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Assassination missions - can be tricky. I tend to avoid going to the target system before the expected time because all that happens is you get sent on a wild goose chase by an NPC that just returns you to the original system anyway, although i think it can trigger the NPC then to spawn earlier if you are early. People sometimes have problems locating the target around the destination planet - a mission specific signal source should appear - for me it always appears in a minute or two, but some people seem to have difficultly. Just make sure you have an advanced discovery scanner to get the data about where the target will appear or you have to scan the nav beacon. Sometimes pirates will come after you as well, especially when you dorp into the nav beacon, always worth waiting a minute and checking to see if they do spawn, it can save you a journey.
In short for assassination missions:
1) Wait for the defined time to go to the target system.
2) When in system, honk the (advanced) discovery scanner
3) Check target destination and fly there.
4) Fly around moon/planet fairly close, but not too close, don't face the planet, signal sources won't spawn too close to the planet and they always spawn somewhere in front of you.
5) Wait for the notification that a mission specific signal source has appeared. If it doesn't spawn after a couple of minutes, then something is messing up. Drop out of SC and then reenter - this can sometimes kick the RNG. Double check you have the right planet/moon.
6) Target the signal source and drop in.
7) Scan target. Use KWS if you have one for extra bounties.
8) Kill target.
What iv lernt so far is dont do deserters. They run and run and waste your time. Pirate lords are the best because you take the mish. Go to the system on time and just sit an wait in supercruise. Within a few seconds the pirate lord will pull you out for the battle no extra equipment or thought needed. Its super efficient and does good payouts. Wouldnt do ones higher than 250k reward though. Tried a 350k reward one and got popped in around 10 seconds haha
Another mission message should pop up and your NAV screen should update with the estimated mission targets location.
If you're scanning the navbeacon, you don't even need the basic scanner. Waste of a module slot.
All you have to do then, is to get close to the planet that is indicated, and orbit it until the "Mission Target Detected" message comes.
I dont wait for the time on assassination missions anymore. In ealier versions the target would usually not appear before the time, but in earlier versions the target would also actually be in supercruise and traverse the system. Providing a chase and opportunity for interdiction, before dropping at some point of interest giving the player a choice to intercept or follow. Now it seems they are always hanging arround in normal space, orbiting a planet, and emitting signals... I dont like this change. The indicated time does not seem to have an effect anymore either. I could get to the target and kill it 5 minutes after taking the mission, even if the mission said I would have to wait half an hour.
Maybe I have just been unlucky lately, only getting those kind of missions, and the old style assassinations are still available... I sure hope so.
I am going to focus on the assassination missions because these are the most complex, as well as the ones I have the most experience with:
ON ASSASSINATIONS:
-Some are illegal (kill religious leaders, for instance). Others are legal (kill pirate lords). Illegal assassinations will earn you a bounty, and authority ships can rally to fight you while you ilegally attack your target. Any missions performed in Anarchy systems will not be considered illegal, regardless of who you must attack.
-They all have a specific time window to find the target, which implies a TIME LIMIT. However, this is not as bad as it sounds; if you find the target before the time expires, you can take as long as you want to kill it (so long as you do not escape or get destroyed). The time window for mission completion is based on the UTC time/in-game clock (so don't look at your local timezone clock).
-To find a target in a system, you can use a discovery scanner, OR you can use the local nav beacon (drop from supercruise into beacon location, target it, and wait for the data transfer). I suggest the nav beacon because that way you can fit an additional combat module into your ship; a discovery scanner won't help you stay alive in a fight.
-Assassination targets might interdict you, catch you at nav beacons, or wait for you to find them sitting around their nav coordinates.
-If you must travel to an in-system location to find your target, this location will usually be a planet. Do an orbital flyby until you get a "mission signature", then drop out of supercruise into it.
-Assassination targets *may* fly ships that you would otherwise not face in regular combat against pirates, such as Federal Corvettes. Plan accordingly; the greater the reward you get from the mission, the tougher your target is likely to be.
-All targets I've fought were high on the ability scale. I do not know if that was due to my combat rank, or intended for the mission type.
-If you're on the hit list of hostile ships due to an unrelated mission that you have acquired, it is possible these ships might show up while you fight the target. Once, at a nav beacon, I had to simultaneously fight a Federal Corvette, two Anacondas, and a couple of small pirate fighters that were already there and rallied for some reason (if this happens, give them a runaround and get them to split up, so you can engage and destroy them at your leisure. Destroy the fastest targets first, then work your way up from weakest, to strongest).
ON GENERAL COMBAT ADVICE:
You said you had just bought your first Vulture, so I imagine you do not yet have much experience in combat. I offer you these tips as a bonus:
1.- Never skimp on armor for small and medium ships. Personally, I've found that a minimum of 1000 armor allows me to think things through, and either continue combat or give enemies a runaround while my shields come back online.
2.- Adjust power distribution dynamically in combat depending on your needs. Extra power to engines gives you extra top speed and turning speed, extra power to shields increases shield damage resistances. If your weapons capacitor reaches a low charge level, your ship will overheat more easily. All the previous, in addition to enhanced regen rates. Quite often, a bit of extra turning speed can be more useful to avoid damage, than max power to shields.
3.- Do not ram or collide against ships that are more massive than your own (you will take the worse side of the bargain). Avoid all shieldless collisions if you have lightweight or reinforced hull alloys (because they don't fare too well in collissions).
4.- Missile strikes to your ship while your shields are down, will wreck many modules simultaneously. External modules will die first (this includes all your guns and utility modules).
5.- Silent running is a great way to prevent missile locks if you're shieldless, but it will also cancel and reset the shield power-up sequence.
6.- If you are doing dedicated fighting, remove everything that you don't need to fight or to ensure that your ship remains functioning. Internal cargo racks won't save you in a fight. Planetary vehicle bays won't save you in a fight. Get rid of non-combat stuff before the fight and get useful things instead; you can always refit the non-combat modules later.
7.- If your target uses Chaff and your weapons are gimbal or turrets, de-select the target to use your weapons as fixed weapons (works well with lasers, but poorly with projectile weapons because you will then lack the leading sight).
8.- Stay within 2 km of your target while on the offensive, to maximize weapon damage and your ability to accurately hit internal modules. Stay beyond 4 km if you must avoid their weapons fire.
9.- Targets can FSD jump out if you fly far enough from them that their target lock is broken and they are unable to further pursue (happens at some point past 15 km, I think).You do not want this to happen with assassination targets.
10.- Shield cell banks usually cause your ship to overheat when activated, if heat sinks aren't activated as well (unless you have a low emmissions power plant).
Dude, thanks very much for going out of your way to give me such a comprehensive description - some great information there! Thanks! :)
You're welcome, and I hope the information proves useful. May you emerge victorious from your battles.
I cancelled the mission. I refuse to be flacked around in real life - and I'm flacked if it's gonna happen in a damn game! If that's what assassination missions are about, then I'm not gonna bother with them. Ain't *no-one* got time for that crap! :(
Then I decided to try something which (in theory) should not move anywhere - a recovery mission. I jump to the system indicated, scan the nav beacon, get some more coordinates, and move closer. I get the 'strange readings found' (or whatever the message is), in blue - drop our of supercruise *right there* - and find *nothing*. Flack-all. Zip. Zilch.
I'm gonna stick with data transfer runs - while flacking around with the above 2 missions I could have done about 2 runs worth about 8M each. Why should I waste my time on these other stupid missions? Do people actually find them fun? I don't get it.
In fact, there's been several times when the mission-giver tells me that the target is not in the system and should talk to a contact, and I've had no need to do so as the target finds me at the nav beacon.
That said, this "missing target" outcome isn't the norm in these missions. At least, it hasn't been for me.
As for your recovery missions, I can think of three potential causes. The first, would be that you disengaged outside of adequate range; remember to check the approach window and disengage supercruise only after you're within the blue region in the distance to target bar.
The other potential cause of this issue would be an internet problem. Check to make sure everything is in order and restart your modem as well (I get mission board update errors every now and then, and a modem restart fixes them, as instructed by Frontier Support).
Another possible cause... would be that your sensors were offline, in which case, the containers to be recovered would have been there, but you would have been unable to see them.
Can you check the above and provide additional information so we can figure this out?
Well - NOW I know...
I made sure to take it nice & slow - I figured the wreckage wasn't going anywhere - and dropped quite accurately (I think)
As for my internet - I live in Romania. We have the best internet in the world.
Scanners - no reason I can think of that they would be offline.
I hung around a decent amount of time, trying to work out where the flack they were. Then I gave up. More time wasted.
What I've found is that many times, if I go to the Nav beacon, the target attacks me there instead of having to go flying out to the boonies to find him. I've almost stopped using my scanner and just fly to the nav beacon now because it can be a lot faster.
I'm trying to think what else could have caused this. I've never had this issue. Did you get the "safe disengage" notice before dropping in?