RP broken by constant interdictions.

[Wardonis]

I like to play this game very casually, I am a trucker by trade and I enjoy space trucking as well. What I don't enjoy is combat. My character has a rank of harmless and flys an unarmed ship, no weapons on it. And yet I see so many interdictions its ridiculous. It happens in Literally 23 out of 25 missions. I search for transport missions specifically and yet after leaving the station I get some alert that enemy forces are being sent after me. On top of that, if I abandon the mission I get massive penalties. If I had known I was going to get attacked I would never of chosen the mission to begin with.

I don't have any issues with the time bonus, but I really hate getting this combat forced on me over and over.

 

[znôrt]

some missions send npc after you. even without missions, there is always a chance you get interdicted by random pirates. so to space truck you absolutely need to learn to deal with interdictions, that's just how the game works. no place in the inhabited bubble is completely safe.

also, stacking missions increases the number of npc after you, so take that into account.

i've not played missions for a while myself and can't tell you what types of missions make you more attractive as a target, if any. maybe some experienced missioneer can help. however, npc interdictions are actually more annoyance than danger once you learn to deal with them:

• get some basic shield on your ship, no need for weapons
• try to win the interdiction minigame. if it's too hard, just cut off the throttle before loosing it and submit. that way your fsd will cool down way faster than your attacker's
• if your attacker is in a bigger ship (rule of thumb) he can masslock you preventing you from low-waking. in that case choose a system in your nav panel to high-wake to.
• then circle around the attacker until your fsd cools down. do not try to run away in a straight line, since he will probably be faster than you and will be pounding your rear all the way
• jump away. keep in mind he will still come after you after a while, unless you kill him, which you won't

 

[Wardonis]

I appreciate the advice but I am not new at this. I fly a cutter and it's very fast even fully loaded at 720 tons. I can typically chain boost at over 300kph and outrun nearly anything if needed. Knowing what I need to do to avoid having my ship blown up isn't the problem, it's how frequently I need to do it that I have a problem with. It's worse because it completely ignores the system set. I specifically chose Cubeo because it is one of the capital seats of power in the empire, it has VERY high security. I see security patrols constantly on the way out of system, but on the way in, nowhere to be found. Not like I could contact them and request help anyways.

I hate how often this happens. It make the enjoyable act if flying around and trading into an anxiety filled nightmare for my character, and a chor for me and it shouldn't be that way. I wish it was possible to just set my character as a full pacifist and not have to worry about interdictions ever.

 

[Faded Glory]

Good advice from znort...

Missions will spawn enemies. Not always, it's kind of random, but there's no way to turn that off. It's part of the game, combat is part of the game. Even just trucking commodities A to B will spawn NPC pirates. You cannot turn it off.

You can mitigate it somewhat by not stacking missions, and to some extent by taking lower ranked missions (you'll still get incoming enemies, but they will be fewer and lower ranked).

You cannot elect to play the game unopposed and with no combat, especially if you choose to take missions, which all tell you up front that enemies may be sent against you. That said, FD are very nice, and give you a way to decline the combat, and it's really quite easy. Beat the interdictions. Beating NPC interdictions is easy, and when you evade an interdiction, that enemy doesn't come after you again, so the only interruption will be winning the interdiction mini-game.

If you set your mind to wanting to be a pacifist and not have to deal with combat then unfortunately you will get very frustrated with the game, because it's simply not going to happen (unless you decide to leave the bubble and explore for ever), so it's best to be realistic, accept that it will happen and figure out how to deal with it in the most efficient and least disruptive way.

 

[Wardonis]

When I started playing thus game all I did was missions and I was interdicted perhaps 1 in 5 times, but now its practically every mission at every star. I get swarmed with NPCs at jumps along my route as far as 3-4 jumps out and more when I drop into system to deliver. To go from 1 in 5 to 5 in 1 run is absurd to me. It's very frustrating to be less than a 1/4 light second out and get interdicted. I should be able to maintain my course and drop out of FSD at the station.

 

[znôrt]

I appreciate the advice but I am not new at this. I fly a cutter and it's very fast even fully loaded at 720 tons. I can typically chain boost at over 300kph

that can't be right. 300k/h is 83m/s, and 300m/s is definitely not fast and you could have been a bit more explicit in your op. anyway, yeah, i don't think security is well designed in the game either, and don't get me started about crime. it is what it is.

sorry, i'm out of ideas, except just going with it or ... get an escort, maybe?

 

[Wardonis]

I wasn't sure, it doesn't say, maybe its 300 kps. Just says 300

 

[znôrt]

It's very frustrating to be less than a 1/4 light second out and get interdicted. I should be able to maintain my course and drop out of FSD at the station.

did you try not flying directly to the station but doing a detour, avoiding the shipping lanes and approaching from a different angle while keeping an eye on the radar? then again, from what i've read my impression is that these mission interdictions might ignore this or might even be bugged, and spawn on top of you no matter what.

 

[Wardonis]

It may be bugged, I've had them follow me and drop out at the station itself, they just sit there until I go through the mail slot then pop off. I don't get why security doesn't kill em there, they have a warrant every time.

 

[TiberiusDuval]

Well you have a Cutter, put decent shields on it, and some weapons no need for great combat skills, you still can kill most of NPCs if need arises, and run from all them if you prefer not to fight. If those NPCs still cause problems some engineering on shields and thrusters make your Cutter way faster than it currently is, and tuned shields can just suck the damage for a considerably time.

 

[Faded Glory]

It may be bugged, I've had them follow me and drop out at the station itself, they just sit there until I go through the mail slot then pop off. I don't get why security doesn't kill em there, they have a warrant every time.

I suspect that you have started taking higher paying and thus higher ranking missions.

The NPC's aren't random, (I'm guessing that before they attack you get an 'incoming enemy alert' as a mission critical message), and higher ranking mission incoming enemies are more than one NPC. For Tycoon and Elite ranked missions you will get four pirates attacking for one mission (the incoming enemy alert tells you how many attacks to expect), one after the other on your way to the station, hence perhaps why it feels you are being swamped by them.

If you are stacking multiple missions, and three out of 6 have incoming enemy alerts that's a possible 12 NPC attacks to expect, and of course there may also be the odd random pirate attacking just because.

then again, from what i've read my impression is that these mission interdictions might ignore this or might even be bugged, and spawn on top of you no matter what.

These incoming enemies are spawned right behind you, ready to interdict, it's how they are designed. The reason they are there is specifically to add some potential challenge (or fun if one enjoys combat) to the mission. As I said in my previous post, if you evade the interdiction, then that particular enemy will be gone, but any others will still try to get you.

Because SC journeys can be short, sometimes not all the incoming enemies can catch you and that's when one will drop out at the station with you. Authority ships do engage and destroy them if they open fire on you. But frankly, unless you just sit still, the enemy won't have time to do you any damage, and once you are in the station you are safe.

Honestly, none of what you describe sounds bugged. If you are still taking low ranking missions, and only one at a time, then perhaps something else is going on, but if the missions are higher ranking ones and you are stacking them then what you are seeing is pretty much what you should expect to see.

 

[Wardonis]

Great, just great. I am currently an entrepreneur, but they don't dissapear after I beat the interdiction. I've had one, named, interdict me 4 times in the same system before.

 

[Faded Glory]

Just to be clear, it's not your rank that matters, it's the rank of the mission you take. (Your combat rank, being low, will mean that the enemies will be dropped down a rank or two, but won't affect the number of attackers you get.)

If you are evading the interdiction, and not submitting then escaping in real space, then that is not behavior I have ever seen, and I have done a lot of missions. If however you are submitting, dropping to normal space and boosting away from your enemy and then simply jumping back to SC to continue your journey, then yes, the same pirate will spawn behind you again (and again) and interdict you again.

To get rid of a pirate, you must either destroy them, or successfully evade the interdiction attempt.

 

[Hooplah]

Greetings,

Is it Cubeo? I was there with Power Play to obtain prismatic shields delivering propaganda in a Cutter but no NPCs ever bothered me. I even played in Open mode a few times just to see if anyone wanted to take me on. None did.

I'm in Empire space (...Well not at the moment mining painite in my new spiffy Type-10) as in Cegreeth, Fotla, Jotunheim, LTT 9810, Facece (permit required), Vequess, Achenar (permit required) and many others allied with all factions. It took awhile. I'm triple Elite running an engineered Cutter and Python for stacking Elite cargo transport missions as they pay the best. I'll get an interdiction maybe 1 versus 5-10 runs. I've had some where I get 3 enemy messages each sending 4 ships. They are always NPC Anacondas, Type-10s or sometimes both with a fighter in the instance. It was fun taking out all 12 ships.

I also noted that those small 2-3 ton missions where they send a message saying the cargo is ready for delivery very often generates an incoming enemy message. When in the mood I stack them as I want to shoot something versus just A-B-A transport.

But even before ever obtaining an Elite rating I never had constant interdictions all the time. So what has changed? What factions are upset with you? How is your wanted status? Got any fines you haven't paid? Running a 'hot' ship or modules? Different results not in Cubeo? Just throwing out some ideas. I've never looked closely at the Frontier RNG math for spawning NPC interdictions. Maybe others have.

...My character has a rank of harmless and flys an unarmed ship, no weapons on it. And yet I see so many interdictions its ridiculous...

Maybe that combat rating has something to do with it. As an info gathering issue I'm wondering what type of ships interdict you?

Great, just great. I am currently an entrepreneur, but they don't disappear after I beat the interdiction. I've had one, named, interdict me 4 times in the same system before.

In my experience if I win the interdiction mini-game they do not show up before arriving at a station. Even then they rarely show up. If I lose or submit then get away in a low wake in the system they will continually show up. Meanwhile there are usually 3 other enemy ships waiting to interdict and at times have instanced in the same space while dealing with the first one! I have found dropping the throttle to just above zero without submitting makes winning the mini-game easy from a Sidewinder to a Cutter or even a Type-9. Those Frontier Devs are sneaky being less is more!

Oh, Big Harry's Monkey Hangout in Jotunheim has great lighting to get awesome pictures of your ship. It's a photography thing...

Regards

 

[Deleted member 110222]

Is... OP seriously trying to pull the RP card to complain about game mechanics?

That's like playing CoD and saying nobody should shoot you because you RP U.N. Humanitarian Aid...

 

[Wardonis]

No counties or fines. Cubeo, Aldeman station is my home station. Though I am thinking of moving to chelomy orbital, it's more secure if smaller but farther from the star. So I dunno yet. Most often I get a Fer-de Lance chasing me though I have seen stuff up to anaconda in size and often the named NPC has a rank of at least deadly. I have tried getting into combat in this game, really tried. I have a courier all kitted out for combat but I can't seem to find something to hit when I take it out. Even the combat missions confuse me. I have thought of putting a fighter on my cutter, I have one, flown it myself a couple times, but the reduction in cargo combined with the amount I'd need to pay the pilot i don't think would be worth it just to have the distraction. If I jump to low wake or out if system without docking with the fighter, what happens to it?

 

[TiberiusDuval]

Tells me something about nowadays Elite that one can be entrepeneur level and own a Cutter I was Elite as trader when I got mine....

Wardonis, I'm not great combat fan either, but your ship choice is such that with proper build it can easily deal with npc ships. Especially those who pop out in cargo missions.

 

[Wardonis]

I got the cutter when I was just a broker. Made like 600 mil off passenger missions. I did a ton if exploration too, currently pathfinder. I have a bunch of found systems

 

[Deleted member 110222]

I got the cutter when I was just a broker. Made like 600 mil off passenger missions. I did a ton if exploration too, currently pathfinder. I have a bunch of found systems

Can I grab some friends and try to blow up your Cutter?

For science.

 

[Faded Glory]

Ok. The FDL would be a Broker or Entrepreneur ranked mission, and there will be three sent to attack you, one after the other, and that's if you destroy or evade them. Anaconda's are from Elite ranked missions and there will be four.

Personally I wouldn't bother with a fighter if you don't enjoy combat. However, as others have said, NPC's aren't really that hard to defeat, so if you want to try a different approach, stick good shields on your Cutter so you can withstand some enemy fire (chaff would probably also be useful), then stick some turreted weapons on if you really find hitting stuff difficult, or if you don't mind aiming a bit choose gimballed.

Now pay attention to system security states. In a high sec system, once you are attacked and have been hit, system security will drop in to help within about 10 seconds, so it will be you and three security ships against the single attacker. In medium security it takes a minute or so for them to turn up, in low security you'll be on your own for quite a while and in anarchy no-one will show up to help.

Decide for yourself how long you might be willing to hold out against the enemies, and if you choose to submit and fight, once you (and system security) destroy the enemy NPC they will be gone for good, you will get bounty rewards and you can also scoop up all sorts of useful materials to be used in engineering from the destroyed ships.

If you would still prefer to avoid the combat, just learn to evade / beat the interdiction and stay in SC and the pirates will disappear, one by one.