We need shielded cargo modules that block scanning or at least require very high level and close range to see so that we can pick up more then 1 or 2 escape pods without having to bolt back to a station before you are blown up because as soon as you pick one up, every npc ship anywhere in the area it seems starts trying their best to blow you up.
Shielded Cargo modules
- Thread starter Vorg
- Start date
Actually having anything other than limpets in your cargo racks will set off the NPCs.
Adding racks with such a feature could be a boost for smugglers as well as us honest types but given how life works there would be a downside of some sort.
An alternative could be a jammer fitted in a Utility slot which either is passive and power hungry or active and needs to be triggered during the scan to block it.
Adding racks with such a feature could be a boost for smugglers as well as us honest types but given how life works there would be a downside of some sort.
An alternative could be a jammer fitted in a Utility slot which either is passive and power hungry or active and needs to be triggered during the scan to block it.
Anyone who's played at all can avoid any interdiction because of cargo - so you'd be adding a module only useful for the newest of players. Even the 'shielded against authority scans' version for smugglers is pretty marginal.
Not really. Picking up escape pods in RES-s and HazRES mining are two activities that would benefit from shielded cargo racks. Smugglers could use them, but it's more of a roleplay thing since it's incredibly easy to avoid scans when approaching a station. Another use case could be if they also work against Scythe scans, allowing for easier evacs of injured personnel from the war systems.
But shielded cargo racks need to have a downside, too--eg they draw power from the reactor and have reduced capacity.
.. and as I said - as soon as they have a downside then ppl will just learn how to complete the gameplay without them, so they're pointless 
Yes for the people who have learned that skill, the same is true for other modules as well. But like training wheels just because you have passed beyond needing them only makes them pointless if no one else ever needs to learn how to ride... and as I said - as soon as they have a downside then ppl will just learn how to complete the gameplay without them, so they're pointless
Training wheels that no-one has needed for 10 years aren't training wheels.
It's more like a Banana Slicer - useful for 10 minutes but destined for the back of the cupboard.
The only way to circumvent pirates from harassing you in RES-s and to not end up in a red soup is to not mine or pick up any escape pods or cargo in RES-s. Shielded cargo racks would be a counter to this. Yes, it's a niche use case, but E: D is full of modules that are useful only in niche use cases--ECM, FSD interdictor, manifest scanner, wake scanner, thargoid pulse wave scanner, Guardian core modules, fuel transfer limpets...
Or, as an alternative, we could have a better class of criminals.
Yeah, it's a bit weird. We all know the tasty cargo and biowaste situation.
There's such a lack of nuance in the game. Escape pods should only be "desirable" to a certain class of pirate and maybe only in parts of the galaxy. Only the Radical Vegan Mob should be after that "tasty biowaste". At least they put limpets on the list, but then the Party for the Liberation of Enslaved Electronica should be making an exception.
Missed opportunities for some of the '84 style humour while adding little touches of detail to the galaxy.
I guess it was more important to pollute the galaxy with PMFs with stupid names.
There's such a lack of nuance in the game. Escape pods should only be "desirable" to a certain class of pirate and maybe only in parts of the galaxy. Only the Radical Vegan Mob should be after that "tasty biowaste". At least they put limpets on the list, but then the Party for the Liberation of Enslaved Electronica should be making an exception.
Missed opportunities for some of the '84 style humour while adding little touches of detail to the galaxy.
I guess it was more important to pollute the galaxy with PMFs with stupid names.
Still there is an awful lot of humour in the game if you understand it.. 
NPC 1: "Oi, Bob, you seen that weirdo over there with the 'shielded cargo', who is scooping up those pods? Who's he thinking he is, David Copperfield? Doesn't he know we got windows?"
NPC 2: "Yeah, that *shielded cargo was a great investment, wasn't it? <laughing> I was going to go for lunch, but let's mosey over there and give him a good thrashing first! Burgers later?"
NPC 2: "Yeah, that *shielded cargo was a great investment, wasn't it? <laughing> I was going to go for lunch, but let's mosey over there and give him a good thrashing first! Burgers later?"
Erm...i wouldnt call the the wake scanner a "niche" module unless you see engineering as "niche" as well.
It should be fitted on every single ship that has an utility slot empty and used at least once or twice when leaving the station. The net result being one Encoded type of materials always full - which can be used as is or traded for other encoded (instead of relogging at Jameson's)
Of course, but more often than not I don't have a "free" utility slot on my ships (unless I happen to fly my trading Cutter or Anaconda). Even my bubble-buses have as many shield boosters as they can take, since I like to be Open-proof
I normally fit the wake scanner only when I need to collect the wake data, but these days I don't bother with grade 5 or pre-engineered FSD-s. I have around 10 of them on ships that need them, but being carrier based my specialized ships (combat, tritium hauler, Maelstrom diver etc) have grade 3, maybe grade 4 ones. I maxed out lower grade wake data last year in a distribution center (I wanted some chillax play one evening and collecting materials IMO is quite chillax, like mining) and it'll last me a long time.
That would be a cool gameplay mechanics: if an NPC pirate sees you picking up cargo, they'll just shoot a hatchbreaker at you without scanning. Shielded cargo racks or not. To avoid being harassed you need to be out of their scanner range when picking stuff up. How easy it would be to implement is another question entirely.
Of course, but more often than not I don't have a "free" utility slot on my ships (unless I happen to fly my trading Cutter or Anaconda). Even my bubble-buses have as many shield boosters as they can take, since I like to be Open-proof
I always "make room" in my DWE bin before taking part in a trading CG - because i always top it off again by the end of the CG
Sure, not faffing in open helps
I consider the wake scanner to be a phenomenally niche module and I've never relogged anywhere for encoded data (I don't think I've even been to Jameson's crash site). My CMDR has probably had one equipped for less than five hours total. There are only so many Datamined Wake Exceptions he's needed.
Basic scans of ships in SC are where the bulk of my encoded data has come from, with most of the balance from settlement raids and missions.
I like to have one ship engineered for one purpose - so i have tens of ships fully engineered per account.
90 DWE makes for 15 ACED (long range sensors / clean drives) or 15 CSF (wide angle sensors - which are really nice since allow almost full frontal arc scanning of ships in supercruise without diverging from the targeted destination)
And both ACED and CSF are pretty hard to come by and since i really like to G5 my long range sensors or to G5 my wide angle sensors (not much point to settle for lower)
Unless you don't like scanning wakes!
Personally, I'm more inclined to lightweight sensors and almost never use clean drives, so I'm really not burning through stuff that really benefits from a wake scanner for collection, except on long range FSDs.
All you have to do is stay cold long enough for them to give up trying to scan you.