Seems to be becoming a repeated question of late. Visitors wanting to compare game for game with their activities. So for the sake of this question I will try to give a list with a brief explanation as best I can. I won’t want to turn this into a full-blown manual on how to, so will try to keep it short.
Skills : Whilst not something you do as a career or a profession, it’s often a crucial section. There are set skills in CE that you will need to meet to be able to fit items to your ship, use them, and in some bases deploy items. Skill ‘Points’ are earned every time you level your captain. These points you then spend in the various skills. Don’t worry, we give you skill reset points should you change your mind later and every 10 levels you will get another reset skill reset.
Cargo Delivery : CE has Four primary cargo hauling companies. Each company has a range (IE expected fuel cost) cargo amount from X-Y in size and of course a reward per mission. We are implementing client rewards as well, so as you move cargo through the four main haulage companies, you can also pick up the clients’ bonus as you move more and more of their cargo. These offices are dotted all over the Galaxies in the Core-Exiles Universe.
Mining : This refers to ship mining in Asteroids. Captains equip mining laser, varied scanners and mine the asteroid fields that appear in certain systems. The better the mining laser the more you will retrieve on each scan, the better the scanners the more ‘types’ of resources you can mine. Currently, CE has 164 various resources obtainable from the activity of ship to asteroid mining.
Combat : there is no PVP in Core-Exiles, so you cannot fight other payers. But there are over 8,000 unique ships to attack, kill and loot in CE. Ships you will find are based on the Law level you’re scanning for them and the scanner types you have fitted. You can scan for just good guys (if you want to kill them) or simply just Bad guys (the pirates) or fit scanners that display both. Fit a weapon and a shield (if you wish) load up with Repair Packs (EBK’s) and go attack anyone you fancy. Bear in mind, as you attack factions, they will start to either love you or hate you. Loot is available based on the ship type. There are currently 599 different types of resources and commodities you can loot from these ships.
Passengers : Should you wish, there is a Union company that deals in passengers. Both unique ones and groups. There are currently 89,000+ passengers and just over 27,000 groups sat on promenades waiting for a lift to their desired destination. You will need a Passenger cargo unit fitted and figure out where they want to go. We suggest this one once you have found your space legs so to speak. Almost every dockable location has some passengers.
Crafting : Crafting in CE is based on collecting Schematics and then using those Schematics to create modules, then final items. Schematics use the full gamut of core-exiles resources and commodities. There are currently a little under 14,00 schematics spread across 28 different schematic companies. Crafting can be done from an early start, in fact we have a starter mission in Feris that gives you some starter EBK schematics AND the resources to craft them. You can craft a lot of player used items, but this also includes Hab modules for things like Settlement and Starbases. With the correct skills and materials, you can even craft player made ships.
Derelict Exploration : Fancy strapping on a space suit, oxygen tank and a laser pistol and exploring derelicts afloat in space. Looking for loot, adventure, or simply to get lost in the twists and turns of the derelict. Watch out though you’re not the only ones out there, pirates love to hold up in there. You will need some adaptations to your sip before docking with a derelict, so it may take you time to get into this one.
Planet Exploration : We have a lot of planets that have been explored by players and eventually converted in to habitable ones. We also have a large amount of planets waiting for exploration. So fit some landing gear to your ship, grab yourself an ECO-UPV is an all-terrain exploration vehicle, suit up and go explore some planets.
Wreck Salvaging : Remember all those ships I talked about in the combat section. Well each ship destroyed floats around out there slowly deteriorating. But if you’re quick and have the correct Salvage gear fitted, you can salvage what’s inside and down to the frame till it’s gone. With the correct gear you can even make your own wrecks, then ‘Tag’ them as yours, and they will remain there for a set period till you’re ready to salvage.
Nebula Harvesting : Out there in the deep Galaxies are Nebula. We allow you to deploy robot Harvesters than mine / extract rare elements from the nebula. Some of these resources are key to certain builds.
Planet based Extracting : CE has lots of planets that host an O.R.S.A office, this office allows you to deploy harvesters on the planet to extract resources 24 X 7. You can start this early on with personal extractors, through to commercial and Industrial Extractors. The resource ‘spawns’ are finite, so you will likely be in competition with other captains. These Extractors will work till they are full, or the resource runs out, even after you log out and head for home.
Refining : There are a lot of resources in CE that require refining, the most basic of these is ore into refined ore. (You get the idea). You can do this by hand by visiting an orbital refinery and entering their Advanced Refinery Management interface. From there you can deploy Automated Merlin Refineries. These will refine resources for you 24 X 7 whilst you feed them the basic elements.
Factories : You will locate Gleso Factory Offices dotted around the Universe. From there, you can deploy Factories of many types to manufacture for you more complex components. These will run for you 24 x 7 whilst feed the main ingredients required.
Expanse Survey : (Brief explanation of a complex topic) Did I mention we have a Galaxy populated with aliens. Should you wish to glean some of their devices and such like, you will have to first survey your personal way into and around the Alien Expanse. We suggest this take place around level 30 and not before, as aliens can be a bit brutal on the combat front and the process of surveying the Expanse can be costly.
NPC Missions : I’ll classify these as unique NPC’s. These will have a mission that you may or may not be ready for. Sometimes they will tell you ‘not yet etc, other times they will leave it up to you to choose a ‘yes ok’ or ‘no leave it for now’ approach. Missions are varied, some will want you to kill XYZ or craft them a new device or move this from here to there. Each NPC has a mission ‘chain’. You may only work for one NPC at a time, but you can stop at any time in the chain and come back later.
Mining Missions (Factional) : This is taking generated missions from an Office and collecting specific items from specific Asteroid fields. Generally these are a good side earner if you were going there to mine anyway. They can take five minutes or an hour, the god of RND may love you or hate you… But you were there to mine anyway 🙂
Crafting Missions (Factional) : These come from specific NPC’s dotted around the Universe. They will want you to craft XYZ. They will give you the schematic, and you need to craft and deliver it. These schematics are build limited, so you can only make the amount required. Taking these and completing will raise your C.A.M.P ranking.. don’t laugh 🙂
Courier Missions (Factional) : These guys will want you to deliver XYZ to ABC. How do you get the XYZ, well that’s down to you. You might already have some, or know a buddy you can hit up for some. Or know there is some on the Galactic Emporium, or know where to get some. You took the mission, you read the request didn’t you 🙂
Galactic Emporium : (GLM) Very quickly you will start to mass resources, commodities and items. Initially you will probably sell them off to other players or NPC stores, but you will quickly realise you might actually need some (most of it) later. Some of it you will have more than you know what to do with, so why not sell it to a fellow player. That’s where the Galactic Emporium comes in. Open your own Store, set up your prices and fingers crossed!
Commerical Store : Currently there are 680 Resources and lootable commodities in CE. Let’s face it, unless you own a floating warehouse, you’re going to need somewhere to stash it. Lucky CE has just the Thing. The commercial store will for Free stash your gear for you. You can drop items all over the Universe if you wish, but you will need to move it about should, you wish to use it, say in Factories or for crafting. I thought I’d mention it as you may have been wondering where do you stick all this stuff I’ve been prattling on about 🙂 It’s not a profession or career, but you may spend a lot of time reorganising your resources if you don’t get in the habit early on.
Mining Barge : OK, so you eventually got bored with mining by hand and figured you had a bunch of cash and resources to burn. Why not craft the sections needed for a Mining Barge and set it loose on the Galaxies. It will (yes, you guessed it) Mine resources from the Asteroid fields for you. Sure, you do have to cater for its needs and prod it from time to time, but it’s a godsend when you needed 50K of a given resource. This CAN be done from around level 20, but players generally wait a while.
Settlements : (Brief explanation of a complex topic) The backbone of Galactic expansion. Players like yourself can collect enough credits, resources and either craft or have someone else craft for you a Settlement. (Some in pieces) you take it to your chosen location. Pay for the licence fee and deploy. It’s at that point you realise it’s going to need some work to add power, housing, research facilities, defences for later, and it’s just put a strain on your bank account for a while. Did I mention you’ll need to scour up specialised staff from around the Galaxy? But you get to choose what goes on your Settlement’s promenade. Open up a Cargo company, set up a Ship repair yard, set up a combat office. There are currently 81 various offices and services you can offer to your visitors. Hey, if you plan it right you might even make a profit… Might take some work and chatting with others 🙂
Corporations : (Brief explanation of a complex topic) Fancy a real challenge, why not create your own corporation. Buy in some ships, draft in some staff members, and spend a bunch of credits on various buildings and offices to get your Corporation started. It won’t be cheap, but it will keep you busy, that’s for sure. Def a mid to late game activity, but again its ‘possible’ early on pending credits.
RAIDS : CE has a very different definition of raids. RAIDS in CE are very large pirate battle style ships floating around the Universe. They set up shop in a system and player gang together in real time combat to attack them and ‘Try’ to take them down. Pirates are the master of repair, so given a long enough free time to repair they will be back up and running. Best suited to the mouse masters who love taking down big ships in tight nit groups. Rewards can be big for sticking it out, though!
RAID Salvage : What you can destroy can be salvaged, and in this sense a RAID is one Mammoth thing to dissect and Salvage. Specialised equipment is required, and I suggest you bring the largest cargo expander you can find 🙂 When we have challenges you will find a queue of players hammering away with their salvage lasers the moment it drops.
Mech Combat : OK, earlier I fibbed a little. I said there was no PVP in CE, and technically that’s not true. There is no ship to ship fighting or any other stab you in the back, or rifle your pockets type PVP. but we do have Mech Combat. Mechs are built (variations many) and then deployed in to Mech Arenas to fight it out. You can choose from one of three current AI’s and then leave them to it (See no real PVP). Sure there is a winner and a looser but no one really looses out. Win or lose you will gain a credit reward. You can build your own mech parts, or watch them fall from the sky most weeks as we (the staff) host shout out giveaways. Yup come in and shout out our names, and we give festive packs away. A bit like candy at Halloween. Mech Combat really comes into its own at Challenge times when 20-30 mechs all pile in to the zones and start tearing each other apart. This activity is totally optional. For fun shall we say.
Genesis Deployment : (Brief explanation of a complex topic) Remember we talked about planet exploration, and how this lead to planets eventually becoming inhabited. Well, a certain subset of those planets were man made. Yup, we used the Genesis Weapon (yeah I know, don’t groan at me) and created more planets. These when they are completed and fully explored are given not only a docking promenade but also a Genesis Deployment Section. You can use the exploration points you earned exploring on a plot upon which to deploy a Genesis Deployment. This is a short guide and I cannot really give justice to what a Genesis deployment opens up, but It’s still unfolding a new storyline now and will eventually become a backbone of part of the game for returning to the Core!
Player Made Ships : (Brief explanation of a fairly complex topic) There are 133 variants of ship that you can purchase from a number of shipyards in CE. These are NPC based ships. You purchase them, and can either fly around in them (level allowing) or place them in a Universal Hanger for flying later. Meanwhile, as you progress, you will hear about Player Made ships. As the name suggests, these are crafted by players. Actually, they are crafted on Settlements owned by players. These can be contracted to you for pickup when completed. I’ll let you decide the best way to obtain one. Needless to say, they are a more superior version of ships. Though the cost and resources that go into them might explain why. Also, PM ships can be altered to have said a much larger cargo bay or more slots for load out or simply a bigger hull or armour. All these changes though will incur a higher captain level. Once you have such a fine vessel, you will then want to start hiring some crew. Only PM ships take crew, and it’s optional, but you can send out your crew to run sub missions for you so why not huh?
Starbases : (Brief explanation of a VERY complex topic) The very pinnacle (at the moment) is CE statesmanship is to own or part own (Guild) a Starbase. These are behemoths on a scale we have not seen in CE before. The vast sums of wealth needed to build one (yes they are crafted) is staggering. Most players have opted to go the Guild route and deploy on behalf of a guild, but we have a few stalwart mad hatter players who have deployed for themselves. I guess just to stick a finger in my eye and say ‘Haaa Coops I did it’ LOL. Starbases are a fairly new add (in the games’ life span) and we are still only just beginning to scratch the surface of what they can do and will be used for.