Do players who don't want to go the piracy, bounty hunting or dogfighting route have an opportunity to gain weapons the same way that those who engage in combat do? Will NPC or TDD missions give cannons or missiles that pirates or bounty hunters might obtain just from salvaging?
TL;DRNon-combat players should be able to buy top weapons with earned money or find rare ones on derelicts, though combat itself is unlikely to be a major source of salvaged gear.
Well, I guess it sort of depends. I think most things in life are available if you pay the money. So in general, if you earn enough money trading or something, you certainly would be able to go to the place where the guy makes that special weapon that beats all the other weapons, and he charges a premium for it. And you should be able to get it. In terms of salvaging items, maybe you come across this rare alien gun from a derelict. Again, that would be situational, but there's no reason why you have to win a combat to come across a derelict and salvage something. I actually don't think that combat is going to be the way that you're going to be salvaging a whole bunch of equipment, because generally when you're in combat, you're shooting the other person up. Maybe some of their weapons will be intact, but the odds are that you've shot their ship up pretty well.