Inner Core Extreme Tourism Guide

Inner Core Extreme Tourism Guide

By "Ajay"

A Foreword

The Inner Core. The center of our galaxy. A voyage to this place already promises to be fantastic. So much to see, so much to visit. This was my initial motivation to come there. Until I found out that this place is also a battlefield where the fate of mankind is being decided. Since then, the real reason why I kept coming to Inner Core was to try and change the course of that battle in humanity's favor. And get some loot as a nice bonus, guilty as charged. The invading Great Doms carry advanced weapons which are compatible with Human made fighters, which mades looting another viable reason to visit Inner Core.

Anyway, the point is: getting to Inner Core sector is dangerous. In this guide, I will try to relay my experience with that place, particularly with the systems colloquially known as "Conquered Territory", controlled by Great Doms. I will explain what I do to survive in Conquered Territory. If you think I am missing something or something I tell is wrong and you know how to do it right, feel free to correct me. I am open to constructive and reasonable discussion.

Ajay.

About The Author

The Inner Core Sector is a second home for this russian pilot. As a Special operative of the Coalition Intelligence Directorate was fulfilling many different tasks which has often led him to here. It were thousand and thousands of hours spent in this most dangerous Sector of the Milky Way ... (more can be read in his blog).

Preparations for the Inner Core trip

Ship and Equipment

The main advice to anyone venturing to Inner Core: get the best (or at least decent) ship and equipment you can get your hands on. As for ships, generally it's a Level 10 VHF. Depending on what fits your style. Battleships require specific usage in the Inner Core, which will be discussed later.

Reputation

First and foremost, you have to fix your reputation with Dom'Kavash. To do this, you'll have to go to Dervon (Omega-41->Utopia->Dervon, maps available on the wiki) and destroy 3-4 Ancient Drones there. This is not an easy task. It is recommended to pack a Sunslayer Torpedo Launcher on your ship. A Sunslayer Torpedo impact on an unshielded hull of an Ancient Drone will destroy the Drone's weapons and it will try to disengage. Use it to either render the Drone an easy picking or reduce a number of barrels firing at you.

During the Drone hunt, it is recommended to land on GMG Observatory. It is very easy (and in fact, it's normal) to get blasted off the space by the Drones. The Observatory can also provide resupply.

It is highly recommended to also buy a Coalition bribe before heading to Inner Core.

Maps

It is recommended that you memorize at least locations of jumpgates in at least following systems: Inner Core System, Venn, Jormdar Mepther, Ryssk. Write the coordinates for the Inner Core->Venn, Venn->Jormdar, Jormdar->Mepther, Methper->Ryssk and Ryssk->Weth jumpgates down at least - that's the bare minimum. The Repair Buoys will also be useful (look below).

How to get to Inner Core

The Jump

Okay, Dom'Kavash (and ideally Coalition) are green on your reputation scale, you are armed to the teeth and ready to move out.

So let's get to the action.

The Alliance Hypergate that leads to Inner Core is located in Omega 3. It is protected by three Ion Cannons, and armed with Ion Cannons itself. Usually befriending Dom'Kavash leads to Alliance Hypergate becoming friendly, however, few people I know have still been recognised as hostile to the Ion Cannons even after that.

There also is an alternative way, the Coalition Hypergate. It is located in New Hongkong system, to the north from Bengbu Processing Facility. You CAN potentially use the Coalition Hypergate WITHOUT befriending Dom'Kavash, but that will result in your vessel being immediately destroyed upon entering Weth. If you land on Deep Space 17 (look below), this will lead to you being stuck in Conquered Territory.

Once in Inner Core System, head to Venn gate. Keep in mind, the Black Hole's gravity will start destroying your ship's hull on distance about 38K. It is strongly recommended to keep at least about 40K distance from the Black Hole.

Keep in mind, both Hypergates are one-way only.

The Conquered Territory

The Systems

As soon as you reach Venn the Conquered Territory starts. It consists of the following systems:

• Venn - Controlled by all six Great Dom factions. Connects to Inner Core system, Celldra and Jormdar.
• Jormdar - Controlled by Dom'Nepesh and Savage. Connects to Venn, Mepther and Sadurn.
• Sadurn - Controlled by Dom'Nepesh and Savage. Connects to Jormdar, Celldra and Pyrddra.
• Celldra - Controlled by Dom'Setek and Sentinel. Connects to Venn, Sadurn and Pyrddra.
• Pyrddra - Controlled by Dom'Setek and Sentinel. Connects to Sadurn, Celldra and Mepther
• Mepther - Controlled by Dom'Razak and Warriors. Connects to Jormdar, Pyrddra and Ryssk.
• Ryssk - Controlled by Dom'Razak and Warriors. Connects to Mepther and Weth.

Which aliens carry which guns, exact positions of the objects in the systems etc can be looked up on the Wiki. But if this is your first time visiting Inner Core, it is recommended to head to Weth System ASAP. From that system, the Dom'Kavash controlled territory begins - a civilised space complete with trade lanes and dockable stations.

I recommend the following route: Venn->Jormdar->Mepther->Ryssk->Weth. Neither of these systems have nebulae on the way. Alternative way is Venn->Celldra->Pyrddra->Mepther->Ryssk->Weth. But keep in mind the central nedula in Celldra where Celldra->Venn jumphole is located.

Sadurn system is best avoided unless you are hunting for weapons in a group.

The Enemies

Naturally, all of them are highly dangerous. The Great Doms roam the Conquerred territory's space in either groups of 4 fighters/gunboats or 6 cruisers + 1 motherships. The ship types Great Doms use are Light Fighter, Medium Fighter, Heavy Fighter, Gunboat, Bomber (Warrior only), Cruiser, Mothership or Battleship (Warrior have both). Commander Ryleous Arkane from the Silver Arrows have prepared very detailed overview for each Great Dom Specie which contain also ship images and other intel about them (pdf file).

If your intent is to just pass this area of space, you should look out for Light Fighters, Bombers and Gunboats. These ships carry Cruise Disruptors. Cruiser and mothership battlegroups are the least dangerous in this regard. Keep your eyes on the scanner, steer clear of enemies (even glancing salvos can deal a lot of damage), have countermeasure dropper enabled so it can try to stop a cruise disruptor. If you get cruise disrupted, you can try to thrust away or thrust, engine kill then turn around - but only if the enemy is sufficiently far away! Since battlegroups only appear in open space, it's advised to avoid asteroid fields so the probability of encountering a cruise disruptor is lesser.

For a lone human pilot, the Gunboats present the highest threat. However, for a group of two or more pilots, a wing of 4 Gunboats or 3 Gunboats + 1 Fighter is easy picking. The wing in this composition will target a player that appeared in the system the earliest as long as that player is in their sensor range (about 5,5 K), completely ignoring all other targets. So the players can use Wild Weasel tactics: one draws the fire away and tries to survive by maneuvering or just staying between their weapons range and sensor range by thrusting away while others shoot the gunboats at their leisure.

Generally I would avoid fighting the Great Doms' fighters alone. For purposeful hunting of Great Doms fighters, a group of two would be optimal. When fighting in a group, try to spread your targets and limit use of missiles/torpedoes to avoid friendly fire accidents or splash damage to the alien weapons which can be your potential loot. Also you will not be able to replenish ammunition for these weapons in Inner Core unless you have access to Deep Space 17. Dom'Kavash only sell countermeasures, shield batteries and nanobots. Certain motherships or battleships can also be destroyed by a lone fighter, but this requires maneuvering, tracking of escorting cruisers' movements and a lot of patience (and experience).

Cruisers are much more dangerous and it's best to just run away from them: they have much denser turret coverage than larger motherships/battleships. Likewise, a Warrior Mothership is also much harder to destroy solo than a Warrior Battleship.

Repair Buoys

These things are scattered around the Conquered territory. They emit an aura that repair all ships' hulls around them. Like gates, Repar Buoys are also "safe zones" where you can slow down and catch your breath (unless you or someone else bring someone on your tail). The locations of Repair Buoys can also be looked up on Wiki. If you plan on continued operations in Conquered territory, I'd recommend to map the Repair Buoys near your planned hunting grounds.

Deep Space 17

Not available in Singleplayer! A Human built base in Jormdar System. Coordinates: C/D 5, near a Repair Buoy. While DS17 has restricted docking, it is the first landing spot in the Inner Core sector and the only station in Inner Core that can accept battleship docking. It also can sell ammunition for missile/torpedo launchers - assuming people in charge of DS17 keep supplying its ammunition stock.

Short Summary on Battleship Solo Hunting

• The best suited vessels are Liberty Battleship - Iteron, Liberty Dreadnought - Virginia, Osiris. These ships can't be affected by cruise disruptors as long as their shields are up.
• Equip long range turrets.
• Avoid entering combat with fighters. As soon as Great Dom fighters show up, fire up cruise engines and run.
• Keep the distance from Great Dom large ships. When fighting a Great Dom battlegroup, target cruisers first. Without a Mothership, they will move around more freely and might end up getting too close to comfort - or try to disengage. Not to mention, they are easier to destroy.
• If a cruiser has gotten too close to comfort, your shields are strong enough and its shields are down, launch a Battleship Torpedo at it. An impact of Battleship Torpedo on unshielded cruiser's hull will destroy its weapons and shield generator.
• Try to avoid having your shield down.
• Repair Buoys work significantly slower on capital ships (battleships, cruisers, etc.) than on fighters. This is also true with radiation fields, such as the one around the Black Hole in Inner Core system.
• Avoid asteroid fields like plague. Sadurn system and a large nebula in the center of Celldra system in particular.

What To Do In Dom'Kavash Space

Well, DK space doesn't have much to fight. There are still some things in it...

• First and foremost, Cloaking Device and the fuel for it. The Energy Crystals can be mined in Venn, Rhuntath and Dras. Perhaps there are other spots as well, fields in Venn and Rhuntath are easiest to reach. More information about using the Cloaking Device can be found on wiki.
• Battleship Upgrades. Albeit those are harder to find than a needle in a haystack.
• Crystalline Key and Dom'Kavash Device. Turns out they have practical purpose, they buff your shield capacity by 5% each. Unsure if a license does the same.

I'm Bored; Wanna Go Home

The Hypergate to Altair is in Phanchdar System. From there, you get to Hyperspace. Like before, the Altair Hypergate is one-way only.. Jump through the jumphole you just appeared out of and go Menton->Scotia->Tonga->Pretoria->Spica->Jokusuka/Lemnos->Hieron->Gurm. From Gurm you can either go through Coalition systems and return to Sirius via Transdimensional Rift in Yakutsk or go through Nomad systems and use Transdimensional Rift in Styx.

As usual, the system maps are in the wiki. Write down the coordinates for the jumpholes and gather all patience you have. You can also make a detour in Menton, Mitra and Ptah systems to loot blackboxes off wrecks for a financial boost.

This was The Inner Core Extreme Tourism guide, hope it was helpful and see you in space!