Patrolling

Patrolling is one of the major activities that a captain can do in orbit. Of the three primary orbital operations, patrolling is the only activity that is regarded as helpful or beneficial to the zone and its faction below. The text of the Patrol screen will tell you as much. Essentially you are helping to keep the system free of pirates, smugglers and other unwanted types. Patrolling may help you to gain reputation with system's faction owner, making it one of the few ways to do that when the Captain lacks contacts within that faction or trading talents which might otherwise help them. Reputation gain can be most pronounced when that faction is in a conflict as the captain may draw the participate in a conflict card, which, if selected, will change the conflict score in the zone owner's favor and give more significant rep to the captain. Missions may also require that a Captain perform patrolling actions. In this case, they will need to patrol until hitting a "Mission Success" card. Many patrolling cards result in a ship contact with a hostile ship and the Spacer who patrols should be prepared to engage in ship-to-ship combat.

Strategy[ | ]

Like other operations, becoming great at Patrolling will require a dedicated build. Increasing ship Command, Navigation and Tactics Skill Pools should be a key priority. Captains who focus on Patrolling will also need to invest in Talents that will help them determine the results of the card game. Most of these are provided by Military Officer and Zealot crew members, though Gunner, Diplomat and Crew Dog also have single Talents that can help. In the early game, it is best to Patrol often, checking the hand that is dealt at nearly every zone that is visited and only playing those hands that give a reasonable chance of success versus possible negative outcomes. As a Captain's crew and ship develop they will be able to engage in more extended Patrolling activities over the planet of their choice.

The Card Game[ | ]

The results of patrolling are determined by a card mini-game. The Captain will draw 5 cards which are determine by risk and reward factors. He or she may then have the opportunity to modify their draw through the use of crew talents which allow them to redraw, remove or improve a card. Then one card will randomly be selected from the remaining cards providing either a negative, positive or neutral result. If a negative result is drawn it is possible that its results may be avoided by a test of certain captain and ship skills. All patrolling actions consume time and fuel.

Card Game Mechanics/Logic[ | ]

Card games are based on a deck of cards. Based on the Risk Factors and Reward Factors, positive and negative cards are used to create the deck. Risk and Reward Factors are also used to calculate the chance of Common, Good and Rare positive cards and Risk Factors calculate the Low, Medium and Max Risk changes. These are used to then determine which positive and negative cards are in the deck. For example, areas with higher Common Rewards will feature more +1 and +2 cards, while areas with high Max Risks will feature more -5 cards. Once the hand is shuffled and dealt, 5 cards are shown and the chance to draw any one of those five cards is 20% (random card selection). Upon completion of the hand and after the results of the final card are handled, the deck is reshuffled and 5 new cards are dealt.

Mission steps that require a successful card draw start at the normal base 20% chance of selection. However, after each unsuccessful draw, the chance increases by 2%. Without talents modifying the odds, you can expect to succeed at the mission step in 3 or fewer attempts most of the time, in 9 or fewer attempts almost all the time, and for a very unlucky few 41 attempts would be required. On the 41st draw, the chance of success is 100%.

Risk Factors

Negative Results

Reward Factors

Positive Results

Planet Size

Military Rating

Trade Law

Starport Rating

-1	Time Lost	10+ Fuel and Turns
-1	Crew Danger	10-20 Damage to up to 5 Crew
-1	Ship Danger	10-20% Damage to 2 Ship Components
-1	Ship Encounter	Unexpected Ship
-1	Bounty Hunters	Bounty Hunter Ship
-1	Ship: Explorer	Explorer Ship
-1	Ship: Merchants	Merchant Ship
-2	Crew Danger	15-30 Damage to up to 8 Crew
-2	Competitive Pirates	Hostile Pirates
-3	Ship Danger	15-30% Damage to 2 Ship Components
-3	Ship: Bounty Hunter	Hostile Bounty Hunter
-3	Pirate Attack	Hostile Pirate Ship
-4	Ship Encounter	Powerful and unexpected Ship
-4	Crew Danger	20-40 Damage to up to 15 Crew
-5	Ship Danger	20-40% Damage to 2 Ship Components
-5	Deadly Accident	Death among Crew
-5	Military Patrol	Hostile Military Patrol

Trade Law

Population Rating

Navigation Skill Pool

Command Skill Pool

Tactics Skill Pool

Captain's Charisma

+1	Distress Signal	Various Results
+1	Ship: Merchants	Merchant Ship
+1	Naval Patrol	Military Ship
+1	Ship: Smuggler	Smuggler Ship
+1	Intel Leak	2-5 Intel Records
+2	Distress Signal	Various Results
+2	Smugglers	+3-6 Rep and face Smuggler
+2	Ship: Explorer	Explorer Ship
+2	Wreck in Space	Recover Fuel, Repair Hull
+2	Uncover Rumor	Learn New Rumor
+2	Extort Bribes	Up to 3,250 Profit
+2	Ship: Smuggler	Smuggler Ship
+2	Credit Skim	Up to 1,950 Profit
+2	Intel Capture	4-8 Intel Records
+3	Wreck in Space	Recover Fuel, Repair Hull
+3	Raiding Pirate	+3-6 Rep and face Pirate
+3	Reputation Bonus	+6-12 Faction Rep
+3	Uncover Contact	New Contact Introduction
+4	Credits Score	Up to 4,550 Profit
+4	Intel Trove	6-12 Intel Records
+4	Foreign Contact	New Contact Introduction
+5	Lootable Merchants	Merchant Ship

Primary Talents for Patrolling[ | ]

Icon	Name	Job	Required Rank	Type	Description	Cooldown
PATROL	Methodical Sweep	Crew Dog	1	PATROL	When Patrolling a system, reroll a risk card	3 weeks Cooldown
PATROL	Supremacy of Firepower	Gunner	5	PATROL	When Patrolling a system, remove a risk card	3 weeks Cooldown
PATROL	Commanding Sweep	Military Officer	5	PATROL	When Patrolling a system, replace a card with a Reputation bonus or a Conflict Influence in the case of a Conflict	3 weeks Cooldown
PATROL	Guardian Vigil	Military Officer	11	PATROL	When Patrolling a system, replace a risk card with Mission success reward card	3 weeks Cooldown
PATROL	Militant Patrol	Military Officer	1	PATROL	When Patrolling a system, increase rewards by 10% + Command Skill	6 weeks Cooldown
PATROL	Stalwart Loyalist	Military Officer	15	PATROL	When Patrolling a system, reroll all 5 cards and draw a new hand	21 weeks Cooldown
PATROL	Extended Vigil	Wing Leader	8	PATROL	When Patrolling a system as the pilot of an Interdictor craft, increase rewards by 20% + Gunnery Skill	9 weeks Cooldown
PATROL	Unexpected Swoop	Wing Leader	1	PATROL	When Patrolling a system as the pilot of an Interdictor craft, remove a risk card	3 weeks Cooldown
PATROL	Here Be Monsters	Xeno Hunter	5	PATROL	When Patrolling a system, replace a card with a dreaded Xeno Ship card	3 weeks Cooldown
PATROL	Diehard Defense	Zealot	11	PATROL	When Patrolling a system, replace a risk card with Mission success reward card	3 weeks Cooldown
PATROL	Enduring Defender	Zealot	15	PATROL	When Patrolling a system, reroll all 5 cards and draw a new hand	21 weeks Cooldown
PATROL	Obsessive Defense	Zealot	5	PATROL	When Patrolling a system, replace a risk card with a Pirate reward card	3 weeks Cooldown

Secondary Talents for Patrolling[ | ]

Icon	Name	Job	Required Rank	Type	Description	Cooldown
SKILL SAVE	One Step Ahead	Bodyguard	1	SKILL SAVE	Automatically passes a failed Tactics test in any situation, including on patrol, deep space travel, or during a mission	9 weeks Cooldown
ON DEATH	Everwatch	Bodyguard	11	ON DEATH	Saves a life during ship combat, blockade, spying, patrol, salvage or black market. Crew member is restored to HP equal to Tactics Skill + 3 x Medical Rating of onboard medical components	9 weeks Cooldown
SKILL SAVE	First Aid	Combat Medic	1	SKILL SAVE	Automatically passes a failed Doctor test in any situation, including deep space travel, orbital ops or exploring or during a mission	3 weeks Cooldown
CONFLICT	Political Hooks	Diplomat	11	CONFLICT	Increase Conflict Score bonus by 10% + Faction Rank when impacting a Conflict through Missions, Spying, Blockade or Patrol	3 weeks Cooldown
ON DEATH	Life Saver	Doctor	5	ON DEATH	Saves a life during ship combat, blockade, spying, patrol, salvage or black market. Crew member is restored to HP equal to Doctor Skill + 3 x Medical Rating of onboard medical components	9 weeks Cooldown
SKILL SAVE	Medical Staff	Doctor	1	SKILL SAVE	Automatically passes a failed Doctor test in any situation, including deep space travel, orbital ops or exploring or during a mission	3 weeks Cooldown
SKILL SAVE	Bullseye Certainty	Gunner	1	SKILL SAVE	Automatically passes a failed Tactics test in any situation, including on patrol, deep space travel, or during a mission	3 weeks Cooldown
SKILL SAVE	Expert Planning	Military Officer	1	SKILL SAVE	Automatically passes a failed Tactics test in any situation, including on patrol, deep space travel, or during a mission	3 weeks Cooldown
ON DEATH	Second Shadow	Quartermaster	11	ON DEATH	Watching crew like a hawk, saves a life during ship combat, blockade, spying, patrol, salvage or black market. Crew member is restored to HP equal to Command Skill + 3 x Medical Rating of onboard medical components	9 weeks Cooldown
SKILL SAVE	Dogged Treatment	Scavenger	8	SKILL SAVE	Automatically passes a failed Doctor test in any situation, including deep space travel, orbital ops or exploring or during a mission	6 weeks Cooldown
SKILL SAVE	Airtight Plan	Wing Tech	1	SKILL SAVE	Automatically passes a failed Tactics test in any situation, including on patrol, deep space travel, or during a mission	3 weeks Cooldown
CONFLICT	Retribution Justice	Zealot	5	CONFLICT	Increase Conflict Score bonus by 10% + Faction Rank when impacting a Conflict through Missions, Spying, Blockade or Patrol	3 weeks Cooldown