I Still don't understand the mission system

[Cervantes01]

Hi guys, can someone explain how the mission system works in Elite Dangerous, I've been playing for over a year and been mostly doing a mix of trade, bulletin board missions, res sites and some exploration.

I work hard to rank up with a controlling faction and the better my relationship gets the less money they offer me and the poorer the rewards. Meanwhile factions within the same system that I don't do anything with and haven't worked for start offering better pay and rewards. I don't accept these missions as I'm worried that it will affect my standing with the system's controlling faction, but they don't offer me anything either. This usually happens when I get to Allied status.

As a result I have start elsewhere and go through the process again, working my way up through the ranks seeing missions advertised that pay amazing money, that I can't do because I'm not friendly/trusted enough as of yet only for them to dissapeer the second that they like me.

Can someone explain if this is working as intended or am I really not getting how missions are offered in ED or are they borked.

If you can please explain it to me as if I am a five year old child, plus I don't do powerplay, just in case you think it's anything to do with that.

 

[Codger]

How odd. This goes exactly counter to my experience. I generally work a system until I'm allied with everyone, and once I am I get great payouts. I sometimes ignore a particularly nasty faction, and do the rest, but the payouts definitely increase as my rep with a faction goes up.

I can't imagine why you would see the opposite.

 

[Sashenka]

How odd. This goes exactly counter to my experience. I generally work a system until I'm allied with everyone, and once I am I get great payouts. I sometimes ignore a particularly nasty faction, and do the rest, but the payouts definitely increase as my rep with a faction goes up.

I can't imagine why you would see the opposite.

This is my experience too. Though sometimes I will get a better paying mission from a faction I haven't repped up with but it is also riskier.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

I don't accept these missions as I'm worried that it will affect my standing with the system's controlling faction, but they don't offer me anything either.

Doing missions for another faction won't affect your reputation with other factions in a system at all, unless it's a combat action against their ships or bases.
What the mission will do is raise the influence of that faction by a fraction.

 

[M4rt1n]

You don't have to restrain yourself to support just the controlling faction. Try to get allied with everyone. That way you will have a bigger pool of juicy mission payouts!

 

[Dbrn47]

Might just be bad luck with the mission pool still generating lower ranked missions. Switch modes a few times, you should be able to see higher pay missions at some point.

 

[Macros Black]

Seen the same as the OP, but good paying missions seems to come back after a while. Perhaps it's just a question of timing?

I tend to migrate a lot, and don't say in a cluster of systems for very long. When missions dry up, I usually move to another cluster, and seldom come back.

 

[Zaggeron]

Probably just a run of bad mission rolls -- happens to me occasionally. But, in general, the better your rep with the faction, the better paying missions they offer. It also may have to do with the system status -- boom, expansion, etc. Those may all affect the sort of missions being offered.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Going to have to stand with pretty much everyone else here... once in a while I get crap missions/payouts from favored factions, and no, doing non-combat missions for other factions has no bearing on your standing with other factions.
And for the most part, unless the Credit Gods are in a foul humor, factions have have higher rep with usually pay more than factions I don't, and when they do, I usually go mining or bounty-hunting to make up for the lousey missions, since they reset.. uh, I don't actually know how long between mission refreshes, but a mining run or bounty-hunting outing usually lasts longer than it takes for the missions to refresh.

 

[Alderius]

I'm allied with every faction in my home system and I've seem mission values go from the 30-50k mark when I started up to 1.5M after being allied. There was a point however that I made too many military deliveries and the system went into a state of war, and then mission numbers and values tanked. I left to participate in a few CG's and after I came back everything was back to normal, I probably made 3-4M in an hour of boom deliveries last night. I use a Python so I can pick up large cargo deliveries. I'm also making empire rank in the process, a few weeks ago I just made Duke and I'm about 15% towards the next rank (Prince?) just running missions.
In war state, some missions were showing up for 15m for massacre's, but it was always for a large number of ships in a short timeframe, just wasn't my thing.....

Good Luck!

 

[Brian of Ardagh]

I recently cleared my save so I'm slowly working the ladder, I know your pain. My home base has 2 factions I want to work with, both democratic factions aligned with the Federation, the others are corporations. I won't work with dictators. I recently got a message that I repped up to cordial with the controlling faction but the faction apparently hasn't been informed! It still shows neutral. I tried logging in and out but saw no difference.

I'm only getting 1 or 2 missions from the controlling faction a day and the other factions a few here and there but for most I don't meet the requirements. The system is in a boom state so maybe they don't need the work.

I decided I'd take off for awhile and do some trading so I found a decent run about 40 ly away when I can make about 2,500 credits/ton a loop. I outfitted my Sidewinder for 8 tons and a 2B FSD to maximize the hauls. Once I've made enough credits for an Adder with a decent buffer I'll return to my home base and rep up more.

As someone else mentioned in another thread somewhere, take missions and wherever you deliver, bookmark that system. If your home faction isn't giving missions, hang out at another station you've bookmarked and take missions with those factions. Be careful though, it is possible to take a mission that will be antagonistic to another faction you've repped up with.

As the mission contact's flavor text says, even if there aren't any missions you can help the controlling faction by trading, bounty hunting and mining in most cases.

 

[Cervantes01]

Thanks for the answers everyone. It seems counterintuitive though to be able to take missions with a faction that is a sworn enemy of the controlling faction in the system without suffering any penalties.

 

[Brian of Ardagh]

Thanks for the answers everyone. It seems counterintuitive though to be able to take missions with a faction that is a sworn enemy of the controlling faction in the system without suffering any penalties.

Not as counter-intuitive as becoming a Duke in the Imperial Navy and and Admiral in the Federation Navy! You'd think one side, or both would be a bit concerned about such traitorous double-dealing!

 

[Cervantes01]

Agreed, rep given

 

[Ralph Vargr]

Note: I play in Solo. No humans were hurt in the making of this response.

Please note that though I am allied with the pirates in Borscht, they still attack me. Especially while mining. Lost millions of credits being bushwhacked by 4:1 or greater Death Squads.

Surprisingly, my rep for being such a good loser (and not hunting *them*) did not make my rep go up with the pirates.

I tend to move to other systems, when the pirates get nasty. Pirates Are Mean People.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

Not as counter-intuitive as becoming a Duke in the Imperial Navy and and Admiral in the Federation Navy! You'd think one side, or both would be a bit concerned about such traitorous double-dealing!

Yes, I hope that any overhaul of the military side of the campaign includes an inability to hold high ranks in two rival navies at the same time. Maybe a simple-each rank in one navy equals one lower rank you can ever achieve with the rival. Also, your rank should degrade the longer you go without working for that Super Power!

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Just a thought. What state was the System and/or The Faction in when you got the lower paid missions? I've heard that factions in retreat, or famine or outbreak tend to offer up more "charity" missions. Though I have never seen it in action myself.

 

[Sapyx]

I'm against "rank decay" - there's already too much decay in this game - and against automatic exclusion of dual-ranking. It should be difficult, but not impossible, to dual-rank up. There should, however, be demotions for actively working against a superpower you hold rank in. And if/when total war breaks out, people should be forced to choose one or the other.

As for the OP, I'd agree it hasn't been my observation. Can only suggest that all your mission-running has pushed the BGS of "your" faction into something unfavourable and mission-restricting (like Lockdown).

 

[Faded Glory]

[snip]
Also, your rank should degrade the longer you go without working for that Super Power!

[snip]
I'm against "rank decay" - there's already too much decay in this game - and against automatic exclusion of dual-ranking. It should be difficult, but not impossible, to dual-rank up. There should, however, be demotions for actively working against a superpower you hold rank in. And if/when total war breaks out, people should be forced to choose one or the other.

Not wanting to take the thread too off-topic...

But no, no more 'decay' for not playing the game! Please. Work for the Federation, any Empire rank you have can decay / diminish and vice versa, but not just because you haven't happened to work... err play... for a while.