Privateer II






Hints and Tips and suchlike...



                                by D!ck

If  you're  struggling to make headway in Origin's premier space-flight-
and-combat sim, here are a few things to bear in mind...

Trading Standards



The quickest, safest and most profitable trips between planets are:

    From Hades, buy Biopolys, Cyb.Limbs, Syn.Skin, Opt.Nerves, Bex
    Beer and Gemstones, and take them to JanusIV.  You can also
    consider Titan Alloys as a space filler.

    From JanusIV, buy Sol.Generators, Env.Suits, Powerloaders, Atomic
    Chisels and Comms Units, and take them to Hades.  You can also
    consider Brickrete as a space filler.

Make  this run repeatedly, you'll soon amass a modest sum and be able to
upgrade  your  ship,  but  you should rmember to hire bigger cargo ships
too, until you get right up to 1500 tons.

Preparing for Combat



[1]     A 1500 ton cargo ship has three gun turrets and is as good
        as a wingman - often better - on a mission.

[2]     Most wingmen are utterly useless, price is no indication of
        performance, the best two wingmen are Clevis "Guts" Nugget
        (Freij) and Phungid Mykofile (Faldari MkII).

[3]     The best, most powerful ship you can possibly have is:

                Freij MkII
                5 Flux Beam MkII Lasers
                7 Python Missiles (others are too slow)
                Laser Coolant Unit MkIV
                Auto Repair Unit MkII
                Shield Enhancer MkIII
                BSE Unit MkII
                BSE Signal Filter
                Decoys MkII
                Afterburner Enhancer MkIII

[4]     To bump up your kills, visit either the Kiowan or the Papagod
        clan bases at Nav points 151 and 153, if you run out of things
        to shoot, hit the base a few times and it will launch some more
        fighters for you to waste.

[5]     When doing 4, the Freij is too big and is easily hit, you may
        want to try the following setup instead:

                Faldari MkII
                4 Ion Pulse Cannons
                6 Python Missiles
                Auto Repair Unit MkII
                Shield Enhancer MkIII
                BSE Unit MkII
                BSE Signal Filter
                Decoys MkII
                Afterburner Enhancer MkIII

        enemy ships will find it much harder to hit and inexperienced
        pilots can really kick some Kindred butt.

Actual Combat



[1]     Skull Fighters are very nippy and buggers to get a lock on,
        but they can be taken out with just one Python missile.

[2]     Ignore the advice from the manual, save your thrust for when
        you have two targets at the opposite ends of the radar and
        want to jump out, the quicker you get to them, the less chance
        there is of another pirate jumping in.

[3]     When in a battle with Pirates, be careful not to strafe any
        CIS ships present, this is easily done!  Generally they will
        give you one warning, then kick your arse for you.

[4]     When going head to head, you can dodge the enemy shots by
        simply steering round them, when you get close enough they
        will veer off and you can then line up behind them and pound
        them into nothing.

[5]     BSE should only be used on Pirate Shuttles, as they try to
        pick you out of the air as you approach.  Shutting them down
        allows you to get close and start hitting them before they
        have a chance to recover.

The Missions



[1]     Missions that are listed with a gold "?" icon are specials that
        are aimed directly at you, based on your performance so far in
        the game.

[2]     Using either of the ships above, the "Heaven to Hell" mission
        is a piece of cake, although you'll only get half the promised
        reward, ç6000.

[3]     When undertaking missions involving a Capital or Cargo ship,
        take a number of Hellraiser Torpedoes with you.  These can
        demolish the biggest of ships, but are useless against those
        smaller fighters.

[4]     The big three freighters - Ilia, Ilia II and Monolith - have
        blind spots that can be exploited by an enterprising pilot.
        It is usually right up it's arse in line with the body of the
        ship, stray off to on side, or up or down, and you will drift
        into firing range, get right up close to their engines and hit
        X to match their speed, now you can whittle away their shields
        and there's nothing they can do.

So  far,  sticking  to  the above, I have the Freij MkII setup as listed
above  and  have scored over 4500 kills (3000 required to reach the rank
of  Privateer),  I  also have ç300,000 in the bank, and I'm STILL having
fun!   If anyone has any other problems with this game then mail me, I'm
in the directory!

D!ck