How do I proceed from here?

[Ihlosi]

I've been playing Transcendence for quite a while, but usually find myself stalled at a certain point in the game.

I usually have no problems getting credits by trading/looting/asteroid mining, and I go for 4 segments of solar armor plus a very good shield in the early game so I can explore without having to worry about the fuel clock. Up to St. K's, everything works fine - I do the Korolev missions, possibly fight in the arena, get the black market ID, etc.

After St. K's, I'm a bit lost. I usually try to get the military ID and an Invincible class shield generator, which allows careful exploration of the systems up to Heretic (staying well away from any enemy capital ships, though). I usually get enough rin or credits to upgrade to the 1000MW reactor, and get some Lv7 weapons and maybe a higher level shield. But then I find I'm too afraid of the fuel clock to dump the solar armor for anything else.

I'm also a bit confused about all the post-St. K's missions I've read about (Huari, CSCs, etc?).

What kind of equipment should I have before starting combat in the systems after St. Ks?
Should I just do one system after another, or try to "dive" and get equipment from the later systems, then clean out the earlier ones?

[Atarlost]

I've been playing Transcendence for quite a while, but usually find myself stalled at a certain point in the game.

I usually have no problems getting credits by trading/looting/asteroid mining, and I go for 4 segments of solar armor plus a very good shield in the early game so I can explore without having to worry about the fuel clock. Up to St. K's, everything works fine - I do the Korolev missions, possibly fight in the arena, get the black market ID, etc.

After St. K's, I'm a bit lost. I usually try to get the military ID and an Invincible class shield generator, which allows careful exploration of the systems up to Heretic (staying well away from any enemy capital ships, though). I usually get enough rin or credits to upgrade to the 1000MW reactor, and get some Lv7 weapons and maybe a higher level shield. But then I find I'm too afraid of the fuel clock to dump the solar armor for anything else.

I'm also a bit confused about all the post-St. K's missions I've read about (Huari, CSCs, etc?).

What kind of equipment should I have before starting combat in the systems after St. Ks?
Should I just do one system after another, or try to "dive" and get equipment from the later systems, then clean out the earlier ones?

You have to dump the solar armor. All capships carry fuel and at a high enough rank CSCs are supposed to refuel you for free. Upgrade your reactor according to what fuel is available (no more than SN2500 for he3 fuel assemblies and delay the Hyperion until you're seeing large amounts of pteracnium. Xenotite can feed the SN2500 or Koshiba-500. The Koshiba can also use pteracnium. Even the best shields aren't adequate in the Ungoverned Territories and Outer Realm and the ones that are worth using draw more power than solar armor can recoup.

You need to leave St. K with at least level 5 or 6 armor and upgrade to level 7 or 8 as soon as you get a military ID. Patcher arms are very helpful at this point. Not spiders: external slotless devices can be damaged so you need to keep them in your hold and use them as slow, heavy healing items rather than a constant regeneration effect. Regenerating nanos are extremely slow and not really worth using.

Diving is mostly pointless because there are neither floor items nor vulnerable enemies that carry good loot. Certainly, coming back is a waste of time. You're rarely going to find anything in levels you skipped worth using if you've already handled later levels.

[josh19967]

...and at a high enough rank CSCs are supposed to refuel you for free.

Except a bug in 1.5 makes CSCs not refuel you at all when you reach that rank. So, with that in mind, I usually go for shields with high regen rates (but not the Trenton, as that lets damage bleed to your armor). As for armor, I usually put that off until I actually FIND high level armors... (yeah, I have the bad habit of holding on to armor, relying on shields to get you to where you can get lvl 9+ armor)

Not spiders: external slotless devices can be damaged so you need to keep them in your hold and use them as slow, heavy healing items rather than a constant regeneration effect. Regenerating nanos are extremely slow and not really worth using.

I personally try to keep a lot of armor patches / repair kits. They aren't as effective when you first start using them ("you don't have much experience repairing your own armor" <break>) but later on (read: when you're an "expert") they can REALLY help.

[Ihlosi]

Diving is mostly pointless because there are neither floor items nor vulnerable enemies that carry good loot.

Well, there are few floor items per se, but you can occasionally find Gaian processors/Xenophobe worldships/other capital ships that got a little too close to Ringer stations.

[Song]

Right. Solar armor is go only in the early game....it is NOT an armor you want to keep. Swap to Blast Plate or better as soon as you can, and keep replacing it with the best you can find. the taikon carbide armors are a good endgame set.

It's worth noting that the Trenton is actually a very good shield, but its effectiveness is entirely dependent on your armor. If you can find good armor it makes a pretty good upgrade from the Invincible. Otherwise, just go for something big.

In terms of guns, you will ultimately want a level 9 or higher weapon to be able to finish the game properly. This includes weapons like the EI plasma cannon, the ares plasma archcannon, the Dvalin Ion9, and that sort of thing. Level 7 is decent, but will ultimately not cut it. Avoid late-game missile launchers as well....they're generally not worth it.

But for getting past St. Katherines? You want at least a level 4 or 5 gun that you can use effectively (generally I use the dual turbolaser or dual flenser + enhancement devices), and Level 5-6 armor. Blast Plate is probably the best level 6 armor. After St. Katherines you want to be upgrading to a level 7/8 gun ASAP, although there is *one* level 6 weapon that is worth getting (the tinker-built dual Mk.III howitzer) if you want to learn how to use it (not recommended if you aren't good with a slow ROF weapon). Buy blast weapons over particle weapons, and thermo over ion in general. And plasma and positron weapons are generally both about equally awesome but in different ways.

[JohnBWatson]

The Ares launchers are fairly common and quite decent. I'd pick up the first one of those I found. As for other equipment, the Ares Positron Cannon is easy to acquire and lasts well into the endgame. An enhanced Fusionfire is useful, though the best weapon for taking on the Iocrym is an APA from a dead Phobos.

Before that, try and acquire the particle weapon fielded by wind slavers, and pick up a decent howitzer. You'll likely be able to loot good enough armor to keep you covered, but when you can't, just purchase a reasonably priced armor around your level.

[PM]

Solar armor is usable if you have a powerful shield and stay away from things that can knock it out.

[Atarlost]

Solar armor is usable if you have a powerful shield and stay away from things that can knock it out.

The OP is stuck with solar armor. If it's possible to play through the game using solar armor it's clearly beyond his skill level.

[sun1404]

Using Solar Armor to the end is very hard, and probably boring. Just stack up on fuels, and change to a decent armor. If you hate running out of fuel, choose armor over shields, because shield is the thing that eat up your fuel the most, of all the items at the same level. Fuels can be acquired by hunting enemies. In the late game, big ships carry so much fuel you can last quite a while from just one, if you're lucky.

[JohnBWatson]

Using Solar Armor to the end is very hard, and probably boring. Just stack up on fuels, and change to a decent armor. If you hate running out of fuel, choose armor over shields, because shield is the thing that eat up your fuel the most, of all the items at the same level. Fuels can be acquired by hunting enemies. In the late game, big ships carry so much fuel you can last quite a while from just one, if you're lucky.

In addition, the 1GW reractor is not particularly important. 500MW will do everything you need, and the credits you would've spent on it can be used for fuel instead.

[sun1404]

Well actually you need the Hyperion if you want the optimum load outs, which would make the Heretic easier. For example:

the Phobos load out: Just Kaidun + APA is 500 MW.
the Nephren X1 + IM90 is 450 MW.

High end weapons take about 300 MW, which would overload the Koshiba when used with almost any relevant shields.

[JohnBWatson]

Well actually you need the Hyperion if you want the optimum load outs, which would make the Heretic easier. For example:

the Phobos load out: Just Kaidun + APA is 500 MW.
the Nephren X1 + IM90 is 450 MW.

High end weapons take about 300 MW, which would overload the Koshiba when used with almost any relevant shields.

The IM90 has been nerfed into obsolescence. Especially against the iocrym.

A fusionfire, a decent shield, and a point defense weapon are all you really need to take on the ICS and win easily.

I expect that the ICS will eventually be buffed, but I doubt it will be soon.

[Atarlost]

Killing the ICS is possible with almost any level 8 weapon. Killing the lobsters before they trash the stations requires one of the level 9 or 10 fuel hogs or a well enhanced ammo weapon unless you manage to rush the missions before the lobsters start arriving.

[JohnBWatson]

Killing the ICS is possible with almost any level 8 weapon. Killing the lobsters before they trash the stations requires one of the level 9 or 10 fuel hogs or a well enhanced ammo weapon unless you manage to rush the missions before the lobsters start arriving.

The Lamplighter and APC are what I've used for that. Both reasonably easy to acquire, too.

[Atarlost]

Killing the ICS is possible with almost any level 8 weapon. Killing the lobsters before they trash the stations requires one of the level 9 or 10 fuel hogs or a well enhanced ammo weapon unless you manage to rush the missions before the lobsters start arriving.

The Lamplighter and APC are what I've used for that. Both reasonably easy to acquire, too.

And both draw too much power to use with a top end shield on a Koshiba 500.