Elite: Dangerous

[Paingod]

In terms of selling exploration data, from what I recall, something like 8-12 million credits worth of exploration data is sufficient to get L5 access with Farseer or Martuk. So one simple method of rapidly ranking up with the engineers that accept exploration data to gain reputation is to go for some 'Road to Riches' exploration on your way to their location.

I'm going to be trying this soon. I've passed Elvira and acquired a 5A G5 Long Range FSD with Mass Manager, but it took a night and a half (including a lot of screwing around with pirates for fun, and exploring a planet with my SRV for the first time to collect Manganese). I even got myself arrested when I tried to pay a fine for attacking a mining station I found on a planet and respawned on a penal colony 70ly from where I was before. It wasn't all that hard - but I also had a pile of reserve "stuff" to shift around and trade. That pile will continue getting smaller as I progress down the road with these Engineers.

In my Kombat Krait, the 5A FSD has a staggering range of 27ly when I'm fully loaded for combat. When I drop it into my old stripped down Asp Explorer, I can shuffle off 54.5ly per jump - but I mean stripped down. It could go lighter, but I wouldn't gain much. This thing can at least hop around and do some quick trading for the "50 trades made in different stations" Engineer.

The next leg of my Engineer unlocks requires 5,000ly of travel from my point of origin. I should be able to make short work of that, and maybe pick up some data on the way I can sell off to the next Engineer.

Since I'm not doing PvP, Engineering everything isn't a priority - but getting G5 FSD's and Power Plants is. I can easily live without the other things, but these two are huge quality of life boosts.

[Paingod]

2,800ly from my point of origin, and I have grown weary of exploring. I'm considering gunning it to 5,000ly for the engineer unlock and racing home. As it is, I've been using the FSS on every system to collect data on every planet, and then flying to high value ones for a DSS scan. I'm not doing it for the fortune and glory - but rather for an easier Engineer unlock when I get back so I can be at Rank 3 or 4 with them quickly. I feel, though, that my time would be better spent harvesting materials and using Traders to convert them than days or weeks slowly plotting out a route through the void.

I get excited when I find a water world or high metal content with a good atmosphere. It gives me something to do.

The most fascinating thing for me, though, is that even though I'm 2,800ly from home, every single planet and system I'm finding has been explored. And it's not even that I'm following in one person's wake - I see a whole host of various CMDR names, some repeat, some I see ones. I imagine that every ship that's come out here before me was moving in roughly the same line I was from my point of origin, and they all had different jump ranges - so I won't see CMDR NastyPants again for another 32 jumps since they were maybe doing 48ly hops instead of my 55ly hops.

I don't feel like I'm tired of the game - but I do feel like I'm tired of the endless loop. Jump, Honk, Refuel, zip out a few LS from the sun, FSS the system. Jump, Honk, Refuel, zip out a few LS from the sun, FSS the system. Jump, Honk, Refuel, zip out a few LS from the sun, FSS the system. I love it when the Honk only returns 1 stellar body, the sun I'm currently facing. It means I can just move on.

[UsulofDoom]

In the beginning of Elite we never had the jump ranges we have now. So the spiral arm of the Sol system was very well explored. It has been 5 years. Also the Milky way is over 120,000 Lys.

They have had events that allowed you to piggy back on a carrier ,that would stop far off for a week each jump. That was the best way to plant your flags.

With the new player carrier ships I can see that happening more often.

Still would like to now how much they will be.

[Paingod]

In the beginning of Elite we never had the jump ranges we have now. So the spiral arm of the Sol system was very well explored. It has been 5 years. Also the Milky way is over 120,000 Lys.

Interesting.

I don't know if I'm hitting new territory, or if the server's bugged. I'm 4000ly from my point of origin, still Honking and FSS'ing - but am finding a lot of places where the stars have explorer names on them, but not the planets. I scan the planets and I see no names. I'm also not seeing any indication that I'm the "finder" of these things. No notification comes up (don't know if it should), and my name isn't added to them - even if I close the game and log back in. This is happening with maybe 1 in 3 systems I jump to.

I had a good run last night - and by that I mean several systems with just stars and no planets - I was in, I honked, I left.

[Paingod]

In the beginning of Elite we never had the jump ranges we have now. So the spiral arm of the Sol system was very well explored. It has been 5 years. Also the Milky way is over 120,000 Lys.

Interesting.

I don't know if I'm hitting new territory, or if the server's bugged. I'm 4000ly from my point of origin, still Honking and FSS'ing - but am finding a lot of places where the stars have explorer names on them, but not the planets. I scan the planets and I see no names. I'm also not seeing any indication that I'm the "finder" of these things. No notification comes up (don't know if it should), and my name isn't added to them - even if I close the game and log back in. This is happening with maybe 1 in 3 systems I jump to.

I had a good run last night - and by that I mean several systems with just stars and no planets - I was in, I honked, I left.

[UsulofDoom]

In the beginning of Elite we never had the jump ranges we have now. So the spiral arm of the Sol system was very well explored. It has been 5 years. Also the Milky way is over 120,000 Lys.

Interesting.

I don't know if I'm hitting new territory, or if the server's bugged. I'm 4000ly from my point of origin, still Honking and FSS'ing - but am finding a lot of places where the stars have explorer names on them, but not the planets. I scan the planets and I see no names. I'm also not seeing any indication that I'm the "finder" of these things. No notification comes up (don't know if it should), and my name isn't added to them - even if I close the game and log back in. This is happening with maybe 1 in 3 systems I jump to.

I had a good run last night - and by that I mean several systems with just stars and no planets - I was in, I honked, I left.

I don't think you will get credit until you make it back safe and upload to the UC. So don't die or you will loose all the data.

[Hrdina]

In the beginning of Elite we never had the jump ranges we have now. So the spiral arm of the Sol system was very well explored. It has been 5 years. Also the Milky way is over 120,000 Lys.

Interesting.

I don't know if I'm hitting new territory, or if the server's bugged. I'm 4000ly from my point of origin, still Honking and FSS'ing - but am finding a lot of places where the stars have explorer names on them, but not the planets. I scan the planets and I see no names. I'm also not seeing any indication that I'm the "finder" of these things. No notification comes up (don't know if it should), and my name isn't added to them - even if I close the game and log back in. This is happening with maybe 1 in 3 systems I jump to.

I had a good run last night - and by that I mean several systems with just stars and no planets - I was in, I honked, I left.

I don't think you will get credit until you make it back safe and upload to the UC. So don't die or you will loose all the data.

That is correct. You have to sell the data at a station to get your name to appear as the Discoverer.

The reason that you see a lot of systems with only the star scanned is simply that a lot of players will jump in, honk, then leave if none of the planets are "good" (Earthlike or water worlds). You get credit for discovering the stars just by honking, but you have to use the FSS to get credit for discovering planets & moons.

[UsulofDoom]

Double panite mining seems to be the fastest way to make credits for me. I making about 156 million an hour.

Anyone else find a way to make more?

[Paingod]

Best I've gotten to was around 105m per hour, double painite.

What are you using for a build, and how selective are you being with asteroids? When I'm out mining, I've often seen non-glowing asteroids laden with the stuff.

[UsulofDoom]

This is my build below. Still a work in progress.

https://edsy.org/#/L=F_8ieeON0H4C0S00,E ... Bm2jwWM3k2

I don't bother pulsing. Just send out probes and mine any thing with 30% or more. I find many in the 40%-50% range. Few in the 60%.

[UsulofDoom]

Did you see the update today?

Greetings Commanders,

Following the launch of the September Update last month, we’d like to provide you all with an update on our plans for Elite Dangerous.

Firstly, thank you for all of your feedback on the September Update, which you've shared with us on the forums, across social media, on livestreams and through the Issue Tracker. There is no doubt that, in addition to the new features, the September Update introduced a number of issues and bugs which caused a lot of frustration. We are really sorry for these issues. We realise that some of the issues had an impact on your ability to enjoy Elite Dangerous. The team have been working hard to address the most critical issues and have already released a series of patches and updates to bring those fixes in as quickly as possible.

However, we know there's more to be done. You've asked for more focus on existing bug/fixes and issues, and for the community to be better integrated into the development process and testing for these upcoming updates.

In order to improve your overall experience, we have decided to refocus our efforts on addressing key issues and bugs. Since the launch of the September Update, we've been taking a deeper look at our internal development roadmap, the way in which we utilise public betas, and the content of our next updates.

Here is a summary of our plans:
From now and into next year (2020), the updates will focus almost exclusively on addressing recent and longstanding issues, including those reported in the Issue Tracker, ultimately making the game better.
We are expecting to have a series of these updates, which will be rolled out (approximately) every three to four months.
Each update will also include a public beta that will run prior to the update's release, with a dedicated time to address major issues that appear.
The first of these updates will have its public beta in December, with an expectation that the launch will be early in 2020.
As a result of our updated plans, we have made the difficult decision to defer the release of Fleet Carriers. We are now planning for Fleet Carriers to be released in an update in the second quarter of 2020, rather than in December 2019 as previously stated. This will grant us additional time to refine the feature as well as focusing time on addressing existing reported issues. It will also ensure the state of the game is in a better position to introduce Fleet Carriers, that will provide Commanders even more opportunities to interact with the Milky Way. We understand that this delay will be disappointing for some players, but do know that this decision is one that we do not take lightly, and is made with the best interests of the community and game at heart.

Ultimately, we are confident that this will improve the Elite Dangerous experience for all our players.

The team have been hard at work on the next major milestone, which you may remember we mentioned back in March as our next major paid addition to the game. They’re making fantastic progress and on schedule for release by the end of next year. We are very excited to show you what we’ve been working on. However, we can only announce the content when it’s at the right stage of development, we estimate this will be ready to talk about at some time in summer 2020, after the Fleet Carriers update. We appreciate there is a bit of a wait, but we want to make sure it is ready to be shown before making our full official announcement to the world.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing and continued support and for helping give us the feedback, steer and insight to make decisions that will benefit the entire community and for your continued passion and dedication.


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[Paingod]

As a result of our updated plans, we have made the difficult decision to defer the release of Fleet Carriers. We are now planning for Fleet Carriers to be released in an update in the second quarter of 2020, rather than in December 2019 as previously stated.

Translation: We looked at your collective bank accounts and realized we needed to make these more expensive. Hold on a sec.

[UsulofDoom]

Best I've gotten to was around 105m per hour, double painite.

What are you using for a build, and how selective are you being with asteroids? When I'm out mining, I've often seen non-glowing asteroids laden with the stuff.

Best now is 184 M an hour. Took 128 minutes from base to base. This included loading limpets. Always fill your hold with limpets. it costs 52k for 512. 1 painite is worth 700K +.
Was watching tv too.

I could buy a new Anaconda every hour!

[Paingod]

That is quite impressive, honestly.

I haven't been back to Elite since I got out to 5200ly and thought about the ride back in. Should I grit my teeth and explore all the way there, or just haul ass - but miss exploration data I can sell to the next Engineer? In the end I decided to get eaten by zombies instead for a while.

I do plan to get back - I just don't know when. It is a fun, relaxing game as long as you DO NOT plan on doing anything quickly, and I'd still be happy to toss a cargo hold of Painite at someone new to help them get a head start.

[Hrdina]

I haven't been back to Elite since I got out to 5200ly and thought about the ride back in. Should I grit my teeth and explore all the way there, or just haul ass - but miss exploration data I can sell to the next Engineer? In the end I decided to get eaten by zombies instead for a while.

I really enjoy the exploration part of the game, and have probably spent the most time doing that. My OCD nature makes it really hard for me to enter a system that hasn't been explored previously and leave without at least using the FSS to stamp my name on everything. The (relatively) recent updates to the exploration tools make it much easier to do this, which makes it that much harder to resist!

It's funny, too, because I realize that the game has been out for five years. That means that any system I tag has gone five years with not one CMDR visiting it. What are the odds of another CMDR coming along any time soon only to find "CMDR Hrdina was here" stamped everywhere?

That said, my current exploration trip has been going on for four months. I left The Oracle on July 11. I'm on my inbound leg back to the bubble, but it will likely take me a few weeks yet to reach a station. I am not taking a direct path, but instead I am zig-zagging and hitting a bunch of points-of-interest listed in EDDiscovery, such as Cygnus X-1:


I probably have several hundred million CR worth of data to sell, but won't know for sure until I actually sell it (which will take quite a while!). You really can't expect to Make Money Fast when doing this.

[UsulofDoom]

Just played 111 minutes watching the Giants get beat. Made 218M an hour. Double Panite at Hyades Sector DB-X d1-112
2 ring A selling at Sarugh Yu Enterprise(L). Once I'm at over 11B I think ill head to LOS.

[Hrdina]

I'm finally within about 2000 LY of the bubble. It's time to start thinking about where exactly I'll be selling all this data.

Here's a nice planetary nebula I visited on my way back.

[Paingod]

You can selectively divide the data between different brokers to enhance your standing with them. Some, if not all, of the Engineers will take Cartography data to increase their standings. If you haven't capped your relations with them, it may be worth looking into that angle.

[Hrdina]

You can selectively divide the data between different brokers to enhance your standing with them. Some, if not all, of the Engineers will take Cartography data to increase their standings. If you haven't capped your relations with them, it may be worth looking into that angle.

Yeah, I think that long ago I dumped a bunch of exploration data to get the Engineers I cared about up to grade 5.

What I've been doing this time is going around and selling data to the factions that control the various system permits I don't have. I have more than enough data to get all the permits I can get by becoming an Ally with a faction. After that, I'll use it to bump up my standing with the Feds (currently Rear Admiral) & Imps (currently Master), then just quickly sell the rest if there is any. I honestly don't know how much I have, other than it is at least 200M CR.

[malchior]

I'm just getting back into Elite after my Valve Index came in. It is a very pleasant way to play the game. I've thrown a mirror of my desktop up towards the top of my cockpit so I can catch up on tv while I explore. I just did a quick run to go from a Sidewinder straight up into an Asp Explorer. I'll probably do a big run and see if I can get a build that'll get me heading out towards the bubble.

[Hrdina]

I got back to human space on November 19, when I reached the Mammon asteroid base. My Asp certainly looked like it had spent a while in space. I have repaired it, but have decided not to repaint it.





At the time I had about 1.096B CR in the bank, and about 549M CR of profits from exploration. The next day I flew into the Bubble.

I decided that the first use of all my exploration data would be to help gain reputation with factions that give out system permits. I had a majority of them, but wanted to Catch 'em All. So, I bounced around the Bubble, selling data to become allied, then collecting a bunch of permits. I even spent a bit of time getting cozy with the filthy Imperials, just so that I could raise my rank and get their permits (Achenar, Summerland, and Facece). At this point I think I have all the available permits, except for the one that you actually have to play CQC to get.

Then, coincidentally, the result of the latest CG was that you could get double-rank in Fed systems. I was already at Rear Admiral, which you need to get a Corvette. I hadn't bothered to get the last two ranks, but took advantage of the situation to correct that.

After that I still had a bunch of data, so just went and sold it all to various Order of Mobius stations in order to help their influence. I finally finished that yesterday. Now I have about 2.34B CR and over 1.786B CR in exploration profits. So, all told, my little trip netted almost 1.25 billion credits in exploration data. That won't seem like much to the people who worry about maximizing CR/hour, but I enjoyed the trip.

Now I think it's time to park my ship for a while and go shoot down some WW2 Luftwaffe aircraft.

[UsulofDoom]

I got back to human space on November 19, when I reached the Mammon asteroid base. My Asp certainly looked like it had spent a while in space. I have repaired it, but have decided not to repaint it.

I like doing the same. I have a anaconda down to 1% at one time. What was the asp at? I must say that picture does look Kool!

[Hrdina]

I got back to human space on November 19, when I reached the Mammon asteroid base. My Asp certainly looked like it had spent a while in space. I have repaired it, but have decided not to repaint it.

I like doing the same. I have a anaconda down to 1% at one time. What was the asp at? I must say that picture does look Kool!

Thanks!

The Asp's paintwork is at 0%.

One neat thing about it is that with the Asp's cockpit glass, you can see the missing paint while you're flying it.

[Max Peck]

You can pick up Elite Dangerous for the low, low price of free on the Epic Games Store this week. Offer expires on 26 Nov at 1100 EST.

[Paradroid]

I just can't stop buying ships!

[Isgrimnur]

Better this game than Star Citizen.

[Paingod]

That stings on a very personal level. I'm still waiting to play the $160 game I bought into years ago. The buggy mess that they're serving up right now isn't it.

[UsulofDoom]

They are doing twitch drops today. Need to link account. Free skins and effects.

I have not been playing for a few months. I checked on my carrier. I though I put in enough credits to pay the fees for 15 months. I checked again and found I miss calculated the amount I needed. I have enough for over 9 years put in it.

If any needs some credits to start I can spare a few million. The easiest way to transfer would be for me to set my carrier up to buy some thing for lots of credits.

I have set meta-alloys and gold to 1000% mark up. 20 of each. Carrier name is "DoomU gifts to all!" at COL 285 sector wa-ma37-2.

[Paradroid]

So I recently convinced my gaming group to get into this. None of them are suited to this kind of game at all. They're enjoying it but mostly they're absolutely terrible at it.

Here's one example. Last Saturday we decided to do a wing delivery mission, all of us in Type 7s. By the time we'd delivered all but one load, we asked the guy carrying the final drop what the hell he was doing. He'd spent an entire hour trying to land on the destination planet to drop off his cargo. He just couldn't make it into the atmosphere.

Eventually we got him to stream on Discord and kept seeing some message about not being able to enter orbit. At first we thought he must have loaded the base game instead of Horizons by mistake. But no. After much head scratching we figured out that he'd removed his planetary approach suite. A module that weighs nothing, and into whose slot you can't install anything else. There's literally no point in ever removing it.

[Daehawk]

[Genghis]

How easy is this game to get into? I picked it up several years ago, but never really played it. I think I logged in, got bogged down with the start and never played it again.

[Anonymous Bosch]

How easy is this game to get into? I picked it up several years ago, but never really played it. I think I logged in, got bogged down with the start and never played it again.

There's no denying that it does have a learning curve, all the moreso due to its open-ended gameplay. So, if you're brand new to the game, I highly recommend starting out by following Masark's Guide to Trade. It does a superb job of allowing you to learn the ropes, walking you through tried and true methods to earn a decent chunk of change while learning the fundamentals. It also branches into exploration and the 'Road to Riches' method for making money if that interests you more than trading. And even if neither exploration nor trading appeal to you that much, completing that guide will provide you with sufficient resources to explore alternative career paths.

If you'd prefer something more comprehensive, Stephen Gill's outstanding beginner’s guide (PDF version here) pretty much covers each and every aspect of the game.

[Paingod]

How easy is this game to get into?

The actual gameplay isn't overly hard, though more than the average space shooter. For example...

In some games, you just aim at a station and push the "dock" key from 1000m out and auto-dock (or insta-dock).

In Elite: Dangerous, you get within comms range of the station, pull up the menu to talk with them, request permission, wait for a reply, fly to and through the docking port (avoiding collisions with other ships), find your docking pad, lower your landing gear, and gracefully lower yourself down onto the pad, at which point you "lock" into place and can begin using the station services.

The amount of data to sift through in order to play efficiently and get ahead is staggering, though. Working out cost-effective trade loops using online databases and calculators, sharing the best mining locations with others, or plotting huge trips around the galaxy that might take months in real time to complete (with the risk of running out of fuel or nuking yourself, which loses everything you've collected).

[Paingod]

How easy is this game to get into?

The actual gameplay isn't overly hard, though more than the average space shooter. For example...

In some games, you just aim at a station and push the "dock" key from 1000m out and auto-dock (or insta-dock).

In Elite: Dangerous, you get within comms range of the station, pull up the menu to talk with them, request permission, wait for a reply, fly to and through the docking port (avoiding collisions with other ships), find your docking pad, lower your landing gear, and gracefully lower yourself down onto the pad, at which point you "lock" into place and can begin using the station services.

The amount of data to sift through in order to play efficiently and get ahead is staggering, though. Working out cost-effective trade loops using online databases and calculators, sharing the best mining locations with others, or plotting huge trips around the galaxy that might take months in real time to complete (with the risk of running out of fuel or nuking yourself, which loses everything you've collected). That doesn't even account for combat and piracy or running errands/missions for station dwellers.

[Genghis]

Just need to find the time to try it out again.

[UsulofDoom]

Just need to find the time to try it out again.

If you want some credits I have plenty. I have over 10 Billion in assets. 7.9 billion credits.

[Genghis]

Just need to find the time to try it out again.

If you want some credits I have plenty. I have over 10 Billion in assets. 7.9 billion credits.

Thanks, will keep that in mind. First i need to build a time machine so i have extra hours in a day to play more games. Then I need to remember how to fly ships again. Then I may hit you up on your offer.

[Anonymous Bosch]

Just need to find the time to try it out again.

If you want some credits I have plenty. I have over 10 Billion in assets. 7.9 billion credits.

Thanks, will keep that in mind. First i need to build a time machine so i have extra hours in a day to play more games. Then I need to remember how to fly ships again. Then I may hit you up on your offer.

Genghis YMMV, but I would recommend not starting out that way as a new player. That's because the shortage of resources you begin with as a new player serve to provide you with numerous useful short and long term goals, so that the time you spend within the game has more purpose. Whether it’s working towards a new upgrade, making a journey to another area of the universe, or trying to learn new aspects of the game, giving yourself both short and long term goals is key to avoiding burn-out, and making your Elite: Dangerous experience enjoyable and worthwhile. With the completely open structure in Elite: Dangerous -- and no critical path to follow -- it can be very easy for new players to flounder. Starting out with an abundance of resources but no knowledge or direction on how to use them may well exacerbate that.

[UsulofDoom]

Just need to find the time to try it out again.

If you want some credits I have plenty. I have over 10 Billion in assets. 7.9 billion credits.

Thanks, will keep that in mind. First i need to build a time machine so i have extra hours in a day to play more games. Then I need to remember how to fly ships again. Then I may hit you up on your offer.

Genghis YMMV, but I would recommend not starting out that way as a new player. That's because the shortage of resources you begin with as a new player serve to provide you with numerous useful short and long term goals, so that the time you spend within the game has more purpose. Whether it’s working towards a new upgrade, making a journey to another area of the universe, or trying to learn new aspects of the game, giving yourself both short and long term goals is key to avoiding burn-out, and making your Elite: Dangerous experience enjoyable and worthwhile. With the completely open structure in Elite: Dangerous -- and no critical path to follow -- it can be very easy for new players to flounder. Starting out with an abundance of resources but no knowledge or direction on how to use them may well exacerbate that.

I'm not saying you should buy an Anaconda ,but have some money for insurance would be a relief. Nothing worse when starting out getting killed with out having enough for insurance. Especially if its a docking problem that the station blows you up since you where stuck on a antenna you could not see.

I still don't know why there are no cameras on the ships. My 2016 Ford Explorer has a reversing camera.

[Holman]

Has anyone tried the Odyssey DLC (which lets you get out and walk around and even fight FPS-style)?

It appears the launch has been rough, with lots of lag and crashes and "mostly negative" ratings on Steam.

I'm sure they'll fix it eventually.