X3:Reunion Manual - Steam

With the ‘buy wares’ you can buy from the merchants wares that are on offer, with details onthe amounts and the size of cargo bay required. You can equally use the ‘sell wares’ to barterwhat wares you have that the merchants might be willing to buy. If you don’t have the rightgoods that the merchant is interested in, you could try cash and see if you can still get a goodprofit out of the deal. Or you even may spot good value opportunities from other merchants,who may sometimes be trying to get rid of surplus stock, at a discount price.There is additional information from the ‘merchants’ listing where you can select a merchantand an information screen will show a list of the wares, on that merchant's buy and sell lists.You will have to have enough goods to roughly equal the value in a ‘fair’ trade. Themerchants that inhabit these stations have personalities as diverse as their range of wares.Though some of these merchants might be willing to take a small loss on a trade, othersmight offer you a bad deal, by trying to milk as many extra Credits out of you as they can.If you have been trading a lot in a particular sector, you may get to know some of thesemerchants, as they will have probably benefited from your sector activities.HOW TO FIGHT AND CAPTUREIf your intention is to make fast Credits by taking what others have, you are best advised tofamiliarised yourself with your Weapons Control System in the earlier Interface section.Why capture ships?For many the first aim will be to obtain a decent M3 Class fighter with 25MJ shields and if youhave chosen the ‘QuickStart’ you already have an Argon Mercury Transporter. Powerfulshields are one of the first survival must-haves, but an M3 equipped with them can cost twomillion or more Credits. Additionally, at the start of the game, you do not have a high enoughreputation to buy one. But there is a quick way to get one on the cheap.Fight/Capture Pirates = Credits, ships, rank and notoriety. These factors work together toproduce faster financial gains than other options, but at a cost - your life (salvage insurance)and hull damage.This is a more risky choice but with potentially quick and profitable returns. You start with aArgon Buster with four Beta Particle Accelerators Cannons (PACs) and three 5MJ Shields.With the Buster you can take out Pirate M5’s, M4’s and M3’s with 5MJ shields. If you are verygood, with missiles and cannons, you might even capture a M3 with 25MJ Shields intact. Ifyou capture an M3 class fighter you can then repair and it kit out with the profits from sellingother ships and equipment from your smaller captures.54TargetingWhen you first target the ship it can be useful to make sure theauto-target is switched on with the [ k ] key. At a distance it willshow as a red X on your targeted ship. When you are withinweapons’ range it will change to the auto-target reticule.To use the Auto-Target feature (Fight Software I & II) press the[ k ] key once for basic Auto-Target (FS1) and twice for theimproved Auto-Target (FS2). As you fire, aim for this auto-targetreticule as that will compensate for the direction and speed ofthe ship that you are aiming and firing at (leading the target).Fighting and FiringThe best way to use your weapons is first to keep your selection of lasers to a couple ofpowerful ones like Alpha HEPT’s and a couple of basic ones like Beta Particle Cannons pergroup. If you also have some Ion Disruptors in another group (Note: Ions can hit locals anddamage your rep if you are not up close and in line of sight with the target) you can use theseto quickly knock down their shields. With your different groupings, you can quickly select yourweapons of choice mid-fight.