Profit / time

[larry_walsh]

I find I can do any Mackerel in two shifts, and I typically only do a Mack if I find one worth about 4 million, so Macks net me about 2 mil a shift.

For Geckos, Station Hoppers and Stargazers usually take me about 5 to 6 shifts, and are rarely worth more than 14.5 mil, so they're worth about 2 to 3 mil per shift.

Heavy Cargoes I can always do in 4 shifts and seem to average about 15 mil each (well, I only take the high value ones), so I get about 3.75 mil a shift there.

Salvage ships are typically worth more than 15 mil, they're usually the highest value, but they take WAY more shifts, so they're actually a pretty low value per shift.

Obviously, if I'm playing solely for the money, I should do nothing but Heavy Cargo Geckos, but you've gotta admit, that gets pretty tedious - I've done almost a hundred by now. I could make more per shift if I were to play differently and try to do the ships in fewer shifts, but I'm pretty thorough with the salvaging and I'd be pretty dissatisfied to play otherwise.

I'm sure you could pretty easily make 10 mil a shift if you were to go in to a Gecko and target just the reactor, thrusters, and other top-value items.


I'm wondering what methods other players use, and what they play for. Do you go for maximum profit, maximum variety, etc? Full salvage or cherry picking? Random? Play with your eyes closed? Play with your underwear on your head? How do you keep the game fresh?

[Wolfrages]

I get machs in one shift and geck's in 3. that's full salvage.

You should focus on the High value items if you want Profit/Time. Gecks can easily be 6+ million per shift.

[Vanguard]

Agree, I do Gecks in 3 shifts, getting everything including the buffalo, at about 15+ mil total it averages 5+ mil per shift. For pure profit though, 80% of the profit comes from the first 2 shifts (3.5m day one, 9m day two), pure money wise I would just abandon the hulk. Day 1, skin the nano armour, Day 2, reactor, thrusters and all the expensive stuff and then move on...

BTW, I've been grinding "work orders", and the Level 1 black and yellow whatever it is has 5 work orders you can complete in minutes...

[Wallourdes]

Personally I couldn't care less. The only use for Credits is paying your debt and after the $1B debt building your negative debt.

I've also stripped dozens of Gecko's and know how to do those in minimal time, so that helps for getting a decent ranking on R.A.C.E. but I play for distraction, exploration and immersion.

If you want to min-max profit you should ask the leaderboard grinders, last i've read it is pretty boring and repetitive. The R.A.C.E. can be very impressive though.

[Metallos]

The game needs definetely a bonus payment if you salvage the complete ship (except of few of those tiny lamps which fly around) or better a penalty if you leave parts of the ship behind because somebody else has to make your job. Game is called "Hardspace: Shipbreaker" and not "Hardspace: Cherry Picker"...

[Vanguard]

It's called salvaging, and the point is to identify what's worth your time and what isn't. No salvager IRL would get credit for doing the whole thing. The game devs need to choose what kind of game this is and what they are going to reward. If it's a salvage game, the entire point of a salvager is to max profit/time, period. If its a slice and dice simulator, yawn... no challenge, will occupy people for awhile and move on. I want to be rewarded for the choosing the right parts and getting a bonus for thinking, not getting a bonus for wasting time.

[Coheed]

Having been one of the early ones to clear debt in Standard and No Clones, yes the best option is Cargo Gecko's, but as Wallourdes indicated, it's not the most satisfying way to play. I still play, but try to focus on making the most of each ship rather than thinking about the effectiveness of each ship.

[larry_walsh]

Originally posted by Wallourdes:

If you want to min-max profit you should ask the leaderboard grinders, last i've read it is pretty boring and repetitive. The R.A.C.E. can be very impressive though.

Well, as far as the leaderboard goes, I'm currently 2nd in the world for debt repayment, will be #1 after about 3 more geckos.

[Wallourdes]

Originally posted by larry_walsh:

Originally posted by Wallourdes:

If you want to min-max profit you should ask the leaderboard grinders, last i've read it is pretty boring and repetitive. The R.A.C.E. can be very impressive though.

Well, as far as the leaderboard goes, I'm currently 2nd in the world for debt repayment, will be #1 after about 3 more geckos.

Congrats.