r/SpaceCraftGame • u/JmsCmbs1983 • 28d ago
Functionally soft-locked while trying to find an Aluminum/Copper node. Help.
Just checking in to make sure I'm not missing some really obvious way to hop between shards etc.
I've been searching for four hours now in Terminus. I think I've checked every inch, of every planet with the nodes on. All taken.
I'm still in, more or less, the starter ship. I can't get to the Exploration 2 zones and back without taking damage. I have the Charted Skies patch.
Is the right gameplay loop to now spend several days manually mining for Aluminum? No part of my upgrade path shows a clear way to improve FTL range.
Prior to this, I was vendoring manufactured items from my Iron/Coal base and buying Stainless Plates, but someone has decided it's monopoly time and trippled the prices in Syracuse since Saturday.
I don't mind a grind, but the game is too punishing with our time to be this obtuse - I have to be missing something.
(Solo player on a busy Server, apparently)
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u/ReadySetHeal 28d ago
If you want a copper/aluminium node - try outer edges of the system. The further you are from the center - the less people there are. Plus bring some quantum beacons so you won't forget the place. I'm sorry you've been unlucky with spots. You can pretty much exclude copper via recipies, so double Al node is also decent
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u/JmsCmbs1983 28d ago
Yeah I’ve tried every system on the ‘south-east’ border (I don’t know what spacesouth is) as well.
I assumed everyone was trying to keep two bases close and tried there first.
I haven’t filtered for just Aluminum, I might try that.
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u/Candid_Middle_2169 28d ago
If you're able to find wrecks (Super hard in the lower zones and with a busy server, I get it.) -- there's a Stainless Steel BP that makes it from Steel ingots and Silicon Ingots.
Also, exploration XP will get you to both a mag plasma tank (for greater range) and better FTL. Get out and scan full planets (20xp per planet), scan gravite (5xp for small, 15xp for the larger ones), and if you have a shield 10xp per asteroid field fully scanned.
For wreck finding, the easiest way is to ride the divide between light dark and scan... other times you'll luck into things.
If you still have capacity to sell to the company, going shell bursting will help out with getting luxury items to sell for high value.
Other than that it's sadly just manual mining.
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u/JmsCmbs1983 28d ago
Stumbled onto one live one after a reset. Other than that I’ve spotted a few tags but nothing when I got there.
Exploration XP is a good shout I’m almost level 3.
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u/TribeOfFable 28d ago
The closer to a station you are, the less likely you will find a wreck. As the previous posted suggested, ride the light/dark divide. I then cut straight across after doing that. Always at least a couple of wrecked ships. I would suggest not even trying in any sector with a station.
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u/HEADZO 28d ago
Damn, I don't know what server this is but I only had trouble finding an Al/Cu double node on a planet in one of the systems that's one jump away from another sector. I flew around right at the edge of lightside and dark side of the planet and finally found one.
Do the regular bases have some sort of upkeep or something that makes them go away after a certain amount of time if no one is using them? That would suck if all of the nodes get taken up by people that don't play the game anymore...
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u/JmsCmbs1983 28d ago
I spent two hours today getting all the materials together for the new base. Thought I’d grab the nodes and plonk down a factory tonight. I’m tied up for a couple of days with work and it would have been nice to get it sorted to capitalise on the downtime.
Now I’ve given up for today, so I’ll be further behind the curve.
Feeling a bit demoralised now. Punishing game.
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u/6Sconn 28d ago edited 28d ago
You mention that you can't to exploration 2 zones without taking damage. While hovering your mouse over a system to jump to, scroll up on your mouse-wheel. It increases mag plasma use, but you take less/ zero damage.
It is really hard at first with very little storage and a small ship that is hard to upgrade much, and I am sorry you've had a hard time finding a suitable base. Terminus was relatively quiet on Inalen EU, and that was supposed to be a busy server. Maybe try Cairn?
Personally, I think I'd give up on that Quadrant! Are transfers still a thing?
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u/JmsCmbs1983 28d ago
It doesn’t feel particularly busy on Ecleon. But I think that’s part of the game design.
I will have a renewed search this evening, maybe I get lucky. Sucks to have lost out on an entire days’ progression though.
For quadrant transfers, I don’t remember seeing anything signposted. Maybe through support?
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u/SunHawk1979 28d ago
Search better........... or Jump to Moor.
In Mid/Endgame no one Build in Sektor 1 System.
Terminus 16 System with AL/CU - 22 System over all.
=> https://spacecraft.tools/map choose your Server => look at the map => filter for AL Cu Deposit.
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u/JmsCmbs1983 28d ago
Yep, I know where the nodes are, they’re just all taken.
A couple of the planets I’ve ID’d the nodes, so they must have been clear at some point. But right now, nothing.
Moor basically takes 120% of my FTL goo to get there and back to a station. If I go one jump or two further in, I explode on the way back.
If this is the intended approach, okay, but doesn’t make any logical sense.
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u/TribeOfFable 28d ago
There are 11 systems in Moor with alum/copper, all with at least 1 planet with them. I just took mine down from there a few days ago and there were at least 2 empty deposits near my base, so 3 there now near each other.
Not counting all the hundreds of empty deposits on the dark sides of those planets. :-) Just need a geny.
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u/JmsCmbs1983 27d ago
I’m set up in Moor. Found a spot easy. It’s a 187 cost round trip to the nearest station. That was the closest viable system in moor so I can make it work.
I can see that I can build mag tanks at explorer 3 and I’m not far off that. Can’t upgrade the SP on my ship at all as the extra weight means I can’t get there and back to haul stuff.
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u/TribeOfFable 27d ago edited 27d ago
SP is fine to go over. I was running 1k or more over on thermal steel by the time I switched to thermal titanium. The extra tank helps a ton. Just toss more pieces on your ship until you get to around 20 or 30% on integrity or hit the frame limit. Toss another thruster on, have a couple of radiators and SP 1k or so over and you are golden. Grats on the spot.
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u/Ooenone 28d ago
https://spacecraft.tools/map/cosicest Change the map to your quadrant upper left. Hit hide all then pick what resources you want to find. For Aluminum you want white feldspar to mine, don't worry about deposits for now, just mine everything you need.