[SC] Returning player with some questions

Hi everyone!

So as mentioned in the title I'm a returning player to the game and I had some questions about how I should proceed. Basicly I'm asking some advice on how to become UFE in the most efficient way from where I'm standing right now. This is where I am on this very moment.

Ships
- Venom, Sentinel and Solace: all from pirate chests I opened in the past. I currently use Venom to farm as its ability comes in handy.
- Citadel and Aegis: Citadel for sending that sweet 8k promerium or seprom. I currently don't use the Aegis, but it's another farming ship.
- Vengeance, Leonov and all the credit trash: only remark here is that I really like the Vengeance, although I don't have the Lightning design... The only reason I'm not using it would be because it's just a bad ship compared to the higher end ships.

Drones
- 8 Iris + Apis and Zeus.
- 4 Havoc, 0 Hercules.
- Upgrade level at least 13, some are higher. Only Apis and Zeus are still lvl 1.
- Diamond formation and the credit trash.

Equipment (I'm FE here)
- 20 of the best speed generators.
- 33 B02 shields (upgrade lvl 1).
- 47 LF-3 (upgrade lvl 1) + 5 LF-4 (upgrade lvl 1).
- 2 HST-2 rocket launchers (upgrade lvl 1).

Pilot Sheet
- 26/50
- Full defensive line (only Engineering - better repair bot - at 1/5)
- Offensive line: only Rocket Fusion (5/5, 15% more rocket dmg).

PET
- Level 14 (very close to 15).
- 2 radar protocols (lvl 3).
- PET repairer (lvl 1).
- Kamikaze (lvl 2).
- Resource and bonus box collector (lvl 3).
- Combo ship repair (lvl 1).
- Combo guard mode (lvl 1).

Please let me know when something is missing, I'll gladly add it.

Now, my plan is to farm and farm and farm, click Zeta gates, get to 10 Havoc. But what do I do next?

First thought is doing Kappa gates for the LF-4 and Hercules, but I'd like being full LF-4 ASAP after I've got 10 Havoc. Reasoning here is that I'm not progressing faster with more shield and more hp, but I do with more firepower. Also, I don't survive if those UFE hunters come, unless I stay very close to the portal. So IMO there's no point in adding extra hp and shields, because I still won't survive if I have to travel half of the map to the portal. Do I still go for Kappa gates or is it better to do Epsilon gates?

I see there's also a new 'event' where you get double the gate rewards. I've got some questions about the rewards as well.
- What do I do with the Uridium I gained? Spend them on making new gates, upgrades, PET gear, more pirate keys to go for LF-4s...?
- Whenever I finish a gate on double GG rewards day, do I have double the chance on receiving a Havoc (Zeta gate), LF-4/Hercules (kappa gate) OR do I gain 2 Havoc, LF-4/Hercules if I'm lucky enough to win the GG lottery?

When do I spend my pirate keys to gain LF-4s? On LF-4 days, on normal days, on Zeus days... You get the weirdest answers when you look up what the best time is... Keep in mind that I already have Apis and Zeus, so I think there's no point in collecting pirate chests when it's Apis/Zeus day.

When is the next Helix Blitz Sale or when does it usually show up? I'm thinking of buying some drone formations. I'd buy Heart, Drill and Moth, are there any others I should think about? Maybe Ring, but I'm not a fan of that one, maybe later on.

I'm playing alone, don't have friends who play this game (anymore) or a clan and I really like the hit (preferably kill) and run type of playstyle, that's why I'd like to go full LF-4 ASAP. So I've been thinking about buyig that Pusat people have been using. Except, I didn't know that Tartarus had come out while I was gone. That ugly ship seems OP, hitting a bit lower than goli, a little bit tankier and flying faster than a Pusat if you have full generators + prom + the ability (who even balanced that lol. Only 5% dmg reduction, I'll gladly take that). Do I even worry about those ships or do I just stick with my goli, knowing I don't have Surgeon and the new Cyborg basicly is unobtainable for me?
(In general, do hit and run configs even work with everyone having the hp and shields of a basic Citadel, while flying in a goli and still hitting reasonably?)

Last few questions, thank you and congratulations if you've come this far
Do I even worry about PET gear? That thing doesn't seem to do anything useful and it eats uridium - not only talking about the fuel here...
How does that combo repair thing work? I've clicked it a dozen times while I'm damaged, in a battle and flying, still my PET ignores me (almost dying) and continues firing his lasers like the brainless animal he is...
What is combo guard mode, what does it do?

Thank you all for reading, replying and helping me out!

 

combo guard mode for pet gives pet a ish protection and practically cant pop it unless its low health,helix days are regular through the week maybe ask in chat some people no these things like what day ,on double rewards day also uri is not doubled for completeing gate but everything else is hon xp and hercs and havocs and lf4s ,

 

*i'd save up the keys a while and then use all of them in 1 day in the same map (i usually take 4-X) on helix lf4 day.
*use the uridium to either build gates or upgrade drones and lf4
*never buy cosmetic stuff
*go for kappa gate since you need both hercules and lf4(with rebate+prem+discount day you can build kappa with 75k to 115k urdium)-->ofcourse it's chance based, but i did get 10lf4 when i did 5 kappas in 1 day...so you may get a lot of firepower if you get lucky
*use the credits to try and get spectrum, as this ship has the best chance to keep you alive (maybe add ring formation)

Hope this helps

 

I'm already saving up for the spectrum, had about 200M I never spent when I left two years ago, but I noticed I was out of cloaking cpus so I used that for 2 of those 50 cloak cpus. Guess I'll have enough for now
Been looking at the prices as well, seems like they're going for about 500M+ on my server (Global Europe 4) currently, but I've already seen Spectrum going over 1 billion credits.

Thanks for the other information and you as well, murdoc01, for explaining the combo guard mode. Guess it's of not much use to me, can't remember when or why I bought it, but it's there now.

 

No problem, also i see that you bought kami lvl 2...try to avoid purchases like this, if you can go immediatly for lv3 as it's better.
Small credit tip: try to bid very cheap (10.000 credits) for the slot cpu 4, and then selling that, you will make some profit from that (though not significant)
and 500M is cheap for spectrum, i've seen it go over 2 billion on my server (global europe 3)
Question: are you doing pvp at this moment? or are you planning on doing pvp when you are stronger?

 

Level 1 PET items are a waste of Uridium, only buy level 3 items. Do the gates that give the Booty Keys on double rewards days and then collect these all at one time on either LF-4 or Zeus days as there is a better chance to collect better items on these days. Helix days are random and IF there is any notice of them it is in the Calendar (top of this page) but often Chat gives better information as people play multiple servers and see the items at an earlier time than your server. Upgrade the Drones and LF-4's equip your drones with the LF-4's to double the boost from the upgrades (done on Upgrade Bonus Hour with Rebate and Premium 47.5% discount). The only FAST way to UFE is to SPEND and Grind Gates.

 

While most of what you say is undeniable, you can't rely on upgrade bonus hour, i haven't seen it in forever, and i am pretty active (though i do have a life outside of DO)

 

Usually on Friday nights about 1900 hours server time (last posted 20 Oct in Calendar), but is not always posted.

 

Not really. Neither in the form of paticipating in pvp events or hunting. The only event I would participate in is sector control, because I enjoyed that when it first came out and I would definitely like to do it again. As for hunting, I tried a little hunt, but I quickly came to the conclusion I can't kill players on a higher level (obviously) and I can't kill players quickly enough who are more on my level (FE, maybe an apis and zeus, but not full LF-4 or upgraded schield generators). So the only players left for me to kill are less than FE players who are most likely on the lower maps and I don't see the fun in that, it's like farming but you just farm other people. So no, I don't really plan on doing pvp until I'm stronger.

I'll definitely keep an eye on the calender, thank you for mentioning this and it can't hurt to ask chat, indeed.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Pusat-Tartarus question? Part of the reason I came back was because I liked the Pusat, but now that Tartarus is out (which to me seems like an upgraded Pusat), I don't really know if it's still used. Don't see the Tartarus that often either, I mostly notice people running Solace, Spectrum, Surgeon and of course the Cyborg.

Is it worth buying either Pusat or Tartarus or should I just stick with my Goli (try and bid for Spectrum) and try to buy Surgeon at some point? Reasoning for this question is that, if I have the heart/drill formation (which I intend to buy), I could use one of those ships for farming, I'll have a higher chance to escape because of their high speeds, right now it's pointless for me to run, as people always have either the same speed as me or higher. Any thoughts/experiences on this?

Thank you already for the help you've given me!

 

Tartarus was reveled when released but as speed was questioned frequently seems to have been left by the way side, Surgeon is often given as a Bonus Reward on weekend Gates and Uridium Purchases so I do not suggest buying the Ship itself (take it as the reward/bonus). If having to run all the time get the wheel formation.

You may even want to start an account on one of the German servers and watch their forums/Calendar for notices of what is happening as they seem to get all of the information and we only get bits of it. Navigating the Discord Channel seems to give more "TEAM" interactions and information about the game and what is happening with it. There is a link in the back page NEWSLETTER section "Stay on top of the News" to create the account. I basically got all of the Ships/designs from Auction and Credit ships and hope they decide to add more of the newer ships in the future so I can bid on them too.

Ship Expo should hit in about 6 months and you might kick yourself if you jump in now as they often run "Payment" specials during this time to get a package of ships for cash.

 

Then might i suggest in investing in the alien hunter bio, that way you don't have to bother to go for bounty hunter (pvp) and thus hit harder against aliens,

 

Thanks, good thing I can speak some basic German.

I see the logic in that, I've had the idea myself as well, but I doubt if it's worth it. I'd need to gain 2 pilot points to even start alien hunter (2 needed for cruelty I, then I unlock alien hunter, but still need to start it) and 7 pilot points in total to even gain the full benefits...
That being said, if you know it is worth it, then I can go for alien hunter and have my tree reset when I'm ready. Maybe it's also useful I point out I have an open Zeta gate (last wave) I like to finish this sunday (next double GG rewards day, according to the German calendar). The 100 log files I get from that one are enough for me to create another pilot point.

 

Remember that every weekend is double rewards day on sunday (unless i'm wrong), it is worth it if you don't go for pvp, the 12% more laser damage is a nice addition (correct me if i'm wrong @HelpMeHelpYou)

 

IF you are not going to stay with PvE then it really is not worth the extra. I focused on the Defensive factors (Hull and Shields) and if you really want to increase the damage for PvE use the Ships, Crafted LF-4's, and Formations geared for this purpose. Since we no longer need to sell ships to make room for them in the Hangar, invest the Credits in winning all Ships from Auction and just for fun the Credit Ships. And the other items can be equipped to ships specifically equipped for PvE and still allow to have ships equipped for PvP or Boxing if desired. Using PET stuff is another way to increase some of these items too.

There have been several threads made about the benefits of the Pilot Bio and expense to get it and most agree after getting the Bubble Shield (Full Shield Bio) and FATS (PvP Laser Boost) the rest is really a waste of Uridium/Log Disks/Seprom, unless you spend all your time doing what it increases.

Remember a Bio Reset is not just the Uridium that needs to be spent but every re-assigned point requires the same as if it were being assigned the first time, meaning you will be bio less for quite a while after doing a reset and unable to ship Seprom to your ship during this time.

 

I think I agree here, the benefit of spending 7 pilot points to have +12% dmg to aliens isn't worth it for me, as I'm not sticking to PvE forever (I hope).

I'm sorry I couldn't keep you guys updated, but I didn't have much time this weekend.
So in the mean time, I've invested some money in the game and purchased heart, moth and drill formations (already had diamond). I've also clicked 3 zeta gates, finished 1 (on double gate rewards, today), but didn't receive havoc unfortunately. Gained enough logfiles to create a pilot point and I've put it in bounty hunter I. I've got everything in the defense line maxed out, so I don't see anything else that would have a higher priority. Currently at 27/50.

Also collected 65 pirate chests with the keys I received from that zeta gate and some keys that were still in my invetory. Received 3 LF-4s, the usual lots of ammo, 3 Apis drone fragments (which are practically useless) and some workshop materials as well. Don't know if this is a good loot, but I'm pretty happy with 3 LF-4s out of 65 keys (FYI: I collected pirate chests on 4-1, 4-2, 4-3 and 4-4. I received one LF-4 on each of these maps, except for 4-3 -VRU map, which is my company.) I'm at a total of 8 LF-4s now.

Still have 2 zeta gates to finish, but I probably won't have the time, so it'll have to wait till the next double gg rewards day.

I mentioned I also received some workshop materials. I've got enough to craft the Spectrum, but my question is, do I craft it via the workshop or do I save the materials and try to get it from the auction?

EDIT: forgot to tell you I also received boosters. Although they'll run out eventually, the dmg, shield and hp boosters are always useful, even if it's only for an hour or two.

Thank you for all the help, I really appreciate it!

 

It's not worth spending 7 PP when you can shoot more than 20k dmg with x1.

 

Always get your Ships from Auction, Credits are cheap, materials are hard to get.