Just got Elite Dangerous

I may save up again for a Chieftan (in addition to my challenger) because I fancy doing missions with someone else manning the SLF 🙂 Not sure it would be particularly useful having a gunner tbh.

Does anyone know whether it's worth collecting the bits after you've blown up a pirate. Obviously not the cargo, as i'm clean as a whistle, but the 'materials'?

Thanks
Matt

Dunno, I do when I feel like it. I think you can use the materials to make stuff later.

Collect the materials, they get stored without affecting your jump distance and are used for engineer stuff.

Better to be looking at them than for them.

Just upgraded my 1E fuel scoop to a 4B, bloody hell that's quick!

Slowly making my way to Maia, got another 15 jumps but charting unexplored sectors on the way. Need to figure out honking next as I realised I've been wasting time (if not working on my scout status).

I did some exploring with the FSS and the surface scanner. Not sure what the point is. I'm trying to find barnacles, and so far I've found nothing at all. Some ice capped mountains but that's it.

It would seem that it's a more efficient way of spending your time. If you scan whole systems manually (as I have) then youre time to profit ratio is pretty poor. If you only honk then fully scan systems with terraformable or earth-like worlds then you make as much in the same time but for less effort.

So it seems anyway, to be honest I'm still trying to figure out how to get my FSS to work in the first place.

Old Pondo (in Elite) is dead, long live new Pondo (in Elite)! Having utterly failed to work out to do anything in mining, I thought f*** it, let's try a combat mission - flew to the requested system then no idea how to find my quarry, THEN found, when I deployed my hardpoints, that whatever messing around I'd done to try and mine had put my little pulse laser into a configuration that wouldn't allow me to fire it. Back to base, no non-combat missions for me, tried a few different systems, same thing - either it's combat and I'm in a tiny ship that I can only damage people in by ramming, or I don't meet the requirements, presumably because I've died and failed so many missions that my name, virtually speaking, is mud across the universe. Dang it. 🙁

Before I snapped the disc in half and went back to RDR2, I had a think. I loved - LOVED - Elite on the Spectrum, I was SO looking forward to this, I decided not to give up just yet. I turned me off and back on again to start once more from the beginning, dug out the case and activated the Horizons pass I couldn't be bothered with before, went through the licence test at the start with my previous experience and picked up a ton more than I had first time through, and with the Horizons add-ons making life a whole shedload easier (autolaunch/dock, supercruise assist), all of a sudden just getting about is no longer a time-consuming pain in my ass. Now I'm completing missons no problem (so far!), and the Cobra MkIII is almost within my grasp. I've got to have it - it's my electronic version of the e-type my dad always hankered after...

@pondo glad to hear you are getting on with it now.

I have recommended him further up in the thread, but check out 'Down to earth astronomy' on youtube, he has great tutorial videos on mining, exploring and various other bits and pieces.

I am an easy going miner but today I managed to fully scan a planet, find a mineral hotspot in the rings and make 36 million credits, in about 3hrs. Not fleet carrier type earnings, but pays the rebuild costs when I go bounty hunting and the inevitable happens.

I loved my Cobra III, it was kitted out for mining, but such a versatile ship, you could use it for anything.

Going to give exploring a try tonight.

Matt

If you've not left the Pilots District yet I suggest reading my previous post to maximise exit profit. My Cobra Mk3 is now happily skipping across hyperspace with not a care in the world, fuel scooping has taken care of a lot of range anxiety.

Cheers both, will do some research - Mrs Pondo has the telly at the mo, but when she goes to bed... 🙂

Are you in the squadron Pondo? Ping us a message if someone else is online (in the chat menu press L2/R2 to cycle between different levels of chat) and send a message, then if anyone response we could do a PSN party for chat purposes. The Elite in-game group voice chat doesn't really work.

Then if you're on chat you can ask someone if you get stuck. You can even share your screen with people via PSN rather than Elite).

Got a Cobra Mk3 and have been busy mining diamonds and now feel super rich 🙂
not decided what ship to get next.

and anyone else find that if they click on last page of a thread it logs you out and you cant reply?
thought i was going crazy as when i then click login it already is logged in, until you click on last page.
Working if i just click on second last page and reply from there lol

Are you in the squadron Pondo? Ping us a message if someone else is online (in the chat menu press L2/R2 to cycle between different levels of chat) and send a message, then if anyone response we could do a PSN party for chat purposes. The Elite in-game group voice chat doesn’t really work.

Not knowingly! 🙂 Cheers, will see if I can join up - I haven't tried using online chat whilst gaming since I got GTAV and some American youth threatened to papercut my nipples - I'm hoping this doesn't go the same way! 🙂

If you join the STW squadron then it's just us off this thread, it's not public. For voice chat it seems to be just the PSN party feature. You invite people from your friends list using the PSN menu.

But you have to friend us for that. My name is molgrips, others have shared their usernames earlier in the thread.

See you out there Commander.

We prefer to wee in shoes.

Bought a python, did a few upgrades and took it for a spin as I didn't have time to do anything else.

Oh, paint jobs are half price at the mo too, mine are now glowing blue.

A short 300ls hop to the next space station and I got hijacked, thought "I'm packing heat now!" And had a go. Realised that as I've been flying weaponless in the AspX I'd forgotten to upgrade the stock beam lasers.

I won! I had upgraded power plant, shields, distributor so out rated their weapons more than combat skill but I don't care.

I presume as you go up the combat ranks the mobs get harder?

I'm doing some missions to get into Sol, a bit more mining and then thinking about SagA.

What's at SagA?

I should be the_kato

Working on my combat rating at the moment running assassinations and pirate hunting out of LTT 10823. Ditched my fixed beams on my Python for turreted burst lasers last night. Feels a bit like cheating at the mo but then I’ve not come up against any ship using chaff launchers

“What’s at SagA?”

A massive black hole I think

I was not a fan of turrets on the Asp. They never seemed to be firing. Although probably an improvement over fixed, you nutter.

Yeah on reflection it was kinda hard to hit anything with fixed weapons and a slow moving ship

Find now I’ve turrets by the time I’ve manoeuvred into position for my multicannons the turrets have already taken down the enemy shields

am i doing something wrong when trying to find mining hotspots with the DSS, it never shows anything, unless if i fly away and dock and come back out, then its shows up.
Help 🙂

I finally figured out how to get my FSS working, turns out I couldn't see the difference between ' and `!

it seems to be a bug for me, i can fire tons of probes and nothing, logout and back in and the hotspots are there.

I've been looking for barnacles with the DSS. First time I used it I found a fair few interesting things inc a tapped out barnacle (Merope) but every single time since I've found naff all. Entire planets with absoutely nothing of interest whatsoever, which strikes me as a bit odd for a game that wants you to explore.

When you use the DSS, how do you get the results? When I found stuff it popped up in my info panel and then I got markers when I looked at the scanned planet but it seemed a little transient, I was expecting a proper report or something.

In the navigation panel.

Barnacles are in the witch head nebula?

SagA is a PS4 trophy.

Just mooching around at the Inner Orion Spur this afternoon. About 200Ly jumping, scanning systems as I went. When i turned for home I changed the setting on the route finder and made it in about 7 jumps.

As far as I could tell I found one terraformable planet, but about 10% of the system scans were worth 200000 to 500000 credits. The rest were junk to be fair.

I hop in then scan the system with the FSS until I have found all of the planetary bodies. Then I move onto the next.

Am I missing a trick?

What is this 'honking' thing?

Loving the different playstyles. I'm bounty hunting at the minute, before getting the miner out for a trip this evening.

Matt

I hop in then scan the system with the FSS until I have found all of the planetary bodies. Then I move onto the next.

Am I missing a trick?

What is this ‘honking’ thing?

Honking seems to be doing an initial scan with the FSS then determining if there are any planets worth further investigation (Earth-like or terraformable). If there are worthwhile planets do a full system scan and DSS the interesting one(s) if you can. If nothing worth seeing then leave it at that and hop to the next system.

you guys using Mouse or Stick?
Guessing for fighting a stick is a must? so far just been flying around using mouse which is fine for mining, but i cant keep up when trying to shoot the pirates.

*Waves from Hutton Orbital* Man, that's an hour and a half that has failed to win Mrs Pondo over to the cause... When you take on a mission to kill someone, how do you find them? I flew to the system and pressed buttons but nothing seemed to work - attacking a random passerby on the off chance definitely didn't work, as him and the rozzers turned me over quick smart. ;(

Honking seems to be doing an initial scan with the FSS then determining if there are any planets worth further investigation (Earth-like or terraformable). If there are worthwhile planets do a full system scan and DSS the interesting one(s) if you can. If nothing worth seeing then leave it at that and hop to the next system.

Thanks for that, looks like I missed out on some money, as I didn't DSS anything. Ah well!

I'm on PS4 so coping with a million button combinations. Managed to switch silent running on again in a dogfight!

Matt

£5 - so I thought why not! downloading now.
I remember losing many hours in the 80's on my BBC, not least to the cassette deck. That sound I can still remember like yesterday.
Hi all. Noobie alert.

I'm on a mouse but honestly not done any combat beyond the initial training. My mouse has adjustable dpi so might work better for dogfighting but do fancy a stick later on. I don't envy the players on standard controllers as it's a big enough faff as it is, HOTAS is definitely the way ahead for console.

Hi wally! That's 3 of us on PC now!

I'm fighting on a PS4 controller but it's hard work. Want to get a HOTAS but it seems a little extravagant

Just got wasted 3x by an NPC on a mission to rank with the feds.

Now owe a loan shark a shit load.

Did some courier jobs to re-spec the ship and now it's back to mining to pay off the shark and keep my knees.

think i will plug in my hotas tomorrow and give it a go.
Also just watched some videos of game with Oculus rift, i want one now.

Now that was bicycle clip time! I misread eddb and went to the wrong station to sell 67t of void opals, so ended up making 2 extra jumps.

Of course on the final one there's an FSD interdict attempt. I'm so pleased that the Asp X is so maneuverable they barely got one block from me. Selling those got me my second promotion of the day!

Matt

*Waves from Hutton Orbital*

Did you get any mugs? These are rare commodity items which you can sell at a good profit. This profit level is greater the further away you sell them from point of purchase.

Also on PC here (can't remember if I've mentioned that before)

For any newbies wanting video tips there's a few YouTube channels you can investigate for help/advice

Down to Earth Astronomy does some good guides on everything.
CMDR Exigious does guides on how to make money quick/engineer quick etc.
Vindicator Jones is great for combat and ship outfitting.
CMDR Plater does a lot of live stream stuff and general chat but his channel is worth watching anyway. He has thyroid cancer so does a lot of fundraising streams. Frontier Devs have actually named a station after him in game (Platers Folly I think)
Obsidian Ant does a lot of Elite news/developments.
Yamiks just takes the piss but is worth watching because his stuff is just generally funny.

Obsidian Ant does a lot of Elite news/developments.

Has a starport named after him too, they have also used his voice for the background docking area PA announcements which made me chuckle.

Obsidian Orbital, Maia.

I would imagine that the piratey faction located there called the Ant Hill Mob are something to do with him, too. 😂

What I’ve been doing on the few hours that I’ve been able to get on is a bit of Bounty Huntering; I’ve bought a Vulture and upgraded it, with a pair of wopping great beam lasers and the associated power supply. Can now strip most shields in a single burst; makes the ‘eliminate/assassinate known pirate/terrorist’ missions enjoyable and lucrative. I’m currently at engineer Todd ‘Blasty McBlastyface’s base about to get some gun upgrades.

He has thyroid cancer

Shouldn't crack jokes but I read that as Thargoid cancer.

@V8ninety I have a Vulture at the minute, great gunship. I run the big beam on one hardpoint for sheild stripping, but use a multicannon on the other for hull penetration and damage. The multicannon is gimballed for that 'hold the finger down and stay in behind' move that works so well in the Vulture.

The problem with the Vulture, is that it gives my ideas above my station, bigger ships, with higher rated pilots, until someone absolutely slaughters you! Fun though.

Matt

Still no ripe barnacles.

Did you get any mugs? These are rare commodity items which you can sell at a good profit. This profit level is greater the further away you sell them from point of purchase.

Don't forget the free Anaconda!

Don’t forget the free Anaconda!

Yeah, that as well

The problem with the Vulture, is that it gives my ideas above my station, bigger ships, with higher rated pilots, until someone absolutely slaughters you! Fun though.

That’s the truth! My first evening with it was very expensive. Having gotten more selective in who I pick a fight with I’ve become more successful.

In CQC can you bring your own ship? Anyone fancy a bit of death match?

Did you get any mugs? These are rare commodity items which you can sell at a good profit. This profit level is greater the further away you sell them from point of purchase.

I did not. 🙁 Maybe I'll go back - not short on time at the minute, and all profits will go towards the Vulture fund. 🙂

I bought some Az Cancri Formula 42 assuming I'd be able to sell it in terraforming sytems. Well, you can't, which I think is stupid - if you can't make an intelligent guess from the description as to where to sell the rare goods then what's the point? In the end I cheated and looked up where to sell it. There are like 3 systems, and only one has a decent price. It wasn't worth the effort to get it there in my Crusader scooping every 4 jumps, and I daren't take a valuable cargo in my AspX cos it's so lightly armed.

Oh and re barnacles - I used the discovery section in the codex and went to where barnacle barbs were reported, and eventually found some and a whole lot more. Massive Thargoid sort of building/base/hive thing, and I do mean massive like 20km across, with lots of doors I daren't go in and Scavengers apparently mining it for materials and not paying any attention to me as I rob the barbs. It was very sci-fi and tense, and incredibly beautiful as I flew off into the misty dawn having grabbed 2 meta alloys from about 6 barbs.

@molgrips that sounds pretty cool, what are you going to unlock as a result? I realised I needed Horizons for some things, so that should be added now.

Meanwhile I have been finding icy bodies and rocky bodies, out in the arse end of nowhere, well 'Coalsack' apparently. It's a bit of a grind, but I am topping up the materials at the same time so should be all good. Basically if there is nothing to DSS I look for materials.

I don't use 'road to riches' so my exploration is quite random and old school.

Matt

Meta alloys is used to unlock the first engineer, felicity farseer. She has several decent upgrades, the fsd is probably the best.

I'm back in the black and building reserves again.

Struggling to get on as it's a four day weekend and doing family stuff (camping last night).

See this all makes sense now I have Horizons, just logged on and got a message from Felicity.

Even out where I am!

Matt

So what’s a good next ship from the Sidewinder? Been steadily building up credits on nice safe courier trips and ready for something a bit roomier

I do rather like my Cobra MkIII, not expensive, loads more cargo space, but it's only my second ship, I'm not the best person to advise.

Cobra MkIII, good at everything, great at some things. Really easy to fly. Love mine.

Basically it has good hardpoints and stacks of internal room for modules. It can be rigged for any type of work, for example use it for deep core mining and you can make 4-5M credits per trip.

Matt

i like the Cobra Mk3 as well.
Suited me quite nicely for mining Diamonds in Borann.
I buy ships mostly based on whether i like the look or not 🙂
bought myself an Alliance Challenger for mining, perfect for my need, fill the cargo with diamonds without the session being to long and fitted turrets so i can easily blast the belt pirates wile playing with a mouse.
Just bought a Mamba on looks alone so time to get the joystick out and go zoom around a bit.

Basically if there is nothing to DSS I look for materials.

How do you find materials?

@molgrips look for degraded emissions on the DSS, they are all the way over the left on the scanner. They are usually wrecked ships so up to 5 bits of stuff.

They are time limited and some are a hell of a cruise, so I tend to swerve those ones.

Matt

I went Sidewinder - Cobra 3 - AspX - Fer De Lance - Python

I have,

For bounty hunting
Sidewinder - Viper MkIII - Vulture

For mining
Cobra MkIII - Asp X

For exploration
Asp X

Can't part with any of them!

Matt

Sidewinder
Cobra
AspX
Vulture
Python

Scattered all over about 400ly of Orion inner spur.

Do old ships just stay where you replaced them? You can't put them into "storage" to pick up from wherever?

Looking to get a Vulture as ship III but struggling to find a spaceport with a shipyard - when I started they were all over the shop, can't bloody find one now. 🙁 Is there a good port with missions, a shipyard and all the shiniest kit to base out of?

eddb will find any shipyard. You can look for ships or even individual modules. Very useful.

I haven't found a perfect base yet.

Matt

They stay where ever you left them, but you can get them shipped to you for a cost.

Cheers both - think I tried EDDB and it faked me out, sent me to a system promising a shipyard then nothing there when I arrived. 🙁 Like the idea of a ship postal process - just be nice to have them all in the same place. 🙂

Edit - don't know what site I was looking at but it wasn't EDDB! Will try its suggestions next time I'm aloft. 😉

"Like the idea of a ship postal process – just be nice to have them all in the same place. 🙂"

Can be expensive. The bigger the ship the higher the price. Think is was something like 500k to ship my Python 150ly

I agree, it's good to have them all together. It also takes real time to get them delivered so you can't just decide to move it on a whim.

I have my current three together, well I would have if I wasn't 300Ly away exploring. That's why a good base is useful.

Matt

Thanks, I'll try the degraded emissions. I just killed 4 pirates from some faction to get Strange Wake Echoes. It was good fun hunting tearing them apart with my Challenger, but a ball-ache finding them.

Having a base of operations is a good idea because you can gain rep whilst you are there and make loads more money - also, if you work one station you get to dock at others nearby, and this gives you access to their commodity prices so when a mission asks you to find some item you can just use the map to find it.

Sound, cheers - I've just been travelling about as missions occur, took a trip to Maia then trying to find somewhere with good kit and Vultures. Felicity's been in touch - if she's anywhere near somewhere that suits, maybe I'll call that home and get the Sidewinder posted. 🙂

I have all of my ships at Merbold Ring in EQ. Pegasi. When I was trading and building up fed rank this was my main base. It was originally picked because it has a decent shipyard, is a federation base and is fairly close to Sol, which at the time I was working to unlock.

Cheers, will see how far it is. 🙂

Is it possible to transfer stuff between ships? I'd like to go out doing missions and finding materials in one ship and use them on the other.

I haven’t tried that. A quick google suggests yes, but tomorrow I will be back at my home base, so I’ll give it a go then.

Yes you can, just select the ship you want to transfer out of, select the bits you want and instead of selling them transfer them to storage. Core modules will need replaced with defaults but optional ones can be flung out for nothing. Once you have stripped it you can then select the ship you want to put them into and they will be in your storage list. Or something close to that anyway, I gutted my Sidewinder to kit out my Cobra.

Just hopped into my Challenger and the materials I had collected automatically came with me.

Nice, thanks. My explorer ship is not built for defence.

Just hopped into my Challenger and the materials I had collected automatically came with me.

Oops, never read that properly!

You can also move stored modules between stations as well, same as you transfer ships and you can remote sell stored modules too.

Swapping modules between ships makes a lot of sense once you go down the engineering route.

Once you have a couple of G5 Overcharged Multicannon you will probably want to use them on any ship they fit.

I'm still looking for a good home station too. Jameson Memorial seems like the obvious choice, it has every ship and module available at a 10% discount.

But I'm not sure I want to take the obvious choice