Matt_BL & Perchy – thanks for the advice on limpets. So a case of PICCNIC then. Problem In Cmdr’s Chair, Not In Computer.

Re: BGS NKL etc. Consolidating systems sounds like a good plan. Is there any benefit to having Coribes? The distances have put me off going there TBH (my old joystick has a “wander” on it so I need to keep a hand on it so I can’t just set it and go make a cuppa).

does anyone know why, when you’re collecting materials after combat, the first few limpets seem to self destruct/expire on returning to the ship? They don’t hit anything, have a clear run to/from the target. Seems to go; kill pirate, see mats, deploy limpet, scoop open, collect the mat, put it into cargo then die. Same thing happens at High Grades, Degraded, Encoded signals etc. I go through 3 or 4 limpets before I get one that actually lasts and collects more than 1 target.

I thought it was maybe a shonky batch I bought from Slumpy’s Fuel & Limpets ;) but it’s not

#LimpetLivesMatter

@D0NK – just dropped off 36T of Tritium on your carrier. Just curious to see how the depot works. @matt_bl – I tried the same at your carrier but it was already full.

Did a few more missions tonight, a Fed navy rank mission popped up too and with a few time bonuses the bank balance is going the right way.

If you’re looking for a trick to respawn mats at a good signal source try this (got it from Exigeous). Once you’ve hoovered up all the mats from the instance. Exit to desktop, restart the game, resume, once back in space, throttle at zero, jump to supercruise (boost into it), once in SC check your nav panel and you’ll see a new unidentified signal source close by, target it. It’ll probably be behind you. Drop out of SC as you would when approaching it and hoover up the next load of mats.

Each time I do this a little bit of me dies inside though.

@molgrips – I thought you only got materials from ships you’ve helped destroy/destroyed solo. Otherwise the place would be awash with materials from all casualties. Cargo might jettison from any fight, though I could be wrong about that.

hehe – teething issues alright. Got my teeth kicked in by that pirate & his 3 pals.

well, that was a laugh. Winged up with D0NK and tried a wing anti-piracy mission in Kuwembaa – both of us got fried. Me in the first 5/10 seconds. The next attempt at action was a RES. Only thing was D0NK went to Nandhs and I went to Nandh. Totally different system – 120LY off course!! :D No wonder I had 5 or 6 20+LY jumps. The High RES worked out pretty good though. Team effort made short work of pirates. we may have clipped each other now and then and I took a pasting in the last few mins but got out alive. Learned that my control of menus when I’m under pressure is shocking. all over the place pushing the wrong buttons. A good laugh though and my first time in open.

@D0NK – thanks, I’ll work out how to do wing, squadron thingy. I’ve got to work late tonight, probably won’t be online in E:D until 9pm. And I’ve got some time in the evenings this weekend too.

@squirrelking – I’m Mostly Harmless too. I can see the pirates will be bricking it from a Mostly Harmless wing :D I’m usually in a Python with a large beam, 2 pulses & 2 multicannons.

I wish Inara had a Fleet Carrier timetable so you could see who had a jump planned and maybe the fare for hitching a lift. You can see departures on the Nav panel but AFAIK you need to look at each carrier. I did find that you can use the fleet carrier ID to search in Inara under the Systems & Stations menu (left hand column) and it’ll tell you where a carrier is. You can favourite the carrier too so if you have an Inara login it retains that shortcut.

Yes, the 3rd party tools are insane. Excel-in-space? I reconcile myself using them by thinking “In 3306 they would definitely have this sort of tool, wouldn’t they?”. Although I’ve tried some trading without the tools by looking at the system and applying logic like “Agricultural, so tea will be cheap”, “Blight, so they want agronomic treatment” plus the market comparison tool for systems you’ve got market data for seems to work.

@matt_bl – I ran a bunch of missions in Velniat and Akuntsu and have now parked up for the night in your shiny new carrier (CMDR Eisler in a Python called The San Andreas). :)

@squirrelking – I’m on PC too. I’ve not joined any wings yet. I could maybe be tempted out of solo to do some wing missions for NKL though. Caveat – I’m rubbish at combat, usually just sneak in once the fuzz have done the hard work.

@richmtb – good effort and I agree, it’s really poor, FDev ought to hand out bans etc but I expect gankers will gank regardless.

Here’s an idea, I thought there was a “no fire zone” out to 8km around a station. Mass lock ends about 5.5km outside so you have 2.5km where you can jump without being shot (in theory). While slow or stationary charge the jump drive and once fully charged boost to initiate it. A bit like a dragster start. Or do gankers not pay any attention to no fire zones? <asks the guy who has always played in Solo>

Another idea is the “Suicide-winder” tactic. Work out who the ganker is. Sort yourself out with a Sidewinder, no shields, hull down to a few percent. If you can work out when they’re coming back into the station boost into them. You’ll die and they’ll get space-killed for killing you in the no-fire zone. Again, just a theory but might be fun and the rebuy isn’t much. :)

I ran some NKL missions out of Velniat last night. I had a wild goose chase for a donation of Palladium having not paid proper attention to EDDB and didn’t notice that the system I flew to for a good price only had a few tons, not the 72T I needed. It didn’t help that I’d stacked various missions and was getting in a tangle with where I needed to go for which mission and then getting sidetrack by high grade emissions, material traders and engineering upgrades because I just happened to be “passing by”. But then I’m easily distracte

;)

well done for you both having a go at ‘goid hunting, looks tricky. Would a wing of 3 make it easier for one to take a break and regen shields or decontaminate? I’d say quicker regen because when the shields are down that’s what would get you back in the fight. What about boosters or cell banks? D2EA had a video on shield comparisons and which boosters.

Also, on the BGS stuff, I found this link which had tons of info. I read it and I was still perplexed/amazed at the complexity of it.

https://novaforce.com/guides/bgs/

I’ll be in solo around Akuntsu etc tonight running missions

That’s fine, I usually need fuel & limpets :)

In terms of a tariff for fuel, no idea, I’m happy to pay as I’ve got the cash. I guess in a motorway services kinda way, I’d expect a better price if you were parked outside an orbital that had regular prices but if you were out in a remote part of space then you’d have me by the danglies and I’d have to pay whatever.

I love looking at the fleet carrier names, some really variety out there. Last night there were some Nostromos, Sulacos, a Death Star (yawn) but I also saw a Back British Farming one :D

@D0NK – what’s the name of your fleet carrier? I’ll track you down later and sell some carto data or do some trading if you permit any old riffraff to dock :)

@matt_bl – does installing point defence on the underside target hatch breakers? I remember seeing D2EA & pals playing pirates on NPC’s and they used dumbfire missles to occupy the point defence while the hatch breaker snuck in and did the pillaging.

I decided to have some fun at a nav beacon last night (in solo). Put 1T of biowaste in my cargo and some NPC pirates actually asked me to hand it over :) I handed over 4pips of large beam laser instead.

@matt_bl – how do you know what actions need done for NKL? I don’t mean the mission board but is there some sort of dashboard where you’re seeing the overall control from each faction? How do you know where to put effort in?

Also, does anyone know if there’s any kind of timetable for fleet carriers? e.g. fleet carrier XYZ in system 123 is flying to system ABC at date/time. Just in case I fancy hitching a lift out somewhere.

10-4 CMDR matt_bl

@twonks good to hear you’re getting old gear dusted off :) I got this USB adaptor for my Microsoft joystick. No stock at this link where I bought it but I’m sure you’ll be able to find one somewhere on the internet.

Nice. Isn’t Thursday the point when it all gets “recalculated” or whatever Frontier do with the BGS? Hopefully the missions & trading I did last night (in solo) helped. Did some wake scanning at the nav beacon and helped the space cops out by blasting some bad apples too so I earned some bounties & scooped some materials. I’m on dad duties this weekend so won’t be able to help out until Sunday evening.

Vote matt_bl for President!!! ;)

@matt_bl – great, I’ll install more racks on my Python and do some trading into the system, see if I can build up a nice wee loop. I might leave 1T of gold in my hold and go out baiting NPC pirates in Kuwembaa. I was minding my own business collecting some mats from a high grade source en route to dump a bunch of agronomic treatment at Gagnan Port when a pirate stopped by to harrass me. As I’m terrible at combat I panicked and only just made it away with my shields in tatters. I want revenge!

@beagleboy – wow, o7 CMDR, top effort being that far out. One question though, have you seen attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion or watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate? Just curious ;)

@D0NK – useful info, much appreciated. I wish I had a modern joystick, it’s a Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro with a Rockfire USB adaptor. I’ll take a look at the Thrustmaster, Logitech X52 was on my wishlist too.

@matt_bl – does bringing trade & materials into Kuwembaa system help in any way or is it just missions?

@squirrelking – love my Python, a great all-rounder. YLYMV ;)

@twonks – I’m playing on PC, keyboard and an old (Microsoft) joystick. Tried mouse, just couldn’t get on with it. Just like the others have said, it’s a time sink. I’d recommend doing at least some of the tutorials before you jump into the game.

@D0NK – which HOTAS did you go for? My old joystick has a constant yaw to the right that I have to compensate for, which gets tiring. Might be tempted by a modern replacement.

@matt_bl – happy to chip in some time to support the NKL, presumably running missions for the faction via PC helps out a little in the grand scheme of things?

@perchypanther – thanks for those tips, sounds like I’m going in a sensible direction. I’ll investigate the Guardian booster now that I’ve got all my FSD materials lined up.

Yes, some gameplay in engineering would be good, it’s a bit grindy at times, but I expected that. There’s some missed opportunities with scanning beacons & data points, surely they could be breadcrumbs into grander missions or subplots?

I agree with the earlier comments about the AspX’s lack of braking, does anyone engineer brakes for the AspX?? Maybe mine just need to “bed in” :)

@matt_bl

Just visiting engineers at the minute.

So, is there any typical pathway for engineering, I know that’s a question with many variables, but do folks do it as they happen to unlock engineers or go after a specific type of upgrade? There are so many permutations that it’s bewildering.

I’ve started some FSD updates via Farseer and some thruster changes via Martuuk. I figured I’d go as far as I can with FSD upgrades to ships. What’s the usual next steps? Shields? PowerPlant? Thrusters? I’m not much of a fighter so weapons lower down the list.

a little steer every now and again might help!

It would’ve saved me a good 10 mins trying to work out why it wouldn’t allow me to re-board my ship from the SRV. I was directly under the bay, but no, you need to have the SRV facing the right way, i.e. the way it drives out – you’d think they’d have some sort of turntable for it in the hangar, like in space stations.

@richmtb – ha, good name for a ship. There are some creative fleet carrier names. I saw one parked out at New Borann called Epstein’s Miners – ooft. If I had one I’d be tempted to call it Holdo’s Driving School.

@matt_bl – thanks for the tips on those locations, I’ll take a nosey. Elvira Martuuk is bit greedy, she took a bunch of my materials and she’s not offered much in exchange so far. I even went to get her flippin’ Soontil Relics in advance.

I headed to Millese system to have a look at The Printworks asteroid base, pretty cool but I got stuck behind a Type 9 as it got wedged in the mailslot and I was using a docking computer which stubbornly tried to push on through. Cue much panic & swearing as I tried to disengage the docking computer and back out before the shooting started, just got out in time but picked up a 300cr fine. Doh.

@matt_bl

in the new triple hotspot

I give you a the new quad LTD hotspot. Downside, 1200LY outside The Bubble.

@bushwacked well, it’s really up you, no set way to play the game. I decided cash in the bank would mean I could relax and do the things I wanted without pressure so I spent a fair bit of time mining and trading. The mining taught me better thruster control. I usually fly from point to point with a purpose and have something in the hold to trade at my destination. The Road To Riches tool on Spansh means you can have a go at exploring and using the FSS tool to scan the system. I’ve needed those skills since starting the engineering process.

I only started engineering this week (despite playing for a couple of months). By scanning and doing missions along the way (e.g. to unlock Sol) it seems I’d picked up quite a few of the bits I needed for engineering at Farseer. 2 months in and I’ve not been in the SRV yet although it looks like I’ll need it for some engineering bits. There’s just so much to do, it’s hard to know where to start.

There are some great guides online on how to engineer effectively. Farseer needs x1 ton of meta-alloys so my suggestion would be to head to the Maia system to buy it. And without tools like Inara, EDDB.io and Spansh I’d be lost. I also just installed EDEngineer and it’s been a great help in building the shopping list of items I need for engineering.

@molgrips – he hadn’t even written his vows yet :)

@bushwacked – unlock Sol & do a fly-by of Earth? Or head to Pomeche 2C and fly down the canyons? Or head to an asteroid belt or a ring, turn of flight assist and your HUD and boost it through the field?? Or go to an anarchy system and look for a wedding barge…

@matt_bl FYI, Voyagers are something like 240,000 LS out in 3306. Pack tea & biscuits for that one. :)

I finally got Elite in trading after a run to new Borann in the poxy 20LY jump Python. Just done my first trip to Farseer so now starting the engineering process

@matt_bl – mailslot + Anaconda + Swiss Tony. You can assemble your own Elite/Fast Show joke from that. ;)

I’m not sure if this is of any use to the miners among you but there’s a survey effort on Reddit to find new hotspots. Results being added here;

Elite:Dangerous Rings Inventory (Google sheet)

And I had a delivery contract offered to me – my contact was Swiss Tony – PMSL – am I being asked to delivery a fine wine and a box of chocolates??

@matt_bl – awesome, thanks for the patch notes, these 2 I’m especially pleased about;

Audio
Fixed missing ATC voices at starports.

and

Fixed an issue which caused mission critical updates to not appear in the inbox.

I missed the arrival greeting, especially from that lovely sounding Yorkshire lass. And, why oh why did the mission critical updates disappear? If there’s a bonus to grab or an enemy to avoid/target you had no idea until after you were docked.

And I’m DBX-curious. I agree with @perchypanther – looks like an Apache. I was going with the AspX for exploration but it’s been good for trading & mining so maybe I’ll keep it that way and get the DBX for wandering.

@molgrips – yeah, I keep forgetting it’s a game. ;) Actually, I’d quite enjoy missions to protect miners but I’m terrible at combat. And I too have wondered what LTD’s are actually for.

@matt_bl there does seem to be a knack to when to release the trigger on sub-surface. I was watching D2EA’s recent stream where someone pointed out the % left on the target indicator to give you an idea of when the deposit is exhausted. A very useful tip.

So, I went for a play with a new mining loadout and a Python. Seismic charges, abrasion blaster, 2 mining lasers and subsurface displacement missile. I’ve got all the bases covered. I’ve only ever done core mining before. Kinda getting the hang of the subsurface missiles, a bit of skill involved.

But mining lasers, are you serious? Just point at a suitable rock, pew pew, collect the bling?? Is that it? Rock depleted, move to the next one? You can shoot it anywhere and get the goodies?? That’s not how mining works IRL. No wonder everyone was making megabucks. It’s like a slot machine that just pays out.

Yes, this is just me making excuses for my ignorance ;) Right, I’m off to make my first billion.

@trampus, maybe it’s cheating to some but you can use the Commodity finder in Inara to find the best buy & sell prices, the lists can be sorted by distance, price etc.

https://inara.cz/galaxy-commodity/

@perchypanther – yup, heard the same on D2EA’s channel

@squirrelking

Need a manifest scanner and mass inhibitor methinks. Or I may just start interdicting for shits and giggles.

hahaha – interdicting a fleet carrier? Proper LOLz. Genius idea. Yeah, follow that escape vector in your 5Bcr space shed that can’t steer.

@molgrips – yeah, V8ninety is right, indestructible and shooting at them puts you in space prison. I learned today (via YT) that carriers are persistent across play modes so I hope that means they exist in solo to trade tritium with. The Yamiks was estimating 240mil/hour tritium trading using his Clipper. Off to buy a Python tonight for that exact purpose.

@trampus – bought tritium for 4034/t at No Mina/Avicenna Port, sold it 3 jumps away at Lansbury/Landis Settlement for 86,250/t (profit 82,216/t). Resulted in 7.89Mcr for me in the AspX.

Well, a long range weather forecast for you – don’t book a holiday in southern Italy for 11-Jun-3306 – it looks like a nasty storm. Northern Spain is good, so Basque MTB would be a good shout. Judging by the light pollution it looks like London has gone and the metropolis is now greater Inverness and Aviemore (Avieness? Invermore?), although there were some bright lights on the Welsh border, maybe Wrexham. The Great Glen looks a bit wider/wetter – global warming perhaps? But Norfolk is still there.

And Mars has terraformed nicely. But Voyager is +2.3 million Ls out – I am not bovvered.

@trampus – screw Sol, I’m off to Khowatsu now!! :)

@tenfoot – that’s on my list! I might try scanning them up close to see if I can hear the golden disc. It would be great is FDev updated the game with all the probes and missions from real life. Or if they put in discoveries like ‘Oumuamua.