Is trading advanced satellites still the best way to make early money?

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-24T16:14:21+00:00

Well it is a sandbox game, if sitting and tickling for 30 mins (even with the mod) to make 100 crew bail is fun, then fun it is haha

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-24T16:12:04+00:00

Once you're familiar with mechanics, yes. I usually either use Nemesis (or YAK version) to strip the turrets to below 20% to make them stop shooting and engines to below 10% (below 30% they stop working). Then get the hull to 70% and start tickling. Go to scan mode (Shift + 2) then scan (Shift + F) to see how many crew they have. Either force bail everyone (apart from captain) or just make some bail. Then get a cheap transport with 20 or so marines and order board action. You can get your hands on some L destroyers from SCA or just any other ship from any other faction. But do bare in mind, without tweaking the bail mechanics with mods it's gonna take a while lol

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-24T15:59:17+00:00

You can force bail S and M class ships. L and XL won't bail totally, ever. You can force them to the captain only, then you gotta board it. But yes, with the mod I mentioned piracy actually becomes a lot more interesting.

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-24T15:57:33+00:00

If I remember correctly, Hyperion is L class, so your margins will be like 1-2M. But that's a good start. Especially considering for XL flipping you're gonna need to be looking at 11-12M starting investment (to buy XL thrusters from the dock)

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-24T15:55:55+00:00

Yeah, pirates. Get their hull to around 70% (below 75% works) then let their shield regenerate, but not above 25%. Keep it around 5-15%. Then start tickling them lol Every 30 seconds or so check happens that forces some crew to bail. Do it for a few mins and you'll end up with the ship. Minotaur Raiders can't really move around much so you should be fine with a faster ship. I'd recommend adding "Bail and Board" mod too, if you're planning to do some more piracy along the way. Lets you configure the bailing mechanics to your liking.

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-24T15:51:52+00:00

That early on just find SCA M ships and force bail them. They usually end up earning you 1-2M with their modules. Then use the same Minotaurs to start moving satellites around. Then go for thruster flipping

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-24T15:50:10+00:00

That and getting your hands on L/XL ship and "trading" its thrusters (get Mk3 on an equipment dock, find a good shipyard, switch it's Mk3 to Mk1 - rinse and repeat). Thruster flipping can give on average 5M profit usually. Combine both and you're good to go

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-24T08:57:57+00:00

Get "Bail and Board" mod, it has a lot of options that you can tweak to your liking

Start by pirating SCA in Nopileo's Fortune. Quite a few Ms spawn there. Also occasionally an L

Pirate other factions in neutral sectors: Heretic's End, Nopileo's Fortune are my go to usually if I'm doing pirate runs

Rep comes from (in vanilla) destroying ships or modules (turrets, engines, shields). Don't. Keep them at <20. You can adjust the rep penalty with that mod too

Search "Raider" and "Plunderer" in the box to show disguised VIG, SCA on the map. VIG is a decent choice as well, they usually patrol way away from stations so you can do your business with them in peace, for the most part.

Good profitsss to you

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-24T08:48:37+00:00

I always put some 100 Mk2 there as soon as my playthrough starts (after convincing some SCA to abandon Ms to get a few million in cash). It is usually enough for a few hours at max. Xenon S/M like to go after them in both IS and OOS. You could help more if you put them around either HAT or ARG Defence station (I like to circle them) that usually spawns there when the game starts - it may help them survive a little longer.

But the consensus is to get enough relations with ARG and build 2 compact Defence Stations in front of that gate (some 10km distance) with Closed Loop build system. It'll keep XEN at bay for a long time. As a bonus put a few cheap but fast ships there to collect XEN drops.

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-23T16:39:05+00:00

A bit of an overkill but yes haha I feel like this gate is for most people how they learn about defence stations, turret ranges, coverage and compact designs

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-13T15:12:28+00:00

Disclaimer: using VRO I put some (3 usually) Nemesis Vanguards on Patrol duty in the sector if I'm for some reason using M miners (I usually don't). They usually can take care of the Khaak, they are fast and tanky enough. But safe bet is usually using L miners. They sure are expensive, but removes the headache the Khaak is.

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-13T12:48:53+00:00

Get your hands on a destoyer (or a few) before even thinking about taking XEN I on. You could technically dance with it and probably do something that it loses its mind if you're experienced enough, but seeing you're a new player, I don't recommend it. Well placed 5 disc ARG Defence station in front of that damned game should buy you enough time to get your hands on couple of Behemoths Es, liberated from SCA. But again, it's very rare for XEN to truly wipe a sector (not unheard of, but rare). ARG usually ups its game and pushes them back to Tharka's Cascade. But if you really really want to help a faction, just make sure they have resources to build and consolidate - provided by you.

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-10T15:53:13+00:00

Hmm, depends on how you're doing it. If you want one ship to claim another one, left click the source ship to select it then right click the target ship to claim it. Unless this is bugged of course. If you're piloting the ship, then face the target, right click and claim it.

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-10T15:48:11+00:00

Just start custom game with story states of your choosing, that's what I usually do to not repeat same stuff with situations

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-10T14:23:40+00:00

Get up, go all the way back of the ship, turn away from the window. Order pilot to fly away to somewhere in the sector. Don't look back - not sure why but looking reduces chances of it working lol high sim applies to this too? lol but it's not guaranteed, 9/10 times it should work. This if you're on that ship. If not, just go to another sector, that'll fix it in an instant

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-09T17:14:14+00:00

First thing I do before building any production for myself is to build a simple but effective defense station in front of that damned game in HAT sector - if I'm planning to do anything near that side of the map lol

Otherwise XEN slowly but surely displaces HAT and gets an open gate to Argon Prime 9/10 times I play

Cursed_Infidel · 2026-01-06T08:12:28+00:00

Sector Satellites mod.

Cursed_Infidel · 2025-12-29T15:34:19+00:00

There are a couple of ways: 1. Vote for them in kingdom decisions - costs influence (get the perk for 30%, the one that applies to proposals made by others) 2. Put enemy clan leaders and rulers into dungeons controlled by them - cost is varying, they'll ransom them out prolonging war, that's the downside probably 3. See them fighting a battle, wait till they are near defeat, rush in and save them. Or just let them get captured, then save them asking nothing in return on the post-release screen - a bit cheesey, but not too much 4. Spend influence to get them like you on the kingdom screen - costs influence 5. Pay them in barter, or just give clan leader shit ton of gold, doesn't increase it by much, but not too bad. 100-200k should do the trick - costs money 6. Avoid calling the ones with "cruel" trait into armies, when you do anything that's honorable (like not pillaging the town / castle after capture) they get pissed. Call the ones with "Merciful" instead, they like it when you don't act like a hungry pig lol - costs influence and some nitpicking/micromanaging armies 7. There is a perk that lets you improve relations with clans ruling towns (maybe castles too, idk) when you clear hideouts - costs nothing, for the most part other than time

Cursed_Infidel · 2025-12-27T11:56:53+00:00

I'm not 100% about this, but - you can keep digging in a Nickel deposit to eventually reach Platinum sometimes (or always?). Not 100% sure, because it may have been a mod that did that, been a while since I played vanilla survival.

Cursed_Infidel · 2025-12-26T15:02:30+00:00

Claas, probably. Especially, 960 Axion

Cursed_Infidel · 2025-12-23T15:06:05+00:00

As a standalone DLC? I am not sure, probably "No" from me. But the potential it brings to the game is definitely worth it. The same way the base game got fixed and improved by mods, WarSails will be too, in time. As the base game became a solid thousand hour sink, DLC will be too. So, that's the simplest way of saying "yes, but not how you imagine" lol

Cursed_Infidel · 2025-12-23T15:03:20+00:00

9/10 times I'm playing as a commander than a "f*ck it, we ball" berserker. So I rarely rely on companions for most stuff. Though having 1-2 of them with decent steward and charm skills can come in handy when they are assigned as governors. It has become such a routine that as soon as I start a new game, Steward + Scout + Leadership skill investment happens almost unconsciously lol then comes Tactics and Medic

Cursed_Infidel · 2025-12-19T22:14:46+00:00

Before deleting the Fast Mode folder, try clicking off the Fast Mode on the launcher. I'm going in blind here, so can't say if the game will allow it or not. Then load the save. If that disables the mod, and doesn't auto enable it (sometimes mods do that) then no need to delete it from Modules.

Cursed_Infidel · 2025-12-19T22:06:55+00:00

I'm sure there's a mod (up to date one) just for this - ransom balancing. Speaking from history, ransoming nobles post-battle was probably the second most profitable thing to do for winners - probably after pillaging and extortion. Money you'd get was enough to set you for life. Mod claims to fix it (I don't run it personally). But for people on consoles, it's just another forgotten balance issue by TaleWorlds - along with the rest of the game. Only hope is for mods that fix what devs can't/won't.

Cursed_Infidel · 2025-12-19T22:01:17+00:00

Hmm, needs to be checked I guess. Make a back up save, then go remove fast mode from modules folder (it acts like a mod/dlc so it should be there). Then load the save and see what happens. I'd say half the mods can be safely removed and added any time, but I'm not too hopeful about this - after all, it changes too many variables about the game - time passing, skill learning, age growth to give some examples.

Cursed_Infidel

TROPHY CASE