Need help finding naval progression missions...

MaggieM · Jun 14, 2015

So I have been saving up this week to buy an imperial clipper but now that I have enough to get it I can't find any naval progression missions. I can't find the first mission to get the outsider rank and I have tried everything. I have already become allied with the empire so my reputation isn't the problem. I tried for probably 4 hours tonight, jumping to imperial systems and none of them have had it. I even tried staying in one system doing missions and collecting bounties for awhile because I read that staying put was better than jumping but it still didn't work.

Is it bugged? Should I try going to large systems imperial systems, imperial power home worlds / controlled worlds, the imperial home world? Or is it just RNG and I could do this for another week and never get the mission?

Please help so I can get a new pretty ship

Shaele · Jun 14, 2015

the rank-up missions appear randomly, no way to trigger them except keep trying

pcymog · Jun 14, 2015

You just have to become friendly with many Empire faction while grinding mission for them, and The rank-mission will pop.
Go to SOL [Edit]Sorry, I was talking about ACHENAR[Edit] as soon as possible, there are five Empire faction, no need to check which one is pledged with Empire, because they all are, focus only on the empire faction.
Each step need more missions to be done, so don't stop, they'll pop.

MaggieM · Jun 14, 2015

But I am already allied with the Empire so I'm already allied with every imperial faction so why do I need to get more reputation with them? Like, every imperial station I jump to is green. And Sol has imperial factions? That doesn't make sense.

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I do have like 2 bounties for accidental murders that I got while bounty hunting in imperial systems that have a few days left before they expire, but I still have an up green arrow on my imperial reputation. Would that affect it at all?

Jaiotu · Jun 14, 2015

MaggieM said:
But I am already allied with the Empire so I'm already allied with every imperial faction so why do I need to get more reputation with them? Like, every imperial station I jump to is green. And Sol has imperial factions? That doesn't make sense.

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I do have like 2 bounties for accidental murders that I got while bounty hunting in imperial systems that have a few days left before they expire, but I still have an up green arrow on my imperial reputation. Would that affect it at all?

Being allied with the Major faction... the Empire in this case, will technically light up every imperial minor faction as "allied" and green. There is a hidden variable however on each minor faction so you still have to work toward gaining reputation with as many of these minor factions as you can. This is a circumstance where being allied to the major faction is a negative asset because you can no longer track progress with the minor factions.
The negative reputation gained from those two bounties is a HUGE reputation loss that is going to take time to overcome.
My suggestion: Trade rare commodities. Find a route and sell about 6 million credits to one imperial star system before moving on to another. Selling a large volume of rares at a high profit margin will really help you build reputation with the minor factions. Just make sure you are trading to an imperial station. Once you've done this for about three systems (and given that there is a degree of random number generation involved) you should start seeing Ascension missions in the BB.
Good luck commander and remember... you can always defect over to the Federation

Pufferfish · Jun 14, 2015

I haven't done any rank missions since 1.3. But I heard that there was a bug with them, don't know if that is resolved or not. But usually a port doesn't have a rank mission right away. I usually did a little bounty hunting and then do a couple missions for one of the empire groups (stick to the same one) and after I'd turn in 1 or 2 missions they would pop up. Trick for me was to just keep going when I got a mission, (I would usually get 3 or 4 in a row) because once I stopped doing them I wouldn't see another one for a long time.

MaggieM · Jun 14, 2015

Jaiotu said:
Being allied with the Major faction... the Empire in this case, will technically light up every imperial minor faction as "allied" and green. There is a hidden variable however on each minor faction so you still have to work toward gaining reputation with as many of these minor factions as you can. This is a circumstance where being allied to the major faction is a negative asset because you can no longer track progress with the minor factions.
The negative reputation gained from those two bounties is a HUGE reputation loss that is going to take time to overcome.
My suggestion: Trade rare commodities. Find a route and sell about 6 million credits to one imperial star system before moving on to another. Selling a large volume of rares at a high profit margin will really help you build reputation with the minor factions. Just make sure you are trading to an imperial station. Once you've done this for about three systems (and given that there is a degree of random number generation involved) you should start seeing Ascension missions in the BB.
Good luck commander and remember... you can always defect over to the Federation

Alright thanks, though like I said I had been at stations where I had turned in several missions and 5 million worth of bounties so I would assume I might at least be friendly with them. But ya, hidden reputation with minor factions, that is dumb, real dumb FD >.>

metatheurgist · Jun 14, 2015

It's not so hidden. If you do a job for a minor faction and there's a blue arrow next to the name you're still gaining rep. If the arrow stops appearing they're maxed. Not great but still useful.

Rauminen · Jun 14, 2015

Not sure about the rare trading or trading in general for rep - bounties seemed a much faster way, assuming kws of course. All kind of minor factions put bounties on ships, when you turn them in, they will start to like you.

Missions of course are the sure-fire way, as they even display if you gained any rep when you finish them. So best to take bounty-hunting missions. If you have a combat ship of course. T-9 is not really good for this

MaggieM · Jun 14, 2015

Currently doing CZ missions and stuff, seems to go up really fast because you get rep for killing enemy ships and for turning in missions and for turning in combat bonds. We shall see if i finally get the mission i want though =/

Thebadmf · Jun 14, 2015

There is an easy litmus test for this. When taking BB missions it often states the local rep required. If missions for the imperial faction are unavailable at allied then you need to run missions. When you complete your missions you will see a bar with the arrow. Allied is about 70% of the length.

Rep gain from trade was nerfed several months ago so for example, I ran 80 million profit worth of imp slaves on the border of archon space and only ended up half way through friendly. Missions are much better rep overall. It is still working as I spent the past few evenings gaining fed rep and my missions popped yesterday. However the missions themselves are bugged and don't always give ranks.

pcymog · Jun 14, 2015

MaggieM said:
But I am already allied with the Empire so I'm already allied with every imperial faction so why do I need to get more reputation with them? Like, every imperial station I jump to is green. And Sol has imperial factions? That doesn't make sense.

- - - Updated - - -

I do have like 2 bounties for accidental murders that I got while bounty hunting in imperial systems that have a few days left before they expire, but I still have an up green arrow on my imperial reputation. Would that affect it at all?

Sorry, I was talking about ACHENAR (the imperial capital system, not SOL, the Federal capital system).
Plus, to be Friendly with Empire doesn't mean you really are with minor faction (even they are green on your board), you have to work for them all the same, so do missions.
Since the 1.3 PP MàJ, if you have acces to the missions which need to be friendly with the minor faction then you are on the good way.
Focus on the imperial station only, make benefices in, sell exploration data in, give you combat/bounty bond in, and don't loss reputation, be straight, no bounty on you head, don't give up mission.

Good luck.

bsnaylor · Jun 14, 2015

Yokai's Guide still applies. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=102810
Summary:
Work missions (fetch/delivery runs work fastest in my experience) for minor factions that are allied to Major faction you want to rank up in.
Do a dozen or so missions for 2 or 3 different minor factions, your Rank missions will appear.
Good luck!

Note: Beware though, there is a bug at the moment where you sometimes have to do 3 rank missions for one of them to work, so if you happen to see 3 on the same BB, take them all.
If you get it on the 1st one, you can discard the rest, you won't another rank increase with it.

MaggieM · Jun 14, 2015

so i finally got one to appear by going back and forth between solo/open a few times. Got a kill bounty hunters one which was not the best but seeing has it was the only one i had ever seen i took it. And guess what?! I do it and return to the station and get ... NOTHING! Isn't that great? Now I have a 10k bounty on my head and nothing to show for it and have also probably decreased my invisible rep with that station to unfriendly so a lot of work on that station for nothing and I wont be able to go back until next week.

Should I file a ticket? I mean I assume the already know about this bug but would they at least give me the rank or remove the bounty for me? Because this is just dumb. I've spent 3 days trying to get the mission to appear and when it does it doesn't work.

I am going to try switching between open/solo to see if i get any more but after that I am done. The clipper is pretty but it ain't worth this much frustration.

pcymog · Jun 15, 2015

From my experience, the Bounty hunter ranking mission means you are not far from the rank Baron (which is necessary to purchase a Clipper).
So you should be at least be Squire or Knight, so it's weird you are stuck to outsider, maybe a bug :/
But Keep going on, Here is my tactic.
Go to ACHENAR, visit every station there and take all the missions you can, trading, smuggling, killing pirate, transport, etc ... All you are able to complet. Avoid those where you have to kill trader or security force, even assassination is at risk because sometime you'll have to kill an innocent who works for another imperial minor faction and it's the better way to lose rep' with that sort of mission.
Do the missions and go back in ACHENAR only once all the missions are completed. While you take you reward, take all the new poped missions, and go for another run.

Hold on, the Clipper is worth the time you spend to become Baron.