Once you have scanned your target with the Kill Warrant Scanner to get maximum bounty payout (Or if you don’t have a Kill Warrant Scanner once you know they are wanted locally from your regular ship scanner), it’s time to warm up your guns. If you’re in an Anarchy System you could have started shooting straight away while the scan is ongoing (So long as you don’t quibble about firing on innocents), but if you’re in
safe space you should wait until the local scan is complete. Opening fire on ship before your local scan completes (Not your Kill Warrant Scan mind you but your ship scanner which runs automatically on anything you have targeted) is the same as opening fire on a Clean ship, and if you’re not in an Anarchy System you can expect to get a Bounty on your head for doing so.
Now I won’t bother going into any combat tactics here but one thing to keep in mind is this.
Whoever gets the kill shot gets the bounty. So that means if you and someone else, even an NPC, are competing for the same target the last shot is all that matters. You could also use this to
snipe kills from others by swooping in at the last moment. If you’re working with a wingman you might want to take turns with the kill shot as bounties are not split. So hold off when the ship is almost dead.
Once the target ship goes boom you should get an indication in the top right if you got the bounty. That is assuming you finished your scan on the ship,
you did scan the ship right? If you don’t get the Bounty then either someone else got the kill, or the system is bugged (Assuming you completed the scan). If this happens repeatedly you can try logging out of the game and back in, or go to another system and hunt there (This second one almost always works).
Your Bounty vouchers will show up on your left panel under the Missions tab. Sometimes they don’t show up right away, so go back and forth between other tabs (Q/E Keys) to get it to refresh. If they still don’t show then you may be bugged and you’ll need to relog or go hunt in a different system.
Notice how each bounty specifies a location. Local bounties can be paid off at the Security office at any local station or Outpost, it will actually say the name of the solar system where the bounty can be collected (So don’t forget to turn in your vouchers before you leave the system). Some bounties can be collected at any station under a certain authority, usually Federation systems. These are the bounties that your Kill Warrant Scanner will collect for you, bounties from outside the local solar system. So once you have turned in your local bounties, fly to a nearby Federation system and collect you Kill Warrant bounties as well (No doubt in future versions of the game there will be Imperial & Federal bounties)…
These vouchers are good as long as you stay alive. So if you can’t pick them up right away you can collect them in a few days’ time. However, if your ship blows up while you have vouchers you will lose them all, just like you lose missions if you lose your ship.
So don’t get greedy!When you get to a station and dock you can collect local and Kill Warrant Scanner bounties by going to
Contacts in the station menu and then choosing
Local Security Forces. From there choose
Redeem Bounty Voucher and be sure to brag to your friends about how much bounty you just made… If you’re not at a Federation system station you can then travel to one and follow the same process to redeem any bounties outside the local system you’ve collected.
If you are at a station in a Federation controlled system they will be able to pay out both local bounties and Kill Warrant Scanner bounties at the same time. The Local Security Office does not distinguish between types of bounties other than where you have to go to collect them.
A few final and optional tips…
For those who like to do there Bounty Hunting in non-Anarchy Systems.
You may find that after a good couple rounds of kills, or during a particularly long fight with a tough bounty, that the police show up. This is because your ship, and Clean NPCs are programmed to automatically report crimes they witness or crimes against them to the local authorities. Now their response time is admittedly not great, but they will show up and usually in force.
So if a couple of Federation Anacondas show up to ruin your fun by
sniping your Bounties from your, you can prevent that from happening in the future by turning off the Report Crimes function of your ship. Which you’ll find on the right panel under the Functions tab.
Again this is optional, and definitely falls under personal preference. You might just want to turn off, report crimes you witness and leave crimes against you on. Just to offer yourself a little bit of protection from getting
ganked. These functions serve no purpose in Anarchy Systems…
Further, it’s not uncommon for Bounties you are chasing to drop cargo. You’re welcome to collect the cargo and then sell it, but it will be considered stolen (At least until salvage is implemented). So you’ll want to either sneak past security or go to an Anarchy System to sell said cargo.
And finally, be wary of others scanning you, especially if you have cargo aboard! They might just be a pirate looking for some ill-gotten-goods to acquire. Most pirates will ignore you if you have no cargo. But if they’re scanning you with a Cargo or Kill Warrant Scanner (You can’t tell the difference) they’re probably a more seasoned fighter than others,
so be on your toes!