Question: By "combat zone" do you guys mean a mission where you're supposed to eliminate a number of people from a certain faction?
I'm a complete noob to the on foot stuff, but after I get back to the bubble from this trip I plan on getting into them again and I've never seen anything labeled "Combat Zone" in the on foot missions.
So where do you find these on foot combat zones?
If you are in a system at war or civil war you can see the yellow crossed sword icons on certain settlements. Those are the ground CZs. You cannot see these icons unless you are physically in the system. Viewing the system when you are elsewhere does not show the icons.
You can join the CZs by landing at a station, not outpost, and going to the Frontline Solutions desk. There you can see the level of the zone (low, med, high). Join the one you want and then go to the elevator that designated for Frontline Solutions. You'll wind up in a dropship that will fly you to the zone, and drop you off there.
Note that the system map itself does NOT label the zones low, medium, and high. There is actually no way to tell what they are from there, you have to go land at one to find out. For that reason I usually use the Frontline Solutions desk at first, so I know which zone to pick. After that I take my own ship
When the fight ends you have to hit a special key (F7 for me) to see the score info, and get a ride back to the station (if you took the dropship in). You'll find the binding for this key under On Foot Controls, Miscellaneous section. It's called "Open Conflict Zone Battle Stats". Make sure it's bound to something!
You can also join them by flying down in your ship, landing somewhere outside the settlement (at least 500m away or more), then walk in. You can pick a side by invoking the special key again. You can also pick it from your ship when you land (if you're close enough the info will pop up).
If you want to replay the zone there are a couple of ways.
1) If you took the dropship you'll wind up back at the station, so just join again from the Frontline Solutions desk.
2) If you took your ship, you can get back in the ship, fly off into supercruise, and then come back
3) I have heard (but not verified) that you can also log off and on while in your ship or SRV, and that will reset the zone
If you log off and on while on foot and NOT in your ship or SRV, you'll respawn back at the last station you docked at. Your ship will remain where you left it however, so you'll have to take an Apex to go get it (or pay to have it transferred to the local shipyard).
A couple of notes:
Dying while engaged in the conflict zone does not count as a real death. You just respawn and re-enter the fight. There's no penalty or rebuy.
High CZs are quite profitable, compared to other on-foot stuff which is generally severely underpaid.
They are a fun way to earn some bucks and learn how to use your weapons and suits. And you increase your Mercenary rank.
