Powerplay Fellow Cmdr Requesting Guidance

droscoe

droscoe
Hello,

I have a solid understanding of the elements in Powerplay, but I struggle to understand things on the macro level, specifically in the context of having fun and advancing in the game. I'll explain what I mean, but here are some of my thoughts and questions.

Fortifying
I read that you get 10/15/20/25/50 merits for each sequential load you take to a system. Once you hit that 50merit per 50ton load mark, are you able to transport 50t of those documents from then on for however long you can?

Expansion
I went into some kind of Security Operations zone that had my power's faction and some other faction. It was a bloodbath....I'm in a Vulture and barely got out of there with my ship/life with only 10 merits.(1 kill)

Undermining
My faction's target this week will remain unspecified, but I'm just over 200ly away from where all the undermining action is, or at least the 'officially declared' undermining is taking place.
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All that being said, here are my concerns:

1. Fortifying - are you telling me, that I have to go to our headquarters, pick up to 50t of specified cargo, go to another system several light years away, dock, unload, fly back to headquarters to do it over again? If my goal is Rank 5 10,000 merits, at 50 merits per load (once I hit that 50t mark) it will take 200 trips. If the system is, say, 3 jumps away. Thats 3 jumps there, 3 jumps back, so 6 jumps roudtrip X 200, that's 1200 jumps to get to rank 5 doing fortifying missions...?? (I read in some forum post that someone got to rank 5 by doing fortifying alone....) You can only take 50t at one time? Why can't I take an entire Type-7's cargo load of them? Damn.

2.Expansion - I'm completely alone in this game, and it's really bumming me out. I went to a Security Operations zone but I was almost obliterated. my impression is that I must be a part of a Wing with other commanders...but I don't know anyone that plays. And everywhere I go in space I don't see any other players...where is everyone? I'm in Open, not Solo.

3. Undermining - I'm in a Vulture with about 11ly jump range I believe. I'm essentially 22 jumps away from my faction's targeted areas...I can only jump like 3 times and then I have to land somewhere and fuel up. I know this isnt too many jumps, but I just feel like its gonna take quite a long time simply because I have to fly to stations a few times to fuel up. Is it worth the trek to my power's targeted areas?

Also, if I'm doing undermining....let me get my math straight. At 30merits a kill, I'll need to have 334 kills in a week to get to Rank 5, at 10000 merits required...? If I play 6 days a week, that would be roughly 56 kills a day. I've done undermining a little bit before, and it took forever. Just sitting in a system, waiting to see another power's NPC spawn in, interdict them, wait another 10 minutes for another one....how is this possible to get to Rank 5? How do YOU get to rank 5? Or...am I not realizing how feasible this is? Is 334 kills in a week not a lot? Maybe I'm over-reacting?
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Again, I'm by myself. I don't know anyone in this game. I'm 28, obviously I work full time, my friends aren't in to PC games. I don't think I have time to join a clan, I don't know anyone that's in one to be honest, so maybe I could find one. All of this seems daunting to me. Feels like Rank 5 is a huge mountain that I just can't climb by myself. Especially considering that all of the actions that would help me get there are so minimal in payout...10 merits? 30 merits? Jesus, that's like cutting the lawn with a pair of tweezers, right? That'll take forever!?

Or...I'm mistaken, and I don't understand the larger picture. I'm ready, and willing, to accept that I'm wrong. I'm just having a little trouble understanding how people have 300m credits in their bank and how people get to Rank 5. I LOVE this game, and I prefer games that don't hold my hand. I like to grind and accomplish things in games. I'm simply asking for someone to give me a clearer understanding of the big picture. Do you literally play for 12 hours a day getting to rank 5? Do you literally make 1200 trips back and forth delivering fortification supplies? Or do I not understand?

I watch tutorials and guides on YouTube...they're helpful. I'm just scatching my head how some of these guys have 100m, 300m, or over 1b in credits, and they bring in 50m every week because they're rank 5 .....I have just a Vulture and 6m credits. Again....it just seems like a huge mountain. If I had wing mates to fly with would I be able to accomplish some of these things? I'm not looking for easy-mode, I'm just looking for opportunity and someone to put things in context for me so I understand the scale of things. That way, I can monitor/realize my progress as I play!

Thank you for your time
Cmdr Dukyro
 
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JacoTheBad

JacoTheBad
I'll just pipe in for a small part of this... I fly a Vulture as well, and am alwayes alone. When you 1st drop into a Security Operation (Or High Intensity Conflict Zone for that matter) it is pretty normal for the 1st few moments to be pretty hairy. It is often advised that you 1st boost away from the group a ways 1st, then turn around and join the fight. It helps in making sure you don't get ganged up on too badly right away.

On another note, I generally undermine to get merits, and that seems rather quick, although I have never spent the time to get rank 5. I have stayed at rank 4 for some time, but decided my time was better spent doing other things I enjoy in the game. No matter how you slice it, rank 5 will take a good deal of time, and pretty much take over your game activities. Anymore I for one take only a night or part of two, to throw in some undermining.

... And oh yes, after re-reading your post.. You NEED a fuel scoop. That Vulture does not come with a big enough fuel tank.. I couldn't imagine getting around without one.

.. I get most of my millions from Hazardous RES sites. I go into one of those with the Vulture and often come out with between 1-3 million in bounties. That's not even playing very long. I get rank 2 in the federation with Merits (Security Operations and Undermining) to get an extra boost in the earnings from bounty hunting. You only need somewhere between 100-200 merits I bielieve (Can't even remember the exact number anymore) to get the boost to your bounty payouts
 
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jarpis

J
Hi there, Im looking for someone to play on a wing, if you want to, just tell me. We could make some credits on community goals or bounty hunting on RES zones. I'm flying a Python so we could be a pretty good team. Send me a message if you are up to.
 

Bigglesof206

B
Fortification - as you aren't at rank 5, let's imagine you are at a lower rank getting say 20 fort supplies free each half hour and you have a 100 ton cargo hold: You do one of two things -

1) Collect the 20 frees, then sit there in the hangar waiting as each half hour passes to load up another 20, and after a total time of 2 hours you have 100 supplies and take off to deliver them. Then you find something to trade for the return journey (either at the place you delivered to, or at a station you can call in at on the way back to base), so that you get a little profit from the round trip. By the time you get back, sell your cargo, and call up the contacts list for your power rep you will be at, or near, the next half hour point ready to repeat. This is the zero cost option.
or
2) Collect your free 20, then pay to accelerate each subsequent 20 until you have filled the cargo hold. ie you get 20 free and buy the next 80 - this will cost you credits, I think offhand it would be 800,000 credits for the 80 tons you buy, but it does mean that you can do the round trip immediately. The guys doing fortification to obtain rank 5 are doing this on a very big scale, they collect 50 million credits for rank 5, but are paying much of that (if not all) back out to buy the supplies.

Undermining in a Vulture: Personally I agree to an extent, I find undermining quite slow going. You don't need to do that 3 jumps and land stuff though, a fuel scoop allied to a bigger fuel tank could sort that for you - you can put another fuel tank into one of the other hull slots to boost the tank size, and a fuel scoop into another to allow you to scoop stars as you jump into systems, which will refuel you (a couple of minutes for half a tank or so, depending on how good a scoop you get).

Expansion - as noted, on entering the furball area, boost away from everyone to start while you make sure your hardpoints are deployed etc (it's SO embarrassing to charge into the fray only to give your first target a damn good scanning...) and that gives you a little breathing space to figure out where the mass of your own side might be. You tend to get badly hammered when you've ended up the only green ship with a bunch of red ones around you, keep one eye on where your allies are, and don't get too far from them while you fight. In time you'll get the hang of it. Also learn when to run....when it gets too hairy hit the supercruise, you'll be far enough from the CZ's point in space that you will go into SC without needing to select some else to jump to from the nav panel....you can sort life out once safely in SC.

I maintain rank 4 quite easily, rank 5 is a whole level of dedication beyond anything I'd contemplate. As around 750 points carry over from week to week it only takes another 750 to maintain rank 4 - you should be able to do that with relative ease, and still have time for other parts of the gamer. This week I did expansion for the extra points needed, it took me 3 trips to the target system (I'm cautious, after earning 250-300 I'd pop off to a control system 90 ly away to hand them in, getting killed and having all your points wiped is just too annoying!) The rest of the time I'm earning credits in the CG, and I'll get my Asp out to do a bit of fortification - I don't need the points, but it will help my power if I spend a few hours on it supplying some of the stations with s/m pad sizes that the big boys can't land at.

Okay?
Good luck, you'll find ranks up to 4 easy enough to manage, 5 takes dedication and when you are more familiar with the mechanics you'll be able to decide for yourself if it's worth going for.
Dave
 

badtrip

B
I'm getting those 5000 merits takes more then 3 days for me.
Get a big ship with large cargohold (as possible). Fill it.
Go to the unfortified control system and claim your merits, If this control system is "a neighbour of any expanding systems", get propaganda units from the control center and deliver them to those expanding systems(depends on your power)
And later on turn back to your base system (what ever it is)

And don't forget.
Power play is about powers that we have in this game.
In order to get high rank, you need to be a powerplayer!!!


Power play is a marathon!!It takes time.
Long time, and you have to make it in increments.
Get used to it. Don't try to get rank 5 in the first month!

Getting rank 5 in one week mean quitting your life and playing the game continuously.
Get rank 3, later on rank 4, and rank 5 will become available for you later on.
It gets easier in increments.. you will find a way to.
 
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SCSkunk

SCSkunk
For Fortification, just look at it as: "Pay 1,000cr per ton to fill up my ship."
In a Type-7, that's roughly 2,000,000cr per trip to HQ. It is very expensive. As posted above, it's a marathon, not a sprint. Just work on gaining one rank at a time, merits do roll over at a 50% degradation.

...now if you sided with Torval, you could smuggle slaves for stupid good profits and help keep that credit account viable...
 
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