I think this game has mostly run its course for me. I am grinding now trying to get enough points so that i can build cool ships. I spent all of my points on combat and stealth the first go round so now it is basically a grind going through the missions to get enough experience. I blast through all of the dialog. They need to create a "skip" dialog option and just auto-warp you to the location. Maybe it could be a starborn power...
The "grind" is not that bad once you know what skills to prioritize, what missions to do first to get unlocks, and what ship parts to use. And the thing is, even first play through you can quickly get the Razorleaf ship free and it takes very little to upgrade it to a very capable fighting ship. I go straight to the UC Vanguard questline after the 1st few Constellation quests and do the Grunt Work mission, which is pretty easy even first playthrough because you can enable the turrets and tracking system to do most of the work killing the Terramorph.
Before you can do Grunt Work though, you must complete and pass 3 tiers of the pilot training sim. I highly recommend you stick around and get as many ship related skills maxed there as possible first. Piloting (1st tier), and Shield and Engine Systems (2nd tier) are the main 3, then Particle Weapon Systems in the 3rd tier. Only 2 points are necessary in Piloting until later in game (see below). You'll get a few skill points on the first 3 Constellation missions you do, and the 1st one at the Nova Galactic station is where you find the info to do the Mantis mission to get the Razorleaf.
Once Grunt Work is complete it unlocks the Vanguard Obliterator Autoprojector particle ship weapon. This is just an A class weapon, but one of the best in game because it only uses 2 power per gun. In fact I'm pretty sure it's the only particle weapon that uses just 2 power, and particle weapons are best for ships because many of them (like this one) have a high fire rate, and they recharge quickly. This means a group of 6 take no more power than 4 that use 3 power each. This also means the weapon firepower stat on the shipbuilder is useless. Instead, multiply the fire rate, times the damage, times number of guns per group to get a total DPS.
This playthrough I spent just a bit over 80,000 on the Razorleaf equipping it with 5 Vanguard Obliterator Autoprojectors, replaced the rear two particle weapons with the better version of the same, and upgraded the reactor to a better A class one with 35 power and a 760 rated shield. I used just 5 vs 6 VOA guns because that's how many available stock mounts there are, and that's all you need in the first half of the game (even on Very Hard difficulty). So it's still just an A class ship, but very capable now, and it retained it's max 100/150 mobility/speed ratings. With the Engine Systems skill maxed though, if buffs my speed quite a bit more, and the boost lasts much longer and charges much quicker.
With the Shield Systems skill maxed my actual shield capacity is 1216. The truth is, you don't even need to put more than 2 skill points into the Piloting skill until you build (or upgrade) a ship capable of winning end game fights. Until then, only the first two perks in it, which unlock thrust capability and better maneuverability, are really necessary. I have learned that you DO need to pay careful attention to leveling power systems properly and keep speed in the middle (maneuvering sweet spot) when making tight turns though.
Leveling wise I like to keep my Shields to their max power, then trim engine up just until my max speed without boost is just a hair over 100, then put the remaining into my weapons, giving them each the most I can, respective to how powerful each one is. The only exception to this is when there's the rare mission where you are trying to scan near enemy ships for radio info and need to go in with stealth, and then I just use one bar of power each on Engine and Grav, and stay no more than med speed to avoid detection, then immediately Grav jump once the radio info starts playing. For normal Grav jumping I recommend taking one bar of power from Engine and putting it in Grav, then before jumping set the adjuster back on Engine. Then if there are enemy ships present when you get there, it just takes a quick tap to get Engines back at 100 speed.
If you are diligent at scavenging and good at economizing on rebuilding a decent ship, vs building new, I recommend doing the Freestar Collective questline as soon as you have 250,000 -300,000 credits, as it's completion rewards you with the Star Eagle ship. It's another A class ship but for that much you can turn it into a beast of a C class ship that will have 2560 shield capacity with Shield Systems skill maxed, and easily enough firepower to take on anything in space. Make sure you have Andreja and Barrett on your crew though, as they buff your Particle Weapons.
If I'm not willing to ship and sell contraband, do you think I'll be stealing ships?
It's really only a bit more of a grind to NOT steal and fence contraband, but if one IS keen on it, I found out the hard way you have to make careful note of the warning when the vendor starts running too low on funds to give you the full amount. That's because unlike the warning that you get for insufficient vendor funds on selling legit items, it is now NOT a clear window that pops up. Instead it's just a faint yellow text inserted in the existing sale window. I can't imagine how much funds I lost due to this.
So, while you CAN get WAY more money from contraband if you watch for that warning carefully and trim back the amount of each item you're selling until it disappears, you STILL will invariably see the vendor frequently running out of funds if you have a lot of contraband to sell. It can literally take several times sitting there wafting 24 hrs for a couple minutes for the vendor's funds to respawn. Most contraband funds I got at once I think was around 80,000, and that was because I already had some contraband from a couple of previous missions, then I collected a double haul on Eridani II on a UC Mission Board quest where you get 10,000 for 100% surveying it, because before I was done with the survey, the contraband there had respawned.
On most games, I would agree with you on something like pillaging and selling contraband. In Starfield though, the line between good and bad is a bit blurred at best due to what it often takes just to survive. Plus, the reality is the contraband you find is typically always some kind of wealth or tech that fell into the wrong hands, so you're in a way providing a service by taking it to a neutral vendor like the Trade Authority, where "legit" wealthy people can buy it, or buy it back, if they choose. And let's not forget that those wealthy types are also commonly the ones for whom laws are bent, while they look down on common citizens. They also often get where they are by nepotism or stepping on others. Ron Hope is a classic example of this.
So for me I find it sufficient to just side with UC and Freestar, while trying at times to encourage them to agree on terms peacefully, keep myself from getting on anyone's bounty list, and avoid doing anything that benefits pirate factions. I know that last part may sound hypocritical to anyone not wanting to take and sell contraband, but I find it comes down to what you're willing to do to get it. The true pirates in the game have no problem killing anyone whom gets in their way, but the player doesn't have to do anything but get by the scanners, no need to kill for contraband.
