Thanks, the level based ranking makes sense now.
I assume it's a similar system for gear then?
I have already come across an identical base on a separate planet, which doesn't bode well. Same dead scientist on reception, same layout, same locked doors, same enemy positions, everything.
It really hasn't strayed far from Skyrim/Fallout though - except this one has space exploration.
Yep - same system for gear. Look for
holstered space suits (halves weapon mass) and
haulers backpacks/helmets (reduces resource weight) - the
chameleon modifier is also useful for stealth.
If you land on random planets and run to the nearest POI you'll quickly find a lot of duplicate outposts etc. To see the bespoke stuff (and there *is* a lot of it) you'll want to follow the questlines.
There's the main story (which you can drop at any time to go and do other things), faction quest-lines (UC Vanguard and Freestar Rangers are probably the first two you'll encounter) and companion quest-lines (which you'll get if you hang out with any of your Constellation colleagues for long enough).
Other than that, you'll pick up a bunch of side-quests (some are pretty lengthy) just by wandering around the major cities and listening in to conversations - all of that stuff will take you to unique locations.
If you do kiosk missions (Kill the Spacer *whatever* on *wherever*) you'll quickly start seeing the same locations in rotation - I tended to leave those until I wanted to collect some loot or gain some XP.
Speaking of loot, *always* pick up weapons (even if you immediately drop them again) 'cause if they have any spare ammo it'll go into your inventory and the ammo weighs nothing. Weapons, Resources and Aid items (not food) are the only things worth looting - everything else is a trap and you'll get the most credits from selling weapons (and spare ammo if you have any).
If you're looking for vendors to sell stuff to, go to
Neon on
Volli - there's a bunch of them on the strip.
Oh, and the safe in your room at
The Lodge has infinite storage - you can land directly at The Lodge from orbit if you wanna drop stuff off. Crafting benches use resources from either your ship's cargo hold (you'll want to upgrade that) or your own inventory.
Lastly, make sure you at least glance at any
datapads you pick up - some of them kick off quests, also, when you grav-jump into a system, check the local system map for ships and 'sensor contacts' - you'll find a bunch more smaller, one-off POIs there.