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There are several types of regular Mission within Endless sky, Bounty hunter missions, passenger transports, goods transport, Escort, and Scenario missions. These are all randomized and repeatable.
Factions such as the Free Worlds offer a second type of mission; the same each new game, linear narratives and unrepeatable.
You will only be offered mission that your current fleet can complete. If you buy a new ship and the mission requires outfits that your current ship does not have, you will have to abandon the mission or outfit it differently. E.g for passenger missions, passenger space is required, and the only fix is to get the Bunkbeds outfit to your flagship or to Unpark enough escorts in the current system that they can carry the mission's passenger. The Job list is populated upon landing based on the outfits present at that instant. If your flagship is outfitted with a Brig and Luxury Accommodations but you then sell them, when you check the Job list you will still see Prisoner Transport and Wealthy Transport missions and be able to accept them despite no longer satisfying their requirements.
Missions can be started either by going to the job board tab when on a planet, or sometimes by visiting the spaceport tab. Missions obtained from the spaceport are often higher paying and more complex. Spaceport missions are not always offered.
Normal[]
Randomized and repeatable.
Many are smuggling missions to the paradise worlds, if the republic scans you the fines are heavy.
Other normal missions consist of carrying packages, taking other pilots missed rush deliveries, etc.
The description usually says which ones can get you fined.
Escort[]
Highly paid, usually four jumps away. Pirates always attack in the destination system, if not before. Combat rating or similar, required.
It is possible to take these missions from the very start of the game with combat rating 0. At first they will only be little ships and they will only pay 15,000 credits, the pirate attacks will also be small. By combat rating 1 or 2 the pay will go up to about 60,000 credits and the escort ships are usually light freighters. Combat rating 3+ will see missions with pay of 60,000 to 120,000+ but the pirate attacks are similarly advanced.
The higher paying missions are often dangerous without a decent fleet, but with a little persistence and strategy the 15K and 60K can be done with a single interceptor.
Scenario Missions[]
Very highly paid, usually a return journey involved. Incomplete list, feel free to add more:
- Transport Scientists
- Record Convention
- Supplies for party
- Escort cargo fleet "there and back" (possibly exclusive to the free worlds campaign? Only time the editor has noticed it.)
- Escort a novice pilot to x planet and then return. (The editor assumes this opens up either at a certain combat rating, or after a certain amount of time has passed.)
- Transport colonists.
Bounty Hunting[]
Named pirates will always be within two systems of the planet offering the bounty, unless they are marauder bounties then it's up to three jumps away. The bounty is always in one system, if you find them then leave the system you can go back at any time and they will still be there. Players tend to prefer taking these missions and then continuing on their business; the mission target will present itself then as an ambush, but with a good ship, pirates ambush the player anyway, and it saves a lot of time searching for the target. A good strategy is to take bounty missions in dead end systems (eg Kraz) as this reduces the number of systems you have to search to ones you have to pass through to leave. https://steamcommunity.com/app/404410/discussions/0/496880203073438936/
Friendly NPCs do not attack bounties, unlike pirates. Upon jumping into the system, the bounty will only target the player (and escorts), likely to make it more difficult for the player and so that the money can go to the player rightfully.
Cargo Delivery[]
A simple mission type where you must transport a quantity of cargo from one destination to another, with the payment depending on the quantity of cargo and the distance from one destination to another by hyperdrive. Some cargo delivery missions are "bulk" missions, which require the movement of large quantities of cargo, while others can be "rush" missions, which require you to finish transporting the cargo by a certain date. Both modifiers can be present at the same time, and increase the payment.
Passenger Transport[]
A simple mission type where you must transport passengers from one place to another. Payment depends on distance and number of passengers transported. Some passenger transport missions also require the movement of cargo. Transporting tourists may pay better than other types of passenger.
Deep Jobs[]
https://github.com/endless-sky/endless-sky/blob/master/data/human/deep%20jobs.txt
Story line[]
The same each new game, these are linear narratives and unrepeatable.
Starting mission[]
Starting Mission is to take on an old pilot that will show you the basics. He will show you how to make a living with which ever of the first three ship you picked.