This is to serve not only as a guide but as a public service announcement to help others garner XP and loot from the blackscale spawn without being hindered by AFK rigs grinding in the area. I have put together two AFK rigs and try to run them daily. I suspect as this server builds momentum there will be plenty more in the area.
Not to worry, with a little understanding of the mechanics of how this works, the AFK rigs will actually serve to assist you in your grind of either XP or loot. Even if their presence is still frustrating, this guide will detail how to stop it temporarily to allow you to complete your goals. If approached correctly this activity is all benefit and no drawback. Lets get started....
Location;
The blackscales are a spawn in Kashyyyk that produce consistent T3-T4 spawns in the area. Almost as soon as they are destroyed they will respawn again. People use this area to grind XP and loot at all levels as the spawns are slow and dumb and can be killed even at T0 with prototype parts. That said, without the AFK rigs it can take a low level pilot eons to eliminate even one ship. Following this guide will explain how to change that.
To find the area, hyperspace to the Avatar platform location in Kashyyyk Space. Once there you will usually end up facing the planet itself. Turning to the left (usually) will orient you toward the Avatar Platform. It's a large asteroid base floating in the distance around 2k meters out. Fly toward and directly under it until you start to see yellow spawns popping up on the radar. These are the blackscales.
Mechanics;
JTL, like every other aspect of the game runs on a series of mechanics. An "if/then" approach. Ignoring these mechanics can put a new pilot into a rage as working against them is the programmatical equivalent of swimming against a current. So here are some mechanic pointers to start off;
1, There are two spawn points in the area. Once one ship is killed another will spawn approximately 90 seconds later. If you put yourself somewhere in the middle of the spawn and face Kashyyyk you will likely see them zerging in if there are AFK rigs killing them.
2, The AFK rigs will default to the T4 spawns. That will be important later.
3, The system of return for both loot and XP is based on a ratio of damage applied, NOT on whether or not you personally destroy the target. The ratio is very simple. To gain XP you have to move the shield level from 100% to around 90%. With around 3 to 5 hits from a prototype weapon on a T4 you will accomplish this. To gain the loot, you need to get both shields and armor to 50%. After that, loot is your regardless of who kills it.
How to Grind with AFK Rigs Present
Here is the great thing about this.... unlike in other areas of the game, this is the one exception where the more AFK grinders there are, the faster you will gather XP and/or loot.
The XP grind
First, find the spawn point(s) using the description in the above section.
Second, fly to a point where you can see the spawns as they zerg in but aren't sitting right on top of them when they do
Third, wait for a T4 to spawn if you are grinding XP
Fourth, apply blaster shots to it as soon as it loads in getting the shields down to 90%
Fifth, stay evasive and let one of the AFK rigs come by an kill it
Finally, rinse and repeat as many times as necessary
As mentioned in the previous section using a prototype weapon will require around 3 to 5 shots to get it down to where you need it to be to gain the XP. Once you move up the XP wheel, using a raw level 5 weapon with no overloads will require one shot. At that point, you can literally sit there, hit the ships one time and not even have to move. Just pop em once and let the AFK rigs do the rest.
The Loot Grind
First, find the spawn point(s) using the description in the above section.
Second, fly to a point where you can see the spawns as they zerg in but aren't sitting right on top of them when they do
Third, wait for a spawn of any kind
Fourth, apply blaster shots to it as soon as it loads in getting the shields and armor down to at least 50%. If you are grinding loot it is very likely you are using a two or three gun ship at this point. Most of the time you will be able to kill them before the AFK rigs do
Fifth, if you have not killed it, just let it fly by and one of the AFK rigs will take it out. As long as you have done the proper amount of damage detailed in step four you will get the loot no matter who kills it or where the ship is when it is destroyed (within reason of course).
Finally, rinse and repeat as many times as necessary
I highly recommend loading a three gun ship with two 10s and an 8 or three tens if you are grinding loot. Three tens will eliminate a T4 in one shot. With the AFK rigs killing the spawns the respawn rate will be proportionately accelerated depending on how many AFK rigs are up there running. If there are a lot, the spawn rate will be very fast and you will fill your inventory very quickly. That said, there are better places to grind loot detailed in following sections if you just don't like the idea of working around AFK of any kind.
Alternatives
In the event that you want to grind at the blackscales but have a fundamental disagreement with AFK in general, here is a quick guide on how to stop the AFK rigs from targeting the spawns while you are there. If you do use this guide, I strongly encourage you to follow the steps in reverse to "reset" the AFK rigs as that is the polite thing to do.
First, pull up your datapad on a character you do NOT intend to use to grind
Second, find your luxury yacht (ten day reward on any NGE server)
Third, radial the ship and select "rename ship"
Fourth, name the ship "blackscale" (minus the quotations)
Fifth, launch and hyper to the blackscale spawn using the directions in the above sections
Sixth, fly to the center of the spawn and sit until all, or most, of the AFK rigs are shooting at your ship and not the spawns
Seventh, fly your yacht around 1k meters out and leave it there (you can also just park at the center of the spawn)
Eighth, tab over to your grinding character and grind away
As mentioned above, once you are done, I highly recommend tabbing back over to your yacht toon and flying back to the spawn if you moved the AFK rigs away from the area. Once there the macros will pick back up on nearby spawns as soon as you /homeport. It is important to note though, that using this method will drastically slow down the spawn times of the NPC ships since they will not be getting shot down anymore. It is much faster to NOT use this method regardless of whether you are there for XP or loot.
Loot Alternatives
In a section above I mentioned that there are far better places to grind space loot than the blackscales. If the AFK rigs turn you off or you just want to grind better spots, here is a list of alternative areas to grind that I highly recommend and utilize myself for ATK grinding;
1) Mercenary Escorts; Kashyyyk Space Station. These are T3 but they but take quite a bit of firepower to take out. They also have one ship in a group of three that is armed. It's not a big deal though as staying behind them negates the guns. They take a little time to kill but have by far one of the best loot drops of any spawn in game. This is hands the best place to grind at the keys and my first choice to grind space parts
2) Blacksun T6 Spawns; Ord Mantel. There are two spawns around 1500 meters out from the space station in Ord Mantel. They are fast respawn and pretty easy to take out. They not only drop really good loot, they also drop the coveted Black Sun Ace Helm and drop the Midlythe Crystal that is used to buy a number of items from a vendor on the space station. Going here means you are literally grinding three things at once. They do con red though so be careful. Highly recommend a three gun ship with REd level 8s. (also be aware that there are T8-T10 spawns nearby... do not fly close to those as they can be a serious problem)
3) High Tier Duty Missions; Dathomir Space Station. This is definitely a challenge and not for the faint of heart. These are high teir so using a ship that hits hard and can take a beating is necessary. Simply fly to the station in Dathomir and ask for a high level duty mission. Fly to Kessel and follow the way points. This area has the coveted "switch loot" which can drop some pretty silly stuff. Additionally, successful completion of each phase means duty tokens which can be used at the Kash Nunes NPC on the ORD Space Station to buy specific random loot for that one stat you are looking for on your favorite project.
4) Space Piracy; Random Space Areas. This is a necessary area of grinding as it is the only way to get certain stats on particular loot items such as top speed on level 6 engines, level 10 shields and level 10 engines of any coveted stat just to name a few. Up to T3 are pretty easily soloable by any competent pilot. After that it can get a little dicey for anyone who is not advanced in their skill. There is too much to explain with this so I included a link to the wiki guide;
https://swg.fandom.com/wiki/Piracy
Those are just the ones that come to mind. There are however others and I may add them as I go.
As you can see, this is one area where AFK benefits everyone. There is no draw back and no obstacle or hinderance if one just takes a little time to understand the mechanics. I strongly encourage everyone to read this in its entirety before submitting complaints about the evil AFK'ers. Lets not make the same mistake that other servers have in the past.
Post questions if you have em.
Not to worry, with a little understanding of the mechanics of how this works, the AFK rigs will actually serve to assist you in your grind of either XP or loot. Even if their presence is still frustrating, this guide will detail how to stop it temporarily to allow you to complete your goals. If approached correctly this activity is all benefit and no drawback. Lets get started....
Location;
The blackscales are a spawn in Kashyyyk that produce consistent T3-T4 spawns in the area. Almost as soon as they are destroyed they will respawn again. People use this area to grind XP and loot at all levels as the spawns are slow and dumb and can be killed even at T0 with prototype parts. That said, without the AFK rigs it can take a low level pilot eons to eliminate even one ship. Following this guide will explain how to change that.
To find the area, hyperspace to the Avatar platform location in Kashyyyk Space. Once there you will usually end up facing the planet itself. Turning to the left (usually) will orient you toward the Avatar Platform. It's a large asteroid base floating in the distance around 2k meters out. Fly toward and directly under it until you start to see yellow spawns popping up on the radar. These are the blackscales.
Mechanics;
JTL, like every other aspect of the game runs on a series of mechanics. An "if/then" approach. Ignoring these mechanics can put a new pilot into a rage as working against them is the programmatical equivalent of swimming against a current. So here are some mechanic pointers to start off;
1, There are two spawn points in the area. Once one ship is killed another will spawn approximately 90 seconds later. If you put yourself somewhere in the middle of the spawn and face Kashyyyk you will likely see them zerging in if there are AFK rigs killing them.
2, The AFK rigs will default to the T4 spawns. That will be important later.
3, The system of return for both loot and XP is based on a ratio of damage applied, NOT on whether or not you personally destroy the target. The ratio is very simple. To gain XP you have to move the shield level from 100% to around 90%. With around 3 to 5 hits from a prototype weapon on a T4 you will accomplish this. To gain the loot, you need to get both shields and armor to 50%. After that, loot is your regardless of who kills it.
How to Grind with AFK Rigs Present
Here is the great thing about this.... unlike in other areas of the game, this is the one exception where the more AFK grinders there are, the faster you will gather XP and/or loot.
The XP grind
First, find the spawn point(s) using the description in the above section.
Second, fly to a point where you can see the spawns as they zerg in but aren't sitting right on top of them when they do
Third, wait for a T4 to spawn if you are grinding XP
Fourth, apply blaster shots to it as soon as it loads in getting the shields down to 90%
Fifth, stay evasive and let one of the AFK rigs come by an kill it
Finally, rinse and repeat as many times as necessary
As mentioned in the previous section using a prototype weapon will require around 3 to 5 shots to get it down to where you need it to be to gain the XP. Once you move up the XP wheel, using a raw level 5 weapon with no overloads will require one shot. At that point, you can literally sit there, hit the ships one time and not even have to move. Just pop em once and let the AFK rigs do the rest.
The Loot Grind
First, find the spawn point(s) using the description in the above section.
Second, fly to a point where you can see the spawns as they zerg in but aren't sitting right on top of them when they do
Third, wait for a spawn of any kind
Fourth, apply blaster shots to it as soon as it loads in getting the shields and armor down to at least 50%. If you are grinding loot it is very likely you are using a two or three gun ship at this point. Most of the time you will be able to kill them before the AFK rigs do
Fifth, if you have not killed it, just let it fly by and one of the AFK rigs will take it out. As long as you have done the proper amount of damage detailed in step four you will get the loot no matter who kills it or where the ship is when it is destroyed (within reason of course).
Finally, rinse and repeat as many times as necessary
I highly recommend loading a three gun ship with two 10s and an 8 or three tens if you are grinding loot. Three tens will eliminate a T4 in one shot. With the AFK rigs killing the spawns the respawn rate will be proportionately accelerated depending on how many AFK rigs are up there running. If there are a lot, the spawn rate will be very fast and you will fill your inventory very quickly. That said, there are better places to grind loot detailed in following sections if you just don't like the idea of working around AFK of any kind.
Alternatives
In the event that you want to grind at the blackscales but have a fundamental disagreement with AFK in general, here is a quick guide on how to stop the AFK rigs from targeting the spawns while you are there. If you do use this guide, I strongly encourage you to follow the steps in reverse to "reset" the AFK rigs as that is the polite thing to do.
First, pull up your datapad on a character you do NOT intend to use to grind
Second, find your luxury yacht (ten day reward on any NGE server)
Third, radial the ship and select "rename ship"
Fourth, name the ship "blackscale" (minus the quotations)
Fifth, launch and hyper to the blackscale spawn using the directions in the above sections
Sixth, fly to the center of the spawn and sit until all, or most, of the AFK rigs are shooting at your ship and not the spawns
Seventh, fly your yacht around 1k meters out and leave it there (you can also just park at the center of the spawn)
Eighth, tab over to your grinding character and grind away
As mentioned above, once you are done, I highly recommend tabbing back over to your yacht toon and flying back to the spawn if you moved the AFK rigs away from the area. Once there the macros will pick back up on nearby spawns as soon as you /homeport. It is important to note though, that using this method will drastically slow down the spawn times of the NPC ships since they will not be getting shot down anymore. It is much faster to NOT use this method regardless of whether you are there for XP or loot.
Loot Alternatives
In a section above I mentioned that there are far better places to grind space loot than the blackscales. If the AFK rigs turn you off or you just want to grind better spots, here is a list of alternative areas to grind that I highly recommend and utilize myself for ATK grinding;
1) Mercenary Escorts; Kashyyyk Space Station. These are T3 but they but take quite a bit of firepower to take out. They also have one ship in a group of three that is armed. It's not a big deal though as staying behind them negates the guns. They take a little time to kill but have by far one of the best loot drops of any spawn in game. This is hands the best place to grind at the keys and my first choice to grind space parts
2) Blacksun T6 Spawns; Ord Mantel. There are two spawns around 1500 meters out from the space station in Ord Mantel. They are fast respawn and pretty easy to take out. They not only drop really good loot, they also drop the coveted Black Sun Ace Helm and drop the Midlythe Crystal that is used to buy a number of items from a vendor on the space station. Going here means you are literally grinding three things at once. They do con red though so be careful. Highly recommend a three gun ship with REd level 8s. (also be aware that there are T8-T10 spawns nearby... do not fly close to those as they can be a serious problem)
3) High Tier Duty Missions; Dathomir Space Station. This is definitely a challenge and not for the faint of heart. These are high teir so using a ship that hits hard and can take a beating is necessary. Simply fly to the station in Dathomir and ask for a high level duty mission. Fly to Kessel and follow the way points. This area has the coveted "switch loot" which can drop some pretty silly stuff. Additionally, successful completion of each phase means duty tokens which can be used at the Kash Nunes NPC on the ORD Space Station to buy specific random loot for that one stat you are looking for on your favorite project.
4) Space Piracy; Random Space Areas. This is a necessary area of grinding as it is the only way to get certain stats on particular loot items such as top speed on level 6 engines, level 10 shields and level 10 engines of any coveted stat just to name a few. Up to T3 are pretty easily soloable by any competent pilot. After that it can get a little dicey for anyone who is not advanced in their skill. There is too much to explain with this so I included a link to the wiki guide;
https://swg.fandom.com/wiki/Piracy
Those are just the ones that come to mind. There are however others and I may add them as I go.
As you can see, this is one area where AFK benefits everyone. There is no draw back and no obstacle or hinderance if one just takes a little time to understand the mechanics. I strongly encourage everyone to read this in its entirety before submitting complaints about the evil AFK'ers. Lets not make the same mistake that other servers have in the past.
Post questions if you have em.