What did I miss?

[ShoeHash]

Sadly, at one time my computer was not capable of rendering the Elite Planets, due to their extreme texture size and my limited 2gb of VRAM. I know nothing of the scarab, and aside from amassing a fortune to the tune of 200million dollars, I knew only smuggling and interdiction until the release of 2.2.

My fondest memory post patch is Chernovsky Station greeting me as an emotionless female voice with a tinge of a Russian accent, and on my landing at the first Engineer planet a computerized voice greeting me similarly. Just two voice files added 100% immersion back into the title. With a move and some upsets I finally got back into Elite just now, like a few days ago.

I love 2.2. The numerous small patches and now this jump made me pretty excited. I don't own a Conda or a Clipper, so I'm not insanely wealthy, and my favorite ship is the Asp.

So that brings us to this thread, and at the end there will be an awesome video.

How would you get back into the “groove” so to speak of Eliting. I've done point A and B trading, I've tried the rares runs. I'm sure I can search the forums for a few other tricks to make big bucks. The passenger missions seem extremely profitable. But I am not even sure what an Engineer is, or how they work, or passengers and how they work.

So the point then is this. If you were me how would you best get back into the game? Comedy option would be to buy a Conda and zero my account then smash it into a small moon. But I want real answers. What brings you joy? Also: Where has Mobius gone? What's a good voicecom room for players in open? I usually play solo with music on but sometimes I like talking. Are there any factions taking members? Any teams looking for sound designers, voice actors, or texture artists? Oh and one I've wanted to ask since 1.0 - how do I become a Fuel Rat?

And that's it, that's my post. Hopefully I'll can scrounge up the money for a virtual reality headset sometime in the future. But the future's not here yet man, and I say live it or live with it. And since this is the end of the thread. Here's a short educational film...

[video=youtube;PN_CP4SuoTU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN_CP4SuoTU[/video]

 

[deleteduser]

Since we now know there are aliens, I'd suggest getting ready for meeting them sometime in the not-too-distant future. This means Money>Ships>Engineers. sure, the aliens may be friendly but then, they may not. You have options here, but all of them involve the Mission Boards. Playing on your own account; mining, trading, exploring or bounty hunting, will not make anywhere near the money you can get from official missions even after the 2.2 CR/Hr nerfs.

1) Get involved in PP. The various powers offer unique ship modules. Pledge to each in turn and work to meet the requirements for the modules before moving on to the next.
2) Superpower. As you rank up in each Super power, you earn access to the bigger ships, with the Cutter & Corvette at the far end of the scale. You rank up using the mission boards, selecting missions from factions affiliated to your Superpower.
If you can find a system where all of the local factions are Empire & Federation, 50/50 split would be ideal, you'll have hit the jackpot. Even if the missions aren't to your liking, for the sake of getting ready for aliens you should pursue these. You'll be done in about 30-40 hours of play anyway.

3) Ally with the local factions. Mission rewards are greater for allied CMDRs.
4) Stack Missions. Don't be scared to log-in & out in the various Open/Solo modes in order to completely fill your mission quotas each time. You will make a lot more money, in far less time.

Then run those missions into the ground. I found a system offering Skimmer massacre missions. These can be completed in a couple of hours in a Sidewinder, and make 30-80Million a run.

The objective is the ability to get big ships with big guns and engineer mods, not the CR.

 

[ShoeHash]

Since we now know there are aliens, I'd suggest getting ready for meeting them sometime in the not-too-distant future. This means Money>Ships>Engineers. sure, the aliens may be friendly but then, they may not. You have options here, but all of them involve the Mission Boards. Playing on your own account; mining, trading, exploring or bounty hunting, will not make anywhere near the money you can get from official missions even after the 2.2 CR/Hr nerfs.

1) Get involved in PP. The various powers offer unique ship modules. Pledge to each in turn and work to meet the requirements for the modules before moving on to the next.
2) Superpower. As you rank up in each Super power, you earn access to the bigger ships, with the Cutter & Corvette at the far end of the scale. You rank up using the mission boards, selecting missions from factions affiliated to your Superpower.
If you can find a system where all of the local factions are Empire & Federation, 50/50 split would be ideal, you'll have hit the jackpot. Even if the missions aren't to your liking, for the sake of getting ready for aliens you should pursue these. You'll be done in about 30-40 hours of play anyway.

3) Ally with the local factions. Mission rewards are greater for allied CMDRs.
4) Stack Missions. Don't be scared to log-in & out in the various Open/Solo modes in order to completely fill your mission quotas each time. You will make a lot more money, in far less time.

Then run those missions into the ground. I found a system offering Skimmer massacre missions. These can be completed in a couple of hours in a Sidewinder, and make 30-80Million a run.

The objective is the ability to get big ships with big guns and engineer mods, not the CR.

Thank you greatly for suggesting the skimmer missions. I hadn't been able to fly round planets before without stuttering worse than a Stuttering Stanley so I'll have to check those out. Plus, anything that can be done in a Sidey is a big plus for me. I'll probably even drop the bucks on getting the flair package for those types of ships just so I can be easily identified as the guy with glue-on spoilers and shot at repeatedly.

What's this about the Python Nerf? It was fine before I thought, an excellent PVE ship but not-so-great PVP ship. The FDL was godlike in PVP. Is it still?

 

[CrunchyBaton955]

... Oh and one I've wanted to ask since 1.0 - how do I become a Fuel Rat?

Check this link out and come join us on our IRC: https://www.fuelrats.com/join

 

[deleteduser]

Thank you greatly for suggesting the skimmer missions. I hadn't been able to fly round planets before without stuttering worse than a Stuttering Stanley so I'll have to check those out. Plus, anything that can be done in a Sidey is a big plus for me. I'll probably even drop the bucks on getting the flair package for those types of ships just so I can be easily identified as the guy with glue-on spoilers and shot at repeatedly.

What's this about the Python Nerf? It was fine before I thought, an excellent PVE ship but not-so-great PVP ship. The FDL was godlike in PVP. Is it still?

I could have boiled that all down to "Skimmer Missions in a Sidey" really.

I don't know about the Python nerf, but the FDL appears to be the go to PvP'er. I think people are missing some tricks with the Vulture & Python though, and there are some really interesting Courier and Cobra builds popping up at CG's, and holding their own against the FDLs.

 

[GilliganTX]

If you're looking for a group to play with and an open-channel for voice comms, The Earth Defense Fleet is taking on new members.

earthdefensefleet.net

Shoot the website adim an application. We're based out of the Okinura System not far from Sol, and control a handful of systems in the immediate area.

The group is multifaceted with Open players, PvPers, Explorers, Traders, and lots of combat.

 

[Alex Brentnall]

I've never really had a break but if I was returning without a clue what has happened I'd check out Obsidian Ant on youtube and watch any videos that seem of interest.
The Frontier Elite Dangerous youtube channel is also decent although there are a few repeats and it's a lot more wordy than the short informational vids that some streamers do.

Passengers are pretty much - Buy passenger cabins, pick up missions for them, complete missions, job done. Some are like cargo hauling missions, some are sightseeing, some are VIP's with odd requests you can or can not indulge in. Keep passengers happy otherwise they'll trash the place and eject leaving you with a failed mission and a module repair cost.

FDL is still pretty much the king but get in a Corvette or Cutter and you can engineer the things to be nigh on indestructible.

Engineers - You start with 5, all have unlock requirements, some require faction reputation to be introduced. Once unlocked they offer level 1 modifications for the modules/weapons they engineer (none do everything). Do low level mods or please them in other ways (sell exploration data to exploration engineers) and you'll get access to the higher levels. Xp to get to higher levels is exponential so it's best to do higher level mods if available.
Mods have random effects within the blue/red zones allocated, after they've assigned themselves sometimes secondary effects take place modifying them for better or worse. Finally with weapons you get a chance to get a unique mod which can be anything from corrosive shells to reduce foe's armour to a healing beam laser that replenishes shields when targeting a friendly ship.

Inara website is great for checking out what engineers do what and what they need to do it as well as where to find things, be aware almost all mods will require some degree of planetside activities.


Oh, if you have a Keelback or Federal Gunship (or larger ships like T9/Anaconda/Cutter/Corvette) check out the ship launched fighters

Mobius is still there, now split into US and EU iirc as it got too damn big!

As for what I do, I have a list of everything I can think of to possibly do in the game. I investigate that activity and basically dive in with a cheap ship. Then do some reading and put a better build together in a bigger ship and finally optimise it so I'm competent. That takes about a week and then I decide if I enjoy it or not, if I do then I'll probably do that more until I get bored and add it to the bottom of the list. If I don't it goes in the deadpool until a patch changes it significantly and I give it another shot.
That keeps me very busy and the list has grown significantly since I started.

When I just want fly I tend to go back to community goals or the Fuel Rats or just pick as ship and go canyon racing for the fun of it.