Elite: Dangerous

[Paingod]

I'm still struggling to learn how to fly. I had to swap things around so twitching my mouse didn't send my ship spinning endlessly.

I haven't had any success picking up cargo. I encountered a debris field with a number of floating goods in it (I assume) but they all just bumped off my hull. I probably need those Cargo Limpets?

I spent close to an hour trying to find Encrypted Cargo for a mission. First it took forever to actually drop out of Frame Shift close enough to see the ship, and then my beginner lasers couldn't kill him before he jumped off, and then I couldn't find him again.

I'm still in my Sidewinder, but was ejected from the Newbie guild by accidentally chasing a 100,000cr mission. As soon as I landed, they told me I wasn't their problem anymore and dumped me.

If you're serious about unloading money on me, I'll take you up on it - but I'm not in a hurry. I feel like I have a lot to learn before I touch anything real.

[Anonymous Bosch]

I'm still struggling to learn how to fly. I had to swap things around so twitching my mouse didn't send my ship spinning endlessly.

I found using a controller to be more intuitive than keyboard and mouse controls, at least while initially learning your way around the game, so try that if you can. The "Default Context" control scheme works surprisingly well with an Xbox controller.

[Paingod]

I'm still struggling to learn how to fly. I had to swap things around so twitching my mouse didn't send my ship spinning endlessly.

I found using a controller to be more intuitive than keyboard and mouse controls, at least while initially learning your way around the game, so try that if you can. The "Default Context" control scheme works surprisingly well with an Xbox controller.

For such a complicated game, it does seem clearly set up for use with a controller. Almost every action I'm performing in menus is easier with keyboard buttons to skip around instead of waving my mouse. I honestly considered it. I expect, though, that given the complexity of flight and available options, I may be better served in the long run by muscling through this and getting there as I always have. From Freelancer to X3, I've been KB/Mouse every time.

So when I get a mission to take something down, what's the easiest way to actually trigger it successfully? That "Encrypted Cargo" mission last night frustrated me because I kept flying in little circles around where the waypoint was telling me to go - but it was only after targeting the waypoint AND dropping out of Frame Shift right on top of it that I was able to find the baddie. Even then, I couldn't kill him and he escaped - and I couldn't figure out how to chase him; I thought I followed his trail, but never actually saw him again - and dropping at the waypoint no longer worked to find him.

I've clearly got a lot of learning to do.

*Edit: Apparently picking up cargo is done with the Home key to open your bay, and moving slowly over the object in question. I found a PDF manual this morning and plan to study it.

[Paingod]

Okay. Now that I've played the game enough to understand most of the lingo, picking up and understanding guides is much easier. I'm going back to that Sidewinder to Anaconda guide, but want to first play around and just do whatever feels right for a while, too.

The things I feel like I need to learn right now are...

1. Using fuel scoops; how, when, where
2. Actually hitting waypoints for missions and finding objectives in a reasonable time
3. How to chase an NPC that Frame Shifted away and follow it, including how to knock it out and re-engage the fight
4. Re-visit how to scan things. I wanted to scan something, but all I could do was shoot it. The tutorial had me use Mouse1 to scan somehow.

Future research includes

1. More trading
2. Understanding weight-speed-frame-range ratios better
3. Looking at using the galactic map more efficiently
4. Looking for "Nav Points" to find random fights and bounties (mentioned earlier in this thread)

The flight mechanics are taking some getting used to, and while reading Daehawk arguing about how he wanted to be a flying turret in a flight sim for four pages was fun, it definitely helped me understand how I'm supposed to be flying now. I assigned the roll to A and D because using the mouse was too violent and unintentionally kept me spinning every time I did anything, and moved the Yaw controls to the mouse. Now my rolls are more deliberate and controlled and less like a tie fighter spinning in a tight circle because it's missing a stabilizer.

[UsulofDoom]

I have 40+ void opals for you. They go for 1-1.6 Million depending on bases . I'll find one near you with a good price.

Add me as a friend then I can head over to you. I have a asp that can do 65 LY jumps so I can get to you quickly.

What times have you been playing?

I use a joystick ,mouse and keyboard. A Mad Catz Saitek Cyborg X Stick F.L.Y. 5 Flight Stick.

[Anonymous Bosch]

Okay. Now that I've played the game enough to understand most of the lingo, picking up and understanding guides is much easier. I'm going back to that Sidewinder to Anaconda guide, but want to first play around and just do whatever feels right for a while, too.

The things I feel like I need to learn right now are...

1. Using fuel scoops; how, when, where

Fuel scooping is fairly straightforward. Here's a quick beginner's guide to fuel scooping courtesy of CMDR Exigeous.

The way I typically handle fuel-scooping is to keep the star at the edge of the display, then throttle down to zero. When in supercruise that does not mean stationary, so adjust your angle in small increments to prevent your heat rising precipitously while still scooping at a decent rate. If you're in a hurry, you can adjust your speed up in small increments as well, which will give you a better rate of collection but also increases your heat, so you do have to be careful.

3. How to chase an NPC that Frame Shifted away and follow it, including how to knock it out and re-engage the fight

For that, you'll want a use a Frame Shift Wake Scanner, which allows you to pursue ships that have frame-shifted away. Here's a Youtube vid that explains how to use a Frame Shift Wake Scanner to follow another ship.

4. Re-visit how to scan things. I wanted to scan something, but all I could do was shoot it. The tutorial had me use Mouse1 to scan somehow.

It depends on what you mean by 'scan'. If you mean just identifying an item or ship, then all you need to do is target it and face it for a few seconds and you'll automatically scan whatever you have targetted as long as you're close enough to it.

If you mean for scanning for discovery, this video helps explain how the Discovery Tools work.

[Paingod]

Super helpful info, thank you!

It depends on what you mean by 'scan'. If you mean just identifying an item or ship, then all you need to do is target it and face it for a few seconds and you'll automatically scan whatever you have targetted as long as you're close enough to it.

If you mean for scanning for discovery, this video helps explain how the Discovery Tools work.

I ran into an issue where I think I was supposed to "scan" a target to collect data, but couldn't figure out how, so I just shot at him instead and he ran. During the tutorial, the game had me scan a couple cargo containers by cycling between scanners and guns - but out in the field I couldn't figure out how.

I think I can answer my #2 question now. According to the PDF manual, dropping out of supercruise onto a target is supposed to be as easy as having it targeted, be heading at it, going slow enough to kill the drive, and dropping out within 1000km of the target.

[UsulofDoom]

I ran into an issue where I think I was supposed to "scan" a target to collect data, but couldn't figure out how, so I just shot at him instead and he ran. During the tutorial, the game had me scan a couple cargo containers by cycling between scanners and guns - but out in the field I couldn't figure out how.

I think I can answer my #2 question now. According to the PDF manual, dropping out of supercruise onto a target is supposed to be as easy as having it targeted, be heading at it, going slow enough to kill the drive, and dropping out within 1000km of the target.

You may have needed a manifest scanner to check the cargo in his ship. I have 52 Void opals for you.



What sector are you in so I can look up a place for you to sell them. Also what's your jump range?

[Paingod]

What sector are you in so I can look up a place for you to sell them. Also what's your jump range?

I have 40+ void opals for you. They go for 1-1.6 Million depending on bases . I'll find one near you with a good price.

Add me as a friend then I can head over to you. I have a asp that can do 65 LY jumps so I can get to you quickly.

What times have you been playing?

I use a joystick ,mouse and keyboard. A Mad Catz Saitek Cyborg X Stick F.L.Y. 5 Flight Stick.

I'm typically on from 8:00pm to 12:00am ET. In order to take advantage of those opals, I'd need to make something like 10 trips to a merchant. I'm still in my Sidewinder; I've only logged 3.5 hours, and a lot of it was spent just learning how to fly, trade, navigate, etc. I don't know which system I'm in right now (I didn't memorize the name) or how to help you find that. My jump range is whatever a stock Sidewinder can handle, but that doesn't mean I can't make a few stops to refuel as I go. I can't help much more until I get home.

I do have Discord and am on the OO channel if you wanted to connect there later? I'm Rackminster there (with a (PG) after my name as a reminder).

I do honestly appreciate the gesture, but if holding the opals is messing with your trade routes, sell them off and we can hook up at a later time (maybe when I can go further and have a larger hold).

[UsulofDoom]

If your on tonight I can do it. What's your ED CMD name?

[Anonymous Bosch]

I ran into an issue where I think I was supposed to "scan" a target to collect data, but couldn't figure out how, so I just shot at him instead and he ran. During the tutorial, the game had me scan a couple cargo containers by cycling between scanners and guns - but out in the field I couldn't figure out how.

Perhaps you're referring to the Data Link Scanner? In which case you may not have had it assigned to a fire group, which would explain why you were unable to use it. To do that, bring up the right-hand (internal) display, go to fire groups, and make sure you have the scanner assigned to a fire group there. As long as you have it assigned to a fire group, all you need to do is target the object you wish to scan, close to <200M, and "fire" the scanner until the scan is complete.

[Paingod]

If your on tonight I can do it. What's your ED CMD name?

I'm in the game as Rackminster. I'll send you a friend invite. DoomU, right?

[UsulofDoom]

yes in game now and discord.

[Paingod]

First off, UsulofDoom is awesome! I appreciate your patience with me, and think you should have insisted on me picking up collection limpets. While playing "bump the opal" and "feed the feds" was fun, it took far too long. I apologize for not coming better prepared.

I spent a good bit of time looking over the Sidewinder to Anaconda guide, but felt that with the head-start UsuloofDoom gave me, I didn't need to spend a lot of time grinding pointlessly through hulls and trade routes. I did, however, need to get a good feel for the game. To that end, I decided to find a cozy but capable Small ship to use for a while.

With UsulofDoom's financial backing and a fair bit of research, I moved into a Cobra MkIII over the weekend and have it mostly decked out with its final build. I know it could go further for exploration, could be a stronger fighter, and could carry more cargo - but I want to dabble in everything without buying a new ship for each adventure or have to stop and refit for an hour before I played for the night. I was looking for a modest Small ship to start out and get a good feel for the game. Fully kitted this one was 4.3m. The next "best" choice came in under 10m, and I wasn't prepared to drop that much just yet. Jump range: 20ly. Fuel: enough for 6 max-length jumps. Fuel scoop: 3.3 minutes from empty to full. Not the fastest or most agile, but capable in many areas. Bonus on having a nicely open cockpit view. I dropped the Supercruise Assist, figuring I could always use the "Seven Seconds" approach manually (though it looks like Supercruise Assist can help with orbits, cruise exploits (5s drops to locations instead of 7s), and refueling lazily safely). I kept the autodocking computer because my manual docking is not unlike Launchpad McQuack's landings.

With Cobra MkIII in hand and my old Adder sold (not much point in keeping it), I started out with a number of Assassination contracts and got the hang of combat pretty easily. I originally used fixed Burst Lasers for shield stripping, but quickly discovered that the Cobra MkIII has those hardpoints WAY out on the edges of the ship, and I was only ever hitting with one or the other unless I was at max range. On a gimbal, though, they work beautifully and quickly. The Multi-Cannons works well, too, as a fixed mount; those hardpoints are pretty close together and easy to use as fixed without gimbals. After making maybe 500,000 easily through killing NPC's, I wanted to try Exploration.

For Exploration, I'm following the "Fun & Riches" guide. This outlines a fixed tour that can be done early on and yields a tidy profit. I've completed Part 1 and my first Cartography dump brought in almost 1m credits. The whole tour, though, is supposed to bring in up to 14m when done! The only hitch so far is that I was completely unable to find the Water Planet mentioned as being "hidden" in Genetrix. I spent far too long looking for it - so that was a missed 400k credits, but I could have spent the night searching without luck. Given that the ADS (infinite range) is folded into the basic DS in every ship now, does this mean that water planet is a myth?

I haven't undertaken any trading or mining yet, and figure that'll be something I get into with a bigger ship. The concepts seem pretty straight-forward but time consuming. I really wanted to locate and buy an AI wingman, but wasn't prepared to move into a hangar-capable ship yet.

VoiceAttack has been awesome, too. My most used commands are:

One Hundred - 100% throttle
Seventy Five - 75% throttle
Fifty - 50% throttle
Zero - 0% throttle
Galaxy - Galaxy Map up/closed
System - System Map up/closed
Ready - Hardpoints out/in
Combat - +1 pip to Weapons & Engines
Balance - Rebalance power
Hostile - Target nearest hostile
Aim - Target whatever's on-screen
Frame - Frame shift on/off
Cargo - Cargo bay open/closed

When I get interdicted and am getting motion sick in the mini-game, I just say "Zero ... Ready ... Hostile ... Fifty... Combat " and I'm ready for a dogfight. I've already programmed a number of them for wingmen, too, and have others I haven't touched - like Night Vision, Lights, etc. I look forward to using it for other games, too.

Is there any way to aim the DSS, or do I have to keep skipping back to "Combat Mode" and then "Scanner Mode" to re-adjust and re-aim it? I'm looking around the interwebs for an answer after this post. It's mildy annoying to have to keep jumping in and out of scan mode instead of just aiming elsewhere on the planet. *Edit: Ah, it looks like DSS has a companion piece called FSS, and I need to establish keybinds for these activities and start tinkering with them. Bonus tidbit: Using planetary gravity to "curve" probes to the back side. I've been shooting them at the planet, then flying to the back and starting over; it seems I may not have to.

Collection Limpets should seriously be a 2T accessory that includes it's own singular drone and "rebuild" capability (like DSS probes). Having to stuff my hold full of tiny drones so I can collect litter after each fight isn't overly awesome. I suppose, though, that it might make sense if you think about putting in 3 or 4 different controllers, then, to have them all share a stockpile. The life span of drones seems random. Sometimes I deploy one and it brings me something and then dies. Others bring me everything in the field and watch while I jump away.

The learning curve on this gave is pretty intense. I'm enjoying that.

[Anonymous Bosch]

For Exploration, I'm following the "Road to Riches" guide. This outlines a fixed tour that can be done early on and yields a tidy profit. I've completed Part 1 and my first Cartography dump brought in almost 1m credits. The whole tour, though, is supposed to bring in up to 14m when done! The only hitch so far is that I was completely unable to find the Water Planet mentioned as being "hidden" in Genetrix. I spent far too long looking for it - so that was a missed 400k credits, but I could have spent the night searching without luck. Given that the ADS (infinite range) is folded into the basic DS in every ship now, does this mean that water planet is a myth?

The Road to Riches is certainly a safe and valid approach to get started. But personally, I found exploration in the early game rather tiresome and repetitive given all the time you need to spend doing essentially nothing but jumping into systems. I preferred something a little more interactive than jumping over and over, so it wasn't really my cuppa. But from what I recall, in terms of following the Road to Riches approach, I found it simplest to first target the particular planet you're seeking using the System Map. The water world in Genetrix is the third planet in the system, so once you're in that system, you'd target the unexplored third planet using the System Map and then point your ship directly at it. Honk the system with your Discovery Scanner, then bring up the Full Spectrum Scanner. Since you're already facing the relevant planet in your reticle, it should then just be a matter of adjusting the frequency (i.e. do not move the reticle in the FSS) until the planet is revealed, and you're ready to progress to your next target.

Here's another useful video guide that offers a safe and straightforward way of earning your way to a billion-plus credits in fairly short order (mostly via deep core mining, though it does involve about an hour of exploration using the EDtools Road to Riches tool early on):

[Paingod]

I found it simplest to first target the particular planet you're seeking using the System Map. The water world in Genetrix is the third planet in the system, so once you're in that system, you'd target the unexplored third planet using the System Map and then point your ship directly at it. Honk the system with your Discovery Scanner, then bring up the Full Spectrum Scanner. Since you're already facing the relevant planet in your reticle, it should then just be a matter of adjusting the frequency (i.e. do not move the reticle in the FSS) until the planet is revealed, and you're ready to progress to your next target.

When I jumped into the system, I "Honked" and then opened my system map. The system was, from nearest to furthest: Asteroid Belt, Asteroid Belt, Red Gas Giant (with many moons), Gas Giant, Gas Giant, Gas Giant, Gas Giant. The guide I linked advised that this "hidden" planet needed to be found by flying 1050ls beyond the red gas giant from the sun, then banking left or right and flying in a large circle in that orbital pathway while honking periodically until it appeared. I went half way around the system that way until I went searching for more info on the Discover Scanner (DS) and found that what I was using should have an infinite range and should have uncovered the planet.

The guide I was looking at didn't mention the Full Spectrum Scanner, just the Discovery Scanner. I never even knew it existed until I went looking for answers. I'll try using it tonight.

I found exploration in the early game rather tiresome and repetitive given all the time you need to spend doing essentially nothing but jumping into systems.

I'm just trying out as many things as I can. I'm not on a hardcore path to absolute riches. I want to have fun, first and foremost. I'm also trying to respect the gift if millions I was given as a starter present and not throw it all into a black hole; I want to spend enough time in my 4.3m Cobra MkIII that I earn back what I spent on it before moving on to a Medium ship.

I kind of like the "feeling" of being a scientist. It's new and novel, and nothing a game has really put in front of me... but it's dampened slightly by re-scanning planets that have other people's names on them, knowing I'm just repeating a scan that's been done a thousand times before me. When I get through the guide I'm using, I'll probably move on to another activity - probably more bounty hunting for a while.

My biggest assassination contract gave me 113,000cr and didn't feel very risky, so I'm going to keep edging the value up until I hit a hard one-on-one fight. The hardest fight was a 2 on 1 where two of my contracts ganged up on me, but system police jumped in and wiped one out for me before I could get killed. Before I get more into that, I feel like I should know more about factions and who I'm pissing off or who I don't want to.

I have watched a video on deep core mining and think it's something I could easily do - but I'm not prepared yet to get into that. I know that's where the "real" money is, with people purporting $150m per hour in profits.

[Anonymous Bosch]

When I jumped into the system, I "Honked" and then opened my system map. The system was, from nearest to furthest: Asteroid Belt, Asteroid Belt, Red Gas Giant (with many moons), Gas Giant, Gas Giant, Gas Giant, Gas Giant. The guide I linked advised that this "hidden" planet needed to be found by flying 1050ls beyond the red gas giant from the sun, then banking left or right and flying in a large circle in that orbital pathway while honking periodically until it appeared. I went half way around the system that way until I went searching for more info on the Discover Scanner (DS) and found that what I was using should have an infinite range and should have uncovered the planet.

The guide I was looking at didn't mention the Full Spectrum Scanner, just the Discovery Scanner. I never even knew it existed until I went looking for answers. I'll try using it tonight.

Yeah, that seems like a needlessly imprecise way of locating the planets you're after while using the Road to Riches approach to making money. The guide you linked to is two years old though, so I would surmise the Full Spectrum Scanner was perhaps added to the game after that particular guide was written. Because using the FSS makes the Road to Riches approach to exploration a whole lot simpler and easier (and means you don't actually need to fly anywhere within a system to explore the relevant bodies in it).

The video guide I linked to above illustrates exactly how Road to Riches exploration should work starting at the 19:10 mark, so it may help when you see it demonstrated in action. Rest assured, it makes exploration a whole lot simpler and easier.

[Paingod]

Yeah, that seems like a needlessly imprecise way of locating the planets you're after while using the Road to Riches approach to making money. The guide you linked to is two years old though, so I would surmise the Full Spectrum Scanner was perhaps added to the game after that particular guide was written. Because using the FSS makes the Road to Riches approach to exploration a whole lot simpler and easier (and means you don't actually need to fly anywhere within a system to explore the relevant bodies in it).

I think, though, that any "habitable" bodies are probably worth getting up close to and scanning with the DSS? My DSS Scan of an earth-like planet sold for over $600,000 by itself. That video you linked had him saying he was making $500,000 per planet scan - so maybe the DSS is a worthless (or nearly so) addition to exploring?

I'll have to be weary of outdated info in the game. Clearly things have changed somewhat over time, and by quite a bit.

*Edit: Okay, so the FSS is like a L1 & L2 scan combined (whatever those were before), and the DSS is the L3 scan, probably worthwhile for the big draws, like habitable earth-like planets.

[Anonymous Bosch]

Yeah, that seems like a needlessly imprecise way of locating the planets you're after while using the Road to Riches approach to making money. The guide you linked to is two years old though, so I would surmise the Full Spectrum Scanner was perhaps added to the game after that particular guide was written. Because using the FSS makes the Road to Riches approach to exploration a whole lot simpler and easier (and means you don't actually need to fly anywhere within a system to explore the relevant bodies in it).

I think, though, that any "habitable" bodies are probably worth getting up close to and scanning with the DSS? My DSS Scan of an earth-like planet sold for over $600,000 by itself.

Well, if you enjoy seeing the sights while exploring, there's nothing wrong in going about it that way, as DSS scans do bring in additional payments from Universal Cartographics. But it's entirely unnecessary in terms of following the Road to Riches approach to making money quickly. Using something like the EDtools Road to Riches tool and scanning with the FSS will bring in millions of credits much more quickly and easily.

[Paingod]

Well, if you enjoy seeing the sights while exploring, there's nothing wrong in going about it that way, as DSS scans do bring in additional payments from Universal Cartographics. But it's entirely unnecessary in terms of following the Road to Riches approach to making money quickly. Using something like the EDtools Road to Riches tool and scanning with the FSS will bring in millions of credits much more quickly and easily.

I don't know if I'll scan all 495 of the planets that site says I can get to "easily" but I'm going to have a go at it tonight and see how I do. I want to at least try the DSS now that I know more about using it and see how I feel about it.

[Anonymous Bosch]

I doubt you'll need to scan 495 planets. As the video guide above suggests, 50 Road to Riches jumps while scanning with the FSS ought to generate more than enough money to afford an Asp Explorer kitted out for deep core mining. If you outfit an Asp Explorer for deep core mining as shown in that video guide, you then only need to fill the cargo hold with void opals once and you'll have enough to move onto a fully-loaded Python deep core miner. That Python should allow you to bring in sufficient profits to rank up to Elite as a trader after only three or four trips (granting the handy permit to the Jameson Memorial starport in the process).

[Paingod]

I think that maybe exploration values have changed quite a bit since the "Fun & Riches" guide came out. He mentioned earning 14m credits for just FSS scans on "high value" planets. I'm 90% of the way through his list and when I stopped at Darnelle's Progress in Maia, I unloaded all of my survey data for over 15m credits. Mind you, I was doing DSS scans on some high value targets for half the trip (got a little bored), and additional FSS scans on dozens of planets he never touched. If I simply did FSS scans on the high-value planets, I would have come back with significantly less, I think. As such, I suppose the DSS module is for dedicated explorers and not worth the cargo space on a multi-purpose ship. FSS is a nice way to cash in on a little easy work without expending too much effort.

Using a DSS is super easy, once you actually know how it works. This isn't something the game puts in front of you. For anyone who finds this and doesn't feel like watching a 20min YouTube video on it:

• Turn on the DSS controls in your Control Menu. Enable Mouse Pitch and Yaw.
• Frame Shift towards the target planet.
• At 7 seconds to impact, lower throttle to 75%
• At 0.25ls, lower throttle to 0%
• You should slow down and "stop" (30km/s) somewhere between 0.15ls and 0.20ls from the planet.
• Switch to whichever weapon group DSS is in and engage it with a mouse click. This will bring up the target screen.
• Aim and fire at the below points; you should achieve a 90%+ scan, which rounds up to 100%.
• Note the "Ref Lines" - you'll see these around the planet as you aim beyond it. Use these as indicators of where to aim (below or beyond).
• The corner shots will pull in with gravity and impact behind the planet.

Planet values as of a couple months ago; still should be current. Lists the FSS value, DSS value, and FD value (First Discovered) in handy tallies below each planet group. This is not my work and was heisted from this Reddit thread.


Worth mentioning, too, is that the "Goldilocks" zone matters if you've got a bunch of unknowns. Depending on where the planet lies, and the type of star, it's more likely to be worth scanning if it's within a specific distance range.

[Paingod]

Having explored and gotten a feel for the game, my mind has latched onto the concept of a combat-ready mining vessel. I have no idea why.

This is or this are the concepts I put together. 64t (128t) of cargo, but I think it should be capable of defending itself. The base ship is 44m credits, and the total cost is 86m or 90m credits. If I can find a place to mine Void Opals, I'd like to think the 64t of cargo space would pay back the ship in one run? It's got stubby legs, though, and wouldn't be good for bounding across the galaxy. Beat the tar out of a claim jumper? I think that's what I was gunning for.

That's a later goal, though. Tonight I'm simply going to make a modest medium miner and see how it feels. I really wanted to do something other than an Asp Explorer, but when you look at the cost (6m) and function, it's hard to beat. For as good as it is, it seems like it should cost 3x what it does.

[Sepiche]

Having explored and gotten a feel for the game, my mind has latched onto the concept of a combat-ready mining vessel. I have no idea why.

This is basically what I've been doing. I'm using an upgraded Imperial Cutter which I've decked out with gear for core mining, 128 ton cargo hold, and two gimbaled multi cannons. I can generally sweep a resource point clear of pirates after a bit, and then you're clear to roam around looking for good cores.

[Paingod]

It's good to know it's not a crazy idea. My original concept traded 64t of cargo to include a fighter bay so I could have a wingman at the ready. I'm fascinated by the concept and am really itching to use one. The second concept dropped the wingman and shifted the shield down to 5A instead of 6D - actually a touch stronger, and adds 64t of cargo space back. I liked that the medium hardpoints are on the underside next to the cockpit and the combat gimbals are on the top, but it means I need to be careful about letting enemies get under me and stay there. That was where the fighter came in.

[Anonymous Bosch]

Having explored and gotten a feel for the game, my mind has latched onto the concept of a combat-ready mining vessel. I have no idea why.

This is the concept I put together. 64t of cargo, but I think it should be capable of defending itself. The base ship is 44m credits, and the total cost is 86m credits. If I can find a place to mine Void Opals, I'd like to think the 64t of cargo space would pay back the ship in one run? It's got stubby legs, though, and wouldn't be good for bounding across the galaxy. Beat the tar out of a claim jumper? I think that's what I was gunning for.

That's a later goal, though. Tonight I'm simply going to make a modest medium miner and see how it feels. I really wanted to do something other than an Asp Explorer, but when you look at the cost (6m) and function, it's hard to beat. For as good as it is, it seems like it should cost 3x what it does.

Generally speaking, when deep core mining you'll rarely need to worry about defense. Typically, when you first drop into a void opal hotspot, you'll have a few pirates show up immediately afterwards. The safest approach is to allow them to scan you, and after they realise the only cargo you have are worthless limpets, they'll show no further interest in you whatsoever. You won't see any pirate activity at the void opal hotspot after that initial scan, so you're perfectly safe to begin mining after the pirates have scanned you and lost interest.

Once you've filled your hold with void opals, there's a reasonable likelihood you will be interdicted as you head to the station where you plan on selling your loot. Fortunately, evading NPC interdictions isn't difficult at all, especially if you have mostly A-rated internals installed on your ship. Player characters are a different story though, and evading them can be much more challenging and you'll undoubtedly make for a very juicy target with a 64t cargo hold full of void opals. So if you're playing on open, the safest approach is to avoid selling at a station with high traffic. In other words, when you're ready to sell your void opals, you'll likely want to check the void opals commodity section on Inara. From there, you click on "Best Sell" to find the stations that are paying the most per void opal. Looking at it right now, if you click on the station at the very top of the list (currently Perry Station | LHS 449), notice it says "Traffic: 1640+ ships". Compare that to Rangarajan's Base | Canopus, just a few places down from the top, and the traffic there is only 0-5 ships. Meaning you'll be much safer flying to Canopus instead of LHS 449, and the difference in price per void opal is negligible.

The point being, your efforts are better spent on evasion while deep core mining rather than loading up on weapons that will only needlessly weigh you down, at least while first learning the ropes. Stay agile and nimble and defense ought not be an issue.

[Paingod]

The point being, your efforts are better spent on evasion while deep core mining rather than loading up on weapons that will only needlessly weigh you down, at least while first learning the ropes. Stay agile and nimble and defense ought not be an issue.

Sounds like I need more practice evading. I've been standing and fighting.

As I understand it, evading pretty much comes down to...

• You get the interdiction notice.
• You kill throttle instead of fighting it.
• As soon as you're in regular space, boost your ass out of there.
• Throttle up and keep distance.
• Engage Frame Shift ASAP.

[Sepiche]

I like clearing the resource nodes of pirates personally. Gives me a little action before I settle into the mining, and gives me a little extra money from the bounties. I definitely size up the pirates at a given resource node carefully before I pull the trigger though, and if they are well armed I usually let them scan me and leave before I start.

[Paingod]

I like clearing the resource nodes of pirates personally. Gives me a little action before I settle into the mining, and gives me a little extra money from the bounties.

That sounds more appealing to me. The intense focus on single purpose might be a way to make bundles of money, but it also sounds extremely repetitive. That's the surest way for me to burn out on a game. I honestly would rather have half-efficiency over full-efficiency and extend my enjoyment of a game.

This is my current Cobra MkIII. It has a couple bits left to upgrade, but has felt like a very dependable multi-purpose ship.

I think, given my hesitation on buying into that combat miner (it'd eat all of my funds) I'm going to instead pick up the base ship I want to use for it and get acclimated to fighting in it first before dumping tens of millions on internal like power and frame drive. That's still half my money, though. and I'll get time to try fighting with an AI wingman.

[Anonymous Bosch]

The point being, your efforts are better spent on evasion while deep core mining rather than loading up on weapons that will only needlessly weigh you down, at least while first learning the ropes. Stay agile and nimble and defense ought not be an issue.

Sounds like I need more practice evading. I've been standing and fighting.

As I understand it, evading pretty much comes down to...

• You get the interdiction notice.
• You kill throttle instead of fighting it.
• As soon as you're in regular space, boost your ass out of there.
• Throttle up and keep distance.
• Engage Frame Shift ASAP.

In terms of NPC interdictions, if you have A-rated internals it's generally fairly easy to win the minigame and avoid being interdicted at all if you simply roll and use your pitch up and down to maintain your escape vector.

Submitting and throttling down to zero is the safer option when dealing with player characters though, as they're more likely to win the interdiction minigame since the attacker gets a buff, and chances are they'll be more experienced at playing and winning that minigame anyway. If you fight and fail to hold off an interdiction, you're stuck in the unfortunate situation of waiting for the full cooldown period of your FSD, which provides your attacker with ample time to destroy you. Submitting to the interdiction by throttling to zero means you only have to wait 10 seconds for your FSD to cool down, allowing you to jump away much faster. In terms of evasion, you basically want to boost, boost, boost, ideally not flying towards your original intended target. Once your FSD is charged, you then have the choice of either high or low-waking away. High-waking means jumping to another star system and is not affected by mass-lock, generally making it the preferable choice for evasion. Low-waking boots up faster but is affected by mass-lock, and there's a greater likelihood of your pursuer simply interdicting you again if you low-wake away. My preferred tactic is to boost, boost, boost away, and with flight-assist turned off, orient towards my intended high-wake destination so that I'm essentially flying backwards or sideways at high speed. I then boost towards my intended destination as the FSD is charging for the jump, and will typically be long gone before a pursuer has any opportunity to catch up.

[Paingod]

I didn't get to play last night because of work, but I have a different problem. I seem to be paralyzed by choice. I'm spending an inordinate amount of time thinking about the ships I'd want and building them online.

I really want to get a Krait MkII and get into having a fighter pilot with me, and dabble a little in mining while also being able to fight for fun without trading up ships. So much of the focus from experienced players points to this being a bad idea. You either build a mining vessel or you don't. You either build a combat ship or you don't. You don't see guides out there for multi-purpose builds, or at least, I haven't seen any.

What I keep forgetting when I'm looking at building ships is that all of these expensive components I'd use can be sold back for full value. The worst thing that'll happen to me if I buy an Asp Explorer and outfit it for mining, and then discover I don't like it, is that I lose 600,000cr selling the shell back. I can make that back with one good planet scan using my Cobra MkIII.

I do believe I've got fuel scooping down to a science, though, and take the time to top off at every star I come to where I can. Hopefully this means I won't need to call on the Fuel Rats. My method is to jump in, immediately set throttle to 25% and level out with the star's corona just below my windshield. Once I get to max collection rate, I drop down to zero throttle, wait for it to fill up, then aim straight away from the star at 100% throttle. I only overheat if I get anxious and try to engage the jump to the next star before exiting the star's heat zone.

My preferred tactic is to boost, boost, boost away, and with flight-assist turned off, orient towards my intended high-wake destination so that I'm essentially flying backwards or sideways at high speed.

If I'm reading this right, you can turn off the ships' "breaks" and let it drift at a set speed?

I want to be sure I understand the process you've outlined for evading players. Please correct me if I'm reading this wrong.

• You get an interdiction warning.
• If it's an NPC you just play the minigame and move on (apparently NPC's always jabber at you in Chat, and show as solid blocks behind you on radar)
• If it's a player, you drop out of Frame Shift with zero throttle (if there's no chat message indicating an NPC, and show as hollow blocks on radar).
• You immediately set your ship to full engine power and boost (TAB) away repeatedly.
• You disable flight assist (Z) so you can glide
  • While flying backwards you'll want to hit reverse throttle at max speed to maintain your original speed and heading as the FSD is charging
• You open the Galaxy map (or "1" for Nav list) and select a new system destination.
• You return to "combat" and re-orient yourself towards the new objective.
• When your Frame Shift drive is charged, you re-engage Flight Assist (Z) and boost towards the new objective with full forward throttle
• You engage Frame Shift and keep boosting each time it's available until you bug out
• You hit the next system and get back on course, hoping they don't follow

Is there any idea of how accurate this site is (edsy.org) for ship builds? I found it this morning while looking for samples and like that it actually shows the pitch and yaw of ships as I build them (as well as other stats), though the rest of the UI is a little more cumbersome than coriolis.io.

I swear, every time I look at the Asp Explorer and compare it to anything else, there's a missing zero on the end of the price. What purpose does any other ship in that size category serve when held up against that as a cheaper alternative?

[Anonymous Bosch]

Here's a couple of useful videos that help demonstrate the basics of successful interdiction evasion. The first demonstrates the easiest method of winning the minigame to evade interdiction, and the second demonstrates the tactics used to survive interdiction when submitting and dropping to zero throttle:





Like most aspects of Elite: Dangerous, it takes a little practice but for the most part you're fairly unlikely to run into player-controlled pirates all that often anyway (and there's always the option of playing solo if you prefer to ensure you do not run into a player-controlled pirate, at least while initially getting the hang of deep core mining). Evading NPCs, either via the minigame or submitting to the interdiction by dropping out of witch-space, really isn't that difficult unless flying an exceptionally sluggish ship with shoddy internals.

[Paingod]

I bet that dude has a great Schwarzenegger impression.

I've updated my previous posts' instructions based on those videos. It's easier for me to have a checklist than it is to try and remember all the moves someone else runs through.

[Anonymous Bosch]

I swear, every time I look at the Asp Explorer and compare it to anything else, there's a missing zero on the end of the price. What purpose does any other ship in that size category serve when held up against that as a cheaper alternative?

Yeah, the Asp Explorer is a mighty handy ship and a terrific bargain given its versatility. The only thing that really irritates me about it is the obnoxious engine noise it has that sounds like an antiquated dive bomber propeller plane suffering from mechanical flatulence. It really does stand out given how impressive the vast majority of the rest of the game's audio effects tend to be.

BTW, for the "You disable flight assist (Z) so you can glide" bullet point, while flying backwards you'll want to hit reverse throttle at max speed to maintain your original speed and heading as the FSD is charging, and then boost away and hit max (forward) throttle towards your destination as you jump out.

[Paingod]

BTW, for the "You disable flight assist (Z) so you can glide" bullet point, while flying backwards you'll want to hit reverse throttle at max speed to maintain your original speed and heading as the FSD is charging, and then boost away and hit max (forward) throttle towards your destination as you jump out.

Updated.

I think I'm finally willing to choke down an Deep Core Asp Explorer for 22m credits and try deep core mining. The worst I lose is 600,000cr, and the best outcome is a night or two of poking around as a miner and buying a better ship that can sport the fighter ship I want to have with me. The concept of a naked, defenseless ship with multi-millions in the hold makes my head hurt, though.

[Anonymous Bosch]

BTW, for the "You disable flight assist (Z) so you can glide" bullet point, while flying backwards you'll want to hit reverse throttle at max speed to maintain your original speed and heading as the FSD is charging, and then boost away and hit max (forward) throttle towards your destination as you jump out.

Updated.

I think I'm finally willing to choke down an Deep Core Asp Explorer for 22m credits and try deep core mining. The worst I lose is 600,000cr, and the best outcome is a night or two of poking around as a miner and buying a better ship that can sport the fighter ship I want to have with me. The concept of a naked, defenseless ship with multi-millions in the hold makes my head hurt, though.

You'll be fine. Honestly, there's really not much to worry about at all when deep core mining. As long as you allow the pirates to check you out after initially dropping into a void opal hotspot, you're safe as houses to get your mining done from that point forward.

Granted, there's a chance you'll see an interdiction when travelling to the station that pays 1.6 million per void opal, though not necessarily. More often than not, you won't be interdicted at all. If anything, after getting the hang of locating the bright, deep core asteroids that resemble Jack B. Little pumpkins with fissures (don't forget to bring up your right-hand internal display, and turn on night vision; it makes fissures much easier to spot), I found it to be a pleasantly relaxing process for the most part.

[Paingod]

In anticipation of the night, I already bound a voice command to toggle night vision.

[Paingod]

Going to try and link the build I made last night... I'm not entirely sure about it, but am going to give it a whirl. This came about when I was looking for more info on how to mine and bumped into the Reddit EliteMiners forum, where the universal echo seems to be that Painite mining is better cash per hour than Void Opals. Sure, it sells for less per unit, but you spend less time hunting for the deposits; more money over time. The rage is to currently locate physically overlapping hotspots and mine through the overlap. I didn't want to rule out core mining if I bumped into something interesting, though. I have unlocked a few engineers so far and have noted that they sometimes want specific minerals. This ship would let me satisfy that.

Because I'm not swimming in credits and don't want to chase all over the galaxy to re-outfit myself when I want to change activities, I've built this Asp for mining with lasers -or- hunting deep cores. Either or. It has 2 mining lasers, but I'm not sure if my power generation supports running them very long (it looks like 3.3 seconds).

Pros:

• With 96 cargo space, it should make a good modest haul possible, assuming I can do it.
• Capable of mining cores or surface materals.
• Fastest thrusters for maximum escape velocity.
• Point defense turrets on the top and bottom to shoot down Hatch Limpets from pirates.

Cons:

• 3A shield provides 136 shield vs. 199 shield if I put a 5D in there; trading some safety for a larger hold
• Lower max hyperspace range than a light, stripped single-purpose build
• Very small fuel scoop for a ship this size; I'm considering going with a smaller Refinery and larger Scoop. If I'm not mistaken, there's no speed difference in processing, but rather the bin count limits the number of different ores you can collect at once and process. If I'm hunting a small number of high-value ores, it should matter less if I have fewer bins.
• No assisted functions - Supercruise or Landing. Good luck CMDR!

I was able to get this ship mostly built last night, minus the best thrusters, which were not in the station I was directed to by one of the trade websites. Everything else was, but not those. They did have 5B thrusters, though, so it's good enough for me to try it out tonight without fussing over that small detail.

I also tried out scanning rings on planets so I could figure out how that works and think I've got it; easy enough with the DSS. I didn't find anything grand, but it worked.

I remain enamored with the Krait MkII concept I had, though.

Pros:

• Kick the snot out of some pirates while mining.
• 128 cargo and a fighter bay, along with the parts for surface mining.

Cons:

• People will call it an inefficient build; fun can be inefficient as long as it's fun, though.
• 22ly jump range
• No Supercruise assist or landing assist. Good luck CMDR!

I'll need to see how I feel about it again after trying out mining for a while. Mostly I'd rather have some fun and fight some pirates over just boosting my butt out constantly. The investment to be able to do that is pretty high, though, at 97m credits.

Questions:

• If my AI pilot dies in the Fighter ship, does he "die" or does he just come back to the mothership and wait to be re-deployed?
• I visited my first engineer last night, but am really not sure what it all means even after reading a guide (like this one). It looks like I'm "unlocking" new builds by using them - but do I have to spend 5 components each time I upgrade something that way now, or is it just the first time while they're learning it?
• I noticed later in another station that I had an unavailable option to apply an engineer upgrade. I think I could have "pinned" the upgrade I bought at the Engineer - but how does that work? Do the other stations access those pinned upgrade specs, and how many can I "pin" at once?

[Anonymous Bosch]

Indeed, double painite mining is another fairly straightforward means of bringing in a whole lotta credits relatively safely and easily. On a credits-per-hour basis, I believe it actually generates even more credits than void opal mining. Personally though, I find the experience of void opal mining to be more engaging than that of firing off mining lasers and simply loading up on collector limpets. Painite mining tends to a lot less skill-based, as you don't need to worry about locating deep core asteroids and using seismic charges to crack 'em open with the optimum yield. So you'll have to judge for yourself which process you prefer. But either way, you'll be generating hundreds of millions of credits with just an hour or so's work.

[Paingod]

But either way, you'll be generating hundreds of millions of credits with just an hour or so's work.

... and that's kind of my goal. Quick cash to get me to the ships I want to fly more. Heck, after putting together my Asp Explorer, I picked up three cargo transfer missions in the last station I visited and made over 1m credits to fly 9ly and land on a planet. Money seems easy to make in this game, but everything takes a lot of it.

Okay, so I'm reading through the guides for Engineers, and it looks like I just need to worry about increasing my rep with them, which is done by either using them or performing special tasks. Correct me if I'm wrong, but the short summary of Engineers seems to be:

• You unlock them through special tasks, from exploring to mining to traveling to ranking up other Engineers.
• Each Engineer you unlock has a specific set of skills they can use.
• You can only have them work on upgrades that are equal to or lower than your rank with them; you need Rank 5 to unlock G5 mods.
• You can increase their Ranking with you through usage or other tasks (like building influence in the station they occupy).
• An engineer that can make G5 mods can also make G1, G2, G3, and G4 for that component.
• Not all engineers can make G5 mods; some are limited. This is why you need new engineers beyond the initial ones.
• You need to have all appropriate materials and ranks to attempt to make a mod.
• To mod something, you provide the engineer with the base item (equipped on your ship) and they work on it.
  • I don't know, though, why I have to try and mod something 5 times to fill the circular bars for it, or what that achieves.
• When the mod is complete, there's an experimental (random) value attached in addition to the base desired value. This may or may not serve your purpose for the mod, leading to you "re-rolling" the item (or trading it to another ship it suits better) until you get the base mod and random bonus you're after.