Endless Sky Early Strategy

Endless Sky is an Open Source space- based 2D trading and exploration game in the style of EV Nova (it’s really a platform for interactive fiction masquerading as a space game but that’s not what this post is about). I’ve been playing it on and off for several years and have a reasonable strategy for quickly getting a fleet.

1. Start with a Shuttle and accept the Intro missions with James. Trade commodities along the way and take safe jobs that are along your routes in the Intro. Don’t be afraid to chain several but don’t hunt pirates or carry risky cargo.
2. Trade and take jobs until your reach 1M credits then travel to the Delve shipyard in the Scheat system where you should buy a Sunder and two mining drones. Use any balance to pay off your initial loan early.
3. Fly to Ascella and mine Uranium asteroids until you reach 2M credits.
4. Go to the outfitter on Follower in the Alphard system and upgrade your somewhat pokey Sunder with Atomic Engines, Atomic Steering, two Supercapacitors, and a set of Bunk Rooms. Hire extra crew because you’re going to start capturing small ships.
5. Return to Ascella and resume mining Uranium. Watch for ship battles and if you see a small weak or disabled pirate ship, capture it or board and steal its systems and cargo. Sell nearly everything initially then collect a little fleet of three or four ships and replenish your extra crew. Do side missions. Continue until you have about 3M credits. You probably will have invested three to four hours of game play.
6. Travel to the shipyard on Glaze in Aldhibain and sell everything to buy an Argosy. Sell the missile launchers and hire crew before leaving.
7. Hunt small pirate ships and trade, doing side missions. As you accumulate funds, upgrade the engines with Atomics and replace the remaining weapons and turrets with heavy lasers for easier capturing of ships.
8. Start accumulating Interceptors and growing a fleet. Continue trading and doing missions (I suggest starting the Deep and Free World missions since they unlock good outfits and pay better). Keep going to about 7M credits.
9. Depending on your missions and luck, you may capture a Bastion, Firebird, or even a Behemoth from pirates. If not, start making your way to Zug in Zubeneschamali where you’ll buy a Bastion if you don’t have one. Sell any missile launchers. Expect to have invested six to eight hours of play.
10. Trade, board, capture, and do missions until you can upgrade to Atomic engines and Heavy Lasers then head to Aldhibain again and capture pirates selling the smaller ships until you have 10M credits.

Congratulations! You’re through the early game!

At this point you can start capping larger ships or exploring the alien space accessible via the stable wormhole in Ultima Thule. Your choices expand quickly:

• If your intend to expand your fleet by capping, you should buy and outfit a Star Queen as your flagship (a Hogshead, a Bastion with Bunk Rooms, or even a Mule stripped and filled with bunks can work too), filling the bunks with extra crew, and hanging around Shangri-La in the Polaris system, which has an outfitter, or the Sheratan system, which lacks one, with the intention of using your fleet to disable alien ships and large pirates which you’ll board with your flagship. You’ll want to take Jump Drives as these unlock access to more of the galaxy.
• If you’ve chosen the wormhole you’ll need a minimum of 600 fuel so head to Farpoint in the Alnitak system or Sunracer in Mirfak and outfit your flagship and, I suggest, several medium or heavy warships with Fuel Pods. Launch from the outfitter and “land” on the wormhole in Ultima Thule. After meeting the aliens buy from their outfitters a “Quantum Keystone” for each ship. The Keystones unlock the wormhole in Terminus that gets you to the Southern region of the galaxy.
• If you snagged a few Jump Drives near Polaris, you can land on Poisonwood in Graffias or Cornucopia in Kappa Centauri and jump into a new area of space.