wanting to branch out

[ronin677]

Hi all,

First of, great game. best purchase I've made in ages.

So, I've been trading a bit over the last week and managed to buy myself a Cobra MkIII and upgrade the weapons. I'd like to try my hand at bounty hunting or mercenary work. Is this done solely from missions or is there another route to take along these paths?

Just trying to get a feel for all options at the moment to decide how I wish to entertain myself for a few months (or years) lol

 

[askavir]

For mercenary work you have missions and combat zones.

For bounty-hunting you have a lot of options outside missions. You can get a frameshift interdictor and intercept wanted targets in supercruise, you can go into nav beacons and search for wanted targets there, you can go into resource extraction sites where pirates are served in platters, you can go into signal sources and look for pirates, etc. Get a warrant scanner to maximize profits.

 

[GilliganTX]

Bounty Hunting:

The goal is to collect Bounty Vouchers.

Destroying any ship with a Wanted tag will net you a bounty voucher with the value of their bounty, redeemable at any station in the system that issued the bounty. Ships can have bounties in multiple systems, but only the bounty issued in the system they are in presently will show when you identify the ship. Using a Kill Warrant Scanner on them in normal space will "reveal" any additional bounties on that ship, and you will likewise be awarded those bounty vouchers upon the destruction of said criminal. Once you have identified, or identified and KWScanned a wanted ship, you can view the value of their bounty by selecting them in the contacts section of the left hand menu.

Wanted ships can be found:

in SuperCruise in the system, you can interdict them or allow them to interdict you.

In Nav Becons and Compromised Nav beacons (Compromised Nav beacons will have more difficult, higher reward opponents)

Resource Extraction Sites, or RES zones. These will come tagged as normal (RES), Low-Intensity, High-Intensity, or Hazardous. Much like the Nav Beacons, the High and Hazardous RES zones will have more difficult, higher reward bounties. Also, Hazardous RES zones will NOT have a local security force. You are on your own.

Unidentified, weak, and strong signal sources are also spawn points for wanted ships. Like the previous examples, they scale in difficulty.

Earned bounty vouchers will show up in your transactions tab in the left hand menu. They will specify in which system/faction the bounty can be collected. Once docked in a station controlled by the faction specified in the dialog in the transactions tab, go to the "contacts" section of the Starport Services menu, and you should see a display of all Bounties redeemable at that station.

Combat:

Mercenary work is done by turning in Combat Bonds

Combat Bonds are earned in Conflict Zones. These come in Low-Intensity and Hi-Intensity varieties. The biggest difference, so far as I can tell, is that Hi CZ's tend to spawn more ships, and occasionally capitol ships. Low CZ's are less populated and more survivable. I prefer Low CZ's if I'm trying to farm credits. Hi-CZ's are more of a thrill, but you get shot up faster.

Enter a conflict zone, go to the right hand menu, and then the functions tab. On the "Faction" line, you will be able to choose a side in the conflict. You MUST do this, otherwise you will NOT be awarded Vouchers for ships destroyed in the zone.

Once you have chosen a side, allies will be green, enemies will be red. Shoot the red.

Return to any station in that system to redeem your Combat Vouchers. Like with Bounties, go to the "contacts" section of the Starport Services menu, however you need to go one option down on the left side to redeem combat bonds.

 

[d8veh]

Bounty hunting in a RES is very safe because nobody will shoot you unless you shoot first, so you can go to one and watch what happens until you decide it's time to tag a ship that's already nearly finished. Do not shoot anyone unless you can see "wanted" on the left side of your display when you target them or else you'll be in trouble. When you go on missions, there always seems to be someone after you, so it's not as safe, but more exciting.

 

[ronin677]

Bounty Hunting:

Return to any station in that system to redeem your Combat Vouchers. Like with Bounties, go to the "contacts" section of the Starport Services menu, however you need to go one option down on the left side to redeem combat bonds.

So I've got a kill and I'm trying to redeem my Combat Voucher. I've gone to transactions and I can see a claim for my kill. I can't seem to figure out how to claim it and get the money though

 

[Kzak]

To claim the money, you need to go to a station in the system which awarded you the bounty (regular scan without KWS is in the same system you killed the pirate in, for KWS extra bounties, you need to see which system this is in the Transactions tab), dock and go to the Contacts section in the menu. There you should be able to claim the money owed you.

 

[ronin677]

So these are the screen shots showing my claim. I just can't seem to figure out how to get the money. I feel that I am doing something really stupid but don't know what

 

[DrakeAurum]

Bounty hunting in a RES is very safe because nobody will shoot you unless you shoot first, so you can go to one and watch what happens until you decide it's time to tag a ship that's already nearly finished. Do not shoot anyone unless you can see "wanted" on the left side of your display when you target them or else you'll be in trouble. When you go on missions, there always seems to be someone after you, so it's not as safe, but more exciting.

One cavbeat to this: It only applies if you're not carrying cargo. If you have something in your hold and a pirate scans you, they will attack.

So these are the screen shots showing my claim. I just can't seem to figure out how to get the money. I feel that I am doing something really stupid but don't know what

Follow the instructions for Combat Bonds in GilliganTX's earlier post.

 

[ronin677]

finally got it and yes I was doing something stupid :/

 

[ronin677]

One last bit of guidance needed on this subject if I could be so bold. I am ready to start my mercenary career and know what and where I need to go now. However, I am uncertain of loadouts. I have researched lots and have just ended up confusing myself. I have about 500k worth of credits and want to give my Cobra MkIII a chance of surviving and giving out a bit of damage. Does anyone have advice on a decent basic combat loadout for my ship? thanks again guys and gals

 

[DrakeAurum]

I did just fine with pulse lasers and multicannons on my Cobra, before I upgraded to an Imperial Courier. The Cobra's power distributor isn't really good enough to sustain fire from anything much more powerful than pulse lasers anyway.

Just make sure to fit the largest shield generator you can, and A-rate just about everything. You don't need a Kill Warrant Scanner if you're doing Combat Zones, so put in a Shield Booster instead, plus a chaff launcher.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

One last bit of guidance needed on this subject if I could be so bold. I am ready to start my mercenary career and know what and where I need to go now. However, I am uncertain of loadouts. I have researched lots and have just ended up confusing myself. I have about 500k worth of credits and want to give my Cobra MkIII a chance of surviving and giving out a bit of damage. Does anyone have advice on a decent basic combat loadout for my ship? thanks again guys and gals

I just typed a huuuuge guide for you. Then the forum said I wasn't logged in. So its all gone.. Lol

So here's the extremely short version.
Use 2x medium gimballed pulse lasers on your medium hardoints, and 2x small gimballed multi cannons on your small ones. It's a proven basic setup that works well on anything.
However, the DiamondBack Scout is a much better bounty hunter ship in my opinion (cobra is too fat and slow in comparison). And it can be loaded out the same way.

Also, I don't think anyone has mentioned this, avoid taking on ships which are in a wing, as rookies fighting 1v3 rarely ends well. Lol
Finally, if you see Feds shooting at something, join in (if they're wanted, and not in a wing), the pirate will usually keep focus on the Feds, so you should be safe. Just watch for turrets. Fit a chaff. Life saver!

If you need an experienced wingman anytime, feel free to add me via the game 'CosmicSpacehead'.
I fly a Fur-De-Lance, and I make an excellent bodyguard. Terrible jump range though, so its easier if you come to me. Lol

 

[Troz]

Wait until your scan finishes before engaging a target, to avoid being fined and attacked by authorities. And make sure you are not carrying any cargo when you enter a RES. That will allow you to choose your fights.

 

[ronin677]

I did just fine with pulse lasers and multicannons on my Cobra, before I upgraded to an Imperial Courier. The Cobra's power distributor isn't really good enough to sustain fire from anything much more powerful than pulse lasers anyway.

Just make sure to fit the largest shield generator you can, and A-rate just about everything. You don't need a Kill Warrant Scanner if you're doing Combat Zones, so put in a Shield Booster instead, plus a chaff launcher.

Nice one, kinda confirmed what I had in mind so thank you

 

[ronin677]

hey thanks for taking the extra time for the summary. Sorry your original post got lost. Most useful so you certainly have not wasted your time

 

[ronin677]

Wait until your scan finishes before engaging a target, to avoid being fined and attacked by authorities. And make sure you are not carrying any cargo when you enter a RES. That will allow you to choose your fights.

So I've found some great tutorials to go with all your advise and I'm confident to begin my career as a bounty hunter. Stupid question though, how do i find RES? I've flown to several ringed planets and can't seem to find any?

 

[DrakeAurum]

So I've found some great tutorials to go with all your advise and I'm confident to begin my career as a bounty hunter. Stupid question though, how do i find RES? I've flown to several ringed planets and can't seem to find any?

The first thing to look for is in the System Map. Select the planet and the Info tab, and check out the description of its rings. You're looking for Rocky or Metal-Rich, preferably the latter - if it's only got Icy rings, it's a no-go.

Second, keep in mind that RESs don't show up on the System map, and can only be detected in your Navigation pane once you close to within 1000 LS of the target planet.

EDIT: One more thing - when you get close, check out whether the RES is in the planet's shadow. Visiting a RES at night can be an interesting, but short, experience.

 

[ronin677]

The first thing to look for is in the System Map. Select the planet and the Info tab, and check out the description of its rings. You're looking for Rocky or Metal-Rich, preferably the latter - if it's only got Icy rings, it's a no-go.

.

And thats what I've been doing wrong. Picked a system with 4 ringed planets in and they all have icy rings

 

[GilliganTX]

So I've got a kill and I'm trying to redeem my Combat Voucher. I've gone to transactions and I can see a claim for my kill. I can't seem to figure out how to claim it and get the money though

You're in the left hand panel. Go to the "Starport Services" menu and find the contacts tab there.

finally got it and yes I was doing something stupid :/

Never mind, looks like you got it. Cheers.

One last bit of guidance needed on this subject if I could be so bold. I am ready to start my mercenary career and know what and where I need to go now. However, I am uncertain of loadouts. I have researched lots and have just ended up confusing myself. I have about 500k worth of credits and want to give my Cobra MkIII a chance of surviving and giving out a bit of damage. Does anyone have advice on a decent basic combat loadout for my ship? thanks again guys and gals

500k isn't REALLY enough to fully fit a Cobra. I would spend 6-7 Million.

Here's the load out I used (or a close approximation) when I was fighting in my Cobra:

http://coriolis.io/outfit/cobra_mk_iii/24A4A4A3D3A3D4C0s270p2400002b2b45272727.Iw1-kA==.Aw1-kA==

Trade a chaff for a KWS for bounty hunting.

You shields will go down, but they come back fast. Don't be afraid to ram things.

 

[adrinker]

I wouldn't worry about overfitting a ship. Don't use your entire bank account the fit the ship. Fit something well, and in the low or regular res sites, attack ships that the system police are attacking. This helps shield you from aggro and also pick up bounties more easily.