Atmospheric Salvaging
Introduction:Atmospheric salvaging is quite similar to regular salvaging, except that you are salvaging atmospheric components instead of debris. Atmospheric salvaging involves taking control of an atmospheric salvaging ship and bringing it into the atmosphere, where you will collect atmospheric components, which you will later be able to sell. There are three types of salvagers: regular atmospheric salvagers, gas giant salvagers, and aquatic salvagers. To operate a salvager, you should find an applicable planet, move within one unit of it, and launch your vehicle into the atmosphere. Be warned that if your ship is left unattended, it may be attacked at any time. Your salvager will notify you when the mothership is locked on, fired on, or switches to purple alert.
The basics:
To start atmospheric salvaging, you'll need several things. The most important of which is a ship with a docking bay. To find out what ship classes come with docking bays, you can type INFO at a starship store to see information about each ship class. Look for one with "Yes" under the Dock column. Also be sure your ship has a cargo hold that is capable of holding cargo (for example, a Carrier cannot hold any cargo and would not be a good choice for this endeavor).
Next, you'll need to purchase a vehicle docking bay. This is specialized equipment that allows your vehicles to be safely stored, launched, and retrieved from a standard docking bay. This upgrade is available from any store that sells vehicles.
Finally, you will need an atmospheric, gas giant, or aquatic salvager. You can find these at any atmospheric salvager store. Don't be shy if you can't find one, someone on the comms should be able to help you locate one. You can also use the MAP command to see a map of whatever planet you're on.
Salvaging - the regular way:
Now that you have everything you need to get started, fly your ship to a planet with an atmosphere (remember the SCAN command will help), and maintain an orbit within one unit of the planet. Head down to your docking bay and type GO HATCH. You will now be in your vehicle docking bay, where you can ENTER the SALVAGER. Please note that only one person will fit in an atmospheric salvager. You can now type LAUNCH to launch the salvager into the planet's atmosphere.
Now, before you start salvaging, there are a few things you should know. First, you can type SM to check your map, just like a ship. This will show you a map of the current level, what level you're on, and how much charge your salvager has remaining. Salvagers have a limited power supply, so you need to keep a constant eye on the power levels, otherwise you may crash and lose your salvager and anything you have salvaged.
Do you see the ":" symbols on the starmap? Those are the components that you need to salvage. You can move to them using the standard starship manual movement commands (see HELP MANUAL NAVIGATION) and just pass over them to collect them. The command + will bring your salvager higher. You can also use - to go lower. If you are already on the highest level, + will return you to your ship. As you move further down into the atmosphere, your chance of finding better materials increases. However, keep in mind that this will also use your power up faster, so keep a close eye on your power levels.
Once your salvager is full, return to your ship (using the + command until you've exited the atmosphere) and you can TRANSFER the components like any other debris.
Accessibility note: If you use a screenreader or other assistive device, you can use the command LIST in the vehicle to switch the visual starmap to a coordinate list. This should make it easier to identify debris.
Salvaging - gas giants:
Gas giants are planets which consist (almost) only of gasses and are therefore a valuable resource for salvagers. They can be found anywhere outside of the charted sectors. To salvage from a gas giant you need a different salvager than the one you would use for salvaging from a regular planet, however they can be bought from the same store.
Finding a gas giant can take a while. You can LAUNCH your starship and search yourself or ask on the comms to find out if someone already knows of a good planet. Once you found a planet, fly your starship next to it and go to your docking bay. From there you can GO through the HATCH of the vehicle bay, ENTER your SALVAGER and LAUNCH it.
The principles described for atmospheric salvaging are the same for gas giant salvaging, except that the risks are higher, but so is the reward.
Generally, you will find that the vehicle's upgrades are more expensive and add less, and that you have to take more effort to get to a suitable planet. A gas giant is a dangerous place to work on, and so the vehicle required is much more complicated.
Salvaging - marine planets
Aquatic salvaging is just like gas giant salvaging in that you orbit the target planet and launch your salvager in the air. The commands are the same, and so is the risk factor. The only difference is that you need a special aquatic salvager to get the job done. There is also a requirement of 1000 pieces of atmospheric debris salvaged to purchase the salvagers.
While salvaging in a marine planet, you will encounter life forms that enter your craft. These are called pufferfish, and a tops list has been added. You can check this by typing @PUFFERFISH or @TOP-PUFFERFISH. The number of pufferfish you've salvaged can also be found in INFO ACHIEVEMENTS (INFO ACH for short).
Finally, your craft might encounter life forms in the water that take hostile action against a foreign being in their home. These forms will slam into your craft and go about their merry way, leaving the salvager slightly damaged. Please note that the aquatic landing upgrade is not required to do aquatic salvaging, as you don't actually land on the planet.
Repairing gas giant and aquatic salvagers
As mentioned above, gas giant and aquatic salvaging is much more dangerous than regular atmospheric salvaging. It is therefore not unlikely that your salvager will get damaged while you are salvaging, especially if you move further away from your ship. The computer will inform you in the event of such a dangerous situation. You can also type STATUS to check the current damage level.
If your salvager sustained damage you can use a tube of repair paste to fix the problem. These tubes can be bought from the same store that sells the salvagers. Once you bought a tube, USE it in the cockpit of your salvager to repair it.
Finally, note that, like charge boosters and replacement hatch locks, you shouldn't buy massive amounts at once. If you will not have access to a salvager store for a longer period of time and fear that you will run out of repair paste, consider staying closer to your starship while salvaging. While this means you will not earn as much money it also reduces the chance that your salvager gets damaged.
Sharing:
You can share an atmospheric salvager with a friend by authorizing them to use the vehicle. To do this, you must meet the following conditions and perform the following actions:
1. You must be inside the vehicle's cockpit.
2. Your friend must be standing outside of the vehicle in the vehicle bay.
3. You then type: AUTHORIZE <person>
Atmospheric salvaging program
The atmospheric salvaging program allows you to record your salvaging activity in order to increase your level and obtain more advanced upgrades.
How does it work?
To join the program you will need to talk to the salesman present in any atmospheric salvaging store. If you meet the qualifications you will be given an atmospheric salvager rank record card.
In order to record your salvaging activity, you will have to insert the card once you are inside the salvager's cockpit.
Note that if you do not insert the card, you will still be able to salvage, but the progress toward your next rank will not be increased. Once your salvage session has ended, you can simply retrieve <card>. Keep in mind that leaving the atmospheric salvager before retrieving your card might be an easy way to lose it, and you may have to ask the salesman to replace it for you. Replacing it will lose all your progress toward the next rank.
To monitor your progress you can simply read <card>, which will show a report of your current level, the progress to the next, and the next level, if any.
Levels are still being added to this day, so if you happen to not see the next level, do check your card from time to time.
How do I increase my rank?
To increase your rank you will have to talk to the salesman and ask them to increase your rank. Increasing your rank will not reset your progress to 0, it will set your progress to the difference between your progress and the level's threshold.
If you gathered 110 pieces and you needed 100 to progress to the next level, once you increase your rank your progress will be set to 10 instead.
Additional Commands
These commands may be useful to you in your salvaging adventures:
SM - View the local map.
CARGO - View what your vehicle has stored.
LAUNCH - Launch the vehicle from a ship's vehicle docking bay.
TRANSFER - Transfer salvaged debris from your vehicle to the ship. (You must be docked.)
AUTHORIZE - Allow another person access to the vehicle.
DEAUTHORIZE - Disallow another person from accessing the vehicle.
STATUS - View important information about your vehicle.
LIST - Switch from the visual map to a coordinate list.
CHARGE - View remaining power.
COORDS - View current coordinates.
DISTANCE - Inform you how far you've ventured from your starship.
Related Topics: Activities | Manual Navigation