Elite Dangerous

Yeah - I knew that asteroids are 0 exploration value. I wasn't expecting to be notified that I was the first to explore a body though.

I've only gone out about 800 Ly from the bubble...having more fun blowing stuff up and trading.

I picked up Elite Dangerous in March of last year and I tried really hard to get into it... just couldn't seem to do it. Spent 60 hours trying to generate enough money to progress, but couldn't pull that off. Ended up spending that time trolling around with friends (or at least spending an hour finding each other), exploring systems, and getting completely destroyed in every dogfight.

Is it still as time-consuming traveling place to place? Is there a quicker way to get started and start purchasing new ships?

This thread has me reading starter guides again lol - I always thought the game was beautiful and interesting, but couldn't justify how little I felt I was getting done in a single gaming session.

You have to learn how to fight...each ship has it's pros and cons. You also have to know when you are outgunned and need to run.

I played the original Elite back in the early 90s...I just about had a nurgasm when I hit my auto dock computer for the first time.

To progress. You do have to make cash...there are many ways to do it...what are you most comfortable with?

I started out bounty hunting until a got enough cash to get a Cobra...a great multi-role ship. Then I started trading...more bounty hunting...etc.

Travel is pretty quick with a top- grade frame shift drive.

The best way to make decent cash starting out is courier and transport missions.

I'm probably going to try just going straight for trading this time around. All my friends quit so I won't have that to distract me.

I have been playing Planet Coaster lately and seeing how well this game is done has given me the push to go back and give ED another try.

Thanks for the tips! I didn't even know you could get an auto-dock. :O

A joystick is a must for combat. I have a nice Logitech USB one...2 triggers, thumb thruster control, throttle control, and 10 buttons you can program for other stuff.

Don't get overwhelmed by all of the different controls...once you get used to it you feel like you are really flying.

If I get a VR headset it will be for this game.

PM me if you are having issues getting started...I can give you a few pointers!

This is the Joystick that I have been using to play. I've had it for ages.

I'm actually really surprised in how well it still works for it's age and use.

https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Sidewinder-Force-Feedback-Joystick/dp/B00005NIMB

That joystick seems pretty cool. I see the throttle control. Does it have thruster control? Can you do pitch, roll, AND yaw from the joystick? I couldn't tell from the pictures... You don't use yaw much in combat (as it's slow...pitch and roll are much higher), but I use yaw a lot for final aiming in combat, final steering in supercruise, and alignment while docking.


To enjoy the game, you have to get out of the starting system.


If you are going to bounty hunt, get yourself a kill-warrant scanner. This will drastically increase your bounty hunting cash. When you do a normal target scan, the "wanted" and bounty $$ is for the local system only. When you have a kill-warrant scanner, you get the bounties for other systems too.

Until you get good a combat, some general rules for bounty hunting are:

1. Don't engage a ship that is more than 2 classes above your current ship (i.e. next higher credit purchases). The higher class ships will have tougher shields, armor, and weapons. If you aren't good at combat, they will wipe the floor with you.

2. Don't engage a ship that has a combat rating more than 2 steps above yours. The higher combat rating means that they have more cash to spend on weapon, armor, and shield upgrades. If you are not good at combat, they will wipe the floor with you.

3. The best place to start bounty hunting is at a star's "Navigation Beacon" (you can see it in the system list only when in supercruise). The spawn rate is slower, and there is a decent amount of police out there. If you get into trouble, head towards the police and they will help out in killing the target. As long as you have done some hull damage to the target, you will still get the bounty credit even if you don't do the kill.


If you are going to trade, check out the various "rare trading" loops. There are a couple of 3 and 5 stop loops where you cycle around. They net a decent amount of credits, and aren't as mind numbing as going between 2 systems. This is a good approach until you get enough credits to get a T-7 trader with an A-rated frame-shift drive.

The upside of a T-7 is that it has a good amount of cargo space and a decent jump range. The down side is that it steers like a brick (you can't out pitch anything your size), has a glass jaw (weak-ish shields and hull), and is a "large" size ship hull (meaning you can't dock at outpost size space stations.)

Once you get a T-7 with an A-rated FSD, check out the "71 stop rare trading loop". This will send you on a wonderful (and pretty) journey around the galaxy. The trip is separated into 5 legs. You can make it through each leg in about 3 to 4 hours. One trip around the 71 stop loop will net you about 8 to 10 million credits profit. If you plan your trip right, you can run regular cargo between various stops while you hold onto the rares to sell at the specific stops. On a T-7, these regular cargo will net you 50K to 150K...so if you plan it right, you get another 5 to 7 million of profit around the 71 stop loop. 13 to 17 million credits in 25 hours is not the best earning rate...but it's relatively low risk...and you start to understand the mechanics of the game more.

It's a cool trip as you get to see a lot of the galaxy.

A good trading ship will have no weapons (can't fight anything in them anyway...saves on weight = higher jump range), max shields + shield boosters in the utility slots (as defensive as possible), and decent thrusters to boost out. When outfitting a trader (or explorer), the "D-Rated" components are always the lightest. So, to save more weight on the trader, get D-Rated life support, scanners, power distributor, power plant, and thrusters as a starting point. In my opinion, it's worth working up to the A-rated shields...it's just that much more pounding you can take...and an extra 5 seconds can sometimes be all you need. For a trader, you upgrade the power plant as necessary to power your shields and FSD.

When running the trader, always keep 4 "pips" in shields...having 4 pips in shields increasing your tanking capability by over 2x compared to 0 pips in shields. When I have to run, I put 4 pips in shields and 2 in engines...and boost while I can until the FSD kicks in.

If you plan on fuel scooping, you will need an A-Rated power plant as you will overheat while trying to scoop from the star. (I didn't fuel scoop when doing the rare trading loop)...just plan your journey to make sure you don't run out of fuel before you reach your destination...usually 7 to 8 jumps max on a full tank. Don't do the "economical" jump rout plan...this will turn a 14 jump journey into 30+ jumps...and those short jumps will take you into uncharted systems where an elite Anaconda will have you interdicted and dead before you can swallow a handful of peanuts! If you plan your stops accordingly, you can use these "gas station" stops as trade stops too.

If you get interdicted in a trader, you probably won't be able to escape in supercruise. So, submit to the interdiction (throttle to zero), and then hit your turbos and jump to the next system. By submitting, your FSD recycles in the normal time. If the interdiction forces you out, it takes much, much longer for the FSD to recycle...and if you are attached by a python or anaconda grade ship...you are toast.

Don't forget to buy yourself a docking computer! (I still sometimes heat my "head" on the docking port while exiting the station!)

Also, for trading, upgrade your discovery scanner. When you go into systems you have not been in before, just "honking" the scanner will provide extra cash. The difference between the scanners is how close you need to be to the solar bodies to find them. The best one (at 1.5 million credits) will see everything in the system. I made a 400 light year trip, and was able to cash in 350 K in cartographer credits just from "honking" the systems in route.


I switch between bounty hunting, trading, and running missions when I need cash. Currently, I working the engineers to upgrade stuff on my ships.

I didn't notice how bad the pictures are of the joystick on amazon heh. Here is a way better view.



I can do pitch and yaw from the 8-way directional thumb button on the top and roll by twisting the stick left or right. The nice thing is that the Feedback actually still works - so I know I'm getting hit before I visually see it usually because the joystick base starts vibrating like crazy. The same thing happens when I get too close to stars and when interdiction happens. The only downside is the joystick needs power as well as a USB connection to operate properly. Otherwise the joystick will not center itself and you have no resistance when steering. The stick simply falls in any direction unless it is supplied with power.

I am definitely going to give this a try if I can sit down and play this weekend. Thank you for all the information. I didn't know any of those things and even some of the guides I have been reading as detailed as they are - they make no real sense. None of them discussed such long trade routes.

Someone introduced me to https://eddb.io/trade/loops but I had no idea how to use it since I'm not familiar with any of the trade items or systems.

Learning to fight is going to be the biggest hurdle for me. The controls are a little bit overwhelming and in a fight I know there is a lot more I could have been doing in the past to survive. I just learned about Shield Cells last night when reading up on stuff so I'm sure that says a lot about my lack of knowledge.

The guide I was reading talks about trading until you have enough money to buy a Viper and Gimballed Multi-cannons, beam lasers, and shield cells.

It looks like the little joystick on the big joystick should be tied to thruster control. This is separate than pitch/roll/yaw.

Pitch = up/down tilt of craft
Roll = spinning clockwise or counterclockwise about the centerline going front to back of the craft
Yaw = turning left or right about the centerline going from left to right of the craft

On my joystick, I get Yaw by rotating the stick left or right.

Yaw turning is VERY slow. If you want to turn left (for example), it's quicker to roll counterclockwise and then pitch up to the target. If you try to yaw only to keep a target in your sites, you won't be successful. Think if it like your main thrusters can efficiently vector thrust up or down for pitch, but can't vector it well left or right for yaw (this is normal for aircraft).

Also - the first mistake I made in combat was to go "full speed ahead". Unfortunately, you can't pitch very fast at full speed. If you look at your throttle gauge on the screen, you sill see a "blue region". When your speed is in the blue region, you get maximum maneuverability. If you go too fast or too slow, you lose maneuverability.

Additionally, "flight assist" is on by default. "Flight Assist" is basically a control system that will provide the "counter" action for your "on purpose" action. For example, if you pitch up, and then stop pitching with the joystick, the flight assist will fire the "counter pitch" actions to bring your pitch momentum back to 0. If you ever watched the new Battlestar Galactica, the Vipers would have their momentum going forward and "flip around" to fire at somebody chasing them. With flight assist on, you can't flip because as you try to pitch your ship, it changes your momentum.

When you turn flight assist off, steering becomes MUCH more difficult, but it lets you have your ship momentum in a different direction than the way you are pointing. I have this set to a "hold for active" hot key. When I hold the key, flight assist is off and I can do cool stuff like have a ship on my left...have my momentum going forward...point my guns at the ship (now my ship is flying sideways, but my momentum is still forward) and blast him in a "broad side" type of attack (great against the bigger ships). Takes lots of practice though.

On my Python I have 2 turret burst lasers (fire arc on the "top" of the ship) and 3 forward gimbaled multi-cannons. This is a pretty big ship, but it pitches and rolls decent. When I can't keep the fast little ships in my sites, I keep them "above" me so my turrets can wail on them until I can get my multi-cannons positioned again. This ship can tank pretty well...but it has to because it's bigger and slower.

This is a different combat strategy versus a Cobra (better than a Viper in my opinion). A small ship like a Cobra can't tank. But, it's very fast and maneuverable...so, my strategy would be to come in on the underside of the ship...fire away (trying to stay in position on the underside). When I would lose position (or if the BIG GUNS were pointing at me), I would boost away and start to reposition again.

That website is great. You put in your starting system and dock, and select the ending system (and landing pad size) and it will show you what to buy and sell and sort by profit (you have to put in how much $$ you have, max cargo size, etc.) It's really handy. However, trading is straight forward...by Crop Harvesters from an Industrial or High Tec world...sell to Agriculture world...buy coffee or tea from Agriculture, sell to Industrial/High Tech/Refinery, etc. That website helps sort the dust out.

Shield Cell banks are not for the "beginner combat" person. They use ammo (which is expensive) and the max amount of ammo per bank is 4 I think. When you pop the shield cell, it adds the rated energy back into your shields very quickly...at the cost of heat generation (which can overheat you...if you are not worried about heat management...don't do this - hehe). Also, if you pop a shield cell bank when your shields are down...you just waste the ammo and get the heat.

I personally don't use these. I try to stay "under" the target and shoot at his belly...this required me learning how to use my thrusters in combat in addition to the pitch/roll/yaw attitude controls. For example:

- Get either behind the target or nose to nose.
- As you get "close" (by feel), fire your down thruster so that you are travelling parallel
- Once you are "in the zone" pitch up and you should see the underside exposed to give it a good wack!

It's a great game. Play to try new things. When I get frustrated with dog fighting, I'll trade or explore.

Right. Pitch is controlled by the stick itself pushing forward or back. Yaw is controlled by the twisting of the stick and Roll is controlled by going left or right with the main stick. The 8-way is all thrusters because I remember when I switched from using the keyboard and mouse to the joystick I could finally dock without blowing myself up.

I read that the end game goal is to get a Cobra MKIII - Can be used for trading, mining, and is still good at combat?

A Cobra is not really an "end game" ship...a fully loaded Anaconda (or an Imperial Cutter or a Federal Corvette) is - hehe.

The Cobra is the first of the "multi-role" ships. You can use it for trading, combat, mining, exploration, etc. It's not the best in any of them, but it does pretty well. It has size 4 internal compartments (so you can put a size 4 shield in there), 2 medium, and 2 small hardpoints. A Viper (for example) only has size 3 internal compartments. However, the Viper is faster and more maneuverable than the Cobra.

If you try to make a build that is your combat/exploration/trading build...it really would be bad. Instead, since you can now store modules, you store the other modules and load up on the combat equipment when you are going bounty hunting. Take some of the combat stuff off and set up as a trader. Etc.

The Asp Explorer is the next tier of a good multi-role ship. The Python is the next tier.

I find mining the LEAST productive way to make credits. Plus, there are always pirates trying to get you while mining. To mine affectively, you have to find a low spawn area, kill the ones that initially show up and you should be good. If one escapes, they tend to call in their buddies - hehe.

Before my Python, I had a Type-7 I used for trading and a Fer de Lance for combat.


Edit: the "8-way" doesn't really give you control of the "up/down" thrusters. I still have those tied to the keyboard. "R" is up (rise) and "F" is down (fall).

This is going to take a bit of planning then... at least I have cleaned up my desktop area completely and have room for my joystick to be on the desk next to my keyboard now.

That's another reason I want to play - I just bought new ASUS LED Backlit LCD Monitors (the 99 dollar a pop 23" ones) and the color contrast is just WORLDS better than my old monitors. I was using a 10+ year old ViewSonic LCD and a 4-5 year old Dell LED that just did not look great in the color department.

If I wasn't trying to "save" money I would have blown $500 on a 4K display, but I am pretty adamant on waiting for 4K 144Hz from Asus at a digestible price of around $500-600, not $1500 which I am sure the 27" 4K screens will be when they finally come out considering the one they have out now at 100Hz is $1000 refurbished.

Thanks again for all the tid-bits, I will put it to the best use I can!

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Also I just saw a video that you can land on planets now?!?!

Yeah - you can land on many planets (and moons), but not all of them. Many of the planets/moons also have settlements with landing pads. This is part of the Horizons purchase for the game (was worth the $19.99 in my opinion).

Post #9 of this thread has some screenshots I took. The top one is my Python landed on a planet.

I didn't play the game for a few months (had a lot going on)...I just got back into it about 3 weeks ago...about the time I traded in my 3 x 1920 x 1080 surround setup for a 43" UHD. The Horizons content is pretty cool.

On ships, you can pick and choose what you like. I started in the Cobra mk III as my kickstarter reward, and it did me well through most of the early game with a good overall balance. Limited cargo meant I traded rare goods, which increase in value with distance (up to a point). It was ok at combat, not the best but cold hold its place in the size class. And the jump range doesn't totally suck. People have accused it of being Frontier's pet ship since it was the model the player got in the original '84 Elite game.

Then I started specialising.

I tried bulk trading in a T6 for a while but didn't like it, and the role was later taken by an imperial clipper. Much better, as you got a decent cargo capacity, and it was fast and handled well. The drawback was it is class as a large size ship with only a medium capacity, so can't dock at outposts, and it is rather fragile for combat.

Combat wise, the Vulture is tough and not terribly expensive. See it as a heavy fighter.

Exploration wise, I went Asp Explorer. This is before they added more exploration based ships, and was the only affordable choice if you wanted a long jump range. This is the go to exploration ship for those who don't regularly sit with a bank account well into the 100's of millions. This ship is the one I've spent most of my game time in, probably 75% or more. I've made two separate trips to the core, and another to the far side of the galaxy and back. I also use it as a non-combat mission ship.

I kinda burnt out at this point. With my cash I bought a python but never really took to it. On paper it was better than the clipper at trading since it has a similar capacity yet could land on medium pads, but it felt a bit horrible and I suck in it in combat. Debating selling it towards an Anaconda, which was the preferred large trading ship (as opposed to the T9) unless the new ships do even better now? I'm out of the loop... and not really interested in bulk trading anyway.

Well - Space Truckin' here I come. Time to learn what the language is you both are speaking

If you haven't seen a the New Neutron Star (I think June 2016 update) ... you have to see...they are awesome

That microsoft sidewinder is one of my favorite joysticks ever! This game is fascinating to me, and I can't wait to finish up school and build a new rig - this will be the first game I play. I think the capital ship jumping-in effect is one of the coolest in-game things I've seen.

rescuetoaster said:

That microsoft sidewinder is one of my favorite joysticks ever!

Click to expand...

Been my trusty stick since the good ole Flight Simulator 2000 and Mech Warrior 2/3/4 days!

I've been looking for alternatives to replace it, but there just doesn't seem to be many contenders - to this day it is apparently still regarded as one of the best joysticks manufactured. They still sell for over 100 on ebay in mint condition.

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I was looking at: http://www.saitek.com/uk/prod/x56.html

But it has nasty reviews and seems to be disliked overall because of it's price point. It under performs for costing $250.

I use this one...and it's been great!

Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Joystick:

http://gaming.logitech.com/en-us/product/extreme-3d-pro-joystick

I saw that one also - damn good deal for 40 bucks! Probably could even snag it for less on sale. I can't really believe how cheap it is with how many buttons they have packed on that thing and still kept its form factor relativity small.