Hello, mercenary!



If the relentless, nail-biting excitement of ship-to-ship combat has frayed your nerves, perhaps you need a change of pace.

If your bank account is in the billions from trading, perhaps you need to find another pastime.

If your mining beam has clocked hundreds of hours of use, perhaps you need to give it a rest.

It's time to forge your own path through the galaxy! Stop cleaning solar arrays for "the man", or delivering fabrics for the Navy -- let's become a SCAVENGER! This guide will give you all the information you need.

It's the hottest trend sweeping the galaxy, so climb aboard and let's go! ...

Do you ever dream of speeding over a frozen methane ocean towards the glowing surise on a strange planet?



Would you like to stand on an alien shore under a blue sky, gazing over a crystal ocean?



How do you feel about banking low over ice-capped mountains, alone, away from the chatter of the busy space stations? Or surfing around the rings of a massive planet?

Let the other people run the rat-race of waiting to dock at busy stations and endless trading of materials -- we will be busy enjoying the natural beauty of the universe ... and hopefully finding a few treasures while we're out there!

You can scavenge in pretty much any ship, but if you set yourself up with the right equipment, things will be easier.

You will need:

A ship with a large fuel tank and 5 cargo bays
Don't worry about engine upgrades or any of that nonsense. Your maximum speed in an atmosphere is around 1,400 to be safe. You can push it a little harder but what's the rush? I also have a fuel converter equipped, because sometimes I like to fly around in nebulae and it's handy to refuel for free while I'm doing it.

A cargo scanner
Get the best one you can find. The better the scanner, the longer the range. It will tell you what's in other ships, but we're not pirates -- we need it to tell us what's inside any cargo containers that we find. With a good scanner, you can save time by simply ignoring anything that isn't valuable.

A terrain walker
Technically not necessary, but it's pretty cool anyway. So try to get one :) Then you can park nearby, jump out, walk over to the loot and pick it up properly. It makes finding something a bit more of an event.

A cockpit mod for better visibility
Again, not essential, but the default cockpit stops you from seeing anything below your ship. The "perch" or bubble-type mod will give you fantastic visibility in all directions.



A love for adventure and sightseeing
Sometimes it takes a while to find things, so you need to be able to enjoy the ride and stay positive along the way. Chase a sunrise, climb a mountain in a terrain walker, or harvest trees for Bio units along a tropical shoreline. Take some screenshots too!

This is the simple part -- just follow your nose!

The best place to search is on the surface of planets.

Choose a planet that looks interesting, jumpdrive to a nearby point, and then descend down to the surface. Try to start on the sunny side of the planet. Planets will rotate, and you can find cargo containers anywhere, but it's just a little bit depressing flying in darkness.

Now, just skim along at any altitude that suits you. I like to search at around 10,000 to 20,000 AGL (above ground level), but you can search from higher if you like.

Remember to keep your eyes out for the white HUD box, which indicates some lost cargo. You could use your radar I suppose, but I use a laptop and the display is just too small. So I keep a look out for the white boxes.

When you find something (be patient!), fly closer until your cargo scanner gives you the content (below and to the right of your circle-HUD thing). If you want it, stop and pick it up. Otherwise, continue searching.

It's as easy as that!

Along the way, you will come across many beautiful sights. Don't forget to take screenshots, for other explorers to enjoy.

Pretty much anything! I really have no idea what the limits are ...

You will often find things like silver, metal -- non-valuable things that it's better to just ignore.

The most valuable thing I have found to date is an "anti missile system" which is worth about 8 million in the sector I found it in. But there are plenty of other things to find -- weapons are often worth a few credits!

Searching the rings of planets
You can do this, and sometimes if I have a good book in front of me I will fly a lap completely around the rings of a planet. But it's pretty unlikely that you will find anything. Still, it makes a nice change.

Searching for hidden systems and planets
This is fine and dandy if you want to do it, but it takes a lot of jumping around and checking the radar screen (or using a third-party map program, I assume). You could be spending that time searching all the existing planets for goodies!

Mining while flying
You can mine oxygen if you're higher, or water/minerals if you're lower, while you search. I don't bother with this, because the noise of the tractor beam bothers me. And if you've got a bit of money already, it's not worth the effort to land/dock and sell it all anyway.

So get out there and start searching those planets!