Basic Trading Guide

A basic trading guide with a few example trading routes

Introduction

February 2025 Update: Added guide on modifying the game to change base currency and updated the table of prices with what I saw in my recent playthrough

SPOILER WARNING:

This guide discuss races you may not have met, or you may not know that you can trade with.

This is a very basic trading guide with some example trading routes to get you started.
Prices are dynamic in Starcom: Unknown Space which means if you buy or sell a lot with a race the price will get worse. You need to watch the buy and sell prices to make sure the trade route is still profitable.

How to read a trading screen

Trading in Starcom can be a bit daunting since different races use different things as their base currency.

In these example pictures, we look at the Ermyr, who use Copper (Cu) as their base currency.
If we want to buy something from them we need to pay Copper, or sell them something worth the same amount of Copper as the thing we want to buy.


Once you unlock some early research, you'll be able to see how good buy/sell prices are with each race.

Prices for each Race

Disclaimer:

• This spreadsheet shows prices I found when I first encountered a trader. Prices will change if you trade with them or if you do something to improve your relationship with them.
  
• There might be other races I haven't traded with. Let me know and share a screenshot and I'll try to add them to this list.

This sheet is not just good for finding profitable routes, it will also tell you the best place to buy something if you need it for a ship upgrade.

BONUS: How to change base currencies/trading prices for each race

You can call it cheating (it kind of is) but this is a singleplayer game so play how you like. The game's files are in plaintext so it's pretty easy to change things.

Back up any files before you edit them, in case you mess them up!

Every race has a .json file that sets their base currency, prices and other things like their tech bonuses.

Find the game directory by right clicking the game -->Manage-->Browse Local Files

For example, the Nimion have a base currency of gold and their .json file is located at:

Starcom Unknown Space\Starcom Unknown Space_Data\StreamingAssets\Content\Kepler\Stories\CONFLICT\Factions

The line that sets the base currency is "tradeResource". 50 means Au/Gold.

So all we have to do is find the file for other races and change the "tradeResource" value to 50 and everyone will use gold as their base currency. Here are the locations of files I found for each race:

Faction	Path
Asteroid	Starcom Unknown Space\Starcom Unknown Space_Data\StreamingAssets\Content\Kepler\Stories\ASTEROIDS\Factions
Ermyr	Starcom Unknown Space\Starcom Unknown Space_Data\StreamingAssets\Content\Kepler\Stories\DEFAULT\Factions
Goryr	Starcom Unknown Space\Starcom Unknown Space_Data\StreamingAssets\Content\Kepler\Stories\GORYR\Factions
Glide Traders	Starcom Unknown Space\Starcom Unknown Space_Data\StreamingAssets\Content\Kepler\Stories\HERETICS\Factions
Wiskamug	Starcom Unknown Space\Starcom Unknown Space_Data\StreamingAssets\Content\Kepler\Stories\WISKAMUG\Factions
Brogidar	Starcom Unknown Space\Starcom Unknown Space_Data\StreamingAssets\Content\Kepler\Stories\PIRATES\Factions
Cxta	Starcom Unknown Space\Starcom Unknown Space_Data\StreamingAssets\Content\Kepler\Stories\CXTA\Factions
Nimion	Starcom Unknown Space\Starcom Unknown Space_Data\StreamingAssets\Content\Kepler\Stories\CONFLICT\Factions
Abysar	Starcom Unknown Space\Starcom Unknown Space_Data\StreamingAssets\Content\Kepler\Stories\GUILD_SHIPMENTS\Factions
Aquarian	Starcom Unknown Space\Starcom Unknown Space_Data\StreamingAssets\Content\Kepler\Stories\FALLEN\Factions
Guild	Starcom Unknown Space\Starcom Unknown Space_Data\StreamingAssets\Content\Kepler\Stories\FALLEN\Factions
Kyrnan	Starcom Unknown Space\Starcom Unknown Space_Data\StreamingAssets\Content\Kepler\Stories\CONFLICT\Factions

If you want to edit prices, look at the "resourcePreferences" section. A large positive number means that resource is in high demand (they buy for good price, sell for bad price). I haven't played with this much, if you understand how these numbers translate to actual prices let me know in the comments.

[Prontius]

Updated the price table with what I saw in my recent play-through. I also added a section on changing the base currency of each race.

[Rhunin]

Just a note about the Refinery. They trade in aluminum which is the most common drop from asteroids and ships in early game. Both of which respawn. The prior of which is in abundance around the Refinery itself

That being said. G Is autofire, Range upgrades are nice, and I'm pretty sure it's for "man I really need one more Yttrium to make this new gun / one more Chiralite for a reactor" at which point you go shoot some rocks and buy your thing you need

Last thing I just noticed so I'm editing and reposting

Refinery currency = Aluminum
Buys Uranium for +5% above market

Island Currency = Silver
Buys Aluminum for +10% above market
Sells Uranium for +5% above market

So technically, it's an EXTREMELY early if inefficient trade route from like the first hour or two

[Prontius]

@Oldhip it wasn't essential but it helped me get all the upgrades I wanted. The numbers in the guide are pretty out of date right now but I'm hoping the explanation of the trading system will help people.

[Oldhip]

Do we need to trade ? i havent yet

[Ice_GopherFC]

I have been running into Wiskamug VERY often, seems like at least every half a dozen or so jumps he's in the system with me.

[Prontius]

Is it easier to encounter Wiskamug now? Back when I played it was entirely random so it wasn't possible to get a repeatable trade route with him.

[EyeBeat]

Is the Wiskamug calculated in here and a different name? No idea.

[tankanidis]

thanks!

[jacer08]

Also note for anyone looking for general trading tips. I used this data to buy low/sell high. [eg. I bought a large quantity of Al from the guild and sold it to the Island traders, but only once] I did not do specific trading runs multiple times, as the markets are heavily influenced by your trades. I ended up with plenty of materials by endgame following that simple strategy of moving materials around for profit.

One extra last note, and slight spoiler. He9 and Adm have no use in the game yet, so don't worry about stocking up on them. You will likely need lots of Nu (~50 or more), and a fair amount of Dbe, and Chr. Eth is a good high end trade good as you only need a fixed amount for large hulls, you get consistent drops, and it sells well. Xen is only used for 1 endgame module so don't worry about stocking more than ~12. I was almost always short on Ir and U.

[jacer08]

I took your data and made a new spreadsheet to include the other traders, and prices from my game. I updated max/min values from a mix of your data and my game, as well as after I started trading, so it won't match a new game with a clean market. Enjoy!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQ1J4TPGwaNtBtSeTt6EXy2lBa3S9fW_HKGnxkWrpAiYvvLtEOVovR9St-tFbg8OCZUV_ayuaS7DOdF/pubhtml?gid=0&single=true