Newcomer / Intro What did you do first after the sidewinder and why

[Zylark]

Sidewinder [sold] -> Hauler [sold] -> Cobra [7 million] -> Type 6 [1.6 million] -> Asp [23 million].

Now saving up for a Clipper. When I get it, I'll sell the Type 6. Never selling the Cobra or Asp though. The Cobra is great for combat and smuggling, and my Asp is just a roaring tiger of a beast - great for doing just about anything except smuggling. When I do get my mitts on the Clipper, I'll probably use it as a well armed and armored trader.

I've also thought about also getting a Viper, go all A grade on it and mount fixed weapons only. For dedicated combat and bounty-hunting on the cheap. Being unlucky with the Asp cost 1.3 million, being unlucky with a Viper should cost less than 250k.

 

[Serkor]

Used the Sidewinder a few days running missions and exploring systems around my starting place (LHS 3447) Sold it to buy a Hauler with 18 tons cargo space, chaff launcher and heat sink. While keeping the Hauler for trading based in Eravate system I bought an Eagle upgraded with B powerplant and C equipments, 1 beam laser and 2 multicannons to have some fun bounty hunting at Nav Beacon (often stealing big fish from the Cops...)
I'm at day 17 (average 2 to 3 hours daily playing), 720K Cr. in the bank and 300K value of my two ships, will buy a medium equipped Cobra MkIII as soon as I hit 1 M in the bank (the 300K from sale of the ships will be for insurance and trading) and go see the world.

 

[Tryst]

I went from Sidey to Adder then to Cobra, each time, adding a few more tonnes to my cargo space. I kept all of them, pimped the Cobra for kill missions and now have a pimped Type 6 as well. I went that route purely for the increase in cargo space.

For those trading with a Type 6, put C class gear (or better) on it, shield boost, 1 autocannon and a seeker missile launcher and it can handle itself pretty well against smaller ships like Eagles or Vipers. I only bug out quick when a Cobra or such interdicts me now.

 

[Chrisfs]

Still use my Sidewinder for exploration and light trading. Most of the systems are Class D now. Was going to use a hauler, but I don't like the lack of a top windshield.
I have a great time with the Sidewinder. The only problem is that it doesn't have enough space for both cargo racks and a fuel scoop (if you want to keep your shields). So eventually I may save up and buy a Cobra. But with the handling of a sidewinder and a buy back price of 2,500 cr, it's really not a bad ship.

 

[Carmaki]

Sidewinder (Kept because it's lucky)- Spent most of the time doing some light trading and occasionally some bounty hunting. I originally was going to save up for a hauler, but then I dropped into a combat with a couple of big bounties and a swarm of cops. I waited patiently, blasted the two when they were near dead which scored me 60k, and with that money and the stuff I had in my cargo hold I could buy...

Adder (Kept)- The space Toyota! Say what you want about this guy, but he's a solid step up from a the sidewinder and the hauler. At first, I gave him an auto-cannon and did some light bounty hunting, then I decked him out for trading for a bit, then I figured out mining could be hilariously profitable so I set it up for mining, found some good places to gather gold, platinum, silver, and whatever else. It took a while, but I earned more than enough money to buy...

Viper (Current)- My speed boat. Kept the stock lasers, put a kill warrant scanner on it, a heat sink, a shield boost cell, and a couple of gimballed auto-cannons. It's a pretty serious bounty hunting machine, and I've done plenty of upgrades to it... The only program I seem to have is that I'm still used to my Adder, so I ran into the side of a station once, and I also ran into an Asp that I was dog fighting. Still, I've made quite a bit of money from bounty hunting.

Next on my list is the Cobra.

 

[r4nger0]

And more to the point did you think it was right to skip x and to y etc or even mega fit the sidewinder. Just Curious how peoples first few days played out.

I've been exploring everyday since launch exclusively with my sidewinder. I've been to over 4,000 systems and I'm currently 37,000ly from Sol beyond the core heading to the far side of the galaxy. Why should I get a different ship?

 

[Thorgir]

sidewinder -> adder -> cobra

Hi there, I went from sidewinder to the adder because it's a real multi-purpose ship. It has almost the cargo space of a hauler, but it's much quicker and tougher in fights. I just bought my cobra yesterday. The sidewinder is still waiting for me in Cleve Hub / Eravate.

Greetings CMDR Thorgir

 

[OamodSias]

What did you do first after the sidewinder and why

Died... because I got cocky in my Eagle. :>

 

[purf]

Kept the Sidewinder for quite some time until I had bounty hunted enough credits for an alright Adder.
Went with that for a while (combat, piracy, smuggling. Great ship) until I fetched my Freagle (sold Sidewinder after that trip)
which lasted exactly until I had bought my current Viper and needed some more cash for upgrades.

Bought and sold two Haulers along the way... really can't be bothered I have a stock one, however, as a soon-to-be Taxi.

 

[Dannyc]

Thanks .. Great answers.. I don't feel quite so rushed anymore to get rid. Think I'll wait till the banks a lot fuller.

 

[Zelos1983]

Sold the freagle, left the sidewinder unmodified. Invested the money in trading commodities (didn't know about rare goods back then).
Then I "sold" the sidewinder as well and got myself a Hauler, which had significantly more space.

After that a Cobra in Cargo configuration, then a T6 for trading. Kept the Cobra as multipurpose ship, it's now worth a lot more than the T6, though it can haul a lot less.

 

[Naranek]

from sidewinder to viper then to cobra, with a couple of evenings of hauler and adder in between for trading. but in general mostly bounty hunting and kill missions. then a couple of rare commodities runs with the cobra to finally get the money for the biggest a-grade components where necessary. now i'm finished pimping it and looking for a new goal... i'm never going to go for the bigger ships that cost several millions though. curious whether we'll see bigger but affordable and combat-capable new ships from frontier soon.

 

[carlisle]

OK .. but have you worked out how the other guy got a Sol permit "exploring through unpopulated systems" yet ???

If they were a backer then they didn't have to earn their Sol permit, they started with one already.

I traded in the Sidey around the Eravate area for a little while, I didn't upgrade it much and I never engaged anyone in combat in it. Once I had enough for an Adder I started upgrading, starting with FSD and power distributor. I upgraded a lot of stuff to D for lightness and then upgraded the weapons and started bounty hunting. After selling the Freagle I'd never used and leaving the starter area and finding a part of the Galaxy to make my new home I did a mix of trading, rare trading and bounty hunting while also trying to work on my faction reps and influencing the local politics. I upgraded to a Cobra after a short while and have now upgraded it probably as far as I'm going to. Not all A grade modules I still have a few Ds but have upgraded FSD, shields, Power distributor, power plant and bulkheads.

 

[CMDR Dave Quakes]

I bounty hunted in my sidewinder, upgrading modules as Cr allowed.
Then sold all my modules to buy Cobra plus some upgrades to continue BH.
Bought a T6 to try and boost Cr for further Cobra upgrades, this was too slow though I kept my T6.
Switched my Cobra over to rare trading config.
Cobra now mostly A rated.
Must say I like the fact that we switch modules around without Cr loss, makes things much more flexible.

 

[Krepose Gavayne]

Upgraded the Sidey, mostly concentrating on drive and defence elements (not offence - have yet to dip more than a toe into that pool). Put it storage and got a Hauler. Tried an Eagle for a few hours but didn't like it. Got a Cobra and upgraded that a bit, similar to before (concentrating on trading with a bit of exploring for variety). That's now in storage too. Currently flying an Adder scouting for trade routes (do NOT like the lack of visibility). Want to get a T6 next and properly start to make money. Might use the Sidey for exploring and Cobra for initial combat when I can afford better upgrades. Not sure then what path to take. Maybe keep both and try to get a T7 for more trading and mining, then flit between them all as the mood takes me, whilst aiming for something bigger for the combat role. Also want to get a few more cheap Sideys for some suicidal shenanigans on the side.

 

[Salokin]

Upgraded Sidey, eventually traded it in for a Cobra. Did loads of trade runs and saved up to buy a type-6, which I promptly traded in for another cobra as I just kept getting interdicted as I tried to peacefully trade (laughs). Upgraded my Cobra to the max and pretty much just do exploration and a bit of bounty hunting now. I may go back to big trading some day in a large ship, but it seems more hassle than it's worth at times.

 

[AlphaVolk]

I went for a hauler immediately after doing a few trade runs with the sidewinder, then I did trade runs with the hauler until I had enough for a T6. Currently dumping millions of credits into components for my T6 and Cobra, which I've recently picked up.

 

[drezen]

I never had a Sidewinder as I got a free upgraded Eagle as a Kickstarter reward, but after spending a week or so flying missions I bought an Adder and upgraded it to all Cs and Ds. Now I'm at the point where I could buy a Cobra, but I'm in no hurry.

On a side note, the fact that there are so many legitimately different ways to progress through the early part of the game is a real feather in ED's cap.

 

[Oaktree]

Played quit a bit with the original Sidey. Didnt upgraded a thing. Did some bounty hunting, explored several systems, and did some missions. When i had suficient credits i bought an Adder, converted it for trading, and made a few hundred k credits with it.
After that, i bought a Viper and upgraded her enough to do some serious bounty hunting.
After my first million and a half i bought the Cobra, upgraded what i could, and did a bit of everything and moved my camp to Sol. Used a Sidey as a taxi to bring all my ships there.
Now i have a Type 6, am doing some trading to afford an Asp so i can explore the galaxy.

 

[Kuroshio]

To be perfectly honest, after a few tutorials and some sightseeing I took the Sidewinder out on one those 150,000 Cr missions, which was over really fast and taught me a) the value of insurance and b) not to take those missions.

Took it slowly after that, traded, explored and bountied for an Adder, did the same again while upgrading and slowly moving coreward until I could afford a Cobra. Found some nice trading and better missions close to high tech facilities and making my home until I'll set off towards the unknown. Better scanner and DSS will take a while to get, I guess. (Plus getting used to the Hotas setup that will arrive tomorrow.) Not sure if I'll wait until I can afford an Asp yet.

Huh. I only bought the game a week ago.