I decided to get my hands on one of those shiny new Krait Phantoms and for a change, fully engineer it (as in engineer every module that was able to be engineered). Even went the fully geek on the project, planned out the ship in Corolios, used Inara to confirm which engineers I would be using, and what mats are required and thanks to both ED and Inara, where to find them. Made a spreadsheet to find out which mats I was deficient and how many (that was a bit of an educated guess based on the number of G4 and G5 rolls). Even included what I needed for the Experimentals. So with this list I headed out quite prepared for a very long and tedius grind.
First on the list was the RAW mats. Checked GalMap, found a planet with a decent percentage of the rarer ones I was after. Dropped down to the surface into a geographical POI (water geysers I think) and within 15 minutes or so found what I needed in the concentrated area of the POI. No more aimlessly driving around the surface hoping to find some rocks that look different to all the other rocks.
Next was the MAN mats, off to find some USSs. Thanks to my research I have a fair idea of what type of system I should be checking out, so off I headed. First system was a bit of a bust, only one HGE, so decided to relocate. Next system was three jumps away and like the OCD geek that I am, I couldn't help but scan each system as I encountered it. Strangely the second jump landed me in a system with only the primary star but so many USSs. Quick scan with the FSS revealed 14 HGEs and about a dozen others, none further out than 9k ls. So off to work on them. Most of the time I wasn't finding the specific high grade Mats in the HGE I was after but to me any high grade mat is good. Before I finished the HGEs I had already maxed out on Imperial Shielding, so headed to the nearest Mat Trader. Swapped all the Imp shielding for the ones I needed, then headed back to HGE heaven. Again, 14 HGEs, this time I managed to get to all of them (yes maxed out on Imp shielding yet again by HGE 10). Then I realised the HGE were respawning after a given time. Even with the atrocious exchange rates I managed to get enough good quality mats to swap for the ones I really wanted.
Lastly are the Encoded Mats, these are the ones I will probably still have a problem with. I will either just sit and scan ships as they leave the station (and to wake scans of course) or pick up the mats via mission rewards.
Yeah I know, boring story Mooka, get a life
But this did get me thinking, is Mat hunting less of a grind now, did FD actually listen and give the RND God a damn stern talking to? Has FD done enough to lessen the tedium of collecting mats in regard to what is coming with 3.3?
First on the list was the RAW mats. Checked GalMap, found a planet with a decent percentage of the rarer ones I was after. Dropped down to the surface into a geographical POI (water geysers I think) and within 15 minutes or so found what I needed in the concentrated area of the POI. No more aimlessly driving around the surface hoping to find some rocks that look different to all the other rocks.
Next was the MAN mats, off to find some USSs. Thanks to my research I have a fair idea of what type of system I should be checking out, so off I headed. First system was a bit of a bust, only one HGE, so decided to relocate. Next system was three jumps away and like the OCD geek that I am, I couldn't help but scan each system as I encountered it. Strangely the second jump landed me in a system with only the primary star but so many USSs. Quick scan with the FSS revealed 14 HGEs and about a dozen others, none further out than 9k ls. So off to work on them. Most of the time I wasn't finding the specific high grade Mats in the HGE I was after but to me any high grade mat is good. Before I finished the HGEs I had already maxed out on Imperial Shielding, so headed to the nearest Mat Trader. Swapped all the Imp shielding for the ones I needed, then headed back to HGE heaven. Again, 14 HGEs, this time I managed to get to all of them (yes maxed out on Imp shielding yet again by HGE 10). Then I realised the HGE were respawning after a given time. Even with the atrocious exchange rates I managed to get enough good quality mats to swap for the ones I really wanted.
Lastly are the Encoded Mats, these are the ones I will probably still have a problem with. I will either just sit and scan ships as they leave the station (and to wake scans of course) or pick up the mats via mission rewards.
Yeah I know, boring story Mooka, get a life
But this did get me thinking, is Mat hunting less of a grind now, did FD actually listen and give the RND God a damn stern talking to? Has FD done enough to lessen the tedium of collecting mats in regard to what is coming with 3.3?
