This is what I have found to be the current fastest method for leveling mercenary rank solo.
Battle Statistics:
- ~16,800,000+ credits per battle
- ~80+ combat bonds per battle
- ~115,000,000+ credits per hour
Requirements:
- Must have TWO fully upgraded L-6 Rocket Launchers, a P-15 Pistol, and a fully upgraded Dominator Suit.
- L-6: Faster Reload, Stowed Reloading, Ammo Capacity, Faster Handling.
- Dominator Suit: MUST have Increased Ammo Capacity and Increased Jump Assist. The other two engineered slots are up to the CMDR's discretion. I recommend Faster Shield Regen & Combat Movement Speed.
- P-15: Engineering for this weapon is not fully required but I recommend it. I use Magazine Size, Headshot Damage, Greater Range, and Faster Handling.
- Need a ship with an SRV.
- Recommend being fully stocked on consumables, specifically Med Kits, Shield Cells, and Shield Disruptor Grenades.
Location:
- Systems in a War or Civil War state that contain High Tech settlements (note: High Tech does not need to be the primary economy of the system, as long as a good amount of High Tech settlements are present)
- Planet Type: Preferably 0.5g or lower gravity. (0.2g or less is best, less than 0.1 is golden)
- Settlement Type: High Tech, Small Pad only, Conflict Zone Intensity HIGH.
- Settlement: There are 2 variants of small pad high tech settlements, we are looking for the one with the single large building in the middle with the main entrance facing the landing pad. (PICTURE BELOW)
Set Up:
- Locate the proper settlement for leveling. This is the most tedious part of the process. I recommend using INARA and looking for systems currently in war/civil war state that have many high tech small landing pad settlements present. After finding a candidate system, fly to that system and dock at one of the large ports. Go to Frontline Solutions and check and see which high tech small pad settlements in the system have a conflict zone HIGH present. DO NOT shuttle to the conflict zone. Go back to your ship and fly to the settlement conflict zone to inspect if it is the proper one-building settlement. Fly to each high tech small pad settlement with a conflict zone high intensity until you find the proper settlement layout, if after a 3-4 inspections the system does not have this layout present, I suggest trying a new system from INARA. (note: if the system DOES NOT have a large landing pad station available, and therefore no Frontline Solutions, the CMDR must check each small pad high tech settlement without knowing the intensity of the conflict zone before flying there)
- Once a settlement has been located. Land near the settlement and exit the ship with your SRV. Drive your SRV and park it near the settlement, at the red dot indicated by the attached image. This parking location will eliminate one of the NPC spawn points.
The Fight:
- Exit your SRV and begin killing the closest NPC's with your rocket launcher setup. DO NOT choose a side, your first kill will automatically sign you up.
- You must kill the first units on the ground and the first two drop ships quickly and efficiently to get the rhythm going.
- Kill Rhythm: This whole setup allows a CMDR to kill each grouping of 6 NPC's that are dropped off by drop ships the moment they land, with relative ease. A CMDR must be consistently looking up to the sky to see where the next enemy dropship is landing in. Once an NPC drop ship location has been determined, move towards the location and propel yourself off the ground with jump pack boosts so you are floating in the air just as the NPC's are being dropped off. This allows you to shoot rockets down onto the grouping of NPC's, doing AOE damage to the group and taking very little enemy fire. This should eliminate the group very quickly, allowing you to begin looking for the next dropship location and repeat the process. The CMDR must remember to hit ammo boxes around the settlement between drop ships. All of this happens at a fast pace and requires good aim. Use shield disruptor grenades to remove shields from the groupings, enabling you to kill them faster with the rockets.
- Refresh the conflict zone after battle completion. Once the battle is over, go back to your SRV and enter it. Exit to main menu, then reload into the game. This will restart the conflict zone, and the process repeats. Each sequence should take around 8 minutes.
- NOTE: You must do these battles without dying. If you die and are redeployed, it will often take you more than the max distance away from your SRV and it will be destroyed.
Remember you only have to damage an NPC in a conflict zone to get credit for the combat bond once they are killed.
Finally, I would like to note that there are a few very small settlements where this rhythm is achievable. But I personally find this high tech settlement layout to be the best.
Here is a video of one 8 minute run to demonstrate.
_CMDR Captain Scrotium
o7
Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/zufvtk/fast_method_for_leveling_mercenary_rank/
