Original Space Rangers provided less “get rich quick schemes” than the modern ones where you can sell dominator parts for the double price. In SR 2002 you only can sell klissan parts by the market value depending on your commercial skill.
But even on high difficulty Space Rangers’ universe won’t kill you. If you won’t be able to achieve power fast it will just become boring to play. Universe will live its life and you won’t be able to do anything fun in it.
Only later releases made it possible for the global enemy to take over the whole galaxy.
Unlike Space Rangers 2: Reboot, in old SR I’ve never experienced coalition fully losing all the planets.
There are two major channels of improvement in SR where you can invest your time.
First of all there are skills, that you can get by delivering protoplasm to Ranger Centers.
Second is, well, getting money to buy new equipment.
On high difficulty piracy as means of income isn’t really viable at the start. For piracy you need at least fast, upgraded engine and all five slots occupied with lightweight weapons.
So first – clean up as much space as possible to get bigger hold because this free space will become the major source of income.
It’s okay to sell gripper if it weights 40 and buy gripper that weights 20 or less. Buying heavy engine makes sense only if you want to pay less for maintenance in later game. All other stuff can be just cheap, upgraded and lightweight.
Check the galaxy map often for nearby battles – go to those system and collect as much protoplasm as possible.
Save/load helps to scout the systems for something valuable. If you came to the occupied system and the military forces got already destroyed or it was just a ranger checking the system out – just load the save before this flight. It will save you turns.
It’s important to do things fast initially because with time universe becomes more difficult to be in. Klissans eventually will get more powerful weapons and balance will temporary shift against you.
If you do a hyperjump between systems and the target one is a coalition controlled it makes sense to participate in hyperspace battles. It will provide you with some small additional income.
Until you get at least 2 points in the attacking skill and all 5 weapon slots occupied – it’s pretty useless to try to attack klissans solo. Always attack in groups, together with rangers or military and collect as much as possible. When the hold gets full – deliver it without waiting for the battle to end.
Don’t forget to invest into commercial skills as well because trading is good way to earn income.
To start trading you will need an initial amount of funds. At least 3000 credits should be enough. More you have – better.
Commercial skill makes local goods’ prices more lucrative for you.
Flying from planet to planet works for trading but also check the news frequently – sometimes they announce big discounts. Your ultimate goal is to find cheap luxury for sale on such events and be the first to sell it the nearby planets before they get overstocked. It works extremely well with big batches of luxury so for it to be as effective as possible you need a really big hold and a lot of money. You can make thousands and even tens of thousands in just a one trade.
After getting initial funding your goal is to get a bigger ship and all five weapon slots occupied. At this stage piracy becomes easy.
Rule of piracy is simple – don’t demand until it’s really necessary. If pilot gives you money by their own will it doesn’t tarnish your reputation. If you reputation lowered to orange level or even red at some planets – it’s time to kill klissans to restore it.
Combine piracy with trading – attack the ships that are close to you while you do trading rounds.
It’s almost mandatory to get main piloting skills at this level to the maximum level so you need to deliver both klissan parts and protoplasm to the ranger centers and scientific stations.
When you upgrade your engine to 700+ speeds planetary missions become a good option for a reputational gain and money. Before this point they don’t provide much value.
Such fast engine allows you to take and complete harder versions of the tasks provided by governments and get better payment and overall spend less time on them.
Engine is more important than weapons so if you see a good option prefer it before the weapons upgrade. Faster you move – faster you collect rewards, sell klissan parts and deliver protoplasm.
After maxing out two main piloting skills you still may want to deliver protoplasm to increase commercial skill because it allows you to sell klissan parts at a higher price. But it depends on sufficiency of your income to do repairs of your ship after the battles.
At this stage your help to clear out occupied systems should provide you with a hold full of klissan parts that you can deliver to scientific stations.
When you free the third part of the galaxy coalition will finally gain enough power to do hold the space on their own and provide you with enough commercial opportunities.
Your goal here is to help scientists to build the communication device, not to fully clear the universe because you won’t be able to destroy Machpella anyway on high difficulty level.
Check the search often for bigger hulls because even 30 points of additional space will do a good job at your klissan parts delivery service.
Once you get communication device you save/load tactic to find her fast.
Buy additional fuel tanks and by using them scout the systems. When you run out of fuel just load the starting point of your search and scout the other systems. This allows you to find Machpella fast without losing the precious game turns if you hunt for a better final score.
That’s it. I hope this suggestions will help you with your journey in Space Rangers.