Oolite Bulletins

Is it possible to buy a ship with naval energy unit installed instead of waiting for the thargoid plans mission?

Yes, it is.

another_commander wrote: ↑Tue Oct 27, 2020 8:42 pm

Yes, it is.

Thanks, commander!
Would you recommend buying it and also buying military shield enhancement before going for the Thargoid plans mission?
I can deal with the thargoids quite alright when ambushed in short jumps. I'm wondering if the Thargoid plans mission going to be much harder than that.

You should be able to complete the mission without having to buy anything out of the ordinary. Give it a try and keep a save before you start, worst case scenario is that you find it way too hard and you fall back to the save before starting, then see if you can buy a ship that has the naval unit already installed.

another_commander wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 2:59 pm

You should be able to complete the mission without having to buy anything out of the ordinary. Give it a try and keep a save before you start, worst case scenario is that you find it way too hard and you fall back to the save before starting, then see if you can buy a ship that has the naval unit already installed.

The problem is that I'm going iron man. I've managed to complete the constrictor mission so far. In fact it was easier than I had expected. Currently I'm sitting in galaxy 2 with Dangerous rating (1430). I've already bought a ship with the NEU. I have everything else installed except for the military shield enhancement which I don't have enough money for at the moment.
I've had some hard time once having bought it without the NEU. So that shield recharge rate was way too slow, and the overall effect of having the military enhancement was something opposite to improved protection. So I'm just wondering whether the NEU is going to help here or whether I should go with the shield boosters instead.

Currently I'm sitting in galaxy 2 with Dangerous rating (1430).

In Ironman mode? Right on, Commander!

vaxon wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 3:39 pm

The problem is that I'm going iron man.

If this is the case, then I would really not want to influence your decision. This is your life we're talking about!

Cody wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 4:20 pm

Currently I'm sitting in galaxy 2 with Dangerous rating (1430).

In Ironman mode? Right on, Commander!

Thanks, Commander!

another_commander wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 4:35 pm

vaxon wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 3:39 pm

The problem is that I'm going iron man.

If this is the case, then I would really not want to influence your decision. This is your life we're talking about!

Fair enough.

Well, eventually I had no choice but to take the Thargoid plans with just my shield boosters and extra energy unit installed.
I got carried away in one of the fights and took one shot to the hull, which was enough to get my NEU destroyed.

Half of the journey went surprisingly well. The Thargoids didn't bother me much.
Then a couple of Fer-de-lance bastards came out of nowhere in the middle of the fight with the aliens,
and damaged my fuel injectors.

I managed to take one down and scared the other one away. When I got to the station it turned out they couldn't help me,
and I had to make two more jumps to get my fuel injectors fixed.

The first jump was OK. Three Thargoids tried to chase me, but I took 'em down one by one. The pirates
did not bother me at all, so there was just one jump left.

Then all hell broke loose.
Right after I left the wormhole, I found myself surrounded by three Thargoids. It took me some time to kill
the firs two. By the time I got to deal with the last one, I had no shields, and a dozen of robo-fighters
were doing their best to see the internals of my Cobra. I was losing the energy pretty fast.
I knew I had to take the last warship down first, so I launched a couple of missiles hoping to get rid
of the nearest robo-fighters, and started aiming at their mother ship. I managed to hit her, but not enough.

I had less than two energy banks left. All my targeting scanners and enhancements were destroyed, so
I couldn't aim properly. The lasers were overheating. The extra energy unit blown to pieces.

I launched the remaining missiles and started maneuvering.
Unfortunately, my barrel rolls didn't impress them at all.
I was still losing energy fast.

Jim Morrison started singing "The End" in my head. There was less than one bank left.
Then there was not enough energy to take another shot.
Then there was silence... No shots, no explosions, no ECM system warnings.
Just the soft monotonous sound of Cobra engines.

I looked at the scanner, and all the robo-fighters had turned white.
The missiles did their job! They didn't leave a metal fragment of last warship.
I stopped the engines, scared to move while recharging.

My ship was severely damaged, by I still had my shield boosters and docking computers.
I was at tech level 14 with more than 50 grand in the bank, and I was alive!

P.S.
So here I am with my second -- this time properly earned -- naval energy unit installed.
Still going Ironman. Ready to move on.

Wow, that was intense, even reading about it! Well done.

vaxon wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 3:39 pm

another_commander wrote: ↑Fri Oct 30, 2020 2:59 pm

You should be able to complete the mission without having to buy anything out of the ordinary. Give it a try and keep a save before you start, worst case scenario is that you find it way too hard and you fall back to the save before starting, then see if you can buy a ship that has the naval unit already installed.

The problem is that I'm going iron man. I've managed to complete the constrictor mission so far. In fact it was easier than I had expected. Currently I'm sitting in galaxy 2 with Dangerous rating (1430). I've already bought a ship with the NEU. I have everything else installed except for the military shield enhancement which I don't have enough money for at the moment.
I've had some hard time once having bought it without the NEU. So that shield recharge rate was way too slow, and the overall effect of having the military enhancement was something opposite to improved protection. So I'm just wondering whether the NEU is going to help here or whether I should go with the shield boosters instead.

If you have a ship whose energy recharge rate is signifcantly greater than the non-enhanced shield recharge (i.e., 5+), the Energy Grid form Naval Grid (Next) OXP is an option to improve your shield recharge rate, it's much cheaper than the Military Shield Enhancement, though it doesn't increase your shields strength

vaxon wrote: ↑Sat Oct 31, 2020 3:27 pm

Jim Morrison started singing "The End" in my head. There was less than one bank left. Then there was not enough energy to take another shot. Then there was silence... no shots, no explosions, no ECM system warnings. Just the soft monotonous sound of Cobra engines.

Those are the magical moments, when you've fought your way through and survived, even while running on empty!