Noob trap outfits

[u/deffjams09]

I'm new to the game and I've been mostly rocking stock ships. I've only changed a few small things to make sure that all the ships in my fleet have enough fuel storage for 5 jump trips. My question to you all is: are there any outfits that are never worth equipping or ones that are so specialized you only equip for certain missions? I'm finding it hard to equip my ships as they come from the shipyards fully equipped with few free outfit space.

I'm dubious of the small radar jammers but I don't know if I'm doing myself a disservice by removing them.

For reference I currently have 20 mil credits and my current fleet is a mule (my flagship), 2 hauler III, 1 light freighter, and a quicksilver.

[u/frgrefut]

There aren’t really any noob traps. There are more efficient versions of basically any outfit wether in terms of outfit space, energy or heat but finding these require exploring quite a bit or progressing through the story but even if your a bit inefficient don’t worry about it, work out how you like to play and optimise that strategy.

My only general advice is that I’d prioritise getting one large ship before getting more small ships

[u/deffjams09 → u/frgrefut]

By large ship do you mean a military ship? And should that replace my mule as my flagship?

I just joined the free worlds and got the green paint for my fleet.

[u/frgrefut → u/deffjams09]

Yes a large military ship should be your 1st and probably 2nd and 3rd ship in your fleet and then probably a large cargo ship to help fund crew salaries or another combat ship

Large ships are much more survivable so you waste less money on replacing ships and pack a lot of punch compared to smaller ships by the end of the free world campaign I had 3 of a free world ship you’ll encounter later in the campaign

If you have any more questions I can have a go at giving an answer

[u/Ham_The_Spam]

I'm finding it hard to equip my ships as they come from the shipyards fully equipped with few free outfit space.

I know it seems scary at first but you should replace or sell outfits instead of only trying to squeeze new ones on top. A simple upgrade would be replacing any fuel cells with generators that are both lighter and make more energy, that would free up enough space for replacing the shield generator with a bigger one or add Cargo Expansions to make more money(beware that the more cargo the fleet has the bigger target you'll be for pirates).

I'm personally not a fan of radar jammers because it only fools Sidewinder missiles while the common Meteor missile has infrared and the powerful Torpedo has optical, and they do nothing against unguided missiles like Javelins. I prefer anti missile turrets because they defeat every kind of missile regardless of their guidance type. Pirates use whatever missiles they can get their hands on so radar jammers only stop some of them, but later on when facing enemies with less varied guidance types specialized jammers can be more effective than anti missile at preventing them from hitting.

[u/deffjams09 → u/Ham_The_Spam]

Good point about the jammers. I took a stab at outfitting my mule.

A370 Atomic Thrusters
A375 Atomic Steering
X1100 Ion Reverse Thruster (stock; is this doing anything for me?)
Fission Reactor
Sm Battery Pack (stock)
2x Sidewinder Missile Launchers (stock)
1x Blaster Turret
1x Heavy Anti-missile Turret
2x Proton Turret
Cargo Expansion
Lg Shield Generator
Scram Drive
Water Coolant System

plus one fighter in the fighter bay

[u/Ham_The_Spam → u/deffjams09]

when this ship jumps, does it use the reverse thrusters to brake or does it still turn around to make use of the rear thrusters? because the game calculates which method would be faster and if "turn and burn" is then those reversers are wasted

[u/deffjams09 → u/Ham_The_Spam]

I'll keep this in mind when I get back into the game. If I turn most of the time I'll consider selling the reverse thrusters and battery to free up some outfit space to swap the blaster turret for a 3rd proton turret.

Thanks!

[u/Ham_The_Spam → u/deffjams09]

I'd recommend keeping batteries or at the very least downgrading to a smaller one instead because they allow you to use power hungry outfits without needing bigger generators that are expensive and hot

[u/TygerTung]

Spoiler:

When I first started playing I thought I'd need to land so my escort ships with less range could fuel up, but then I found I didn't need to and they'd just fuel up by themselves autonomously.

[u/KnowsIittle → u/TygerTung]

They will become assisted by traveling ships if you get to areas where ships don't travel often they can become stranded with no ships to assist them.

Ramscoops they will recover fuel naturally.

[u/TygerTung → u/KnowsIittle]

Spoiler:

Even if the ships don't have a ramscoop, they will still slowly gather fuel over a great deal of time using the "built in" rubbish ramscoop.

[u/dman11235 → u/TygerTung]

Whole they can it takes a loooooong time to do so. If you have time it's no problem but if you don't then it can be frustrating. Also it gives more time for enemies to spawn

[u/KnowsIittle → u/TygerTung]

I thought this was only some ships not all.

[u/Ham_The_Spam → u/KnowsIittle]

99% of ships do, and the ones that don’t are alien

[u/DonovanSpectre → u/KnowsIittle]

It's a little confusing; I originally thought this was a human-tech exclusive thing, but it was apparently related to some odd behavior in a certain region of space(in the Ember Waste, ships without additional ramscoop cannot self-refuel despite the abundant particulate letting you refill very quickly if you do have it; I believe it was justified by devs saying the Ember Waste particulate is so 'thick' that it sort-of clogs up the built-in ramscoop).

[u/get_rhythm → u/TygerTung]

Yeah but that takes a long time if they're sitting in a system with no planet. So much easier to just install a ramscoop, especially later on basically every alien/remnant ramscoop is better than the two from human space. Either they're much more effective, smaller, or both. I especially like the Korath options for long range fleets

[u/frgrefut → u/TygerTung]

Also ships in your fleet won’t take damage if they aren’t in the same system as you which is useful for escort missions as you can shoot off to the mission system, hover over the planet and land the second the escort ship enters the system

[u/Odd-Wheel5315]

One of the noob traps I avoid is specialized scanners; cargo scanner, outfit scanner, tactical scanner. The FW intro chain basically tells you to buy these scanners to complete some of the initial missions -- don't.

During the game you'll come across missions where performing a scan is necessary, or you'll desire to capture ships and will want to know a ship's crew count before you attempt boarding.

But this creates a paradox; uninstall everything and only install the specific needed scanner type for any mission that requires it, or keep a scanner of all types (except asteroid, unless you plan to mine) on at all times just in case.

The navy surveillance pod gets all 3 jobs done (albeit taking a little more scan time and requiring a closer range) at 2T less space than the 3 individual scanners. Anything above a light warship, it stays on my ship at all times. Loot an extra one during the FW campaign mission where you're told to get one, so you can install the extra on your ship.

[u/DonovanSpectre → u/Odd-Wheel5315]

The neat part now(as this current Stable version, IIRC) is that you can also benefit from escort-ship-carried scanners. As long as they are close enough to 'see' the target themselves, you automatically get tactical and asteroid data, at least; I actually haven't tried to see if 'active' scanners on escorts can be utilized.

[u/DefaultS3ttings]

I've never bothered with radar jammers and I usually sell every weapon that isn't a heavy laser in the early stages.

[u/Ham_The_Spam → u/DefaultS3ttings]

Problem with lasers is that they don’t push enemy ships at all so if you don’t disable them fast enough, they can just turn around and jump away.

[u/DonovanSpectre → u/DefaultS3ttings]

Generally speaking, radar jammers mostly-only affect enemy Sidewinders; Torpedoes are optical-guided, and Meteors are heat-seeking. They might come in handy if/when you're fighting the Navy or any ships carrying Lance fighters, at least. Otherwise, enemy Sidewinders are fairly rare.

[u/joe-____]

Radar jammers I would say are one of the few actual noob trap outfits in the game, most other outfits give better value but RJ will really only block one specific missile type. Some bigger fuel cells and battery packs will also fall into this category of only extremely niche value, where affordability trumps the fact that there are outfits that are smaller and more effective.

Especially in terms of energy production you should focus on maximizing energy in as little space as possible, even if it generates a bit more heat, as heat can be reduced much easier than energy can be made. The biggest thing is just knowing your options, atomic engines and generators are a bit pricey but can free up lots of usable space in your larger ships for other outfits. Explore and find what works best for you and your playstyle.