Distance: There are currently 160 systems mapped over 6 Galaxies. Each system has a relevant distance versus fuel cost. The cost to travel from your “current” point in the Jump Gate system to the next is shown in the list. Faction: Each system can be owned or Governed by a body like Gal-Fed, Confed or the Alliance. Or a system can be ‘Contested’. Always keep this in mind when traveling around the Jump Gate network. Exiting into a system that is Contested can mean you’re dropping into grave danger if unprepared.
Dock – Undock: You have to Dock at a Jump Gate to enter the Jump Gate Network and the same applies in reverse to Leave the network, you need to Undock. This places your ship back in Normal space in the system of your current Destination. Should you have a Jump Drive Navigator system fitted to your ship (Autopilot) you can access the Jump Drive Navigation system using this Icon. Clicking this Icon will take you directly to the Jump Drive Navigation system page.
Expanse – Astro Navigation: Should you be in the Expanse you will see an extra column on the Navigation screen. Due to the way the Expanse is mapped once past the initial systems that were mapped for you there is a requirement of ‘Astro Navigation Points’. You can gather these by successfully completing the ‘Scanning / Survey‘ of a system. Each successful complete system survey will net you 50 Astro Navigation Points. You will see that each system has a certain ‘Ast Nav’ Requirement. Unless your Astro Navigation points are equal or higher you will not be able to jump into that system. Whilst in the Expanse your Astro Navigation points are displayed on the Jump Gate screen.
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Scanners: Not all scanners are created equal. In fact although most do the same task ‘IE scan for ships’ some do it far better and in different ways than others. This is not a guide on what scanner to use, BUT it should be noted that increasing your scan potential by fitting better scanners is a must if you are to enter into the world of combat with any serious plans for a future.
Some Scanners give a bonus to other areas of your ship, and some have a Primary Scan that looks for “Specific Types” of ships. You should use the C.E.D.R (top left game drop down) and take the time to read about each scanner range in your own time.
Scan Limitations: So back to the main display once you’ve performed a Scan. The results are based on a number of limitations. These start with : Law Level. Lower Law Levels tend to be inhabited by tougher meaner, more well armoured and defended ships. Higher Law levels will see more easy pickings.
That’s not to say that some higher level vessels won’t traverse the higher law levels, after all, everyone has to make a living.
After Law Level, the next limitation is your Scanners Ability to scan. (read the scanner info related to the scanners you have fitted). Lastly, is the actual ships “IN” that area. IE, are there any ships there at that point in time.
Scan Results: The results are shown in a list format, with the pertinent data for each ship displayed. Ships are broken down by Type, Class and Affiliation. Type may be something like Fury, Pyro etc whilst Class could be Buccaneer, Predator, Pirate, Hauler etc. Affiliation is based on whom that particular ship is affiliated with IE Pirates can often be Privateers, Outcasts, Rogues etc, whereas Military Ships will be Affiliated with Gal-Fed, Confed or the Alliance. Civilian shipping also has a plethora of Affiliations, ranging across the more obvious Ashar, Wesbec and Union to the more obscure.
Next comes the Vessel’s Speed. Always important as if your speed is not equal or greater they will simply out run you when you close in on them.
Vessel Tonnage comes next. Tonnage can often give you a good idea of the overall capability of the ship. IE a 50,000 tonne Gal-Fed Cruiser is much likely to be packing some serious armour and weapons as opposed to a 5,000 tonne Patrol Vessel.
C.C.T & A.C.T
Threats: This deserves a section of its own as this can be misconstrued, so please read carefully. Your onboard AI has the capability to make “Threat Assessments” based on a number of criteria. These include the Enemy’s total HP and his possible offensive capabilities. These are then calculated against your own ship’s HP and offensive capabilities, and a “Threat” level is issued.
C.C.T stands for Current Combat threat. This means an approximation of the enemy vessel rates against you with your current load out and what your AI can tell from an initial scan of the target.
A.C.T stands for Actual Combat threat. This is different as it’s a truer threat rating based on your Maximum stats. For example, you may have lowered your shields, or be suffering from hull or armour damage, but if your vessel was fully combat ready this would be a truer rating of the current target.
Grey means the ship is of No threat to you. Attacking this level of ship after attaining level 9 will only lead to you being branded a coward or worse.
Green is based on a ship below your combat level and an ‘Easy Kill’ according to statistics and the AI’s ability to scan the Enemy.
Moving up the scale, Greens will get lighter and lighter till they reach Yellow. This is more of a challenge and may cause you concern in combat. From Yellow, we go through to Orange and eventually Red.
There is no hard and fast rule for combat, other than the “Threat” is an assessment of balances between you and the Enemy Ship. Many things can affect the outcome of a Combat. He may have lower Armour and a MUCH bigger gun than the AI anticipated, meaning he conned a Lower threat than he actually is.
You may miss repeatedly in combat! He may have Shielded Penetrating Missiles or use Shield Regenerating Technology against you. The key is that Threats are only a rough assessment there to give you a guide. They are not a Valid “kill no kill” indicator.
Missing four, five, maybe even six times in a single combat and being hit by a salvo of Shield Penetrating missiles can quickly turn the tide on you when attacking what appeared to be a Green on first scan.
Affiliation Colour: You will note that there is a Colour coding system to the Affiliation. It simply allows you to see at a glance on which side of the fence a ship sits. If it’s Green, they are ‘Good’ guys. This could be a Civilian ship or a Gal-Fed or Alliance Ship. If they are Pink, then they are deemed ‘Bad’ guys. This falls in to the category of Pirates and Confed shipping.
This is VERY useful when scanning for shipping that you can and should be attacking. As a Good guy yourself you don’t want to be shooting ships that appear as Green in the Affiliation Column, but on the other hand, Red is the colour you will be looking for!
View: This option allows you to view in more detail the Ship in question. Total HP is broken down into Shields, Armour and Hull (If detected). You can also see their Sensors from here as well. Should you choose to do so, you can also attack the Ship Directly from here using the Attack icon in the Tool Bar above.
Attack: Once you have located your target, simply click the ‘Attack’ button to close in and engage the target. You will at that point be forwarded to the Combat Screen or be informed the engagement was a failure and why.
Should you not see what you want in the existing scan, it’s a simple case of hitting the Scan icon again. This will rescan for targets and display the fresh results.
Scan Costs: Scanning costs Fuel. Simply put, scanning for targets costs 1 Unit of Fuel per scan. You can ONLY scan if you have the fuel.
Combat XP
It is well worth noting that XP awarded from combat in Shields-Up is mostly based on challenge. IF you shoot targets that con a green colour to you, the XP from these targets will be less than from destroying targets that con Yellow or Orange.
The more threat, the better in terms of reward in XP. You can of course attack and destroy lower targets, but your XP income will be lowered.
Destroying targets that con Grey (Waste Of Ammo) in the ACT section will lead to 1 XP, as these are deemed an unworthy target.
]]>J.D.N: This stands for Jump Drive Navigator. To access this screen you need to have a JDN fitted in a systems slot. These come in different sizes but all do the same thing. They form an autopilot system that navigates the Jump Gates for you at the click of a button.
J.D.N List: The list you can see on the right of this page is a list of systems within the Jump Drive Navigators “range”. Each JDN has a set range so its important you read up on your JDN from the relevant info pages.
Jumping: The primary point of the JDN system is to enable you to simply choose a destination from the list on the right and then Press the ‘Activate JDN’ button. This will then automatically navigate you through the Gate system and undock your ship in the system of your choice.
Advanced J.D.N: This system is tied in to your AI Passenger and Mission manifest allowing the AI to proffer automated routes for Missions and Passengers destinations you may have active at that time. Thereby saving the Captain time and effort working astro correlations between manifest destinations and nearby star systems. Only one JDN should be fitted at any time.
Fuel Use: The JDN like anything else that requires fuel will only work if you have sufficient fuel to jump the distance to the Target system.
Please note : J.D.N systems whilst very reliable will navigate around gravitational distortions sometimes leading to slightly higher fuel use than may be expected. This is rare but not an unheard of event.
]]>The system is similar in principle to that when carrying out normal ‘Exploration’ but with the added handicap of doing so with Hybrid Mech’s, on a hostile world. These early mechs were cobbled together to gather survey data, explore the planet and have strong combat capabilities. The Exploration Mechs are capable of ‘multiple use’ but they must return successfully from an exploration mission to be used again. Due to the support of the Naristro in these combat explorations you will be paid in Talas (the local Alien currency). Should you find any resources you are free to keep them. Any data or exploration survey information must be turned over to the Coalition. Each successful Combat Exploration will be added towards the global planet conquest. Once the planet has been fully explored and pacified the Coalition will then move in and create a Human Coalition Outpost on the planet.
Warning: XP and Credits can be lost as well as gained during this process. You may also find other events will have affects on your vessel. ALWAYS read the event text so you are fully aware of the event out come.
]]>It’s a reporting tool for those guilds who have worked with the donation projects to complete the wormhole anchor projects. There are Seven Anchor Gates that have been constructed. Listed on this guild office screen you will see each gate represented and your Guilds controlling Management Share shown. Each guild can earn a management % in each gate but there is a cap of 15% on each gate per guild.
Now that the gates are active your guild will begin to generate an income from the gates operating fees. Commercial and Military vessels have to pay a fee to use the Anchor gate and you will be paid a monthly income based on your management percentage. the table will display when a gate was completed and also your last payment along with the total income so far from the gate. Payments are made directly to the Guild bank.
]]>A-Z: As you can see from the locator screen (accessed from the Game Info menu) it really is simple. You need to locate somewhere; drag the screen control down until you locate it in the list. The list is of all locations ‘within’ systems. Once you locate the location your looking for click the ‘Locate Now’ button. This takes you to a Location Info screen. This performs several functions. It allows you to read the Bio of this location. Please note not all locations have Bios as this is a work in progress and the Galaxies are always growing so bear with us if you find that the planet or location does not yet have any text. Secondly there are two images (when available) for the location. This will give you some idea what the location looks like both from orbit and when docked / Landed.
Still lost?: The last section on the far right shows the pertinent data you need to locate any location within Core-exiles. First you need the Galaxy (so you know where to begin looking), then the System. This enables you to use the correct Galactic Map (on the footer) and locate the System of your destination.
Settlements: Settlements appear within the Galactic Locator as well as other locations. To locate a Settlement first locate the Galaxy, then the system (as per normal). Now when arriving in the system you will see that the Planets in that system have the number of Ports listed. Those with more than 1 have a Settlement. This will enable you to ‘narrow’ your search to the correct location.
]]>I need Resources: If you find you have a need for say ‘50 Refined Ore’ (example) and simply don’t have the time or energy to go loot or refine it yourself why not pay some else to do it for you. From almost anywhere in the game go to the Game Info drop down and choose ‘Buyers Market (GBM)’. From this screen you can see existing contracts.
At the bottom of the screen you can see a white drop box. Use this to select the Resource you require. (Note: The GBM only deals in Resources and Commodities that can be stored in your Ships Cargo Hold. IE not guns, shields etc. Use the Player Market for that.)
OK select the item you want and hit the ‘Submit’ button. On the next screen you will be shown the BASE price for the resource you selected. This means that’s the lowest Price Joe’s will pay for this item + 25%. Simply work out how many you want. Then how much PER UNIT you are willing to pay. So lets stick with our example of Refined ore. The base price (at the time of this Guide) is 220 CPU (Credits Per Unit). Now no ones going to go to all the trouble of collecting ore, refining it and then filling your contract for the base price so we need to add a % to make it seem palatable to someone out there to fill. The higher the CPU price the more quickly the order will be filled. So lets put 330 in the CPU box. That’s Joe’s base price X 1.5. Good enough for this example. As I say the higher the CPU the quicker you are likely to get the Contract filled. Now we need to enter the Amount we want. So lets enter 50.
Credit Warning: The process above is to place a Contract for 50 units of Refined ore at 330 CPU. The contractual price in total would therefore be 16,500 Credits. IF we were to place this contract (using the ‘Process Request’) the GBM would attempt to take 16,500 Credits from your account. This is the bond that the GBM holds whilst the contract is filled. As players fill the contract, partially or fully they are paid directly from this bond. But as you see this bond is taken from your account when the contract is placed. So ALWAYS CHECK your figures before posting a contract. For instance is we were to make that 1000 units the cost would be 330,000 Credits.
Mistakes Happen: You’ve made a mistake. Placed a contract for the wrong amount, or worse wrong resource. Panic not. Return to the GBM contract screen and you will see your contract. Probably somewhere near the top of the page. (if not go through the pages one as a time). On the end of the contract will be a ‘Cancel’ Button. Simply use the cancel option. Your Contract will be cancelled and the Bond returned to you. Note: If any part of your Contract was filled you will only be refunded the remaining Balance of the Bond.
Notification: When a player fills part of your contract you will be sent an in game email. This will out line which player, what contract and how much was deposited. When a contract is completed a separate email is sent informing you of the contracts completion and by whom it was completed. This can aid you in tracking down good resources within the game that you might like to deal directly with later.
Collecting Resources: OK so you placed a contract. You waited patiently whilst it was filled (some can be filled in minutes others in days) Now you want your goods! Well you can add a Contract from anywhere in game, but filling Contracts and picking up your resources must be done at a planet or station with a GBM.
Contract Limits: There are only two limits to the contracts, one is you may only place up to Five contracts at any one time, the other is you must have enough credits in your account at the time of placing the Contract.
How do I fill a Contract: So you have spotted the GBM and the contracts posted and thought “I’ve got loads of that, or I can fill that..”. Well it’s simple. Use the CSTS to transfer the goods to the Commercial Store on a station or planet with a GBM. Once there (and the resources have arrived) visit the GBM. (Run by Harry Wilder). To fill or part fill a contract simply enter the amount of the contract you want to fill next to the contract. Ensuring the figure is not more than you have (at the local Commercial Store) or the figure is larger than the Contract amount. The payment system will automatically transfer the goods from your CS to the contractors stores and pay you the CPU amount as agreed and displayed on the contract. The GBM will also email directly the Contractor with the deposit amount and your name so he / she knows who’s been helping them fill a contract. It’s worth keeping your eyes on the GBM if you are a resourcer and find yourself with 1000’s of spare resources. Descarte is a central point in the Sphere Galaxy and a handy spot to store items and often players will pay well over the odds for items they need quickly. Alternatively there may be a time when you yourself need an items to finish a mission or a build.
Icarus Project: When perusing the GBM you may notice some highlighted requests with the Buyer listed as Icarus Project. Only Captains level 40 and below can contribute resources to filling these contracts.
]]>Missions are based on combat sorties that Gal-Fed require constantly fulfilling. These ensure the Outlaw vermin and Con-Fed forces don’t encroach too much on the way of life that everyday civilians take for granted. As you progress as a Captain, you will need to keep your ship in good combat stead to be able to complete these combat sorties.
You can review your active combat sorties from your ‘Active Combat Missions‘ view. Missions taken must be ‘submitted’ by when complete if you wish to be paid!
For specifics on combat, please see Combat.
First off – You can only take ONE mission at a time. These missions, or contracts have specific loot to collect that can only be located whilst the mission is active. So remember only one mission at a time. Secondly the FOM take their work seriously and should you take a mission they expect you to complete it. You can of course abort the mission but you will pay a 100% fine based off the Credit and XP awards of the mission you took.
So on to a few guides and rules: The FOM offices will not generate missions for players below the level of 10 outside of the Sphere. This is not because they are trying to be mean but they do not want their junior members becoming lost. Once level 10 and above you will be offered missions in all areas except the Expanse. To gain missions to the Expanse you must be captain level 30 or above. Your FOM Faction Rank affects how many missions are generated for you at a time and also will increase the upper limit of Mission ores you can be expected to locate. The distance and amount of mission items you have to find directly affect the offered credits. XP and Faction XP are then based directly off the credits. So the further away the Asteroid field and the more items you have to collect the greater the reward.
Collecting Mission Ores: Mission items can only be located whilst at the target Asteroid Field. You will not find them anywhere else whilst the mission is active. Your ship has been specially modified for this mission to identify the ores and tractor them on-board for you. At that time the AI will have them placed in special ‘tagged’ crates and moved to your ships MISC store area. When you have sufficient items to complete the mission simply use the ‘submit’ option in the Active FOM mission drop down page. The AI will then eject the containers and activate a homing beacon for the FOM haulers to come collect. This means you can complete a mission without having to return to the office from which it came.
Completing & Review Mission: On the top right hand side of your screen is a drop down box entitled ‘View Tasks’ From this you can access your active FOM mission under the ‘Active FOM Mission’ section. From here you can review your progress or remind yourself where you are meant to be or action the mission.
Abort: As stated above aborting a FOM mission will incur a 100% fine based on the Mission rewards! Do so at your own peril.
Submit: You can only submit the mission for completion once you have enough items. If the button is lit up then you can submit it and will be informed of the outcome. Credits, XP and Faction XP will be added to your account when you return to the next screen.
Mission Item Transfer: The Mission Ores collected are non-transferable. This means you cannot trade them with anyone else or sell them via the Player Market or store them in the Secure Store.
]]>Certificates can be purchased from certain stores or gained by completing NPC mission lines.
You must be level 60 or above and have a ‘Superior Head Implant‘ fitted to start the certification process.
Certificates are unique in Core-Exiles in that they are learnt in real time. Once you have a certificate, it will show in the bottom list and display your Current Level for that certificate.
You can only train ONE certificate at a time, and once commenced it cannot be stopped! So choose wisely.
Once a certificate has been uploaded to the neural buffer of a head implant, it begins to slowly diffuse the information over time, allowing the ‘recipient’ to instantly recall these new commands with zero side effects.
When a certificate has completed its ‘Learning Cycle’ you will also find you accrue a certain amount of ‘Certificate Points’. These can be collected and traded in for IP points at the IP Trainers dotted around the Galaxies.
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