Other m. Volgrand's guides:
The art of Blockade Running.
NOTE BEFORE YOU READ THIS:
So, you want to get some money while cleaning the skies from criminals, pirates, (ilegal) enslavers and some more scum? Or you simply do not care about your target except for how much they will pay you for its head?
But Bounty Hunting is difficult! There are so many things to keep in mind, so many options, so many risks! Should you retreat, should you go back to your usually boring poop-hauling? No way! You want to bounty hunt? Then sit down, you noob, and learn from a very veteran commander!
1) The basics
If you want to bounty hunt you need to understand a few basics, otherwise, you are done.
Your objective as bounty hunter is simple: Find your targets, destroy them, avoid getting destroyed yourself, and make it back to the station to claim your rewards.
2) Ships and loadout.
I am not going to tell you “build this ship”. Each commander has an unique way of flying, and you should select the partner that makes you enjoy the dance. In other words, the ship that suits your flight style. If you are reading this, it is very likely that you are a worthless commander, and that you don’t have many millions in your bank account. So I will focus on the low to medium budget ships.
The Sidewinder is a ship that should never be understimated. Small, fast, moderately agile and incredibly cheap to rebuy. My recommendation is that you don’t try to engage in 1v1 combats; instead, find a target that is already being attacked by security forces and join the fight in the very last moment. Easy money!
Eagle and Imperial Eagle are very good upgrades from the sidey. They are fast, they carry quite a punch for their sizes, and are extremely agile. While a bit more expensive, very rarely you will need to spend more than a couple ten thousands credits on the rebuy. Plus, they are great ships to learn how to properly dogfight.
Viper MKIII and MKIV both are the most logical upgrade for a combat dedicated commander. Less agile than the eagles, they carry even more firepower while being very fast and maneuvrable targets. The increased number of modules will allow you to bring more tactical options to combat and maximize your bounties.
Cobra MKIII: My absolute favourite. This multipurpose ship, while dedicated to combat, is a force to be reckoned. Fast, sturdy, hard to kill and always reliable. Its double small and medium hardpoints gives you the chance to combine many different weapons to suit your combat style. Do you prefer to deal low damage over a long time? Pulses, beams and multicannons it is. Would you like to hit a punch? Plasmas and Railguns then. Do you enjoy the long distance? Add a few missile launchers.
Cobra MKIV: In my experience, I do not recommend it. True it is bigger, harder and carries even more punch. However it can’t maneuver too well, so it’s difficult to engage in a close combat with other agile ships. If you are very experienced you may build a very good cobra MKIV and engineer it… but let’s be honest: If you are reading this guide, chances are that you are not very experienced. So shut up, noob, and get an mkIII. You’re welcome.
Imperial Courier: The beauty, the style, the agility! You will feel honor on flying this small princess. Very fast, incredibly agile and oh-my-goddess-baby, those thrusters! It is able to dance around the battlefield, always remaining on your enemy’s tail! It can boost away if there are any problems! And plus, triple size 2 hardpoints! What else could you ask?
Well, actually a bit of hull integrity would be welcome. And you may suffer from some power management issues, and it is not able to withstand much heat. So, no stealth builds with it.
The Vulture: Eventually, you will come to this ship. It is ugly, let’s be honest, but who cares? It is very maneuvrable, not so fast as other options, but it can take loads of damage and keep fighting. Even more, its double size 3 hardpoints mean that every time you hit your target, it will hurt. But power management on this baby is always a problem.
3) Regarding the Loadout:
I’m not going to detail every single weapon in there, just get them and experiment, commander! But there are some pieces of equipment you should ALWAYS bring with you.
Kill Warrant Scanner: When you scan a ship, your computer will check if there is any local bounty on it. But when you use the KWS, you will learn if that pilot has a bounty ANYWHERE in the galaxy. Pretty neat, eh? Profit!
FSD Interdictor: Well, to be honest you could do it without it and imply drop to a nav point and hunt anyone jumping to your location. But, have you ever see a very good target in supercruise and damned yourself because you could not interdict it? Well, that’s why you want this baby aboard.
Frameshift wake scanner: There will always be very good and lucrative targets that may escape your assault. For those, you have the FWS. Just scan that wake, learn where your target went, follow it an give it hell!
But, what options do you have? What should you equip your ship? Well, it’s a matter of balance. For instance, you could equip your Cobra MKIII with loads of hull reinforcements, shield boosters, heavy armor and module reinforcements… but your speed and agility will get heavily affected. Carrying a heavy damage weapon, like plasma accelerators, means that you will be good against bigger targets, but a wing of eagles could put you in serious danger. So, whatever you choose, consider its pros and cons equally!
4) Maximizing your target’s reward:
I have already old you about the Kill Warran Scanner. If you ever attack a target without using it, uncle Volgrand will teleport to your cockpit to SLAP YOU IN THE FACE! How dare you, you piece of noobility? Now drop your head out of shame, while I point at you and make the whole galaxy aware of your incompetence!
But there is something else you can do: You can use powerplay, pledge to Arissa Lavigny Duval, and get up to 100% bounty shares! That is, doubling your income! Loads of money, right? You’ll need to spend one week working for her, but it is certainly a good option.
I didn’t however. I don’t like her, she’s such a big [insert favourite swear here]. So if I see you fighting for her, YOU ARE DONE!
5) Assessing your target: Is it worth the risk?
Some noobs, likely like yourself, will think that bounty hunting is just shooting to someone until he/she dies and you get your reward. And then they get surprised when their target turns around and shoots back. Of course it will shoot back, you unexperienced fool! You are trying to kill a criminal!
So, first thing you will do is ask yourself the question: Is it worth it? First check the combat rank of your target. A Competent or less ranked pilot should be good most of the times. However, when they become expert or more ranked, they may prove to be very good opponents. If you find an Elite commander with a bounty of 10.000 credits, it probably is not worth the risk. But an elite commander with a few millions over his head, that may be worth the risk.
And also, check its ship! Not only the ship but the loadout. You may find an elite pilot flying a mining python, or an unarmed trader, so if it has a bounty you can try it! But if its modules show things like shield boosters, weapons, hull integrity reinforcements and so, you must keep in mind that he is ready for combat.
6) Dealing with competition:
When there are big bounty hunter events, such as community goals, you will find a lot of competition. So there are different ways of dealing with it:
First, you may find some friends and team up. A wing will help you getting bigger targets, and reduce the chances that an independent bounty hunter will steal your bounty.
Second, you may consider to change to private or solo… Wait, what? No way, if you are going to play solo stop reading now. This guide is called “The art of open bounty hunt”, not “The art of solo bounty hunt".
So then, Second: Just kill them all. “Oh, a guy killed me when I wasn’t wanted, what a griefer”. To hell with it! You are in MY NEIGHBORHOOD, stealing MY PREYS, and you want me to hug you!? Get out of there, if you can’t prove your might that’s NOT my problem! Get out of there!
But there is a little courtesy you should always deliver to other bounty hunters competing with you: Let them know. Maybe you can severely cripple them and let them know that next time you will kill them. You could also destroy their ships directly and then send a message to the station they will respawn to let them know why you killed them. Oh, that’s the funniest part, because they will almost always come back for revenge… So you can kill them again! TEACH THEM A LESSON! THIS IS YOUR ‘HOOD!
Oh, well, you should be aware that acting like that will put a bounty over you. Do not complain when other bounty hunters try to claim your head.
Final notes:
The more experience you get, the better pilot you will become. Let me share some tips:
A final meta-gaming note: If you attack other cmdrs just to eliminate competition, at least role play with them! Let them know why are you attacking them, and let them the opportunity to move somewhere else (at least the first time). And WHEN they come back to claim your head, when you get eventually destroyed, do not complain about it. If you started an aggressive gameplay, deal with the consequences.
And something else: do not abuse new players by doing this. You could role play with them and make them join your wing, something like "learn from the master, you noob!". There are always ways of proving you are the best bounty hunter in the sector without destroying other people's game.
Congratulations, you have completed this theoretical course on bounty hunting! You can send a payment of 1 million credits to Mvolgrand@AtahingarCoop.Hipsector.gal.com. If you don't, remember that I am already watching you.
The art of Blockade Running.
NOTE BEFORE YOU READ THIS:
In this guide there are some disrecpectful expressions and free use of the word "noob". It is intended as a role and a joke. If you can't take it like a simple joke, honestly, stop reading now because I will ignore any complain about it.
So, you want to get some money while cleaning the skies from criminals, pirates, (ilegal) enslavers and some more scum? Or you simply do not care about your target except for how much they will pay you for its head?
But Bounty Hunting is difficult! There are so many things to keep in mind, so many options, so many risks! Should you retreat, should you go back to your usually boring poop-hauling? No way! You want to bounty hunt? Then sit down, you noob, and learn from a very veteran commander!
1) The basics
If you want to bounty hunt you need to understand a few basics, otherwise, you are done.
- Ships and loadout
- Choosing where to start your hunt.
- Maximizing your target’s reward.
- Assessing your target: Is it worth the risk?
- Dealing with competition.
Your objective as bounty hunter is simple: Find your targets, destroy them, avoid getting destroyed yourself, and make it back to the station to claim your rewards.
2) Ships and loadout.
I am not going to tell you “build this ship”. Each commander has an unique way of flying, and you should select the partner that makes you enjoy the dance. In other words, the ship that suits your flight style. If you are reading this, it is very likely that you are a worthless commander, and that you don’t have many millions in your bank account. So I will focus on the low to medium budget ships.
The Sidewinder is a ship that should never be understimated. Small, fast, moderately agile and incredibly cheap to rebuy. My recommendation is that you don’t try to engage in 1v1 combats; instead, find a target that is already being attacked by security forces and join the fight in the very last moment. Easy money!
Eagle and Imperial Eagle are very good upgrades from the sidey. They are fast, they carry quite a punch for their sizes, and are extremely agile. While a bit more expensive, very rarely you will need to spend more than a couple ten thousands credits on the rebuy. Plus, they are great ships to learn how to properly dogfight.
Viper MKIII and MKIV both are the most logical upgrade for a combat dedicated commander. Less agile than the eagles, they carry even more firepower while being very fast and maneuvrable targets. The increased number of modules will allow you to bring more tactical options to combat and maximize your bounties.
Cobra MKIII: My absolute favourite. This multipurpose ship, while dedicated to combat, is a force to be reckoned. Fast, sturdy, hard to kill and always reliable. Its double small and medium hardpoints gives you the chance to combine many different weapons to suit your combat style. Do you prefer to deal low damage over a long time? Pulses, beams and multicannons it is. Would you like to hit a punch? Plasmas and Railguns then. Do you enjoy the long distance? Add a few missile launchers.
Cobra MKIV: In my experience, I do not recommend it. True it is bigger, harder and carries even more punch. However it can’t maneuver too well, so it’s difficult to engage in a close combat with other agile ships. If you are very experienced you may build a very good cobra MKIV and engineer it… but let’s be honest: If you are reading this guide, chances are that you are not very experienced. So shut up, noob, and get an mkIII. You’re welcome.
Imperial Courier: The beauty, the style, the agility! You will feel honor on flying this small princess. Very fast, incredibly agile and oh-my-goddess-baby, those thrusters! It is able to dance around the battlefield, always remaining on your enemy’s tail! It can boost away if there are any problems! And plus, triple size 2 hardpoints! What else could you ask?
Well, actually a bit of hull integrity would be welcome. And you may suffer from some power management issues, and it is not able to withstand much heat. So, no stealth builds with it.
The Vulture: Eventually, you will come to this ship. It is ugly, let’s be honest, but who cares? It is very maneuvrable, not so fast as other options, but it can take loads of damage and keep fighting. Even more, its double size 3 hardpoints mean that every time you hit your target, it will hurt. But power management on this baby is always a problem.
3) Regarding the Loadout:
I’m not going to detail every single weapon in there, just get them and experiment, commander! But there are some pieces of equipment you should ALWAYS bring with you.
Kill Warrant Scanner: When you scan a ship, your computer will check if there is any local bounty on it. But when you use the KWS, you will learn if that pilot has a bounty ANYWHERE in the galaxy. Pretty neat, eh? Profit!
FSD Interdictor: Well, to be honest you could do it without it and imply drop to a nav point and hunt anyone jumping to your location. But, have you ever see a very good target in supercruise and damned yourself because you could not interdict it? Well, that’s why you want this baby aboard.
Frameshift wake scanner: There will always be very good and lucrative targets that may escape your assault. For those, you have the FWS. Just scan that wake, learn where your target went, follow it an give it hell!
But, what options do you have? What should you equip your ship? Well, it’s a matter of balance. For instance, you could equip your Cobra MKIII with loads of hull reinforcements, shield boosters, heavy armor and module reinforcements… but your speed and agility will get heavily affected. Carrying a heavy damage weapon, like plasma accelerators, means that you will be good against bigger targets, but a wing of eagles could put you in serious danger. So, whatever you choose, consider its pros and cons equally!
4) Maximizing your target’s reward:
I have already old you about the Kill Warran Scanner. If you ever attack a target without using it, uncle Volgrand will teleport to your cockpit to SLAP YOU IN THE FACE! How dare you, you piece of noobility? Now drop your head out of shame, while I point at you and make the whole galaxy aware of your incompetence!
But there is something else you can do: You can use powerplay, pledge to Arissa Lavigny Duval, and get up to 100% bounty shares! That is, doubling your income! Loads of money, right? You’ll need to spend one week working for her, but it is certainly a good option.
I didn’t however. I don’t like her, she’s such a big [insert favourite swear here]. So if I see you fighting for her, YOU ARE DONE!
5) Assessing your target: Is it worth the risk?
Some noobs, likely like yourself, will think that bounty hunting is just shooting to someone until he/she dies and you get your reward. And then they get surprised when their target turns around and shoots back. Of course it will shoot back, you unexperienced fool! You are trying to kill a criminal!
So, first thing you will do is ask yourself the question: Is it worth it? First check the combat rank of your target. A Competent or less ranked pilot should be good most of the times. However, when they become expert or more ranked, they may prove to be very good opponents. If you find an Elite commander with a bounty of 10.000 credits, it probably is not worth the risk. But an elite commander with a few millions over his head, that may be worth the risk.
And also, check its ship! Not only the ship but the loadout. You may find an elite pilot flying a mining python, or an unarmed trader, so if it has a bounty you can try it! But if its modules show things like shield boosters, weapons, hull integrity reinforcements and so, you must keep in mind that he is ready for combat.
6) Dealing with competition:
When there are big bounty hunter events, such as community goals, you will find a lot of competition. So there are different ways of dealing with it:
First, you may find some friends and team up. A wing will help you getting bigger targets, and reduce the chances that an independent bounty hunter will steal your bounty.
Second, you may consider to change to private or solo… Wait, what? No way, if you are going to play solo stop reading now. This guide is called “The art of open bounty hunt”, not “The art of solo bounty hunt".
So then, Second: Just kill them all. “Oh, a guy killed me when I wasn’t wanted, what a griefer”. To hell with it! You are in MY NEIGHBORHOOD, stealing MY PREYS, and you want me to hug you!? Get out of there, if you can’t prove your might that’s NOT my problem! Get out of there!
But there is a little courtesy you should always deliver to other bounty hunters competing with you: Let them know. Maybe you can severely cripple them and let them know that next time you will kill them. You could also destroy their ships directly and then send a message to the station they will respawn to let them know why you killed them. Oh, that’s the funniest part, because they will almost always come back for revenge… So you can kill them again! TEACH THEM A LESSON! THIS IS YOUR ‘HOOD!
Oh, well, you should be aware that acting like that will put a bounty over you. Do not complain when other bounty hunters try to claim your head.
Final notes:
The more experience you get, the better pilot you will become. Let me share some tips:
- If you are fighting a big ship (cutter, anaconda, etc), you want to target key modules. Thrusters, power plan, life support, FSD, etc.
- If you are fighting a wing of ships, you want to destroy first the smaller ones, so they stop poking your shields non stop.
- Always monitor where you are positioned. If you find yourself surrounded by criminals you want to get out of there before they destroy you.
- Keep an eye on enemy bounty hunters. As I told you to destroy the competition, they may actually do the same with you. On a good note, if they shoot you when you are not wanted, they will become wanted themselves, so you can claim their bounties!
- Engineering your ship is a very good long term plan.
- There is no shame on running away. Neither there is bounty when you get destroyed.
A final meta-gaming note: If you attack other cmdrs just to eliminate competition, at least role play with them! Let them know why are you attacking them, and let them the opportunity to move somewhere else (at least the first time). And WHEN they come back to claim your head, when you get eventually destroyed, do not complain about it. If you started an aggressive gameplay, deal with the consequences.
And something else: do not abuse new players by doing this. You could role play with them and make them join your wing, something like "learn from the master, you noob!". There are always ways of proving you are the best bounty hunter in the sector without destroying other people's game.
Congratulations, you have completed this theoretical course on bounty hunting! You can send a payment of 1 million credits to Mvolgrand@AtahingarCoop.Hipsector.gal.com. If you don't, remember that I am already watching you.
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