What NPCs are always worth going after? Is there a list somewhere that shows what the better ones are and which are best just left alone?

Basically, all uncommon+ except the RSL siege cannon give decent drops.

How do you tell if it's uncommon? I'm a real noob at fighting NPCs, I've just killed one early on then focused on scanning and hacking for awhile

Doh!!!

Thanks :>

Stryll Trapper's are worthless - just drops a useless probe that tells you how many traps a target has

They rock when you get to high level!

yes they do, I get happy when I see a trapper, it tells you who is good for getting red badges, and who you should avoid

So, perhaps a snoobid question, but... why even bother with the common ones then? Does killing them help cycle to the uncommon ones?

the only ways to make a new npc appear are to kill one, or let the timer hit 0....

commons have an 8 hr timer....

so the fastest way to get a new npc is to kill one...

there is a small chance of getting an uncommon, smaller chance of getting a rare, and even smaller chance of getting an extremely rare
the faster you go through the commons, the sooner you'll see a non-common

When you use a Stryll Trap Probe does the target know you used it? Just wondering

Nope

Cool, thanks! They are useful then, especially if you are out of nulls

Basically:
all rares/elites are worth killing
most uncommons drop something quite useful
nearly all commons are only worth killing if you can do it in a couple of hits, or you need them for a mission (chron shifters, zolazin ships, etc)