Tricks And Tips

[Art Blade]

going to finish that post of yours any time soon, fragger? I know I slipped in at least one post while you were on it :-()

[fragger]

I'm on my third one now. Originally, every Multitool I saw in a wall crate had one less slot, then suddenly I was seeing ones with more. I'm wondering if it's related to your standing with the prevailing alien race - once it gets high enough, they start offering you better Multitools. After I got my second one, which had more slots than my previous one, the wall-crate ones went back to being one slot less. Then later, they went up again. Since I got my third one, they've gone back to being one slot less again.

Nice neat layout on your new ship :-X And once again., I've never seen any ships like those. I've seen one very similar to the first ship, with the same engines and girly pink colour scheme, but the details are slightly different.

I notice you have a few upgrades there like "Beam Impact 2" and "Beam Impact 3". Do you actually need to keep both? I've been going on the assumption that if you craft a higher level of something, you can ditch the lower level version - I don't think they accumulate in strength. A 3 supersedes a 2 and a 4 supersedes a 3. So you can dismantle the lower level upgrades and save some slots. Otherwise, by the time you get to level 4 of everything, you won't have much room left for cargo and collectibles. I'll have to look into that.

I'm trying to get my new "free" hull. I know the one I want, but every time one comes in it has over 33 slots and I can't afford to initially buy them. Yet earlier, before I bought my Nemo ship, I was seeing them come in with just 16 or 17 slots and they were cheap as chips.

Just have to keep trying, I guess :)

[fragger]

D'oh! I didn't see the post before this one. Yep, it's finished

[fragger]

I mean the post before the last one. Your last post. Ahh, my head...

[Art Blade]

stop it, you keep interfering with my posts, mate

[Art Blade]

(still chortling here  :-() )

OK, that is a good point, regarding your standing and the size of your tool.. ahem. :-D I'll keep an eye out for that, too.

I can't really say regarding adding upgrades of different levels whether all or only some of them stack up. I am definitely positive about the scanner range. They also obviously get some type of adjacency bonus as all icons get a glowing border of the same colour. There is an adjacency bonus for the mining laser apps and grenade apps and bolt caster apps, too.

That is why I assume that it also works for other "build-ups" like stacking whatever level you've got blueprints for. I assume that if you don't want to use up all your slots for one type of upgrade (by the way, I can't get used to calling them "companions," I much rather call them upgrades or even shorter, apps as in applications) then of course you should replace a weaker with a stronger one.

Then there are apps that obviously don't have any adjacency bonus such as those different types of jet engine "upgrades" -- they don't show a glowing border when placed adjacently. Yet you keep seeing aliens with ships that have those that you can see in mine (I got it like that). I was keen on getting that Photonix Core (don't have a blueprint for it) and a Pulse Jet (here level Tau) at the same time when buying a ship and I managed. I also know that shield upgrades get an adjacency bonus, those icons get a glowing border. So I will keep adding matching apps with different levels to stack them.

As to the ships, when I did a test jump to a Gek system, I noticed that they've got the same "core" structure for ships but the design details are different. Like you ship, you've got wings on it that here the Vy'keen ships don't have but the general shape does exist.

As to the layout of my new ship, indeed. It took hours (while trading, I randomly checked out the traders' ships) to find one that had a favourable position (in order to build up an adjacency bonus) of the standard components on the grid because unfortunately you can't move those around or dismantle and rebuild them in a different slot. I also wanted the rest of the slots to be adjacent, and the one I got is next to perfect.  :-D

I will dismantle and relocate some of the components in order to get or prepare for adjacency bonuses.

[fragger]

Just did a quick bit of research, you're on the right track as it turns out. My assumption was wrong.

Adjacency bonuses explained:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/739857-no-mans-sky/74159155

So, to get the maximum bonus, put your highest #upgrade in the centre of a cross-shape (if you have enough), or at least try to have your highest number in the centre of similar upgrades, or if all else fails, in a square shape.

Damn, I have some re-tooling and rearranging to do :-D

[Art Blade]

cool, thanks :)

Bad news regarding your discovery of borrowed ship design or shape-shifting -- I was running around some and on returning, I thought to myself, "WTF.. oh.. it's not lasting."

[smg id=9028 type=preview align=center caption="no shape shifting"]

[fragger]

Oh, bummer :-( Oh well, it was a good try :-()

So I've done a bit of rearranging of my upgrades, now that I know a thing or two more about them. This is how my ship upgrades are now arranged (I moved most of my cargo to my suit inventory for clarity of viewing here). Since all my main ship systems are in a line along the top, and since I want to have upgrades for all of them, I have no choice but to arrange my adjacencies downwards (if I wanted to prioritize, say, Phase Beam over Photon Cannon, I could have my upgrades intrude into the Photon Cannon column in order to maximize Phase Beam bonuses). Also, there are more upgrades that I have blueprints for but not yet the resources to craft them, so I'm going with what I can at present.

[smg id=9029 align=center width=600]

So in the first column, I have my highest Phase Beam upgrade in the middle, a #3, flanked by two #2s.

I'm beginning to see now why you would actually want to go for as many slots as possible in your inventories - to allow for premium arrangements of upgrades while still having space for cargo and collectibles.

Right, now to w@&k on the suit inventory.

Then there are apps that obviously don't have any adjacency bonus such as those different types of jet engine "upgrades" -- they don't show a glowing border when placed adjacently.

If you're taking about the Pulse Engine upgrades, they actually do highlight, but it's not always easy to see. It's a dark blue-grey colour which blends in against some backdrops.

[Dweller_Benthos]

Nice info guys, thanks. I see a lot of ship parts I recognize, just the configuration is different. The individual parts are all the same. Art's ship above looks really similar to what I've seen, just the engines and wings might be different to the ones in my system. Those are stuck on different ships. At what point are they going to add ship customization? You know, where you can buy parts and put them together however you wish? Custom paint, too. Oh, and how about naming your ship? You can name entire systems and planets, but not your ship? Really?

[fragger]

I had that exact same thought. I don't want to fly around in something called a Sodegawag. It sounds sleazy :-()

Incidentally, while I was arranging the upgrades I saw those arcs around the weapons symbol on the right of the screen grow further around, and they're colour-coded to match the weapon type. You can see the green arc (Phase Beam) is longer than the red one (Photon Cannon) as I have a greater adjacency bonus there. So that explains what they are. Get them to extend all the way around and I guess you have the maximum adjacency bonus for that weapon.

[Art Blade]

fragger, you did it again, managed to slip in a post before I could click "post"  :-()
And thanks for the info and your ship arrangement is nicely done :)

hehe so right, guys.. I was thinking the same, renaming my ship would be great.

Meanwhile, I think I solved the multi-tool mystery. It is not related to my standing, it is still the same, but one crate with a tool that I left behind because it was 13 (my highest and last was 14 slots) now has got a 15 slot version. I think it's not random because I kept finding like 2 or 3 times a 13-slot tool. Now that I returned with a 13-slot tool from a wall box, it seems to think that since I already had advanced to 14 and now that I am using a wall box tool (again), I deserve the next upgrade. 

[smg id=9030 type=preview align=center caption="tool tip top"]

[fragger]

So it's giving you a loyalty reward :-D Cool!

Well, I've rearranged my suit now too, as best as I could get given what I have (I've also got all kinds of Shield enhancements like heat, cold, radiation, etc., but I''ll do them next time I really need them. I'm not sure what they will "adjace" to, except each other). I already had the Jetpack and Stamina ones where you see them now, so I'll leave them like that until I get a #3 in either of them. But I did rearrange my Life Support (I don't seem to have a #1 for that, unless the Life Support itself counts as a #1).

[smg id=9032 type=preview align=center caption="NMS032"]

Trouble is, I can't get my Jetpack upgrades next to my Jetpack because the Suit Shield Protection and Life Support items are in the way, and they cannot be dismantled or moved. Which makes me wonder if the upgrades don't actually have to be adjacent to the thing they're upgrading, as long as they, the upgrades, are together. If so, it would mean that you could arrange your upgrades anywhere in your inventory. That may indeed be the case, because the Stamina upgrades don't actually connect to any piece of hardware, as far as I'm aware.

More experimentation to come, it seems :)

[Art Blade]

maybe the backpack base model looks the same for all of us? Here's mine. And perhaps you're right, "just anywhere" as long as they're connected sounds good -- at least you won't lose much of the bonus if they don't touch the main item
[smg id=9033 type=preview align=center caption="exosuit"]

[fragger]

Yeah, it looks like everybody starts with the basics in the same slots. I'm going to try a few more things, but I first need to get more resources (and before that, I need to get some sleep :-()). Experimenting with this really uses 'em up, what with all the dismantling and reassembling. I've noticed that when you disassemble something, you only get half the resources back that it took to craft it.

On a different note, here are a couple of things I stumbled across while playing earlier tonight.

There's a cool way to land on a pad without undershooting, overshooting, or just plain missing, but it takes a little bit of practice. Don't come in low - come in high, then point your nose down steeply when you think you're close to being above the pad. If you time it right, you'll see a three-pointed white marker appear on the pad. Immediately hit your landing key and you will be brought down onto the pad automatically. It doesn't require overly-demanding precision, but there's not a giant margin for error either.

And when you take off from a launch pad, it doesn't cost you any fuel ;)

[Art Blade]

Good that you mentioned that :)

I noticed that too. I learned about the zero fuel consumption when playing around with ships (same goes for dismantling) and launching those from space stations and later, indeed, from any landing pad. And like you, I first saw that white "land here, NOW" indicator just the other night for the first time and used it as you described.

Something funny: the jet pack works under water and can lift you out of it. ??? :)

Might be useful if you need to catch some air  :-()

[Dweller_Benthos]

Interesting facts guys, thanks. It would be cool not having to have upgrades next to the main unit, sometimes they just won't w@&k out, but having them next to each other is fairly simple. Well, less hassle anyway.

And I will definitely try that landing pad trick, I never come close.

Found another tidbit about tools that expands on what Art said above, I got to a case that had a tool in it with more slots than my current one, notice the price:

[smg id=9038 type=preview align=center]

Now notice the price after I've stripped the upgrades from the old one:

[smg id=9039 type=preview align=center]

Yes, it's cheaper, but as you notice, the new tool has fewer upgrades on it, so if cash is what you're short of, strip the upgrades off the old tool first, but if making all those upgrades again is what you'd rather avoid, then keep them on. As it is, in that very same station, an alien gave me a 13 slot tool, so it didn't really matter, had this one all of 10 seconds maybe. But I doubt he would have given me a 13 slotter if I didn't already trade up to the 11 slot one.

And from reddit, how to find all the animals on a planet:

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/4yukpg/tips_comprehensive_guide_to_finding_creatures_and/

[Art Blade]

nice trick, D_B  :-X :)

removing upgrades first makes you look poorer, and apparently they feel pity and have mercy.  :-D

I rearranged the upgrades of a tool that I found planet side, crash site. :)
[smg id=9042 type=preview align=center caption="sorted"]

[Art Blade]

I have a tip for you if you want to find blueprints

Simple as it may sound.. kill drones (sentinels) as they tend to drop a barrel each and I keep finding blueprints in them.

Only I don't like the hassle much when they try to shoot you up. If you're up for it, it pays off, though. :)

[fragger]

Nice ones, guys :-X

I've also sometimes gotten a "Neutron Chip" (I think that's what it was called) out of those barrels that "dead" Sentinels drop. Two of those are required for a blueprint for something I've got.

[fragger]

I'm thinking about starting from scratch myself. Had I known more about how adjacent upgrading works, I wouldn't have splurged on this 30-slot ship. I would have kept saving for a ship with more slots. There are other things I would have done differently too.

I'd also like to build my ship's weapons and defenses up before I start having to deal with pirates.

I'm kind of loath to get rid of all the progress I've made though. I've gotten some good upgrades and I'm up to a Tau-level Hyperdrive. But it might actually be worth doing in the long run.

I guess I could always save my current career elsewhere and see how I go. If I decide after all that I don't want to build up all over again, I can go back to the current career.

Hmm, decisions...

[fragger]

I decided to do it. More about that here, but I wanted to ask you guys about the wheeling and dealing in the space station.

It's got me beat how you chaps were able to make 2 mill in an hour or so. The best I could do was about 50,000 after half an hour ???? I found that after I'd bought up all the pieces of a commodity from four or five traders, the supply would just dry up and every trader I would approach after that would have no more to sell. I was only ever able to collect about 100-150 pieces of anything before it was all gone.

I tried to switch commodities. I started with Heridium, then switched to Crysonite, which were the only items in the list worth over 100% Galactic Average (for a while I was doing both). With each commodity, it would dry up after a few exchanges. Traders would then be coming in with 0 on hand, or even a minus amount, like -6. A little more would dribble in from time to time, like 5 or 6 pieces, but after half an hour I was only about 50,000 better off.

I've tried this three times now, and I can never make anything like the amount of money you guys do in the same amount of time. I can't even get close. The supply just dries up after a few transactions.

Am I doing something wrong? I'm selling to the guys who are dealing at around 108% Galactic Average and buying from the guys who aren't (with the Heridium, I was buying at about 29 units and selling at about 57). I'm hitting every ship that comes in. I'm making money, but there's no way I'm getting to 2 mill in an hour - the commodities I'm dealing in simply dry up way before then. I can make far more money mining the same commodity on the planet itself and selling it through the Trade Terminal.

How many pieces of a commodity are you guys able to buy up in total, roughly, before it dries up? As I said, I can get no more than about 100-150 pieces before there is just no more of it to be bought, or about one half of one inventory space.

[Dweller_Benthos]

I wasn't buying/selling minerals, I was dealing in dynamic resonators, which is a manufactured item, so maybe that makes a difference? The supply never went away, each time a new guy arrived, he would have his inventory of that item restocked, even if he was magically duplicated and had a twin sitting on the pad next to him. I've been back and that has never changed, the prices stay the same, and as long as I want to hang around, I can buy as much as I want and sell for a profit. Maybe look at the items that are made, and not the raw materials, see if there's anything there? Art was also speculating that this trick might only w@&k at your starter system, at the space station.

[fragger]

Thanks D_B, I will look at that :) Incidentally, I am in my starter system - I started a new game after learning more about that upgrade system. I'm going to save up for a bigger ship this time and do a few other things differently. And I don't want to have to deal with pirates in the process :-()

[Dweller_Benthos]

Nice. If you want to post screenshots of what stuff is buying and selling for, or do more grunt w@&k and copy them to a post in a list, we can look at it and see if there's anything you can make a decent profit on.


Oh, and now a tip, I learned this the hard way. For waypoints that you discover, upload them right away, as the display only shows the last six you've found. I see no way to go back to any of the previous ones to the current six, so I missed on uploading a ton of waypoints, and since they are 1,000 moneys each, that adds up.  If anyone knows how to list all discovered waypoints, let me know.