Newcomer / Intro Earning Credits Early Game

[Danube]

Any tips for a noob?

Thank you.

Definitely upgrade the FSD. Head to V1668 Aquilae (not all that far from starting system) and chug back and forth from Thompson Terminal to Littlewood Terminal selling Marine Equipment to Littlewood and Tea to Thompson. The stations are 700LS apart, in the same system, which is a pretty quick run all things considered.

Even in a Sidewinder with a 4 tonne hold you should make 4,000 to 4,500CR per round trip. I know money is short for you atm, but you could downgrade your FSD temporarily if need be to get some seed money. Get an Adder rigged for a 20 tonne hold ASAP - I prefer the Adder to a Hauler - and once you can fill the hold both ways the profits are around 18 to 19k per round trip. It got me up to a Lakon 6 with a 100 tonne cargo hold pretty quick and still makes me lots of money on a safe run. I still have a rather nice Cobra parked there, too, when I want a change from safe runs!

Good luck!

 

[dryjoy]

When I started, I got rid of the discovery scanner and fitted an extra 2 tons of cargo space. Then I found a nice little trade run in one system, did that a few times, and before I knew it my rep with the factions there increased sufficiently that I was offered missions paying around 15,000 credits a time for a couple of tons of cheap cargo.

Didn't take long from there to get to 100k, at which point I bought a Hauler, fitted it out for 18 tons cargo and upgraded the FSD and power distributer. Then the extra capacity made it good for trading, also did a couple of rares runs and now I have sold the Hauler for a Cobra. Kept my Sidewinder which I am now slowly upgrading using to hone my combat skills, until I feel ready to start upgrading the Cobra and using that for
combat.

 

[Wyke]

I'll check on the price of a Hauler, but with only 65,000 credits I don't feel that I can much at the moment. Even if I can afford the Hauler I then have to outfit it.

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Doesn't scanning mean going to unexplored areas? Wouldn't that be dangerous for me in a little beginner ship?

One way to think of scanning is that you are offering up to date data.
Universal Cartographies will pay for system data no matter how often a given system has been scanned, and cashed in, by other players. The only caveat is that you can only offer data once on a given object. Obviously to stop 'farming'.
The only thing you will miss out on generally, is being the first person to discover something so it may be a while before you get the 'vanity' title as discoverer of something and the bonus that goes with it, though the credit bonus is just that, a bonus, nothing huge. But saying that, occasionally people still find undiscovered objects, even in civilized space.

 

[Ian Skippy]

+1 for the Adder. You can trade 5times more, it is much better in combat and I made nearly three million on my first exploration trip. It is also dirt cheap and flies like a charm.

 

[kislany]

Going to unexplored systems and scanning planets and stars for credits is the least dangerous job you can do in this game, apart from trading. The profits are good now that they have been doubled in the last update.

With your money, you can afford a 2B Frameshift Drive. They cost 53.408 cr a piece and up your jump range to 13-14 lightyears.

If you are afraid to spend so much money at once, you can take a 2C Frameshift Drive instead. Those up your range to 10-11 lightyears, which is actually enough to get anywhere in inhabited space, as long as you plan your route carefully.

You can also afford a 2C Fuel scoop that you can exchange for your cargo mount. Costs the same as a 2C Frameshift Drive.

With those 2 pieces of equipment and your basic discovery scanner, you can already go exploring. There are plenty of uncharted systems around your starter area... and even deep inside inhabited space around the core areas of the Empire, the Alliance and the Federation.

Repped this as it's exactly the post that helped me finally begin exploring in my starter Sidewinder. I have 50000cr and it was just enough (with enough left for insurance) to outfit it with those modules and get going.

 

[purf]

^ this is good advice indeed. After doing mostly bounty hunting and some delivery missions for a short time, I just pointed my Sidewinder towards the Coalsack Nebula,
scanning along the way, selling the data whenever possible. Learned about fuel and its scoop the hard way but by that time I had already enough credits so that when
I picked a new home in the vicinty of my last station, I was easily able to buy a good! Adder.

 

[CrispyLeper]

Best piece of advice on this forum for any new player...
...get out of the starter systems asap. Is safer and much more fun to find your niche somewhere further out you'll learn a lot and earn some creds just by going somewhere and scanning as you go.
Get on the Galmap, filter the view by economy type to Hi-tec and Agricultural, spot somewhere that looks interesting and just go!

 

[Inodoro Pereyra]

Best piece of advice on this forum for any new player...
...get out of the starter systems asap. Is safer and much more fun to find your niche somewhere further out you'll learn a lot and earn some creds just by going somewhere and scanning as you go.
Get on the Galmap, filter the view by economy type to Hi-tec and Agricultural, spot somewhere that looks interesting and just go!

Yes, Bristolian, you need to go far from the original systems... and improve the FSD asap, but if you insist in stay in Eravate... (doing the numbers assuming you have a sidewinder... with your declared Cr and range)

ERAVATE/Ackerman Market -> ERAVATE/Ackerman Market (score: 8835.152640)
Start CR: 60 000
Hops : 3
Jumps : 6
Gain CR : 8 832
Gain/Hop: 2 944
Final CR: 68 832

Load from ERAVATE/Ackerman Market (273ls/star, Yes/bm, Lrg/pad):
4 x Tobacco 4 377cr vs 4 953cr, 6 days vs 8 days, total: 17 508cr
Jump ERAVATE -> POTRITI -> ALRAI SECTOR MC-V B2-3 -> NGALIBA
Unload at NGALIBA/Kingsmill Settlement (973ls/star, Yes/bm, Med/pad) => Gain 2 304cr (576cr/ton) => 62 304cr
Load from NGALIBA/Kingsmill Settlement (973ls/star, Yes/bm, Med/pad):
4 x Beryllium 8 065cr vs 9 079cr, 8 days vs 6 days, total: 32 260cr
Jump NGALIBA -> ALRAI SECTOR MC-V B2-3 -> POTRITI -> ERAVATE
Unload at ERAVATE/Sylvester City (495ls/star, No/bm, Med/pad) => Gain 4 056cr (1 014cr/ton) => 66 360cr
Load from ERAVATE/Sylvester City (495ls/star, No/bm, Med/pad):
4 x Marine Equipment 4 031cr vs 4 649cr, 6 days vs 6 days, total: 16 124cr
Jump & Unload at ERAVATE/Ackerman Market (273ls/star, Yes/bm, Lrg/pad) => Gain 2 472cr (618cr/ton) => 68 832cr
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finish at ERAVATE/Ackerman Market (273ls/star, Yes/bm, Lrg/pad) gaining 8 832cr => est 68 832cr total

Once you have 300000cr your Sidewinder must be like this and then...
If you want to get off from Eravate... (just an example...) go to Gliese 868 (Just 64ly from Eravate)...

RA/Coelho Ring -> RA/Coelho Ring (score: 18195.274560)
Start CR: 100 000
Hops : 2
Jumps : 2
Gain CR : 18 192
Gain/Hop: 9 096
Final CR: 118 192

Load from RA/Coelho Ring (172ls/star, No/bm, Med/pad):
6 x Imperial Slaves 15 712cr vs 17 078cr, 12 days vs 7 days, total: 94 272cr
Jump RA -> GLIESE 868
Unload at GLIESE 868/Alas Station (953ls/star, No/bm, Med/pad) => Gain 8 196cr (1 366cr/ton) => 108 196cr
Load from GLIESE 868/Alas Station (953ls/star, No/bm, Med/pad):
6 x Palladium 12 585cr vs 14 251cr, 7 days vs 7 days, total: 75 510cr
Jump GLIESE 868 -> RA
Unload at RA/Coelho Ring (172ls/star, No/bm, Med/pad) => Gain 9 996cr (1 666cr/ton) => 118 192cr

My suggestion is to get the longer rang ship with any capacity, and grind your way to the ship you want...
Use Slopey or TradeDangeous (if you're more neerdy) to find routes...
Use ED Shipyard to design your ship

 

[mel24]

exploration

might be a silly question but how do you scan?I am in a basic sidewinder

 

[Vihear]

If you have the basic exploration scanner, then you just need to target a celestial body marked as "unexplored" and fly towards it. When you're close enough, the scanner will start scanning. Getting even closer doesn't speed up the scanning so you just slow down and wait until the scan is finished.

 

[Jank]

might be a silly question but how do you scan?I am in a basic sidewinder

Depends on what you mean.

Your Discovery Scanner works in a fire group, and you have to hold down the appropriate fire button until the progress bar and sound notification complete. This will make Unexplored celestial bodies appear in your nav list if you're close enough when you scan them (500ls for basic disco scan). You've "discovered" them but haven't "explored" them with your ship scanner.

Your regular ship scanner works by targeting something, and then keeping it in front of you until the information fills out, like Wanted/Clean for a ship, or detailed information on a celestial body (for which you must be inside the maximum scan range - this varies for the different types of planets/stars). Only this info can be sold as exploration data.

 

[Wyke]

might be a silly question but how do you scan?I am in a basic sidewinder

Only silly question is the question that you don't ask! Other guys have already explained well, so just one tip.

Don't bother scanning asteroids. It takes time because you have to get up close to each cluster but you do not get any payout for 'cashing in' asteroid data

 

[Kuroshio]

Your regular ship scanner works by targeting something, and then keeping it in front of you until the information fills out, like Wanted/Clean for a ship, or detailed information on a celestial body (for which you must be inside the maximum scan range - this varies for the different types of planets/stars). Only this info can be sold as exploration data.

Small correction: The discovery scan data (blowing the horn) can be sold as well. You don't have to do the close up scans do make some money on the fly.

 

[Bristolian]

I got my Hauler and was doing quite well until I got jumped, interdicted and my cargo was taken. I was left with 10,000 credits and had to start all over again. At least I still had my Hauler. Phew!!

 

[Lithari]

I got my Hauler and was doing quite well until I got jumped, interdicted and my cargo was taken. I was left with 10,000 credits and had to start all over again. At least I still had my Hauler. Phew!!

Have you noticed that you only get interdicted when you are in a freighter or carrying cargo, i discovered this when i was just travelling around doing nothing, since all the bulletin boards are always useless, with no missions i can actually do and i never, EVER got jumped by an AI ship, but the moment i get cargo in my small cargo bay on my sidewinder, i get jumped on the way there in cruisespeed.

 

[Bristolian]

Have you noticed that you only get interdicted when you are in a freighter or carrying cargo, i discovered this when i was just travelling around doing nothing, since all the bulletin boards are always useless, with no missions i can actually do and i never, EVER got jumped by an AI ship, but the moment i get cargo in my small cargo bay on my sidewinder, i get jumped on the way there in cruisespeed.

I must admit I've not really noticed, but I will now. This is the first time I've had my cargo actually taken. I've been jumped a few times now and although I can rarely evade interdiction as soon as I drop out I turn tail and run using boost as much as I can until my FSD is ready. I still take significant damage, and often feel lucky just to escape. I want an anti-interdiction device

 

[kislany]

Have you noticed that you only get interdicted when you are in a freighter or carrying cargo, i discovered this when i was just travelling around doing nothing, since all the bulletin boards are always useless, with no missions i can actually do and i never, EVER got jumped by an AI ship, but the moment i get cargo in my small cargo bay on my sidewinder, i get jumped on the way there in cruisespeed.

Not my experience. I've only started exploring in my Sidie 3 days ago, no cargo hold, all fitted for exploration. Sometimes I got interdicted by AI twice in a row. Just barely managed to evade and back on course when interdicted again. I think I got about 7 interdictions (playing solo) in one day (play session that is).

 

[Rob_the_Sparky]

Don't know if it has changed with recent updates but I never bothered with a Hauler as I liked to fight my way out of interdictions, used to see them as a way to make some more money rather than something to be scared about. Oh and yes I have noticed that things you do effect your interdiction rate, getting a wanted status by clipping a Clean ship while in combat certainly ups the interdiction rate so I'd not be surprised if adding a cargo bay or refinery would have the same effect.

 

[Bristolian]

Don't know if it has changed with recent updates but I never bothered with a Hauler as I liked to fight my way out of interdictions, used to see them as a way to make some more money rather than something to be scared about. Oh and yes I have noticed that things you do effect your interdiction rate, getting a wanted status by clipping a Clean ship while in combat certainly ups the interdiction rate so I'd not be surprised if adding a cargo bay or refinery would have the same effect.

Alas my combat skills aren't very well honed (read as 'I suck at combat' ), so rather then take a risk with a ship full of expensive cargo I prefer to run. Perhaps I should deck out my Sidewinder and go practice combat on some pirates.

 

[octoberhungry]

So I'm pretty new to playing also. I've just been doing simple delivery missions in my stock Sidewinder but my biggest paydays have been when I've gone to a nav beacon and did some bounty hunting. I have about 120K saved. My plan was to save around 400K and then buy a Viper and kit it out with better weapons. Reason I was thinking this is that I want try some of those combat missions because they have quite high rewards but I know I can't do that until I get a better ship. The Viper looks like a decent fighter. Although reading this post I'm now torn on whether I should upgrade my sidewinder a bit first to get a better FSD. Or do I go the Hauler route. Or do I wait and save more and get Cobra. Argh!? What to do?