...and when you get allied with one (or more) of the factions and accept those more lucrative missions, it's not
required to destroy the foes that will come after you. You can evade interdictions too. It's good practice and eventually allows you to choose if you want to fight or dismiss
any interdicting NPC. This is a useful capability.
It's good to be in control!
I've spent chunks of time in some systems running missions. After a while, they start throwing some pretty high-cr mission pay your way. It's worth turning missions in for the Rep+++ "payment" for the first few rounds to quickly get allied. If you really need the cr, it's certainly OK to build Rep at a more modest pace.
These Rep-payment missions go from three to five (the greatest Rep gain), so you'll see
Rep+++ to
Rep+++++ in the reward descriptions.
Rep++ is pretty much any mission (pretty close).
The rest of this post describes combat. I mention this to allow you to choose whether to read on...
In terms of combat, bounty hunting in a RES* can result in the bounties (paid to you) adding up pretty quickly. There are some details here so if you have questions, don't hesitate to ask. (I don't know what your level of knowledge is; my apologies if this is too basic.)
Visit Low thru High RESs where you'll benefit from the help of local security forces. You can watch opponents get worn down and help with just the final shots to earn a bounty for that kill. Haz RESs generally
will not have security forces, you'll be on your own.
Always scan potential foes to make sure they're
wanted before you open fire - even if they scan you first, meaning they're almost certainly wanted NPC pirate scum!
In terms of combat, foes are generally easiest to defeat in RESs. CZs* are a lot more difficult, so be careful. I've done a lot of RES combat in my multipurpose Python. It's nowhere close to being a pushover, but it's not a combat-optimized vessel either. I have essentially zero concern of being defeated/destroyed in those scenarios. It can be time well spent in terms of learning the capabilities of your ship and in terms of learning maneuvers and NPC behavior. This is valuable stuff.
Watch out for NPCs in wings in these scenarios. You could easily find yourself under attack by multiple foes.
Always show up for combat in these places with an empty cargo hold! Limpets don't count, so it's OK to have those onhand.
If you accidentally shoot a friendly and everyone on your scanner turns red (happens to ALL OF US), just get out of there and visit the nearest
Interstellar Factor. Don't hesitate; you're going to have a lot of NPCs shooting at you and you risk destruction if your ship can't take it. Jump into supercruise or high-wake. Don't go to a station in the system where you've been doing combat unless you're sure that the faction that issued the bounty to you (the bounty you must pay),
does not have a presence in that station (controlling, I believe). Take the time to find and go to a nearby system; an IF is usually not very distant. If you ignore this advice, upon landing you'll be "relocated" to a prison ship, made to pay the fines, and have a "little" trip ahead of you to get back. This has probably happened to all of us too. Making lemonade out of lemons, you can amass cartographic data on that nice trip!
At the end of the day, I think most players would agree when I say that running missions for allied entities will be easier and pay better per unit of measure (generally time) than combat. That said, there are useful skills to be learned (and fun to be had) in both.
There's a lot here. If you know an experienced player, joining them to observe is a good way to learn. There are player groups that will do this too.
Rule #1: Have fun!
* RES = Resource Extraction Site; a mining area in a celestial body's rings that pirates frequent, hoping to rob miners. Lots of wanted ships to be found and attacked for their bounties. High RES has the most activity. With an empty cargo hold, it's nominally safe for you to be there. You'll be scanned and ignored (unless/until you attack).
CZ = Combat Zone; an area in space where two factions are duking it out. If you enter a CZ, you'll see lots of ships fighting and you'll be asked to pick a side. It's not required, but you wouldn't earn any combat bonds if you don't, just bounties. Once you pick a side, ships on your scanner will turn green and red, showing you who's on your side and who's now your enemy (just for the duration of the CZ or until you bug-out). There can/will be many targets that are simultaneously your enemies,
unlike in a RES (unless you attack a wing), making this more challenging. Ships in CZs are also more difficult to eliminate. They're just tougher and they're often engineered. It's nominally safe to visit a CZ to observe so take a peek some time (don't pick a side).
