How to get to Elite fast

Kryptoff · Aug 22, 2015

Greetings commanders,

I'm currently exploring some nebulae on my way towards Sag A*. I was wondering what is the most efficient way to get my Elite rating. I am thinking that if I pass through the neutron fields on my way and get about 2000 of them scanned, I should be pretty close to Elite. Am I on the wrong path?

Thanks,
CMDR Kryptoff

iain666 · Aug 22, 2015

If getting to Elite fast is your aim then neutron farming is indeed the way to go.

Cdr Voorheez · Aug 23, 2015

Yes Cdr you are essentially doing exactly what I am doing too. I would also suggest squeezing in a trip to the Great Annihilator black hole too.
I'm 85% pathfinder so I need about 122mil credits to get to Elite apparently.
Lots of neutron fields then

Gramps · Aug 23, 2015

What 'iain666 said' ^^^ But don't get so focused on your goal you forget to enjoy the sights along the way.

Cliff Dobbs · Aug 23, 2015

Let me start by saying that I am not judging anyone. This is Elite: Dangerous and there is no right or wrong way to play this game.

However, I do believe that FDev have missed a trick with exploration Elite ranking. It shouldn't be just based on how much dosh you've made.

The Elite Explorer should have a certain number of ELWs in their databank, a certain number of first discovereds, that sort of thing. Something to show that you've actually been exploring.

Doing the Sag A run a few times and farming the neutron fields makes you an Elite Tourist, in my humble opinion.

Which is a perfectly valid way to play the game if that is what floats your boat.

Alex Brentnall · Aug 23, 2015

If you wish to get to Elite the very quickest way you need about 55mil of data and be a risk taker.
Once you get back to the bubble get to rank 5 with Li Yong Rui and hand the data in to him for a 200% bonus taking you to 160mil and Elite ranking.

As above Neutron stars are probably the way to go. A normal Saggitarius A* trip comes in at about 30mil so if you do a ton of black hole/NS farming or extend the trip to the sides you will probably get there. Just don't die farming merits because you'll loose that data.

Kryptoff · Aug 23, 2015

Thank you for the answers, commanders.

I am still scanning on my way towards the neutron fields, just not whole systems. I only scan interesting (read: potentially high paying) worlds like WWs and such (no luck finding an ELW yet). I also scan at least the main star (does this slow me down for potentially very little profit?).

Thanks for the tip about Li Yong Rui, but I think that's a very risky approach, so I'll pass.

Neokortex · Aug 23, 2015

Hoover the neutron fields

Cdr Voorheez · Aug 23, 2015

cliffdobbs said:
Let me start by saying that I am not judging anyone. This is Elite: Dangerous and there is no right or wrong way to play this game.

However, I do believe that FDev have missed a trick with exploration Elite ranking. It shouldn't be just based on how much dosh you've made.

The Elite Explorer should have a certain number of ELWs in their databank, a certain number of first discovereds, that sort of thing. Something to show that you've actually been exploring.

Doing the Sag A run a few times and farming the neutron fields makes you an Elite Tourist, in my humble opinion.

Which is a perfectly valid way to play the game if that is what floats your boat.

I don't often get annoyed at posts but this one has gripped me, so bear with me while I collect my thoughts.
You are decrying a rather long and actually exploration full trip to SagA*. You can explore lots on the way to the core. I know because I am currently doing it.

It's my first time out to SagA* and I have found (first finds) many planet types, have mapped neutron field and black hole fields at THORS EYE, I am mapping black holes and neutron stars in every nebula I find, I am recording visually and textually in an exploration log all my findings and I am still plotting a very explorative course to the core with a definite mission parameters in mind:

1. Explore new worlds
2. Find Earth like worlds
3. Analyse and map all black holes and neutron stars in all nebula plotted en-route
4. Analyse Sagittarius A*
5. Analyse the Great Annihilator
6. Analyse the neutron fields.

Thats not farming, that's not me being a tourist, that's me exploring.

As far as I am aware that does NOT make me an "Elite tourist". You say you are not judging but you are judging me and all other Cdrs who are on their first trip out to SagA*.

Yes, sadly monetary markers are programmed into the game mechanics to determine exploration rank progression. It's not perfect and I happen to agree with you that we should be being rank awarded on more than just cartographic data handed in. But that's what we have.

If you don't think I have been exploring and if you think my efforts so far have been as an 'elite tourist' then go ahead, judge for yourself. My exploration log is in my signature.

Cliff Dobbs · Aug 24, 2015

Cdr Voorheez said:
I don't often get annoyed at posts but this one has gripped me, so bear with me while I collect my thoughts.
You are decrying a rather long and actually exploration full trip to SagA*. You can explore lots on the way to the core. I know because I am currently doing it.

It's my first time out to SagA* and I have found (first finds) many planet types, have mapped neutron field and black hole fields at THORS EYE, I am mapping black holes and neutron stars in every nebula I find, I am recording visually and textually in an exploration log all my findings and I am still plotting a very explorative course to the core with a definite mission parameters in mind:

1. Explore new worlds
2. Find Earth like worlds
3. Analyse and map all black holes and neutron stars in all nebula plotted en-route
4. Analyse Sagittarius A*
5. Analyse the Great Annihilator
6. Analyse the neutron fields.

Thats not farming, that's not me being a tourist, that's me exploring.

As far as I am aware that does NOT make me an "Elite tourist". You say you are not judging but you are judging me and all other Cdrs who are on their first trip out to SagA*.

Yes, sadly monetary markers are programmed into the game mechanics to determine exploration rank progression. It's not perfect and I happen to agree with you that we should be being rank awarded on more than just cartographic data handed in. But that's what we have.

If you don't think I have been exploring and if you think my efforts so far have been as an 'elite tourist' then go ahead, judge for yourself. My exploration log is in my signature.

Good for you, CMDR. You are truly an explorer o7

Sorry that you've got so vexed over this. Really, I am. You are clearly not what I was talking about.

PanicButton · Aug 24, 2015

Alex Brentnall said:
If you wish to get to Elite the very quickest way you need about 55mil of data and be a risk taker.
Once you get back to the bubble get to rank 5 with Li Yong Rui and hand the data in to him for a 200% bonus taking you to 160mil and Elite ranking.

As above Neutron stars are probably the way to go. A normal Saggitarius A* trip comes in at about 30mil so if you do a ton of black hole/NS farming or extend the trip to the sides you will probably get there. Just don't die farming merits because you'll loose that data.

Let me get this straight. Your PP ranking will drop over time. This means you can't rank up, then go out for a moth or two, then return and sell the data with the +200% bonus.So you have to rank up with all that exploration data in your pocket?

What do you even have to do to rank up?

(Don't really care about PP, in case you were wondering about my noobish questions

)

Alex Brentnall · Aug 24, 2015

PanicButton said:
Let me get this straight. Your PP ranking will drop over time. This means you can't rank up, then go out for a moth or two, then return and sell the data with the +200% bonus.So you have to rank up with all that exploration data in your pocket?

What do you even have to do to rank up?

(Don't really care about PP, in case you were wondering about my noobish questions )

Correct your rep (measured in merits) decays every Thursday.
You gain merits by either combat against hostile powers or by trading goods to key sectors to expand and defend your powers influence. The trading goods are capped depending on your rank. With rank 1 your cap is 10T and to get another 10T you have to wait 30 minutes. At rank 2 your cap is 15 and so-on.
But you can spend 10,000Cr/T to immediately remove that cap and get the next allocation 10T straight away.

Combat can give up to 15 merits per kill depending on where you do it. Trading gives 1 merit per Ton delivered. This means to get rank 5 (or 10,000 merits) quickly via trading you need just under 100mil in cash to speed through those cargo allocations, its 23 trips in a shielded trading Anaconda.
Bear in mind at rank 5 you get 50mil per week in rewards so that 100mil spent is only really 50mil. Provided your data is above the value of 30mil credits (ish) it makes sense to get the bonus since your 200% increase will cover that cost with profit.
You probably want to check the powerplay manual for details on merits or check some of the strategy guides.

My second long-distance trip of 65mil data came in at 190mil so a total of 75mil profit even after the merit purchasing is done.
As above this is considered by many to be a bad way to get to Elite quickly, I am merely providing information at this point.

PanicButton · Aug 24, 2015

Thank you for the detailed explanation, I really appreciate it.

I don't have the 100million to buy the trust of the faction, and I am also missing the 'grande cojones' that would allow me to start doing trade runs while sitting on all that exploration data. I'm the 'play it safe' kind of guy. But I have to admit, this still sounds a lot better than neutron farming.

Luckily I'm not plagued by this issue yet. For now, exploration is it's own reward for me, and the money/rank increase it's just a positive byproduct. I feel dirty posting in this thread

Whiterose · Aug 25, 2015

Neutron farming although lucrative does spring up some nice systems. I have several ELW's around netron stars, you also run the chnace of coming across some black holes as well. Just be careful, they are dangerous little sods.

Dommarraa · Aug 25, 2015

Beware. Making Elite can really put you off further exploration. I often wish I had 1 more rank to achieve

PanicButton · Aug 25, 2015

You can always start over...right?

Zulu Romeo · Aug 26, 2015

These days, trawling the neutron fields seems to be the efficient and industrial way to get to explorer Elite.

Once you do get to explorer Elite... then you can start exploring.

But seriously, I've done most of my meaningful exploring (or what I consider meaningful) after I got to Elite.

Gramps · Aug 26, 2015

Far more relaxing when your not chasing elite rank, it's a pity that the explorer ranks are linked solely to credits.

Ibeme · Aug 26, 2015

I humbly apologize in advance for this rant..

Lol you guys have a funny view of what exploring is, Ill go as far as saying most of you are fugging nuts and allot of you are insane, call me what ever you like but Exploring is searching and discovery of new.. your gonna tell me that in our entire universe that there are maybe 60 different types of planets and there all static. planets don't even rotate as far as I can tell, I don't think there's ever a chance of you seeing two planets collide and obliterate each other, Yes I saw two Suns touching each other and watched for about an hour and there was no change what so ever.. no magnetic fields jumping across from sun to sun.. no body deformation - nothing but two happy suns completely static.

You can argue it would take thousands if not millions of years to watch an exploding star.. however it wouldn't take but a few hours for sunspots to appear, not all phenomenon take a millennia to happen, I would gladly sit in my ship for hours and watch planets collide, search for volcanoes that spew magma into space, watch for days a planet with an atmosphere get pummeled by some large debris field as it passes through, wholly mackerel there are just a bazillion crazy things that happen in our universe at any given moment.. I don't know how you do it, you guys speak with fervor and love about running around ED's universe looking at the identical and same 60+ or so perfect marbles duplicated randomly millions of times in the shape of the milky way galaxy as if you are exploring and seeing amazing new things.

Seriously I believe you guys would be ecstatic if you had forty or fifty bags of marbles tossed on the kitchen floor, waited till nightfall to get your flashlights out and go exploring.

Oh no.. no.. no.. Im not saying that FD made a bad galaxy, they did a great job representing our galaxy, but its entirely static so nothing can happen.. and after you see the first 60+ or so planets that are out there - there's no reason to get excited about the next 60, but yet you guys seem to.. are you guys role playing - what am I missing here. Unlike our galaxy which is just shear crazy with untold things to see that are sometimes unimaginable, Ed's Universe is plain, ordinary, static, predictable, and above all safe.

Besides running around and seeing an occasional moment of beauty and some moments of Ahhh that's it, that's all there is and nothing more, its completely repetitious - no aliens no danger no anything. We quite literally may have less than 200 different things to explore, 60 planets, couple dozen Nebula, the big Bulge, a few hand crafted stars strung together in a pattern and that's about it, I've traveled many thousands of light-years from Sol and have not seen anything that unusual from one area to the next.

Look im open to constructive criticism and to be proven wrong as well.. maybe I'm missing something here BIG TIME, before you go to ape on me please know I have my Astronomy books and yes I've visited vy canis majoris just like the rest of you. Exploring is one of my very favorite things to do in games - all types of games, If there was absolutely nothing to gain not one credit to be made, In a heart beat I still would have traveled to areas of interest in ED.. I dont even care about ranking up, exploring is just plain awesome but in the ED universe there really just isn't that much out there to search diligently for..

K i've said my piece, light me up.

Genar-Hofoen · Aug 26, 2015

Ibeme said:
I humbly apologize in advance for this rant..

Lol you guys have a funny view of what exploring is, Ill go as far as saying most of you are fugging nuts and allot of you are insane, call me what ever you like but Exploring is searching and discovery of new.. your gonna tell me that in our entire universe that there are maybe 60 different types of planets and there all static. planets don't even rotate as far as I can tell, I don't think there's ever a chance of you seeing two planets collide and obliterate each other, Yes I saw two Suns touching each other and watched for about an hour and there was no change what so ever.. no magnetic fields jumping across from sun to sun.. no body deformation - nothing but two happy suns completely static.

You can argue it would take thousands if not millions of years to watch an exploding star.. however it wouldn't take but a few hours for sunspots to appear, not all phenomenon take a millennia to happen, I would gladly sit in my ship for hours and watch planets collide, search for volcanoes that spew magma into space, watch for days a planet with an atmosphere get pummeled by some large debris field as it passes through, wholly mackerel there are just a bazillion crazy things that happen in our universe at any given moment.. I don't know how you do it, you guys speak with fervor and love about running around ED's universe looking at the identical and same 60+ or so perfect marbles duplicated randomly millions of times in the shape of the milky way galaxy as if you are exploring and seeing amazing new things.

Seriously I believe you guys would be ecstatic if you had forty or fifty bags of marbles tossed on the kitchen floor, waited till nightfall to get your flashlights out and go exploring.

Oh no.. no.. no.. Im not saying that FD made a bad galaxy, they did a great job representing our galaxy, but its entirely static so nothing can happen.. and after you see the first 60+ or so planets that are out there - there's no reason to get excited about the next 60, but yet you guys seem to.. are you guys role playing - what am I missing here. Unlike our galaxy which is just shear crazy with untold things to see that are sometimes unimaginable, Ed's Universe is plain, ordinary, static, predictable, and above all safe.

Besides running around and seeing an occasional moment of beauty and some moments of Ahhh that's it, that's all there is and nothing more, its completely repetitious - no aliens no danger no anything. We quite literally may have less than 200 different things to explore, 60 planets, couple dozen Nebula, the big Bulge, a few hand crafted stars strung together in a pattern and that's about it, I've traveled many thousands of light-years from Sol and have not seen anything that unusual from one area to the next.

Look im open to constructive criticism and to be proven wrong as well.. maybe I'm missing something here BIG TIME, before you go to ape on me please know I have my Astronomy books and yes I've visited vy canis majoris just like the rest of you. Exploring is one of my very favorite things to do in games - all types of games, If there was absolutely nothing to gain not one credit to be made, In a heart beat I still would have traveled to areas of interest in ED.. I dont even care about ranking up, exploring is just plain awesome but in the ED universe there really just isn't that much out there to search diligently for..

K i've said my piece, light me up.

I think you'll find that there are lots of other ED Explorers who would agree with your basic sentiment that there Needs To Be More for exploration within ED. Alien civilisations, aurora, generally just more interesting Stuff to encounter.

FDEV have already said there will be more Stuff like this in future versions of the game, so I'm patiently waiting for them to come up with the goods.

In the meantime, I'm equally patiently enjoying what's there at the moment.

With regards to farming the neutron fields; I've already been to Sag. A* and beyond before, in an Asp. I didn't reach Elite on that trip, and haven't been too bothered about reaching it since then.

I am on my way to Sag. A* again, just roughly 6 Kylies away now, in a Cobra, with the aim of turning my current Pioneer ranking (plus 40% towards Elite) into Elite if I successfully return intact.

Doing a combination of fully exploring systems with ELW's, and then sprint runs of 1 Kylie each without even detailed scanning each main star. I do divert to nearby black holes on the way, as I've reached the beginning of the Core, which is slowing me down a tad.