A-Team needs some help....

[Bowza]

I just unlocked the cutter today was getting 3% per 10 missions on average from Marquis to Duke. I would unlock that first at Morgan depot using a sidewinder with rocket launcher, stack 40 missions and the suicide.

[Cometborne]

Three things I forgot:
1) Many secret data delivery missions are to outposts, so you want a ship that can land on small/medium pads. Alrai has a shipyard with a lot of nice kit.
2) If Exbeurs dries up, use Tun, and vice versa.
3) Bring an ADS, various target systems are not pre-explored and do not allow buying navigation data.

And if you get fed up with the "Now where the (beep) did they hide the (beep) landing pad X on this (beep) outpost?" game, bring a docking computer. Blue Danube never gets old

Oh, and Tanaka Terminal in LHS 2088 is just 500 LS from its sun and has the goods for the medicine missions.

[Xebeth]

I can't comment on the Empire missions, I did those the old fashion way back in the good old days or pirate kill missions, but for the Feds I just went to 17 Draconis and threw money at charity missions for a few hours, cost about 4 or 5 million to go from post commander to rear admiral.

I'd do the faction missions first, I don't think Pilot Federation ranking will change much, especially for trading, it may even get easier if there are more good trade orientated missions.

[Cometborne]

Unfortunately, the charity missions also got whacked with the nerfbat. Empire charity missions out of Cubeo and Tamar are gone, that is why people settled on ground assaults at Cubeo or HIP 10716. Federation charity out of 17 Draconis and Tun was also downgraded; unless you are very lucky, your rank gain is no longer doable in a few hours, even with massive mode change grinding.

[Loriath]

I went from 8% post commander to 43% post captain in Tun in a few hours last night doing charity donation food med missions. Will finish it of later today.

If this is what it is like after being nerfed then it needed to be because it is way too easy.

I did my Imperial rep the hard way. As I went around doing missions, mostly smuggling, in a cobra at every station I landed at.

Once I am done to Rear Admiral I will switch to my Trade runs and should be elite before the weekend is out.

Oh and anyone contemplating a memory upgrade, going from 4gb to 16gb is well worth it, at least for me.

And Dawg hit Duke yesterday as well and now owns a Cutter

[Darwin]

I'm in two minds about the ranks. Already have a Cutter and Corvette after being stung by the rank grind and bugged missions last time. I was looking forward to the potential of new exciting missions, but suspect rank is one part of getting access to engineers, which I also want.
Think I might join you in Tun and throw some money around.
@Loriath was it slaves you were trading for those profits?
@Dawg congratulations on joining the Cutter club!
Not sure about Pilot Federation ranks. The only ine may be combat. The AI are going to get the new large weapons as well...

[JohnLuke]

I'm in the same boat as Darwin. I've got a Vette and Cutter. I'm King in Empire. I decided to run over to Tun and finish off my Fed rank.... thanks to this message thread. (I needed a goal for the game this weekend anyway)

I tried Exbeur as Cometborne recommended, but was having bad luck at the two stations that I visited. Not much at all on the BB's.

So I swung over to Tun. Yesterday things were progressing nicely for me there. Lots of donation missions, and they were also looking for grain, algie, and fruit. Um..... it was super easy since I was able to buy those items at Tun's commodities market.

Today those food missions are gone, but I'm having good luck combining several food missions with one source, and several weapons missions with a single source. So... I'm taking 10 or so 'fetch' missions between donations, making two stops and coming back to complete the missions.

I started at Rear Admiral 50%, and after about 3-4 hours I'm at 11% Vice Admiral.

[Loriath]

I'm in two minds about the ranks. Already have a Cutter and Corvette after being stung by the rank grind and bugged missions last time. I was looking forward to the potential of new exciting missions, but suspect rank is one part of getting access to engineers, which I also want.
Think I might join you in Tun and throw some money around.
@Loriath was it slaves you were trading for those profits?

It is imperial slaves. I have found a profitable run that is only one way, but much higher than a combined 2 way run because the closest 2 way takes longer. Helps when you wing up with someone that has a large ship as the Trade bonus on each side for me running with Dawg in his 400 tonne Conda was 85K and he was making 145-155K from me. A large wing of three would be cool

Rank may not be much for engineers, but more the local rep you have with factions in the systems that they are in. Either way, if that is the case, I want the Fed rank to match my imperial rank.

I'm in the same boat as Darwin. I've got a Vette and Cutter. I'm King in Empire. I decided to run over to Tun and finish off my Fed rank.... thanks to this message thread. (I needed a goal for the game this weekend anyway)

...

So I swung over to Tun. Yesterday things were progressing nicely for me there. Lots of donation missions, and they were also looking for grain, algie, and fruit. Um..... it was super easy since I was able to buy those items at Tun's commodities market.

...
I started at Rear Admiral 50%, and after about 3-4 hours I'm at 11% Vice Admiral.

Nice. I have found that when I get to the area, I stop in Alrai, Bhotega, LHS 1748 and Ross 1057 to pick up supplies. Then to Tun to run the boards. Another little trick, instead of waiting for the boards to refresh, logout and close the launcher, count to ten and start it back up. Resets them each time quicker.

[TorTorden]

Say the word. I could always need more money to do stupid stuff with.

[Darwin]

Very tempting. Have got this far without trading a single slave. But very tempted.
Those A modules I want are a bit pricey. Sold them from the Cutter to buy the Corvette.