Finding Mission USSs: Not actually just an RNG waiting game!

Vithigar

Vithigar
I saw this reddit post today complaining about finding mission signal sources, and clicked it expecting to find a comment describing how, in fact, to find them. I was astonished to discover that no such comment existed. There were lots of comments with conflicting advice, several saying it's not that bad, and lots of others complaining about how there's no gameplay and it's just a game of sit-and-wait.

Every word of what was said in those comments was wrong.

I started to doubt myself and waited until I got home and could reproduce my method for searching before posting anything, just in case I was experiencing some kind of placebo effect, or just misremembering what happened myself. It was fully reproducible in my attempts this evening, so without further ado, I present CMDR Vithigar's 100% Guaranteed Mission USS Search Method That Actually Requires Player Involvement And Isn't Just An RNG Waiting Game.

1) Go to target system and scan the nav beacon
2) Fly to the location the nav beacon tells you
3) Come to a stop just inside the location boundary
4) Wait for NPC ships to spawn from apparently nowhere
5) Fly to the location the NPC ships spawned from
6) Discover your mission USS

Boom, just like that.

Video demonstrations:

  • USS 1: This one took just long enough that I started to doubt myself, but after about 2 minutes I saw a ship appear and dart away on my radar. Going from memory of where I thought it appeared I found the USS shortly after.
  • USS 2: This one had NPC ships spawning from it before I even got there. Just flew to where they were coming from and there it was.

So there you go. A way to locate a mission USS that actually requires you to pay attention. Also worth noting, this is demonstrable proof that mission USS spawn in advance of player detection, placing them in fixed locations to be found by the player when they get close, not just randomly appearing in front of you based on a roll of the dice.
 

nanite2000

nanite2000
I've been playing for over a year and had no idea this was the case. I'd seen ships fly out of random USS's before, but never considered doing the reverse.

This is a game changer if confirmed to be true...
 

Stealthie

Stealthie
Seems like what you're actually doing, here, is just waiting as usual but then spotting the ships instead of the USS marker. :S

Gotta say, since the start of this year, it seems like mission USS's just pop up almost immediately.
Don't think I've had to wait more than 30 seconds for one to appear.
 

Arthur Shappey

Arthur Shappey
I've clearly been stupidly lucky. I have no method or technique, but I've never waited more than a couple of minutes for a mission USS, once I've found the destination planet etc.
 

Brrokk

Brrokk
This is interesting. I went to kill a pirate lord last night. I expected the long wait, but he interdicted me as soon as I got near the specified planet! I'll try OP's method next time.
 

YinYin

YinYin
These ship spawn point frequencies are still tied to system population, so you better avoid them in low population systems.

Colonia used to take hours. They improved it a bit, but it's still awful.

edit: pirate lords are always out to get you ... usually no need for the signal source
 
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Brrokk

Brrokk
Just a further thought. Could it be that in the software each planet has a spawn location stored at a safe distance, and this is used both for spawning NPCs and for mission objectives?
 

Finn638

F
Brrokk said:
Just a further thought. Could it be that in the software each planet has a spawn location stored at a safe distance, and this is used both for spawning NPCs and for mission objectives?
Click to expand...

I doubt spawn location is pre-determined (if I understood you correctly). From my experience it just randomly spawns ahead of you (so long as you're 0.5 ls or closer to the planet). At times when I approach a planet I'd go afk for 2 minutes then come back to the mission USS right ahead of me. Also sometimes it spawns really close to the planet (if you are heading directly towards the planet when it spawns), and if it's a salvage USS then the canisters are falling into the planet due to gravity. Doesn't seem like there's any safe distance.
 

Faded Glory

Faded Glory
I have to say I was skeptical to begin with, being one who believes that USS spawn in front of you (or nearby) with random waits thrown in.

So I tried it. :)

First time the mission USS spawned as soon as I got close to the target body, no NPCs had spawned in that area by then (I had been looking).

Second time, I got to the target body, noticed a single NPC appear just to the side / rear of the planet, so headed in that general direction. And the mission USS indeed spawned. Not sure it was exactly where the NPC had spawned, but certainly in that general direction, if not actual area.

Whatever, it beats sitting at zero throttle waiting for the silly thing to spawn, even if you do have to wait for the NPCs to start to spawn, so good job OP. :D
 

Imgran

I
Stealthie said:
Seems like what you're actually doing, here, is just waiting as usual but then spotting the ships instead of the USS marker. :S

Gotta say, since the start of this year, it seems like mission USS's just pop up almost immediately.
Don't think I've had to wait more than 30 seconds for one to appear.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. I've been dropping in around the equator of the planet and just doing a slow counterclockwise burn around the planet until it spawns. Never seems to take all that long.
 
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IndigoWyrd

IndigoWyrd
Imgran said:
I agree with this. I've been dropping in around the equator of the planet and just doing a slow counterclockwise burn around the planet until it spawns. Never seems to take all that long.
Click to expand...

Pretty much my approach as well. Always head for the dark side of the planet first, as this is where they seem to spawn most often. Most of my waiting is for FSD charge and jump to end.
 
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