There is no right answer. It just depends on what you want Mitchiko.

If you want to be a pirate, then who cares about the police and military.
And if you want it the other way around, then go ahead, beat the crap out of the outcasts and other criminals and you'll be buddy duddy with the police & military.

Of course. getting your hands on cardamine will be a bit more difficult as a lawful player, but Zoner's bases near Outcast systems will often provide the opportunity to buy cardamine at a relatively low price.

As pirate, the best solution is to sell your cardamine at Rochester in New York.

You could also be some sort of zoner that is neutral to just about everyone. Just keep killing pirates till most of them are white and you'll do fine. But watch out for the usual "drop your cargo" from pirates if they are neutral to you.

tip for hte drop your cargo scenario:

dont answer, but get the hell away. if you leave it unanswered it takes about a minut (usually for me at least) for them to decide to shoot. however, if you got the hell away, then you'll be fine.

If you are hostile with all the houses, just remember; there si always a back door. That is, there are always jump holes and other alternate routes which will take you to where you want to go, without bringing you into the eye sight of the police. For example: I can make it from Planet malta to Planet Richester base in New york without using a single jump gate or tradelane. That is, of course, only for when I'm smuggling cardamine.

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Thanks a lot... that does help quite much, well you i believe i want to stay on the good side with the border world people or shall i say all the criminals since i find that most job payment with them are higher then the good guys (police) and you know the rest... so the jump gates are the ones that makes everyone go hostile with you, quite interesting to know... haven't realized that i just thought it was one shipment that had a grudge against me creating a whole domino effect, eventually making everyone hostile in the area denying me access to the docking port... which really really sucks when that happens!

Good guys make money running diamonds from Dresden to New Tokyo. Bad guys made money smuggling cardamine through jump holes. To my knowledge, there is a jump hole between each system that is connected by a jump gate. So find the back doors and it doesn't matter if every police force out there hates you.

Alright before you go Cardamine Trading, just remember that some jump holes are patrolled by Bounty Hunters, which I think will be hostile to you, since you're hostile with most of the 'good' factions. So, being bad boy aint so nice afterall eh?

Anyway, to answer your topic title, I would say, befriend the Junkers, the Zoners and the faction which has the weapons of your choice. Junkers for their relation with the 'underground' world and the Zoners for their 'secret' friendliness with some major factions.

One thing to bear in mind is that the larger pirate/criminal factions have the best equipment.

Getting on good terms with the Outcasts/Corsairs is a good move, as that gives you easy access to Cardamine and Artifacts.

I try to keep on as good terms as possible with the Outcasts/Zoners/Corsairs, while keeping neutral with most other factions, including Junkers and the BHG. Regional criminal factions really aren't much of a problem, so I don't mind being hostile with them. It also helps to keep the rep up with the house corps/authorities.

Thats funny... well i managed to get friendly with basiclly all the terrorist groups, they're all friendly with me... don't know if thats good or now anyways its pretty funny since you get to blast almost everything out the sky now and then when you try to smuggle cardamine into the Liberty System! All your postings have helping thanks a ton.

Early in the game, while you're still exploring, hunting wrecks and such, it really helps to be at least neutral with the Criminals.

I, myself am almost like the Zoners, the only groups that are hostile towards me are Bounty Hunters, LWB and Mollys.

Though only about 5 or 6 groups are friendly with me either...

This makes exploring and trading easy and safe, but if you want to stay neutral with pretty much every one, you can't do bar missions.

And you also have to be careful with bribes.

What seems to get me atleast neutral with almost everyone (I got it down to two hostile factions, but damn were they hostile, almost full red) I would kill a whole lot of Bounty Hunters and that would make criminals neutral and although it brought down police and corporations and stuff they didn't go down to far. One option to get in with the Corsairs and Outcasts is to be friendly with the Junkers. Most criminals like the Junkers since they provide basic commodities and services, thus making the underworld atleast neutral to me and the only major hit that is taken is bringing down house corporations and they dont go down to far either.

"It is said that revenge is a dish best served cold, it is very cold in space."
~Khan, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

If you want to be safe with most factions, you must put a lot of effort.

IMO, the first faction to be pleased should be Zoners. The 2nd should go to Junkers. Both factions have good connections to most criminals and independent factions which allow you to bribe them easier.

I'm now only hostile with Xenos and 7-8 friendly.

What is a "Fire-&-Forget" weapon?
- Once it's fired, you can forget the whole thing... it won't usable again...

at the very least be friendly with the outcasts cause you need them for to buy cardamine from

I went the lawful route the first time around, and am trying for the pirate route this time. Just wondering how you guys get started with that since I'm having trouble.

I can't just attack the police right off the bat, since I don't want to be hostile with both them and the rogues/outcasts... I'm neutral with the Junkers, but there are so many rogues around their base I can't reach it.

How do I get neutral with the rogues/outcasts and still make some money since the only missions I have right now come from the good guys?

Which house military is the weakest?
I have hundreds of fighter kills, and a few freighters and I want to get some Battleship kills. (I'm using one of the mods with battleship encounters) but only for that reason.