HQ a system is. They get harder to maintain too.

Basic terminology:
Control system - what a power owns
Exploited - systems within 20ly around a control system
expansion - is for expansion
CC, Command Capital - PowerPlay Points for the team

This is all done by collecting merit vouchers. Combat merits come from killing ships marked Federal Agent, Sirius Supply, etc, there's a combat and trader name for each power. Hauling merits come from either HQ, or a control system.

Undermining - The primary way to damage enemy power's CC. Go to an enemy control system, kill Fed Agents, take merits back to your nearest control system.
Fortification - The primary way to defend against damage from undermining. Go to Cubeo, pick up Fort supplies from the contacts menu, take to threatened control system and deposit for one merit per ton.
Prepping - One week before expanding, you have to prep by taking Prep commodities from the nearest control system to the system you want to expand to. The power who drops the highest preps in that system gets the right to attempt an expansion next week.

The details get a little hairy after that, and particular to each power, it's probably best I leave the rest to Aislings leaders.

EDIT: Oh, wait, you mean middle of the pack as in the rankings. Sort of, the Feds are in a bit of trouble, but the rankings are also weird. No one but Fdev is sure how they're quite calculated, but the rankings don't really give a good idea of the health of a power much of the time.

 

[Zambrick]

How do I know who is the "Aisling person"? Also what are voucher runs?


When I say noob I mean I am a window licking wandering in the dark moron lol I am solid on the lore and people, but the actual mechanics are a comeplete mystery to me at the moment.


Its probably why I have been doing trading/passenger stuff. Its very easy lol

The Ailsing Rep would be under the contacts section of the Star Port menu. Look to see what they need to undermine the system. Either Materials, vouchers or whatnot. Some require cargo holds others do not. Anywho. They will tell you want the need. You then fly to a system that is already owned by Ailising and gather said widgets and bring them to the system they are undermining.

Here is a good power play video by CMDR Plater he does good how to tutorials.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxhW_TWEsAY

 

[CoyoteXStarrk]

The Ailsing Rep would be under the contacts section of the Star Port menu. Look to see what they need to undermine the system. Either Materials, vouchers or whatnot. Some require cargo holds others do not. Anywho. They will tell you want the need. You then fly to a system that is already owned by Ailising and gather said widgets and bring them to the system they are undermining.

Here is a good power play video by CMDR Plater he does good how to tutorials.

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxhW_TWEsAY

Thank you!

I had no idea the contacts thing did that.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

As someone who generally eschews space-politics, I recently got involved with Li Yong Rui because I've always wanted packhounds. Knowing nothing about Power Play, I had plenty of questions, but I found Power Play to be relatively easy. I've maintained Rank 3 for almost 5 weeks now, have plenty of Packhounds where I've needed them, and will eventually make my rounds and collect all the curious power play modules, even the relatively useless ones at some point.

Fortification is a rather easy way to make merits, and I can make enough to maintain my rank in 2 runs, at the relatively low cost of 4 million credits by Fast Tracking.

Li is a rather peaceful power - in many ways reminds me of a rather amusing dialog in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Little Green Men"

Quark: "We're helpless! We're harmless! We just want to sell you things!"

 

[CoyoteXStarrk]

EDIT: Oh, wait, you mean middle of the pack as in the rankings. Sort of, the Feds are in a bit of trouble, but the rankings are also weird. No one but Fdev is sure how they're quite calculated, but the rankings don't really give a good idea of the health of a power much of the time.

Yeah thats what I meant. The federation just seems to lack alot of support. They seem to have the fewest systems and the Hudson guy seems to be a great big bag of buttholes. Felicia Winters seems pretty okay though.

As someone who generally eschews space-politics, I recently got involved with Li Yong Rui because I've always wanted packhounds. Knowing nothing about Power Play, I had plenty of questions, but I found Power Play to be relatively easy. I've maintained Rank 3 for almost 5 weeks now, have plenty of Packhounds where I've needed them, and will eventually make my rounds and collect all the curious power play modules, even the relatively useless ones at some point.

Fortification is a rather easy way to make merits, and I can make enough to maintain my rank in 2 runs, at the relatively low cost of 4 million credits by Fast Tracking.

Li is a rather peaceful power - in many ways reminds me of a rather amusing dialog in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Little Green Men"

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yn6oW5-F...AAJF8/sM1iu0LcOe0/s200/littlegreenmen_542.jpg
Quark: "We're helpless! We're harmless! We just want to sell you things!"

Yeah my choices came down to Li, Aisling Duval, and Pranav Antal. I liked that for the most part they seem to be idealists and mostly peaceful. (Though Antal seems more like a cult leader almost)


I ultimately chose Aisling because I liked that she is trying to end slavery and change the Empire's policies/culture for the better. (Her looking the way she does is just a bonus [heart])

 

[Villainous Ruffian]

It's really hard to tell support. You can get a rough idea, more people like the combat powers, for example, and Hudson controls the starter systems so some (Imperials) claim this gives them a little boost as a 'default choice'. But on the other hand, the Empire is further away, and some say it attracts more experienced players, which means the Empire has a slight advantage... Plus everyone does a little propaganda But it fluctuates a lot, sometimes just with patches. Combat powers were decimated overnight just by a crime and punishment change once.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Yeah my choices came down to Li, Aisling Duval, and Pranav Antal. I liked that for the most part they seem to be idealists and mostly peaceful. (Though Antal seems more like a cult leader almost)


I ultimately chose Aisling because I liked that she is trying to end slavery and change the Empire's policies/culture for the better. (Her looking the way she does is just a bonus [heart])

If they'd make a dashboard hula-dancer of her, I'd pledge.