What's the best way to look for exotic ships?

[Mrayse]

I've been playing the game for 50 hours, checking every ship i come across, i only warp to 3 star systems, i wait around trade posts / space stations for ages but i've never seen an exotic.

Now, i know there're ways to hunt for specific ones with glyphs but i am not at that point yet. I heard you always get an ally exotic ship during freighter defense missions (if pirate ships are 5 and not 8) but that's been very hit or miss for me to get them to land to the space station.

What about looking for ships on your ownthough?
Is waiting at space stations and trade posts truly the best way to look for one?

[Krash Megiddo]

Originally posted by Red:

Is waiting at space stations and trade posts truly the best way to look for one?

Every system has its own exotic. Watching at a trade post is how you find them. Build a save beacon and reload after the first wave of ships arrive.

[Hazy_Memories]

well I have come across exotics on space stations, if you buy certain maps in the space station you may get one as well on a planet (crashed) that you can repair and claim, I have also found them at surface stations that have fewer landing pads...you can also watch a few youtube vids they help as well...you'll find them!...don't give up. I'm sure there are a lot of members that can be much clearer, just don't give up, its a rush to find your first one!!!...enjoy

[Mr. Bufferlow]

I usually just keep an ear out if I am in the station or at a trade station. If I hear the distinct sound of one landing, I will quickly run over and check it out. The waiting around thing gets old quick.

Exotics are actually fairly common as ships go. Squids seem to be much harder to find -or even see. Fortunately, I hate the way they look when landed and always play first person, so not really my cup of tea.

[Sentient_Pickle]

I don't personally go out of my way to grind for Exotics, but I DO take the time to always land on every station and trading post to linger for a little bit and see if one lands in the first or second wave. Play a save long enough and I usually encounter at least one, but it's never a guarantee. My mindset is usually never to go into a playthrough having decided in what direction I want my build and experience to go. It's much easier to just roll with the best of what the game randomly throws your way. Games this heavy in RNG have a way of disappointing those that go in with specific expectations. I'm told that Pirate/Outlaw systems have a 5% chance of S class ships, which might include Exotics, but they also have more C class ships than other systems, have a greater chance of Solars and the 5% chance is only 2% better than a 3 Star Economy system, which isn't insignificant, but I'm not sure I want to wade through all the C's and Solars just for 2%. Others may feel differently.

[Dr.Abscondus]

Best way is this https://www.reddit.com/r/NMSCoordinateExchange/
If you think that's cheating then always look for wealthy systems. They're more likely to have exotics and S class ships.

[Sentient_Pickle]

i don't think coordinate portaling is cheating as its an intentional part of the game, but it DOES kind of eliminate the excitement of finding something cool and rare in the wild

[Krash Megiddo]

Originally posted by Dr.Abscondus:

Best way is this https://www.reddit.com/r/NMSCoordinateExchange/
If you think that's cheating then always look for wealthy systems. They're more likely to have exotics and S class ships.

Who says its cheating? You either enjoy sitting around for hours waiting for your specific ship to show up or you enjoy using glyphs and lon/lat coordinates to find it. And hope its still there when you get there.

[Galadhlinn]

If you warp into a freighter battle, fly around the battle a bit scoping out all the ships in the battle. Often that system's exotice whill be in the battle. That will show you what kind of exotic is in that system. Also fly around outside the space station. There are ships coming and going in the vicinity. That system's exotic can often be spotted flying around. Once you have found the exotic you like, camp out in the Space station. It can be a grind, but at least you are guaranteed it will be an S-class when it does come in. I always prefer to find my own ships, multitools and freighters. It gives me a sense of accomplishment when I succeed.

[Sentient_Pickle]

Originally posted by Galadhlinn:

If you warp into a freighter battle, fly around the battle a bit scoping out all the ships in the battle. Often that system's exotice whill be in the battle. That will show you what kind of exotic is in that system. Also fly around outside the space station. There are ships coming and going in the vicinity. That system's exotic can often be spotted flying around. Once you have found the exotic you like, camp out in the Space station. It can be a grind, but at least you are guaranteed it will be an S-class when it does come in. I always prefer to find my own ships, multitools and freighters. It gives me a sense of accomplishment when I succeed.

OP mentioned this and it's not actually guaranteed that the exotic lands in the station as it can also make a beeline for a trading post on a planet in the system or a freighter. It IS an option though and I've had mixed success with it.

[chipmonk]

I wait to catalog and take a screenshot of the exotic in every inhabited system that I visit. I find that the best place to look is at a trading post. I have seen one occasionally in space stations and I've had a couple land on my freighter as well but the trading posts are where I usually wait to find them as I seem to always have greater chance of success there. It used to be a lot more fun for me before they started those stupid and unnecessary strafing attacks by pirates.

[Lucky Luc]

Just stick in a 3 star system...wait and reload...rinse and repeat.

[FREEZED]

finding exotic with good boost slot placement might be long process.

i found one exotic with nice slots but it was really ugly as ship.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2878932053

[Galadhlinn]

Originally posted by Sentient_Pickle:

OP mentioned this and it's not actually guaranteed that the exotic lands in the station as it can also make a beeline for a trading post on a planet in the system or a freighter. It IS an option though and I've had mixed success with it.

I've certainly seen exotics land at trading posts, but every exotic I've gotten since I've played NMS has been through a space station. The main reason is to be able to reclaim the ship I traded for it. It is very risky to try and reclaim a ship at a trading post. I've done it and I've also missed reclaiming my ship once, and so have not tried it again. Another reason for getting your exotic in a space station is scraping. I usually reclaim the ship I traded for the exotic and then scrap it.

[Comradovich]

The first thing to know about Exotics is that every system has exactly one. If you haven't seen it yet, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It just means that it hasn't spawned near you yet. Multiple exotics can exist in the same wave, but this is rare. They will all be exactly the same model if it happens. Probably different stats, since those are randomized a bit on spawn, but they'll all look the same. We know this from scraping the code for updates. If that spawn behavior ever changes, it'd be a huge deal. Kind of on the level of birds fire lasers out of their eye sockets now. Even if you missed the update, seeing freshly washed cars sliced in half and cats running past you ON FIRE would probably tip you off. Someone would probably let you know immediately, even if you're completely clueless.

I noticed after Waypoint that exotics jumped up in price. I used to be able to find some for around 9-12 million, but I was seeing 20 million after the update. You're going to want to do things differently depending on if you have enough units to buy it or not.

If you have money:
1. Turn your sound up as loud as you can stand it. Exotics make a noise when they land or take off. A squid ship has an unmistakable ratcheting noise. This sound is different than what a solar sounds like. Listen to a few solars take off while you wait, this'll help you learn to rule that particular noise out.

2. Put down a save beacon on top of a trading post. By on top, I mean the roof, smokestack, whatever the very highest point is that you can jetpack over to. You want to be able to see everywhere from your beacon. Once you're set up, make a manual save. You're going to reload this save, then push "F" to pull up your analysis visor. The ships will spawn in at 2-3 points on the horizon. It'll always be exactly the same 2-3 points, too. If you don't see an exotic's outline at the first point, move to scan the second, then the third. Analysis visor also shows you class, so if you can't really see a ship, ignore anything that isn't an S class.

3. Every once in awhile, an exotic will spawn, but it'll decide all of the landing pads it wants are full and fly off directly into the atmosphere. This is normal. THE GAME DOES NOT HATE YOU. It's just something that happens. You'll get the next one or the one after that. Sometimes it takes a few hours of reloading, but this is the most consistent way to find an exotic.


Now, what about if you don't have any money?
What you want here are distress beacon charts. You can trade a single nav data for one in the navigator on each space station. You'll need a minimum of 5.

1. Use the first chart and note what it marks down. Do not bother reloading, just start trying to use the next chart. It'll give you an error message sometimes, but just keep pressing E. You want to do this until all five possible points of interest are marked. A distress beacon map will mark: a crashed freighter, an observatory, a crashed ship with a pilot nearby, a crashed ship with no pilot, and an abandoned building.

2. The two points of interest we actually want to fly to are both marked "Distress beacon" when you use the map. Fly just close enough to see if there's a pilot next to the wreck. If there is a pilot there, DO NOT APPROACH AND DO NOT LAND. Leave that one marked and go fly to the other "Distress beacon" marker. See, now you know exactly where you DON'T want to go. You can land at the other wreck and the next time you use a map, it'll definitely show you a wreck without a pilot. This is because it's already marked the other possibility. Until you clear off a marker, it can't show you an new one of that type.

3. Leaving all four other possible destinations marked, you can freely buy all kinds of distress beacon charts now, knowing that every single one of them will lead you to $$$.

4. As we go check out ships, we want to keep an eye out for two types of ship. Obviously the exotic is one, but the other is a hauler. Haulers are worth more than many exotics, even as C class. So, repairing a wrecked one a bit can quickly net you a ship that you can trade for a perfectly good exotic later.

5. You'll want to salvage every single wreck for the money. Look at the materials cost to repair slots, and keep in mind that repaired cargo slots usually raise the value of the ship more than repaired tech slots. Bare minimum to fly a ship to the space station is: a single metal plate, a dihydrogen jelly, 50 pure ferrite, and a hermetic seal. As you repair each slot, the analysis visor will tell you how much the ship is now worth. Just repair each one as much as you feel comfortable with, then scrap it at the station. Remember that you can also repair S class ship modules and repackage them for use on other ships.

Now, if you find the exotic, then great! You're done. If you have a partially repaired hauler that's worth more than you think the exotic will cost, or you just outright made several million units to buy the exotic, then go back to my first tips.

[japp_02]

AARG, the responses above are a collection of the biggest myth in this game, as well as the question itself. Every system has a super low probability to spawn an exotic, around 2% amongst the other groups of ship classes. That's all to it. Go in any system and in a place where ships appear in big number, a simple trading post and...wait. Not very fun but that's it.

Or better: Don't try to get one but let it come to you. Soon or late it will.