Vanduul-Tech Smugglers Guide for Star Citizen 4.10.x

Travel to Nyx and raise your InterSec Defense Solutions reputation to Jr. Contractor, which begins at 800 faction reputation. Then look for "Vanduul-Tech Smugglers" under Investigation.

The first contract is a one-time introduction. Completing it unlocks the repeatable "Retrieve Additional Smuggler Intel" contract and more InterSec work involving Vanduul corpses, metal and plating.

The follow-up can appear again immediately after a successful run, though you can hold only one at a time. Abandoning it can delay the next offer by about an hour, and you should expect to start the objectives again when you accept a replacement.

If you want another mission line to work through in Nyx, see the Recco Battaglia guide.

Choose a combat ship that can handle a small Vanduul wave and use the assigned hangar. You'll leave it parked while working through the station. A durable medium ship gives a new crew room for supplies and loot; solo players should bring strong forward weapons and consider carrying a Nursa or using another regeneration option. Test the respawn point before relying on it.

Bringing a Cutlass Black? The Cutlass Black loadout guide covers shield upgrades, pilot weapons and power allocation. If you're setting out from Levski and cannot retrieve a usable ship or lift off, check the Levski hangar troubleshooting guide before committing to the run.

Pack the following for the FPS section:

• A primary weapon, a backup and enough magazines for several station fights.
• Medium or heavy armor with a backpack.
• A medical gun, spare medpens, food and water.
• A multitool with a tractor attachment.
• A Cambio SRT and spare canisters if you plan to open the optional rooms at Auxiliary Station.
• At least one spare fuse.
• Free ship storage for components or physical mission items.

The corridors favor a gun you can control at close range and carry plenty of ammunition for. The FPS weapons guide can help you choose one; the S2 and S3 ship-weapons guide covers the guns for the approach fight.

As you work through the old QV Planet Services logistics station and nearby wrecks, download each lieutenant's data before looting the body, then take the decryption key. Opening the inventory alone does not advance the investigation objective.

If you find a blank warehouse passcode disk, keep it separate from the mission keys. The optional encoding stops below will prepare it to open the loot room.

Use the warehouse passcode disk once it reaches 100% to open the QV Station loot room. Check the elevators before committing to a haul, and keep your expectations modest: you may find useful ship components and weapons, or arrive at a room with very little left.

QV is a shared location, so earlier visitors and the station's current state affect what is available. The same goes for Testudo boxes elsewhere on the route. Judge the haul when you see it, then decide how much is worth carrying out.

Leave inventory space before swapping into looted armor. Moving from medium or heavy armor to a lighter set through the loot window can make items that no longer fit disappear; the armor-swap inventory bug guide explains the affected case. There is no dependable way to get those items back once they're gone.

Check the hangar freight elevator again before hauling large components to the warehouse exit. Players have moved smaller pieces through the passenger elevator when freight handling failed, but it is slow and awkward. Leave oversized loot behind if getting it out puts your ship or character at risk.

Before loading Vanduul cryopods, plating or metal, check that you have accepted the matching collection contract. "Recover Vanduul Corpses" calls for five cryopods; "Recover Vanduul Tech" asks for five units each of plating and metal. You earn those payments by delivering the requested items under their separate contracts, so leave them out of the base payout for "Vanduul-Tech Smugglers."

Check the contract card before accepting. Approximately 1 million aUEC is the current planning figure, but earlier patches used different payouts.

The one-time "Vanduul-Tech Smugglers" introduction also awards 50 MG Scrip and +100 InterSec Defense Solutions reputation. On subsequent runs, "Retrieve Additional Smuggler Intel" gives you 30 MG Scrip and the same +100 reputation gain. You may receive a blueprint reward as well; check your Journal and fabricator after completion to see what was awarded.

If you're choosing your next FPS mission for equipment unlocks, the Siege of Orison loot and blueprint guide covers BUL-H4 rewards and the Vendetta exchange route.

Solo is viable once you know the route. You always know who has the keys, but there is nobody to revive you or cover the corridor while you deal with a problem. Bring spare medical supplies and enough ammunition to finish without using station inventory.

A two- or three-player crew makes the fighting more forgiving, with extra firepower and someone to help a downed teammate. Before the first lieutenant, choose one person to confirm every download and carry the mission keys. If you pursue the warehouse, give its passcode disk to a second player so everyone knows where both sets of items are.

Once you know the layout, skipping most loot can bring a clean run down to 45–75 minutes. A first clear, a crew learning the station or a thorough warehouse visit can take 90 minutes or more.

At an approximately 1 million aUEC payout, the contract-only rate looks like this:

Those successful runs work out to roughly 0.7–1.3 million aUEC per hour before optional loot. They do not account for failed attempts or long delays, so judge the mission by the time you actually spend from accepting it to getting paid.

Older hourly estimates may use different mission payouts or include warehouse loot. Use the payment on your contract card and your own completion time when deciding whether another run is worthwhile.