Exquisite Focus Crystals - Solo non Wing Missions Question

[khaos526]

So pre-3.0 I found it easy to get Exquisite Focus Crystals doing Skimmer missions, which of course have been taken off the table do to the exploit. Not sure if they've been reinstated, but haven't bothered to fly out to some of the places I used to do it to find out.

However, I have gone to various systems and I'm not seeing much material rewards for single players at all when it comes to missions. I know it's been a topic numerous times on here with the Wing Missions having all the goods, but has anyone found Exquisite Focus Crystals to be challenging to get now? I'm making a trip to all the Independent/Boom Industrial type systems I can, but so far I'm just not seeing any that are a) not passenger missions, or b) not wing missions at all...

 

[Straha Yeagar]

So pre-3.0 I found it easy to get Exquisite Focus Crystals doing Skimmer missions, which of course have been taken off the table do to the exploit. Not sure if they've been reinstated, but haven't bothered to fly out to some of the places I used to do it to find out.

However, I have gone to various systems and I'm not seeing much material rewards for single players at all when it comes to missions. I know it's been a topic numerous times on here with the Wing Missions having all the goods, but has anyone found Exquisite Focus Crystals to be challenging to get now? I'm making a trip to all the Independent/Boom Industrial type systems I can, but so far I'm just not seeing any that are a) not passenger missions, or b) not wing missions at all...

I have gotten a couple of drops from exploded Anaconda's in resource extraction sites.

 

[Lily from anim.o.v.e]

pseudo solo wing missions, where you need to deliver an amoutn one of the big 3 can carry solo.

it is indeed a bad concept to reward those wing missiosn with the crystals but hardly anything else drops them.
For people without a big ship playing solo just a few crystals to get is a nightmare.

 

[Stygian]

I have gotten a couple of drops from exploded Anaconda's in resource extraction sites.

Exquisite Focus Crystals ONLY drop from missions. Can guarantee you are thinking Refined Focus Crystals.

I can confirm the same experience unfortunately and it seems the devs want it that way as I have not seen any comments about re-balancing the material rewards for non wing missions.

 

[GaryII]

Why you need those Crystals anyway !?
I think they are very overrated.

https://inara.cz/galaxy-component/104/

For PD Charge enhanced replace with weapon focused PD = more DPS for longer time = better

For shield boosters heavy and resistance wins it all.

I have 25 of those Crystals and I think I will trade in for other materials....

 

[Straha Yeagar]

Exquisite Focus Crystals ONLY drop from missions. Can guarantee you are thinking Refined Focus Crystals.

I can confirm the same experience unfortunately and it seems the devs want it that way as I have not seen any comments about re-balancing the material rewards for non wing missions.

I'll dig through my logs to confirm where I got them, but I have several in my inventory, and have NOT taken a material reward for any missions. They were from a RES drop. I am not the only one to see this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDange...exquisite_focus_crystals_now_drop_from_ships/

 

[Bomba Luigi]

I have done a whole lot of wing trading mission giving them (and other very rares) as rewards. Just do them on your own its fine.

And there are also planetary scan mission who give up to 5 units of a very rare as a reward, but I'm not keeping track which one exactly but it could be they give the crystals. But I'm not sure how realiable you can get those scan mission, they just pop up here and there for me while I do other missions.


Edit: Also yes, it can be that now some ships drop them. haven't seen ships dropping them myself but I had some ships given mats you definitly didn't get from ships before like imperial shielding. Could be a bug tough.

 

[Stygian]

Why you need those Crystals anyway !?
I think they are very overrated.

https://inara.cz/galaxy-component/104/

For PD Charge enhanced replace with weapon focused PD = more DPS for longer time = better

For shield boosters heavy and resistance wins it all.

I have 25 of those Crystals and I think I will trade in for other materials....

I think you will find change enhanced has and will always win unless you have alpha strike weapons only and can guarantee a one hit kill. Anything else and the recharge allows a continuous flow of fire for longer. Add in Super Conduits though and charge enhanced flat out wins the race as the capacitor will regen faster then you can burn it in many cases.

 

[zZCannonFoddaZz]

So pre-3.0 I found it easy to get Exquisite Focus Crystals doing Skimmer missions, which of course have been taken off the table do to the exploit. Not sure if they've been reinstated, but haven't bothered to fly out to some of the places I used to do it to find out.

However, I have gone to various systems and I'm not seeing much material rewards for single players at all when it comes to missions. I know it's been a topic numerous times on here with the Wing Missions having all the goods, but has anyone found Exquisite Focus Crystals to be challenging to get now? I'm making a trip to all the Independent/Boom Industrial type systems I can, but so far I'm just not seeing any that are a) not passenger missions, or b) not wing missions at all...

you can get them easily from Parutis passenger missions.

 

[GaryII]

I think you will find change enhanced has and will always win unless you have alpha strike weapons only and can guarantee a one hit kill. Anything else and the recharge allows a continuous flow of fire for longer. Add in Super Conduits though and charge enhanced flat out wins the race as the capacitor will regen faster then you can burn it in many cases.

Tested will old eng system, so bit outdated:

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

So question is here is it worth to hassle with Crystals...

If this is true that in new system is Grade 5 available
https://inara.cz/galaxy-blueprint/70/

then its no brainier at all.

 

[lovely lovely]

Yep having to do wing missions solo in my cutter to get these things now - try to find a station that has less requirement to get the same reward - for example I've got one that only required 495 palladium for 3 - it's a 3 jumper to get the stuff back, however it's 1 trip. Other missions I'm looking at no more than 2 round trips to complete.
Been 2 days on and off now and it's dull just moving around.
IN fact this whole having to stock up on mats again is very very dull.

Grind to open the engineer
Grind in Engineer Version 1
Grind in Engineer Version 2 - to get your legacy modules back to G5
Grind no doubt for whatever that Guardian stuff is all about.

the more ships you have the more grind it is.

One day I'll get to play the game (whatever that is these days) :-D

 

[sovapid]

Exquisite Focus Crystals ONLY drop from missions. Can guarantee you are thinking Refined Focus Crystals.

There have been reports of all kinds of high grade mats dropping from Anacondas in Rezs. Most of the reports I've seen are for High Grade USS's like Pharma Isolators or Core Dynamics Composites. Have not seen that myself, but haven't done any bounty hunting lately.

So in the past I'd 100% agree, but not sure in 3.0.

 

[GG7]

They are not hard to find.

Planetary Scan Missions, Space Salvage Missions, Boom Delivery Missions all can pay up to (5) of these as a mission reward. Modified Embedded Firmware and Biotech Conductors are the other materials that are often offered as the reward. You just need to search through the various offerings and pick out the ones that pay the material you want.

You do need to be Allied to the issuing faction (s) to get the best versions in decent quantities. I've maxed out all three of the above mats in my own inventory simply by doing the above missions over the last few weeks.

Unfortunately, the above three are currently the only G5 mats that are being provided as mission rewards. Hopefully all the others will be added in 3.03.

Check out the stations in PIRA and specifically the faction called "Dukes of Pira". All they offer is missions that pay in E Focus Crystals and the other two I mentioned above. Or you can take the CR payout instead which is usually around 3 million.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

However, I have gone to various systems and I'm not seeing much material rewards for single players at all when it comes to missions. I know it's been a topic numerous times on here with the Wing Missions having all the goods, but has anyone found Exquisite Focus Crystals to be challenging to get now? I'm making a trip to all the Independent/Boom Industrial type systems I can, but so far I'm just not seeing any that are a) not passenger missions, or b) not wing missions at all...

You ideally need a mission paying somewhere over 2.5 million.

Surface scans at Elite Explorer rank, or Palladium/Gold/Silver hauls at Elite/Tycoon rank from an Extraction economy in Boom - while Allied - should do it.

Exquisite Focus Crystals ONLY drop from missions. Can guarantee you are thinking Refined Focus Crystals.

There have been reports of all kinds of high grade mats dropping from Anacondas in Rezs. Most of the reports I've seen are for High Grade USS's like Pharma Isolators or Core Dynamics Composites. Have not seen that myself, but haven't done any bounty hunting lately.

Yes, this has definitely changed in 3.0 - the last Anaconda I killed (Deadly rank) I got 2x3 Exquisite Focus Crystals from ... I've also seen Imperial Shielding and Military Supercapacitors in their debris. Sounds like a good chance that all G5 manufactured are possible.

Slower and less focused than searching for High Grade USS, but more interesting.

 

[Mohrgan]

I have gotten the most from high ranked 'Pirate Lord' missions. They come as refuse from their destruction, and I scoop them up.

 

[khaos526]

Alright then. Yes I actually use Charge Enhanced on a good number of my ships actually in the past, especially for combat as I need that engine boost to escape if needed and shield regen as well. This also usually doesn't drain my weapons either so it's a perfect mix.

Never knew about the Anaconda's in Rez, ok good, I'll go try that then and see how that works and if I can come up with some.

I just haven't seen any planetary scan missions, but I haven't gone to my usual places that used to have them, I've just noticed I haven't seen many around. And yes I'm elite in Explorations as well so that will help.

And I'm not doing wing missions in solo mode. I don't even own a transport equipped ship at all to even do those since being Elite in trader already, I really have no use for doing it or the credits so I don't feel like buying an A rated un-modified cutter just to attempt it.

I'll keep an eye out for scan missions then and will also try the Anaconda suggestions as well. I never do those Pirate Lord missions as it always seems like a wild goose chase and annoys me.

Thanks...

 

[GG7]

Alright then. Yes I actually use Charge Enhanced on a good number of my ships actually in the past, especially for combat as I need that engine boost to escape if needed and shield regen as well. This also usually doesn't drain my weapons either so it's a perfect mix.

Never knew about the Anaconda's in Rez, ok good, I'll go try that then and see how that works and if I can come up with some.

I just haven't seen any planetary scan missions, but I haven't gone to my usual places that used to have them, I've just noticed I haven't seen many around. And yes I'm elite in Explorations as well so that will help.

And I'm not doing wing missions in solo mode. I don't even own a transport equipped ship at all to even do those since being Elite in trader already, I really have no use for doing it or the credits so I don't feel like buying an A rated un-modified cutter just to attempt it.

I'll keep an eye out for scan missions then and will also try the Anaconda suggestions as well. I never do those Pirate Lord missions as it always seems like a wild goose chase and annoys me.

Thanks...

Most of the systems around Cubeo (Aisling Duval's Home System) offer all of these mission types. My HQ is in HIP 5623 and there are around a dozen other systems all one jump away that offer these as well. The local factions also inhabit the bulk of these neighboring systems, so once you are allied to them, you can visit most of these systems and be presented with the Allied versions.

Partial list for Planetary Scan, Space Salvage/Black Box, Boom Delivery etc:

PIRA
HIP 5623
HIP 5700
CUBEO
PRIMI
TUMUZGO
YAQUE
LAMBDA HYDRI
WINAGIMAN
HIP 7142

Its truly a one stop shop. So much so that I rarely need to venture out more than one or two jumps to get literally anything I need in the game for day to day play.

 

[AbsinthSvK]

Why you need those Crystals anyway !?
I think they are very overrated.

https://inara.cz/galaxy-component/104/

For PD Charge enhanced replace with weapon focused PD = more DPS for longer time = better

For shield boosters heavy and resistance wins it all.

for Thermal resistant shield boosters. When you do all evenly resistant shield for example 50/50/50 but using reinforces generator

 

[Daniel Cloudsifter]

So pre-3.0 I found it easy to get Exquisite Focus Crystals doing Skimmer missions, which of course have been taken off the table do to the exploit. Not sure if they've been reinstated, but haven't bothered to fly out to some of the places I used to do it to find out.

However, I have gone to various systems and I'm not seeing much material rewards for single players at all when it comes to missions. I know it's been a topic numerous times on here with the Wing Missions having all the goods, but has anyone found Exquisite Focus Crystals to be challenging to get now? I'm making a trip to all the Independent/Boom Industrial type systems I can, but so far I'm just not seeing any that are a) not passenger missions, or b) not wing missions at all...

I get these all the g time - Planetary Scan Missions, Assassination Missions, and even certain haulage missions. In every case, I was allied with the faction. If I'm only friendly, it a grade 4 mat/data. Cordial - grade 3. I think I've seen them offered for Massacre missions too, though I haven't taken any of those.

I usually get 5 of them at a time.

They are also dropping off of Pirate T-10s and Anacondas occasionally. I've also (in Imperial space) seen both of those also drop Imperial Shielding.

 

[TheSisko]

Exquisite Focus Crystals ONLY drop from missions. Can guarantee you are thinking Refined Focus Crystals.

I can confirm the same experience unfortunately and it seems the devs want it that way as I have not seen any comments about re-balancing the material rewards for non wing missions.

Not any more, I destroyed a T-10 today and it dropped Exquisite Focus Crystals.