Complete Newb to UQM, need help on several things.

[Agrias_Oaks]

Hello, I need help with SC2/Uqm, as the title says.


1.My RU are really, really low, and most of the good mineral planets teem with fires/quakes/electricity that fries my landers in seconds, what are good areas close to Sol that are Mineral rich?

2.Hayes said the Melnorme would be at Alpha Centauri, but when I got there, they aren't there.

3. How good is the eluder? or even the Orz nemesis (Since I am going there after the spathi quests.)

4.Those probes, they kill me, I cannot defeat them at all, anyway I can beat them with a singel cruiser? Id have more ships, but no RU to really help.

[fluffy_banana]

1. As I recall, Alpha Centauri is pretty rich in minerals, and so are a couple of stars in the Vepulacae constellation (where the Orz live).

2. The Melnorme often move around, so they could be around a planet. Sometimes it takes a while to chase them down, but they are there.

3. The Eluder is one of the most versatile and useful ships in the game. It's speed is good, and it's back-firing missile is great with hit-and-run tactics. The Orz Nemisis is great for it's marines, which allow you take out ships from basically infinite range, with some efficiency. Both vessels are some of the best in the game.

4. Eluders work great against probes. Just run left or right, while firing the backwards shooting missiles.  Eventually, when you have nearly met the probe again, reverse direction, and it will follow, running straight into your missiles.

Finally, a little hint, if you haven't figured it out already: Search Pluto thoroughly. There's something interesting there, something that might help, if you do just the right thing.

Oh, and welcome to the Star Control Discussion Boards. Have fun, and try to keep from spamming the forum.

[Nic]

1.My RU are really, really low, and most of the good mineral planets teem with fires/quakes/electricity that fries my landers in seconds, what are good areas close to Sol that are Mineral rich?

Alpha Lyrae, Beta Lyrae and Delta Centauri are all very close, have quite a bit of goodies on their planets, and their "best" planets are relatively safe to land on.  But for the most part, if the temp/weather/tectonics are too high, just move on, there's plenty of safe places to land in the game.

2.Hayes said the Melnorme would be at Alpha Centauri, but when I got there, they aren't there.

Yes, they are.  They might be investigating one of the planets when you show up, rummage around the system looking for them, and you'll find them eventually.

3. How good is the eluder? or even the Orz nemesis (Since I am going there after the spathi quests.)

With practice, the Eluder is an awesome opponent, and it has a large enough crew compliment to be pretty tough even without.

I adore the Orz in Super-Melee, but I eschew them in the full game because my fighting style with them burns too many crew to make them a good investment (i.e., decent price, but the upkeep kills).  In the full game, I usually just beef up the flagship and fight with it.

4.Those probes, they kill me, I cannot defeat them at all, anyway I can beat them with a singel cruiser? Id have more ships, but no RU to really help.

The cruiser is a bit of a crap shoot when fighting the probes, but if I *have* to fight one, I lob two nukes at it immediately, and then turn on the point defense for the rest of the fight.  Yes, it burns up a bit of crew, and if you start the fight too close to each other, the nukes might miss, but I end up on the winning side of the fight enough of the time to make it a strategy worth keeping, at least as a "last resort".

[Agrias_Oaks]

1. As I recall, Alpha Centauri is pretty rich in minerals, and so are a couple of stars in the Vepulacae constellation (where the Orz live).
Oh, and welcome to the Star Control Discussion Boards. Have fun, and try to keep from spamming the forum.

1. Yes, but they also seem to enjoy killing my landers with their fiery electric quakes of massive death in five seconds.

Oh, and no need to worry about me spamming the forum, I try to have some Etiqute, even If I butchered the word.

[fluffy_banana]

1. Yes, but they also seem to enjoy killing my landers with their fiery electric quakes of massive death in five seconds.

It's that bad at Alpha Centauri? Last time I played UQM (which, admittedly, was before the latest release), Alpha Centauri seemed like a safe, rich place to visit.

[Agrias_Oaks]

It's that bad at Alpha Centauri? Last time I played UQM (which, admittedly, was before the latest release), Alpha Centauri seemed like a safe, rich place to visit.

Yep, its loaded with Hostile enviorment planets, which is no good.

And are Cruisers even worth it? they seem utterly worthless, considering that it seems against Probes, mine always dies in 15 seconds.

[fluffy_banana]

Cruisers aren't the best ships in the game, certainly, but they are pretty good against VUX Intruders. The point defense is great against the Intruder's mines, and you can use nukes to pummel the VUX from a range.

But it's true, overall, there's usually better things to spend your RU on than Cruisers.

[Agrias_Oaks]

Okay, more happy questions for all.

And please, don't be afraid to post spoiler information, I already know about Fwiffo, and have pretty much read up on the events of the game, so spoiling would not need to be avoided.

1.Where are these 'rainbow worlds'? as said by the Melnorme, and how many credits could I get for findinf one?

2.The probes must die, I cannot defeat them, it is impossible. where can I get rid of them? they are really annoying.

[fluffy_banana]

In the very upper left corner of the star map, in one of stars there has a large gas giant where you can talk to some gasbags called the Slylandro. Talk to them about the probes for long enough, and they'll tell you a self-destruct code you can use on the probes (they created them, though not for malicious reasons).

I forget exactly where the star is, or even the name, but the Zoq-Fot-Pik can give you some clues (they're just above and to the right of the Spathi).

[FreakyM]

Welcome to the Board, a few quick hints: Never piss off A_S_B a.k.a. A_Stupid_Box, it´s all too easy to do that, and you don´t want to end up arguing with him. Believe me.

Ok, now for some advice: First, search Pluto and find *Censored*. Then talk with him to make him join you.

Also grab the lone Tzo Crystal. It´s not worth a lot.. Next, meet the Melnorme at Alpha Centauri, you should bring at least two landers, that´s actually the best amount to have with ya for the whole game. When cleaning out planets, look for three things: Valuable Minerals, especially Radioactives, Precious and Exotics, though the last is very rare indeed. You should also grab the green stuff, but dont bother with the light blue and the gray. The next is alien lifeforms, and finally energy signatures, mark of alien artifacts. Complicated enough? The beginning of the game is very hard, since you never can afford actually anythign besides refueling. One important thing is to have enough R.U. to have at least 3 Eluders before... well, see for yourself. One more thing. Most people don´t beat the game on the first run. I didn´t. The second time is always a lot easier. That said, welcome to the boards.

[Agrias_Oaks]

Welcome to the Board, a few quick hints: Never piss off A_S_B a.k.a. A_Stupid_Box, it´s all too easy to do that, and you don´t want to end up arguing with him. Believe me.

Ok, now for some advice: First, search Pluto and find *Censored*. Then talk with him to make him join you.

Also grab the lone Tzo Crystal. It´s not worth a lot.. Next, meet the Melnorme at Alpha Centauri, you should bring at least two landers, that´s actually the best amount to have with ya for the whole game. When cleaning out planets, look for three things: Valuable Minerals, especially Radioactives, Precious and Exotics, though the last is very rare indeed. You should also grab the green stuff, but dont bother with the light blue and the gray. The next is alien lifeforms, and finally energy signatures, mark of alien artifacts. Complicated enough? The beginning of the game is very hard, since you never can afford actually anythign besides refueling. One important thing is to have enough R.U. to have at least 3 Eluders before... well, see for yourself. One more thing. Most people don´t beat the game on the first run. I didn´t. The second time is always a lot easier. That said, welcome to the boards.

A_S_B would not worry me in an arguement, as I never argue, thinking it to be a very huge waste of time because no one changes their views, and you make a lot of people angry.

*Censor* was gotten, and killed later on by those NFBSKing Probes, ARGH MUST GET RID OF PROBES.

and what colors denote which types of Minerals? I am not really aware except that Gray is mostly useless, since its a 1:1 trade off.

And is a single Cruiser and a Single Nemesis enough to protect me for a while? I am rather worried about getting attacked by a random Ilwrath/Any other unfriendly race. I wish you could talk to allied ships and try to get them in your fleet.

[fluffy_banana]

All ships, except probes, never leave their race's SoI (Sphere of Influence). So keep away from dangerous SoIs unless your ready, but generally, you're safe until then.

I'd personally probably reload before Fwiffo got killed, if possible. He's a real help, especially versus probes, if you use him right. Remember to pump up his fuel, though; an Eluder's very vulnerable with just one crew.

Also, I'd play Super Melee more, if you're having trouble in combat. Besides, it's game in itself, and nearly as fun as the full game (with more replayability).

[FreakyM]

The first thing to do is to get yerself a nice map from the PagesOfNowAndForever, so at least you know the location of the alien race´s spheres of influence. Now the very best minerals are the Exotics, which are purple, then the Radioactives, which are Orange, NOT red, and then the Precious, which are golden yellow. And the 1=1 minerals , the commons, are actually light blue when found on a planet. If found En Masse, the Grey globs,1=2, the Base Metals, are actually worth something, htough less so in the later stages of the game, since if you get your flagship to a real killing machine, you get all the RU you need from combat. Go kill VUX with a Spathi. It´s easy money. Also, you should visit Zeta Sextantis I, in VUX territory, it´s the closest Rainbow World at the beginning. How does 500 Melnorme Credits sound?

[Sedodes]

The best way to get RUs is to jump into Ilwrath space and harvest their ships.  It might seem like a task with the Cruiser's low speed and tracking missiles, however, if you've practiced enough in Super Melee you should be able to take them out with the Eluder you picked up on Pluto.  You could always rely on the autopilot, too, but what fun is that?

[Agrias_Oaks]

The best way to get RUs is to jump into Ilwrath space and harvest their ships.  It might seem like a task with the Cruiser's low speed and tracking missiles, however, if you've practiced enough in Super Melee you should be able to take them out with the Eluder you picked up on Pluto.  You could always rely on the autopilot, too, but what fun is that?

Currently, I have 2 Spathi Eluders, and 2 Orz Nemesis, I would get more Spathi ships, but they have retreated to their Slave shield, Is there any way to get them back? As now I realized the secret of the BUTT against Probes, and if I go to the Pkkunk Homeworld, they will give me 4 ships, which should be a sizable fleet.