Use the “Local” target location when the ship is already in the right system (or en route if currently warping). This is the quickest way to get started, but has only limited ability to repeat the grind:
Hostile hunt: If any hostile hunt/combat mode is set to repeat with this option, the ship will remain in the player’s home system, as there’s nowhere else to send it to. In that case this is the fastest and most reliable option and is well suited for example if you move your base for faction rep grinding.
Mining: When repeat mining with this option, FastTrek will keep the mine in focus while the ship returns to base. It will also try to read the current system name and type of resource in order to be able to return even if disrupted.
FastTrek will wait for the miner to return home before sending it straight back to the same node, which stays on screen during this time. No other actions can be taken during this time, so it is best suited for mining with a relatively short journey.
If mining in deep space there is a possibility that this won’t work. This will then be due to an inability to read the system name. Possible solutions to this are: trying in a different system; specifying the system name (see below); parking another ship in the system to keep it visible.
System
The “System” target location uses the bookmarks system to search for and open a particular system name.
If the ship is moving or warping when the bot is started, FastTrek will consider it as already in or travelling to the target system. The lookup step is skipped in that case.
Auto-completion
The system search field offers intuitive auto-completion of all the star systems in the game, using whichever language you’re currently running the game in. (You may need to restart if you switch languages half way through a session.)
For each automation mode and for each supported mining resource FastTrek will remember the last 10 systems used. For most this will mean instantly having your favourite system selected as soon as you switch to that mode.
Smart Suggestions
FastTrek system search is smart enough to suggest the most relevant systems first. For example, for the Voyager Bioship mode it will only suggest systems that have summonable hostiles. If you select a resource for mining, only systems containing those nodes will appear in the system search results. Try typing “G3” or “G4”, etc, and corresponding mining grades will be shown. And if you enter a filter for Keyword Hunter, it will only suggest systems with corresponding hostiles! (see screenshots below)
System sort order
Auto-complete sorts systems in the following order:
Nearest Match to user entered text.
Appearance in Recent History.
Mining systems by same grade, higher grade, lower grade. Hostiles by similar level (about 2 levels higher or lower), higher levels, lower levels in descending order.
Warp Range required.
Alphabetical by name.
Screenshots
Ship
The “Ship” target location allows you to use another ship as an ‘anchor’. This is very fast and reliable to switch, as bookmarks and menu navigation are not involved.
If the ship is moving or warping when the bot is started, FastTrek will consider it to be already in or travelling to the target system. It will skip the lookup step in that case.
Hostile Hunt: Works well for modes such as the Borg Cube Cutting Beam, especially in deep space, but you do need to dedicate a second ship. Where it also shines is Amalgam looting: place one ship in a suitable system and have it target the combat ships only. Set your Amalgam to warp to that ship and hit the surveys. That way time spent looking for the right system is minimised. However, “Numbered bookmarks” also work well for the Amalgam. Mining: You’ll need to be mining one of the supported resource types to use this option.
Named Bookmark
The “Named Bookmark” target location uses your bookmaks and attempts to read them with OCR. It will navigate if it finds a match.
As with system lookup, if the ship is moving or warping when started, FastTrek will skip the lookup. It will consider the ship to be already in or travelling to the target system.
Please be aware that the game font is difficult to read and some names may not be recognised properly. You may want to experiment a little to find names that work. Upper case English letters should be the most reliable. I would also avoid using similar letters like ‘o0iL’ as well as accents or special characters.
It is undoubtedly the least reliable of the available options, but very flexible otherwise. The advantage of a named bookmark is that it can capture an exact location as opposed to ‘somewhere in the system’.
Hostile Hunt: No additional notes. Mining: You’ll need to be mining one of the supported resource types to use this option to its full potential.
For other resource types only, in systems with limited visibility (origin/territory and deep space) this will only work if the bookmark is directly to a node and that node is not occupied.
Numbered Bookmark #1-6
The “Numbered Bookmark” target location uses your bookmaks and will simply click on one of the first 6 that are visible.
As with system lookup and named bookmarks FastTrek will skip the lookup step if the ship is moving or warping when the bot is started.
The advantage of this option over Named bookmarks is that there is no need for OCR, thus improving reliability. There is no need to worry about the naming, and it is also faster than a system lookup due to just requiring two clicks.
As a slight downside this has a limit of 6 bookmarks, and their position affects the result. So if you decide to create a new bookmark, you will need to adjust the bookmark number for any running automations.
Hostile Hunt: No additional notes. Mining: You’ll need to be mining one of the supported resource types to use this option to its full potential.
For other resource types only, in systems with limited visibility (origin/territory and deep space) this will only work if the bookmark is directly to an unoccupied node.
