How do we find Traders?

[Bokumetsu]

I just picked up a mission to hunt 4 Traders. I've found Transport ships in SC but had no way of pulling them out, and I found another Trader at a USS. He was completely alone with no shields (contacts marked him as a Transport ship). I shot at him and immediately got a bounty on me, while another NPC who wasn't in the area before shot at me.

I managed to get out safely but I'm wondering 2 things:

1. Was that even a trader ship?
2. if so, will Trader ships employ a bounty when shot at?

The mission says it didn't matter who or what they were, just kill them.

 

[BimblesDidums]

Traders are in USS'. They are usually in Type 9's asking for specific wares through the comms.

 

[X2Eliah]

Well, look at it this way:
Some dude tells you to go shoot traders. Not criminals, not pirates, not wanted ships, but traders. Shouldn't you get a wanted status and be branded a criminal for that?
The mission does not give any carte blanche from consequences.

Whether that was a trader ship - probably. Best way to check is to see the mission entry in the left-hand sidemenu, and see if it has incremented the "targets killed" counter (should be right above the 'number of targets' number).

 

[Reject]

How do you spot a trader?

- Are "any and all" Type-9 ships traders? Or could an Eagle with cargo be considered a trader?
- Are only NPC traders or is a player hauling cargo also a trader?

 

[Demonic Squid]

Traders are in USS'. They are usually in Type 9's asking for specific wares through the comms.

They are luxury good merchants who want to buy performance enhancers, they are not the traders you need to kill for missions.

The traders are flying trading ships, so look for haulers, adders, type-6/7/9s at the Nav Beacons, or interdict them.

Note:

1. going to a USS or three may trigger a branch which gives you the option to kill another type of target, usually for more CR, and sometimes in a different system.

2. if you attack a trader who is not wanted, you will get a bounty on you and trigger a police response especially at Nav Beacons. The best places to attack traders are in independent systems as you will only get a bounty in that system. Situational awareness is important here, so check the galaxy map and find what systems are good/bad before taking these missions.

3. killing a trading ship does not always count towards the mission goal. Not 100% on the reasons here, could be a bug, but also could that we are missing some info.

4. the branch mission may have you attacking pirates (these are generally just wanted guys) instead, this is a better option unless you it also means you miss out on some faction gain that you want - again read the description, the info is there for the most part.

 

[Reject]

They are luxury good merchants who want to buy performance enhancers, they are not the traders you need to kill for missions.

The traders are flying trading ships, so look for haulers, adders, type-6/7/9s at the Nav Beacons, or interdict them.

Actually, when partaking in said mission, I once shot down your "luxury good merchant" and that kill was rewarded as one kill for the mission.

These mission types seem really well thought out, dont they, lol? They might as well have written "Go kill 2 random people - if lucky, you get credits, if not you get bounty on your head".

 

[Commander William Diffin]

So now I know never to take 'Trader' contracts.

I've taken the kill 'Traders' mission and tried everything. I've tried USSs, I've tried interdicting, I just get a murder warrant, no credit for a trader kill. Only the luxury merchants give me a credit for a trader kill, and they are rare even near to space stations. And I'm not going to open up on everything that moves and pick up 5 or 6 or 7 or 8000CR bounty on my head for each unprovoked murder I commit, just on the off-chance the game decides the victim is a trader. I even demolished a group of traders that turned out to be a funeral cortege. Lame. This is so lame. But it gets lamer. After an hour or so of checking the USSs and picking up 50000CR of bounty on my head and still no credited trader kills, I find a lone ship which sends me some pathetic message about how I can start afresh and wash the blood from my hands, and I think: 'Ah, this must be a trader,' and I boil the fool immediately. And then when I check my kill tally, lo and behold the kill tally has disappeared, and the mission has been changed to go to a station to be paid off for abandoning the contract... by the guy I just killed. Lame. Lame sucks. I abandon the mission in disgust and then it remains on my Transactions permanently, presumably until I take the pay-off. But I don't want to start afresh. I don't want the blood washed from my hands. I'm a professional hired killer. And I have my reputation to think of. I expect my clients to give me clearly identifiable targets. I go after the target. I kill the target. And after I've killed the target I want my money. That is all. So now I know never to take 'Trader' contracts. Lame. Really lame donkey sucks lame. Ticketed. Lame.

 

[Acarin]

Um... Not abundantly clear, I grant you, but lame? I don't think so. If you want "clearly defined targets" then take an assassination mission (named target), a Pirate mission (they approach you in USS areas if you have cargo) or Bounty Hunte missions (they approach you in USS zones if you have a bounty on you, funnily enough). "Traders" are always going to be tricky to spot, as they are the ones who _don't_ come after you and, unless you are lucky enough to find a Wanted trader, will not make you popular with local security.

The mission should certainly have an "Illegal" tag in the text, but if you don't want to be a fugitive, don't shoot innocent ships!

 

[erbal]

I've taken the kill 'Traders' mission and tried everything. I've tried USSs, I've tried interdicting, I just get a murder warrant, no credit for a trader kill. Only the luxury merchants give me a credit for a trader kill, and they are rare even near to space stations. And I'm not going to open up on everything that moves and pick up 5 or 6 or 7 or 8000CR bounty on my head for each unprovoked murder I commit, just on the off-chance the game decides the victim is a trader. I even demolished a group of traders that turned out to be a funeral cortege. Lame. This is so lame. But it gets lamer. After an hour or so of checking the USSs and picking up 50000CR of bounty on my head and still no credited trader kills, I find a lone ship which sends me some pathetic message about how I can start afresh and wash the blood from my hands, and I think: 'Ah, this must be a trader,' and I boil the fool immediately. And then when I check my kill tally, lo and behold the kill tally has disappeared, and the mission has been changed to go to a station to be paid off for abandoning the contract... by the guy I just killed. Lame. Lame sucks. I abandon the mission in disgust and then it remains on my Transactions permanently, presumably until I take the pay-off. But I don't want to start afresh. I don't want the blood washed from my hands. I'm a professional hired killer. And I have my reputation to think of. I expect my clients to give me clearly identifiable targets. I go after the target. I kill the target. And after I've killed the target I want my money. That is all. So now I know never to take 'Trader' contracts. Lame. Really lame donkey sucks lame. Ticketed. Lame.

Reading this post reminds me of this song:
[video=youtube;bHNczNvOnGc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHNczNvOnGc[/video]

 

[dalmar72]

I don't care about the wanted status, I just want a little more clarity on what is a trader. I took on a kill trader missions that explicitly stated I don't care who they are or where they are, so I go kill a hauler, bam wanted status (expected) but doesn't count as a trader kill. kill another adder, more wanted, not trader kill. Can't find actual traders to kill. and that's the problem. If they are only type 9's that's one thing, i can look for them, but don't put in the mission that you don't care who they are, when obviously the mission specs dictate that you do care.