Shuttle
Everyone has their own way of succeeding through EV Nova as there are many paths to choose from... but we all begin the exact same way. Starting off in a modest little Shuttle, you must work your way to the top of the galactic food chain. But what is the fastest and most efficient way to do this? Here I will go through the most popular and well known strategies that have been found in order to achieve your aims.
Beginnings[]
IFF Decoder
As soon as you begin, it is suggested you land to stock up on necessary equipment. The first and foremost is the IFF Decoder. This is extremely helpful as it will put some colour into your radar to show you who is hostile and who is not and which planets you are able to land on. While you're at it, you might as well sell your Light Blaster. If you do come into contact with an enemy, you won't survive with or without it. Many people will also choose to purchase an Auto-recharger. It is not essential, but will help you quite a lot. It is also recommended you buy a Map whenever you land on a planet.
Map
First Hyperjourney[]
Before you start jumping to another system, you must first decide how you want to make money. You can take delivery missions from the Mission BBS with a fifteen thousand credit profit per delivery, but this is not recommended. You can also trade resources between planets, but this is also not recommended at such an early stage. The most recommended way to begin your new pilot is to head to one of these systems:
- Tichel (low danger)
- Nesre Primus (low danger)
- Aldebaran (medium danger)
- Gefjon (high danger)
Salvaging is Phase 1 of Capitalism[]
These systems were chosen for being close to Sol, the centre of Federation space. They also have a high chance for disabled ships to appear.
Simply land and take off until you spot a grey dot on your radar. This will indicate a disabled ship, which you can then target and board. You will find that when you board it you will either fall into a pirate trap, or the ship's crew will ask you to deliver them to a nearby system. Delivering the crew to their desired planet will reward you with 75k.
Carting passengers around the galaxy will give you enough money to buy a decent ship quite quickly, or you can use one of my favourite tricks. Once you have passengers from a Derelict Rescue on your ship, you cannot get the exact same mission again.
So when you board another Derelict with that mission, it will act as though you're boarding an actual ship that you disabled yourself. This lets you take their credits. This can be used to your advantage by heading to the Gefjon system. There you will notice that disabled Leviathans will appear. And if you know anything about Leviathans, you'll know they often have quite a lot of money when you board them, usually between 50k to 500k credits.
Pirate Piracy is Phase 2 of Capitalism[]
Once you have around 500k you're ready to start making more money. Buy yourself a Valkyrie or a Starbridge on Sol as a tool to accelerate growth, then head to my personal favourite system: Rautherion.
Hellhound Launcher
There you can buy Hellhound Launchers and missiles. Buy three and stock up with fifty missiles. Hold the option/alt key as you click the 'Buy' button, this will give you the option to choose how many to purchase rather than relentlessly clicking 'Buy'.
In the Rautherion system, Manticores and Pirate Carriers will appear and you can attack these without getting penalized.
Enter and leave dock until either ship appears. Try to keep some distance and don't stay still. Fire your new missiles at them until they are disabled, then board their ship. Manticores will usually take about ~25 missiles to be disabled, Pirate Carriers take ~35. Be careful, but try not to be too slow as your chances of survival greatly diminish the more time they have to target you. Once you have around 1M credits, you may find it easier to disable ships with a Ionic Particle Cannon and Thunderhead Lances. Unfortunately, this would require a few extra upgrades as well as some practice using your Afterburner and autopilot ('Z' and 'A' keys).
Commodity Trading is Phase 3 of Capitalism[]
Some people like to go for a less combat focused method of making money. This is a slower method but it's much more predictable and safe.
Instead of buying a ship for combat, you can buy a ship for trading such as a Terrapin. You can combine both methods by boarding Manticores and Pirate Carriers, then buying a powerful Pegasus for trading.
Here are a couple Trade Routes that people like to use. My personal favourite is Bio-Weapons from Codec to Lesten. This can lead to 60M profit per trip with six Leviathan escorts.
Another favoured trade route is Opals from Fomalhaut to Lotus. This has less profit but it's a shorter trade route.
In any case, it is recommended to buy some weapons for your ship and destroy a few Pirates to put your Combat Rating up high enough to do the first Sigma Shipyards mission which allows you to purchase Leviathans and Pegasi.
An ideal ship[]
My personal preference of a ship is a Class E Mod Starbridge. Getting my build on this type of ship is a very common goal for EV Nova players, but it's not so easy to achieve... so I'll explain how to get it.
Firstly, you will need to disable and capture a MS.B.E in the Tuatha system. (Don't board Eamon Flannigans ship, however.)
Engine Upgrades[]
Vectored Thrust
Horizontal Booster
This is the ship in which to install the following engine upgrades, which are recommended by every pilot.
You can get them quite easily. Vectored Thrust and Port & Polish can be bought on Rauther in Rautherion.
An Afterburner and a Horizontal booster can be bought on Honor in Bloodstone, two jumps from Nesre Primus.
Extra Upgrades[]
Sigma Upgrade
I also recommend getting the following Sigma upgrades from Earth:
Armor Upgrades[]
Matrix Steel
I recommended these armor upgrades for your ship:
- Carbon Fiber x4
- Matrix Steel x4
You can obtain Carbon Fiber from almost any Federation outfitter. However, Matrix Steel must be bought in an Auroran system such as Heraan.
Weapons[]
Thunderhead Lance
I recommend the following weapons for a deadly ship:
The most common place to buy a Thunderhead Lance is in Rebel II in the Koria system or in GLi-Tech-nia in Rimshot. Both are forbidden to land on by default, so you may need to bribe them or kill at least one Pirate/Auroran in the system.
You can buy a Ionic Particle Cannon on Simpson in Aldebaran which is one jump to the west from Nesre Primus.
That is the basic ship setup. You may also want to invest in learning how to use Autopilot and Afterburner ('A' and 'Z' keys) as well as 'R' for locking onto your nearest hostile.