I like it and I would like to go further, if you do not have enough metal or gas of one kind or another, the automation process would buy it for you if you have the solars & the cargo space.

Been wanting to post that for a few days: "shopping list" button ftw!

[twice]

When attacking pirate looters, it's better to attack twice. Use the loot option for the first attack, and then the capture/destroy for the second. Doing this will increase your profit and take less time. 

Just had the opportunity to put this advice into practice, and it worked a treat 
The loot is worth twice as much as the actual bounty lol.

I love all the different viewpoints. A case can be made for pretty much all of them, which makes the game diverse and less predictable.

Thanks for answering the question on the tactics tree, didn't know for sure until now. Am almost at the highest level there now then. Good, because there's much more to research

In that case, I must've mis-read 24 for 74.

Hmm... just returned to the crime scene, activated the tracking device in my cargo bay, and got a message along the lines of "thanks for eliminating them, here's 24k". Originally, I was meant to make over 70k from this mission. Is it because I didn't take all of them out in one go? There's nothing left there now.

Hmm... 5 a.m., let's try to get some kip. Pirates for breakfast after around 2 hours  

you did fine.

Don't worry about the 'out-numbered by 5-1' stat, proper shielding will allow you to take out one ship after the other. You almost have to take these odds just to gain the solars needed to upgrade to higher rewards (we all do).

I recommend immediate VIP status for yourself + as many officers as you can afford (please contact your own leaders - Rostin comes to mind - via PM for proper instruction.

I had 47k weapons and around 8k shields + 5k armor. Thought it might have been on the light side defensively, and as Raphael pointed out, shields were down eventually. How would you balance your A/D when module space/RP/$ wasn't an issue?

Btw: am already on VIP with science officer + engines specialist for effectively increasing my ships' range.

For my COMs I just keep it at the default.  Why? When I am doing nest I have to usually at the very least power down my weapons. It is quicker to do it from the actual weapons screen. Then when your done just select them all and click reset to default.  It is much quicker and easier.  Before we could disable stuff though I used to set it for accuracy.  So it isn't a bad idea. But for the sake of just making things easier on myself with powering up and down I prefer default.

You power things down to get a quicker timer I think?

Lol Raphael, my daughter (1 yo) just woke up in the middle of the night and am using the opportunity for a nighttime SITREP, realising I didn't actually go back to finish them off yet. Tracker stillin cargo bay, turning around (12 ly away) to take care of them bastards now

Double attack (r1 loot, r2 for the kill) sounds great, thanks for that!

Rostin: 2/3 MAUs were on standard. I wasn't sure what "find weakness" would do, and figured 35%×250% < 100%x100% anyway, but hoped a proper hit would do major damage. Seeing them achieve a 20% success rate is disappointing however. Standard it is henceforth!

That amounts to a 41/92% loss report. Probably wouldn't want to do that too often, but any of youse combat veterans with an opinion on these battle settings and tools? Should I do more research and manufacturing first, or is a ship of just over 50k properly equipped for most COM missions?

Zeta LJD 1732
 
Attacker opened fire!

Wave 1 - Primary forces (Weapons & Boarding)

Raptor Vs. Vagabond Plant Berserker
Weapons assault
Vagabond Plant Berserker maneuvers into fire range and attacks first.
Vagabond Plant Berserker attacks with Viper Squadron MK I using standard formation.
Critical hit on target, doing 2060 damage!
Raptor attacks with Viper Squadron MK V using standard formation.
Direct hit on target, doing 4470 damage!

Raptor maneuvers into fire range and attacks first.
Raptor attacks with Viper Squadron MK IV using wall formation.
Light hit on target, doing 2141 damage!
Vagabond Plant Berserker attacks with Viper Squadron MK I using standard formation.
Direct hit on target, doing 1440 damage!

Raptor maneuvers into fire range and attacks first.
Raptor attacks with Viper Squadron MK IV using wedge formation.
Minor hit on target, doing 1712 damage!

Raptor attacks with Viper Squadron MK IV using wedge formation.
Light hit on target, doing 3210 damage!

Boarding assault
Raptor maneuvers into boarding range first.
Raptor sending Marines Assault Unit MK I to find a boarding spot.
The boarding party found an area and sabotaged it, doing 4666 damage!

Raptor sending Marines Assault Unit MK I to find a weakness.
The boarding party failed to find a weak spot and missed the opportunity to do any damage.

Raptor maneuvers into boarding range first.
Raptor sending Marines Assault Unit MK I to find a boarding spot.
The boarding party found an area and sabotaged it, doing 4938 damage!
Target armor penetrated!

Vagabond Plant Berserker maneuvers into boarding range first.
Vagabond Plant Berserker sending trained personnel to find a boarding spot.
The boarding party found an area and sabotaged it, doing 2646 damage!
Raptor sending trained personnel to find a boarding spot.
The boarding party found an area and sabotaged it, doing 9682 damage!
EMERGENCY JUMP!
Vagabond Plant Berserker has retreated from the battlefield due to heavy damage!
Raptor captured a group of 15 enemy personnel during the fight.

Raptor Vs. Faror
Weapons assault
Faror maneuvers into fire range and attacks first.
Faror attacks with Viper Squadron MK I using standard formation.
Direct hit on target, doing 1360 damage!

Faror attacks with Viper Squadron MK I using standard formation.
Critical hit on target, doing 2500 damage!
Target shield is down!

Boarding assault
Raptor sending 10% fatigued Marines Assault Unit MK I to find a boarding spot.
The boarding party found an area and sabotaged it, doing 4240 damage!

Raptor sending 10% fatigued Marines Assault Unit MK I to find a weakness.
The boarding party found a critical area and sabotaged it, doing 12231 damage!
Target armor penetrated!
EMERGENCY JUMP!
Faror has retreated from the battlefield due to heavy damage!
Raptor captured a group of 25 enemy personnel during the fight.

Raptor Vs. Singersteel Ghoul
Weapons assault
Singersteel Ghoul maneuvers into fire range and attacks first.
Singersteel Ghoul attacks with Viper Squadron MK I using standard formation.
The attack missed the target completely!

Boarding assault
Raptor sending 20% fatigued Marines Assault Unit MK I to find a boarding spot.
The boarding party found an area and sabotaged it, doing 3443 damage!

Raptor maneuvers into boarding range first.
Raptor sending 20% fatigued Marines Assault Unit MK I to find a weakness.
The boarding party failed to find a weak spot and missed the opportunity to do any damage.

Raptor sending 10% fatigued Marines Assault Unit MK I to find a boarding spot.
The boarding party found an area and sabotaged it, doing 4770 damage!

Singersteel Ghoul maneuvers into boarding range first.
Singersteel Ghoul sending trained personnel to find a boarding spot.
The boarding party found an area and sabotaged it, doing 1881 damage!
Raptor sending 10% fatigued trained personnel to find a boarding spot.
The boarding party found an area and sabotaged it, doing 9344 damage!
Target armor penetrated!
EMERGENCY JUMP!
Singersteel Ghoul has retreated from the battlefield due to heavy damage!
Raptor captured a group of 27 enemy personnel during the fight.

Wave 2 - Primary forces (Weapons flyby)

Wave 3 - Protected forces (Weapons & Boarding)

Raptor Vs. Pirate station
Boarding assault
Raptor sending 30% fatigued Marines Assault Unit MK I to find a boarding spot.
The boarding party found an area and sabotaged it, doing 3076 damage!

Raptor maneuvers into boarding range first.
Raptor sending 30% fatigued Marines Assault Unit MK I to find a weakness.
The boarding party failed to find a weak spot and missed the opportunity to do any damage.

Raptor maneuvers into boarding range first.
Raptor sending 20% fatigued Marines Assault Unit MK I to find a boarding spot.
The boarding party found an area and sabotaged it, doing 3262 damage!

Raptor maneuvers into boarding range first.
Raptor sending 20% fatigued trained personnel to find a boarding spot.
The boarding party found an area and sabotaged it, doing 8678 damage!


Raptor Vs. Pirate station
Boarding assault
Raptor sending 40% fatigued Marines Assault Unit MK I to find a boarding spot.
The boarding party found an area and sabotaged it, doing 2908 damage!

Raptor sending 40% fatigued Marines Assault Unit MK I to find a weakness.
The boarding party failed to find a weak spot and missed the opportunity to do any damage.

Raptor sending 30% fatigued Marines Assault Unit MK I to find a boarding spot.
The boarding party found an area and sabotaged it, doing 3932 damage!

Raptor sending 30% fatigued trained personnel to find a boarding spot.
The boarding party found an area and sabotaged it, doing 9391 damage!
Target armor penetrated!
OVERLOAD IMMINENT!
Pirate station exploded in a ball of fire!

Raptor is inspecting the station wreckage...
69 m3 Taenite, 20 m3 Cabriite, 27 m3 Mercury, 10 m3 Titanium, 32 m3 Chromium, 22 m3 Eugenite scooped into cargo bay.
Target cargo bay was empty.

Objective: Destroy the Pirate station.
 
Attacker victory!

Wow. That's a useful ball of dirt. Got to find me one of those.

Been putting almost all of my RPs into that since you first gave me that advice   S7A5D4 now. How far does that tree go? 70k+ pts for each step now and I'm making 6500/hr atm.

How big is big Commodore?

Mk IV and Mk V Vipers aren't gonna scare a lot of ships right?

I'm a 1 hr countdown from finding out how a 54k v 63k  1 on 5 plus station attack goes. Odds against, but probably not downrigbt suicide I think (hope)?