Overview
A simple but comprehensive guide to going From Rags To Riches in the X4 Universe
Introduction
I hope to share with you my hundreds of hours of gameplay knowledge on how I start a Young Gun and dominate the X4 universe – vanilla style (without mods and no Split DLC).
This guide has been used and tested at the current state of the game (version 3.30). Future updates and patches to the game might make this guide irrelevant. In which case, I will probably edit to make it relevant again (if time permits).
Until then, I hope you’ll find something useful to enjoy your X4 ventures.
In the Beginning …
- Go to your stater Ship. Press Enter to go to the Upgrade/Repair screen. Sell 4 Nav Beacons. You’ll need 1 to mark the Wormhole later. Buy 2 regular Satellites. Trust me, you’ll need them.
- UNDOCK and activate your Scanner. Fly to one of the station “leaks” in order to start the Main Mission from the Boron.
- When instructed to buy Antimatter Cells, ignore the Boron and use the money to buy a S class Mining Ship with a Trading Computer (very important) from the Wharf in Argon Prime. We’ll pause on this mission until we have 6 M class Drill Miner.
- Press the M key to open the Map screen. Scroll to find the Wharf in Argon Prime. Right Click on it and select the option to Buy Ships. You will be able to create an order to build new ships remotely.
- Purchase an order to create a S class Mineral Miner as shown below. Make sure to select Minimum Presets first then opt for the Miner MK2 and a shield to protect your ship from bumping onto asteroids. Don’t forget to include the Trading Computer.
*** Don’t mind the listed price too much in the pictures. Prices vary depending on the current state of the station’s economy. I’ve uploaded the desired setup for reference only. Total price in your game will definitely vary.
The Setup
- While waiting for your brand new S class Miner to be built, plot a course to the West end of your current sector (Grand Exchange 1). Press SHIFT+A to activate Autopilot until you reach the jump gate out. This should take you to Grand Exchange 4.
- Once in Grand Exchange 4, drop a Resource Probe near the purple area of the Asteroid Belt to reveal precious Nividium. Go ahead and plot a waypoint to the other side (west end) of the map. Fly there until you see the Superhighway to the next sector (Grand Exchange 3).
- Once in Grand Exchange 3, plot a waypoint to the West end of the sector to find the Teladi Trading station. Drop a Satellite near it. It will help make you MILLIONS later.
- Take the superhighway near the Teladi Trading station to go to the next sector.
- Near the gate where you spawn in Black Hole Sun 5, you’ll likely come near the Argon Trading station. Drop another Satellite near it. It will make you even MORE MILLIONS more later.
- Continue heading West of the sector until you find the superhighway out.
- You should now be back where you first started the game (Black Hole Sun 4). Continue heading west. If you happen to come close to the asteroid belt. Drop a Resource Probe in it. This is your gold mine. Keep heading west of the map to go the next sector.
- You should see that you’re in the Second Contact Flashpoint sector. Continue heading west PAST the superhighway. You’re looking for a Jump Gate on the South West end which would lead you to The Void. If you don’t see The Void, you went in the wrong jump gate. Go back and continue flying a little more west or perform a Long Range Scan to find it in your map.
- Once in The Void, you should see a nearby Antigone Trading station. Drop a Satellite near it. You’ll make EVEN MORE millions from it later.
- Perform a Long Range Scan to find the asteroid belts. Fly there to drop a Resource Probe and go back to the gate fast after. There is an environmental hazard in that belt that can kill you while on your starter ship.
- Go back to the Second Contact Flashpoint sector and take the Superhighway going North to Hatkiva sector past Argon Prime.
- Along the middle of the sector map, you should pass by the HAT Trading station. Fly there and drop a Satellite near it for even more Millions!
Your First 1,000,000 Credits
Once your S Class miner ship has been built, Right-Click on it in the Map to view its Information. Click on the Behaviour tab, then assign it to AutoMine > Nividium > Black Hole Sun 4.
If you dropped a resource probe back there, then your new ship should be able to start mining it right away. This little ship will mine Nividium in Black Hole Sun 4 until it gets 26 units (2,600 cargo space). Once it’s full, order it to Trade Wares with the Argon Trading Station nearby to sell your mined Nividium. A full S class miner ship cargo of Nividium should sell for over 100,000 credits every 10 minutes or so.
Once you have a little over 500,000 credits, build a M Class Miner (Drill Mineral) in the same Wharf you bought your S class ship. Set the Loadout to Minimum requirements but try to squeeze in the MK 2 Mining Drill weapon and the Mining Turrets when possible. Like your S-Class Miner, it NEEDS to have the Trading Computer to be able to sell automatically after.
*** Prices vary in game depending on the station’s economics (supply and demand of stored materials)
Once built, assign it to mine Nividium in The Void. A M Class miner filled with Nividium (98 units) will sell for approximately 400,000 credits every around 20 minutes.
Your next 4 or 5 M Class miners should be used to do the following:
1) Mine Nividium in Grand Exchange 4 – it should auto-sell to the Teladi Trading Station in Grand Exchange 3 if you dropped the Satellite near it.
2) Mine to sell Nividium in HAT sector.
3) Replace the S class miner ship assigned to mine and sell Nividum to the Argon Trading Station in Black Hole Sun 4.
4+5) Mine to sell Ore or Silicon to any argon refinery station (Ore sells for less but is more in demand due to Hull Production, this is great for passive Reputation gains)
Personally, I assign the rest to mine for the HOP refineries since they start hating me at the start and I want the Nemesis Sentinel ship ASAP. But I can see an argument to sell to either the Argons or Antigones for faster Reputation gain and get their XL and L class ships and weapons.
Once you have this setup, you’ll passively gain millions of credits every few minutes. You can continue to do the Main mission now to unlock Research and get a free M Class ship along the way.
You’ll also get a FREE 20x20x20 station with it too. I like to build a 1 L Cargo Storage Container and 1 M Solid Container to store Research materials. Then another 3M6S dock to attach my Venture Platform on.
Your First Space Station … and beyond!
Space Stations is where the space money is at.
A good and logical choice for your first space station is an Ore AND a Silicon refinery factory. An ideal place to start one is in Argon Prime. It’s safe, it will not be under attack to change factions, it has a lot of ores and silicon resources, and all the other stations need those resources. In the future, you can turn this space station refinery to a Scanning Array production to make even more credits.
YOUR FIRST SPACE STATION – Ore and Silicon Refinery Station (eventually turned to Scanning Array Space Station)
LOCATION: Argon Prime (try to place between the Argon Wharf and Shipyard
RECOMMENDED SIZE: 4 x 4 x 4
PLOT LICENSE COST: 512,000 credits (minimum)
MODULES: You’ll need the following Station Modules from the Argon Representative:
– 1 3M6S Dock
– 1 Large Dock
– 1 Large Cargo Storage Container (to hold refined Ores and Silicon Wafers)
– 2 Medium Solid Containers (to hold raw Ores and Silicon)
– 1 Solar Panel
– 1 Ore Refinery (for obvious reason)
– 1 Silicon Refinery (another obvious reason)
– 4 M Class Freighter
– 1 L Class Mineral Miner
– when available: Add 2 Scanning Arrays (per 1 Ore and Silicon Refineries)
Place regular satellites near the other Argon stations that buy Refined Ores and Silicon Wafers. If you happen to find more Trading Stations, feel free to drop a Satellite near them. These will be your loyal customers.
When the 3M6S Dock is built, assign the 4 M Class freighters (more freighters, more money to make) to Trade for Commander’s Build Storage (for now). You’ll re-assign them to Trade for Commander after the station is fully built.
When you have the funds, purchase the Scanning Array production module from the Argon Representative and build one or two in your Refinery Station in Argon Prime. Explore the map for stations that buy Scanning Arrays. Assign one or two L Freighters in your Scanning Array station. The Scanning Arrays are HUGE and take up a lot of cargo space. But you’ll recuperate the cost soon. This will become one of your biggest money maker.
A good choice for your second space station is the Smart Chips. They are always in demand and in huge bulk. Another good reason to build one is that they only need Silicon, which is a LOT of supply everywhere.
Suggested setup for your Smart Chip factory in Argon Prime:
LOCATION: Argon Prime (try to place as close to the Superhighway without costing too much in license)
RECOMMENDED SIZE: 4 x 4 x 4
PLOT LICENSE COST: 512,000 credits (minimum)
MODULES:
– 1 3M6S Dock
– 1 L Dock
– 1 Large Cargo Storage Container
– 2 Medium Solid Container
– 1 Solar Panel
– 1 or 2 Silicon refineries
– Up to 20 Smart Chips (24 if you have enough Workforce to get Productivity Bonus)
– at least 4 M Freighter
– 1 L Mineral Miner
– OPTIONAL: 1 Microchip (which will need 1 Silicon Refinery per module)
A TIP:
Which Turrets to use to protect your Miners and Freighters from Pirates and Xenons or KHKs? All Plasma Turrets if Mining Turrets are not possible.
REASON:
Since you’ll likely spend most of your time out of their sector, Plasma does the most cost effective and high damage against the enemies of the ARG Federation and the ANT Republic.
When you have the funds, you can expand your production to the following HUGE money making stations:
- Hull Production (I like adding an Advanced Composite production module later. Preferred Location: The Void)
- Engine Production (I like the South East end of Second Contact Flashpoint)
After you have 3 or 4 Space Stations passively gaining you Millions of Credits, start an Argon Food and Medicine Production on the West Wing of your Research Station (Player Headquarters).