PHQ starting location Grand Exchange vs Heretics?

[Jaster]

I find it odd that new way to get phq is to just walk into heretics end and the keys to phq are just thrown at you. So i looked into it and apparently you can still get the old phq and quest disabling kingdoms end dlc. Just wondering what the best starting position is for PHQ? Is one sector more beneficial then the other? Also from what i understand you can eventually teleport hq how bad is the grind for that?

[zpc]

At the end it doesn't really matter. The HQ for me is only a place where Boso Ta is confined to. People who do terraforming might have a bigger attachement to it. In that stage of the game you are indeed also able to relocate it. You bascially need to do a tier 4 research and pay for each relocation in materials.

If I'm to build stations I construct them where the most action is (consumers of my shipyard / wharf / equipment dock if I build those) or where I decide to support a sector economy (e.g. Split core sectors). My real home is my flaggship - and that one is constantly on the move.

[blackphoenixx]

It doesn't actually matter much. Your HQ is pretty much just a place to do research at until you want to start terraforming, and for that you'll have to teleport it anyway (the quest to unlock terraforming literally requires teleporting to another sector).

The only difference until then is where you need to deliver your wares once you turn your HQ into a wharf (required for terraforming later) and that depends on which sector your industrial base is closer to. So it soft-locks you into a certain area of space, but they both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Heretic's End is close to the insanely resource-rich Boron sectors and right between them, the Argon and the Split.
Grand Exchange is right in the middle of the very useful highway ring and can easily start trading with all the vanilla factions. Up to you which you prefer.

As for how much grind it is? A lot. You need a huge amount of wares for the final levels of teleportation research, then another huge amount every time you want to teleport and another even larger amount for most terraforming projects.

[Doom]

Originally posted by Jaster:

I find it odd that new way to get phq is to just walk into heretics end and the keys to phq are just thrown at you. So i looked into it and apparently you can still get the old phq and quest disabling kingdoms end dlc. Just wondering what the best starting position is for PHQ? Is one sector more beneficial then the other? Also from what i understand you can eventually teleport hq how bad is the grind for that?

The best location is a matter of taste. Last time I played I started with a custom start, HQ being placed in The Reach. If you plan to terraform, you might want to place it in a sector with a planet, so you can train pilots there. Frontier Edge is decent after somebody else claims it and possibly knocks out xenon.

For teleporting HQ, I believe requirements are something like of 27.5k advanced electornics, 5k nividium, 30k field coils 20k Superfluid coolant. This is either price for the final step, or one of the earlier research steps. This is per jump. The painful part is advanced electronics and nividium.

Both grand exchange and heretics end are decent. Heretics is ownerless, meaning police, and there are resources. Grand Exchange is within patrolled Teladi territory, but there are races nearby to trade.

[Sticky]

The Terran Story Start is similar to the old fashion way to get HQ with a prequel to the story you get to do. If i was planning on playing with the Boron i'd really like my HQ in Heretics though you get a little more xenon encounters there, Grand Exchange 1 is mostly just Ka'ak annoying you. Not sure about this but if you didn't want your HQ in Heretics try looking for the Signal Leaks at stations and try to get HQ the old fashion way, instead of traveling through Heretics End.

[eMYNOCK]

Originally posted by Sticky:

The Terran Story Start is similar to the old fashion way to get HQ with a prequel to the story you get to do. If i was planning on playing with the Boron i'd really like my HQ in Heretics though you get a little more xenon encounters there, Grand Exchange 1 is mostly just Ka'ak annoying you. Not sure about this but if you didn't want your HQ in Heretics try looking for the Signal Leaks at stations and try to get HQ the old fashion way, instead of traveling through Heretics End.

the signal you will find will also just point you to heretics end... only way to ensure that you get it to grand exchange is to disable kingdoms end until you got the keys.

[Jaster]

thanks for all the advice decided to disable boron dlc and do it the old way cant get over the just being handed hq feels unearned new way.

[zpc]

Originally posted by Jaster:

thanks for all the advice decided to disable boron dlc and do it the old way cant get over the just being handed hq feels unearned new way.

Fair enough.

But trust me: once you have freed Boso Ta for the 10th time (give or take a few more times) you'll be happy to have that shortcut.

[ayrtep]

You get some free ships if you rescue Boso Ta. I use a Terran start rather than deactivate the Bornon DLC, which causes problems with some mods.