New Player’s Guide

Due to the number of changes introduced in Independents it can be a little difficult to figure out how to get started. This guide is here to help new players get get their footing.

Joining a Faction

You’ll start off at Freeport 5 in the New York System. Here you will have to join one of the major factions in order to be granted safe passage through their jumphole to the rest of the game. You’ll see the representatives for the factions in the bar on Freeport 5 and can talk to them to get some information about their faction.

For new players the Colonial Republic or Solar Federation are the best choices. There are two options for each, trade and combat. Starting off as a trader can be kind of rough and slow. Starting off as a combat pilot you’ll see more money but a lot more death as well.

Freeport 5 also sells basic fighters for three of the main factions. If you decided to become a combat pilot you can pick one of these up so you don’t need to find the faction’s military base before you start fighting.

What you need to Know

Before you head out there are a few things that you should be aware of:

Energy and Fuel

Energy and thruster fuel are limited. Run out and you’re effectively dead in space. Also keep in mind that combat uses up energy faster than flying so always keep a little extra.

Docking

Autopilot does a poor job lining ships up to dock. You’re better off lining up manually with stations. With shipyards you can fly into the centre of the structure and insta-dock from there. Remember, you can assign keys to vertical strafe to help with lining up.

Nanobots and Shield Batteries

Lastly nanobots are small and well suited to small ships such as fighters. Shield batteries are more efficient but are much larger and are suited to larger ships.

Alaska Combat Areas

The Ice Field

Located by Research station Narita and Pacifica Base the Alaskan Crystal Ice Field is where you’ll find lots of small groups of fighters. Prefect for new combat pilots to test their dogfighting abilities.

The Nebula

Located between Darmstadt and Narita on the Colonial side of the system the TR-87 Nebula is not a place for fighters. It’s sensor interference gets progressively worse as you move deeper into it and the small sensors on fighters quickly become useless. This is where you’ll find Colonial and Alliance capital ships.

The Debris Field

Located Below Arranmore and above Sapporo the Starship Graveyard Debris Field is where you’ll find lots of large groups of fighters and corvettes. This is not a good place for solo pilots, but is plenty for players working together.

The Battlezone

Located in the middle of the system, to the right of Arranmore, and above and a little to the left of Akita this is where the forces of the Colonial Republic and Solar Federation really clash. If you want to fight capital ships, this is where you want to be.

Combat Loadouts

Since weapons in Independents are designed for specific roles it is important to pick the right weapons. For your choice of staring guns, stay away from the proximity and energy weapon as they are fiarly specilized. The basic projectile weapons make good starting guns as they’re decent against shields and hull.

This list contains the basic projectile guns, along with some decent missiles and drone to start off with:

Cargo Space Distrubution

With guns requiring ammo and everything taking up cargo space, knowing how to allocate you limited space is important. Try starting off with about 1/3 of your cargo for self repair (nanbots unless you’re starting off in a starhihp), 1/3 for missile, drone, and countermeasure ammo, and 1/3 for gun ammo.

These are only lose starting values as you’ll quickly start to find a distribution that better suit your needs.

Looking for Profit

If you’ve started as a trader one of the first things you’ll want to do if visit all the bases so you know how much they’ll pay for goods. You probably won’t want to run empty though, so check in the bar to see if anyone is talking about trade routes so you know what you can haul for a profit.

You’ll notice that the more expensive goods require better relations with the factions selling them, and that bribes are available on all bases to increase your reputation. But hold off on paying the bribes right away. It is often actually better to buy a larger ship and haul cheaper goods than it is to haul more expensive goods.

And the number one rule of trading, always make sure you have enough cash on hand to buy cargo. Spending millions on a new ship and then realizing you can’t afford to fill it with cargo is not good.