Newcomer / Intro [Guide] Conflict Zones for beginners.

[Ferris]

Hi all,

Since there have been quite a few questions about conflict zones on the forums recently, I thought I would have a go at making a simple guide for newer players. I don't consider myself an expert in conflict zones however I hope some CMDRs find the info in this guide to be helpful when just getting started. I have tried to make this guide as accurately as I can however I am still finding out about conflict zones myself.

If you like the guide or have any suggestions for improving it please leave me a comment below. I will hopefully be updating this guide with more info in the future.


Beginner tips for Conflict Zones


**Before you enter a conflict zone consider this**
The enemies you will be facing in conflict zones are often packing some serious hardware, including high grade ship modules, weapons and armor. They also range from novice to elite combat ranking. They will likely be much tougher than NPCs you have faced in the regular bulletin board missions, nav-points or USSs. I would advise having some prior combat experience and a good knowledge of how the sys/eng/wep pips system works.
Make sure you are happy to pay the insurance on your ship before you enter your fist conflict zone and end up with 3 Pythons sending cannon fire your way. Of course if you just started and are still in an unmodified Sidewinder, you have nothing to loose... so just go for it!


1) Where can I find systems with conflict zones?
-Conflict zones (CZs) occur in systems that are in a state of civil war, there are a couple of ways to find these systems... AgentGB has put together a list of conflict zones on his 'Thread of War'. Another way you can find CZs is through the System View from the Galaxy Map. The System View provides information about each faction and importantly each faction has a status such as Boom, Lockdown, Civil War etc. If you find a system that has 2 factions in a state of civil war, there should be CZs.
-Alternatively if you wish to find out about the status of factions within the system where you are currently located, you can get an at-a-glance view from the Right UI panel... Select the 'Status' tab and then go to the 'System Status' sub-menu.
-Major conflicts are also reported in the Galnet news feed so it is worth keeping an eye on it.


2) OK I am in the system, where are the conflict zones?
-When you get to a system in civil war, use your Navigation menu within your Left UI panel. This will list any local CZs.
-CZs will only show up in the Navigation menu when you are within 1000ls. If you cannot find any CZs, try Supercruising to some of the more distant planets. Once you are close enough the CZs will appear in the navigation menu.


3) What's the difference between High and Low intensity conflict zones?
(More testing is needed here as I am not 100% sure about the differences but here is what I have experienced).
-Low intensity zones have a static number of combatants for each faction with one faction having a surplus of ships. Choosing the faction with the most ships should make life a little easier. It also seems that the NPCs in low intensity zones are not quite so skilled and their ships are not as well equipped.
-High intensity zones seem more unbalanced and you could find your chosen faction is hugely outnumbered.


4) I'm in the conflict zone, what now?
-OK...time to choose which faction to fight for. This is done by accessing the Right UI panel then go to the Functions tab, the top option is Faction. Click on this and a small sub-menu will appear allowing you to select who you want to fight for.
-If you get a bit trigger happy and take a shot at one of the ships before choosing, all ships belonging to that faction will instantly turn hostile and you will no longer be able to side with them.
-Once you have chosen a side, be ready!! As soon as you choose, you become fair game for any of the opposing factions' ships.
-For those with smaller or less well equipped ships, you may find it easier to stay around the edges of the conflict zone, pick your target, take a few shots at them and try to kite/drag them away from the main fight before fully engaging them. This will hopefully stop you from being engaged by multiple enemies simultaneously. Staying around the fringes will also reduce the risk of getting rammed by another ship in the melee.
-If you find yourself being pounded by several enemies and your shields are rapidly collapsing, your first thought may be to put 4 pips into shields straight away. However you may find it better to put 4 pips to engines and boost away to a safe distance first as shields can take quite a while to re-activate. Don't be afraid to make like the shepherd and 'Get the flock out of there'.


5) Do I get any rewards?
-Yes, on killing an enemy ship you will receive a 'combat bond', the amount rewarded depends on the type of ship you destroy (see list below).
-To turn in the combat bonds fly to a station controlled by the faction you were fighting for and select 'Contacts' from the main station services menu. You can then retrieve your hard earned cash and gain a reputation increase with the faction. If your chosen faction does not control any stations you should still be able to cash them in at one of the stations in that system.
-Kills within a CZ will also increase your combat ranking.
-CZs are not as financially viable as bounty hunting, however if you have a vested interest in one of the warring factions you can throw your support behind them.
-In systems with conflicts there may be bulletin board missions available asking you to destroy a number of ships within a CZ. You will receive the mission reward as well as any combat bonds earned (you still have to pick a side upon entering the zone AFAIK). These missions may also be available from factions in neighboring systems.
-It is possible to pick up multiple missions of the above type simultaneously and any kills will contribute to the requirements for each mission. For example, Mission A - Kill 5 ships, Mission B - Kill 6 ships. A total of 6 kills will complete both objectives.

Combat Bond Rewards:
(This list is not yet complete)

F-63 Condor - 1,000 cr.
Eagle - 2,000 cr.
Cobra MkIII - 4,000 cr.
Viper - 5,000 cr.
Asp - 7,000 cr.
Federal Dropship - 11,000 cr.
Python - 13,000 cr.
Anaconda - 18,000 cr.

As far as I can tell there is no difference in rewards for higher ranked opponents.


OK that's it... Good hunting CMDRs!
'Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war.'

 

[carlisle]

It seems like the combat zones could use a little work. As you mention you get 3k per kill which is not very much. I haven't tried yet but I suppose it's possible that with a KWS you might be able to pick a bounty or two up while doing it. I'm yet to find a combatant who is wanted in that system but they may be wanted elsewhere. At the moment I do feel like they lack a bit of context, once a civil war erupts in a system there will be a big duke-out just erupt in some seemingly random location.

It would be good if combat zones like that had perhaps something to suggest why they had broken out in that particular location. For example you arrive there and there is wreckage from 4 or 5 T9s in the middle of it and some free floating canisters. Once you pick a side you receive comms from the commanding officer of that side's military informing you that 'these scum ambushed one of our convoys' or 'we ambushed this convoy and are protecting our salvage'. Alternatively it would be nice if they were able to break out within other zones such as resource extraction or around stations, which could affect everyone as the station goes into lock-down, or at a resource extraction site, one side indiscriminately attacks miners while the other side protects them.

As for combat bonds, I don't know exactly what the best way would be to make it a little more lucrative, but to give an example, say the first kill gets you 3k but the next one nets you 5k, and then 10k and so on. As long as you remain in the zone, the more kills you make the more you get paid per kill. They could also give bigger rewards for bigger targets and it might be that the two sides don't pay out equally, leading you to make a decision over whether your reputation with one faction is worth siding with them for, even though the other side will pay greater combat bonds. There could also be bonuses added on top of combat bonds for specific objectives, for example where you must protect miners at an extraction side, you get an extra 10% on your combat bond total for each surviving miner*once the enemy are vanquished.



*EDIT - actually that's not a very good idea as it doesn't encourage players to do their fair share of defending miners, it encourages them to kill as many as they can and hope that someone else will defend the miners, but you get the idea.

 

[Bluefalcon8560]

Ferris-
Great post, thanks!
i just went to my first combat zone and dove into the fight once I understood the sides. As it turns out, I was able to take down an Asp and a Viper but did not receive a combat bond for the kills. What I did get was a flashing red triangle in my upper right screen area with no text. I also did not get the kill credits, as far as I can tell, for my rankings. As a result here I am trying to figure out what I did wrong and your post is perfect. It seems that choosing sides prior to fighting is mandatory?

I do have one question. What's the purpose of the Checkpoints that seem to be around the more intense Conflict Zones.

BF

 

[Ferris]

It seems like the combat zones could use a little work. As you mention you get 3k per kill which is not very much. I haven't tried yet but I suppose it's possible that with a KWS you might be able to pick a bounty or two up while doing it. I'm yet to find a combatant who is wanted in that system but they may be wanted elsewhere. At the moment I do feel like they lack a bit of context, once a civil war erupts in a system there will be a big duke-out just erupt in some seemingly random location.

Agreed.. conflicts could definitely use a little love from the dev team. They are getting there though. I'm sure there will be more to come. Even something as simple as local news in the galnet feed, reporting on any conflict within 20ly or so, and what the conflict is about would add a bit of depth and context to them.

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Ferris-
Great post, thanks!
i just went to my first combat zone and dove into the fight once I understood the sides. As it turns out, I was able to take down an Asp and a Viper but did not receive a combat bond for the kills. What I did get was a flashing red triangle in my upper right screen area with no text. I also did not get the kill credits, as far as I can tell, for my rankings. As a result here I am trying to figure out what I did wrong and your post is perfect. It seems that choosing sides prior to fighting is mandatory?

I do have one question. What's the purpose of the Checkpoints that seem to be around the more intense Conflict Zones.

BF

Cheers.... I havn't included the checkpoint in the guide because TBH I don't understand them. They seem to just contain a few ships belonging to the dominant faction in the system with nothing else really going on. If/when I find out what they are for I will add it to the guide.

 

[AgentGB]

Great guide! Should add it into your signature!

Also somthing for the future, although not enough info on it just yet, is the luxury traders turning into conflict zones potentially as mentioned by the dev, so if a player see these traders, it could perhaps later be a conflict zone? but may be more suited for a slighty more advanced section in the guide, if players are looking for trends/patterns in the verse. But the mechanics of that aren't to clear atm!

Thanks again ferris, will recommend anyone having trouble working out conflict zones to your thread!

 

[carlisle]

It seems that choosing sides prior to fighting is mandatory?

I would have assumed it was, if the game doesn't know that you were definitely fighting for faction A then it doesn't know that your killing of a faction B ship was intentional, it could have been that you were trying to fight for faction B but killed a faction B ship in a friendly fire incident. Also I guess they don't want people sneakily trying to disguise their attentions to get a kill in before they get sussed out by the enemy.

 

[Ferris]

Great guide! Should add it into your signature!

Also somthing for the future, although not enough info on it just yet, is the luxury traders turning into conflict zones potentially as mentioned by the dev, so if a player see these traders, it could perhaps later be a conflict zone? but may be more suited for a slighty more advanced section in the guide, if players are looking for trends/patterns in the verse. But the mechanics of that aren't to clear atm!

Thanks again ferris, will recommend anyone having trouble working out conflict zones to your thread!

Thanks, and yes once the mechanic behind the 'seeking luxuries' is a bit clearer i'll try to add it into the guide.

 

[Crunch]

Bookmarked. Will read later this evening when I don't have kids shouting at me.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Templer]

Do you know whether or not a faction can be completely eradicated from the game through a civil war ?

 

[Ferris]

Do you know whether or not a faction can be completely eradicated from the game through a civil war ?

The mechanic behind the war/civil-wars and what happens to the factions seems to be in a state of change at the moment. Looks like the dev-team are still working on this side of the game so I wouldn't like to speculate at the mo. I know they have plans for factions to be able to spread into neighboring systems and build new stations. As for when these additions will arrive, i'm not entirely sure

 

[paauggie]

Brilliant guide, really helpful - thanks for posting

 

[theEmohawk]

Do you know whether or not a faction can be completely eradicated from the game through a civil war ?

What I read from one of the designers is that civil war allows a faction to take over a station that was controlled by another faction. Whether that immediately removes the defeated faction I don't know. But logic would dictate that a loosing faction will struggle to regain any influence.
I'll find out soon, in my home system there's a civil war between two minor factions - when it started the major faction had 96% and the two warring factions had 2% each. Now the major faction has 99% and the warring two are showing 0% each (rounding). It's been less than a week, but I can't see the war lasting much longer.

OP - you mentioned missions for kills in CZ and say they are available in the system. Are you also aware that factions in neighbouring systems also offer those missions? I took one from a neighbouring system which paid me 29k for 7 kills in a CZ, a nice little bonus.

But conflict zones are far from a good way to make credits - I'd make almost 10 times as much hanging out a navy beacon for the same time. But... CZ are fun as long as the rebuy cost of your ship is something you can afford to pay out (I got rammed by an Asp, full shields and hull to insurance claim in 3 seconds).

 

[Ferris]

OP - you mentioned missions for kills in CZ and say they are available in the system. Are you also aware that factions in neighbouring systems also offer those missions? I took one from a neighbouring system which paid me 29k for 7 kills in a CZ, a nice little bonus.

But conflict zones are far from a good way to make credits - I'd make almost 10 times as much hanging out a navy beacon for the same time. But... CZ are fun as long as the rebuy cost of your ship is something you can afford to pay out (I got rammed by an Asp, full shields and hull to insurance claim in 3 seconds).

Thanks i'll update the guide to include missions from neighboring systems, and give a mention to the ramming dangers of CZs.

 

[Templer]

I would like to add that once you've picked a side a have fought for them for a while, it might not be wise to switch sides. A turncoat winds up with just hostiles and no friendlies in a conflict zone, which makes for some interesting fights

 

[MaraJade]

Very cool post, I was wondering how they worked, I had no idea who to shoot. I entered a high intensity conflict zone not having a clue what to do. I'm glad I didn't shoot anyone. Now I know how to pick sides. Think I will start with a low first.

View attachment 10680

 

[carlisle]

I have a theory about checkpoints. I was at one in Turir today, it consisted of a group of stationary Cobras broadcasting messages urging you to join their cause, and a square made out from nav beacons. I'm assuming that if you enter the square with combat bonds outstanding they will be paid, a similar kind of mechanic to the luxury traders.

The checkpoint in Turir is around a different planet to the combat zone though and only one faction appears to have a checkpoint, so only marginally more convenient than flying to a station, but I could be wrong. Perhaps they are intended for the upcoming wings and group objectives, like 'meet at checkpoint'.

 

[cDave]

In surrounding systems, and within the same system, you can find missions to kill Warships, that payout after a specified number of ships. These do not specify a faction, so joining either side works.
They work in parallel. e.g. Mission a) kill 3 warships for Alpha Faction. Mission b) kill 4 warships for Beta Faction. Mission c) kill 5 warships for Gamma faction. 5 kills will complete a 3 objectives.

 

[Ferris]

I have a theory about checkpoints. I was at one in Turir today, it consisted of a group of stationary Cobras broadcasting messages urging you to join their cause, and a square made out from nav beacons. I'm assuming that if you enter the square with combat bonds outstanding they will be paid, a similar kind of mechanic to the luxury traders.

The checkpoint in Turir is around a different planet to the combat zone though and only one faction appears to have a checkpoint, so only marginally more convenient than flying to a station, but I could be wrong. Perhaps they are intended for the upcoming wings and group objectives, like 'meet at checkpoint'.

I'll try heading to a checkpoint with outstanding bonds and see what happens. And yes, I get the feeling checkpoints may be one of those elements in the game that will be fleshed out in future updates.

In surrounding systems, and within the same system, you can find missions to kill Warships, that payout after a specified number of ships. These do not specify a faction, so joining either side works.
They work in parallel. e.g. Mission a) kill 3 warships for Alpha Faction. Mission b) kill 4 warships for Beta Faction. Mission c) kill 5 warships for Gamma faction. 5 kills will complete a 3 objectives.

Good to know!.. Thanks, i'll update the guide accordingly.

 

[CaptJack]

Does anyone know why a faction would just turn on you? I was in a CZ for 30 minutes took down a bunch of ships with them, then they all started hunting me down. I don't have a wanted status. I did not hit another ship... and even if I did, really elite? In a war zone!?
P.S. Great guide by the way.

 

[the100thmonkey]

I have a theory about checkpoints. I was at one in Turir today, it consisted of a group of stationary Cobras broadcasting messages urging you to join their cause, and a square made out from nav beacons. I'm assuming that if you enter the square with combat bonds outstanding they will be paid, a similar kind of mechanic to the luxury traders.

The checkpoint in Turir is around a different planet to the combat zone though and only one faction appears to have a checkpoint, so only marginally more convenient than flying to a station, but I could be wrong. Perhaps they are intended for the upcoming wings and group objectives, like 'meet at checkpoint'.

These make the "kill propagandist" missions make sense now. You kill the ships running the checkpoints.