Newcomer / Intro This game is frustrating.

[Kiltak]

I've tried my hand at Trading but I have no clue how to do it and make any significant profite that is makes it almost pointless. All the programs and sites people suggest are either outdated or make no sense and only work if you have better ships. I can't do missions cause most time I'm thrown against ships that are vastly superior to my piece of crap sidewinder. I tried my hand at exploring but keep having one problem after another and can't make any kind profit off that.

I just don't get this game. I can't find a role in this game that will allow me to make money. I want to do combat but I need a way better ship cause right now I would just get slaughtered by everything I come buy. I keep sticking with this game but its been a month and I'm still in my sidewinder with only 30,000 credits. So Im doing horribly bad at this game.

 

[Sir.Tj]

Have you had a read of the guides section?

Some great info in there.

• Guides and Tutorials

 

[Kiltak]

and im dead again...ran out of fuel.

 

[Himmel Tropf]

1x multi cannon gimballed 1x fixed burst laser or beam laser when you can afford it. Go to Nav or RES sites and kill wanted sidewinders and work your way up.
Trading in a sidey is a waste of time.
To explore get a fuel scoop and the best discovery and surface scanner you can afford and go look at things and don't fly into them. Don't cash in until you have flown a large distance away from that system

You need to give specific information to your problem or else we can't help or it just sounds like a complaint.
Reading the full guide and user guides specific to your interest will help immensely.

 

[Ozric]

Have you had a read of the guides section?

Some great info in there.

• Guides and Tutorials

Why on earth (or in the galaxy ) would anyone bother to read the guides before coming to moan on the forums

 

[Anarky]

Do the trading and courier missions to make some cash at the start. They're pretty straightforward and help with learning the game (using the map, docking, flight controls, targeting etc.) and pay pretty well. After you've got some capital you can upgrade your ship. If you want to explore you definitely need a fuel scoop.

I'd actually just recommend doing basic missions and saving up some money till you can afford an Adder. It's a great little ship which is good for all roles.

 

[InMemoriamSirocco]

There are some ways you can earn money without financial risk:

1. Haul x amount of cargo to y - Missions.

These give you the cargo you need to haul. You are given free cargo, so it is pure profit, and you get a bonus for delivery, so you make even more profit from it than by usual trading.

2. Find an outpost that has Salvage-Missions. They are the ones with the icon that shows floating canisters. See if that outpost has a black market under contacts. If so, take the salvage missions that are in the same system. If there are none, just undock, jump to SC, throttle down to minimum and watch the nav panel for unidentified signal sources popping up. One one pops up, target it and drop into it. You should already be in safe distance and velocity to do so.

Every time you find cargo (white blips on your scanner), target it and see whether you find it valuable enough to scoop. If it is mission-related cargo, it has priority. If you encounter wanted criminals, you might want to try your hand at some casual bounty hunting. Take care not to be scanned by system authority with your cargo holding scooped canisters. Salvaging is illegal. Back at your outpost, you can turn in bounties and sell illegal goods (salvaged cargo) under contacts or give it to the mission contractor on the bulletin board, if you accepted such a mission before you flew out.

3. Just randomly jump to uninhabited systems and fire your discovery scanner.

All these activities involve minimum risk - except for the bounty hunting. But if you stay in your unmodified Sidewinder for bounty hunting, you risk nothing, either, as it can be replaced without any cost. You just need to learn to use your minimal equipment to score some kills without getting killed yourself.

Oh, and if you aquire a bounty, you need to turn it in at a station or outpost under contacts: Security. If you get destroyed before you can do that, your bounty vouchers get wiped.

 

[Kiltak]

I don't know but this game isn't for me. I find this game to be by far one of the most difficult if not the hardest games to pick up and learn not mention to play. I've through guides after guides. I have a fuel scoop. The fact is I'm not picking this game up and I've been playing it for almost a month now.

Like said I've tried to do trade but I can't find anything worth trading that will net me a profit. I can't do combat cause everything other novice or competent ships blow me to smithereens. Exploring doesn't not net me enough money quick enough and ever time I turn around I'm being interdicted.

I am just so frustrated. I have never had a game cause me this much grief.

 

[Surly_Badger]

I've tried my hand at Trading but I have no clue how to do it and make any significant profite that is makes it almost pointless.

I see what you did, there. "I have no clue how to do it, so it must suck."

In fact, that's your complaint in a nutshell.

Meanwhile, there are other people who are flying big ships and doing stuff and going places and yadda yadda, so maybe the problem isn't with the game ...

When I started I felt at a loss for a day or two, since the tutorials are pretty minimal. Then I spent a while watching some of the various "how-to" on youtube and it all started to make sense. It requires a bit of braining; this isn't like World of Warcraft where the questies are handed to you on a silver platter and there's nothing you can't handle. There's a certain amount of running away you need to learn how to do, before you can start winning fights.

Patience and learn, or ragequit. Isn't that the truth for every game?

The fact is I'm not picking this game up and I've been playing it for almost a month now.

So quit.

It's not like you signed a contract to have to play, and none of us will cry over your departure. It's a game. If it's not fun for you, don't do it. Go play Mario Kart or something you enjoy.

 

[CMDR Arni Sigurdsson]

Try the Thrudd's Trading Tools, it really helps in trading, and trading is the best way to serious Credits !
I dont know if its allowed to post external links but Iam doing it anyway...to help...hopefully, good luck.
You will love playing Elite when you get trading straighten out !
http://www.elitetradingtool.co.uk/
In the trading tool click on the tab Find Trades, select your location,
choose Bidirectional and search.

I've tried my hand at Trading but I have no clue how to do it and make any significant profite that is makes it almost pointless. All the programs and sites people suggest are either outdated or make no sense and only work if you have better ships. I can't do missions cause most time I'm thrown against ships that are vastly superior to my piece of crap sidewinder. I tried my hand at exploring but keep having one problem after another and can't make any kind profit off that.

I just don't get this game. I can't find a role in this game that will allow me to make money. I want to do combat but I need a way better ship cause right now I would just get slaughtered by everything I come buy. I keep sticking with this game but its been a month and I'm still in my sidewinder with only 30,000 credits. So Im doing horribly bad at this game.

 

[chefie]

yea use the trading tool that will help you loads and do small missions

 

[Gannopen]

I felt the same for a week or two when I started. I just pimped around in supercruise and picked out the unidentified targets and killed what I could when I could. I did find that a system with a resource extraction sites would yield more targets. Once you've killed a few, go and collect the bounty and slowly you'll get enough credits to upgrade the sidey. Personally I found dropping on unidentifieds the quickest way to may a few credits to start with. After I got something with a bit of cargo I tried trading and failed miserably until I used Thrudds trading tool which helped immensely. If you use the trading tool and try and work out what stuff sells where when you do it, it gets you on the way to a good trading career, but once you have some credits, always make sure you have enough money sat aside to pay the insurance premium, just in case you get shot down.

 

[Serkor]

I don't get what people find difficult in ED. Without doing anything special and without using any external trading tools, after one month playing an average of 2 hours at a time I fly around with a 1.4 M Cr. Cobra, I have 650K CR. in the bank.

For trading I use Commander's Log where all the data has been entered by me only. Used insurance only once with my Eagle when I shot by mistake an Authority Vessel during a furball at Nav Beacon (they were 1 Anaconda and 2 Vipers, didn't even have time to load frameshift drive... )

Of course I took some time before start reading some guides and watching a few hours of gameplay on Youtube, but I always do that anyway to decide if I should buy a game or not.

 

[UniMag]

I don't know but this game isn't for me. I find this game to be by far one of the most difficult if not the hardest games to pick up and learn not mention to play. I've through guides after guides. I have a fuel scoop. The fact is I'm not picking this game up and I've been playing it for almost a month now.

Like said I've tried to do trade but I can't find anything worth trading that will net me a profit. I can't do combat cause everything other novice or competent ships blow me to smithereens. Exploring doesn't not net me enough money quick enough and ever time I turn around I'm being interdicted.

I am just so frustrated. I have never had a game cause me this much grief.

I for one understand your frustration as my first 3-4 weeks were pretty much the same. Some evenings I made no money at all but didn't let it deter me as I knew the game was something special. Trust me, try and stick with it - even though it's difficult to gather momentum, you'll all of a sudden feel like you're started to get somewhere. I made steady progress from a Sidey to an Adder and now well into upgrading the Cobra which serves as an all round decent ship. I've avoided the trade grind so far and try and mix up a bit of everything which helps maintain the fun factor.

Good luck.

 

[Ulysses_W]

and im dead again...ran out of fuel.

I know its not funny from where you're sitting, but I did laugh at your second post.

There are, as you've seen by the many replies you've had, many ways of making credits in the game. but honesly, credits isn't everything (although it helps!)

Take me for instance, I've been in the same ship since Gamma (well, the second if you count the one I buried in the back wall of a station a few weeks ago ) I have, in the bank of Zaonce right now about 4 million credits, and have spent many millions of credits outfitting my 'ickle Cobra.

90% of my earnings have come from exploring. Once you get past the badlands, it really is the safest way and most relaxing way (some would say tedious, but not I) to earn a few bob without having to look over your shoulder every 2 minutes.

Give it go, not only will earn some money, but you'll see some beautiful sights and get your name plastered on a few of them.

 

[el_tel]

Head to the Lave area and pick up rares. Then travel minimum 150 ly away and sell.

 

[TYK]

Yeah the lave/leesti/zaonce to geras/whatever run is criminally easy to make money at.

 

[Kayin]

...did you do the tutorials?

Getting started is certainly painful. My epiphany came when I realized my starter ship was disposable. So you blew up. Who cares? This is key...

I sold all my weapons and even my shield on my sidewinder. I picked up a fuel scoop, kept the discovery scanner, and maxed out my cargo. Then I flew to Eranin taking the longest route possible. On my way, I did die to a couple fumbles - but just started over since it doesn't matter anyway. On my way I would scan everything I possibly could using my System Map to tell me about stars and then did the old fashion look around in the sky for them. By the time I got to Eranin i sold all my map data and made a decent enough amount to pick up a healthy portion of Eranin Pearl Whisky. Then I flew 100 lightyears in a random direction - also taking the longest way possible - and also scanning every possible object in my way. Eventually I arrived at a station with a black market. I sold the whisky and the map data and had about 100k. Enough to buy an Adder.

From there, it was missions, hauling, mining, more exploring, and just getting used to everything. Worked my way up to a Cobra. After that I got a good handle on things.

In my opinion - you're not really passed the intro phase of the game until you've made about 100k doing from each profession - trading, mining, exploring, combat, missions, smuggling. And after the first few deaths from interdictions you learn how to get away. Pick your fights intelligently and you'll stay alive.

-K

 

[Anarky]

Don't listen to the negative responses bro. This is a tough game, but rewarding when you crack it.

I think your main problem is you're trying to run before you can walk. Yes, the Sidewinder is capable of combat, trading, exploration, but (in the hands of noobs like us) is it good at them? The answers no (imo).

So you need to build up your cash reserve. Find an anarchy system that sells slaves. Do basic missions in systems around it. Jump at the missions to smuggle slaves (45k+ cr) then get a new ship when you have the money.

With fighting it's just practice. I can't get past wave two in the tutorial, can't use flight assist, but have gradually got better.

With trading you need to trade rares first. It's boring but fairly easy money. Use that to buy bigger ships until you can trade commodities, then use a trade tool to find a trade route.

 

[Hudsonn]

Yes I agree with Anaky. Slave runnings bring in some good early money, and it's fairly easy to so, you also learn a lot while doing it and have a nice reward at the end. I've done about 5 runs now, these missions keep showing up and I have a nice little route. I wont be doing that forever, but it's a good start before delving in to other things.