Introduction.
Elite Dangerous ("Elite") can feel very overwhelming when you first start out because the game play is novel and subjective, but you take with you what you know about other games, so your anticipation may run wild not knowing what to expect initially with your experience playing Elite. Elite is however one of those "blaze our own trail" type of games that dictate any specific course of action, but rather affords you an open book of what you can do in game while promoting you to forge your own path. Unlike other MMO's where the story line may be built around you as the hero (and the hundreds of thousands of other hero players just like you), Elite's overall game play is anticlimactic ushering you to the other side of the spectrum of game-play. It is the ultimate sandbox game... you are not the "center of the universe", but rather a speck in the universe, and a speck that never achieves a position tantamount to a conqueror or master the universe. In a manner, Elite is akin to real life, but in space thousands of years in the future and as represented in a game. While that may not be something you contemplate early into your game-play while finding your rhythm, once you learn more about the game and grasp your purpose in Elite the closer you come to terms with the fact you cannot and will never rule the world withing Elite. That realization will lead to a more comfortable and enjoyable experience during your time in Elite. Thus, nothing you do in Elite will turn the tide of the universe, and anything you may achieve that may garner influence or reputation within any given faction in any particular system, controlling, small, aligned, independent, or otherwise, may very well likely deteriorate or not have any long lasting impact in Elite. Any accolades or gains attributable to your contributions, in part or otherwise, will certainly not award any notoriety to yourself as a commander for other players to discover. The only permanent mark you can leave in the Elite universe for other commanders to acknowledge comes with discovering a planet, moon or star for the first time which it then attaches your name to the planet's discovery. However, if you choose combat, you choose a path supports the propensity for wealth, assets, and massive financial earnings in short periods of time with game-play, but without attribution.
Once you have some bearing on the game play, what role the various modules offer to the build of your ship, how to navigate through systems, navigate system to system, accept and complete missions, interact with NPC's and players, partake in the many career paths or verticals that Elite has to offer, and get a true feel for where you actually stand in the Elite Universe, you may say to yourself, "OK, so what's a solid means to improve my game-play proficiency and earn credits?" Great question as amassing wealth, faction rank, materials, data, modding modules with Engineers, and accumulating assets is what expands your experience in Elite and improves your character as commander. After all, you cannot spend the rest of your time in Elite in or about the LHS 3447 system and surrounding starter area systems. What can you do in the Elite Universe? Well, you can explore systems, explore planets, attack planetary settlements, scan data links, smuggle, trade, engage in piracy or fight piracy, murder other players, bounty hunt, turn the tide of civil war or war by battling war ships, help local factions gain influence, or undermine their influence by performing missions, mine asteroids, mine materials on planets, pledge to a faction power in power play, earn ranks with major factions garnering permits to access some key systems, gain Federation of Pilot rankings in trade, combat and or exploration, along with a plethora of other activities. Different activities may require different builds for your ship, or may be most proficiently facilitated by means of a specific type of ship.
If you are like me and you want to earn your living through trial by fire jumping right into combat to redeem bounties and bonds - cause at least for me, and perhaps yourself, this is a hell of a lot more immersive than grinding out trades - then you have selected a good facet of the game that could earn you a phenomenal living in the Elite universe. The debate is ongoing whether or not a pure bounty hunter can earn more than a pure trader by the hour, and it surely one of the best means of earning ranks, reputation and credits in game, if not the best. My in-game experience led me to the realization that earning through combat was the best and most enjoyable means of generating wealth and assets, and as a result I have become extremely proficient at PvE combat, have over a billion credits, close to another billion in ships, and hundreds of millions in stored modules. At one point while grinding bounties I was averaging 30 million over the course of a little more than an hour in two Empire systems known as Exioce and Dvorsi while pledged to Arissa Lavigny, a Power Play Faction leader. Pledging loyalty to Arissa grants a percentage boost in bounty voucher redemption, but I am getting ahead of myself as you will find a wealth of information below including how power play can increase your yields for bonds and bounties. Moving forward there is a great deal of information to cover so let's streamline the process of sharing this information through an outline format instead of narrative now that we are beyond the introduction.
Welcome to Elite and welcome to the guide for your newly found combat career (feel free to message me if you have questions about the below):
1. RES Zones
- Most of the planets with rings around them within any system will have RES zones, or likely have RES zones. Some will have more than others in the rings rotating around the planet.
- RES zones could be located on A Ring or B Ring, and so on and so forth, if the planet has more than one ring.
- You will not spot an RES zone on any eligible planet in your Navigation tab unless you are within approximately 850ls from the location while in Supercruise.
Types of RES Zones
- Low RES: Zones that will have a lower volume of ships; lower level NPC combatants (harmless, novice, competent, expert); police force present
- RES: Zones that will standard volume of ships; low, medium, high level NPC combatants, random; generally, winged Wanted ships will have lower level captains (harmless to dangerous); police force present
- High RES: Zones that high a high volume of ships; high level NPC combatants (master to elite); police force present
- Hazardous RES: Zones that have a huge volume of ships, mostly wings; generally all highest level NPC combatants (dangerous to elite); no police force present
Note:
- Volume of ships for any respective RES zone is based upon several factors relative to the total number of factions in the system, the type of faction/government, and system population by faction and overall.
- Some systems will have a higher volume of ships in their Low HES than other systems High RES (see below itemization under "Where to Find a Good RES")
- Count of Police ships is also based upon the above and security level of the system (higher the security, larger number of police ships, and potentially the more experienced/powerful the NPC commander)
How to Locate a Good RES (combination of factors below offer better results)
- Best candidates for high volume RES zones are in high population systems. High population systems have civilians in the ten's of billions.
- LRES, RES, or HRES: the higher the combat rank of the wanted ship, the greater the payoff (However, as a newbie pilot, avoid engaging pirates or wings directly in an HRES, rather, attack Wanted ships that are being attacked by police to pick up the bounty, or wing with another player. You might also want to consider staying away from Hazardous RES sites completely until you have a larger ship or become a proficient in combat and flight).
- If you find a wing of ships in a HRES, most of the time the group of ships, or the winged ships (not the ship that scans you) are middle level NPCs. Be mindful of the combat rank of the NPC before you engage in combat.
- Systems with at least 4 or more factions, and preferably the system contains a greater count of independent factions that have names suggesting they engage in questionable activities, i.e. "mafia", "cartel", "organization", and or have governments that read, "Anarchy".
- Systems controlled by an independent faction that are in Anarchy can pay off huge numbers, but it is unlikely that any police are going to be there to help you, and there aren't many of these systems near the starter area.
- Generally going to have a higher count of ships in RES zones located in Ring A than Ring B, but there are exceptions to that norm. However, if there are multiple RES locations on a ring around a planet, check the A ring RES zones before going to the B ring RES zones.
- Log out/in to game from menu if you want to refresh the spawn of ships. RES zones will either spawn small ships or large ships, but there are some that will also cycle a combination of both large and small wanted ships.
- If you see all small ships, or a higher volume of lower level/quality pilots in a standard RES zone you can log out and back in from the menu, or low jump out and return to the area and it will reset the wanted ships that spawn in the area. It is random, and the "luck of the dice" so to speak as to what types of wanted ships will appear. It will also sometimes reset the total number of Wanted ships available to fight with each cycle.
- Note again that a strong RES is based on the volume of ships, not the type of ships, i.e. large or small, because every RES zone can recycle the types and size of the ships by logging out to menu or leaving the zone and returning refreshing the hoard.
- You can locate Anarchy systems by visiting the Galaxy map and selecting "Government" in the search filter (I believe the second to last tab starting from the left side).
- Use your Galaxy map frequently to locate systems that contain planets with rings and to view the population, security, and factions in order to locate a strong candidate for RES farming.
Wanted Ship Cycles/Spawning
- Wanted Ships will generally come in waves. There may be only a few, or even 5, 10, or more that will spawn at any one time.
- If you dispatch all of the presently wanted ships, you may have to wait several minutes for new ships to spawn in the area.
- Some areas will spawn NPC wanted ships one by one, others in droves. It is completely subjective to the system and the particular RES zone.
- Planet rings may have more than one RES zone, and while one of those zones may have slim pickings, a different zone may inundate the instance with NPC wanted ships. Therefore, remember to check other zones before you check out of the system to find a different RES location.
- A strong RES zone will have so many Wanted ships that it never runs dry which would otherwise require you to wait for a new cycle of ships to spawn.
- Sometimes when first entering an RES zone, it will take a few to several minutes for the zone to "warm up" spawning Wanted ships. Note that this does not necessarily indicate you found a dry RES location.
(Exioce, the system I mentioned earlier, takes several minutes for the wanted ships to arise, but they then come in droves and you will never run out of targets to chase down for their bounty. Therefore, give a new zone a few minutes (up to 5 minutes) to truly test the volume of wanted ships that spawn)
- If you find a strong RES zone to farm, make sure you take note of the system, planet and ring where you found the good RES. I have kept a separate log on my iPad using the Note app of several systems that have very heavy RES volume to farm. Don't make the same mistake as I did by not notating immediately, as I would have hundreds of locations notated if I would have taken note of them when I first started.
Combat Preparation and Strategy
1. Kill Warrant Scanners ("KWS") are a must as they will increase the bounty payoff by a good 25-30% by earning bounties from any and all factions of the system, not just the controlling and the Major faction as you would otherwise be limited to without the KWS.
2. Scan all Wanted ships with your KWS, even if you don't plan to attack them right away, because you will likely end up attacking them later or attack them once the police ships beginning attacking them, if not immediately after your KWS scan.
3. Early in your career, you may want to limit your combat to only attacking the ships that are already engaged by the police, especially in a RES level or higher level zones.
4. Note that if you pick up the dropped or lost cargo (not materials, they are OK) from Wanted ships because it will be illegal cargo and will cause the police to attack you if scanned. Remember, that cargo on the wanted ship was likely taken from an innocent ship.
5. Always remember to use, and get acclimated to using, your thrusters, all of them; forward, reverse, lateral and vertical. Your ship is more than just a throttle and stick, and if you want to become proficient in combat, you need to know how to control your ship efficiently during battle.
6. Try, test, and perfect your flying skills using FA-OFF (Flight assist off) once you acclimate yourself to using your thrusters. I have my FA-OFF button on my controller set to "Hold" in the options menu, so I have to hold the button (which is actually a lever on the stick of my Saitek x56) to sustain FA-OFF. You can easily maintain a "six" position on an enemy ship by mastering FA-OFF so it cannot get the drop on you.
7. Manage your PIPs during battle. You only require PIPS to your system if your shields need to regenerate. During battle you need power to your Engines and Weapons in order to be an effective combatant, which means you should slowly acclimate yourself to PIP management early on during your combat career. Until such time that you are comfortable with handling PIP management, you should have at least 3 PIPs to weapons (if not 4), and 2 PIPs to Engine, unless your shields are regenerating then you should space your PIPs one to one, system and engine, with four to weapons. Otherwise, you can reset more PIPs to system post battle to regenerate shields.
8. Sub-system Targeting. Targeting the Power Plant sub-system of your opponent can be the most effective means of defeating an opponent NPC. If the Power Plant is at 0% health, the ship comes to a grinding stop leaving it dead in the water, so to speak, for you to finish it off and or may blow up.
9. Never bring cargo to an RES, Nav Beacon or Compromised Nav Beacon zone (materials and data are OK). Wanted ships scan every ship in the zone, and if you are carrying cargo, you will be attacked by the wanted ships unless you succumb to their demands.
10. You can spend a great deal more time farming vouchers if you use weapons that do not rely upon ammo. While that will be a give and take, as purely thermal weapons are not as effective against hulls as kinetic weapons due the latest updates to the game, you can spend an indefinite period of time farming vouchers in RES zones if your weapons do not require restocking ammo.
11. Remember that you can also restock ammo at any time and anywhere if you have the materials. The materials to create ammo are generally elements. So if your weapons use ammo, you can extend your stay by collecting the necessary materials to restock ammo, and or to receive bonus damage from creating ammo.
12. If its a combat oriented ship, more likely than not it will be a wanted ship. If you see a Viper or Eagle, Dropship or Federal Assault Ship in an RES, it is likely, but not guaranteed, they are a Wanted ship not a miner or a wing.
13. Always remember not to attack any ship until such time that your ship has completed its scan identifying the captain. If you attack that ship before you finish the scan, even if it is obviously a wanted NPC because the police are already attacking the ship, you will incur a Wanted status and be attacked by the police ships in the area.
14. Look at the ships on the Radar. If they are clustered center on the radar, then they are likely mining ships near the asteroids. If the ship is closer to either side of the radar, then they are likely wanted ships that have recently spawned. The generally spawn as you do in any RES instance, from a few Km outside the asteroid field.
15. Generally, but not necessarily always, Wanted ships will be within 6km to 10km from the center of the RES zone. The center is the location on the map of the target RES zone location. So if you log out and back in to cycle ships, make sure that you re-target the RES zone in your Nav panel before exploring the area looking for wanted ships.
16. Wanted ships will generally spawn within 6km of the center of the RES and make their way towards the mining ships within the area.
17. Always remember to scan the ship with your KWS, and at least wait to attack any Wanted ship until you have fully scanned the ship, but additionally, if you wait for the Wanted ship to scan your ship, and you are not carrying any cargo, the ship will high tail out and look for another ship to scan. That is the best time to attack the ship, once you have positioned yourself at it's six.
*Don't Get Greedy
You will run into situations where you attack a police ship or an innocent ship in stray fire from time to time, but you may not be a strong enough pilot or may not have a fast or strong enough ship to high tail out of the area before the police dispatch you. Therefore, don't get greedy. Leave the RES and turn in your bounties when you have built up enough vouchers. How much is enough? Well, that is all relative. Use your judgment. If you have a few million credits, and you amass that same amount in a strong run at an RES, perhaps its time to check out and redeem those bounties before you push your luck. Remember, if you die, you lose all of your bounty vouchers and bonds. So part of being an effective bounty hunter is also knowing when to call it quits, go back to the station, redeem your bounties, and then come back for more. You should always remember to redeem your Bounty Vouchers in the system where you farmed the RES. It can be at any station, and can be found in the Contacts tab.
2. Combat Zones (CZs)
- Usually located near or about a planet or station within a system with two or more warring factions or factions engaged in civil war.
- Warring or those systems that have factions engaged in Civil War may have one or more missions available at their stations that will pay you sums of credits for dispatching "x" number of enemy ships. The more reputation you gain with that faction, the more missions you will receive and better rewards.
- Generally best to accept those missions and side with those factions allied with the Major Factions; i.e. Federation, Empire or Alliance. Early on, that will be Federation since the starting systems are within Federation space. That will also help you progress your rank with the Major faction. Killing enemy vessels for a CZ mission will grant you large amounts of reputation, and that will garner a quicker progression to ranks with the Major Factions (i.e. Federation, Empire, Alliance). Ranks in the major factions will unlock faction exclusive ships, which some of those ships happen to be the best ships in the game).
- Low Intensity CZs will have a smaller volume of ships, and likely lower level combatants. While High Intensity CZs will have higher level pilots and a greater volume of ships.
- Once you enter a CZ, you pick a Faction from the last tab in the right side menu of your ship, top option in the tab. The Factions at war in the area will then pop up in another box allowing you to choose the faction you wish to join. Before you join any faction, you are a neutral, so no ships will attack you. Cycle around the ships to see which side as the higher volume. The named Faction at the top part of the box to choose either faction will generally have the advantage in volume of ships that spawn in the area throughout the term you are in that instance. However, that does not necessarily mean that you are in an impossible battle, it just may be uphill.
- You don't use a KWS in a CZ zone, as it will not do anything to increase your earnings.
- Each ship you kill will give you a bond for a set amount based on the ship type and the combatant's level will have no bearing on the payout amount. The CZ payout per ship may be a quarter of a payout from a Dangerous large Wanted ship, but your volume and frequency of kills are greater than any RES. CZ's are a volume payout over quality.
- Ordinarily, every ship you personally attack will focus its attack on you and chase you down until you kill it or it kills you. Therefore, be sure to finish off the ship you are currently attacking before turning your attention to another enemy ship. If you were to fire upon five different enemy ships in sequence, even if you only fire at each ship once, all five enemy ships will be gunning for you.
- You will get attacked by more than one ship at any one time regardless, and so long as you don't attack that ship you can fly into a mob of ships on your side and the enemy ship will likely turn its attention to one of your ally ships if you haven't yet attacked that enemy ship.
- You can make a great deal of credits if you accept missions that payoff your time in CZs and then of course the redemption of the bonds, which are also redeemed in the Contacts tab at any station within the system. I have accepted sometimes 6 missions to dispatch enemy ships in CZs at the same time, one time I amassed 100 million credits from CZ missions and bond redemption in a matter of a few hours.*
- Combat ships in CZ zones are built for war, which means that they will have better armor and hull reinforcement kits, which means having all lasers may take you forever to take down one ship. Kinetic weapons are a must in a CZ zone, and expect the enemy ships to have stronger and more resilient hulls.
- Ally combat ships are generally effective one on one, but are completely clueless and stupid from a tactical standpoint. Unless that enemy ship is within firing range, the ships will not disengage to attack other enemy ships unless all enemy ships within firing range have been dispatched. If you are caught outside the cluster with several enemy ships, have them chase you towards the cluster of your ally ships so the remaining enemy ships chasing you that you have not yet fired upon engage with the cluster of ally ships.
- When you first enter a CZ, the volume of ships between the two warring factions may be balanced, the advantage in numbers may be teetering towards one side, or one of the two sides will be completely outnumbered. By logging in and logging out, or leaving, it will reset the volume of ships. However, another tactic to turn the tide in the allied ships favor is to find those enemy ships that are being attacked by two or more of your ally ships that may be outside of the bubble of the attack mob. You can generally find these types of groupings on the radar. Immediately go to the aide of your allied ships to destroy the outnumbered enemy ship. Once you have dispatched that enemy ship, the allied ships will make their way to the mob or to the next grouping of ships. If you continue this strategy to take out the straggler enemy ships, you will build upon the volume of your ally ships in the bubble where the majority of the ships are fighting, and where a majority of the ships spawn. You can take control of the battle zone with this tactic or tip the scale in the ally ships favor.
*2.4 UPDATE: Prior to the 2.4 update, you were able to stack missions to dispatch enemy ships in a CZ so that each kill would apply towards the count of all stacked missions to dispatch enemy ships. 2.4 Beta has changed this application so that each kill would apply towards the total count for the earliest mission accepted. Therefore, if this change remains consistent to release of 2.4, you will have to complete the kill count independently for each combat/kill mission accepted for a CZ, rather than each kill stacking towards all missions accepted to kill enemy ships in a CZ. The rewards have however been increased substantially for each mission accepted. I will update this section again upon release if anything changes.
Faction Capital Ships
- Faction ships will spawn in CZ's if a faction is warring or engaged in civil war against another faction for control in the system, or if you notice an instance in your Nav panel where a capital ship is currently located in a warring Major Faction system.
- Capital Ships will be in High Intensity CZ's and generally only in situations where the warring faction aligned with a Major Faction is fighting for Controlling Faction influence in the system.
- Only Empire and Federation factions have capital ships.
- You can attack a Capital ship, but you cannot destroy a Capital Ship. It will H-Jump out before it can be destroyed.
- Capital Ships will drop in generally within seconds after you enter the instance, which is indicated by a notice on your ship's screen stating that the sensors have picked up on the signature of a Capital ship.
3. Nav Beacons and Compromised Nav Beacons
Compromised Nav Beacons
- Compromised Nav Beacons are rare, and found in low or no security systems (Anarchy)
- They will have a plethora of higher combat level ships. You can attack without worry for Bounty or police coming after you same as the Hazardous RES Zones.
- They can be very difficult, and are akin to Hazardous RES zones. Best to drop in with a Wing or two, and make sure you have strong shields and armor (integrity).
- You will still find NPC ships being attacked by other NPC ships, and if you attack and destroy those ships before they hit 0%, you will receive the Bounty if they are Wanted.
- Remember, always use your KWS and scan enemy Wanted ships before attacking them to net the higher payout.
- Most are located in systems without a station, and limited to an outpost/dock/planetary colony. Best to have a ship that can land on a small or medium landing pad.
- Due to volume of trading ships, these are the best locations for farming Engineer materials ordinarily found in trade ships.
Nav Beacons
- Found in every system that is inhabited
- Will not have a great volume of ships compared to a normal RES, but will have a great deal of trade ships and will be open space.
- Police presence, except for most Anarchy systems.
- Huge NPC Bounty Hunter presence.
- Nav Beacon is scanned to locate the target ship for wet work missions eliminating single enemy.
*Note: Be mindful if you are Wanted in any other system within single to two jump distance within the locale. If the NPC bounty hunter has a KWS, they may attack you if you are Wanted in a local system. Attacking you for a Warrant from a different system will of course make them wanted, and then you can freely defend yourself.
*Note: Nav Beacons, including compromised, are always within a few light seconds of the main star where you drop into when visiting the system.
4. Ships
Intro. Now you know the basics, and some information that will help you identify where you can earn credits hunting down Wanted ships or participating in CZs. However, knowledge only gets you half way to where you need to be if you want to earn through combat. In Elite, your ship is also your weapon. Therefore, the ship you chose and the modules you include in your ship build-out are as crucial to success as finding ideal areas to earn vouchers or bonds, along with the strategies behind eliminating wanted or enemy warring ships.
Core Modules. Ships built for bounty hunting should have A-rated core modules to really make you an effective pilot with some exceptions to two of the core internals. Without an A-rated Power Plant, you will not have sufficient power to properly load your ship with supporting modules, and your ship will not disburse heat from firing weapons and boosting the engines as efficiently without an A-rated Power Plant. Without an A-rated Power Distributor, you will not maintain sufficient energy reserves to dispatch enemies efficiently or effectively. You may also have a difficult time surviving when combat get hairy requiring you to disengage and high tailing out of there for your shields to regenerate. Without an A-rated Power Distributor, you will also not be able to boost your engines as frequently because the reserves have to fill to the point of one bar remaining the engine PIP in a lower class Power Distributor module. Without A-rated Thrusters your ship will not gain the benefit of its potential top speed. That can result in a more difficult time positioning yourself for battle advantage or disengage and escape chase to a safe distance if and when you find yourself in trouble with combat against another ship. An A-rated core module ship is very important to reach you and your ship's full potential in combat. However, and understandably, a fully spec'ed A-rated core module ship may be an ongoing process due to financial constraints. The exception for A-rated core modules end with Life Support and until the recent patch, Sensors had very little benefit between classes. You can still perform effectively with D-rated Sensors, but the higher the Sensor the better your ship can train its weapons on target. However, since combat ships require a great deal of power, you will likely have to sacrifice something else for better Sensors. Also, you will sacrifice weight and therefore speed for Sensor's that are any other class other than D-rated. Therefore, if you decide to improve your sensors, you may as well go for A-rated, since C and E-rated are worse or only marginally better than D, and B-rated are not worth the weight gain at the detriment of speed and FSD performance. Life Support can always remain at D class so you can preserve your power for more important modules and maintain less weight to your ship for a higher top speed as D-class modules carry the least weight of all modules.
If you cannot afford A-rated modules on all core components of your ship at the same time then the prioritization by order, first to last, as you upgrade each core module to A-rated should be as follows: Power Plant, Power Distributor, Thrusters, Frame Shift Drive, Sensors (if by preference).
Utility Modules. Another contribution to the confusion of new players in Elite are the various options available for Utility Modules, and what modules would best suit a combat build. When you approach this issue by simple review of the description for each of the available utility modules, you might think, and it is logical, that one of each of the majority of the utility modules would best create a rounded ship. However, that couldn't be further from the case. So, which modules do you really need for combat or in support of combat? Rather than list all possible modules you can fit to your ship, I will list those utility modules that would best fit a combat build:
Primary
1. Shield Boosters. Shield Boosters will boost and therefore increase the MJ yield and strength of your shields. However, they will also cause the shields to regenerate a little slower because you now have more shield to regenerate, respectively. However, Shield Boosters are a must, and the more you can work into adding to your ship, while balancing your power needs to the core, hardpoints, and optional modules, including shields, the better. A dedicated combat ship with a large capacity Power Plant can sustain the majority of the utility modules spots in Shield Boosters. They may or may not be all A-Rated Shield Boosters, but if your option is to choose a B, C, D, or even E Shield Booster compared to no Shield Booster, the decision should be to add the booster rather than going all or nothing for an A-Rated. Whether the modules is A through E rated, it will increase the MJ strength of your shields by the respective percentage of the rated Shield Booster (A being best, E being worst, and everything in between).
2. Kill Warrant Scanner (KWS). KWS is an absolute must for the aspiring combat pilot, because without the KWS, you will only gain the bounty payout for either of the three major factions, and the Controlling Faction of the system you were awarded the bounty. A KWS opens up bounty awards from all of the factions located in the system, even some factions that may not be in the system. This can amount to another 30% or greater payout for your bounty redemption compared to bounty hunting without the benefit of a KWS. The decision on which of the available classes of KWS to select is all a matter of what available power you have remaining after you fit all of your core, optional, hardpoints, and shield booster modules. Ordinarily, I fit a C or a D Class KWS to my ships, which the only difference is the respective range of the scan, i.e. C=3.0km, D=2.5km. Meaning, you have to be within 2.5km with a D-Class KWS installed to start the scan. The classes do not have any bearing on the speed of the scan, but you can obtain such an upgrade through the Engineers. If you don't have sufficient power to install a C or a D, go with the E-Class. So long as you have a KWS installed, you are optimizing your payoffs with the bounties.
Primary Conditional
1. Chaff. The Chaff, Electronic Countermeasure*, and the Point Defense* Utility Modules are all intended to deflect some type of incoming attack. However, from a practical standpoint as a combat pilot, if you wanted to install one of these defense systems, the Chaff would be the best to install. A Chaff will cause Gimballed weapons to lose their target tracking for a short period of time, which you have probably noticed that happening to you when you are attacking another NPC and your targeting system goes haywire. Unfortunately, a Chaff will not defend against Fixed Weapons, and is not as effective in defense of the NPC's as it is with the NPC using Chaff's as a defense tactic against you. However, when in a CZ, and you have several ships attacking you, the Chaff can not only help stave off those attacks, but also can result in some of the attackers to then refocus their attacks upon another ship. So, in an RES zone, it is probably not going to be as beneficial, but in a CZ, you should definitely arm a Chaff.
2. Heat Sink Launcher. If you have a ship that overheats, particularly due to firing off multiple or large SCB's or from Engineer upgrades, then the Heat Sinks will spare you from ongoing damage to your ship from anything from slight to gross overheating. They only have a total ammo inventory of three (3), so if you need them, you are generally going to have to slot more than one set, but you don't have to fire them off at the same time and can turn extra slotted Heat Sinks off until you exhaust your active Heat Sinks. When you first begin, it is unlikely that you will require the use of a Heat Sink Launcher. However, if you have a Python with two (2) Medium Sized Rail Guns, you may find the Heat Sinks useful when your ship overheats from firing them both off while in boost. This is a personal and subjective necessity based upon the ship's build that you will either know you need, or know you don't based upon the frequency of and conditions where you experience ship overheating.
*Note: ECs and Point Defense attack incoming missiles or torpedoes, which when your shields are up, they do the least amount of damage to your shields compared to Thermal and Kinectic Weapons. Point Defense has the added bonus of attacking Cargo Hatch Breaker Drones, making Point Defense utility modules a good option for traders.
Secondary
1. Cargo Scanner. To scan the cargo of another ship, which will be displayed in the Cargo Scan tab on the left side menu. This is good for finding valuable cargo if you are in an Anarchy system and looking to attack traders to pick up and sell their cargo at Black Markets. Otherwise for missions.
2. Frame Shift Warrant Scanner. This will enable you to scan the location of the jump of any ship from its wake, and it will also generally garner some type of Data for your data inventory that you would not otherwise gain by simple scan of ships. Also, it is good for missions requiring multi-system hunts of a target.
Module Build-Out. Other than the A-rated core modules you will need to power your ship, your optional, hardpoints and utility modules are as important as the core modules. What does a combat ship require? Well, first and foremost, attack and defense: Weapons and Shields. When considering Shields, the more mass the ship has the greater the size module you will require for Shields to reach the highest mega-joule charge your ship can maintain. If you want to focus on combat, then you want to install A-rated Shields on the largest module available on your ship. Ships are limited to whatever size modules they can equip based upon the manufacturer build. Every ship by type has the same count and type of modules available for build-out. Meaning, every Viper has the same size and count of modules. It is up to your discretion what modules you install in the given space. However, to support a role in combat, the builds are for the most part consistent ship to ship. The larger the ship, the more options you will have for module installation to support an effective combat build. However, rather than trying to explain the intricate details of what modules to install and how they work, I thought it would be easier to show you how to properly equip a ship for combat in practice. Some of the most important tools in Elite are actually third party programs used separately from the game. One key program for ship building and planning is a ship building program called, Coriolis 2.0. There are other ship building programs, but Coriolis 2.0 [click to link] is in my opinion the best of all options. Coriolis 2.0 is a program that allows you to map out builds for your ships in game, even the engineering upgrades you can install in you ship. When using Coriolis 2.0, you can select any ship, build out its modules, test and or save various engineer upgrades for each module, and save the build to come back to later when revisiting the website. You can even export the builds for use in other third party programs that are used to enhance your experience or organization of assets in game (one that I strongly recommend is INARA; see link, https://inara.cz/). I have prepared and saved combat builds (no engineering mods) using Coriolis 2.0 and linked them below to provide examples of several early combat and multi-role ships that are popular among new commanders for their role in combat. The section below, Points about Ships, will provide you with insight over the module selections in these builds and the role they play in combat.
Points about Ships
Before I paste the links to the several builds for the various ships below, I would like you to share a few notes regarding some of the modules that were selected in these builds in case diversity is required for multitasking or limitations with your funds is a problem:
1. Bulkheads. Adding Military or Reinforced Alloy will weigh down your ship reducing its top speed. However, it will significantly increase the ship's Integrity, which is the hit point equivalent for your ship in contrast to other games. Once your shields go down, the protection you are left with is your integrity (hull). Integrity can be increased by adding stronger bulkheads (essentially armor) in your core modules, i.e. reinforced or military grade alloy; and, by installing Hull Reinforcement modules in your optional or military (modules limited to hull or module reinforcement or SCB's) modules of your ship. If you want your ship to be faster, more agile, you can forego or reduce the Hull Reinforcement kits added to the linked builds and or not upgrade the Light Weight Alloys in the core module bulkheads that are installed by default with the ship at purchase. Bear in mind, that will also reduce your integrity. If your shields have a high enough charge, then you may consider sacrificing increasing integrity for greater speed. It is within your discretion, and of course all based on your style of play.
2. Cargo. If you require cargo modules to perform missions, you can swap out the Hull Reinforcement Modules for cargo modules, and vice versa. You may want to consider installing a Cargo module or two if you are performing missions so you maintain eligibility for missions requiring or awarding cargo.
3. Shields vs. Bi-Weave Shields. Shields have a higher mega-joule ("MJ") max power, which means more shield strength for your ship. However, they require more power to operate them, and more distributor power to regenerate them over time as they regenerate more slowly. Bi-Weave shields require less power than Shields, but provide less max MJ protection. Bi-weave Shields regenerate a great deal faster than Shields. Something to consider when deciding over one versus the other is your power needs. If your ship is strapped for power requiring you to sacrifice various aspects of your build, Bi-Weave Shields may be the better choice to preserve the power you would otherwise require for Shields for other modules in your ship. Otherwise, if your ship has a low mass, and large modules, then your total shield strength may be sufficient to sacrifice some of that strength by selecting Bi-Weave Shields, as they do regenerate much faster than Shields.
4. Lasers vs. Multi-cannons. Lasers are thermal, while Multi-Cannons are kinetic. There are also weapons that combine the two forms of damage, like Plasma Accelerators and Rail Guns. Thermal weapons will take down Shields more effectively, while kinetic weapons will damage hulls more effectively once the shields are down. Plasma Accelerators and Rail Guns require a great deal of power and they are all fixed, no gimbal. Therefore, the combat ship traditional build-out, especially with smaller ships early in your combat career and life in Elite will install Size 2 Kinetic weapons and Size 1 thermal weapons.
5. SCB. Shield Cell Bank replenishes lost charge on any type of shields, but will not work once shields are down. SCB's are triggered to avoid shields from going down leaving you solely reliant upon the defense of your integrity. SCB's require a good deal of power, and they will heat up your ship to potentially damaging levels, over 100%. However, even if they spike the temperature of your ship well over 100%, your ship will not explode; it will however damage your modules. The more damage to your modules, the greater the risk of malfunction to the damaged modules. All ship types disperse heat at various degrees of efficiency. However, to ensure the best heat efficiency, you should install an A-rated Power Plant.
6. Module Power Prioritization. Once you click on the various links of ship builds and after viewing the module build-out, scroll down. You will notice that each of these builds has a prioritization for the installed modules. This is not arbitrary or random, but rather a method and reason for that prioritization. Some of these builds, and many of the ships, will require build-outs for combat that will push the Power Plant over its 100% capacity once the weapons are deployed. Once weapons are deployed in a ship build that exceeds the Power Plant maximum, to avoid random and what could be key modules shutting down you will need to prioritize the power allocation to your modules. Prioritizing power to modules will ensure that modules you do not need shut down to support the ones you do need when weapons are deployed. You might ask, how do I know what modules to set at a lower prioritization? The ship builds below should offer you insight into power prioritization. In the ship builds linked below, FSD Interdictors and Fuel Scoops are not necessary by any means during combat, so they are set at 4 priority, cargo scoop at 3, weapons and scanners at 2, and all core modules at 1. When using Coriolis 2.0, you can plan ahead with your build by tampering with the the module prioritization section. The linked ships prioritization schedule will show you what modules shut down when your weapons are deployed and your Power Plant exceeds 100% capacity. Another reason and incentive for setting power prioritization, and why you should set prioritization beyond a 1 and 2 schematic, is to control random module shutdown and or malfunction if your ship is under fire from enemy ships after shields are down, or from heat, which all leads to the inevitable random module malfunctions. Setting power priorities for your modules will help maintain power to key modules and stave off random module malfunctions to avoid complete loss caused by a damaged power plant in a fight. Setting a 1 through 4, or even 5 for larger ships, module power prioritization will better support consistent power to priority 1 modules such as, Thrusters, FSD, shields, and Power Distributor. This can be the difference of life or death when experiencing a damaged or diminishing Power Plant. You set the prioritization of your modules in the game on your right menu in the ship, second tab.
Builds
Here are some of the ships and builds for combat early game. You will note that some of them are not true combat ships, but rather multi-role ships that may make for good candidates as combat ships if properly loaded. They are listed alphabetically, not by preference. Click on the name of the ship to view the link to the ship build in Coriolis 2.0 (my personal favorites are the Viper MKIII and the Diamondback Scout):
1. Adder
2. Cobra
3. Diamondback Scout
4. Eagle
5. Sidewinder
6. Viper MKIII
7. Viper MKIV
*If you have a ship in mind or a ship you are building that you would like further input over is build, you can either post the build on the forum, or you can message me and I will be happy to review and provide input.
5. Tips on Earning More: How to Make the Most out of Combat-Role Career
Join a Power Play Faction
What is Power Play? Power Play is a facet of the game where you join a Faction that controls an area of the populated bubble of systems, which you complete various tasks to garner points to increase ranking with the pledged faction.
1. This may not be the ideal for commanders first starting their careers in Elite, but once you have a stronger ship than the Sidewinder, or have left the starter area, joining a Power Play Faction is a great means of increasing your earnings when redeeming bounties and bonds.
2. To increase your bounty and bond yields, you will want to join those Power Play factions who have leaders that grant an inherent 20% Bounty redemption boost. The 20% additional return is then compounded by a 30/40/50% boost on bounty and bond payouts in controlled/exploited systems depending upon the position of the Power Play faction leader, respectively, whether they are 3rd, 2nd or 1st position in the Power Play Faction war results each week.
3. You will have to be at least Rank 2 or Rank 3 (will say in the benefits tab) to garner the 30/40/50% boost to the bounty payoff with the Power Play Faction leader that grants that boost. Confirm by review of the Power Play Faction leader in game.
4. Power play bonuses will also work for both Bounties and Combat Bonds earned and redeemed in controlled or exploited systems.
5. There may be others, but two of the Power Play Faction leaders that provide this benefit are Hudson (Federation) and Lavigny (Empire). Point of fact: Hudson controls the systems within the starter area.
6. Performing tasks each week can also garner great earnings up to 50 million credits per week at Rank 5. However, these earnings are indirect in the form of a weekly salary and based upon the total points accrued over the prior week period. Considering your participation will also require a diverse group of ships in order to benefit from the substantial amount of points you would need each week to reach and maintain the highest rank, you may want to consider initially simply joining a faction that offers gains in bounty and bond redemption for that sole purpose.
7. When you join a Power Play faction, enemy ships of that faction will attack you in any system that you visit, any RES, Nav Beacon, or instance you drop into that they may be currently located, and also may interdict you in Supercruise. Those enemies that interdict you in Supercruise are generally at your combat rank.
* Fact: I was earning 30 million credits every hour farming Bounties in the system Exioce while pledged to Arissa Lavigny, at Rank 3.
Wing
1. Inviting commander(s) to form a wing with may open up additional opportunities to handle a higher level RES than a LRES or RES when you are in your starter or in one of the other ships I linked above. A wing of at least 2, but preferably 3, commanders could farm bounties in a Hazardous RES and definitely in an HRES with the added benefit of patrolling police units.
2. While you do split evenly the bounties that you accumulate, having a Wing may enable you to take on larger and higher level NPCs resulting in a higher payout. A competent level NPC wanted pilot in a Viper may pay off 19,000 credits, while a Dangerous wanted NPC in an Anaconda can pay you upwards of 300,000+ credits as a bounty.
System locations in Starter Area with RES
1. LTT 18486: This system is an unexplored system, so you will likely not see the planets within the system. However, there are two docking outposts that you can target from your Nav panel a great deal of distance from the star. Target either one of those outposts, and once you are within the 800ls you will find several planets with a plethora of RES zones to choose from for bounty hunting. This is a strong system with a decent volume of ships in almost all RES zones for bounty hunting, and is a jump or two away from the starting system, LHS 3447
2. LHS 3447: The bottom line of planets has two ringed planets, which both have RES zones, and they are about 800ls or so from Bluford Station. The system has a massive population, and therefore, its RES zones are well packed with wanted ships.
High Volume RES Zones
1. HIP 20277 - Single RES Zone near Fabian City
2. HIP 20277 4 Single HRES Zone (Rocky portion of asteroid field)
3. Exioce A4 B Ring HRES
4. Dvorsi A3 A Ring HRES
5. Verner (Single RES Location)
6. Ross 129 A3 A Ring HRES
7. Kigana A4 B Ring HRES
8. Luyten's Star 3B A Ring HRES
Participate in Bounty/Bond CGs
1. Elite offers weekly Community Goals (known as "CG").
2. Many CGs involve collecting Bounties or Bonds and is a great way to earn credits.
3. Not only do you generate bonds or bounties from attacking ships, but there are participation awards that can payout tens of millions of credits for those pilots within the 50% of bond redemption totals.
4. You can participate in CGs by accepting the mission from any station or dock in any system in the inhabited universe.
5. However, you MUST turn in the Bonds/Bounties at the named station/dock that hosts the CG so you will receive credit in the CG for redeeming the bounty voucher or bond. That station/dock is generally identified by a yellow icon with an outline of a star inside the icon.
6. CG Bounties are best earned solo than with a wing or crew to ensure that the total of redeemed vouchers or bonds are attributed to you personally, and not shared among your wing or crew.
World of PvE: Mobius PVE
I am not personally one for PvP, actually, I hate it altogether - not that I hate those who like or engage in PvP in game. My point is that my real life is PvP as a practicing lawyer, so I surely do not want my game time for my wind down to be PvP. So, I like to play at my pace, not at the pace of others, but I also like to see other faces from time to time, or just have a sense that they are with me in the galaxy. How do you eliminate risk of death by another player, especially by seasoned players in Anacondas with a wing of three FDL's hunting newbies in the starter systems flying Sidewinders, Eagles, Vipers and Cobras, while still have the opportunity of interaction with players? One answer (link to website): Mobius PvE. Mobius PvE is a group of over 37,000 members as of the time I posted this guide. They have very specific rules about attacking other players, as it is a PvE group. If you don't want to play in Solo mode, but you are worried about risking time and money lost in Open, then perhaps Mobius is for you. Check out the website for more information, linked to the name above.
H.O.T.A.S.
What is a HOTAS? "Hands on Throttle and Stick". Obviously, if you are so early into your game play in Elite that you are not sure whether this game is or is not for you, I would recommend to wait on the investment until you are sure about the game. However, if you are anywhere between coming down with the bug, like I did and still have, and all you want to do during your game time is play Elite, and yes I like this game and see myself playing it, then you want to invest into a HOTAS controller. I personally have two Saitek x56 and three Saitek x52, just in case one breaks and needs to be sent for warranty. What HOTAS will work with your system is dependent upon each system the game has been released to support. Therefore, I have included below the itemization of suggestions based upon the platform you play Elite. This game was not made to be played with a controller or a keyboard and mouse. While that may work to some degree for trading or exploring, if you want to engage in combat, the keyboard and mouse or controller just will not have the feel you need to dominate. There is also nothing more immersing when playing Elite than the feel of controlling your ship through a HOTAS, and a great deal of the commands and keybinds required for effective combat can be bound to your HOTAS controller.
PC. If you are an Elite PC player, the whole wide world and selection of HOTAS controllers are available to you. I recommend the following (link to view) depending upon the investment you would or you can make into a HOTAS setup. I will have to start with this disclaimer: there are other options, and some may not agree with my choice, but I have always liked the way that the Saitek HOTAS controllers feel in game play, and their warranty service stands behind their product. If and when it breaks from wear and tear, Madcatz (owner of Saitek) has always replaced my sticks/throttle without issue, and respond very quickly to warranty claims and or tickets:
Starter: Saitek x52 (starting Saitek HOTAS controller)
Finisher: Saitek x56 (ton of buttons, levers and analog sticks to modulate thruster speed for all directions)
PS4. Only Sony licensed peripherals work for the PS4, but luckily, one of those peripherals although not exactly top of the line, is a HOTAS made by ThrustMaster. Since I have not tried this particular controller, I cannot speak to its feel or quality, but at least you have an option other than the PS$ controller. A worth while investment for those combat inspired Elite commanders:
ThrustMaster T-Flight(no affiliation with the vendor/merchant - only link I could locate quickly on Google search)
Xbox One. Unfortunately, there is not a HOTAS that will work on the Xbox One. However, I did find a link to a video on Youtube with an announcement that Elite will support the future Xbox platform, and that ThrustMaster is releasing a HOTAS controller for the Xbox One. I have linked that video here regarding that announcement: HOTAS/Elite Announcement
Ending Statement
Elite can feel like an overwhelming game to a new commander just starting out in the Elite galaxy. While this guide really touches upon the basics of combat while providing insight to identify potentially fruitful spots to engage in combat, there is so much more than the Elite Universe has to offer. I suggest that you find what you love in the game to enjoy your time spent playing the game. Be mindful and careful with your decisions, because all too many times I have read posts of commanders losing everything as a result undertaking actions of huge risks. Small risk, small rewards, sure, but consistent growth. That is what lead me to two billion in assets and one billion in credits. You will surely get there with time, but above all, have fun. After all, that why we play video games, is it not? For fun. If you have any questions, or require any input, feel free to message me, and if you see me in Mobius private group, be sure to wave as you fly by. Fly Safe, Commander!
Elite Dangerous ("Elite") can feel very overwhelming when you first start out because the game play is novel and subjective, but you take with you what you know about other games, so your anticipation may run wild not knowing what to expect initially with your experience playing Elite. Elite is however one of those "blaze our own trail" type of games that dictate any specific course of action, but rather affords you an open book of what you can do in game while promoting you to forge your own path. Unlike other MMO's where the story line may be built around you as the hero (and the hundreds of thousands of other hero players just like you), Elite's overall game play is anticlimactic ushering you to the other side of the spectrum of game-play. It is the ultimate sandbox game... you are not the "center of the universe", but rather a speck in the universe, and a speck that never achieves a position tantamount to a conqueror or master the universe. In a manner, Elite is akin to real life, but in space thousands of years in the future and as represented in a game. While that may not be something you contemplate early into your game-play while finding your rhythm, once you learn more about the game and grasp your purpose in Elite the closer you come to terms with the fact you cannot and will never rule the world withing Elite. That realization will lead to a more comfortable and enjoyable experience during your time in Elite. Thus, nothing you do in Elite will turn the tide of the universe, and anything you may achieve that may garner influence or reputation within any given faction in any particular system, controlling, small, aligned, independent, or otherwise, may very well likely deteriorate or not have any long lasting impact in Elite. Any accolades or gains attributable to your contributions, in part or otherwise, will certainly not award any notoriety to yourself as a commander for other players to discover. The only permanent mark you can leave in the Elite universe for other commanders to acknowledge comes with discovering a planet, moon or star for the first time which it then attaches your name to the planet's discovery. However, if you choose combat, you choose a path supports the propensity for wealth, assets, and massive financial earnings in short periods of time with game-play, but without attribution.
Once you have some bearing on the game play, what role the various modules offer to the build of your ship, how to navigate through systems, navigate system to system, accept and complete missions, interact with NPC's and players, partake in the many career paths or verticals that Elite has to offer, and get a true feel for where you actually stand in the Elite Universe, you may say to yourself, "OK, so what's a solid means to improve my game-play proficiency and earn credits?" Great question as amassing wealth, faction rank, materials, data, modding modules with Engineers, and accumulating assets is what expands your experience in Elite and improves your character as commander. After all, you cannot spend the rest of your time in Elite in or about the LHS 3447 system and surrounding starter area systems. What can you do in the Elite Universe? Well, you can explore systems, explore planets, attack planetary settlements, scan data links, smuggle, trade, engage in piracy or fight piracy, murder other players, bounty hunt, turn the tide of civil war or war by battling war ships, help local factions gain influence, or undermine their influence by performing missions, mine asteroids, mine materials on planets, pledge to a faction power in power play, earn ranks with major factions garnering permits to access some key systems, gain Federation of Pilot rankings in trade, combat and or exploration, along with a plethora of other activities. Different activities may require different builds for your ship, or may be most proficiently facilitated by means of a specific type of ship.
If you are like me and you want to earn your living through trial by fire jumping right into combat to redeem bounties and bonds - cause at least for me, and perhaps yourself, this is a hell of a lot more immersive than grinding out trades - then you have selected a good facet of the game that could earn you a phenomenal living in the Elite universe. The debate is ongoing whether or not a pure bounty hunter can earn more than a pure trader by the hour, and it surely one of the best means of earning ranks, reputation and credits in game, if not the best. My in-game experience led me to the realization that earning through combat was the best and most enjoyable means of generating wealth and assets, and as a result I have become extremely proficient at PvE combat, have over a billion credits, close to another billion in ships, and hundreds of millions in stored modules. At one point while grinding bounties I was averaging 30 million over the course of a little more than an hour in two Empire systems known as Exioce and Dvorsi while pledged to Arissa Lavigny, a Power Play Faction leader. Pledging loyalty to Arissa grants a percentage boost in bounty voucher redemption, but I am getting ahead of myself as you will find a wealth of information below including how power play can increase your yields for bonds and bounties. Moving forward there is a great deal of information to cover so let's streamline the process of sharing this information through an outline format instead of narrative now that we are beyond the introduction.
Welcome to Elite and welcome to the guide for your newly found combat career (feel free to message me if you have questions about the below):
1. RES Zones
- Most of the planets with rings around them within any system will have RES zones, or likely have RES zones. Some will have more than others in the rings rotating around the planet.
- RES zones could be located on A Ring or B Ring, and so on and so forth, if the planet has more than one ring.
- You will not spot an RES zone on any eligible planet in your Navigation tab unless you are within approximately 850ls from the location while in Supercruise.
Types of RES Zones
- Low RES: Zones that will have a lower volume of ships; lower level NPC combatants (harmless, novice, competent, expert); police force present
- RES: Zones that will standard volume of ships; low, medium, high level NPC combatants, random; generally, winged Wanted ships will have lower level captains (harmless to dangerous); police force present
- High RES: Zones that high a high volume of ships; high level NPC combatants (master to elite); police force present
- Hazardous RES: Zones that have a huge volume of ships, mostly wings; generally all highest level NPC combatants (dangerous to elite); no police force present
Note:
- Volume of ships for any respective RES zone is based upon several factors relative to the total number of factions in the system, the type of faction/government, and system population by faction and overall.
- Some systems will have a higher volume of ships in their Low HES than other systems High RES (see below itemization under "Where to Find a Good RES")
- Count of Police ships is also based upon the above and security level of the system (higher the security, larger number of police ships, and potentially the more experienced/powerful the NPC commander)
How to Locate a Good RES (combination of factors below offer better results)
- Best candidates for high volume RES zones are in high population systems. High population systems have civilians in the ten's of billions.
- LRES, RES, or HRES: the higher the combat rank of the wanted ship, the greater the payoff (However, as a newbie pilot, avoid engaging pirates or wings directly in an HRES, rather, attack Wanted ships that are being attacked by police to pick up the bounty, or wing with another player. You might also want to consider staying away from Hazardous RES sites completely until you have a larger ship or become a proficient in combat and flight).
- If you find a wing of ships in a HRES, most of the time the group of ships, or the winged ships (not the ship that scans you) are middle level NPCs. Be mindful of the combat rank of the NPC before you engage in combat.
- Systems with at least 4 or more factions, and preferably the system contains a greater count of independent factions that have names suggesting they engage in questionable activities, i.e. "mafia", "cartel", "organization", and or have governments that read, "Anarchy".
- Systems controlled by an independent faction that are in Anarchy can pay off huge numbers, but it is unlikely that any police are going to be there to help you, and there aren't many of these systems near the starter area.
- Generally going to have a higher count of ships in RES zones located in Ring A than Ring B, but there are exceptions to that norm. However, if there are multiple RES locations on a ring around a planet, check the A ring RES zones before going to the B ring RES zones.
- Log out/in to game from menu if you want to refresh the spawn of ships. RES zones will either spawn small ships or large ships, but there are some that will also cycle a combination of both large and small wanted ships.
- If you see all small ships, or a higher volume of lower level/quality pilots in a standard RES zone you can log out and back in from the menu, or low jump out and return to the area and it will reset the wanted ships that spawn in the area. It is random, and the "luck of the dice" so to speak as to what types of wanted ships will appear. It will also sometimes reset the total number of Wanted ships available to fight with each cycle.
- Note again that a strong RES is based on the volume of ships, not the type of ships, i.e. large or small, because every RES zone can recycle the types and size of the ships by logging out to menu or leaving the zone and returning refreshing the hoard.
- You can locate Anarchy systems by visiting the Galaxy map and selecting "Government" in the search filter (I believe the second to last tab starting from the left side).
- Use your Galaxy map frequently to locate systems that contain planets with rings and to view the population, security, and factions in order to locate a strong candidate for RES farming.
Wanted Ship Cycles/Spawning
- Wanted Ships will generally come in waves. There may be only a few, or even 5, 10, or more that will spawn at any one time.
- If you dispatch all of the presently wanted ships, you may have to wait several minutes for new ships to spawn in the area.
- Some areas will spawn NPC wanted ships one by one, others in droves. It is completely subjective to the system and the particular RES zone.
- Planet rings may have more than one RES zone, and while one of those zones may have slim pickings, a different zone may inundate the instance with NPC wanted ships. Therefore, remember to check other zones before you check out of the system to find a different RES location.
- A strong RES zone will have so many Wanted ships that it never runs dry which would otherwise require you to wait for a new cycle of ships to spawn.
- Sometimes when first entering an RES zone, it will take a few to several minutes for the zone to "warm up" spawning Wanted ships. Note that this does not necessarily indicate you found a dry RES location.
(Exioce, the system I mentioned earlier, takes several minutes for the wanted ships to arise, but they then come in droves and you will never run out of targets to chase down for their bounty. Therefore, give a new zone a few minutes (up to 5 minutes) to truly test the volume of wanted ships that spawn)
- If you find a strong RES zone to farm, make sure you take note of the system, planet and ring where you found the good RES. I have kept a separate log on my iPad using the Note app of several systems that have very heavy RES volume to farm. Don't make the same mistake as I did by not notating immediately, as I would have hundreds of locations notated if I would have taken note of them when I first started.
Combat Preparation and Strategy
1. Kill Warrant Scanners ("KWS") are a must as they will increase the bounty payoff by a good 25-30% by earning bounties from any and all factions of the system, not just the controlling and the Major faction as you would otherwise be limited to without the KWS.
2. Scan all Wanted ships with your KWS, even if you don't plan to attack them right away, because you will likely end up attacking them later or attack them once the police ships beginning attacking them, if not immediately after your KWS scan.
3. Early in your career, you may want to limit your combat to only attacking the ships that are already engaged by the police, especially in a RES level or higher level zones.
4. Note that if you pick up the dropped or lost cargo (not materials, they are OK) from Wanted ships because it will be illegal cargo and will cause the police to attack you if scanned. Remember, that cargo on the wanted ship was likely taken from an innocent ship.
5. Always remember to use, and get acclimated to using, your thrusters, all of them; forward, reverse, lateral and vertical. Your ship is more than just a throttle and stick, and if you want to become proficient in combat, you need to know how to control your ship efficiently during battle.
6. Try, test, and perfect your flying skills using FA-OFF (Flight assist off) once you acclimate yourself to using your thrusters. I have my FA-OFF button on my controller set to "Hold" in the options menu, so I have to hold the button (which is actually a lever on the stick of my Saitek x56) to sustain FA-OFF. You can easily maintain a "six" position on an enemy ship by mastering FA-OFF so it cannot get the drop on you.
7. Manage your PIPs during battle. You only require PIPS to your system if your shields need to regenerate. During battle you need power to your Engines and Weapons in order to be an effective combatant, which means you should slowly acclimate yourself to PIP management early on during your combat career. Until such time that you are comfortable with handling PIP management, you should have at least 3 PIPs to weapons (if not 4), and 2 PIPs to Engine, unless your shields are regenerating then you should space your PIPs one to one, system and engine, with four to weapons. Otherwise, you can reset more PIPs to system post battle to regenerate shields.
8. Sub-system Targeting. Targeting the Power Plant sub-system of your opponent can be the most effective means of defeating an opponent NPC. If the Power Plant is at 0% health, the ship comes to a grinding stop leaving it dead in the water, so to speak, for you to finish it off and or may blow up.
9. Never bring cargo to an RES, Nav Beacon or Compromised Nav Beacon zone (materials and data are OK). Wanted ships scan every ship in the zone, and if you are carrying cargo, you will be attacked by the wanted ships unless you succumb to their demands.
10. You can spend a great deal more time farming vouchers if you use weapons that do not rely upon ammo. While that will be a give and take, as purely thermal weapons are not as effective against hulls as kinetic weapons due the latest updates to the game, you can spend an indefinite period of time farming vouchers in RES zones if your weapons do not require restocking ammo.
11. Remember that you can also restock ammo at any time and anywhere if you have the materials. The materials to create ammo are generally elements. So if your weapons use ammo, you can extend your stay by collecting the necessary materials to restock ammo, and or to receive bonus damage from creating ammo.
12. If its a combat oriented ship, more likely than not it will be a wanted ship. If you see a Viper or Eagle, Dropship or Federal Assault Ship in an RES, it is likely, but not guaranteed, they are a Wanted ship not a miner or a wing.
13. Always remember not to attack any ship until such time that your ship has completed its scan identifying the captain. If you attack that ship before you finish the scan, even if it is obviously a wanted NPC because the police are already attacking the ship, you will incur a Wanted status and be attacked by the police ships in the area.
14. Look at the ships on the Radar. If they are clustered center on the radar, then they are likely mining ships near the asteroids. If the ship is closer to either side of the radar, then they are likely wanted ships that have recently spawned. The generally spawn as you do in any RES instance, from a few Km outside the asteroid field.
15. Generally, but not necessarily always, Wanted ships will be within 6km to 10km from the center of the RES zone. The center is the location on the map of the target RES zone location. So if you log out and back in to cycle ships, make sure that you re-target the RES zone in your Nav panel before exploring the area looking for wanted ships.
16. Wanted ships will generally spawn within 6km of the center of the RES and make their way towards the mining ships within the area.
17. Always remember to scan the ship with your KWS, and at least wait to attack any Wanted ship until you have fully scanned the ship, but additionally, if you wait for the Wanted ship to scan your ship, and you are not carrying any cargo, the ship will high tail out and look for another ship to scan. That is the best time to attack the ship, once you have positioned yourself at it's six.
*Don't Get Greedy
You will run into situations where you attack a police ship or an innocent ship in stray fire from time to time, but you may not be a strong enough pilot or may not have a fast or strong enough ship to high tail out of the area before the police dispatch you. Therefore, don't get greedy. Leave the RES and turn in your bounties when you have built up enough vouchers. How much is enough? Well, that is all relative. Use your judgment. If you have a few million credits, and you amass that same amount in a strong run at an RES, perhaps its time to check out and redeem those bounties before you push your luck. Remember, if you die, you lose all of your bounty vouchers and bonds. So part of being an effective bounty hunter is also knowing when to call it quits, go back to the station, redeem your bounties, and then come back for more. You should always remember to redeem your Bounty Vouchers in the system where you farmed the RES. It can be at any station, and can be found in the Contacts tab.
2. Combat Zones (CZs)
- Usually located near or about a planet or station within a system with two or more warring factions or factions engaged in civil war.
- Warring or those systems that have factions engaged in Civil War may have one or more missions available at their stations that will pay you sums of credits for dispatching "x" number of enemy ships. The more reputation you gain with that faction, the more missions you will receive and better rewards.
- Generally best to accept those missions and side with those factions allied with the Major Factions; i.e. Federation, Empire or Alliance. Early on, that will be Federation since the starting systems are within Federation space. That will also help you progress your rank with the Major faction. Killing enemy vessels for a CZ mission will grant you large amounts of reputation, and that will garner a quicker progression to ranks with the Major Factions (i.e. Federation, Empire, Alliance). Ranks in the major factions will unlock faction exclusive ships, which some of those ships happen to be the best ships in the game).
- Low Intensity CZs will have a smaller volume of ships, and likely lower level combatants. While High Intensity CZs will have higher level pilots and a greater volume of ships.
- Once you enter a CZ, you pick a Faction from the last tab in the right side menu of your ship, top option in the tab. The Factions at war in the area will then pop up in another box allowing you to choose the faction you wish to join. Before you join any faction, you are a neutral, so no ships will attack you. Cycle around the ships to see which side as the higher volume. The named Faction at the top part of the box to choose either faction will generally have the advantage in volume of ships that spawn in the area throughout the term you are in that instance. However, that does not necessarily mean that you are in an impossible battle, it just may be uphill.
- You don't use a KWS in a CZ zone, as it will not do anything to increase your earnings.
- Each ship you kill will give you a bond for a set amount based on the ship type and the combatant's level will have no bearing on the payout amount. The CZ payout per ship may be a quarter of a payout from a Dangerous large Wanted ship, but your volume and frequency of kills are greater than any RES. CZ's are a volume payout over quality.
- Ordinarily, every ship you personally attack will focus its attack on you and chase you down until you kill it or it kills you. Therefore, be sure to finish off the ship you are currently attacking before turning your attention to another enemy ship. If you were to fire upon five different enemy ships in sequence, even if you only fire at each ship once, all five enemy ships will be gunning for you.
- You will get attacked by more than one ship at any one time regardless, and so long as you don't attack that ship you can fly into a mob of ships on your side and the enemy ship will likely turn its attention to one of your ally ships if you haven't yet attacked that enemy ship.
- You can make a great deal of credits if you accept missions that payoff your time in CZs and then of course the redemption of the bonds, which are also redeemed in the Contacts tab at any station within the system. I have accepted sometimes 6 missions to dispatch enemy ships in CZs at the same time, one time I amassed 100 million credits from CZ missions and bond redemption in a matter of a few hours.*
- Combat ships in CZ zones are built for war, which means that they will have better armor and hull reinforcement kits, which means having all lasers may take you forever to take down one ship. Kinetic weapons are a must in a CZ zone, and expect the enemy ships to have stronger and more resilient hulls.
- Ally combat ships are generally effective one on one, but are completely clueless and stupid from a tactical standpoint. Unless that enemy ship is within firing range, the ships will not disengage to attack other enemy ships unless all enemy ships within firing range have been dispatched. If you are caught outside the cluster with several enemy ships, have them chase you towards the cluster of your ally ships so the remaining enemy ships chasing you that you have not yet fired upon engage with the cluster of ally ships.
- When you first enter a CZ, the volume of ships between the two warring factions may be balanced, the advantage in numbers may be teetering towards one side, or one of the two sides will be completely outnumbered. By logging in and logging out, or leaving, it will reset the volume of ships. However, another tactic to turn the tide in the allied ships favor is to find those enemy ships that are being attacked by two or more of your ally ships that may be outside of the bubble of the attack mob. You can generally find these types of groupings on the radar. Immediately go to the aide of your allied ships to destroy the outnumbered enemy ship. Once you have dispatched that enemy ship, the allied ships will make their way to the mob or to the next grouping of ships. If you continue this strategy to take out the straggler enemy ships, you will build upon the volume of your ally ships in the bubble where the majority of the ships are fighting, and where a majority of the ships spawn. You can take control of the battle zone with this tactic or tip the scale in the ally ships favor.
*2.4 UPDATE: Prior to the 2.4 update, you were able to stack missions to dispatch enemy ships in a CZ so that each kill would apply towards the count of all stacked missions to dispatch enemy ships. 2.4 Beta has changed this application so that each kill would apply towards the total count for the earliest mission accepted. Therefore, if this change remains consistent to release of 2.4, you will have to complete the kill count independently for each combat/kill mission accepted for a CZ, rather than each kill stacking towards all missions accepted to kill enemy ships in a CZ. The rewards have however been increased substantially for each mission accepted. I will update this section again upon release if anything changes.
Faction Capital Ships
- Faction ships will spawn in CZ's if a faction is warring or engaged in civil war against another faction for control in the system, or if you notice an instance in your Nav panel where a capital ship is currently located in a warring Major Faction system.
- Capital Ships will be in High Intensity CZ's and generally only in situations where the warring faction aligned with a Major Faction is fighting for Controlling Faction influence in the system.
- Only Empire and Federation factions have capital ships.
- You can attack a Capital ship, but you cannot destroy a Capital Ship. It will H-Jump out before it can be destroyed.
- Capital Ships will drop in generally within seconds after you enter the instance, which is indicated by a notice on your ship's screen stating that the sensors have picked up on the signature of a Capital ship.
3. Nav Beacons and Compromised Nav Beacons
Compromised Nav Beacons
- Compromised Nav Beacons are rare, and found in low or no security systems (Anarchy)
- They will have a plethora of higher combat level ships. You can attack without worry for Bounty or police coming after you same as the Hazardous RES Zones.
- They can be very difficult, and are akin to Hazardous RES zones. Best to drop in with a Wing or two, and make sure you have strong shields and armor (integrity).
- You will still find NPC ships being attacked by other NPC ships, and if you attack and destroy those ships before they hit 0%, you will receive the Bounty if they are Wanted.
- Remember, always use your KWS and scan enemy Wanted ships before attacking them to net the higher payout.
- Most are located in systems without a station, and limited to an outpost/dock/planetary colony. Best to have a ship that can land on a small or medium landing pad.
- Due to volume of trading ships, these are the best locations for farming Engineer materials ordinarily found in trade ships.
Nav Beacons
- Found in every system that is inhabited
- Will not have a great volume of ships compared to a normal RES, but will have a great deal of trade ships and will be open space.
- Police presence, except for most Anarchy systems.
- Huge NPC Bounty Hunter presence.
- Nav Beacon is scanned to locate the target ship for wet work missions eliminating single enemy.
*Note: Be mindful if you are Wanted in any other system within single to two jump distance within the locale. If the NPC bounty hunter has a KWS, they may attack you if you are Wanted in a local system. Attacking you for a Warrant from a different system will of course make them wanted, and then you can freely defend yourself.
*Note: Nav Beacons, including compromised, are always within a few light seconds of the main star where you drop into when visiting the system.
4. Ships
Intro. Now you know the basics, and some information that will help you identify where you can earn credits hunting down Wanted ships or participating in CZs. However, knowledge only gets you half way to where you need to be if you want to earn through combat. In Elite, your ship is also your weapon. Therefore, the ship you chose and the modules you include in your ship build-out are as crucial to success as finding ideal areas to earn vouchers or bonds, along with the strategies behind eliminating wanted or enemy warring ships.
Core Modules. Ships built for bounty hunting should have A-rated core modules to really make you an effective pilot with some exceptions to two of the core internals. Without an A-rated Power Plant, you will not have sufficient power to properly load your ship with supporting modules, and your ship will not disburse heat from firing weapons and boosting the engines as efficiently without an A-rated Power Plant. Without an A-rated Power Distributor, you will not maintain sufficient energy reserves to dispatch enemies efficiently or effectively. You may also have a difficult time surviving when combat get hairy requiring you to disengage and high tailing out of there for your shields to regenerate. Without an A-rated Power Distributor, you will also not be able to boost your engines as frequently because the reserves have to fill to the point of one bar remaining the engine PIP in a lower class Power Distributor module. Without A-rated Thrusters your ship will not gain the benefit of its potential top speed. That can result in a more difficult time positioning yourself for battle advantage or disengage and escape chase to a safe distance if and when you find yourself in trouble with combat against another ship. An A-rated core module ship is very important to reach you and your ship's full potential in combat. However, and understandably, a fully spec'ed A-rated core module ship may be an ongoing process due to financial constraints. The exception for A-rated core modules end with Life Support and until the recent patch, Sensors had very little benefit between classes. You can still perform effectively with D-rated Sensors, but the higher the Sensor the better your ship can train its weapons on target. However, since combat ships require a great deal of power, you will likely have to sacrifice something else for better Sensors. Also, you will sacrifice weight and therefore speed for Sensor's that are any other class other than D-rated. Therefore, if you decide to improve your sensors, you may as well go for A-rated, since C and E-rated are worse or only marginally better than D, and B-rated are not worth the weight gain at the detriment of speed and FSD performance. Life Support can always remain at D class so you can preserve your power for more important modules and maintain less weight to your ship for a higher top speed as D-class modules carry the least weight of all modules.
If you cannot afford A-rated modules on all core components of your ship at the same time then the prioritization by order, first to last, as you upgrade each core module to A-rated should be as follows: Power Plant, Power Distributor, Thrusters, Frame Shift Drive, Sensors (if by preference).
Utility Modules. Another contribution to the confusion of new players in Elite are the various options available for Utility Modules, and what modules would best suit a combat build. When you approach this issue by simple review of the description for each of the available utility modules, you might think, and it is logical, that one of each of the majority of the utility modules would best create a rounded ship. However, that couldn't be further from the case. So, which modules do you really need for combat or in support of combat? Rather than list all possible modules you can fit to your ship, I will list those utility modules that would best fit a combat build:
Primary
1. Shield Boosters. Shield Boosters will boost and therefore increase the MJ yield and strength of your shields. However, they will also cause the shields to regenerate a little slower because you now have more shield to regenerate, respectively. However, Shield Boosters are a must, and the more you can work into adding to your ship, while balancing your power needs to the core, hardpoints, and optional modules, including shields, the better. A dedicated combat ship with a large capacity Power Plant can sustain the majority of the utility modules spots in Shield Boosters. They may or may not be all A-Rated Shield Boosters, but if your option is to choose a B, C, D, or even E Shield Booster compared to no Shield Booster, the decision should be to add the booster rather than going all or nothing for an A-Rated. Whether the modules is A through E rated, it will increase the MJ strength of your shields by the respective percentage of the rated Shield Booster (A being best, E being worst, and everything in between).
2. Kill Warrant Scanner (KWS). KWS is an absolute must for the aspiring combat pilot, because without the KWS, you will only gain the bounty payout for either of the three major factions, and the Controlling Faction of the system you were awarded the bounty. A KWS opens up bounty awards from all of the factions located in the system, even some factions that may not be in the system. This can amount to another 30% or greater payout for your bounty redemption compared to bounty hunting without the benefit of a KWS. The decision on which of the available classes of KWS to select is all a matter of what available power you have remaining after you fit all of your core, optional, hardpoints, and shield booster modules. Ordinarily, I fit a C or a D Class KWS to my ships, which the only difference is the respective range of the scan, i.e. C=3.0km, D=2.5km. Meaning, you have to be within 2.5km with a D-Class KWS installed to start the scan. The classes do not have any bearing on the speed of the scan, but you can obtain such an upgrade through the Engineers. If you don't have sufficient power to install a C or a D, go with the E-Class. So long as you have a KWS installed, you are optimizing your payoffs with the bounties.
Primary Conditional
1. Chaff. The Chaff, Electronic Countermeasure*, and the Point Defense* Utility Modules are all intended to deflect some type of incoming attack. However, from a practical standpoint as a combat pilot, if you wanted to install one of these defense systems, the Chaff would be the best to install. A Chaff will cause Gimballed weapons to lose their target tracking for a short period of time, which you have probably noticed that happening to you when you are attacking another NPC and your targeting system goes haywire. Unfortunately, a Chaff will not defend against Fixed Weapons, and is not as effective in defense of the NPC's as it is with the NPC using Chaff's as a defense tactic against you. However, when in a CZ, and you have several ships attacking you, the Chaff can not only help stave off those attacks, but also can result in some of the attackers to then refocus their attacks upon another ship. So, in an RES zone, it is probably not going to be as beneficial, but in a CZ, you should definitely arm a Chaff.
2. Heat Sink Launcher. If you have a ship that overheats, particularly due to firing off multiple or large SCB's or from Engineer upgrades, then the Heat Sinks will spare you from ongoing damage to your ship from anything from slight to gross overheating. They only have a total ammo inventory of three (3), so if you need them, you are generally going to have to slot more than one set, but you don't have to fire them off at the same time and can turn extra slotted Heat Sinks off until you exhaust your active Heat Sinks. When you first begin, it is unlikely that you will require the use of a Heat Sink Launcher. However, if you have a Python with two (2) Medium Sized Rail Guns, you may find the Heat Sinks useful when your ship overheats from firing them both off while in boost. This is a personal and subjective necessity based upon the ship's build that you will either know you need, or know you don't based upon the frequency of and conditions where you experience ship overheating.
*Note: ECs and Point Defense attack incoming missiles or torpedoes, which when your shields are up, they do the least amount of damage to your shields compared to Thermal and Kinectic Weapons. Point Defense has the added bonus of attacking Cargo Hatch Breaker Drones, making Point Defense utility modules a good option for traders.
Secondary
1. Cargo Scanner. To scan the cargo of another ship, which will be displayed in the Cargo Scan tab on the left side menu. This is good for finding valuable cargo if you are in an Anarchy system and looking to attack traders to pick up and sell their cargo at Black Markets. Otherwise for missions.
2. Frame Shift Warrant Scanner. This will enable you to scan the location of the jump of any ship from its wake, and it will also generally garner some type of Data for your data inventory that you would not otherwise gain by simple scan of ships. Also, it is good for missions requiring multi-system hunts of a target.
Module Build-Out. Other than the A-rated core modules you will need to power your ship, your optional, hardpoints and utility modules are as important as the core modules. What does a combat ship require? Well, first and foremost, attack and defense: Weapons and Shields. When considering Shields, the more mass the ship has the greater the size module you will require for Shields to reach the highest mega-joule charge your ship can maintain. If you want to focus on combat, then you want to install A-rated Shields on the largest module available on your ship. Ships are limited to whatever size modules they can equip based upon the manufacturer build. Every ship by type has the same count and type of modules available for build-out. Meaning, every Viper has the same size and count of modules. It is up to your discretion what modules you install in the given space. However, to support a role in combat, the builds are for the most part consistent ship to ship. The larger the ship, the more options you will have for module installation to support an effective combat build. However, rather than trying to explain the intricate details of what modules to install and how they work, I thought it would be easier to show you how to properly equip a ship for combat in practice. Some of the most important tools in Elite are actually third party programs used separately from the game. One key program for ship building and planning is a ship building program called, Coriolis 2.0. There are other ship building programs, but Coriolis 2.0 [click to link] is in my opinion the best of all options. Coriolis 2.0 is a program that allows you to map out builds for your ships in game, even the engineering upgrades you can install in you ship. When using Coriolis 2.0, you can select any ship, build out its modules, test and or save various engineer upgrades for each module, and save the build to come back to later when revisiting the website. You can even export the builds for use in other third party programs that are used to enhance your experience or organization of assets in game (one that I strongly recommend is INARA; see link, https://inara.cz/). I have prepared and saved combat builds (no engineering mods) using Coriolis 2.0 and linked them below to provide examples of several early combat and multi-role ships that are popular among new commanders for their role in combat. The section below, Points about Ships, will provide you with insight over the module selections in these builds and the role they play in combat.
Points about Ships
Before I paste the links to the several builds for the various ships below, I would like you to share a few notes regarding some of the modules that were selected in these builds in case diversity is required for multitasking or limitations with your funds is a problem:
1. Bulkheads. Adding Military or Reinforced Alloy will weigh down your ship reducing its top speed. However, it will significantly increase the ship's Integrity, which is the hit point equivalent for your ship in contrast to other games. Once your shields go down, the protection you are left with is your integrity (hull). Integrity can be increased by adding stronger bulkheads (essentially armor) in your core modules, i.e. reinforced or military grade alloy; and, by installing Hull Reinforcement modules in your optional or military (modules limited to hull or module reinforcement or SCB's) modules of your ship. If you want your ship to be faster, more agile, you can forego or reduce the Hull Reinforcement kits added to the linked builds and or not upgrade the Light Weight Alloys in the core module bulkheads that are installed by default with the ship at purchase. Bear in mind, that will also reduce your integrity. If your shields have a high enough charge, then you may consider sacrificing increasing integrity for greater speed. It is within your discretion, and of course all based on your style of play.
2. Cargo. If you require cargo modules to perform missions, you can swap out the Hull Reinforcement Modules for cargo modules, and vice versa. You may want to consider installing a Cargo module or two if you are performing missions so you maintain eligibility for missions requiring or awarding cargo.
3. Shields vs. Bi-Weave Shields. Shields have a higher mega-joule ("MJ") max power, which means more shield strength for your ship. However, they require more power to operate them, and more distributor power to regenerate them over time as they regenerate more slowly. Bi-Weave shields require less power than Shields, but provide less max MJ protection. Bi-weave Shields regenerate a great deal faster than Shields. Something to consider when deciding over one versus the other is your power needs. If your ship is strapped for power requiring you to sacrifice various aspects of your build, Bi-Weave Shields may be the better choice to preserve the power you would otherwise require for Shields for other modules in your ship. Otherwise, if your ship has a low mass, and large modules, then your total shield strength may be sufficient to sacrifice some of that strength by selecting Bi-Weave Shields, as they do regenerate much faster than Shields.
4. Lasers vs. Multi-cannons. Lasers are thermal, while Multi-Cannons are kinetic. There are also weapons that combine the two forms of damage, like Plasma Accelerators and Rail Guns. Thermal weapons will take down Shields more effectively, while kinetic weapons will damage hulls more effectively once the shields are down. Plasma Accelerators and Rail Guns require a great deal of power and they are all fixed, no gimbal. Therefore, the combat ship traditional build-out, especially with smaller ships early in your combat career and life in Elite will install Size 2 Kinetic weapons and Size 1 thermal weapons.
5. SCB. Shield Cell Bank replenishes lost charge on any type of shields, but will not work once shields are down. SCB's are triggered to avoid shields from going down leaving you solely reliant upon the defense of your integrity. SCB's require a good deal of power, and they will heat up your ship to potentially damaging levels, over 100%. However, even if they spike the temperature of your ship well over 100%, your ship will not explode; it will however damage your modules. The more damage to your modules, the greater the risk of malfunction to the damaged modules. All ship types disperse heat at various degrees of efficiency. However, to ensure the best heat efficiency, you should install an A-rated Power Plant.
6. Module Power Prioritization. Once you click on the various links of ship builds and after viewing the module build-out, scroll down. You will notice that each of these builds has a prioritization for the installed modules. This is not arbitrary or random, but rather a method and reason for that prioritization. Some of these builds, and many of the ships, will require build-outs for combat that will push the Power Plant over its 100% capacity once the weapons are deployed. Once weapons are deployed in a ship build that exceeds the Power Plant maximum, to avoid random and what could be key modules shutting down you will need to prioritize the power allocation to your modules. Prioritizing power to modules will ensure that modules you do not need shut down to support the ones you do need when weapons are deployed. You might ask, how do I know what modules to set at a lower prioritization? The ship builds below should offer you insight into power prioritization. In the ship builds linked below, FSD Interdictors and Fuel Scoops are not necessary by any means during combat, so they are set at 4 priority, cargo scoop at 3, weapons and scanners at 2, and all core modules at 1. When using Coriolis 2.0, you can plan ahead with your build by tampering with the the module prioritization section. The linked ships prioritization schedule will show you what modules shut down when your weapons are deployed and your Power Plant exceeds 100% capacity. Another reason and incentive for setting power prioritization, and why you should set prioritization beyond a 1 and 2 schematic, is to control random module shutdown and or malfunction if your ship is under fire from enemy ships after shields are down, or from heat, which all leads to the inevitable random module malfunctions. Setting power priorities for your modules will help maintain power to key modules and stave off random module malfunctions to avoid complete loss caused by a damaged power plant in a fight. Setting a 1 through 4, or even 5 for larger ships, module power prioritization will better support consistent power to priority 1 modules such as, Thrusters, FSD, shields, and Power Distributor. This can be the difference of life or death when experiencing a damaged or diminishing Power Plant. You set the prioritization of your modules in the game on your right menu in the ship, second tab.
Builds
Here are some of the ships and builds for combat early game. You will note that some of them are not true combat ships, but rather multi-role ships that may make for good candidates as combat ships if properly loaded. They are listed alphabetically, not by preference. Click on the name of the ship to view the link to the ship build in Coriolis 2.0 (my personal favorites are the Viper MKIII and the Diamondback Scout):
1. Adder
2. Cobra
3. Diamondback Scout
4. Eagle
5. Sidewinder
6. Viper MKIII
7. Viper MKIV
*If you have a ship in mind or a ship you are building that you would like further input over is build, you can either post the build on the forum, or you can message me and I will be happy to review and provide input.
5. Tips on Earning More: How to Make the Most out of Combat-Role Career
Join a Power Play Faction
What is Power Play? Power Play is a facet of the game where you join a Faction that controls an area of the populated bubble of systems, which you complete various tasks to garner points to increase ranking with the pledged faction.
1. This may not be the ideal for commanders first starting their careers in Elite, but once you have a stronger ship than the Sidewinder, or have left the starter area, joining a Power Play Faction is a great means of increasing your earnings when redeeming bounties and bonds.
2. To increase your bounty and bond yields, you will want to join those Power Play factions who have leaders that grant an inherent 20% Bounty redemption boost. The 20% additional return is then compounded by a 30/40/50% boost on bounty and bond payouts in controlled/exploited systems depending upon the position of the Power Play faction leader, respectively, whether they are 3rd, 2nd or 1st position in the Power Play Faction war results each week.
3. You will have to be at least Rank 2 or Rank 3 (will say in the benefits tab) to garner the 30/40/50% boost to the bounty payoff with the Power Play Faction leader that grants that boost. Confirm by review of the Power Play Faction leader in game.
4. Power play bonuses will also work for both Bounties and Combat Bonds earned and redeemed in controlled or exploited systems.
5. There may be others, but two of the Power Play Faction leaders that provide this benefit are Hudson (Federation) and Lavigny (Empire). Point of fact: Hudson controls the systems within the starter area.
6. Performing tasks each week can also garner great earnings up to 50 million credits per week at Rank 5. However, these earnings are indirect in the form of a weekly salary and based upon the total points accrued over the prior week period. Considering your participation will also require a diverse group of ships in order to benefit from the substantial amount of points you would need each week to reach and maintain the highest rank, you may want to consider initially simply joining a faction that offers gains in bounty and bond redemption for that sole purpose.
7. When you join a Power Play faction, enemy ships of that faction will attack you in any system that you visit, any RES, Nav Beacon, or instance you drop into that they may be currently located, and also may interdict you in Supercruise. Those enemies that interdict you in Supercruise are generally at your combat rank.
* Fact: I was earning 30 million credits every hour farming Bounties in the system Exioce while pledged to Arissa Lavigny, at Rank 3.
Wing
1. Inviting commander(s) to form a wing with may open up additional opportunities to handle a higher level RES than a LRES or RES when you are in your starter or in one of the other ships I linked above. A wing of at least 2, but preferably 3, commanders could farm bounties in a Hazardous RES and definitely in an HRES with the added benefit of patrolling police units.
2. While you do split evenly the bounties that you accumulate, having a Wing may enable you to take on larger and higher level NPCs resulting in a higher payout. A competent level NPC wanted pilot in a Viper may pay off 19,000 credits, while a Dangerous wanted NPC in an Anaconda can pay you upwards of 300,000+ credits as a bounty.
System locations in Starter Area with RES
1. LTT 18486: This system is an unexplored system, so you will likely not see the planets within the system. However, there are two docking outposts that you can target from your Nav panel a great deal of distance from the star. Target either one of those outposts, and once you are within the 800ls you will find several planets with a plethora of RES zones to choose from for bounty hunting. This is a strong system with a decent volume of ships in almost all RES zones for bounty hunting, and is a jump or two away from the starting system, LHS 3447
2. LHS 3447: The bottom line of planets has two ringed planets, which both have RES zones, and they are about 800ls or so from Bluford Station. The system has a massive population, and therefore, its RES zones are well packed with wanted ships.
High Volume RES Zones
1. HIP 20277 - Single RES Zone near Fabian City
2. HIP 20277 4 Single HRES Zone (Rocky portion of asteroid field)
3. Exioce A4 B Ring HRES
4. Dvorsi A3 A Ring HRES
5. Verner (Single RES Location)
6. Ross 129 A3 A Ring HRES
7. Kigana A4 B Ring HRES
8. Luyten's Star 3B A Ring HRES
Participate in Bounty/Bond CGs
1. Elite offers weekly Community Goals (known as "CG").
2. Many CGs involve collecting Bounties or Bonds and is a great way to earn credits.
3. Not only do you generate bonds or bounties from attacking ships, but there are participation awards that can payout tens of millions of credits for those pilots within the 50% of bond redemption totals.
4. You can participate in CGs by accepting the mission from any station or dock in any system in the inhabited universe.
5. However, you MUST turn in the Bonds/Bounties at the named station/dock that hosts the CG so you will receive credit in the CG for redeeming the bounty voucher or bond. That station/dock is generally identified by a yellow icon with an outline of a star inside the icon.
6. CG Bounties are best earned solo than with a wing or crew to ensure that the total of redeemed vouchers or bonds are attributed to you personally, and not shared among your wing or crew.
World of PvE: Mobius PVE
I am not personally one for PvP, actually, I hate it altogether - not that I hate those who like or engage in PvP in game. My point is that my real life is PvP as a practicing lawyer, so I surely do not want my game time for my wind down to be PvP. So, I like to play at my pace, not at the pace of others, but I also like to see other faces from time to time, or just have a sense that they are with me in the galaxy. How do you eliminate risk of death by another player, especially by seasoned players in Anacondas with a wing of three FDL's hunting newbies in the starter systems flying Sidewinders, Eagles, Vipers and Cobras, while still have the opportunity of interaction with players? One answer (link to website): Mobius PvE. Mobius PvE is a group of over 37,000 members as of the time I posted this guide. They have very specific rules about attacking other players, as it is a PvE group. If you don't want to play in Solo mode, but you are worried about risking time and money lost in Open, then perhaps Mobius is for you. Check out the website for more information, linked to the name above.
H.O.T.A.S.
What is a HOTAS? "Hands on Throttle and Stick". Obviously, if you are so early into your game play in Elite that you are not sure whether this game is or is not for you, I would recommend to wait on the investment until you are sure about the game. However, if you are anywhere between coming down with the bug, like I did and still have, and all you want to do during your game time is play Elite, and yes I like this game and see myself playing it, then you want to invest into a HOTAS controller. I personally have two Saitek x56 and three Saitek x52, just in case one breaks and needs to be sent for warranty. What HOTAS will work with your system is dependent upon each system the game has been released to support. Therefore, I have included below the itemization of suggestions based upon the platform you play Elite. This game was not made to be played with a controller or a keyboard and mouse. While that may work to some degree for trading or exploring, if you want to engage in combat, the keyboard and mouse or controller just will not have the feel you need to dominate. There is also nothing more immersing when playing Elite than the feel of controlling your ship through a HOTAS, and a great deal of the commands and keybinds required for effective combat can be bound to your HOTAS controller.
PC. If you are an Elite PC player, the whole wide world and selection of HOTAS controllers are available to you. I recommend the following (link to view) depending upon the investment you would or you can make into a HOTAS setup. I will have to start with this disclaimer: there are other options, and some may not agree with my choice, but I have always liked the way that the Saitek HOTAS controllers feel in game play, and their warranty service stands behind their product. If and when it breaks from wear and tear, Madcatz (owner of Saitek) has always replaced my sticks/throttle without issue, and respond very quickly to warranty claims and or tickets:
Starter: Saitek x52 (starting Saitek HOTAS controller)
Finisher: Saitek x56 (ton of buttons, levers and analog sticks to modulate thruster speed for all directions)
PS4. Only Sony licensed peripherals work for the PS4, but luckily, one of those peripherals although not exactly top of the line, is a HOTAS made by ThrustMaster. Since I have not tried this particular controller, I cannot speak to its feel or quality, but at least you have an option other than the PS$ controller. A worth while investment for those combat inspired Elite commanders:
ThrustMaster T-Flight(no affiliation with the vendor/merchant - only link I could locate quickly on Google search)
Xbox One. Unfortunately, there is not a HOTAS that will work on the Xbox One. However, I did find a link to a video on Youtube with an announcement that Elite will support the future Xbox platform, and that ThrustMaster is releasing a HOTAS controller for the Xbox One. I have linked that video here regarding that announcement: HOTAS/Elite Announcement
Ending Statement
Elite can feel like an overwhelming game to a new commander just starting out in the Elite galaxy. While this guide really touches upon the basics of combat while providing insight to identify potentially fruitful spots to engage in combat, there is so much more than the Elite Universe has to offer. I suggest that you find what you love in the game to enjoy your time spent playing the game. Be mindful and careful with your decisions, because all too many times I have read posts of commanders losing everything as a result undertaking actions of huge risks. Small risk, small rewards, sure, but consistent growth. That is what lead me to two billion in assets and one billion in credits. You will surely get there with time, but above all, have fun. After all, that why we play video games, is it not? For fun. If you have any questions, or require any input, feel free to message me, and if you see me in Mobius private group, be sure to wave as you fly by. Fly Safe, Commander!
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