Ash's Complete Guide to Trading, Smuggling and Not Getting Caught

[Ash]

Want to make money fast?
Having trouble with pirates?

Then you need...

Ash's Complete Guide to Trading, Smuggling and Not Getting Caught!

Now if your thoughts at this point are 'Pfft, i can handle myself. I don't need no guide.' Then stop reading and crack on with your next run. Just remember the next pirate that sends you into a rage because of his three word vocabulary and overwhelming firepower could have been avoided with a little light reading.

Now for those of you still in doubt, a little information on the reliability of my information. I've played the Discovery mod (on and off) for ten years, I absolutely suck at PvP, and I certainly didn't get my kicks from shooting rocks. I've played as a trader for every corporate faction and smuggled for most unlawful groups both independently and affiliated. I like to think I know what i'm talking about.

Now that's enough waffle. Let's get down to it.

For your reading convenience I've divided the guide into three sections which you can scroll directly to, depending on what you're interested in most. Specifics on ships, equipment and coordination tactics have been compiled into appendices you can find linked at the bottom of this post. But to make the most of it I recommend you progress through each section in turn.

Section 1: Trading

Trading is the bread and butter of discovery. Within half an hour of your very first log in you'll have a fair idea of what it is and how it works. Now I don't need to recap these basic principles with you but it's worth revisiting certain elements of the game when building a trading character. So for the sake of chronology let's start at the absolute basic.

A TRADER NEEDS A NAME

For the purposes of this guide we will be sticking to the creation and development of trader characters built for purpose. This excludes what I like to call the 'primordial trader', which is usually the first character you'd start with when you start out on discovery.

So you find yourself at this screen

If you're like me then you've spent a fair amount of time watching trent check himself out. We all know why, but this is not the only question you should be asking yourself at this point. You should also be thinking:

What's my RP gonna be?
What faction, if any, will I be affiliated with?
How will my affiliation affect where I can land?
What natural enemies will I make by affiliating with this faction?
What ships will I have access to with my chosen ID?
What trade routes will be best suited to my RP?
What, for the love of god WHAT is my name gonna be?

If any of the answers to these questions bother you, then you'll need to look into refining your character idea or look into what sacrifices you'll have to make in order to pull it off. As for the name game, that's down to you. I'd generally advise against putting the words 'trading', 'shipping', 'corp' or any other word that would shout to the world you're a trader. Apart from that, the only other rule of thumb is to take on a name respective of your faction's theme. For those of you who aren't familiar, here they are.

Liberty - AMERICA
Bretonia - United Kingdom
Kusari - Japan
Rheinland - Germany
Outcasts - Spain and Mediterranean Isles
Corsairs - Spain and Aegean Isles
Gallia - France
Sirius Coalition - Soviet Union
Zoners - Greece and just about anywhere
The Order - Ancient Egypt
Crayter Republic - Greece and Aegean

Taking on a theme based name isn't mandatory but it can help you settle into the role you're building for yourself.

Once you have a name it's time to get the ball rolling. You can build your own reputation or use one of the /restart commands to fast-track you into the faction. I would advise using /restart especially if you intend of becoming affiliated as this will also populate your navmap with useful trading data in your zone of influence.

The next step is to transfer funds into your new character and get your hands on a fancy new ship.

Choosing a ship is the single most important factor to consider when setting up a trader character.

Now if you want some in depth details to consider when buying a ship as well as a quick guide on how to 'test drive' them before purchase, then scroll on down to Appendix 2. But for now it's important you understand how important it is that you choose a ship that fits with the roleplay you have in mind. Unless your going mainstream corporate it's not always the best idea to opt for the ship with the largest hold. My advice is to look at your options on the Discovery Wiki Page, check the stats and make sure it's compatible with your ID before making your final choice. It's also worth noting that since you'll most likely opt for a transport of some kind, that the difference between small and large transports aren't just the price and the hold. While supertransports bring home the bacon, their smaller counterparts are more maneuverable, have more turret mounts and more equipment slots. The point being, if you opt for a supertransport you'll have to accept that in any combat scenario you'll be dead in the water.

Some bases now restrict the vessels that can dock based on size. The Leeds Resistance Base is a prime example of this. So while this base may offer some great rates for commodities, don't be misled by the numbers and find out with 5000 med-stasis bands in the trunk that you can't land.

EVERYONE NEEDS A COMPANION

Next you'll need to find yourself a route. Now i'm going to level with you, the single most useful tool for any trader or smuggler is Freelancer Companion. If you don't know it already, you'll wanna take it out to dinner and treat it like a princess by the end of the week. It's secure freeware so don't be shy to download a copy and hook it up to the discovery directory.

Companion will show you by default the routes with the best profit/time from your point of origin. While this can be useful for powertrading, it does little to show you profitable routes for commodities you are interested in for the sake of your RP. It may be that the destination station may not only be outside your zone of influence, but outright hostile to you upon arrival. So check your affiliation's relationship with that station, and if it's not looking good, consider other destinations. Another thing you need to consider is that companion won't tell you is how dangerous the route may be. For example, most sirius factions are hostile to gallia, so while a route headed there may be profitable and even quick, for the time you spend running from the cruisers you may be looking at up to double the shipping time. This also matters when considering shipping routes through piracy hotpsots.

POBS HAVE PROBS TOO

Player owned bases have brought a new layer to the freelancer trading dynamic. Now if you're unfamiliar with player owned bases and how they work I suggest you get read up here. For those of you who get the jist; as you may know, player owned bases have their own commodity buy/sell systems independent of the prices set it place with the mod. What this means is owners of these player owned bases can set and alter buy and sell prices for commodities of their choosing for their base. So not only can you make some money shipping goods to these bases, but also on occasion find a fair bargain for unwanted commodities that you can sell on later. POB trading can be irregular due to the limitations of the stock availability, and finding a route to/from one with a decent profit margin can be difficult. However the experience of truly pioneering new routes depending on what commodities are on sale is pretty good fun. That and you can trade knowing you're helping out other members of the community with what is the enourmous task of maintaining a POB.

Now before you get started, remember that POB owners also tend to restrict access to their base to members of a particular faction, house or criminal syndicate. The general rule of thumb you can use as a guide is if a POB is located in secure house space, you can assume it is more open than most. Remote POBs tend to be restricted to fewer factions. Most if not all well organised POBs will offer relatively good prices for the following vital commodities:

Reinforced Alloy
Robotic Hardware
Hull Segments
Food Rations
Luxury Food
Kyushu Rice
Synth Paste
Gaian Wildlife
H-Fuel
Deuterium
MOX
Promethene

Those hilighted in red are required to maintain the base health status and are always in high demand. Without them the base deteriorates and is eventually destroyed due to disrepair or opportunistic enemies. So most POBs will offer a price of at least double that of the purchase price of the red commodities. Orange commodities are required to keep the crew alive, which in turn are required to maintain the repairs. These too are consumed by the base at a steady rate and are always required. Blue commodities are required to power the shield when the base is attacked. These commodities are not consumed at a steady rate but when the shield is activated, are consumed in large quantities. Blue commodities are normally at the lower end of demand compared to all vital commodities.

Also, depending on what modules or equipment the owner is currently manufacturing, there may be increased demand for certain commodities such as:

Industrial Hardware*
Magnetic Superconductors*
Fusion Diodes*
Armaments*
Optronic Arrays*
Quantum Arrays*
Critical Temperature Alloy*
Argentium Silver*
Gravity Field Stabilizers*
Nanomembrane Filters*
Heat Sinks*
Plasmonic Metamaterials*
Bio-Neural Arrays*
Plasfoam Conduits*
High Performance Alloys*
Scientists
Iridium
Energy Field Equipment
Super Alloys
Tungsten
Derelict Nomad Artifacts**
Nomad Fighter Remains**
Nomad Gunboat Remains**
Nomad Battleship Remains**

*Prices for these commodities are fixed for all locations that sell them as they are exclusively relevent to POBs
**These items cannot be bought but must be salvaged from NPC ships and/or wrecks

However the only way for you to find if these commodities are in demand is to land and to try to sell each one to the base, contact the owner or visit that POBs thread on the POB forum.

This is because the owner of the POB can restrict the purchase and/or sale of a commodity to their base. Unlike traditional traders, once you sell a commodity you'll likely be unable to buy it back; understandably because no POB owner would want to give you the option to take away what is essentially keeping their base alive.

With POBs you'll also find there are plenty of requisition contracts on offer for you to fulfill at your leisure which you can find on the POB Forum or Sirius News and Commerce. POB owners are very grateful to shippers willing to bring them the goods they need to keep their bases in good shape, and they usually pay well.

Finally each POB has a purpose. For many it is to provide the owner and the owner's buddies with sick gadgets like cloaks and hyperdrives. In which case they will be interested in buying lots of the bits and bobs i've listed above. However, certain POBs have taken on more commercial functions as trade hubs for various factions. These hubs often mimic the commodity prices of the surrounding NPC bases but are always open for business. They also specialise in the marketing of commodities that are not buyable at NPC bases such as ores and raw materials mined by other characters. They are a profitable option to consider when looking for what goods to ship out of a POB, and because of their enourmous profit margin, miners, POB owners and traders can all get an even and well sized slice of the pie.

FRIENDS!

As a trader you are part of the largest character group on the discovery mod. Just about everyone has a trader character as a cash cow or for leisure. So needless to say there's plenty of player interaction to be had for those with the time of day. Official factions are a great way to get more than space out of trading. If you're more of a fighter pilot than a freighter then i'd strongly consider joining up. A well led/organised faction will regularly run convoys, quotas, competitions and collaboration activities so there's always something going on. The official faction hub can be found here and you can take your pick.

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Section 2: Smuggling

Smuggling is a completely different playing field when you compare it to trading. A completely different playing field and totally badass. The reason this section comes after trading and not before it is because when you decide to be a smuggler, a good smuggler, you need to reinvent the rulebook from the outset. When trading within the confines of lawful space, you can easily become complacent and trust in the reliability of your favourite routes. This can actually be a good thing for grinders with no interest in their character's development in RP, but also means that the limits of enjoyment will hover around rock bottom. Smuggling routes are fewer in number, more dangerous, more timely, but have some of the best payoffs in the mod.

Now I want to take you back to this screen

At this point you really need to have a good understanding of the relations of most of the factions in the mod. The fact is, if you don't, you'll find yourself at a serious disadvantage from the outset; because this is going to factor into how you set up your smuggler character.

TURNING YOUR SMUGGLING BUDGIE INTO A PROPER BUDGIE SMUGGLER

When we covered trading I hilighted affiliation being an important point to consider when setting up your character. In the world of smuggling, absolutely everything comes down to your affiliation; especially how your affiliation will affect where you can land. So needless to say you're going to need to think of this before you even remotely think of what your name is gonna be. The truth is, affiliated smugglers have a hard time getting by. This is because smuggling in it's very nature is best done by middle men; guys who can exploit the hospitality of law abiding factions with their neutral status. Now let's not jump to conclusions and write off outlaw-affiliated smugglers here. There are pros and cons to both. But i'm going to put it to you in black and white, if you've never been a smuggler before and want to set one up, keep it neutral. It's easier to change your mind and sign up later than the reverse.

Before we move on, it's best we cover what I mean by 'neutral' in this context. I certainly don't mean zoners, so put that ghastly thought out of your mind this instant. What I mean is a reputation that will give you a neutral relationship with most factions, to enable you to land on their bases. If you're new to the mod, you may have come across a hook in the software that rejects your land request if you have with more than 5.5 red squares of bad reputation with that base's faction. To get around this the best reputation to have is the Freelancer BW reputation which you can obtain by using it's corresponding /restart code. This will give you an exploitable reputation with all four core house's police and militaries as well as a decent standing with the corsairs and outcasts. It will also put your reputation in a very negociable position for server shipping events if you fancy going straight for a bit. But most importantly you'll have access to two of the largest criminal syndicates of the mod and a means of shipping them directly to the consumers. Namely the outcasts' cardamine cartel and the corsairs' artifact smuggling ring. This gives you a good footing starting out as a smuggler to keep your options open if things turn sour with one party or another.

Which brings me to my next point.

On the opposite end of the scale of the reputation game is the likelyhood a pirate is to see you as a target. As a freelancer the world is your oyster, though pirates are more likely to hold you up as an independent shipper like any old trader. To counteract this, you can opt for a partial affiliation that will give you clear passage through pirate infested space. The Hogosha, The Junkers and Unione Corse affiliations are pretty good for this. By throwing your lot in with the Hogosha for example, you're waving goodbye to ever dealing with the Outcasts, but securing valuable allies in the Corsairs who won't only allow you passage, but cover your ass in a pickle. It is, after all, their operation they're protecting.

The third option as you probably would have guessed is to directly affiliate with a syndicate. Now the benefits of becoming openly unlawful are that you can freely travel through bottleneck systems like Omicron Gamma or Omicron Beta (faction depending) without fretting about pirates as other smugglers would. You can also cut your worries in half when travelling anywhere that isn't core house space since half of all unlawful factions are all part of the family. Allies are always happy to escort you and for due credit there are some half-decent smuggling routes you can undertake. But the reality is you close the door to 75% of all smuggling routes in the mod and every house system feels as prickly as gallia. Lawfuls will actively engage you if they spot you and are fully within their right to do so. 99% of the time, alone, you will be outgunned. Some would argue that this makes smuggling more difficult therefore more interesting, though I'd say it merely limits your potential.

I apologise for the wall of text needed to explain all that but I can't stress more how important it is you get your reputation right and in line with your expectations. If you're planning on running stuff into Gallia as friend of the Corsairs, you're gonna have bad time.

Next thing is to pick a boat.

These days you have a pretty decent selection when it comes to ships suitable for smuggling. I'm not going to list them to you but as long as you double check the discovery tech chart before you make your down payment you can't go far wrong. But what I will say is this: with a more unlawful affiliation you can take more risks and sacrifice defensive capbabilities for capacity. Remember freelancer IDs cap the cargo capacity at 3600 (Serenity), and do not underestimate the benefits of a CM dropper slot.

WHAT DRUGS?

So where do I start you ask?

Click the following link

Linky!

This spreadsheet will give you a full run-down of all the illicit commodities flagged by each active authority in the mod as of v4.91. A comprehensive explanation can be found in THE LAWS OF SIRIUS thread where you can find context should you need it.

Commodities that are marked as contraband are outright illegal to carry through that authority's sovereign space. Commodities that are marked as restricted either require a permit for you to carry legally, are subject to limitations, or are illegal to ship out of that authority's sovereign space. Carrying restricted cargo can be a pain for most shippers as the legislation surrounding it can be lengthy and often overlooked. My advice is to check THE LAWS OF SIRIUS before carrying anything that seems even remotely dangerous or morally dubious to know what you're dealing with.

If you want to find out where to find any of the listed commodities then companion can do that for you with the items repository dropdown menu. From there you can begin to plot your routes, but be sure to always check the affiliation of your destination station, lest you go wandering off into the heart of gallia with nowhere to land.

THE WAY IS SHUT

On the odd occassion the houses will be so miffed at each other that to vent all the that wound up tension they put a trade embargo or blockade in place. So I hope you got my Return of the King reference there. Such a great movie. It's getting on 14 years old now, but still, like SO good.

For those of you who haven't heard of them, trade embargoes are roleplay policies that house militaries and police put in place from time to time. They usually concern certain legal goods such as military vehichles or diamonds, but for political reasons, security personnel will not permit you to transport them either; out of their house's space or toward another house. While shipping what is essentially legal cargo could be considered a trader's field, the act of transporting them irrespective of the law falls under the umbrella of smuggling.

Blockades follow the same principles as embargoes, except house personnel actively and physically restrict all access to certain routes within and around their house's space.

For a smuggler an emargo is no biggie, but a blockade can be a ball ache for numerous reasons. You may not have what they're specifically trying to stop, but they sure as hell aren't going to let you get past with a hold full of cardamine either. During a blockade most house ships will be watching all of the routes between two or sometimes three systems. This essentially turns every system involved in the blockade into a bottleneck.

Blockade running is very black and white. Let's imagine you're trying to get to New York from Hamburg. The Liberty Navy has established a blockade on all routes into Texas coming from Bering and Hudson. There are four direct connections between Bering and Hudson to Texas. Pull up your chat menu and do the math. For every extra Navy/Police character in Texas your chance of hitting the blockade increases. One guy watching one in four portals means you have a 25% chance of failure. Though don't get disheartened if you see four house ships. Police/Navy ships can be lazy, they prefer to stick together and don't spend much time alone. If you opt for a less trodden path you may be pleasantly suprised.

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Section 3: Not Getting Caught!

If you're a seasoned player then this is probably the first section you scrolled to. Now that's not me being an ass pretending to know how you think, I merely want to point out beforehand that there are a few things in the previous sections I will be referring to. So it may be worth taking a look before you crack on. That being said:

Getting caught is the number one cause of all player to player hostility on the discovery server. That's because shippers get caught all the damn time. I'd wager a trader is held at gunpoint at peak time every ten minutes. Shippers whine and whinge at pirates for being uncompromising, and pirates moan and groan about how shippers care zero for loss of life, ship and cargo. For me getting caught is a cause for commendation for my persuers, because on the rare occasion it happens, a game was played.

PLAYING THE GAME

Now what i'm going to say next may taste a bit bitter but I swear i'm not trying to be condescending. This is a guide for those who want to excel at the game with regard to running circles around pirates, bounty hunters and lawmen. If you do not play the game, nothing you read here will change a thing. You may be farming credits for that sweet battlecruiser and have no interest in the fun side of trading, but unless you pay attention to the game, you're going to make the same mistakes over and over again without even realising. So do yourself a favour, close anything that isn't to do with the game, and just play.

The first rule of not getting caught is to keep a weather eye on the horizon. Let's say you're running Beryllium from Cambridge to Berlin. Get familiarised with the discovery universe map and load up that player list. Have a gander at who's lurking in Omega 3 and Omega 7. While you're at it check cambridge too. As you move from system to system bring up that list again and have another look. You'll soon learn to tell the character names for what they could be, and how much caution should be applied. But for now here's a quick run-down to get you started.

1. Look at the character's level
   
   • 15-40 is highly likely to be a newbie and no threat to you
     
   • A level around 50 implies it's a fighter
     
   • 60 is likely to be a bomber
     
   • 70+ is likely to be a gunboat or transport
     
   • 80+ is likely to be a capital ship or supertransport
     
   • 90+ is likely to be a battleship or certainly someone saving for one
     
   
   
2. Keep an eye out for names that sound more like ship names as opposed to personal names, especially the impressive sounding ones. Some examples could be Indomitable, Santa Maria or Kraken. They're likely to be capitol ships.
   
   
3. Familiarise yourself with faction tags since official factions clearly display their faction through their character names. This is a good advantage for you when gathering information about other players.
   
   
4. Consider their locations. What reason could anyone have to be hanging out in Chugoku? It's most likely going to be a blood dragon.
   
   
5. In section 1 I mentioned the theming behind the various factions of freelancer. Conveniently many players gravitate toward these themes and name their characters respectively. A character called Natures.Revenge is most likely going to be a gaian.
   
   
6. Check to see if they are part of a group. If so change the filter and check out his friends. An enigmatic character called Mr.Jones isn't fooling anyone when he teams up with a guy called The.Corsair who's in Omicron Gamma.

So let's return to our Cambridge -> Berlin example. You jump to Omega 3 and bring up the chat window and notice a level 62 character has just entered the system under the name 'Rapido’. What can we deduce? It's a hispanic name, level 60ish, likely to be a bomber or fighter, in corsair territory. Did you see him in Omega 7 when you first set off? No. Then he must have entered the system through a jump hole. This guy is getting shadier by the minute. The answer to what you do in this scenario i'll cover later. But for now it's important to understand that you're flying blind without checking ahead with this simple technique. By doing this alone, you'll be able to spot that annoying pirate we mentioned and do a quick detour years before he realises he missed you.

The real fun is when you encounter a pirate or lawman who's as switched on as much as you are. The game becomes infinitely more tactical as you try to outmaneuver your opponent while they try to intercept you. Which brings me back to my original point. Shippers have the upper hand in this situation because they have the advantage of the first move and always being a step ahead, like playing white in a game of chess. The truth is, if an opponent can catch you on his own despite that, he's earned it, and you'll feel that too.

FORM UP

Collaborating with other players isn't just a way to secure your haul but it really makes the most of your time playing the game. It's an old concept that still rings true. There is strength in numbers. I've seen convoys of liberty transports decimate pirate raiding parties. I've seen gunboats and cruisers fleeing for their lives from swarms of clydesdales, and I can say i've seen some of the noblest gameplay come from scenarios where players form convoys.

One thing I will say about convoys is DO NOT understimate what you can overcome when you work together as a team. It's very easy to slip back into that natural feeling of running for the hills as soon as a bomber shows. I'll go into more detail on what paradigms you can employ in Appendix 3. A good convoy is hard to build when you don't know any players, and even harder to coordinate. One simple thing you can do however is to hire an escort. Unfortunately escorts pilots are harder to come by these days because of the low demand for them. But any freelance pilot not hauling or mining usually won't turn up the opportunity to make some serious money for a short ride and a chat. So put your hand in your pocket, it's a very rewarding experience.

Also don't be afraid to hire pilots who are particularly low level characters. Most escorts won't really want to get into a serious fight with a pirate. Foremost they provide a valuable distraction while you get away.

PLAYING IT SAFE

Once you've got your head around watching out for other players, the next thing is to gauge the appropriate action you should take to get through safely. For the sake of clarity the guide on what actions to take as a trader and as a smuggler will be kept seperate. Below is a list of tactics you can use to stay under the radar and avoid contact with your adversaries as a trader, as well as a the scenarios that i think warrant their use.

1. Threat Level 1 - Suspicious ships in adjacent systems
   Keep an eye on the chat window to see if they move to your system or the system ahead. If you're in a trade lane highway then you'll likely be gone before they get to you.
   
2. Threat Level 2 - Piratical ships in adjacent systems
   Keep an eye on the chat window to see if they move to your system or the system ahead. Have a contingency plan in place encase they show up on the radar.
   
3. Threat Level 3 - Suspicious ships in your system
   When riding a trade lane keep the mouse hovered over the freeflight button. Keep your eyes fixed on the bottom left hud. If you see anything pop up before the lane has run it's course, hit the free flight button and head for the nearest station. If you can with ease, get back into the tradelane the other way. In an open system, take an indirect route to your destination. Going the longer way around the sun usually does the trick. Have a good idea where your nearest escape route will be if something turns up. Stations and jump holes are good bailouts, jump gates not so much.
   
4. Threat Level 4 - Piratical ships in your system
   If your system has trade lanes you have to assume that a pirate is on one of them. Taking the lane will be risky, which, if you choose to take, I would suggest you take similar precautionary action as outlined for threat level 3. Otherwise, for linear systems, avoid trade lanes altogether and fly directly (as long as it doesn't take you via the trade lanes). For circuit systems, opt for the less used lanes if you can or fly directly. Another (very) useful tactic is to take a detour through an alternate exit such as a jump hole, and rejoin your intended route path in a later system.
   
5. Threat Level 5 - Piratical ships in your system likely to be tracking your whereabouts
   This refers to pirates who would at first be stationary, but are anticipating your movements, and therefore likely to seek you out if you take longer than expected to reach their trap. Find a celestial object such as trade lane ring, jump gate, moon or planet and dive 20k under it; alternatively rise 20k above. Set a waypoint to your intended destination, look at it and point your ship at the space below/above it. Cruise until you are 20k from your destination then head straight for it. This is a tactic deemed unfair by many as widens the search area for pirates from a 2D plane to a 3D plane, so use in moderation.
   

For smugglers the challenges are quite different, and in some ways more difficult to manage. We've already talked about pirates, but your real problems are going to come from lawful characters. Police and Military types are well organised, ever present, and tend to stick to a handful of systems. Because of their restrictive ZoI there will usually be at least one of them with their eye on the horizon to see who and what is coming into house space. They don't take prisoners (despite the fact they should, cos, well... they're cops) and if they catch you, they will remember you. Unluckily for you, most of the money to be made is right under their noses. Below is a list of tactics you can use to stay under the radar and avoid contact with your adversaries as a smuggler, as well as a the scenarios that i think warrant their use.

1. Threat Level 1 - Suspicious ships in adjacent systems
   Keep an eye on the chat window to see if they move to your system or the system ahead. If you're in a trade lane highway then you'll likely be gone before they get to you.
   
2. Threat Level 2 - Non-Police Lawful/Non-Allied Piratical ships in adjacent systems
   Keep an eye on the chat window to see if they move to your system or the system ahead. Have a contingency plan to divert to an indirect route in place. Move quickly and quietly.
   
3. Threat Level 3 - Non-Allied Piratical Ships in your system (House Space)
   The good thing about pirates is that they draw alot of attention, particularly from law enforcement. So while they may still pirate you, they're always going to have bigger problems hanging out in house space, and often ignore smugglers. If you are natural enemies due to your affiliation, it is best to stay out of their way regardless. My advice is to proceed as you would for a Level 2 threat. Just don't go marching up to Buffalo.
   
4. Threat Level 4 - Confirmed police ship within house space
   As soon as you arrive in house space, you have to assume they will know due to the trade lane and gate surveillance network. Attentive police such as those who are part of an official faction will scan you as soon as you arrive, they'll find out everything they need to know and an entire fleet will converge on you in minutes. If you can, try and arrive in house space via a jump hole, and try to refrain from using trade lanes. Every one you use is a breadcrumb for them to follow. Stay at least 15k away from any trade lane ring, or they will be able to get a read on your location. If they're smart they'll be able to figure out where you're going based on your cargo alone and intercept knowing only that. The pre-emptive advantage you have when approaching a house with an active police serveyor will win through if you stay quiet and don't make waves.
   
5. Threat Level 5 - Non-Police Lawful/Piratical ships in your system likely to be tracking your whereabouts
   I'd advise you follow the same action listed above for trader threat level 5. However, be mindful of the fact that security personnel are larger in number and tend to be a constant communication. If one of them is having trouble tracking you down then they'll likely get their buddies involved which will make your job exponentially harder. Move quickly and don't don't give them any more cause to hunt you down.
   
6. Threat Level 6 - Confirmed police ship within house space tracking your whereabouts
   If this happens and you're not in trouble, you soon will be. Your only hope is to throw them off the scent and make for a jump hole that would take you away from your intended destination. House police know every nook and cranny of their space and are savants at coordinating all available security personel to intercept you. So depending on how many friends he has, you'll need to change your tactics. If he's coming after you alone, drop below the plane and away from trade lanes. Make for your exit. If he's got buddies then run like hell, if you stick around for too long they'll blockade the exits and you'll be screwed.
   

OH SH*T

Inevitably there will come a time when all of the techniques in your precautionary arsenal have been spent and you're face to face with the big bad wolf. Either that or a moment of carelessness has landed you in the frying pan. It's no biggie, it happens. But what matters is what you do in the next few seconds.

Naturally your first intinct is to consider the likelyhood of escape. Now this is a good thing, but try not to let it cloud your judgement. In this situation you have a decent chance of escape if one of the following criteria are met.

1. Your persuer is more than 10k away and you are facing any direction
   
2. Your persuer is less more than 7k away and you are facing away from him
   
3. Your persuer has shown no immediate signs of movement in response to your presence
   
4. Your persuer has no cruise disruptor
   
5. You are flying a supertransport and are 14k away from your persuer
   
6. A second shipper has also been stopped
   
7. Your persuer is engaged with lawful ships
   

If your situation doesn't match up with any of these then i'm sorry to say you're screwed. Your only options are to stall them while you call for help, comply with their demands or settle it in combat. Now i'm going to level with you. If you're flying a transport against a bomber, gunboat or VHF packing a torpedo, you're almost definitely going to lose. If you have experience flying capital ships and are flying a small transport, then you may have a chance in one on one combat. So I would generally discourage getting into fisticuffs and instead try your hand at guile.

If you're lucky enough to find yourself in any of these scenarios, floor it and head for safety. REMEMBER that transport cruise speeds are slower than fighters. This gives you a window of around 60 seconds to get to safety or the next system when facing a HF, and 30 seconds when facing a LF. Fleeing from bombers is more complicated since they match transports in speed but can easily outmaneuver them. This means that in a straight, a transport will never outrun a bomber but instead prolong the persuit for as long as the bomber will give chase. It's therefore important to understand how to deal with bombers because after all, they are the most common form of pirate.

For every time you make a turn the persuing bomber will gain on you. So make sure every turn you make is worth it. One sure way of getting caught is hesitating, constantly altering course and losing ground. If you fall within 2k of your enemy then expect him to fire a cruise disruptor at any second. Those buggers are quick, don't wait for the sexy lady voice to tell you, dump as many flares as you can muster until you're out of range. For every failed disruption attempt you gain a considerable bonus in distance.

The best way to discourage a bomber is to frustrate them by slowing their progress. Every jump hole, jump gate or trade lane you pass through gives you a precious few seconds to gain on entry and exit. These seconds can be gained by rushing your docking procedures and flooring it as soon as you re-enter. Trade lanes provide unique opportunities because for a precious few seconds they take you outside of your persuer's scanner range offering a temporary blind spot. This gives you an opportunity to do something unpredictable like undock and head for a nearby jump hole.

Once you have lead of over 10k away you can look at making a play. This involves utilising one of the blind spots offered by gates and holes to make a final break to escape their scanner range. When your persuer re-enters from a hole or gate behind you and is over 10k away, they are unable to see where you are on their HUD. For a handful of systems, the view is clear enough for them to see your ship. But most of the time the best they can do is hit the cruise engines and head in the direction they believe you're most likely to be headed; only you're not going to go that way. You're going to head to the middle of nowhere, and from there toward an exit that does not take you closer to your destination.

Sidenote: In section 1 I mentioned that all players have a trader character. They will be familiar with the commonest routes and where the destinations are. They will use this knowledge to their advantage and track you accordingly.

Now this is all well and good, but let's rewind a sec. How do you figure out where to go to get away safely? Excellent question.

RUN FOR THE HILLS

When planning your escape you need to think early on about where you intend to escape to within your current system. This will be either a base, an exit or the location of one or more other players. It's easy to become startled by an encounter and get sucked into the tension of the chase. If you start thinking about your route to safety after 30k of a chase into nowhere, you can throw in the towel, cos I can tell you right now, you're screwed.

Heading for a base is the easiest choice. In most scenarios you'll be closer to a base than anything else that can help you and it will guarantee a swift end to the chase. Bear in mind that when flying a transport, normal PvP rules don't apply when using bases to escape combat scenarios. Where you'd usually be required to leave the system for two hours after doing this, transports get a bit of a break provided you don't willingly seek out combat. The downside of this is that it's the most predictable tactic. If your pursuer knows a bit about what he's doing he'll have a contingency plan in place to counter this that he'll deploy as soon as you bolt. On top of this, even if you do succeed, while your kicking it in the bar, your pursuer will nine times out of ten be waiting for you to emerge. Pirates may start out after your money, but revenge and victory are much more motivating notions. Bear this in mind when considering continuing your voyage. An alternative way to use bases is to take advantage of their hostile standing toward your pursuer. In most piracy situations this is the case. The barrage of gunfire the base will send toward your enemy can be useful, but is NOT a way you should seek to end the chase. To be clear, i'm not suggesting basehugging to be an advisable or an admirable tactic. Leading a pursuit past a base hostile to your opponent can cause them to swerve to avoid the projectiles. Especially if they are flying a snub. This can provide you with a bit of much needed distance from your pursuer and improve your chances.

A more interesting but riskier option is to head for a jump gate or jump hole. This prolongs the chase but opens up a wider range of tactics you can use to get away like we've already been over. If heading for an exit you'll need to choose and commit to your route there very early on. Gates and holes tend to be distant from most other celestial objects, meaning most of the time you're not going to have the luxury of a plan B. Remember you don't have to take the fastest route there. Your pursuer is going to be limited by the same factors like cruise speed and trade lanes unless he's in a fighter or has help. Taking an indirect route can confuse your pursuer which can sometimes help if you plan on making a gambit.

A third and rarer option is to rendezvous with other players. This is provided you know exactly where they are or where they will be. Relying on other players to bail you out is sometimes risky since they're not always obliged to help. If you're being hunted by a band of pirates with gunboat, most people won't jump to your aid purely because they're not suicidal. Even cops and military types stand back if they know they've got slim chances. Nevertheless, running into a patrol of players outright hostile to your pursuer is a sure way of escaping. Often you can sit back and watch the fireworks or even join in the fight with your newfound support. A crueller way of using other players to secure your getaway is to distract your pursuer with a better prize. Supertransports are desirable targets and traditionally bring home a higher ransom. Quite often pirates will give up the chase if a bigger fish gets caught in the net since it's not easy to keep two ships pinned for long. Throwing another player under the bus is a bit low, but as i've already mentioned, most other players would leave you to the wolves if they saw your situation anyway.

These basic techniques will rid you of enemies who are either overconfident, unattentive or new to the game. But the reality is, 9/10 pursuits involve enemies who are more experienced. Getting away from someone who knows their way around the controls is hard to do in a bulky transport. So to build on your basic skills you can look at adding some specialised techniques to your repertoire. You can find a full list of these advanced manouevres I call gambits in the final appendix.

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Appendices

Now since i've totally maxed out the character limit writing this guide, i've created a some additional threads that expand on some of the topics discussed in the core guide. These sections are highly technical in nature and offer an insight into the finer points of selecting ships, equipment and tactics.

The links to each one are below.

Appendix 1: Kit

Appendix 2: Ships

Appendix 3: CONVOY!

The Final Appendix: Gambits

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Endnote

That just about tops it off. If there is anything you think I have missed or you think is worth adding i'll gladly accept your suggestions. I hope this guide has proven useful and I look forward to seeing you online.

Safe journey.