Your Very First Boarding (Page 2 of 3)

Written by Rive

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A ship to board - where the difficulties begins

Pre-2.7 you could start doing Defend Station missions and check if the spawned ship matches the criteria: if not, then reload. But after patch 2.7 the M6 spawn for Defend Station missions is a bit different and less frequent.

So now there is just one other way left available: you have to hunt down a military ship. And that's not easy, especially in a TP.

You can check race sectors for targets, but beware: any attack against race ships in race sectors will affect your reputation and turn the sector hostile, and if your rep is already low then they will remain hostile. And that can be quite inconvenient with a TP and a battered M6.

Fortunately, there are regular military patrols on the Pirate Highway: the pirate sectors between Farnham's Legend and Hatikvah's Faith. You have to deploy some satellites there, and regularly check if a lone military M6 wanders in... Any attack against race ships here will also mean some rep hit, but not so much than if it happens in race sectors.

Another possibility is to exploit some race relations. The Boron and the Split are natural enemies, as like the Paranid and the Argon: so for example to attack a Boron ship in Split sectors will not turn the sector red - in fact your reputation with the Split will be improved. Of course, the Boron will be upset. So you can check the border sectors for such misguided race ships.

Anyway, be sure that you can bear the consequences.

If you found a lone M6 then you have to jump in and check its equipment. Area effect weapons (Ion Disruptor, Plasma Burst Generator, Phased Shockwave Generator), insta-hit weapons (Pulsed Beam Emitter, Phased Repeater Gun), heavy marines, anti-boarding equipment (Sentry Lasers, Hull Polarizing Device, Enhanced Firewall) are not welcomed. If any of them is detected onboard then choose a different target.

If you can, try to find an Osprey for your first boarding. Beware the 'Heavy' versions.

This part will be a bit time-consuming.

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Choosing the battleground

So your team is ready? You have the perfect target? Then let's see where the perfect place for the ambush is. Generally you have to be sure that nobody will intervene and you can flee if must. No pirates, no race military/police nearby.

If your fight rank is high enough to get M6 from defend station missions then what you need is a station which offers such a mission and it is within 25km range to the nearest gate. Check if there are any military or police ships nearby. If they have a chance then they will steal the kill and blow up your target (mostly when your marines are on board.)

If the police are somewhere in a distant corner of the sector, then it's OK.

If everything is fine then take your place on the top of the gate, with 4km distance from its center. Then save and comm the station for the mission. If the arriving ship is in match with the requirements then go on.

If the environment is not optimal then wait and seek for other target, or follow the target till it reaches a more appropriate position.

For some police/military ships it's OK to shoot them a bit (a salvo of Dragonfly will do) and turn them hostile - and then lead them away from the traffic. But first you have to check if you can flee or not...