I feel I'm completely excluded from material and data gathering in Odyssey 🙁

[Rat Catcher]

There are missions available in Odyssey that will pay materials as well as credits, that have zero (or as near zero as any part of the game overall) combat as part of the mission. You certainly won't colect them at the rate possible by using even the minimal risk options, but they will be collected.

Even wandering about an installation and stealing mats, and downloading non-illegal data, is very possible, just by ensuring there is nobody nearby to witness the 'crime'.

Pretty much the same as Horizons, a little effort in finding the available options (and realising that relogging just doesn't work in EDO - and hopefully will be removed from EDH soon..) will set you on the path for 'upgraded' kit. Although I do all my exploring in a basic Artemis suit and SRV, so don't have need of extra anything...

 

[taniwha-qf]

Thanks StormFury and Comandante.

Best of luck. I hope you find some good suits.

 

[Stealthie]

Well, engineering is providing some benefits, but it costs some effort.
If the effort is deemed to be bigger than the benefits... just dont do it.

Yep, exactly.

TBH, I spent a couple of hours in an FPS CZ last night and it was great fun.
It's not like I deliberately want to avoid the pew-pew. It's just that I haven't yet found any need to pursue the engineering.
Like I said, if I do, I'll jump into it.
In the mean time, I'm quite happy to just do other stuff instead.

This might sound a bit odd but it's actually kind of nice to know there's a whole other "thing", waiting for me to take an interest in it.

 

[MickyG1982]

Even wandering about an installation and stealing mats, and downloading non-illegal data, is very possible, just by ensuring there is nobody nearby to witness the 'crime'.

Player "forgets" last part, player proves point.

 

[Codger]

No one has mentioned the pre-upgraded suits and weapons that you can find for sale everywhere. No combat needed, just credits.

My alt has all grade 3 gear in about 10 hours of looking. I found an Artemis suit with Night Vision already installed. I’ve done no missions at all.

Besides, if your going to explore only and never fight anything, you only need a level 1 suit. I did it that way throughout the alpha. You have an SRV. It has night vision. It can recharge your suit. That’s all you need.

Upgraded stuff is nice QOL-wise, but totally unnecessary.

 

[Rat Catcher]

TBH, I spent a couple of hours in an FPS CZ last night and it was great fun.

High CZs, once the 'skills' are in place, can pay out more in an hour than Space CZ.. I regularly come back with 10-11 mill from a ground High.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Player "forgets" last part, player proves point.

It has never bothered me, I'd be just as happy mowing down everyone there... but, it is possible - which is the point, stealth works rather well - and running away from 'mistakes' is equally possible, as well as being a learning aid - learning from mistakes is allegedly one of the things humans are able to do...

...although if a 'player' wants something entirely non-confrontational, well, Odyssey is probably not the ideal expansion.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

Well, engineering is providing some benefits, but it costs some effort.
If the effort is deemed to be bigger than the benefits... just dont do it.

This - I accumulated several suits and all weapons by shopping for pre-upgraded gear (which in itself isn't the most exciting activity, but if you don't overdo it and just develop a habit of visiting each Pioneer store especially in less travelled systems it's a minor chore only, certainly less effort than unlocking engineers and upgrading manually), and most is G3 level now, with some G2 because the add-ons were worth it keeping them - which is more than enough to comfortably win a High CZ.

I haven't visited a single EDO engineer, not even Domino, because there's no need for it. The only thing I kind of miss is night vision (visited dozens of stations but none of the premium gear had it installed, but I got two with extra backpack capacity instead) so I don't feel the need to go through the engineer grind at all. And since night vision in EDO is such an eye sore right now with the awful jaggies I try to avoid dark sides of planets where possible, and rely on the flashlight otherwise. NV is a minor convenience at best and imo not worth the grinding it requires.

Which is a bit of a problem though because that is actually the primary raison-d'etre of EDO (besides plant scanning) and I'm cutting a large chunk of 'gameplay' out of my Elite Odyssey experience - which also makes me question why I should do on-foot missions or raid/scavenge a settlement, apart from for the sake of it, because I don't really need any of the mats to begin with.

 

[Stealthie]

High CZs, once the 'skills' are in place, can pay out more in an hour than Space CZ.. I regularly come back with 10-11 mill from a ground High.

Yep, I did notice the potential, there.
I earned a couple of million credits without really trying.

Also, for somebody who's struggling about getting used to legs, they're ideal because there's really no consequences for getting shot.
If you go to a surface POI, looking for mat's, and get shot you "die" and end up back on yor ship (IIRC).
At a CZ, if you get shot you just respawn on the next drop-ship.

They're the ideal place for "getting your feet wet" in the whole FPS thing.

 

[taniwha-qf]

Which is a bit of a problem though because that is actually the primary raison-d'etre of EDO (besides plant scanning) and I'm cutting a large chunk of 'gameplay' out of my Elite Odyssey experience - which also makes me question why I should do on-foot missions or raid/scavenge a settlement, apart from for the sake of it, because I don't really need any of the mats to begin with.

I disagree. The engineers are not the raison-d'etre of EDO, the on-foot missions and exploration are. The engineers are just a mostly-optional ingredient in making the missions easier.

 

[CaptainPugwash]

Well, engineering is providing some benefits, but it costs some effort.
If the effort is deemed to be bigger than the benefits... just dont do it.

It does beg the question though: is the current engineering grind wheel there for some future content? Let’s hope so ….

 

[Deleted member 182079]

I disagree. The engineers are not the raison-d'etre of EDO, the on-foot missions and exploration are. The engineers are just a mostly-optional ingredient in making the missions easier.

Note my caveat on exploration aka plant scanning (unless you want to include looking at landscapes as gameplay) - but those missions - I mean, why do you do them from an in-game perspective? Certainly not for the credits, or the BGS, as ship missions are much more effective for both - you either do them because you really enjoy them for the sake of it (as I was saying) or to gather mats for EDO engineering, since they're useless for ship engineering. So perhaps I worded it poorly, but what I'm trying to say is, to me engineering seems to be the primary pillar of structured gameplay that comes with Odyssey.

But yes, the EDO engineers are 100% optional and can be ignored entirely (at least since the pre-engineered gear got introduced) which isn't a resoundingly positive verdict in my book, quite the opposite.

 

[taniwha-qf]

It does beg the question though: is the current engineering grind wheel there for some future content? Let’s hope so ….

What isn't there for some future content?

 

[taniwha-qf]

Note my caveat on exploration aka plant scanning (unless you want to include looking at landscapes as gameplay) - but those missions - I mean, why do you do them from an in-game perspective? Certainly not for the credits, or the BGS, as ship missions are much more effective for both - you either do them because you really enjoy them for the sake of it (as I was saying) or to gather mats for EDO engineering, since they're useless for ship engineering.

Actually, from what I've heard, they're very effective at BGS and credits. Just look at how the anarchy factions have been devastated, just by on-foot missions and non-missions (ie, self-given missions). Also, all the data and materials collected is good for credits.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

Actually, from what I've heard, they're very effective at BGS and credits. Just look at how the anarchy factions have been devastated, just by on-foot missions and non-missions (ie, self-given missions). Also, all the data and materials collected is good for credits.

As someone who nurtured a backwater anarchy system (that I flipped from corporate previously), I noticed alright. So ok, they wreck BGS efforts for anarchies very effectively, good stuff. They still take much longer to complete so if I was a serious BGS player I'd rather stick to ship missions because it takes less time to complete them.

Credits though? Is there a payout curve that I'm missing out on because my Mercenary rank is too low still? At best I'd get maybe 500k per mission (often much less than that), and considering how long it takes for most of them to complete that doesn't seem good value money wise compared to the ship missions.

 

[taniwha-qf]

Credits though? Is there a payout curve that I'm missing out on because my Mercenary rank is too low still? At best I'd get maybe 500k per mission (often much less than that), and considering how long it takes for most of them to complete that doesn't seem good value money wise compared to the ship missions.

Apparently, yes. When your rank and faction reputation are high enough, the odds of getting high payouts from on-foot mission givers goes up.

 

[Deleted member 182079]

Apparently, yes. When your rank and faction reputation are high enough, the odds of getting high payouts from on-foot mission givers goes up.

Fair enough. I'm allied now with a bunch of factions so will check out the mission board for on-foot next time there. I hope rank will have less impact (there is for sure an impact of it on ship missions, but it's already possible to make millions and I'm only Competent in ship combat) as my Mercenary rank moves very slowly, and CZs are an unpleasant experience for me right now due to the ongoing performance issues so I'm not bothering with them.

 

[Northpin]

I hope rank will have less impact (there is for sure an impact of it on ship missions

if you are allied, you can negotiate better rewards from the npc mission givers - getting 10 Manufactured instead of 5 as a mission rewards feels like X-Mas

 

[Deleted member 182079]

if you are allied, you can negotiate better rewards from the npc mission givers - getting 10 Manufactured instead of 5 as a mission rewards feels like X-Mas

Ok, what about credits? I have no idea what the upper ceiling for cash rewards is - context here is that I'm building up assets again after a reset so credits are a lot more valuable to me than (EDO) mats.

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

I have a good selection of suits (and weapons) now in Odyssey. I caveat the weapons because, while I looked for them when I was buying suits, I just can't stand combat in games...

I haven't got the reflexes for it, I find that it causes me genuine anxiety, and it's just not my bag.

This is why I feel I'm completely excluded from material and data gathering in Odyssey (so far). In the rest of the game there's not a single material or data type that cannot be gathered completely safely, or traded for, with no possibility of combat. I'll caveat this as everything you need to upgrade your ships and that doesn't involve Thargoid or Guardian sites, but even much of that is perfectly safe to gather.

Even the safest methods of gathering materials and data in Odyssey still have a risk of combat, or an element of combat. For someone who, like I said, gets genuine anxiety from combat in games this isn't good. I feel there's FAR too great an emphasis placed on the FPS element of Odyssey and the rest of us are being completely forgotten. So much for the "play it your way" approach.

I'm wondering how many more of you feel the same way, as I seriously hope this gets fixed at some point.

This is one of the reasons why I had Odyssey refunded. This expansion is focused mostly on pew pew which is the least interesting aspect of the game for me. Sooner or later you need to shoot someone and become a space criminal.