How are you guys not losing tons of money?

I'll admit that I'm out of the loop on many things in Elite. Got myself a new battlestation at home and wanted to start Elite again.. I went for a Mother Gaia mission to eliminate a pirate in a system ROSS.. I went to the system ROSS and looked for this pirate for an hour, scanning every ships I could scan in supercruise, but I was not able to find him..... After a while I got bored, because a million payout check for a pirate that takes HOURS to find, is...... imbalanced? So anyways, I tried to interdict a few harmless NPC's, and I failed the interdiction every time. Don't know why they are so hard to interdict. Failed every time.. So I went to the NAV beacons to shoot down some wanted NPC's or someone with a bounty. Found an NPC with a bounty and I shot her down, and immediatly I got shot down too.. And I lost almost 5.000.000 (five million) credits in insurance cost on my Python.. I had played for THREE hours without being able to earn a single coin, but losing five million in an instant...

This is happening everytime I try to start playing Elite again.. And to be honest, this is what's keeping me from playing Elite all together, because I'm afraid to lose all of my money... How the heck am I supposed to play this game and feel like I'm actually gaining something? I don't want to be doing trading all the time.. I don't have the funds to die all the time... I'm not able to do bounty missions... And if I'm lucky enough to do the bounty mission, there is a risk for me to lose all of my millions in an instant.. So please, if you have ANY good and helpful advice for me, please share... I really want to be start playing again....
 
I'll admit that I'm out of the loop on many things in Elite. Got myself a new battlestation at home and wanted to start Elite again.. I went for a Mother Gaia mission to eliminate a pirate in a system ROSS.. I went to the system ROSS and looked for this pirate for an hour, scanning every ships I could scan in supercruise, but I was not able to find him..... After a while I got bored, because a million payout check for a pirate that takes HOURS to find, is...... imbalanced? So anyways, I tried to interdict a few harmless NPC's, and I failed the interdiction every time. Don't know why they are so hard to interdict. Failed every time.. So I went to the NAV beacons to shoot down some wanted NPC's or someone with a bounty. Found an NPC with a bounty and I shot her down, and immediatly I got shot down too.. And I lost almost 5.000.000 (five million) credits in insurance cost on my Python.. I had played for THREE hours without being able to earn a single coin, but losing five million in an instant...

This is happening everytime I try to start playing Elite again.. And to be honest, this is what's keeping me from playing Elite all together, because I'm afraid to lose all of my money... How the heck am I supposed to play this game and feel like I'm actually gaining something? I don't want to be doing trading all the time.. I don't have the funds to die all the time... I'm not able to do bounty missions... And if I'm lucky enough to do the bounty mission, there is a risk for me to lose all of my millions in an instant.. So please, if you have ANY good and helpful advice for me, please share... I really want to be start playing again....

Did you read the mission and what it asked you to do. Normally you need to scan the Nav Beacon or do an ADS scan to find your target.
 
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Firstly, I've found it's more important to keep from LOSING money, than to focus on acquiring it. Personally, I'd suggest trading CGs, which can be quite lucrative, but I would NOT do them in Open. While Open isn't all that dangerous in most areas, wherever players gather is often a site for unwanted PvP.

A Python isn't the best choice for combat, imo. You should consider something cheaper, like a Vulture.

I've made the majority of my credits exploring, for months at a time, but that doesn't appeal to everyone. However, you might want to consider doing a bit of high-value exploration, until you've acquired some funds... https://www.alpha-orbital.com/pathfinder

There are a number of get rich quick videos for ED on YouTube, but only pay attention to recent ones, as these often get nerfed.
 
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I'm just waiting for the git gud messages.

Keem, is there an activity you enjoy? Mining is getting a make over soon, so that'll be something to watch for.

I suck at combat to, so don't worry. I spend my days exploring, and flying about in the ASP looking for glitches in the market to take advantage of using my Cutter. Not the kind of play style that tickles folks playstyle, granted.

If combat is your thing, I'll roll over for the experts, but if you need a cash injection, just go for something low risk like passenger missions. Ok can be a bit eye rolling, but, you'll always see the $$$ move in the right direction with far more limited risk.

Shout out on what you like to do... we'll be able to help optimize!
 
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You go to nav beacon first, scan it, get assignment to certain body, go to that body, circle around it and you will get blue POI indicator to jump in. Then you will meet your target.
 
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I Make around 50 million every 15 minutes trucking in a bulk freighter. Lost 40 million in 30mins fighting in a CZ in open a few weeks back.. I stick to trucking or fighting NPC’s, PvP is expensive.
 
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How we are not loosing money? Uhh.. simply said: We now how to do things in game.
Take your first example. So, you've got an assasination missions.
I went to the system ROSS and looked for this pirate for an hour, scanning every ships I could scan in supercruise, but I was not able to find him.....
No, you either honk your disco-scanner, or you scann the nav-beacon. Then you get a mission update telling you where the target is. You go there, a mission-uss pops up, you drop in, eliminate the target, fly back home and get money. Takes ~10 minutes in total.

And I don't understand how you got shot down on a nav-beacon, flying a phyton.
 
You go to nav beacon first, scan it, get assignment to certain body, go to that body, circle around it and you will get blue POI indicator to jump in. Then you will meet your target.

Can you elaborate a little bit more? Do I scan the NAV beacon with discovery scanner or body surface scanner? Where will the blue POI indicator appear after I have scanned it?

And thanks for the help folks! Keep the ideas rolling in :) I really want to do combat with my Python, but I see that it is way to risky.. I've spent a lot of coin on combat equipping my Python and I actually want to start fight a little bit.. I have about 80 million credits left, and that's not a lot of deaths. 16 deaths and I'm out of funds.
 

verminstar

Banned
Personally, I would avoid missions entirely as most of them are bugged to all hell and back...and Im also on the lookout fer the next gold mine cos Ill be all over it.

Wait fer the white knight brigade to start telling ye that yer not playing the game right...possibly already here ^
 
How? By making money doing things that make money. That may or may not align with enjoyment. The problem you have, is expecting most tasks one might enjoy, to be lucrative. They could be? Arguably should be? But aren't.

I'm not sure how one fails to interdict AI repeatedly. They are not overly good at flying? Set 4 pips to SYS; settle in behind the mark, hit the FSD interdictor, chuck the throttle down to zero and ignore everything else but chasing the reticle.

Carry an ADS (advanced discovery scanner) when running pirate hunting missions. You can use this on system arrival to scan the system (bind it to a weapon group) and a body will show a mission marking in the left hand menu. Much like it would for a courier or trade mission. This saves having to scan the nav beacon (or knowing that you need to).

Lastly, do you even enjoy hunting down pirate scum and sending their sorry rear to Valhalla? There are some lucrative options such as the noble task of human resourcing (imperial slave trading) or sightseeing (hijacking stupidly wealthy passengers) as examples, that will help fund the next adventure; neither are overly complicated by comparison and have a fairly high reward for time spent.
 
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When I come back after a long break I usually start with something easy like a harmless assassination and slowly increase the difficulty to readjust.
 
I ditched the python too quick in my pilot career. I don't know, I never fully engineered it either. I found I could survive much easier in the Federal Gunship /w fighter in CZ's and High Res. Maybe stick to high res, with plenty of authority craft around. Also getting allied or friendly with controlling factions in the same system helps because then their authority craft become "green" on radar and they are more readily willing to assist you against pirates. If you're overwhelmed, you can boost out to where the green blips are again and then the allies will provide cover fire where the pirates often break off pursuit. I'm also not a good dog-fighting pilot since I've always used mouse+keyboard so I tended to use ships that could use a SLF on defense. Also the chieftan I've found to be a decent fighter/medium ship. As for the python, well, if you can get allied with system factions in a system that has mainly outpost stations, there are sometimes lucrative hauling missions that only a python can do. If you haven't done the "road to riches" outside bubble exploration route, that can be a 300 million boost if you need it.

As for assassination missions, they seem to have changed where you now need to scan a nav beacon first. You do this by targeting it and allowing the basic ship scanner to scan for information of their recent wherabouts . (you don't need the system scanner module).
 
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I'll admit that I'm out of the loop on many things in Elite. Got myself a new battlestation at home and wanted to start Elite again.. I went for a Mother Gaia mission to eliminate a pirate in a system ROSS.. I went to the system ROSS and looked for this pirate for an hour, scanning every ships I could scan in supercruise, but I was not able to find him..... After a while I got bored, because a million payout check for a pirate that takes HOURS to find, is...... imbalanced? So anyways, I tried to interdict a few harmless NPC's, and I failed the interdiction every time. Don't know why they are so hard to interdict. Failed every time.. So I went to the NAV beacons to shoot down some wanted NPC's or someone with a bounty. Found an NPC with a bounty and I shot her down, and immediatly I got shot down too.. And I lost almost 5.000.000 (five million) credits in insurance cost on my Python.. I had played for THREE hours without being able to earn a single coin, but losing five million in an instant...

This is happening everytime I try to start playing Elite again.. And to be honest, this is what's keeping me from playing Elite all together, because I'm afraid to lose all of my money... How the heck am I supposed to play this game and feel like I'm actually gaining something? I don't want to be doing trading all the time.. I don't have the funds to die all the time... I'm not able to do bounty missions... And if I'm lucky enough to do the bounty mission, there is a risk for me to lose all of my millions in an instant.. So please, if you have ANY good and helpful advice for me, please share... I really want to be start playing again....

Ah. An assassination mission?

They've changed the Mechanic. You don't scan random ships looking for your target (Which is a shame, 'cos I quite like that). What you do now is;-

  1. Fly to the Target's system's nave point and scan the Nav Beacon
  2. Go to the planet or Point of interest the nav beacon mentions
  3. Fly around the planet/point of interest until you get a Mission Signal Source (can take a little while)
  4. Drop in to Mission Signal Source and destroy pirate.
  5. return to station and enjoy all those beautiful credits.

Hope that helps.
 
Can you elaborate a little bit more? Do I scan the NAV beacon with discovery scanner or body surface scanner? Where will the blue POI indicator appear after I have scanned it?

And thanks for the help folks! Keep the ideas rolling in :) I really want to do combat with my Python, but I see that it is way to risky.. I've spent a lot of coin on combat equipping my Python and I actually want to start fight a little bit.. I have about 80 million credits left, and that's not a lot of deaths. 16 deaths and I'm out of funds.

5 million rebuy for your python? Is it made out of tissue paper? From the sounds of it, yes, avoid combat until you and your python are ready - what engineering have you done on it? Hull, shields, SB, HRP, thrusters, PD? If the answer is none, or very little get yourself a smaller and cheaper ship to learn combat in.
 
Can you elaborate a little bit more? Do I scan the NAV beacon with discovery scanner or body surface scanner? Where will the blue POI indicator appear after I have scanned it?

And thanks for the help folks! Keep the ideas rolling in :) I really want to do combat with my Python, but I see that it is way to risky.. I've spent a lot of coin on combat equipping my Python and I actually want to start fight a little bit.. I have about 80 million credits left, and that's not a lot of deaths. 16 deaths and I'm out of funds.

Enter the system where your target is supposed to be, drop at the nav beacon, select it (no need to scan it) wait a few second for the scan to complete and you will get a message stating in wich body of the system your target can be found. Go to the targeted body (in supercruise) and start orbitating it, keep a little distance from the body it will help keeping up some speed, since you will be basically on the grav. well of it. Shortly after, a special Signal Source will appear and a voice message from your ship will inform you that your mission target has been located. Drop on the Signal Source (will be called Mission Target, with blue letters and the Threat level, not the usual color) and kill your target.

Side note, unless you are proficient in combat and/or have a properly fitted ship, avoid Threat level 4, since most probably you will face an Elite Corvette.

Edit: an easy way to earn some money and up your combat skills is to go to an High Resource extraction site, with a cheap ship of your choice, on any asteroid ring of your liking (better be close to a space station, for convenience purpose) stick with the security ships in the instance, wait for them to engage wanted targets, scan and wait for your ship to fully acquire the target untill it show as wanted, and then engage the foe. It's enaugh to land some shot to get the credit for the kill.
 
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Deleted member 38366

D
Just a word of Caution to the OP :

If you manage to get blown up while hunting Wanted NPCs at a regular NAV Beacon, I'd strongly recommend to improve your Combat skills before accepting any Assassination Mission (or even a Wing Assassination... seriously, don't try that).
Otherwise, I think you're in for a very ugly surprise..
 
Can you elaborate a little bit more? Do I scan the NAV beacon with discovery scanner or body surface scanner? Where will the blue POI indicator appear after I have scanned it?

And thanks for the help folks! Keep the ideas rolling in :) I really want to do combat with my Python, but I see that it is way to risky.. I've spent a lot of coin on combat equipping my Python and I actually want to start fight a little bit.. I have about 80 million credits left, and that's not a lot of deaths. 16 deaths and I'm out of funds.

You have two ways to find your mark for a mission.

1: advanced discovery scanner. When you arrive at the target system, simply use it, you will get a message pop-up telling you which body to go to. More on that later.

2: drop at the nav beacon when you arrive on the planet. Go to your left panel, contact tab, and select the nav beacon (it's at the bottom in general, in gray). Once the scan is done you will get your mission update message.

A couple of tips for nav beacon scanning:
As soon as you drop into the nav beacon, stop your ship, put 4 pips to shield and charge your FSD as soon as it has cooled down. Since you're stationary, you can't jump. It will tell you to throttle up to engage the FSD. Normally, I by the time I have scanned the nav beacon, I just have to boost to jump away. It literally takes 15 seconds in total. You can get mass-locked, but simply boost away. This technique is particularly interesting in compromised nav beacons.

As for the body you are directed to, for planets, simply slow down (low end of the blue zone) in supercruise when you are 0.4ls away from the body. I usually find the mission signal sources to be within 0.11ls and 0.20ls. Simply circle the planet until you get the audio message saying "mission objective detected". It will be a blue signal source in your left panel. If the target body is a sun or star, simply slow down earlier, like 4ls away from it.
 
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