Exploration Technique

[Nanaki]

I am aware of gate beacons telling you not to proceed... and everytime I have ignored these I have been wasted in moments at the JIP.

The best solution is to come back when you have a lot more firepower. It IS possible to overpower them, as I did with my Lion MK2 Cruiser and its escort of Fifth generation fighters (Mainly Wyverns and Dragons) when I went on a sightseeing tour in Inoco space.

1. When doing missions, does one deviate off the beaten track and explore dead end systems to see if anything of value is there or a side mission exists etc? ...or perhaps the storyline takes you to these places later in the game.

The only reason to deviate off the beaten track, at the moment, is to either farm pirates (or a faction you dislike... if you dont mind being hostile) or break open caches. See the hidden cache thread for details on that.

Otherwise, theres no reason. No optional missions (aside from the ones you get from the main story) exist in this game, unfortunately.

I am aware of triangle shaped containers and asteroids with red flashing lights... but what do they mean.

Triangle shaped containers... Donno. Asteroids with red flashing lights usually signifies that either the asteroid is a cache, or that there is a cache nearby. Destroy it to be sure.

Ship wrecks and station wrecks are also known to contain caches.

2. The hidden stash post is interesting.. but was wondering and without 'cheating' is there a particular method in finding these caches? or a something to look out for in particular?

If a trader flies up to you and offers you information in return for 5000 credits, that is where the data comes from. Although there are quite a few caches that you simply have to find that traders do not tell you about.

ps: any one seen Jah (smoking a reefer) in XB-13... whats his story? ...couldn't start anything when I spoke to him

Donno. Maybe the developers intended to impliment something than changed their minds or ran out of time or money.