Multi Elite - Dangerous by David Braben

Help me understand conflict zones. Why are federal navy ships fighting other federal navy ships in Barnard's star system?

 

Ok newbie question. If I play solo and then decide to go online, is my progress taken across or do i start in a sidewinder again?

 

Yes all progress is taken across, but in all honesty there is no need to go solo unless you are trying to dock at a busy outpost or station and constantly getting "Docking request denied".

Solo mode is still online you just play without other human players in the universe, that said so far in open play since launch I have never been in direct conflict with another player only NPC's. If your worried just stay clear of the popular areas like the core beta systems, Sol system and the old Lave systems etc and you should be fine.

 

Up to 3k cash now.

Had a nice bunch of scans I was trying to cash in. Got to a system 20 ly away. Interdicted right near station. Thought I'd manage to escape. Bam splat first death!

Won a previous dogfight so gave it a good go! Any good starting out guides out there?

 

Make sure you complete the training videos and look at youtube but the main thing is to just get out there and learn by trial and error. It doesn't matter how many times you die or how much cash you make on each trade or the number of missions it only matters that you have fun.

 

I made some very good cash early in the Sidewinder just by hanging out at Nav Beacons and shooting at the Wanted ships, you get help (kill steals) from the Fed Vipers. I made an easy 100k within an hour or two. One asp I helped grind down gave me 40k on its own.

To be honest though, I dropped all that cash on an Eagle MK II and a few upgrades (e.g. first interdiction device) but then found being a solo bounty hunter difficult; I was coming back to docks empty handed, or with a few small bounties that paid for repairs or insurance. I was thinking I might as well quit until it gets less grindy to get anywhere.

Instead though I part ex'd the Eagle for a Hauler, so now I am looking for lucrative trade runs which appears to be simpler and less hard work. I don't mind hard work, but if you do lots and get scant or no reward it ends in rage/irritation quit territory.

Now I have auto dock, and listen to classical music as the auto pilot tries to stuff my ship into a pylon.

 

Ditch that thing. To slow and it just suicides you at the station entrance(tried it in beta and assume it's no better)........

If your looking at hauling for some fast cash look at rare goods trading. You will need a 20Ly jump range and ditch what you can to increase cargo space then head to Leesti to pick up rare goods then follow this simple route....

Leesti, Lave, Orrere, Diso, and Zaonce <--160LY distance--> 39 Tauri, Fujin, Wolf 1301, Witchhaul

Basically pick up rare good travel 160Ly sell rare goods then do the same at the other end.
Use this http://www.miggy.org/games/elite-dangerous/routes/ to plan the long distance travel as the in game route planner is limited to 100Ly.

Should get you about 300-500K in an hourish for the hauler......

 

I made over a million yesterday in those 130-190k 1 target anaconda kill missions, as not only do they pay you for the mission but you also get a 40-50k ship kill bounty on top. I have managed to get my combat rank up to competent and an allied status with the major factions in my area of space.

I sold my viper and used it to fund some hefty upgrades to the Cobra 3 (which is now worth about 2.5m trade in). I reduced my cargo from 40t to 20t to make it combat worthy but I still make good profit on the trade runs I do because I only deal in Gold or Imperial Slaves.
I make about 20k profit for 20 tons of gold on a 1 system jump, by just selling it to a station who imports gold where the demand is high. Salves are a bit hit an miss, if you can buy them at 10-11k and sell them for 15-16k then it's very profitable, as that's how I managed to get a 1 million value viper and a cobra 3 in the first place.

Camping the Nav beacons, is I think the best way to make good cash early on.

 

It is slow but good for making cups of tea. It must have improved as I've seen it dock fine in all different stations so far...

Thanks for the tip, will try this

 

How good is a shield cell bank? I mean, how much of the shield does it restore?
And is it worth installing a class 2 shield cell bank when the ship has a class 4 shield?

 

Would like to know that too, good question.

 

They restore full shields so long as you activate them in time. If your shields drop to zero, they don't work.

Yes they are worth it, in truth they are overpowered right now.

Think of them as the same as a heal over time in other MMO's.

 

Yeah I use them and they're super handy in battle. Even the low class ones work well.

 

Most items like that recieve several nerfs to encourage you to use the more expensive ones, I'd be surprised if he same did not happen here.

 

Is there a list of systems where there are conflict zones?

 

Upgraded my CObra to 38T of cargo, will fly around for some rare goods to save up some more pennies, then will check myself in battle

 

Well worth it for combat, I dropped a 16t cargo space to fit a Class 4B shield cell bank on the Cobra and the difference between the 4b and a class 2 or 3 is pretty big. It's the main reason I have survived so many of the high value anaconda kill missions.

There are no stats in the fitting window to confirm this but I think the main difference between the modules are how many charges they carry, how fast they activate and how much shield is restored when used.

Incidentally for anyone thinking about it, I tried the Shield Cell Bank 4A, which is a good 16tons lighter than the b model, (will increase for jump LY and lower your ships overall mass for sub-light thrusting) and while it is really good, it only carries 7 charges, compared to the 11 you get in the B model. It also uses more power so there is an interesting trade off to be had.
I will test more, but I guess it depends if the extra manoeuvrability gained from those 16tons less makes you able to take less hits from the anacondas nasty weapons or not.

 

Is it possible to bind it to a key? The whole changing of firing groups, triggering it and then changing back takes too much attention away from flying.

 

I just started playing this the other night. I'm terrible at it currently. Tried camping around a nav beacon and got myself rogered by someone with a massive bounty.

 

Try running some missions first to get a feel for the ship and some cash for a few cheap upgrades for your Sidewinder (found on the station's bulletin board).

Also check out a few of the YouTube instructional video's and play through some of the tutorial missions to help you get the hang of combat.

It takes time for it all to click but when it does it's well worth the effort.