Is there any way to NOT target system authority ships?

[Old Duck]

I play in 1920x1080, i don't have the VR god mode.

FWIW, I don't have HUD reticles identifying what I'm targeting (I disabled it for "immersion"), so I take extra care to make sure I target a BAD guy before I fire on them. Frontier has come a long way in reducing friendly-fire incidences, so it really does fall on the pilot to not randomly shoot at cops.

 

[ARNUD SWAZZANEGGER]

There is, they are colour coded green orange and red. The best the OP can do is fit smart rounds, or be careful targeting.

A proper FoF system would have meant i wouldn't have even been able to fire let alone lock-on as a friendly passed in front of me.
Only 'dumb fire' weapon systems would still be able to be fired.

Maybe the FoF system is patented and only available in Combat Flight Sims?

I will certainly be more careful (or is that just be careful to begin with in my case? LOL) and i will no longer be trying to target wanted ships while making turns in the middle of a huddle of ships.

 

[ARNUD SWAZZANEGGER]

so it really does fall on the pilot to not randomly shoot at cops.

It was not random shooting at cops at all. I'm Allied with the Federation and ranked up a fair bit so far. So i clearly don't have any intent for cop killing. That's why this bothered me, it worries me that my standing is now wiped out and everything i worked up for is gone. It was a genuine friendly fire mistake, but i didn't turn into the friendly ship, they turned into me.

Their ship darted into my screen and in front of the target. There was no way (at least for me, as a novice) to have done anything differently at that stage, at that exact moment, because i simply could not see them coming, and at that point, could not envision that sort of scenario.

 

[ARNUD SWAZZANEGGER]

Ok, so thankfully I'm still Allied with the Federation and still ranked at Warrant Officer. PHEW!

 

[Codger]

Trigger discipline is a thing. You're the one that's shooting. You have to be aware of what you're shooting. It can be done:

 

[alexzk]

Ok, so thankfully I'm still Allied with the Federation and still ranked at Warrant Officer. PHEW!

Just dont kill em. Jump out ASAP, go to any other system which has "Intersteallar" office and pay fee.
I did same once too ... but I wiped couple cops before I figured what I do It was just all red...

 

[Rubbernuke]

A proper FoF system would have meant i wouldn't have even been able to fire let alone lock-on as a friendly passed in front of me.
Only 'dumb fire' weapon systems would still be able to be fired.

Only the smart round experimental does what you want: https://elite-dangerous.fandom.com/wiki/Smart_Rounds

Maybe the FoF system is patented and only available in Combat Flight Sims?

Elite Dangerous has never had such a blanket feature beyond the experimental, its always been about trigger discipline and knowing when to stop. Sometimes it goes wrong, but thats the price paid in a huddled mass of ships.

I will certainly be more careful (or is that just be careful to begin with in my case? LOL) and i will no longer be trying to target wanted ships while making turns in the middle of a huddle of ships.

This. Unless you know and can anticipate (as much as you can) others getting in the way its best to be safe and not sorry.

 

[Legocar]

While most people are in fact giving you the right answer (it was your fault, there was no need to engage "fire mode" before double-checking your target was wanted, it was NOT a him or me situation - it was bad judgement) there are ways to do what you want, you will find that if it was indeed "just a few stray shots", you won't actually get penalised in any meaningful way for this. Just pay your fine and watch out for these things, they happen.

1) Run a few missions for the controlling faction; get a few faction rep under your belt and system authority from that faction show as friendly.
2) Learn to use "Target Next" and not "Target Front" in situations where this could happen. Yes it is up to you to judge this situation. (there are default bindings for this on all controllers, and using "target next ship" while under supercruise does not change your destination target - enjoy the free scan-mats)
3) There are engineered mods for certain guns that have a FoF component, so in a way what you are asking for exists - but you have to work to enable it.

There are down-sides to using FoF ammo, like the fact that sometimes a mission (or a galaxy play) may require you to whack a friendly target - always have something that can turn them hostile too. Another note is although turrets may seem like the "ultimate" beginner weapon, their (much) lower damage than fixed or gimballed can make them very inefficient. Honestly (IMHO) a mix of gimballed + fixed is a much much better start. Not only do targets die faster, but once you learn to track the AI's flimsy attempts to flee from your super penetrator rails ( ), you will soon learn why most long term players laugh when you tell them you have turrets.

 

[Raino]

I'm guessing i would have to link my account to that site, is it 3rd party?, and how can i trust it is safe to do this? I don't want to risk security to my ED account and lose everything.

If it's safe then i will do that, because i would like to contribute anything i find to the community. It would make it feel even more worthwhile i think.

Thanks for the links, they look to be great resources!

It is safe to link, inara will only get read permissions!

 

[d8veh]

I was hanging around a nav beacon at "shinratra dezra" in solo helping to take out wanted ships so i could collect wake data and materials, and in the last ship battle there i was turning my ship to target the wanted one, when a system authority ship just got in the way during my turn around and my beams locked to that ship instead and of course it was too late by then.

The instant my beams hit, i broke the lock and steered away, but they all attacked. So i take it the NPCs aren't programmed to realise you have sorta stood down by breaking lock and steering away?

I was there for quite a while helping to take down wanted ships, building rep, getting materials for engineering, so is that all wasted now?

I tried to do the log thingy i heard so much about, but it didn't make any difference. I was in solo, so i didn't think the log thing would matter since it was NPCs, but they had the countdown timer there as well. Maybe i should have just killed the power to my PC?!

Surely there's a friend or foe system so that sort of thing doesn't happen?

It's not so much about the rebuy cost, because i had over 500 million credits, it's about not being a law breaker in the game.

Do not use beam lasers for bounty farming. You will be OK using pulse lasers and multi-cannons. You still have to be careful and watch what's happening, but the police don't care if you land a few shots from those weapons as long as you don't select them as a target. Even a short touch from beams will make you wanted. If you accidentally target a police ship and land any shots on it, you will become instantly wanted.

Becoming accidentally wanted is a hazard of bounty farming. It will happen sooner or later whatever you do, though it should be no problem provided you react quickly.

I recommend that you carry a heatsink launcher when bounty farming. Dropping a heatsink breaks target lock on you, which buys you vital time when escaping if you come under fire, though I have 100% success in escaping without using them. As soon as you see the red writing (assault charge), you must turn and boost away from any cops in the area with 4 pips to engines and 2 to shields. Time is critical. You have plenty of it as long as you react quickly. Keep boosting and engage your FSD ASAP. As soon as you're in supercruise, plot a route to the nearest low security sytem with a station. At the station, you'll find the Interstellar Factor who will clear your bounty. Watch out for bounty hunters on your way to the IF.

Don't waste your time bounty farming at a Nav beacon. You'll make 5 times as much in a high RES if you go to a busy one, like LTT15574, Kremainn, Freng or Brani. If you're still in the beginner area, the one in Dromi is very good.

 

[ARNUD SWAZZANEGGER]

It is safe to link, inara will only get read permissions!

Right, i done the link up with that site, but it's empty so far.

Do i have to import my data to it or does it just take time to read from my profile and update the information of where i have been?

I'm currently at Pencil Station (Near the Guardian site) i have been scanning systems on my way there from Deciat, including Surface scans of some rings and a few landable bodies. I still have the data on my ship because the station isn't Federation so i was going to keep that until i got back to a federation system to give to them. Does it mattter?

I'd like to set all this up before i make any more moves, that way i know it's all set up corrrectly.

Any help with this would be apprreciated, i don't want to tinker with it and then find out later i made ANOTHER mistake! lol

 

[JetsonRING]

To be clear, it is not necessary to target a security ship in order for your ship to be attacked, only to hit one with even a single round even if the security ship drunkenly blunders between you and a target.

EDIT: I forgot. As D8veh pointed out FDev adjusted friendly-fire so that landing a single round on untargeted ships no longer triggers an attack ... most of the time.

 

[Raino]

Right, i done the link up with that site, but it's empty so far.

Do i have to import my data to it or does it just take time to read from my profile and update the information of where i have been?

I'm currently at Pencil Station (Near the Guardian site) i have been scanning systems on my way there from Deciat, including Surface scans of some rings and a few landable bodies. I still have the data on my ship because the station isn't Federation so i was going to keep that until i got back to a federation system to give to them. Does it mattter?

I'd like to set all this up before i make any more moves, that way i know it's all set up corrrectly.

Any help with this would be apprreciated, i don't want to tinker with it and then find out later i made ANOTHER mistake! lol

At Inara all You have to do is enter your frontier ID, should work so, may take some time
BUT , if You do exploring You should think about using EDdiscovery too, it will show your scans in real time in graphic display with all celestials You scanned including there contents and value! and much more...

 

[ARNUD SWAZZANEGGER]

At Inara all You have to do is enter your frontier ID, should work so, may take some time
BUT , if You do exploring You should think about using EDdiscovery too, it will show your scans in real time in graphic display with all celestials You scanned including there contents and value! and much more...

I linked up tot he one linked earlier EDSMnet, but i don't know how to get all my data loaded into it and set up.

EDIT: Managed to find out how to export my "journal" into the system on that site, and it's going through eveything i did since i stated the game.

Is there anything else i need to do on EDSM?

 

[Raino]

I linked up tot he one linked earlier EDSMnet, but i don't know how to get all my data loaded into it and set up.

EDIT: Managed to find out how to export my "journal" into the system on that site, and it's going through eveything i did since i stated the game.

Is there anything else i need to do on EDSM?

not that I know, have fun

 

[SciTrekker]

It was not random shooting at cops at all. I'm Allied with the Federation and ranked up a fair bit so far. So i clearly don't have any intent for cop killing. That's why this bothered me, it worries me that my standing is now wiped out and everything i worked up for is gone. It was a genuine friendly fire mistake, but i didn't turn into the friendly ship, they turned into me.

Their ship darted into my screen and in front of the target. There was no way (at least for me, as a novice) to have done anything differently at that stage, at that exact moment, because i simply could not see them coming, and at that point, could not envision that sort of scenario.

Learn to read your sensors, especially when making sharp turns. And as mentioned, learn more trigger control. But tbh, even a seasoned veteran may get a little too eager at times. When doing bounty hunting around security vessels, remember that you don't need to make the killing shot or even do most of the damage. Get a couple hits on the criminal and let security do the rest (I know, not as fun).

Also a bit of a warning regarding NPC crew flying a SLF: If you're the one that takes friendly fire, your NPC SLF crew will Defend when in that (default) mode. I've lost count of how many NPC crew I've given a tongue lashing for not recognizing the difference between a true attacker and an errant shot from NPC security.

 

[ARNUD SWAZZANEGGER]

When doing bounty hunting around security vessels, remember that you don't need to make the killing shot or even do most of the damage. Get a couple hits on the criminal and let security do the rest (I know, not as fun).

Yes, i have seen this mentioned in a few guide videos, just get some hits in and let the security forces mop up the rest. Not much fun at all. Which is why i kept at them! Perhaps it's for the best i actually do that in future though.

Also a bit of a warning regarding NPC crew flying a SLF: If you're the one that takes friendly fire, your NPC SLF crew will Defend when in that (default) mode. I've lost count of how many NPC crew I've given a tongue lashing for not recognizing the difference between a true attacker and an errant shot from NPC security.

I haven't even tried a multicew thing yet, but this sorta would put me off even bothering now i know this can also happen. Thanks for the heads up about that.

 

[Marbat]

I'm working on my combat rank but get in trouble all the time. Seems I go brain dead after awhile and next thing you know,"WANTED" appears. Ooops!

 

[d8veh]

I'm working on my combat rank but get in trouble all the time. Seems I go brain dead after awhile and next thing to know,"WANTED" appears. Ooops!

My general advice is to never use beams when bounty farming, and react quickly when you become wanted. A fast ship is always an advantage. Always have the best thrusters and power distributer you can get.

In a has RES, nobody cares when you become wanted, but, obviously, you need to visit an IF to clear the bounty before cashing in at the station.

 

[Marbat]

I don't know why you recommend not using beams. I'm using my FDL, has one beam, the rest are cannons and seems to be a good combination to me.

Last night I had one heck of a fight with a Python that just didn't want to die. I had zap it with the beam first from a distance after it had been attack. I sat back and watch from a distance and its shields wouldn't go down, it was tagged as Deadly and usually doesn't take much to kill. Well after a while I help to bring down its shield with the beam and a few cannon shots...yet it would not weaken.

Decided to go head to head at it, I was already at 97 % shield, Python still at 100 %. This was the longest battle I've had in a long time, needed to retreat to a safe distance a couple of times to regen my shields. Once the smoke cleared and finally destroyed it, I was down to 20% shields. That python must have had something special onboard for being so tough. It was not a CMDR.

Beams are good to knock shields down, have at least one on most of my ships.