Wars & Bounty Hunting

[Alone Wulff]

Ok, so I usually hunt bounties to pass time, when waiting on a tick or something. Being quite tired of CZ bugs and uncertainties I want to avoid them for a bit but still want to use combat to affect a war. I remember seeing somewhere Jmanis screen-shotting something showing bounty hunting contributes to war efforts?

Specifically - and I think I know the answer is yes - does bounty hunting only contribute by individual transaction, such like the old CZs only contributed by handing in one bounty voucher at a time? It would be ideal to farm bounties and hand them all in at once even if it maxed out the daily 'cap' but I feel that is asking too much.

EDIT: Secondary question - can I complete massacre missions outside of CZs?

PS: I know there are other combat-related missions and scenarios but I like bounty hunting.

 

[Jmanis]

EDIT: Secondary question - can I complete massacre missions outside of CZs?

Short answer: sort of, though quite ineffectively.

Longer answer: all ships have an underlying type that isn't shown[1] in game; civilian, trader, smuggler, pirate, bounty hunter, and, for this take, navy ships.

Wartime massacres are for navy ships only; a ship being part of a faction isn't enough to count. But, navy ships can appear in supercruise or in some usd, which should count as targets.

But you'll get a bounty for attacking them, and no bonds or anything like that.

[1] it's not explicitly shown... it's implicit in some ships though... "System authority vessel " is an authority vessel... "Imperial navy vessel" is a navy vessel, but "Joe bloggs" who is wanted could be a pirate, smuggler, deserter, plague ship, or even a bounty hunter who attacked a target for an extrajurisdictional bounty, or more.

 

[Alone Wulff]

Short answer: sort of, though quite ineffectively.

Longer answer: all ships have an underlying type that isn't shown[1] in game; civilian, trader, smuggler, pirate, bounty hunter, and, for this take, navy ships.

Wartime massacres are for navy ships only; a ship being part of a faction isn't enough to count. But, navy ships can appear in supercruise or in some usd, which should count as targets.

But you'll get a bounty for attacking them, and no bonds or anything like that.

[1] it's not explicitly shown... it's implicit in some ships though... "System authority vessel " is an authority vessel... "Imperial navy vessel" is a navy vessel, but "Joe bloggs" who is wanted could be a pirate, smuggler, deserter, plague ship, or even a bounty hunter who attacked a target for an extrajurisdictional bounty, or more.

Oh man that is disappointing. CZs just aren't reliable and very time consuming even for someone like me who plays 10-12 hours most days.

Well... until BGS gets some serious attention there's not much keeping me in the Bubble. I'm trying to stay and fight the constant fight but right now my shiny new ExploraDolphin is fuelled up and ready to go, calling out to me softly in a soothing hypnotic voice...

 

[Jmanis]

Oh man that is disappointing. CZs just aren't reliable and very time consuming even for someone like me who plays 10-12 hours most days.

Well... until BGS gets some serious attention there's not much keeping me in the Bubble. I'm trying to stay and fight the constant fight but right now my shiny new ExploraDolphin is fuelled up and ready to go, calling out to me softly in a soothing hypnotic voice...

What sort of bugs are you referring to, out of interest?

The progress bars dropping in the middle of a CZ got fixed, and wings, well, shrug, but everything else about them seems working fine.

 

[Alone Wulff]

What sort of bugs are you referring to, out of interest?

The progress bars dropping in the middle of a CZ got fixed, and wings, well, shrug, but everything else about them seems working fine.

Being handed rewards from the enemy side, not being able to choose a side, still finding empty CZs. Also, last week I did some war-related cargo missions and saw the war status rise to Victory. I did a few hours for the same faction in a CZ (High) and won 7 out of 8 battles and the next tick the status dropped to Draw and the faction lost on the fifth day (not seventh) - as though my efforts contributed to the wrong side and despite neither side dominating. (No I didn't choose the wrong side - it's a faction I hate, in my role play anyway). It almost seems as though bugs occur when 'too much' is done in one day. I say that because in other systems CZ has worked perfectly for me and I've won with a Total Victory by the fifth tick, just by fighting 3-4 Low CZ battles each day. The bugs aren't happening everywhere and I guess they aren't such a big deal for some, but they're happening enough to break immersion for me.

I've never actually had progress bars drop and I don't play in a wing, possibly different bugs for different platforms?

 

[Maolagin]

Also, last week I did some war-related cargo missions and saw the war status rise to Victory. I did a few hours for the same faction in a CZ (High) and won 7 out of 8 battles and the next tick the status dropped to Draw and the faction lost on the fifth day (not seventh) - as though my efforts contributed to the wrong side and despite neither side dominating. (No I didn't choose the wrong side - it's a faction I hate, in my role play anyway). It almost seems as though bugs occur when 'too much' is done in one day. I say that because in other systems CZ has worked perfectly for me and I've won with a Total Victory by the fifth tick, just by fighting 3-4 Low CZ battles each day.

Honestly that sounds less like a bug, more like players supporting the faction you were opposing showed up en masse. With no player opposition you can win a war clearing one low CZ a day. With an active player group opposing you, you could potentially fight 24/7 and still lose.

 

[Kissamies]

My perception is that bounties work. I tend to rely on them quite heavily when opposed in a war. When unopposed, do a CZ, hand in bonds and wait for the next tick, sure. When opposed, going to a hasrez is more relaxing way to grind it.

 

[Maolagin]

My perception is that bounties work. I tend to rely on them quite heavily when opposed in a war. When unopposed, do a CZ, hand in bonds and wait for the next tick, sure. When opposed, going to a hasrez is more relaxing way to grind it.

Provided you can find bounties from the right faction, surely? It seems like this would be fairly effective when defending the controlling faction, but not so efficient otherwise.

 

[Alone Wulff]

Honestly that sounds less like a bug, more like players supporting the faction you were opposing showed up en masse. With no player opposition you can win a war clearing one low CZ a day. With an active player group opposing you, you could potentially fight 24/7 and still lose.

Daily traffic report certainly didn't indicate a surge in players. I'm sure stranger things have happened in Elite Dangerous but I really doubt players would show up en-masse in my neck of the woods to support a faction for only one day.

I've been playing the BGS a long time and whilst there are things I'm still learning, I'm not a stranger to the basics.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

Provided you can find bounties from the right faction, surely? It seems like this would be fairly effective when defending the controlling faction, but not so efficient otherwise.

I've seen people use it effectively by bounty hunting in a system they control to help win a war in a system they don't.

 

[Kissamies]

I've seen people use it effectively by bounty hunting in a system they control to help win a war in a system they don't.

Exactly. Our faction controls a few systems with res sites, including our home system. They are useful for this.

 

[_trent_]

Progress bars vanishing is definitely still a thing, In terms of massacre missions it actually makes it easier to get to a specific target as the supply of enemy ships never ends.

From a BGS point of view, it's a bit irritating if you are 90% through a High CZ when it happens.