The new and improved (but currently incomplete) new player guide

BitingTiger · 10 Dec 2019, 4:59PM

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020171/uploads/editor/7y/jc7bgtta5733.png

Hello there new Commander and welcome to the Miner Rebellion!
The aim of this guide is to get you from a new commander just starting out to a commander that can hold off their own in the frontlines against the hostile factions from deep space.

VEGA Conflict Discord

VEGA Conflict has an official Discord server where you can talk and ask questions about the Guide or anything VEGA Conflict related for that matter. The image will bring you to a server invite. If at any point you are lost as to what to do or are confused about something, don't hesitate to ask in the VEGA Conflict Discord or send me a PM via discord and I'll be happy to help you where I can: BitingTiger#8645

Part 1: Campaigns

Campaigns are your bread and butter when starting out VEGA Conflict, they are what allows you to progress to higher tiers in form of blueprints and prefitted hulls (hulls that already come with weapons, shields, armor and specials equipped) while also upgrading your base.
Each Campaign unlocks after a certain amount of IRL days, meaning you'll have enough time to try out new things and learn about the game, so Campaign 1 will unlock after 2 days of account creation, campaign 2 after 4 days, etc.

Each campaign consists of 4 runs total with a different reward every campaign and run.

First off: While many players, including me, are against VEGA Conflict's expensive micro-transactions, I will for once suggest considering the coin deal you will get at the start of the game and lasts a month, naturally only if you have the budget for it.
When clicking on the golden coin icon in the top left, you will see multiple deals, one of which will offer you 6 Bastion Cruisers and base upgrades valued at $9.99 USD. The bastion cruiser hull is a Tier 7 hull that will allow you to skip a large part of the starting part of Vega Conflict and thus skip both Tier 6 and Tier 6.5.
Buying this offer also unlocks the Commerce module for you, a module that generates a specific amount of coins per day relative to the module's level. The higher the module level, the more coins it will generate per day, up to a max of 25 per day..

BitingTiger · 10 Dec 2019, 4:59PM

Training Simulation: Rebel Tech Unlock time: 2 days
This campaign is the first one you will receive and will allow you to progress through all Rebel weapons, shields, specials and some hulls.
The following setup will allow you to kill the enemy fleets without needing to do anything.
Optimal fleet: 6 Harrier Frigates.
Fitting: https://tinyurl.com/y64kuu74

At run 4 you will need to use the Rancor Battleships you've received from the 3rd run. They will be able to kill the last fleet unlike the Harrier Frigates will.
Small tip: While waiting for this Campaign to unlock just knock yourself out and try out the other hulls, every type hull flies differently and works differently after all.
More info can be found at https://vegaconflict.gamepedia.com/Training_Simulation/Rebel_Tech

Training Simulation: The Federation Unlock time: 3 days

This campaign will unlock all VEGA Federation tech and hulls.

Optimal fleet: 6 Rancor Battleships acquired via Campaign 1.

At run 4 use the 2 Apocrypha Cruisers and 4 Dread Battleships to minimise damage.

More info can be found at https://vegaconflict.gamepedia.com/Training_Simulation/The_Federation
Video about the campaign:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEqpncwgJVw

BitingTiger · 10 Dec 2019, 5:00PM

Training Simulation: High Security Unlock time: 5 days

This campaign will unlock all VEGA Security (VSEC) tech and hulls.

Optimal fleet: 2 Apocrypha Cruisers & 4 Dread Battleships acquired via Campaign 2.

At run 4 use the 4 Corinthian Cruisers & 2 Zeal Battleships to minimise damage.
More info can be found at https://vegaconflict.gamepedia.com/Training_Simulation/High_Security
Video about the campaign:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlUMCjqZPUQ

BitingTiger · 10 Dec 2019, 5:00PM

Training Simulation: Mercenaries Unlock time: 7 days

This campaign will unlock all Iron Star Company (ISC) tech and hulls.
Optimal fleet: 4 Corinthian Cruisers & 2 Zeal Battleships acquired via Campaign 3.

At run 4 use the 3 Heretic Cruisers, 2 Hurricane frigates & Freyja carrier to minimise damage.
More info can be found at https://vegaconflict.gamepedia.com/Training_Simulation/Mercenaries

No video available, you can just auto the targets

Training Simulation: The Demons Unlock time: 9 days

This campaign will unlock all Demon Corps (DC) tech and hulls.
Optimal Fleet: 3 Heretic Cruisers, 2 Hurricane frigates & Freyja carrier acquired via Campaign 4.

At run 4 use the 3 Hellfire Battleships, 2 Damocles Destroyers & Dominion Carrier to minimise damage.
More info can be found at https://vegaconflict.gamepedia.com/Training_Simulation/The_Demons
Video about the campaign:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xEbq8FJ8QM

BitingTiger · 10 Dec 2019, 5:00PM

Training Simulation: Alien Hybrids Unlock time: 11 days

This campaign will unlock all XENO Division tech and hulls.
Optimal fleet: 3 Hellfire Battleships, 2 Damocles Destroyers & Dominion Carrier acquired via Campaign 5.

At run 4 use the 4 Punisher Cruisers to minimise damage.
More info can be found at https://vegaconflict.gamepedia.com/Training_Simulation/Alien_Hybrids

Video about the campaign:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb56S4gv2FQ

BitingTiger · 10 Dec 2019, 5:01PM

Part 2: Preparing for the AXIS sector

Category 0: Researching ship upgrades and upgrading your base.

This category runs for all of the parts i will be talking about from here on out.
While unlocking tech and building up your fleets you'll need to research the ship upgrades and also upgrade the modules in your base. The higher the tech the higher the level requirements on modules, resource cost and research requirements. Thus it's best you upgrade your base and research the tech you can while going through this guide.

Category 1: The shorter but higher repair way.

Here the farm of Vega Conflict begins. Your goal here is to markup your Punisher Cruisers to at least MK4 (you can go to MK5 if you want but it isn't a requirement). A feat made slightly easier by the mission asking you to markup a Punisher Cruiser which gives you another of said credit for free.

Disclaimer: This is one of the slower ways to get to higher tech. If you want a quicker way or a lower repair-time orientation then you can skip this category and go to category 2 or 3.

Requirements: Punisher Cruiser mark ups researched up to MK3

Punisher Mark 2:
You need to attack Xeno Reaper supply fleets of level 71 in sector view. They are light and dark green icons, click on one and click on tag to be able to find the next one easily.

Once in a battle with this fleet right click with your Punishers selected on one of the hulls and select the next one each time one dies. It will focus the Punisher's fire on this one target.
Required fleet: Campaign MK1 Punisher Cruisers

Punisher Mark 3:
This markup requires you to attack Xeno Reaper supply fleets of level 73.

The same battle principles as the lvl 71 apply here.
Required fleet: 6x M2 Punisher Cruisers
MK2 Fitting: https://tinyurl.com/y3jxsvr9

Video for MK3 targets:

MK3 Fitting: https://tinyurl.com/wtvsnfo

This fitting takes around 2 days per hull so refitting them all will take a while.

BitingTiger · 10 Dec 2019, 5:02PM

Category 2: The longer but lower repair way.
This is a way that relies heavily on the Alien strike events for getting better tech and higher MK ups of your Punishers.

Alien Strike:

This is the other part you'll need to farm but can be rather boring and/or frustrating. Alien strike is an event that runs once every week and allows you to get special Tech and Elite upgrade credits.
The first rotation of this event is the one you will need which runs on Tuesday. Here you attack the Xeno reaper targets to get Punisher Cruiser upgrade credits.

Punisher Cruiser Mark 2 (MK2):

For this mark up you'll need to hit Xeno Reaper Strike level 71, they are the same layouts as the targets stated in the 1st category.
The loot given from killing these targets is 10.000 intel together with a high chance of gaining an upgrade credit, MK2 in this case.

Punisher Cruiser Mark 3 (MK3):

For this mark up you'll need to hit Xeno Reaper Strike level 73, They are the same as the lvl 71 targets but are a slightly stronger version.
The loot gained from killing these targets is 14.000 intel as well as MK3 upgrade credits.

Punisher Cruiser Mark 4 (MK4):
For this mark up you'll need to hit Xeno Reaper Strike level 75.
The loot gained from killing these targets is 19.000 intel as well as MK4 upgrade credits.

Punisher Cruiser Mark 5 (MK5):
For this mark up you'll need to hit Xeno Reaper Strike level 77.
The loot gained from killing these targets is 26.000 intel as well as MK5 upgrade credits.

Punisher Cruiser Elite (MKE):
These credits are rewards you can claim in the Alien Strike event store, this mark up only increases cargo capacity and sector speed so it isn't mandatory but they do however change up the appearance of your hull just like other MK ups do.

What to get from the event store:

There is only really one thing you need to get from the event store and that is Xeno Desintegrator cannon level 2. Xeno variants of weapons greatly increase the damage you deal but also increase the weight they take up. It is thus best to fit these on high marked hulls like a MK4 -5 Punisher cruiser for example.

BitingTiger · 10 Dec 2019, 5:03PM

Category 3: The alliance way. A.k.a. The easy way
This is a pretty social way to get your tech, this also allows you to skip the categories stated before as well as the ones to come. This does however rely heavily on if you are in an alliance and if they are willing to help you. But most alliances are.

What to hit or what to do.
Tier 8 and Tier 9 introduced their hull acquisition the same way T6.5 and T7 work now, you hit targets to get blueprint pieces to get their associated tech. For example Tier 8's Valrayvn hull was released with the hull, it's signature weapon the Nova Driver and Ablative Carapace which is Tier 8 Umbra's unique defense.
Killing these targets is something you won't be able to achieve on your own, however an alliance member can nearly kill these targets for you and leave one ship alive for you to kill.
Keep in mind that the ship left behind is in no case a weak ship so it would be recommended to use long range hulls to kill these ships as your T6 hulls won't last in a close range fight.

BitingTiger · 10 Dec 2019, 5:05PM

Part 3: Farming AXIS blueprints

With recent changes to Blueprint drop rates the grind here is reduced by a massive margin, before you had a 1 in 7 chance of gaining a blueprint piece from the required targets now it's very rare you won't get at least one blueprint piece.

Finding AXIS targets:
First you'll need to go to the AXIS sector. You can find this sector by clicking on one of the blue gates when in sector view and clicking on the gate called 'hypergate' then selecting view. You'll open a new sector that shows the needed AXIS targets.

(Image courtesy of The Federation)

Minimal Requirements:

Paladin Carrier upgrades researched up to MK5
Guardian Cruiser upgrades researched up to MK5
Arms lab IX (9)
Ship Lab VIII (8)
Ship Factory and Fleet bay X (10)
Minimal storage of 400 million Helium-3 and 170 million Antimatter

Step 1: Paladin Carrier

The Paladin Carrier is a really important T 6,5 hull that will allow you to ease up in difficulty quite a bit.

Targets to be hit:
For the Paladin Carrier you'll need to attack AXIS Harvester cargo level 84.

The paladin carrier does not come with a support field like the dominion carrier does and thus a field generator needs to be fitted.

This target has 6 of the already seen reapers together with a Harvester. The reapers have Energy beams equipped and will get to you before the harvester does.

The harvester has 4 different weapons, 3 of which it will fire when in range. The First weapon is an energy weapon that fires 3 shots each of which bounce to nearby ships 3 times.
The second is an explosive weapon that fires continuous projectiles exploding on impact, they cause little damage and can thus be ignored.
The 3rd are drones which will be launched once you get into a certain distance of the harvester. These are alien type damage so they will hit your shields quite hard.
The last is an Area of Effect weapon that fires out a pulse around the harvester every time it passes a certain % of armor.

Step 2: Guardian Cruiser
The Guardian Cruiser is the Tier 6,5 Cruiser and will allow you to push through to higher Tier hulls when done.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020171/uploads/editor/1o/5v15edfok1dm.png

Targets to be hit:
For the Guardian Cruiser you'll need to attack AXIS reaper cargo level 81.
These targets have 2 bigger ships along the already seen Reapers called Ancient Reapers which deal out higher damage together with having a higher health pool and can spawn normal Reapers after a set amount of time has passed. It is thus best to focus on these 2 hulls first as they can otherwise overwhelm you with a high amount of normal Reapers. Spawned reapers have a lower health amount than the normal Reapers with lower attack power as well.

BitingTiger · 16 Dec 2019, 6:30PM

Intermission (Part 3.5): Tier 7 Elemental Damage

A new feature that is introduced in Tier 7 is faction elemental damage. One of which you have seen already, namely XENO/ alien damage.
The 3 factions of Tier 7 tech have 3 different damage types/ element. These weapons dealing faction damage will have to be either converted or crafted in the workshop.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020171/uploads/editor/ce/2ng8s146c5j0.png

Altairian

The Altairians are a faction that has Alien and Plasma damage resistances while utilizing Alien damage as their faction damage. The defensive measures this faction uses are Shells/ Shields.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020171/uploads/editor/b2/wk0cvn8ktq1c.png

Umbra

Umbra is a faction that has Blight and Alien damage resistances while utilizing Blight damage as their faction damage. The defensive measures this faction uses is Ablative armor which regenerates based on armor damage dealt.

Pharmakon

The Pharmakon AI are a faction that has Plasma and Blight damage resistances while utilizing Plasma damage as their faction damage. The defensive measures this faction uses are Screens. A defensive measure that allows the hull to enter a "phased" state where it will have increased speed and is immune to damage while reducing firing speed. This mechanic works on energy, said energy will decrease on its own or by being attacked by enemy hulls.

These hulls operate on a Rock > Paper > Scissors system (RPS) where Altairians beat Pharmakon, Umbra beats Altairian and Pharmakon beats Umbra.

BitingTiger · 21 Dec 2019, 9:54AM

Part 4: Getting the Sovereign Carrier

This is a relatively short and straightforward part but crucial to climbing up in tiers.
The sovereign carrier is a carrier that uses beam weapons instead of drones and squadrons like you've seen and used until now. This beam does more damage the longer it can fire and thus will help you clear stronger targets faster.

Just like the paladin carrier it does not come with a support field and thus needs a piece of tech equipped to create one.

Sovereign Carrier:

The Sovereign Carrier (Sov) is the Tier 7 equivalent of the Paladin Carrier and just like the Paladin Carrier it doesn't come with a support field equipped.
All tier 7 carrier hulls no longer use drones or squadrons, they use special weapons. The Sovereign mainly uses a weapon called the Cyclotron beam of which a level 3 XENO version can be farmed. They can however still fit squadrons on them.

Targets to be hit:
For the Sovereign carrier you will need to attack Altairian Mothership cargo lvl 94.
These targets are not easy at all and will require you to stay alert and kill the Sovereign as fast as you can since it will deal heavy damage the moment you get into range and its beams are charged.

It is advised to kill the Inquisitor destroyers as well since their Eclipse Drivers will bypass your shields for a large amount.
Fleet video:

Enguard Overdrive Generator:

This overdrive is the most widely used field generator on the Sovereign Carrier since it will boost both itself and the ships inside of the field once 3 enemy hulls are withing the Sovereign Carrier's firing range.
The Sovereign itself will gain 10% Shield defense, 5 counter chain and counter pierce while also eliminating the damage delay needed to start regenerating shields when active.
The ships inside the field will gain 5% shield defense, +100% shield damage and +50% weapon speed
Disclaimer: This is a generator only available via the Altairian strike event and thus is available only once or twice per month.
You can read more about it here: https://vegaconflict.gamepedia.com/Enguard_Overdrive_Generator

Cyclotron Beam:

The Cyclotron Beam is the weapon that was released together with the Sovereign Carrier and thus is its signature weapon. It's a beam that will fire after a "charging" delay but will fire on the hull/hulls that enter it's firing arc or was present in its firing arc while charging and this cannot be changed to other targets while firing.
Unique to the Cyclotron Beam is the fact that it can acquire Overcharge without needing a special. Overcharge will increase the damage output of the Cyclotron beam a brief delay after starting to fire.

Just like the Enguard Overdrive Generator this weapon is only available in Altairian Strike and some other events.

You can read more about it here: https://vegaconflict.gamepedia.com/Cyclotron_Beam

These items are not mandatory but they increase the strength if you Sovereign by a large margin and thus are recommended.

BitingTiger · 21 Dec 2019, 3:55PM

Part 5: The Tier 7 entrance

With the Sovereign Carrier acquired and properly fitted you will need to farm the next hull namely the Umbra Ogre Battleship.
As stated before Umbra uses regenerating defenses in the form of Ablative Armor. This armor is fitted in the defense slot like a shield but can only be equipped on Umbra, Umbra also cannot equip shields nor screens.

Ogre Battleship:

The Ogre battleship is a relatively versatile Battleship compared to others because of high firepower even at mark one together with regenerating defenses. Its signature weapon is the Nova Missile.

Targets to be hit:
The Ogre battleship blueprint can be aquired from Umbra Hellion CArgo lvl 92 targets. These targets also provide the Nova Missile and Ablative Tungsten Armor blueprints explained below.

Nova missile:
A missile that splits in a V when fired and will create smaller secondary explosions which deal 120% damage based on the first explosion.
This missile does not lock on but is predicatively aimed towards the target.
The split is a weakness of the Nova Missile that some targets will utilize even though the AI is not programmed for this. If this happens it's best to turn your ogres a small amount to make the enemy target move from the blind spot.

Ablative Tungsten Armor:
Ablative Tungsten Armor is Umbra's only defense tech, thus only this armor can be fitted on these hulls in terms of defensive capabilities.
This armor regenerates on the armor hp damage you deal. Shield, Ablative Armor nor Screens recover ablative health.
Keep in mind that this armor requires a minimal amount of damage to be dealt to allow for Ablative recovery, the amount of which you can find on the defensive tech stated as Ablative Damage Threshold.

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