Abandoned freighters are quite a scam?

[Rektalizer]

So I pay 5 mil for coordinates to the abandoned freigher and apparently yield only about 1 million from all found loot + 600 tainted metal that I got from captain log/crew list exchange. Only good thing was Cargo Bulkhead, but again I got only 1 of those and looking at upgrade list on my freighter it seems like not much. Is there something I missed or just got unlucky with loot/rewards?

[Lindy Bomber]

5 mill units isn't that much, there are a lot of ways to make more than that very quickly.

The main reward is the bullhead. When derilic freighters first came out they were the only way to get bulkheads. Now there are other ways so that is less important. Upgrading your freighter's cargo can be very useful.

If you read all of the logs and check all of the loot boxes you should get a fair amount of extra tainted metal which can be refined into nanites which are more important than units.

[umop-apisdn]

Originally posted by Lindy Bomber:

you should get a fair amount of extra tainted metal which can be

spent on stuff at the scrap vendor.

[dreamrider]

One of the primary sources of Salvaged Frigate Modules, which CAN'T be bought anywhere, and are the ONLY way to gain more freighter tech.

They just don't appear in those blue boxes on every derelict visit.

Also, the Engineering station that gives you the Cargo Bulkhead option also gives you a 'new technology' option. THAT is freighter improvement tech as well, not the tech you can buy into at the Anomaly, etc.

Finally, sometimes some of the stuff in those boxes is REALLY rare, easily worth more than the buy in if sold at the right terminals. (Again, no from every derelict.)

Note: There is never any need to buy the location of derelicts, if you have some patience. You can find them by just spending a lot of time Pulsing around systems, trolling for anomalies and POI. Though they will be mixed in with many other kinds of encounters.

You can also get one Locator / week from Helios, at the Anomaly, for free. After your first derelict, which I believe you DO have to buy.

[Felis_Exploria]

What dreamrider says.

With Helios, that initial 5 million investment now becomes 1 million per week, plus the freighter tech or bulkhead with each derelict. Personally, I would opt for the freighter tech over the bulkhead...you can get the latter from crashed freighters on planets. If you are lucky, your next run will also include a freighter storage module, which can be a challenge to collect.

[Foxglovez]

Yup, buy the first one, then once a wk you get a free one.
Derelicts are very rng. Some have tons of loot, others not so much. The main reason to do them is for the freighter tech, the possibility that it might be S level. The rest is just frosting. Some folks love derelicts, others hate them. There are lots of ways to play and ignoring your freighter and derelicts is one of them. It's kind of an end game minigame for those that are interested in that grind.

[cattivision]

The newer Pirate Freighter battles, if you defeat the freighter quickly enough, yield either a cargo bulkhead or freighter tech upgrade - and mine have all been S Class ones.

[Mr. Bufferlow]

The derelicts are just another option. There is no real game play reason to do them...but you can say that about almost everything in the game. There are about 12 to 14 different versions of the internal pathway and enemy types. At least one really requires no combat and you can just walk through with the only issue being the cold. I like doing a stealth walk through on the ones with beating eggs. Trying to get through and pick up the devices without setting any off is challenging.

They are kind of fun, and after the first you can pick up a free visit once a week. Go to different systems if you want to see more of the variations. The one in each system seems to stay the same on repeat visits. That can be a good thing if you really only want the bonus extra cargo slot for your freighter.

[dreamrider]

Originally posted by Felis_Exploria:

What dreamrider says.

With Helios, that initial 5 million investment now becomes 1 million per week, plus the freighter tech or bulkhead with each derelict. Personally, I would opt for the freighter tech over the bulkhead...you can get the latter from crashed freighters on planets. If you are lucky, your next run will also include a freighter storage module, which can be a challenge to collect.

I WILL point out that killing Pirate Dreadnaughts, once you master the technique, is a much better source of Freighter tech modules than the Engineering Station. So I always take the Cargo Bulkhead (though soon I will run out of need for it, in my current freighter.)

[Guh~hey~hey~♫]

Shove that tainted metal in your refiner....

[smurfy]

I've never considered them a money making opportunity, but then they cost 8.3 million units each for me on max difficulty/economy settings. I actually use them as a way of getting rid of units after I have my first billion.

At 5 million each, they may occasionally give you enough in units and nanites to make a bit extra. It's all RNG but it is possible to strike a few yellow rarity items that are worth 1-2 million each.

[Caramirdan]

Also look for the "Lost In Space" mission that pops up, showing when you're near a derelict, might have to look around hard for it though.

[Liralen]

As others have said, money is easy to come by in this game. Derelict freighters are not one of them, although they do have a chance of useful rewards.

I'm a builder type of gamer, but prefer games where the building has a purpose. To make a long story short, I now make stasis devices and fusion igniters, which sell for 15.6 million each. I make them in stacks at a time, which sell for 312 million.

It was fun trying to find good locations for the power, minerals and gases necessary to make them, and back when I first started making them, the only way to obtain the recipes necessary was to find manufacturing facilities and hack them. Now you can buy them on the Anomaly. :/

You also need quite a lot of plant recipes, which you can obtain after building research stations for the Overseer, Scientist, Armorer until you can unlock the Agricultural Specialist.

There is a lot more work than that involved, but I'll skip to the end.

Once you do all that work, there is nothing to spend the money on. I use to buy S class ships and scrap them for nanites. Hunting for Runaway Mold is more fun.

There are a lot of easier ways of making money in NMS. I'm just describing one.

I think the Derelict Freighters were implemented as a money sink, which for a builder type like me, the appeal is the chance to obtain Salvaged Frigate Modules, which are needed to make improvements to your freighter.

Edited Note: I kind of wish they'd just sell Salvaged Frigate Modules for a billion or more, but that would skew NMS in a direction that would be unpleasant for a lot of players