The reward for Zeke's Solar Sail mission is a Level 7 Solar Sail engine. This engine is not manufacturable or tradable, but it is awarded at 200% quality. The specifications are 204 thrust, 3500 warp and it features an equipped reactor recharge buff providing +7.1 reactor recharge at 200% quality. The main attraction of the L7 Solar Sail is its low signature. While its signature is not specified in the attributes, it is reputed to be zero, making the L7 Solar Sail the lowest sig L7 engine available. However, the L7 Solar Sail does not translate to zero visibility - when Alcyone's Grandmaster hull is equipped with the L7 Solar Sail engine, her unbuffered visibility is .5K. If you are a high enough level player to run an L7 engine the only thing this mission will challenge is your patience and tolerance for head banging boredom. The developers really went way out of their way to make this mission tedious and time consuming. I suspect many higher level players have abandoned and forfeited the Zeke's Solar Sail Mission out of pure frustration over not wanting to waste yet more of their time. Given that there are other decent low sig L7 engines in the game such as the Sundari Trifid LGS 7 and Io C/7000, the Zeke's Solar Sail mission may not be worth your time and effort. However, if you are hell bent for leather to do the Zeke's Solar Sail mission, here are the mission details and a number of tips which will hopefully help you make a little shorter work of the ordeal.
The First Mission Within the Mission: Chitin' Bits
There are numerous locations where Chitin' Bits can be looted from low level Vrix ships. I looted the Chitin' Bits required for the mission at Akeron's Gate, between Saturn Sector and Freya Sector, where flights of lower level Vrix are ubiquitous. The L16 Vrix at Akeron's appear to be the most productive for farming Chitin' Bits. Plan to spend some time acquiring the Chitin' Bits as you will have to kill a great deal of Vrix before you have collected 15 Chitin' Bits. They drop thin.
I observed other high level players just abandoning much of this loot in the killed hulks and sometimes large fields of uncollected hulks accumulate as high levels farm Vrix for the Chitin' Bits. So there are likely to be opportunities for lower level players to acquire significant amounts of Vrix loot free for the taking simply by finding and following higher levels as they farm Vrix for Chitin' Bits for this mission... You will have to kill enough Vrix in the course of collecting 15 Chitin' Bits that a good Vrix faction may be be impacted. I lost faction with Vrix during the process, but not enough to turn my relatively high Vrix faction to the bad.
Chitin' Bits are tradable and are bought and sold on the market channel. Be prepared to pay in the neighborhood of 100k each for them if you elect to buy rather than spend the time to farm Chitin' Bits yourself.
The Zeke's Contraption is a "first attempt at building the dee-vise of retrybushan gone astray" and is a dud regards being relevant to finishing the ensuing tasks required to complete the Zeke's Solar Sail Mission.
The Second Mission Within the Mission: Stranger Ship Reports
Reopening a dialog with Zeke after obtaining the Zeke's Contraption starts the second mission within the mission and requires you to fetch a hammer back for Zeke which he had previously loaned to his cousin Boyd B. Lee, located in Earth Sector. Boyd's ship is located about 6K SSE of Luna Gate in Earth Sector. However, Boyd isn't about to just surrender the hammer without requiring his own mission of you, which is to bring him three "Stranger Ships" EarthCorps Military Reports.
I looted the Stranger Ship Reports required by Boyd from an L15 EarthCorps Mercenary ship at the Brand's Remains nav in Slayton Sector, Beta Hydri. This EarthCorps Mercenary ship spawns at Brand's Remains every 7.5 minutes. Be prepared to spend some time looting the 3 Stranger Ships Reports required to complete the second mission within the mission, as they drop thin. Also don't be surprised to find other players camping this drop and providing competition to harvest the EarthCorps Mercenary. As the word spreads about this drop for Stranger Ship Reports, the camping situation at Brand's Remains is likely to further deteriorate...  By the way, don't confuse these bogus EarthCorps Intel: "Operation Protect and Intercept" Reports which are also dropped by the EarthCorps Mercenary ship, with the Stranger Ship Reports. Boyd won't accept these in lieu of the real deal. While waiting out the Stranger Ship Report drops I had opportunities to loot a good deal of low level devices from the mercenary ship and others in the vicinity such as the Sundari L1 Aquila I IBWS 1, L1 Corona Australis I PR 1, L1 Sundari Sextans I ISR 1, L3 Lepus II IFSS 3, InfinitiCorp L2 DV-WP-X1 Roadrunner Plus Mk II, and Sparta L3 Energy Sink Tria, shields such as the InfinitiCorp L1 SH-X7 Mastiff Mk. II and the L1 BlackSun Copper Scale, weapons such as the Tada-O L3 Stinging EMP Beam XZ, and components such as the L4 CE3K Model 4, L3 Vortex 7500 Terabyte Memory Chip, L2 Electro Microminiature Connector, and L1 Turbo2 Standard Engine Hulk. Stranger Ship Reports are tradable and are bought and sold on the market channel. Be prepared to pay in the neighborhood of 2 mil each for them if you elect to buy rather than spend the time to farm Stranger Ship Reports yourself.
The Zeke's Folly analyzes to a unique, non-manufacturable and non-storable L1 Sawed-off Rotary Hammer, a non-manufacturable L1 Bottles Wired Together, a manufacturable L1 Tinfoil Sheet. It may be worth mentioning in passing that when I first analyzed the Zeke's Folly with my Grandmaster Alcyone, I was subsequently at a loss to find it in my device build list. My first reaction and thoughts were that this must be due to some kind of mission related bug.
Since component building is the domain of TTs and not JEs, making up a special class of device-like "components" seemed to me a rather queer and off-the-wall thing to do on the part of the developers. But then, a great deal of what the developers do seems rather queer and off-the-wall to me...
If this doesn't happen, as will be the case quite a few more times than not, then to finish the mission you are going to have to either acquire a Tinfoil Sheet from another player, or come up with a second Zeke's Folly to dismantle to get a Tinfoil Sheet yourself. Of course Alcyone wasn't lucky enough to get a critical recovery with Tinfoil Sheet back and I wanted the build on it, so I obtained a second Zeke's Folly to dismantle by running this mission a second time with my Merchant Prince Toysrus. When Toysrus got to the point of obtaining a Zeke's Folly she gave it to Alcyone, and Alcyone then dismantled it to break out an analyzable Tinfoil Sheet. Tinfoil Sheet also turns out to be an electronics component that appears along with the Zeke's Folly on the new branch of Alcyone's build tree.
Unless you get very lucky and get a critical recovery when you do the Tinfoil Sheet analyze and get a Roller Press back, if you want to build Tinfoil Sheet you will need to either acquire yet another Zeke's Folly to dismantle all the way down through Tinfoil Sheet to the Roller Press, or else once you have Tinfoil Sheet analyzed you can acquire and dismantle a player made Tinfoil Sheet to break out the Roller Press and analyze it. The Roller Press analyzes down to an L1 Mi Graphite Shell Casing, which can be purchased from NPC L1 component vendors at Arx Magister in Mars, Earth Station in Earth, and Joves' Fury in Jupiter, and 3 raw L1 Sand Ores. So 1 Mi Graphite Shell Casing, 3 raw L1 Sand Ores and 3 Refined Tin Alloy (15 raw Tin Ores) are required to manufacture each Tinfoil Sheet. Needless to say, most players advanced enough to use an L7 engine will simply find it more expedient and cost effective to beg, buy, borrow or steal a Tinfoil Sheet from another player when they get to the point in the mission where they need a Tinfoil Sheet to finish up.
The Third Mission Within the Mission: Nommos Blubber/Tinfoil
Opening a dialog with Zeke after returning from Boyd with the hammer and receiving Zeke's Folly reveals that just watching all of the work you've been doing has made Zeke hungry...
So Zeke sends you out on yet another mission within the mission fetch him a pie from his cousin and cook Belulah Lee. You will find Belulah on the walkway surrounding the lounge and casino room at Friendship 7 Recreational Port in Glenn Sector, Beta Hydri. Of course Belulah is a little short on ingredients to make Zeke's pie, so she assigns you a mission of her own to go and fetch 3 Nommos Blubber for Zeke's pie.
Nommos Blubber loots from Nommos mobs, which can be found in the vicinity of Nommos Point in Aganju Sector, 61 Cygni. Like the rest of the mobs involved in the Zeke's Solar Sail mission, Nommos provide no challenge for an L7 engine user regards farming them. However, before you can legally harvest Nommos you need to obtain a 2 hour Nommos Hunting Pass, which can be obtained from Orkael Lazarra on the main deck of starbase Kinshasa-Mbali in Aganju Sector, 61 Cygni for a fee of 2022 credits. Unlike Chitin' Bits and Stranger Ship Reports, Nommos Blubber is ubiquitous and you will be able to acquire 3 Nommos Blubber in short order. However, upon returning with the Nommos Blubber to Belulah Lee at F7, she requires a Tinfoil Sheet to wrap up Zeke's pie... You may have obtained a Tinfoil Sheet via a critical recovery from a Zeke's Folly analyze if you were lucky. If not you will need to obtain a Tinfoil Sheet from another player - perhaps a friend or fellow guildie who builds will have acquired the build on Tinfoil Sheet and can supply you with one. Tinfoil Sheets are tradable and are also bought and sold on the market channel. If you have more time than credits and supply the necessary components (1 L1 Mi Graphite Shell Casing, 3 raw L1 Sand Ores and 3 Refined Tin Alloy) Alcyone will make a Tinfoil Sheet for you free of charge. I also sell turnkey Tinfoil Sheet to players desiring to avoid a further expenditure of time and simply get on with collecting their Solar Sail engine.
The Dusty Old Box is another queer component item, appearing in a new branch of Alcyone's build lists under Components/Computer/Computers. It analyzes down to an L1 non-manufacturable Treasured Keepsake, an L1 non-manufacturable Manifesto Table of Contents, an L1 manufacturable Control Light Assembly, an L1 non-manufacturable Debris, and an L1 non-manufacturable, non-tradable, non-storable Nommos Plush Toy. None of these items are germane to the Zeke's Solar Sail Mission, but may be to others...
Mission Debriefing This mission is definitely one of if not the most boring and tedious missions I can recall doing. It presents no real challenge to a player capable of equipping an L7 engine beyond seriously taxing your patience, determination, and persistence. It is as if the developers intentionally went out of their way to make doing this mission a total ho-hum and time burner.
However, the time consuming loots required to satisfy the missions within this mission are tradable, so if you have more credits than time to spend on this mission you can speed it up significantly by purchasing Chitin' Bits, Stranger Ship Reports and/or a Tinfoil Sheet from other players on the market channel. If you do this for all the required loots and pay the going rates, your L7 Solar Sail engine could easily wind up costing you several million credits. To my way of thinking, there are attractive alternatives to the L7 Solar Sail engine, assuming you aren't Progen. These are the Sundari Trifid LGS 7 and Io C/7000 engines. Both these engines are decent, low sig combat engines with the advantages of being maintainable, upgradable, and more readily available. Unlike the L7 Solar Sail, if you run down the quality of your Trifid or Io engine, any master engine builder worth their salt can readily rebuild an L7 Io or Trifid back to 200% quality for you. The L7 Solar Sail is not manufacturable, so even if you are an engine builder yourself, it can't be rebuilt once its quality has been run down from combat damage. Also unlike the L7 Solar Sail, the Trifid and Io engines are also upgradable to L8 and L9 versions if and when you are ready to bump up your engine technician ticket. The L7 Solar Sail does have the lowest sig of any L7 engine and it also provides a reactor recharge rate buff that isn't available in the Io or Trifid. So I won't go as far as saying you shouldn't waste your time or credits doing the Zeke's L7 Solar Sail Mission. But if you are pondering doing this mission, just keep in mind that one way or another, acquiring an L7 Solar Sail is going to cost you.
In closing I'd like to step up on my soap box and soundly criticize the Earth & Beyond developers for deliberately making the Zeke's L7 Solar Sail Mission sucky. It didn't get that way by accident. I don't know about you, but I pay my monthly fees and play Earth & Beyond for the fun and challenge it provides. The developers have failed miserably in delivering fun and challenge with this mission. What was in their heads when they set up the Zeke's Solar Sail Mission tasks around low level mobs for L7 engine users escapes me, but then you have to realize these are the same game "developers" who brought us the job terminals... Fly Safe and I'll See You Out There!
Copyright 2003-2004 All Rights Reserved |
The Zeke's Solar Sail Mission begins and ends with Ezekial Garrett aka Zeke in Witberg Sector, Alpha Centauri. Zeke is located in a large Bogeril style ship between Nav Witberg3 and Nav ACBN 1, approximately 12.85K from Nav Witberg 3. Open a dialog with his ship to speak with Zeke. The mission begins with Zeke requiring 15 Chitin' Bits, which are non-manufacturable parts of Vrix ships.
While collecting Chitin' Bits I also looted a good deal of other low level Vrix loot such as crushed, fractured and splintered chitin pieces, gene maps, Vrix modified weapons such as the Antares beam, Blue Dragon missile launcher and Dragon Claw missile launcher, Vrix devices such as the L3 2NF22BL33N26G6F32LD (An Feeble Energy Field) energy shield buff and the L5 D1MP2NCH2M3C1LF32LD (Dampen Chemical Field) chemical shield buff, and Vrix modified components.
Upon returning to Zeke in Witberg with 15 Chitin' Bits, he manufactures a Zeke's Contraption device as your reward. The Zeke's Contraption analyzes to a non-manufacturable L1 Chitin' Bits, an L2 Dry Ice (refined Carbon Dioxide), a non-manufacturable L1 Washboard musical device and an L1 Tar ore.
Upon returning to Boyd in Earth Sector with 3 Stranger Ship Reports, he relinquishes the hammer for you to return to Zeke in Witberg. When the hammer is returned to Zeke he rewards you with an L1 Zeke's Folly, which is a "prototype component of his new and incomplete dee-vise of retrybushan". However, unlike the Zeke's Contraption, the Zeke's Folly is relevant to finishing subsequent tasks to satisfy the requirments of the Solar Sail Mission.
However, unlike the Zeke's Contraption, the Zeke's Folly is not a device - it is an electronics component. Furthermore, it is an Electronics Component that a JE can analyze! I was surprised to finally find the Zeke's Folly listed under a newly created branch in the category tree of Alcyone's item build lists - Components/Computer/Electronics.
The Tinfoil Sheet component of the Zeke's Folly component is germane to finishing the Zeke's Solar Sail mission. In fact, you can't finish the mission without a Tinfoil Sheet. If you analyze the Zeke's Folly component and you are very lucky, you will get a critical recovery and get a tinfoil sheet back from the analyze.
Once they have analyzed a Tinfoil Sheet, Tinfoil Sheet builder wannabes aren't finished yet - Tinfoil Sheet analyzes down to three L2 Tin Alloy (refined Tin) and a Roller Press - which is yet another manufacturable electronics component, nested inside the electronics component Tinfoil Sheet, which is in turn nested inside the electronics component Zeke's Folly. Hey don't shoot the messenger as I didn't make it this way - just explaining how it is...
Once you acquire and give a Tinfoil Sheet to Belulah, she gives you the pie for Zeke. Return to Zeke in Witberg with the pie. Resist the temptation to smack him in the face with it at this point rather than handing it over to him and 
