How does S class Freighter's spawn work?

[RustedReflex]

We have to wait 3 hours in-game and warp a few times to trigger a fight. However, can I get an S class freighter in a T1 or T2 system? Why do we have to wait 3 hours in-game? What if I trigger a fight before 3 hours, wont I have a chance to roll the S class?

[wkitty42]

AFAIK you cannot trigger a freighter save battle before 3 IRL hours... 5 warps and 3 IRL hours is the recipe... i have no clues about trying to roll specific freighters...

[Jaggid Edje]

The condition to trigger the freighter rescue battle in the game code requires that 3 hours and 5 hyperjumps have to occur between each occurrence of the event. So the answer to "why" is "because that's how they wrote the game code".
You cannot trigger the event without waiting the 3 hours since the last occurance.

Note that those values are in the game's exml file, which means mods can alter that. A mod could remove the restrictions entirely, in which case a freighter rescue event would occur every single time you hyperjumped (except when you have other game missions which suppress them active).

As for S-class, you cannot get an S class in a Low Economy system. The chance in those systems is set at 0. In a medium wealth system, the chance is 1%. In a high wealth system, the chance is 2%. In an Outlaw system, the chance is 25%.
These values also are in the exml file, which means mods can alter them.

[Galadhlinn]

Originally posted by Rusted Reflex:

We have to wait 3 hours in-game and warp a few times to trigger a fight. However, can I get an S class freighter in a T1 or T2 system? Why do we have to wait 3 hours in-game? What if I trigger a fight before 3 hours, wont I have a chance to roll the S class?

There are videos that describe the grind process for getting an S-class freighter. It seems that most are satisfied with an A-class which is far easier to get time wise. I always get an S-class with every save. I have my process down now, and I average about 3-4 hours total from finding the freighter I want (the rarest of course), to always having a Korvax crew (they are polite and respectful) to getting said freighter in an S-class version.
This is my most recent (I'm about halfway through fully upgrading it since this SS was taken)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2897428352
If you have specific questions or want some advice, let me know.

[Mr. Bufferlow]

You can usually find smaller S class Freighters by just checking in a half dozen systems. The downside is they have minimal slots so you will spend a lot of effort upgrading the slots. If you want one of the big dogs, it is a lot harder unless the RNG just happens to shine on you.

Other then feeling like you got the best, the class is not really very important for freighters. They are essentially a parking garage for your ships and a mobile base. They don't have any offensive or defensive benefits.

Personally, I leave it for a late game activity.

[Jaggid Edje]

Originally posted by Mr. Bufferlow:

They don't have any offensive or defensive benefits.

That's not quite true. Though from a space-battle perspective it is, freighters have inherent bonuses just like starships. For freighters, the two bonuses are to fleet coordination and hyperdrive. S-Class has the highest bonuses.
The fleet coordination directly translates to the frigate mission stats for frigate expeditions that you send out. So, basically, freighters do provide defensive bonuses....to expeditions.

[gussmed]

Chance to get an S-class:

Economy 1: 0%.
Economy 2: 1%.
Economy 3: 2%.
Outlaw: 5%.

This gets rolled when you board. If you save just before boarding, you can re-load that save multiple times to re-try for an S-class. Since the chance of getting the ship you want is quite low, it usually takes a LOT of reloading to get one.

[Jaggid Edje]

@gussmed, the chance in an outlaw system is 25% not 5%. People who think it is 5% don't understand how to read 'weightings' and are reading the entry of 5 as a percentage chance. The weightings in Outlaw system are 5 for all 4 classes, hence the chance is 5 in 20, which is 25%.

[Xautos]

i've seen a few A class freighters in rich systems at times, but i've never seen an S class in any of the rolls over multiple characters on each save. I'm wondering if i'll ever seen one quite honestly.

[Dr.Abscondus]

Save at the space station before boarding. Land on the freighter and check it's class with your scanner. If it isn't the one you want just reload your restore point and try again. When you get out of your ship on the freighter it doesn't make a restore point so the one you made on the space station will always be there. It doesn't take long to get an A class, but getting an S class can take a while. Always look in 3 star systems.

[smurfy]

If you already have a freighter with a teleport room installed and plenty of Units and are just looking for an upgrade to an S class and don't mind using exploits (no mods required) follow this semi-complex but repeatable process:

On your (multiple of 5) warp, make sure you have saved manually at the station or freighter before making the jump in your starship that has an economy scanner installed.

Only jump to 3 star economies.

As soon as you jump into the battle, you should see the type of capital ship straight ahead. If it is not the design type you want, reload the save and pick a different destination.

If it is the style you want, ignore the battle and just land in the target freighter.

Scan as soon as you get out with the Analysis Visor and it will tell you what class freighter it is, and how many slots. If it's not the class you want, DO NOT reload your old save.

Continue to the Freighter Captain and request payment (don't bother inspecting for the trade-in), for a free Cargo Bulkhead and whatevr element they are paying.

Exit the unclaimed freighter and summon your own freighter nearby with the quick menu.
Land in your freighter and then teleport out of the system. Make sure you leave your freighter in the same system as the battle.

Teleport back to your freighter and you should hear the battle alarm. Exit your freighter and the target freighter should be there with the same design, but will actually have re-spawned with a new RNG roll.

Land on it and check whether it meets your needs.

If it doesn't, reclaim another cargo bulkhead and repeat the teleport out/teleport in steps.

If it has rolled as an S class, do your trade-in steps (store your existing freighter tech, keep one worthless item in your old freighter inventory to ensure you are prompted to transfer the freighter base etc).

It may take quite a few tries to get the S class, but you'll be building up a stock of cargo bulkheads to be able to increase the storage capacity of whatever the S class eventually rolls with.

[taniwhat]

As above. BUT only jump to PIRATE systems with the crew species of choice. Economy scanner gives you that info.
The type of ship is constant in each system (Sentinel or Star destroyer) so if you have preferences there you can also pick a system that yields those.

[Xautos]

users keep mentioning to save when there is a battle while they head to the station to save, but i've tried that and the battle ends because i landed on the station, so the save seems pointless. unless the freighter fight is too far from the station or that's not how it works, i never understood that.

it seems this whole time it has been poorly explained, so you must save after 3 hours and after your 4th jump and ready for your 5th jump. that makes a whole lot more sense as to why you save. that was the missing piece. i'll try it that way.

[Gumsk]

The chance in outlaw systems is 5%. This has been tested thoroughly by manually checking ship spawns to make sure the percentages work out. The missing % in the table is being added to C-class for whatever HG reason, making the chances 85/5/5/5.

[Jaggid Edje]

Originally posted by Gumsk:

The chance in outlaw systems is 5%. This has been tested thoroughly by manually checking ship spawns to make sure the percentages work out. The missing % in the table is being added to C-class for whatever HG reason, making the chances 85/5/5/5.

I stand corrected then. Kind of wack (on HG's part), that it works that way, when they have many other files that use weightings which also don't add up to 100, some of which add up to over 100. Makes one wonder where else the weightings aren't working 'right'.

[Gumsk]

Yeah, HG 'chances' are still kind of mysterious sometimes. For example, I just found last week that the space pulse encounters are actually subdivided into two groups where it first checks if it's a 'standard' encounter, then either does relative weights for the standard list or the non-standard list, even though they are all included in the same main list.