Power Regulators are the black sheep of the new Odyssey engineer grind - outside of populated settlements, AFAIK there is only one other place to find them, unlike most other mats which can be found in containers, lockers and from data ports. Your options are:
1. Get them from "Restore" missions - abandon the mission and keep the regulator, but get a 100k Cr. fine and lose rep with the mission-giving faction.
2. Threat 3 Impact Sites - hard to find, boring loggoffski gameplay, and rarely drop, but no cost
3. The "emergent gameplay" option - find a populated settlement and steal one.
You will need to find a small (tier 1) settlement that ideally has the alarm switch in the same building as the power plant. So far I've found mining and tourism sites that fit this bill, would love to hear of any others. Not all settlements are populated either, the BGS affects this and states such as civil unrest, terror attack, infrastructure failure and lockdown probably mean they are deserted. Ideally you also want a small planet with a thin atmosphere to reduce turnaround time; if you want loot to respawn, you have to supercruise away from the settlement to reset it, as logging off and back in will not respawn loot.
You'll then need to find someone accessible with the correct clearance to clone their security clearance, and a clear run to the power station with no intervening guard patrols. There's always going to be at least one engineer inside the plant who you will have to take out as well. It's vital to turn off the alarm system before you turn off the power plant or else the guards will come. You then have to wait out the 3 minute timer (during this time you can loot, recharge your suit, browse the forums etc.). Once the regulator is discharged from its casing, nab it and GTFO. Supercruise out, swing back, rinse and repeat.
Also, remember that after the first run you will have a bounty from the settlement's faction, so any guard scan will bust you. If the guy whose security you're cloning sees you, he will also set off an alarm which will make the engineer in the power plant hostile, so it's best just to reset if this happens.
I've managed to find a spot where I can get 5-6 pregulators per hour (about 10mins each run). The only cost is the bounties I've incurred (1000 Cr. per kill).
Not bad for a morning's work:
1. Get them from "Restore" missions - abandon the mission and keep the regulator, but get a 100k Cr. fine and lose rep with the mission-giving faction.
2. Threat 3 Impact Sites - hard to find, boring loggoffski gameplay, and rarely drop, but no cost
3. The "emergent gameplay" option - find a populated settlement and steal one.
You will need to find a small (tier 1) settlement that ideally has the alarm switch in the same building as the power plant. So far I've found mining and tourism sites that fit this bill, would love to hear of any others. Not all settlements are populated either, the BGS affects this and states such as civil unrest, terror attack, infrastructure failure and lockdown probably mean they are deserted. Ideally you also want a small planet with a thin atmosphere to reduce turnaround time; if you want loot to respawn, you have to supercruise away from the settlement to reset it, as logging off and back in will not respawn loot.
You'll then need to find someone accessible with the correct clearance to clone their security clearance, and a clear run to the power station with no intervening guard patrols. There's always going to be at least one engineer inside the plant who you will have to take out as well. It's vital to turn off the alarm system before you turn off the power plant or else the guards will come. You then have to wait out the 3 minute timer (during this time you can loot, recharge your suit, browse the forums etc.). Once the regulator is discharged from its casing, nab it and GTFO. Supercruise out, swing back, rinse and repeat.
Also, remember that after the first run you will have a bounty from the settlement's faction, so any guard scan will bust you. If the guy whose security you're cloning sees you, he will also set off an alarm which will make the engineer in the power plant hostile, so it's best just to reset if this happens.
I've managed to find a spot where I can get 5-6 pregulators per hour (about 10mins each run). The only cost is the bounties I've incurred (1000 Cr. per kill).
Not bad for a morning's work:
