X4: Foundations

X4: Foundations

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What do all the Orders do? [Updated for 4.0 Beta 2]
By manoeuvring with difficulty
A list and explanation of all important orders
   
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What are Orders?
Orders are what make all AI and NPC controlled actions work, the second you jump out of the pilots chair your ship is in the hands of the orders you give it. Orders can further be broken down into two subcategories: Queued Orders and Default Behaviours.

Queued Orders are the instructions you give to your ships on the fly and stack up sequentially with the most recent order given being done last.

Default Behaviours are the broader roles you give ships and aren't things you change particularly often.

In this guide you will learn which orders do what and how to give your ships the best possible combinations of orders.
How to Give Orders
For Queued Orders

Step 1 selecting a ship or ships

To select one ship

Select the ship (left mouse click) that you wish to give an order to either on the map or by selecting the ship in the property owned or objects menus. (for certain few orders you can also target the ship if its nearby)

To select many ships (selecting an area)

While in the map interface hold down shift and the left mouse button and drag the transparent box that appears over the ships you want to give the order to. Once you've covered all desired ships you can release the left mouse button and shift key.

To select many ships (selecting ships individually)

While in the map interface hold down control and then left click all desired ships (which should now be highlighted in blue in the property menu)

Selected ships have a white outline like

Step 2 Giving the order

For Navigation commands right-click the object or position you want your ship to fly to/explore/dock at/etc

For Trade commands hover over the station/ship with which you want to trade with and right-click on the ware you want your ship to trade with and adjust the slider that appears to buy or sell goods.

For "Assign to" commands right-click the ship/station you want as a commander and select the role you want your selected ship to perform in the context menu

For Fight commands right-click the enemy object you want your selected ship to attack and select attack or right-click the object you want to protect and select protect.



To set up Default Behaviours

Select the ship that you wish to give an order to either on the map or by selecting the ship in the property owned or objects menus. (for certain few orders you can also target the ship if its nearby)

Press the "information key" (default is the i key). This should bring up the selected ships information menu

Select the "Behaviours" tab and click on the blue box underneath "default behaviour" with "hold position" written on it. An order menu should then pop up and you may now select the desired order.

Queued Orders
Generic Orders

Fly To
Ship will fly to an object and wait. If instructed to fly to a moving object the ship will follow the object.
Dock at
Ship will fly to and then dock and wait at an object
Venture From
Ship (M/S only) will fly to a venture send-off dock
Attack
Ship will attack the selected target.
Attack Multiple Objects
Ship will attack the selected targets.
Upgrade/Repair At
Ship will dock at and then repair at a wharf/shipyard/resupply ship as specified by the player.
Sell Ship At
Ship's ownership will be transferred to the recipient faction and the player is paid a 2nd hand rate for the ship.
Explore
Ship will move in a spiral shape to uncover a certain radius of a sector.
Update Trade Offers
Ship will fly within a sector, passing within range of all known stations which will update their trade offers. (great if you can't afford satellites)
Collect Drops
Ship will fly to a region and collect drops within that region (L and XL ships perform this best when equipped with drones)
Mine
Ship will mine for resources in a specified region
Deploy At Position (Civilian)
Ship will fly to a location and setup a civilian deployable (satellites, navigation beacons, etc)
Deploy At Position (Military)
Ship will fly to a location and setup a military deployable (laser towers, mines, etc)

Trade Orders

Dock to Trade
Ship will dock at a station or resupply ship and notify the player when the ship is ready to trade
Trade With
Ship will trade with a station/resupply ship (monetary transaction).
Transfer Wares With
Ship will exchange wares with a station/resupply ship (no monetary transaction).
Buy From (requires order loop)
Ship will repeatedly buy a chosen quantity of a ware from a station provided the station is paying at or above a chosen minimum price.(works best in conjunction with "Sell To")
Sell To (requires order loop)
Ship will repeatedly sell a chosen quantity of a ware to a station provided the station is paying at or above a chosen minimum price. (works best in conjunction with "Buy From")

Assign Role For

"Assign Role For" orders are another way of setting up Default Behaviours that require a commanding ship or station and allow the player to give an assignment to multiple objects simultaneously.

Defend
Ship(s) will defend their commanding ship/ station and will act when the commanding ship/station is attacked.
Attack
Ships(s) will attack their commanding ship/station's target
Interception
Ship(s) will attack fighters (recommended for S/M ships)
Resupply
Resupply ship(s) will buy wares to resupply and repair their commanding ship's fleet. When not trading for wares the resupply ship will try to fly with the fleet.
Mining
Mining ship(s) will collect/mine resources for their commanding station.
Trading
Trading ship(s) will trade resources for their commanding station.
Mimic
Ship(s) will copy their commanders orders (works best for traders and miners)
Follow
Ship(s) will follow their commanders (they will not, however, fly in formation while doing so)
Default Behaviours
Combat

Patrol
Ship(s) will fly around a specified sector in a specified range and attack hostile ships and stations.
Police
Ship(s) will patrol and scan ships in a specified sector in a specified range and attack ships with illicit goods that refuse to drop them. (When the player uses this command illicit wares are determined from the list under 'Global Orders'. it is best used in a player-controlled sector).
Protect Position
Ship(s) will defend their assigned position in a specified radius.
Protect Ship
Ship(s) will follow and defend their assigned ship.
Protect Station
Ship(s) will fly near and defend their assigned station.

Coordination

Coordinate Attack
Fleet(s) will organise themselves to attack a target(s) in an organised manner with parameters for fleet aggression and allows the player to set points for subordinates to rally before attacking.

Navigation

Dock And Wait
Ship will dock and then wait at a specified object
Explore
Ship will move in a spiral shape to cover a specified radius of a sector.
Follow Ship
Ship will follow a specified ship
Fly to Object
Ship will fly to a specified object (can be ship/station/gate etc) and then wait. In the case of a ship it will follow the ship
Fly and Wait
Ship will fly to a specified point on the map and then stop and wait.
Hold Position
Ship will maintain current position either docked or undocked. It is the default behaviour for newly built/captured ships.

Trade
AutoMine
Mining ship will automatically mine and trade in a range based on skill level.
Find Build Tasks
Builder ship will fly slowly around the galaxy looking to build NPC stations
Distribute Wares
Ship (recommended for L traders) will buy a ware en masse from a specified whitelist at a station and sell it in smaller amounts to stations/resupply ships.
Plunder
Ship behaves like a pirate ship (not particularly effective though)
AutoTrade
Ship (recommended for M/S traders) will buy a ware from a specified whitelist at a station and sell it to a station/resupply ship

Advanced

Order Loop
Allows the repetition of queued orders indefinitely and enables the "Buy From" and "Sell To" commands (Applications of this command is looked at here)
4 Comments
Plaute 27 Jan, 2021 @ 6:58pm 
Excellent
manoeuvring with difficulty  [author] 25 Jan, 2021 @ 8:12pm 
@maddyman10 No worries mate, glad it helped :)
maddyman10 25 Jan, 2021 @ 2:23am 
Excellent, thanks so much
manoeuvring with difficulty  [author] 10 May, 2020 @ 1:25am 
This is still a work in progress and is lacking images which I'm yet to add for more clarity