Listen up, soldiers, mercenaries, raiders!
I'm here to impart my vast knowledge of ground operations upon your heads, and I will not repeat myself, so sharpen those ears, open heads and siddown!
First, we'll start with basics: GEAR!
aka, the suits. now, you have 4 suits at your disposal:
1. Flight suit. This is your second skin, very weak and unless you're out just to courier something or taking a walk on base without any ill intent, don't leave your ship with it. I mean it, couple hits from low tier pistol and you'll be hurtin' hard! Also, carries pistol only. Not exactly sure on carrying capacity for goods, most likely few.
2. Artemis suit. This one is for the science nerds, who want to pick daisies, aka collect samples on planets with atmosphere. Now, if you're looking to get rich, this ain't it. Samples require lotsa travelling as they need enough range from each other, and it's a PITA to search for bacterias, these suckers are nigh invisible, so go for it if you want your name in the books about new species, but don't expect fat stacks of cash. Has weak shields, weak armor, good jetpack, can stand against nature's powers longer than other suits, and carries standard weaponry, 1 main, 1 secondary. Same for carry capacity, probably few. Who would ever raid a base in science suit anyway.
3. Maverick suit. Now, all you raiders and saboteurs, ears open, this is your skin of choice. It's main thing is the plasma cutter, lets you get into any place you shouldn't be, and take apart wrecks, lockers, and anything cut-able. Has better armor and shields than suits above, you can fight and give your best in it, but it is not as durable as Dominator, keep that in mind because it will hurt if you decide to take it to warzone! This is a Solid Snake's choice, silent killings, sneaking, if all hell breaks loose light 'em up, but take lots of cover or they'll carry you out in bodybag! Standard weaponry, 1 main, 1 secondary. Carrying capacity is greatest, looters hear hear, 15 big goods (things locked behind a password locker), 30 small (normal lockers).
4. Dominator suit. The bad boy, and every soldier's best buddy. That thing right there is a piece of steel that will keep your butt safe under heavy fire, be it in warzones, or if anyone decides they don't like you, whatever their reason might be. Best shields, best armor, worst jetpack which still works fine for whatever jumping one needs it, 2 slots for main weapons, so go ahead and main that rocket launcher if you want to! Also 1 secondary, as every suit. Carry cap is 5 big goods, 10 small I think, not something you take for looting, but works in a pinch.
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Now, the little thingies that every suit has - charger, and profile cloner. Both have legal, and illegal mode, switched by (default) R. Keep in mind you can have both out in legal mode and nobody says a word, unlike guns which make people rather twitchy for some reasons.
Charger - this is your little buddy that keeps your suit charged. That's its official use, but it's lesser known fact it also has a secondary mode that lets you zap charging points under pannels, shortcircuiting them and opening said doors. Heck, even defenses can be sabotaged this way. And, the best part - it zaps people too, all of it completely silent! If you're looking for silent kill (which you surely will as it's only way to covertly kill someone until you get a weapon with silencer, and that takes much effort), switch to zap mode, and aim for their butt. For some reason it zaps through sometimes if you aim for body, and since you'll sneak around anyway, you'll be crouched and butt is your best target. There's also a dirty trick that saved my bacon more than once, if you carry something illegal at you (e-breach, stolen items, cloned profile) and you get stopped by security (did I mention security will randomly scan you if they feel like it? No? Then stay away from them!), don't run! That's admitting guilt and grounds for open fire. Instead, pull out your charger, let them come close and as they start scanning, quickly switch and zap 'em, boom, dead guy, unless someone's around, you should be fine. However, zapping people works ONLY if they have no shields up. Civilians are simple as they have none, but soldiers will charge them up as soon as they see or hear something suspicious.
Profile cloner - same as security carries around, let's you find out if scanned person has bounty. Beware, if they do, they will start firing upon you and with them, their friends too! Now, its secondary mode, that's more interesting. Lets you clone their profile, or as I call it, key. There are 3 levels of keys, 0 is default for visitors, anything else is considered big bad unless you got it from the start of the mission. Security carries 0-3, randomly. Technicians and researches often carry 1-3, depending on their post. If you want a surefire place to find 3 key, head to PWR building, those always have high ranking techs. Now, a little specialty. If you wanna go Bond style, heed this, the profile cloner works through glass! You also have to be rather close, your target must not see you, and beware, sneaking makes you hard to spot, but for some reason, cloning a profile can be seen from lot further than your own person, keep that in mind!
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Now, I shouldn't go into much detail on miscellaneous equipment, it all makes sense:
Medkits - heal you up full, always have lots of them. Dominator carries 2 of them, rest of the suits 1.
Batteries - charges your suit battery, same as above in terms of numbers, all suits carry 2.
Grenades - 3 kinds:
Basic frag - Dominator carries 3, other suits 2, use once enemy shields are down. Can be pretty devastating if you hit it right, but they also bounce a lot, I throw it into ground to cut down on the bounce which helps a bit.
EMP - shield killer. If thrown right, whole group of enemies lose their shields at once, which opens them up for bullets/frag. Bounces also, bit less than frags. I think. All suits carry 1, sadly, it's a great tool. (edit - Dominator actually carries 3!)
Shield - Drops a bubble for a time that blocks all incoming damage, and lets you shoot out without any penalty. Good for hot moments when you're stuck in a place where you can't run away from and got whole squadron of troops converging on you. All suits have 1. (and another edit - Dominator has 2!)
E-breach - only sold at anarchy or communist systems, for hefty 30k a piece. However, very handy, lets you bypass anything that requires a key or password, in a matter of seconds without the hassle of security investigating cut doors and other problems (commonly called hearing "I've got signs of tampering!" and base full of suspicious people). If you really wish to ninja your way through a base, these are your best buddies. Maverick suit carries 2, other suits 1.
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Now, for the juicy part. GUNS!
Guns are mainly 3 categories, and let me tell you, upgrading them is a chore so if you see anything t3 at a shop, buy immediately:
Laser - Aphelion, Eclipse, Zenith, being assault rifle, carbine, 3 burst pistol respectively.
Bullets - AR50, C-44, P-15, same as above, except P-15 pistol shoots single shots.
Rocket launcher - technically a bullet weapon that destroys shields. Slow reload, 2 rockets in magazine, devastating firepower. Two shooter from this bad boy offs shields at 1st rocket, second blows up whole group if they're tight at the moment. Kicks massive bottom if you manage to plant both rockets under enemy drop nearing ground. Love the boy. I even heard about some crazy people running around with 2 of them, who would do such crazy thing?
Plasma - own category needed:
Oppressor - a rifle that sucks (please, do not go in the way of your sergeant and do not invest into it). It has it's uses, being a plasma, but seriously, the dmg output even on t5 is just low. Discard the idea of buying it.
Executioner - marksman rifle that hits like a goddamn truck. A t4 exec can kill most soldiers in 2 bodyshots, and headshot an enforcer when he's down on shields, a feat unheard of. Only drawback is low clip (3 shots, which is exactly 1 dead guy and other one without shield), and as is matter with all plasma weaponry, slow projectile travelling speed. Where lasers and bullets are instant, plasma takes awful time to travel to it's target, and Exec hurts the most by it, other plasmas being more CQC weaponry. It takes some time to learn to lead well on a running target. However, learn that and you're death incarnate (especially if you mod it to 5 shots clip).
Intimidator - only shotgun, pure death loaded in two tubes (I got 3
), and often last thing you'll ever see if t5 striker gets in your face. Seriously, I had my share of combat traumas and seeing two barrels in your face going off is a nightmare I have often, right after rocket zooming into me from 10 metres. Now, it's a classic two barreled shotty that suffers from usual problems that shotguns do - low range. Have your running shoes ready, run up as close as you can (preferably hug the guy), aim for the face and voila! One disintegrated enemy, no matter how strong he was. Not even t5 enforcers can handle t5 shotgun blasts from up close. And not even you, in top tier t5 Dominator suit. It hurts.
Tormentor - or what I call, a revolver, even if it is technically a Desert Eagle equivalent. 6 shooter, massive damage that comes close to shotgun (still less though), all packed in one rather fast, and rather innacurate projectile. Yes, you sometimes miss with it even when aiming down sights at someone who's 5m away. Helps to stand still a bit, then it can get quite accurate. Coupled with a silencer, you have ultimate in-building murdering machine with lots of shots if you miss and quick one to boot, a great "uh oh" moment weapon.
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Now, the part that's quite simple and elementary in a life of anyone with a weapon: COMBAT!
It is quite simple, really. Point the gun and shoot, aim for head if you can. Simple huh? Not that much! Because ground combat works same as ship combat.
Always remember the rule - lasers for shields, bullets for body. That means switching weapons like an idiot and carrying 1 laser, 1 bullet weapon. I'll leave it up to anyone's choice which weapons he or she uses. Or go plasma, as that works for both, however bear in mind:
t3 plasma will get you killed in high conflict zone.
t3 laser and bullet combo will not.
The t3 combo is enough for big danger out there, and laser bullet combo will always outperform plasma in terms of dps and accuracy. Try hitting an enemy further away with plasma weapon, then use Aphelion + AR50 combo which are both scalpel accurate and you will know what I mean.
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Leading up to combat: ENEMIES!
Enemies are split into different categories:
Civilians - technicians, researchers, poor sods in civilian clothes that die in few bullets, as they have no shield equipment. They're also least dangerous in terms of security as they won't scan you, and won't ask you what you're doing in that building that you shouldn't have keys to (they do get irked if they catch you in restricted areas though, keep that in mind). They only get mildly annoyed when you come too close to them.
Commando - your bread and butter soldier. Armed with laser or bullet rifles, these guys are the medium of everything, in terms of damage and health. Not much to say about them.
Scouts - armed with carbines, these are the weakest of them all. Don't dismiss them as no danger however, they use both EMP and frag grenades as situation needs it, and even me, battle hardened veteran got blown up by a simple frag grenade just because I didn't watch my shields.
Snipers - now these guys are dangerous. They don Executioner rifles, and if you listened to what I said above, those hit super hard. If you stay in one spot, 1 shot removes your shield, 2nd removes your head. They also fight according to their role and stay behind. Luckily, plasma weapons are slow and easy to dodge, and they're also rather weak and easy to kill.
Strikers - I hate these guys. Armed with Intimidators, alias two tubes of death, they will push, flank, come as close as they can, if there is someone who will get in your back while you're covering behind your last piece of anything suitable and fight off 10 guys, it will be Strikers. And if you turn around and see two barrels in your face, you know it's over, especially with your shields down. How to fight them though? Simple, they have to come close, can't hurt you from far which gives you ample time before they come hug you, so they often die before they even get close to you.
Enforcers - walking tanks. Can't even call them any different. Armed with rocket launcher and on t5 level, tormentor that 2 shots you, these guys are embodiment of endurance. I have never seen anyone take a blast from tormentor into their head and survive, guess what? t5 Enforcer needs 3 of them. Insane, tough mothers that often take whole clip on high level, often providing you quick death. They're rather slow however, on account of their heavy gear. Not that it stops them much.
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Now, some basic knowledge for all you saboteurs: STEALTH.
Radar - see that thing up left? That's your great friend. The red circle in the middle of it? If you crouch, you're invisible. Really, people in ED have seriously short sight. And unless someone walks into that red circle and turns around on you, you stay invisible.
They do however have good hearing - if you jump and land with them at the circle, they turn around. If you boost your jetpack, that will be lot louder. If you walk and they're in the circle, they hear it and turn around. Crouch is your best friend if you want to stay undetected. Chance is, however, no matter how good you are, you will get busted. And by busted I mean shot to pieces, there's no hands up in Elite. If you decide to go guns blazing (which is what made me a pirate and a raider, ahem), run to alarms ASAP and turn them off, otherwise new reinforcements will keep coming. You can prolong them if you see someone calling (the yellow blinking sign above someone's head) by shooting him, if their shield pops, the call is cancelled, and if they're dead, they can't call anyone, right? But when one cancels the call, someone else will start calling, if they see a fight. So it can quickly turn into bloodbath.
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Thus, we're closing on main thing: GROUND OPS.
There is one golden and strict rule that you should keep in your head - once you touch anything remotely important, like sample containment, downloading/uploading data, opening machines for sabotage, power regulator housing, atmosphere regulators outside buildings... alarms will start screaming and you've got whole base converging on you, suspicious, shields and guns ready. That is of utmost matter in case you run "covert" jobs, as they instantly fail when alarms start ringing. Disable alarms, you can kill off whole base, and mission will still be "covert".
Where to find alarms then? Depends on size and layout of the base.
If you see a CMD building, it will 100% with no exceptions be there, along with base defenses, switch these off if you plan to bail quick as defenses can tear your ship to shreds fast.
Otherwise, it can get pretty random and even I, who raided many settlements, won't find it at first try.
Small bases made of power plant and habitat in one building, and 1 aux building - best choice is the aux building, usually it is AGRI.
Small bases with PWR plant as alone building - check there.
Am I supposed to run around blindly on a hostile base, I hear ya? Fret not, there is a way! Search for a terminal, use it. Different things require different clearance however. 0 gives you only staff list and basic buildings location, 1-2 giving more, 3 giving you access even to passwords. So either find someone with higher clearance, or carry e-breach (they will not get automatically supplied when you disembark, have to take it manually) as that will override the terminal and instantly give access lvl 3. From there, lock it and you see where it is.
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We're nearly at end: MISSION TYPES!
Retrieval - crash sites, be it satellite or crashed ship. Beware, sometimes they are guarded by scavs, so you don't run into danger.
Larceny - stealing something from hidden caches. These are great source of weapon schematics, drugs and bioweapons. Weapons schemes is what you need for upgrading weapons, drugs and the rest is sellable at anarchy or commie stations, at your friendly barman that also trades materials. While it calls illegal, it is not, as you're robbing the bad guys.
Salvage - same as retrieval.
Raid - kill enough members of a faction at their settlements. Different from "Settlement raid" as Raid counts anyone, as long as the settlement is theirs, thus letting you murder on multiple settlements. Sometimes bugged because there's 1 man missing, relogging should help it, like it helps all cases. Legal, targets are pirates.
Settlement raid - same as above, except you have to clear out whole settlement that's targeted. As above, legal as the target are pirates.
Settlement massacre - same as raid, however this time you kill legal faction members, thus get charged with bounties and notoriety. And that kids, is how I became a pirate, as they often pay so well and give good materials...
Sabotage - illegal. Go somewhere, sabotage their equipment by opening it, waiting for 3 long minutes before it opens, stuffing the contaminant they gave you into machinery, closing it, making your way out either as Englishman or guns blazing, depending how it goes. Remember the golden rule! Alarms and anything important!
Espionage - illegal. Find a data port, download stuff. Golden rule! There's also a variant that sends you into dead settlement, and requires a spare power regulator, always have one!
Theft - illegal. Find a machinery, open it, wait like an idiot, snatch what's inside, get out. Golden rule!
Smuggling - rather easy. Land at given settlement, bring contraband to someone - they will be standing in place, sort of leaning on wall, that's how you recognise them, or use terminal. Don't get scanned!
Courier job - same as above, except this time it's legal, so as long as you don't do anything stupid, or start running while security scans you, you're cool.
Digital infiltration - illegal, same as Espionage, except this time you upload data, not download. Golden rule!
Shutdown - find PWR, open the regulator housing, wait like an idiot, grab the regulator, move. Golden rule!
Restoration - you will be carrying 3 key for this one and mission given power regulator, so no worries. Get into PWR plant, put regulator into housing, restart. Put fires out by disengaging atmosphere control terminals. Also, take care and go armed, sometimes you get visited by scavengers!
Now, the hired killings:
Takedown - a legal version of assassination. Find target by means you already know now, kill him/her, move. As they have no shields up unless suspicious, they're prime target for silent, sneaky ZAP!!
Assassination - well, as you've guessed, an illegal version of assassination. Same as above, including the butt zapping.
Professional takedown - now this gets dirty. Target is high lvl thus health and everything from enemies applies, and walks around shielded all the time. Come up to them and go full Camorra, shoot them to pieces in broad daylight, and run like hell! 500m from settlement, you can call your ship, or Apex taxi.
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This is the end, the wall of text is finally done and my knowledge is drained, except a small addition to the MISSION TYPES, as these can have certain subtypes:
Covert - as I've said, no alarms. Kill everyone if you want to, but absolutely NO ALARMS must be rung. If someone calls and you see them, kill them, that is not yet accepted as full blow alarm. Watch out for Golden rule, applies also!
Nonviolent - a mother of jobs and greatest test of your skill, you space ninjas. Kill no one. Don't even zap them as that's a kill also. Not gonna lie to you boys and girls, I made only 1 of these, and that was me, being lucky. But go ahead, and show your mentor he's less skilled and make him proud!
This is all I had, I lie on the ground drained, my head empty, and your heads hurting from the obscene amount of information. Now use it well, and bring us pride, sailors! (as this guide was written for my mates, the Solar Sailors)
CMDR MariusTitus, signing off
I'm here to impart my vast knowledge of ground operations upon your heads, and I will not repeat myself, so sharpen those ears, open heads and siddown!
First, we'll start with basics: GEAR!
aka, the suits. now, you have 4 suits at your disposal:
1. Flight suit. This is your second skin, very weak and unless you're out just to courier something or taking a walk on base without any ill intent, don't leave your ship with it. I mean it, couple hits from low tier pistol and you'll be hurtin' hard! Also, carries pistol only. Not exactly sure on carrying capacity for goods, most likely few.
2. Artemis suit. This one is for the science nerds, who want to pick daisies, aka collect samples on planets with atmosphere. Now, if you're looking to get rich, this ain't it. Samples require lotsa travelling as they need enough range from each other, and it's a PITA to search for bacterias, these suckers are nigh invisible, so go for it if you want your name in the books about new species, but don't expect fat stacks of cash. Has weak shields, weak armor, good jetpack, can stand against nature's powers longer than other suits, and carries standard weaponry, 1 main, 1 secondary. Same for carry capacity, probably few. Who would ever raid a base in science suit anyway.
3. Maverick suit. Now, all you raiders and saboteurs, ears open, this is your skin of choice. It's main thing is the plasma cutter, lets you get into any place you shouldn't be, and take apart wrecks, lockers, and anything cut-able. Has better armor and shields than suits above, you can fight and give your best in it, but it is not as durable as Dominator, keep that in mind because it will hurt if you decide to take it to warzone! This is a Solid Snake's choice, silent killings, sneaking, if all hell breaks loose light 'em up, but take lots of cover or they'll carry you out in bodybag! Standard weaponry, 1 main, 1 secondary. Carrying capacity is greatest, looters hear hear, 15 big goods (things locked behind a password locker), 30 small (normal lockers).
4. Dominator suit. The bad boy, and every soldier's best buddy. That thing right there is a piece of steel that will keep your butt safe under heavy fire, be it in warzones, or if anyone decides they don't like you, whatever their reason might be. Best shields, best armor, worst jetpack which still works fine for whatever jumping one needs it, 2 slots for main weapons, so go ahead and main that rocket launcher if you want to! Also 1 secondary, as every suit. Carry cap is 5 big goods, 10 small I think, not something you take for looting, but works in a pinch.
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Now, the little thingies that every suit has - charger, and profile cloner. Both have legal, and illegal mode, switched by (default) R. Keep in mind you can have both out in legal mode and nobody says a word, unlike guns which make people rather twitchy for some reasons.
Charger - this is your little buddy that keeps your suit charged. That's its official use, but it's lesser known fact it also has a secondary mode that lets you zap charging points under pannels, shortcircuiting them and opening said doors. Heck, even defenses can be sabotaged this way. And, the best part - it zaps people too, all of it completely silent! If you're looking for silent kill (which you surely will as it's only way to covertly kill someone until you get a weapon with silencer, and that takes much effort), switch to zap mode, and aim for their butt. For some reason it zaps through sometimes if you aim for body, and since you'll sneak around anyway, you'll be crouched and butt is your best target. There's also a dirty trick that saved my bacon more than once, if you carry something illegal at you (e-breach, stolen items, cloned profile) and you get stopped by security (did I mention security will randomly scan you if they feel like it? No? Then stay away from them!), don't run! That's admitting guilt and grounds for open fire. Instead, pull out your charger, let them come close and as they start scanning, quickly switch and zap 'em, boom, dead guy, unless someone's around, you should be fine. However, zapping people works ONLY if they have no shields up. Civilians are simple as they have none, but soldiers will charge them up as soon as they see or hear something suspicious.
Profile cloner - same as security carries around, let's you find out if scanned person has bounty. Beware, if they do, they will start firing upon you and with them, their friends too! Now, its secondary mode, that's more interesting. Lets you clone their profile, or as I call it, key. There are 3 levels of keys, 0 is default for visitors, anything else is considered big bad unless you got it from the start of the mission. Security carries 0-3, randomly. Technicians and researches often carry 1-3, depending on their post. If you want a surefire place to find 3 key, head to PWR building, those always have high ranking techs. Now, a little specialty. If you wanna go Bond style, heed this, the profile cloner works through glass! You also have to be rather close, your target must not see you, and beware, sneaking makes you hard to spot, but for some reason, cloning a profile can be seen from lot further than your own person, keep that in mind!
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Now, I shouldn't go into much detail on miscellaneous equipment, it all makes sense:
Medkits - heal you up full, always have lots of them. Dominator carries 2 of them, rest of the suits 1.
Batteries - charges your suit battery, same as above in terms of numbers, all suits carry 2.
Grenades - 3 kinds:
Basic frag - Dominator carries 3, other suits 2, use once enemy shields are down. Can be pretty devastating if you hit it right, but they also bounce a lot, I throw it into ground to cut down on the bounce which helps a bit.
EMP - shield killer. If thrown right, whole group of enemies lose their shields at once, which opens them up for bullets/frag. Bounces also, bit less than frags. I think. All suits carry 1, sadly, it's a great tool. (edit - Dominator actually carries 3!)
Shield - Drops a bubble for a time that blocks all incoming damage, and lets you shoot out without any penalty. Good for hot moments when you're stuck in a place where you can't run away from and got whole squadron of troops converging on you. All suits have 1. (and another edit - Dominator has 2!)
E-breach - only sold at anarchy or communist systems, for hefty 30k a piece. However, very handy, lets you bypass anything that requires a key or password, in a matter of seconds without the hassle of security investigating cut doors and other problems (commonly called hearing "I've got signs of tampering!" and base full of suspicious people). If you really wish to ninja your way through a base, these are your best buddies. Maverick suit carries 2, other suits 1.
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Now, for the juicy part. GUNS!
Guns are mainly 3 categories, and let me tell you, upgrading them is a chore so if you see anything t3 at a shop, buy immediately:
Laser - Aphelion, Eclipse, Zenith, being assault rifle, carbine, 3 burst pistol respectively.
Bullets - AR50, C-44, P-15, same as above, except P-15 pistol shoots single shots.
Rocket launcher - technically a bullet weapon that destroys shields. Slow reload, 2 rockets in magazine, devastating firepower. Two shooter from this bad boy offs shields at 1st rocket, second blows up whole group if they're tight at the moment. Kicks massive bottom if you manage to plant both rockets under enemy drop nearing ground. Love the boy. I even heard about some crazy people running around with 2 of them, who would do such crazy thing?
Plasma - own category needed:
Oppressor - a rifle that sucks (please, do not go in the way of your sergeant and do not invest into it). It has it's uses, being a plasma, but seriously, the dmg output even on t5 is just low. Discard the idea of buying it.
Executioner - marksman rifle that hits like a goddamn truck. A t4 exec can kill most soldiers in 2 bodyshots, and headshot an enforcer when he's down on shields, a feat unheard of. Only drawback is low clip (3 shots, which is exactly 1 dead guy and other one without shield), and as is matter with all plasma weaponry, slow projectile travelling speed. Where lasers and bullets are instant, plasma takes awful time to travel to it's target, and Exec hurts the most by it, other plasmas being more CQC weaponry. It takes some time to learn to lead well on a running target. However, learn that and you're death incarnate (especially if you mod it to 5 shots clip).
Intimidator - only shotgun, pure death loaded in two tubes (I got 3
), and often last thing you'll ever see if t5 striker gets in your face. Seriously, I had my share of combat traumas and seeing two barrels in your face going off is a nightmare I have often, right after rocket zooming into me from 10 metres. Now, it's a classic two barreled shotty that suffers from usual problems that shotguns do - low range. Have your running shoes ready, run up as close as you can (preferably hug the guy), aim for the face and voila! One disintegrated enemy, no matter how strong he was. Not even t5 enforcers can handle t5 shotgun blasts from up close. And not even you, in top tier t5 Dominator suit. It hurts.Tormentor - or what I call, a revolver, even if it is technically a Desert Eagle equivalent. 6 shooter, massive damage that comes close to shotgun (still less though), all packed in one rather fast, and rather innacurate projectile. Yes, you sometimes miss with it even when aiming down sights at someone who's 5m away. Helps to stand still a bit, then it can get quite accurate. Coupled with a silencer, you have ultimate in-building murdering machine with lots of shots if you miss and quick one to boot, a great "uh oh" moment weapon.
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Now, the part that's quite simple and elementary in a life of anyone with a weapon: COMBAT!
It is quite simple, really. Point the gun and shoot, aim for head if you can. Simple huh? Not that much! Because ground combat works same as ship combat.
Always remember the rule - lasers for shields, bullets for body. That means switching weapons like an idiot and carrying 1 laser, 1 bullet weapon. I'll leave it up to anyone's choice which weapons he or she uses. Or go plasma, as that works for both, however bear in mind:
t3 plasma will get you killed in high conflict zone.
t3 laser and bullet combo will not.
The t3 combo is enough for big danger out there, and laser bullet combo will always outperform plasma in terms of dps and accuracy. Try hitting an enemy further away with plasma weapon, then use Aphelion + AR50 combo which are both scalpel accurate and you will know what I mean.
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Leading up to combat: ENEMIES!
Enemies are split into different categories:
Civilians - technicians, researchers, poor sods in civilian clothes that die in few bullets, as they have no shield equipment. They're also least dangerous in terms of security as they won't scan you, and won't ask you what you're doing in that building that you shouldn't have keys to (they do get irked if they catch you in restricted areas though, keep that in mind). They only get mildly annoyed when you come too close to them.
Commando - your bread and butter soldier. Armed with laser or bullet rifles, these guys are the medium of everything, in terms of damage and health. Not much to say about them.
Scouts - armed with carbines, these are the weakest of them all. Don't dismiss them as no danger however, they use both EMP and frag grenades as situation needs it, and even me, battle hardened veteran got blown up by a simple frag grenade just because I didn't watch my shields.
Snipers - now these guys are dangerous. They don Executioner rifles, and if you listened to what I said above, those hit super hard. If you stay in one spot, 1 shot removes your shield, 2nd removes your head. They also fight according to their role and stay behind. Luckily, plasma weapons are slow and easy to dodge, and they're also rather weak and easy to kill.
Strikers - I hate these guys. Armed with Intimidators, alias two tubes of death, they will push, flank, come as close as they can, if there is someone who will get in your back while you're covering behind your last piece of anything suitable and fight off 10 guys, it will be Strikers. And if you turn around and see two barrels in your face, you know it's over, especially with your shields down. How to fight them though? Simple, they have to come close, can't hurt you from far which gives you ample time before they come hug you, so they often die before they even get close to you.
Enforcers - walking tanks. Can't even call them any different. Armed with rocket launcher and on t5 level, tormentor that 2 shots you, these guys are embodiment of endurance. I have never seen anyone take a blast from tormentor into their head and survive, guess what? t5 Enforcer needs 3 of them. Insane, tough mothers that often take whole clip on high level, often providing you quick death. They're rather slow however, on account of their heavy gear. Not that it stops them much.
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Now, some basic knowledge for all you saboteurs: STEALTH.
Radar - see that thing up left? That's your great friend. The red circle in the middle of it? If you crouch, you're invisible. Really, people in ED have seriously short sight. And unless someone walks into that red circle and turns around on you, you stay invisible.
They do however have good hearing - if you jump and land with them at the circle, they turn around. If you boost your jetpack, that will be lot louder. If you walk and they're in the circle, they hear it and turn around. Crouch is your best friend if you want to stay undetected. Chance is, however, no matter how good you are, you will get busted. And by busted I mean shot to pieces, there's no hands up in Elite. If you decide to go guns blazing (which is what made me a pirate and a raider, ahem), run to alarms ASAP and turn them off, otherwise new reinforcements will keep coming. You can prolong them if you see someone calling (the yellow blinking sign above someone's head) by shooting him, if their shield pops, the call is cancelled, and if they're dead, they can't call anyone, right? But when one cancels the call, someone else will start calling, if they see a fight. So it can quickly turn into bloodbath.
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Thus, we're closing on main thing: GROUND OPS.
There is one golden and strict rule that you should keep in your head - once you touch anything remotely important, like sample containment, downloading/uploading data, opening machines for sabotage, power regulator housing, atmosphere regulators outside buildings... alarms will start screaming and you've got whole base converging on you, suspicious, shields and guns ready. That is of utmost matter in case you run "covert" jobs, as they instantly fail when alarms start ringing. Disable alarms, you can kill off whole base, and mission will still be "covert".
Where to find alarms then? Depends on size and layout of the base.
If you see a CMD building, it will 100% with no exceptions be there, along with base defenses, switch these off if you plan to bail quick as defenses can tear your ship to shreds fast.
Otherwise, it can get pretty random and even I, who raided many settlements, won't find it at first try.
Small bases made of power plant and habitat in one building, and 1 aux building - best choice is the aux building, usually it is AGRI.
Small bases with PWR plant as alone building - check there.
Am I supposed to run around blindly on a hostile base, I hear ya? Fret not, there is a way! Search for a terminal, use it. Different things require different clearance however. 0 gives you only staff list and basic buildings location, 1-2 giving more, 3 giving you access even to passwords. So either find someone with higher clearance, or carry e-breach (they will not get automatically supplied when you disembark, have to take it manually) as that will override the terminal and instantly give access lvl 3. From there, lock it and you see where it is.
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We're nearly at end: MISSION TYPES!
Retrieval - crash sites, be it satellite or crashed ship. Beware, sometimes they are guarded by scavs, so you don't run into danger.
Larceny - stealing something from hidden caches. These are great source of weapon schematics, drugs and bioweapons. Weapons schemes is what you need for upgrading weapons, drugs and the rest is sellable at anarchy or commie stations, at your friendly barman that also trades materials. While it calls illegal, it is not, as you're robbing the bad guys.
Salvage - same as retrieval.
Raid - kill enough members of a faction at their settlements. Different from "Settlement raid" as Raid counts anyone, as long as the settlement is theirs, thus letting you murder on multiple settlements. Sometimes bugged because there's 1 man missing, relogging should help it, like it helps all cases. Legal, targets are pirates.
Settlement raid - same as above, except you have to clear out whole settlement that's targeted. As above, legal as the target are pirates.
Settlement massacre - same as raid, however this time you kill legal faction members, thus get charged with bounties and notoriety. And that kids, is how I became a pirate, as they often pay so well and give good materials...
Sabotage - illegal. Go somewhere, sabotage their equipment by opening it, waiting for 3 long minutes before it opens, stuffing the contaminant they gave you into machinery, closing it, making your way out either as Englishman or guns blazing, depending how it goes. Remember the golden rule! Alarms and anything important!
Espionage - illegal. Find a data port, download stuff. Golden rule! There's also a variant that sends you into dead settlement, and requires a spare power regulator, always have one!
Theft - illegal. Find a machinery, open it, wait like an idiot, snatch what's inside, get out. Golden rule!
Smuggling - rather easy. Land at given settlement, bring contraband to someone - they will be standing in place, sort of leaning on wall, that's how you recognise them, or use terminal. Don't get scanned!
Courier job - same as above, except this time it's legal, so as long as you don't do anything stupid, or start running while security scans you, you're cool.
Digital infiltration - illegal, same as Espionage, except this time you upload data, not download. Golden rule!
Shutdown - find PWR, open the regulator housing, wait like an idiot, grab the regulator, move. Golden rule!
Restoration - you will be carrying 3 key for this one and mission given power regulator, so no worries. Get into PWR plant, put regulator into housing, restart. Put fires out by disengaging atmosphere control terminals. Also, take care and go armed, sometimes you get visited by scavengers!
Now, the hired killings:
Takedown - a legal version of assassination. Find target by means you already know now, kill him/her, move. As they have no shields up unless suspicious, they're prime target for silent, sneaky ZAP!!
Assassination - well, as you've guessed, an illegal version of assassination. Same as above, including the butt zapping.
Professional takedown - now this gets dirty. Target is high lvl thus health and everything from enemies applies, and walks around shielded all the time. Come up to them and go full Camorra, shoot them to pieces in broad daylight, and run like hell! 500m from settlement, you can call your ship, or Apex taxi.
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This is the end, the wall of text is finally done and my knowledge is drained, except a small addition to the MISSION TYPES, as these can have certain subtypes:
Covert - as I've said, no alarms. Kill everyone if you want to, but absolutely NO ALARMS must be rung. If someone calls and you see them, kill them, that is not yet accepted as full blow alarm. Watch out for Golden rule, applies also!
Nonviolent - a mother of jobs and greatest test of your skill, you space ninjas. Kill no one. Don't even zap them as that's a kill also. Not gonna lie to you boys and girls, I made only 1 of these, and that was me, being lucky. But go ahead, and show your mentor he's less skilled and make him proud!
This is all I had, I lie on the ground drained, my head empty, and your heads hurting from the obscene amount of information. Now use it well, and bring us pride, sailors! (as this guide was written for my mates, the Solar Sailors)
CMDR MariusTitus, signing off
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