New players guide

Welcome to the Lyceum Archives New Player Guide. Much of this text was original written by Comet Chaser [1] and permission has been given to reproduce it here.

If something is missing or wrong, feel free to edit it. At The Lyceum Archives anyone can edit to build a better guide.

If you wish to find out more about a subject, follow the link to read the article. If the link is red then that article hasn’t been written yet.

I'm floating in space and can't find my way back!

Probably the most Frequently Asked Question- lost in space, ship drifting endlessly and nothing but empty space all around. Here's how to get back to "known space": Press the CTRL key until a Space Station shows up in your scanner (on the left side of the screen), then press the V key to autopilot there. Autopilot will take you to whatever is shown on the scanner screen.

"Lost in Space" often happens if you quit (log off) with your ship out in space somewhere, or if you go "AFK" (away from keyboard), again with your ship in space. ANY forward speed will eventually move your ship away from the planets, gates and bases in a galaxy and leave you floating all alone out there somewhere. To avoid this, if you need to stop and can't find a Space Station to dock at, just Right Click in space near your ship. This will activate the Autopilot and move your ship to the spot you clicked. But the magic is that it also STOPS your ship at that spot so it shouldn't drift away.

How do I shoot?!?

A common question is “How do I shoot?” Often the real question is “How do I control my ship?”

Space fires your weapon. Be aware that you need to select an AI by clicking on it to actually hit it, otherwise your bullets will travel harmlessly over it.

Use "A" "W" & "D" to the direction and movement of your ship - be aware that your ship has inertia, so to slow down or stop you need to thrust in the opposite direction to the one you're traveling in, and the heavier your ship, the less your acceleration and the slower your turning.

Other then using your mouse there are a few ways to select objects in Star Sonata. Press CTRL to select a class of objects (planets, AI space stations, warp jumps, etc), Q to cycle through them if there's more than one, and V to autopilot.

Other handy controls:

• R to dock - this will only work if you're going slow enough.
• F to jump through a warp hole. More on those in a bit.
• Right click to autopilot somewhere on screen.
• Z to cycle through all ships on your radar

To stop the autopilot just move using the keys, the autopilot will disengage automatically.

I have two different weapons- how do I switch between them?

Make sure both weapons are Equipped at a Space Station (you can't Equip or Un-Equip weapons out in space), then press the E key to switch between them. The weapon currently selected is shown right above the ship equipment list.

If your ship will support more than two weapons, the E key will cycle through all the weapons that are currently equipped.

What is all this junk on my screen?

Top left is your ship equipment. To equip / sell / transfer / throw overboard items, right click on the item. To use most items, they must first be Equipped on your ship. You can only equip core items (shields, weapons etc) in an space station. More about that later. For now, just don't throw things over-board.

The safety lock - whatever you do, whatever someone else tells you, leave this ON. If you do not, and attack AI in a Protected system (see below) the AI police / people's bases will attack you. You will die. Extremely fast. Repeatedly.

Near the top of your screen is the "Character" button. This brings up the "Character" screen. This shows your current skills, money, and team info. For now just be aware that you should train your core skills in AI stations. There is no need to hoard points.

At the lower left part of your screen is the map. As you visit new galaxies, those galaxies will be added to the map. When you just start it won't show anything (since the tutorial system doesn't map), but later in the game the map contains a lot of info:

• i, rising scales, clasped hands symbols on a galaxy show mission status in that galaxy. "i" = New mission available. "Rising scales" = Mission in progress. "Clasped hands" = Mission Complete.

• P = protected system. Do NOT shoot things (apart from space rats and things that shoot you) or you will die!

• White tab / yellow tab around the edge of a galaxy = AI / Player base in that galaxy

• A solid white circle around a system means it is owned by a team - you can't build in an owned system unless you're part of their team.

• Red dot(s)on the edge of a galaxy = dungeon galaxy(s)in that galaxy. (more on those later)

• The ship button (look like a thumb tack) centers the map to the galaxy where you're currently located, the +,- zoom, the over-lapping ven diagram (3 color circles) at the bottom color codes your map: Green is warp 0, Blue is 1, Red is 2, Purple is 3. For now you'll be in warp 0 only.

• The danger factor of a galaxy tells you how dangerous it is. You cannot build bases in 10 or less, or over 100.

NOTE- You can redefine the keys to something more convenient for you, if you prefer. For example, if you're more comfortable with the "Quake/Unreal" style keyboard layout, you can change the keys to that. Click the Options link at the top of the screen, then choose Keys at the bottom of the Options screen.

Ok, what do I do in this AI station?

• General - This is where missions are.

• Trade - this is where commodities, weapons and all manner of other items can be bought and sold. For now, ignore this, but you'll soon want to use it! White means you can buy something; green means you can use it, but can't afford it, and greyed out means you lack the required skill to use it. You can still buy items you can't use, so be careful!

• Ships - if you buy a new ship, it can be found here. This is also where you can move items to another ship, for storage or to use on that one. IMPORTANT Before selling your ship, not only make sure you've moved your items across (right click, transfer) but that you can afford a replacement!

• Bulletin Board - this is where the player base insults each other. The cost of posting a message is anything higher than the last one. These costs decrease over time, meaning messages will disappear eventually.

• Commodities record - lists all the prices you've seen this play session. Trade is dynamic in Star Sonata, meaning prices will have changed when you log in next. Be careful of this when trading / setting up slaves!

• Neuro-Training - Vital! Here you train your skills. Different AI stations offer different skills, to different levels. Higher levels / rare skills often require commodities to train. Core skills progress in a (x+1) fashion (e.g. level 10 will cost 11 skill points), whilst other skills have fixed costs (e.g. X skill point / level).

There are hundreds of skills, But don't worry, for now focus on the core important ones: piloting, weaponry, shield, energy and engines. Radar and equipment can remain about 1/2 those core ones for some time. Most core and secondary skills max out at around level 20.

More details about the Trade screen

• Commodities shows goods that can be bought and sold. In Commerce Preload, (the second galaxy you'll encounter) you can trade micro-chips and silicon to earn credits so you can buy upgraded equipment and items. The prices reflect the rarity of the commodity, and most likely how hard it will be for you to get. Don't expect to be trading in promethium anytime soon!

• Weapons have different ranges, damages and electrical costs. Its all very well having a super-amazing-death beam, but if you can't power it, you won't get far. Different weapons deal out different damage types - AI (and player ships) have different resistances to different types. For now, you'll not need to upgrade your weapon. Hint: Surgical damage increases the chances that AI will drop the items they've got equipped. Use a surgical laser to finish off AI, you'll get more loot!

• Shields: have two important features: bank and regeneration. Bank is the amount they can defend you, regeneration is how fast they replenish. Obviously, having both good values is important, but there are specialist shields out there that have huge banks but little regeneration (e.g a Ghoulstop) or very small banks, but extremely high regeneration (e.g. Biowall). Be aware, the higher the regen, the higher the electrical cost to recharge the shields.

• Ships: AI station ships for sale! You'll want to come here sooner or later. Ships come in different classes (Light fighter, heavy fighter, freighter) that will affect skills later on. For now just take notice of the hull space, the speed, size (how large it looks on screen. There are ships out there with size 2, and some with 200+!) Visibility (how inherently stealthy it is - more on this later) Augmenters (how many you can use on it - again, more on this later) and Weapons (how many can be equipped at once).

• Engines: have two values: thrust and turning. Thrust is how quickly you'll be able to get up to top speed. Each item has a weight (you can check your total weight in the ship tab at the top of your screen) and the heavier you are, the more thrust you'll need. Turning reflects the speed at which your ship can change course. This too is affected by the ship's weight. Good turning speed is important for effective fighting.

• Items: Useful stuff for your ship! At the start, most of this won't affect you, but a hull expander is always useful to squeeze in more items! Solar panels are useful to regain extra energy as long as you're next to a nice energy filling sun (yellow or giant reds - dark suns may actually take away energy if you use normal solar panels near them!).

IMPORTANT!. Here is where you buy escape pods. Always have an escape pod equipped, otherwise if you die you'll incur Death Debt which is a slice of XP that has to be cancelled out before you can level again!

• Scoop: here's your most useful friend. But don't buy one at the moment, you can get one through the missions!

• Tractor: Tractor beams attract or repel objects in space - these take a special skill, so you'll not be able to use these for a while.

• Base: Base building equipment. You need skills, equipment, time and luck to build bases in game. I'd strongly advise you to to forget this until level 50+

• Energy: Like shields, has a bank and a regen. Higher regen is preferable over bank, usually. You'll notice some don't have any regeneration at all! These have to be charged using solar panels, Avoid getting them for now.

• Radar: Without one, you won't see anyone! Whilst you can always see your own ships, and AI stations (usually) without a radar you'll not see AI and other people. Star Sonata can seem a lonely place at first, with no-one around. This isn't true... just most high levels often have stealthy cloaked ships. So they could be gliding right by and you'd never know!

• Cloak: Needs a special skill to use, and best left till later. Although that 70% might look appealing, remember its added on after your base visibility is worked out. 70% of very easy to see is still very easy to see.

• Drone: Detached platforms you can deploy in space, equipped with weapons to defend you or your bases. Needs a skill to use. If you want to power-level, people often recommend using drones. I don't.

• Augmenters: Ahh... nothing here! However these are the single most important thing in the game! ... and so, deserve their own section.

What are augmenters, what do I do with them and how to get them?

Augmenters are attachments that give bonuses to your ships. They are permanent and can't be removed once equipped, so choose wisely. Each one has a tech level, which determines the minimum level ship it can be used on. They can only be got from AI dropping them, and then players selling them. Used well, they can mean the difference between life and death. At the start, good ones are hestia (+ bonus to shields and energy) or minor electricity / recovery, which help power your energy / shields.

The rarer augmenters are named after Greek Gods & Goddesses, and usually offer a larger array of effects than just the normal ones.

A very good tip is to keep all the augmenters you find. There are missions later in the game which will use them, and they can be combined to make more powerful augmenters with the proper equipment. You can buy an extra ship hull at a space station and use it as a storage ship to store spare augmenters and items. Don't do this in the training galaxies at the beginning of the game since you won't be able to get back there to reclaim your items. Wait until you enter the main universe if you want to store anything this way!

A very important skill is "Augmenter Tweaking". AT will increase the effect of any augmenter you have equipped on your ship by a certain percentage per AT level. The missions to get AT are well worth doing.

I died! What do I do?

Wait until your ship turns from glowing blue to glowing yellow. Then jump back in!

Be aware that the starter equipment you have can never fall off your ship, but higher level weapons, radars and items (but never engines or shields) can drop off your ship when you die and float away in space or be picked up by other players or AI. There is an item called "Gear Glue" that can prevent this, although it requires your equipment skill to be a high enough level, and is relatively expensive because the Gear Glue is used up when you die. Note that you can equip several Gear Glues in case you find yourself in a situation where you may be killed more than once before you can get away. There is also a skill much later that can prevent it being used up...

Help! I died and I'm a spirit! What happened?

You died without having an escape pod equipped. (or were killed by an AI or player using radiation weapons - only one or two AI use them, and you won't meet them for a long time. As for players... tough luck).

This leads to Death Debt which is an amount of XP that needs to be worked off before you can level again.

You will also drop a percentage of your cash, never a good thing (although it used to be much higher).

Luckily for you... none of this applies until you reach level 15. However, its an extremely bad habit to get into thinking you can die without penalty.

So avoid dying! You might find items such as shield salves and afterburners are useful here. Running away is merely a strategic withdrawal!

How do I travel across the universe? Do I have to do it all by hand?

Systems (galaxies) are linked by warp gates. These vary in color to denote which warp skill they require to navigate:

• Blue/Purpleish - 0
• Grey - 1
• Rainbow - 2
• Golden - 3
• Green - 4
• Gated Blue web - Concourse

Others:

Red – Dungeon galaxy, or "DG". These hold many AI, with eventually a "boss" AI who will be harder than the rest, but who might drop special loot only found in DGs. Each level requires you to loot a number of Neural Keysyncs off the AI present to enter the gate to the next level. The name of the DG gives an indication of its difficulty: DG 7.341 for example would have 7 levels- rather difficult, while DG 2.831 only has 2 levels. Hint: the number of Keysyncs required is 1/2 the AI in the level you're on (rounded down), dependant on number of gates. e.g. 6 or 7 AI = 3 keys per gate.

Purple glowing - special galaxy. These often contain mission critical systems and the like. If a mission tells you to go to a certain system, but its not on your map, likelihood it is in one of these. Warning Some are very dangerous to enter without preparation.

You can also train a skill, Astral Travel, in several galaxies (Sol for example) that will help you travel around the universe. Each point of the skill allows you to auto-pilot one jump. e.g. 10 allows a ten jump journey to be plotted. You can do this by double clicking on a galaxy on the map that you want to travel to. This only works of course for galaxies you've already visited and which show on your map.

What are these glowing symbols all around my ship?

The glowing symbols around your ship are effects which many suns give off. They are temporary effects that can do many things - boost energy, shields, speed and so on. High level items and some ships have inbuilt effects as well. Ismail, a famous trader, has one!

Tweaks are one shot items that give temporary bonuses to your ship - usually energy & shields, or speed in the case of afterburners. These are very useful, and look like blue capsules

Your first introduction to enforced effects might very well be the region known as "Deep Space". HINT: in this system, avoid the central suns as they slow you down, and autopilot along the pathway of the fuel stations, these will not only let you avoid them, but also provide a handy speed boost!

How much XP is it per level?

Aka: I've killed 100 rats and I'm not levelling!

In Star Sonata, every level takes 1,000 XP. The system is graduated, meaning that instead of having to gain more XP, you need to kill harder AI to get that XP. Missions also give you XP, and are coded to levels - to get the most out of them, do them as soon as you find them!

Warning: Its perfectly possible to not gain XP from killing AI. Check the events tab to see how much you're getting. Bases, slaves and drones that kill AI give you a percentage of XP as well. IMPORTANT: You don't get XP from these if you're not logged in, so avoid leaving unparked killer slaves around and so on. People tend to get irked, and you end up with fewer slaves. Also, be careful of setting any drone, slave or base to "hostile" as you'll end up shooting someone else as well.

You can use an item called an Oracle that allows you to see the % of XP remaining to your next level, but to be frank you shouldn't need it.

Death Debt can occur when you die without a pod, this will set you back 999xp, in other words - you need to gain 999xp before you can continue leveling again.

I found some Rations- does that mean my character has to eat to keep from dying?

No- At lower levels, Rations are only used for missions and trading (to make credits). At higher levels they're required to feed the Workers on user bases.

How do I talk to people?

There's a very good guide to that here: Chat Tutorial

Thanks to the original Lt.Nelson of the Capitalists for making it!

Are there teams? What's the difference between a team and a squad?

Teams

You can join teams if they invite you. Most of the older, More powerful teams will require you to be a certain level, P2P, and often will require that they know you, or you get a reference by a team member. Teams have ranks that determine what you can and can’t do:

• Peon. Grubber!

Peons cannot Alter bases, nor can they mark people team enemy/friend - but can ADD to team funds

• Soldier. Bog standard grunt!

Same as a peon only may mark as team friend

• Operator. Make those bases tick!

Same as soldier only may adjust base gear

• Officer. Hire, look good in uniform, shout at grubbers!

Same as operator only: Doesn't pay tithe, and may invite new people to a team

• Counselor. Advise, handle finances, plot!

Limited to 2 per team, these can Take team funds, alter bases, hire people, promote/demote people (cannot demote other councilors) Do not pay tithe, and MAY alter team flag (basically they can do everything)

• Director. The big cheese!

Can do everything within team.

Be aware that teams can set tithes which means a percentage of the credits from every AI kill you make goes to the team to help support team activities and bases. A good team should only have a tithe of 5% or less - beware of scammers setting up teams just to fleece you!

You can also set up teams, but you require the leadership skill to do so. Complex Team flags also require a skill , to get in-game. these complex flags are 20pixels X 14pixels. Simple flags may be Created without quilting, but they are quite poor.

Squads

You can make a squad by selecting it in your character tab, then invite people by selecting their ship and using the X key on your keyboard. XP is shared amongst the squad - However, all people are assumed to be the highest lvl in a squad - For example, if there were 2 lvl 20s and a lvl 500 in a squad, the xp for killing an ai would be taken at that of a lvl 500, then divided between the squad members , and the squad chat shows what everyone picks up. Useful if you want to hunt with people you don't know. You can leave / disband squads without penalties.

How do I trade? And is this level 20 really selling a Calypso augmenter?

You can trade in two ways: either through a player owned base, where you can buy & sell items (be careful buying ships, take a zebucart or other disposable one, and if you've the Remote control skill, a spare engine / shield / control bot) or by the "drop and pray" method. Player bases cannot buy / sell anything they've not had on them,(or if you right-click the item and press sell, but you don't know what you will get for it.) which means they're a bit handicapped if you want to sell a pricey augmenter.

The "drop and pray" method is just that: you agree a price, then they give you the money (by pressing X and select "give credits") and you drop the item into space. Obviously, this requires some trust.

WARNING!! There are a lot of scammers out there (well, actually, its mostly one person on a large amount of alts) so be careful. Ask on the All channel if someone is trustworthy. If in doubt, do NOT drop the item / give the cash.

Its very easy to get burnt.

How do I save my game?

Just log out. The game is dynamic and your progress is saved whenever you log off.

However your ship remains in-game for about a minute after you log off, so docking at an AI station before quitting is sensible because the ship can drift or be attacked without your being able to defend it if you just leave it out in space somewhere.

HEY! I logged off with my ship in stasis, where's it gone?!?

Logging out whilst your ships are in stasis is a bad idea. Ships left like this will revert back to being normal AI ships (with all your gear on, so you can cap (capture) them to get that back at least) over a period of time that is determined by your ship's "tech". The lower the tech of your ship, the quicker it decays; Zebucarts will revert to AI Spaceships within 2 hours.

Do NOT log out with your ships in stasis and be surprised if they've vanished!

How do I land on planets?

You can't - you can however build bases on them. Given that only tech 6 bases have a chance of surviving, best leave this till level 100 or so.

Planets can be scanned for Rescources that may be valuable - the higher tech scanner you use the better chance of picking up rare commodities.

I'm trying to do a mission, but the person I'm supposed to meet isn't where he's supposed to be -or- I can't find the base to complete the mission- is the game bugged?

No- some galaxies have "secret bases" which don't show up on your radar. Unfortunately there are very few clues as to which galaxies and where the bases are. If you're completely lost, try asking on the Help chat in the game, or consult the Lyceum Archives pages here for the galaxy in question.

What are chargers and how do I use them?

There are two kinds of chargers: Shield Chargers and Energy Chargers. Both shields and Energy banks normally recharge themselves by a certain amount, but you can speed up the recharging by equipping chargers on your ship.

(Note that there ARE some shield banks which DON'T recharge by themselves. For these you MUST use a charger.)

Shield chargers come in various capacities and only need to be equipped to recharge your shields. This will require some electricity from your energy banks, and you can only equip ONE shield charger at a time.

Energy chargers are solar panels, and only work when you're near a good light source such as yellow or red suns. If you autopilot onto a yellow sun and park there, your energy will recharge faster than just flying through space. Don't park on red suns because their radiation will harm your shields. Just get close.

Energy chargers can be "stacked". This means you can equip MORE than one at a time, and the charging will add together. The only limit is the amount of space in your ship.

What's an "anti-panel" and how do I use it?

Some galaxies have "dark suns" which will NOT recharge your energy banks using normal solar panels. In fact, they tend to DRAIN your energy if you have them equipped near a dark sun.

Anti-panels are used to charge your energy in these galaxies. You should un-equip your normal solar panels and equip the anti-panels when operating in a dark sun galaxy. Like normal solar panels, anti-panels will stack- you can equip as many of them as you like. But anti-panels will DRAIN your energy in a normal sun galaxy, so don't leave them equipped all the time.

It can be a real pain equipping and un-equipping these panels all the time, but you can make use of the Hotkeys feature to make switching panels a snap. Simply Right-Click on the normal solar panels in the equipment list and select Assign Hotkey. Choose one of the 5 available hotkeys for solar panels and do the same for the anti-panels using a different hotkey. Then all you need to do is hit the hotkeys when you warp into a different type of galaxy and the panels will be equipped if they're un-equipped, and vice-versa. Just be sure not to equip BOTH types of panels at the same time because that will cause them to cancel out.

Do I have to pay for Star Sonata, and if so, how much?

Star Sonata allows you to get to level 20 without paying. Which might not sound much, but you'd be amazed at how much you can do since the skills point system is highly flexible. However, without going P2P (pay-to-play) you'll cease gaining XP at level 20. You can however keep playing.

The game currently costs $10 / month, but if you order 3 months you get a 4th one free. So it makes more sense to buy 3 months at time. The page says it’s a “limited time offer” but it has been this way for about a year.

The amount of content past level 20 is vast, so sign up today.

IMPORTANT: once you've gone P2P, a lot of AI will suddenly find you very tasty! Hostile AI's that think they can take a level 21 player will now attack a level 21 player, meaning you might have a shock when you start playing for real!

Walk-through to the tutorial systems

First of all, be aware that once you leave the two tutorial galaxies you can NOT go back to them, EVER. Once you go through the gate to the Nexus galaxy, you've permanently left the tutorial galaxies behind. This includes any items you've left there or any missions you've left unfinished. Make sure you REALLY want to leave before you take that step.

Press CTRL until you get the Space station. Press V to autopilot to it, R to dock. Accept the mission.

Undock, kill a rat, re-dock and then equip (right click, use) your scoop.

Find the warp gate by pressing CTRL and fly there, then press F to warp. Find the round northern station with a mission available.

Return through the gate, kill rats until you have 10 rations. Remember, C to scoop.

By now you'll have leveled. Dock in the nearby station, accept the mission. Upgrade your skills - perhaps in pilot, weapons, and shields. You can choose to upgrade your weapon now, but you don't need to. If you feel the need, try buying a surgical laser and killing rats to get items to do the carapace & tweak missions.

Warp into the second system. Find a mini volcom, go up behind it and shoot. Now park - you need to make sure it is flying at you in a straight line so you'll hit it. Don't panic - if you're lined up and stationary with a full bank of shields and energy, you should be able to kill it.

Return, equip the scout charger. Your shields are being helped now! Now start killing the mini volcoms. They often drop Dung Pellets 2, which can be sold for 100,000 credits. Use these credits to buy a new ship (preferably Helga) and upgrade as much as you can.

Accept the next mission. Go back to the second uni, and go west ( <-- ) until you see a rock. Take note of your weapon's range then park just inside its maximum range and target the rock. If you're careful, the Outpost won't be able to hit you. If you have a Magcannon, you can stay far away from the Outpost and still easily hit it with your long-range guided missiles. You will need a good energy source for this, however.

Return, accept mission to Sol. Go back to the second system but don't leave yet! Check the prices for silicon and microchips in the two stations, then trade them to get money. Buy a mining laser to get an upgraded one free of charge, and shoot the asteroids with it to get commods to finish the missions. These pay very well, and can be repeated! Also, keep killing those mini volcoms and sell any Dung Pellets 2 you find. You might want to upgrade to a ship with a lot more hull space to do this. Stop once you've got a comfortable amount, preferably close to a million credits.

Then leave... and prepare to be shocked by the big bad uni!

Easy Ways To Make Money: By TG

1) Augmenters. Collect augmenters and sell them to bases or players.

2) Loot. Scooping debris off dead ships; often AI ships get killed by bases and sometimes their loot can be sold millions of credits. Or, of course, you can kill them yourself and scoop the loot.

3) Missions. Some missons give items or cash. A few of these items might be incredibly valuable or one-of-a-kind and will sell for quite a lot.

4) Artifacts. Pax Medals or Ancient Pax Medals. These can be sold for huge amounts of money, and are available from Paxius exploration missions, which give good experience, credits, and sometimes items too. Just be sure to keep a few for yourself!

5) Trading. Often player bases sell commodities such as "Baobabs" for 10 or 20 credits. Look out for these! If you spot them, get a bulk (or other ship with lots of space) and ship them off to sell at a nearby AI base for a lot of money.

6) Begging. Don't underestimate it! Asking one of the many high levels politely for some money can work. Try to be polite and avoid statements like, "plz lnd a mil". However, don't do it all the time, and try to avoid it unless you're going absolutely nowhere with profits.

7) Dungeon Runs. This is for level 20 or above players really; jump into a red galaxy (called a DG and some numbers after it) and kill all the enemies. Scoop up the Neural Keysyncs (which are keys) and then you may jump to the next level. Once you reach the last level of the dungeon (often it's the '0' level), you may kill the boss, and it drops rare loot. Usually the higher the danger factor of the DG, the harder it will be but you will also get better and more expensive stuff.

8) Scamming. It has to be mentioned, but don't do this! While it is not a punishable offense, you will get black-listed from all decent teams, and you are likely to suffer later as a result. Definitely a no-no.

9) Helping Others. It rarely happens, but sometimes people need a little help, like getting healed. You can do this by using a shield transference weapon, which it transfers your shields to him or her. I strongly suggest that you always carry shield transference, as if you see another player in danger and help out (even if it's only token), he or she may appreciate your help and reward you greatly.

10) Tractoring. Sometimes players are in ships that can't use an engine, like a Gelato or a Thatch. Using a tractor beam to pull people who are heavy, or have no engines to get to their desired location, can get you rewarded!

11) Giving tips. Helping other new players can sometimes pay off, especially in reputation. Often people you help will reward you when they are at higher level.

12) Teams. Often your team will help you get valuable items. Be careful though, as some teams have high tithe rates that will take money from you. Check to make sure that the team is not trying to scam you out of your hard-earned cash. It especially helps if you're on a distinctive team, or a team with a friend.

13) Clearing Rumble Galaxies. Clearing the galaxies Rumble, Rumble 2, Rumble 3, and Rumble Mumble for other people, or helping them do it, can provide much money. People pay large amounts to have help; for example, up to one billion credits for Rumble Mumble. It should be noted, however, that these galaxies can be insanely dangerous, and is not recommended for lower-leveled players.

14) Selling. Trading in particularly rare equipment for credits is a quick way to snag some cash! Shout your wares on the 'Trade' chat, and wait for a reply. Be sure that you don't get scammed, though!

15) Community Service. Sometimes there are players who need to obtain certain items, but can't really do it themselves. If you help them get what they need, you might be rewarded very well!

16) Capturing. Capturing certain ships can be really profitable for you! Most AI enemies have exclusive equipment that cannot be found anywhere else. Selling this to players, or occasionally AI stations, can score you serious cash. You can even sell certain AI ships to stations for a profit. Others you can advertise a price for and wait for a reply.

17) Bases. If you have some points invested in Station Management, you can build a base! Bases are actually very complex and are not for the faint of heart. However, if trading prices are set just right, you can cash in on some serious money.

Most bases come with a simple shield, Bubblewrap. It has no recharge whatsoever (even with a large bank), so it's very wise to equip another shield, or quartz chargers to suffice. With the exception of loaded kits (which happen to be a lot more expensive), that's the only thing you'll find.

To set up your base, first grab some workers. These guys will operate everything, from weapons to the energy unit. Also be sure to throw in some rations. That's a common mistake with new base-builders; they forget to restock rations, so the base essentially starves. When this happens, the workers will get very mad and unequip everything except for shields. Now this might not sound so bad, since your base still has health, but it actually isn't. Nearly all shields require energy and your workers will cut that off. Basically, anything with an ion peashooter can zip in, shoot, and destroy your base in one hit.

So right after that, you can throw in the basics; radar to see the bad guys, weapons to blast the opposition, a tough shield to take hits, and an energy unit to supply electricity for it all.

But now you're probably wondering how you'll get money. That's easy; there are two basic things you can construct in a new base, a station expansion unit and a trading bay. The trading bay is the important thing; it allows you to buy and sell items from your base. But of course, you'll need space for those new trade goods, so an expansion unit will also be very helpful. Build both (take in mind they need metals and manhours), transport in some goods, set up the prices, and wait for some AI or people to come in and shop!

It's best that no "buying" prices are set up for normal commodities, because those can drain money fast out of your base. Also, certain commodities will actually sell than others. But if you set everything up correctly, you can gain a real profit!

18) Slaves. Bored of flying that bulk? Get an AI to do it for you! This is done by obtaining the skill Remote Control. Then you can enslave ships equal in tech to your level of the skill. Ships with large hulls are the most efficient slaves.

To build a slave, gear a normal ship with all the goods; radar, shields, energy, engine, and the like. Omit escape pods as you won't be needing those. Instead, buy a controlbot for your ship. Make sure it isn't a type of combat controlbot, or else your slave can only fight, not trade. You may also want to equip a slave stasis generator from to prevent your slave from dying permanently, and a black box to let you know who killed your slave if a pirate attacks it. Once all gear has been equipped, activate the controlbot to release your slave. When you undock, so will the slave. Select it, press 'X' (or any key that shows options for a target), and give it money. Then set the trade route and tell it to follow orders, but be careful! You must set the route to end at the same place it started. For example...

1) Dock Earth Central.

2) Buy Rations.

3) Jump to Caress.

4) Dock at Station.

5) Sell Rations.

6) Jump to Sol.

When your slave gets to the end of the list, it will automatically begin its route all over again. There is a simple formula for calculating the number of orders you can assign...

4 + (x2 Level In Programming) = Number Of Orders

As an example, with Programming skill 5, you can assign 14 orders.

In case you need a status report, locate your slave, select options, and click on 'Status Report'. It will tell you (nearly) everything about the slave; its shields, energy, current order it's following, and also credits.

In addition, if your slave somehow "disappears", go to 'Chararacter' and click on 'Possessions'. It should tell you where your slave is at the moment, so you can find it. However, there are some cases of no return, so be careful...

Credit

Part of this articles was copied with permission from one of Comet Chaser's guides.