Frontier: Elite 2

             Hints supplied by Janice Charnley

Ships and Equipment

Ships

You start off with a pretty useless ship. It's got hardly any
cargo space and it's not great for trading. Because it has only
got a lMW pulse laser and no room for shields, it's not very good
in combat either. But you can make the most of a bad situation
after you make some money. First, fit a Class One military drive,
and remove your missiles. Then fit either a pulse laser, or a lMW
beam laser.

Alternatively you could always leave the space for cargo. From
there upgrade to a Viper defence craft, fitting a couple of
shields, and a 1MW beam laser. Then the choice of ships is very
much up to you. Personally I use a Cobra Mk3 with lMW beam lasers,
Class Three Military drive (18 Light years) four shields, radar
mapper, cloud analyser and an Electronic Counter Measures (ECM)
system.

EQUIPMENT

Here are a few rules for you to follow:

1. An ECM is essential . There's nothing more annoying than almost
destroying a ship only to be cruelly taken out by a missile! Buy
as soon as you can.

2. For your own missiles, use naval missiles as they are more
powerful and are unaffected by any ECM system. The tougher
opponents usually have one. They aren't much more expensive, and
are worth the extra.

3. Buy a Radar mapper. It only weighs a tonne, and soon pays for
itself in bounty. It also give you invaluable information on your
enemy's shields and equipment.

4. Get some shields! Buy as many of them as you can hold without
reducing your cargo space too much.  Remember, shields recharge
for free, but your hull will stay damaged and it will cost you to
repair it. Shields also offer protection against destruction by
energy bombs.

5. Lasers are a matter of taste. Pulse lasers can actually do more
damage with a single shot and don't overheat. Beam lasers are
easier to score a hit with but you'll need to keep the ship in
your sights to do real damage. Only get a cooling booster for 4MW
beam lasers and above, with which it is essential. Learn to
identify your enemy's laser from its colour:

lMW - Red
4MW-5MW - Yellow
20MW - Thin White
100MW - Pale Blue
Plasma accelerator - Thick White. (If you see this - RUM!)

6. Energy bombs are handy for emergencies. They destroy unshielded
and lightly-shielded ships. Use them when you are being chased by
squadrons of police Vipers. If an enemy uses one against you,
you'll see a halo of multi coloured stars spinning around it.

7. Escape capsules are a complete waste of money and valuable
cargo space.  If you use one you'll keep your money, but lose both
your cargo and ship which will probably amount to more than your
cash. Worse still, you'll end up with only an Eagle ship, so
you're better off loading a saved game.

8. Have a deluxe service every nine to 10 months at one of the
better-developed systems. If you neglect your ship, it's liable to
start breaking down when it's most inconvenient - perhaps in the
middle of combat.

IMPROVING YOUR ELITE RATING.

Before you start to wander around systems picking fights,
remember that you will come up against some lethal foes. Wait
until you have a large well-equipped ship, then jump to a Frontier
System, or a Minimal Police Protection area, with enough fuel for
a jump to a friendly system. Power down your engines and put the
time-advance on to maximum, broadcasting distress signals at
intervals.

Sooner or later you'll be attacked! Another method of entering
into combat which sometimes works is to jettison a load of
rubbish, then hang around the cloud of canisters and see if
anybody decides to have a go at you.  It's amazing how upset some
people get when you jettison a huge pile of rubbish in their part
of the solar system.

You will also be attacked more often if you are carrying an
expensive cargo or illegal goods. Remember to be ready for a jump
in case things get too hot to handle. Some ships will follow you
if they have a hyperspace cloud analyser. This is even better if
you have a Radar Mapper, because you can collect bounties from the
scum who hang around the seedier parts of space.

IMPROVING YOUR SECURITY RATING

Working for the Military of either side is a particularly good way
to steadily and safely progress in the game. The Military are far
stingier than the general public when it comes to paying you, but
the work is fairly regular, and it's not too dangerous at first.

The best way to get Military work is to go to one of the major
bases such as Eta Cassiopeia Federation, or Facece - Empire, and
then scan the Bulletin Board's Military advertisement to find out
what missions are available.

The more you can take to a particular system, the quicker your
rating rises. Missions with Secret or High Command in them involve
a greater degree of risk, but they pay more, and count for more.
Who knows, you may even get some medals.



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