Newcomer / Intro New Player - Intimidated

[Starshot_Jigawatts]

Hi everyone making my introduction.

Been watching this game for years but with the free offer from Epic games store, I took the plunge. I play on PC with an Xbox controller. I love space games and flying, played Eve off and on for years etc etc. I'm sure you've heard this a million times.

So I started in Open Play because I love MMO's and life was pretty good. I did the tutorials, there were plenty of people in System chat to talk to and get help from. I was LOVING the game. I was asking myself why I didn't play it years ago. I earned a small pile of credits and before I know it, I was kicked out of noobspace for being so awesome and headed out into the black.....

...then I hit a wall. Suddenly everything was so...HARD. Suddenly I realized there is no "Global" chat of any kind, I never run into real players anymore. It's all so...lonely and intimidating. The complexity of the game is starting to smack me in the face. SO many keybinds. So many things to know. So many tricks with modules and power management. Also turning flight assist off reduces me to a tumbling spastic waste of space. Why would ships jitter like that in space? Dunno...

In Eve I could join a "Help" chat channel and pepper people with questions and learn. The lack of a large chat channel in Open Play in Elite is bumming me out. No noob channel. No help channel. No "everyone in the game in a big channel" of any kind it seems.

But look, I'm not a quitter. So I watched a ton of videos, read a bunch of guides, bought a Viper Mk IV and stuffed all the hull tank modules and shields and firepower I could afford - set module priorities, I mean I'm really trying here.

Things are worst than ever. "Massacre" missions seem aptly named, even ones with the lowest difficulty rating. Bounty hunting I can barely kill the guy with the help of NPC Security ships. Everything just seems so hard and intimidating. Where do I go from here?

I think the biggest thing is it's lacking that community feel with the lack of global chat channels so Open Play feels like Solo Play to me. I want to make friends, I want to join a community, I want to talk to people. The game doesn't appear to have the basic tools to do so which is a bit baffling to me.

But on the other hand I do kind of LOVE this game. I don't even mind dying, my first day I did about EVERYTHING wrong you could do in a space station and laughed my butt off about all my deaths. The game doesn't brutally punish you for dying like Eve does, and I really like that. I just mind how useless, intimidated, and isolated I feel playing ED in Open Play more than anything I guess.

I just feel SO useless as a new player and very intimidated by the difficulty and all the things I don't know and understand. I will mine if I have to but I like blowing stuff up and I heard mining got a big nerf.

Is there something I'm missing big time or do I just need thousands of hours to "get it" ?? Is there a community chat server or other tools for guys like me? A lot of guides and videos seem just way over my head but I really want to enjoy what this game has to offer.

Thanks and greetings CMDR's!

 

[Ozric]

Just moved you over to the newcomer thread as you'll get a lot more help here

 

[Globusdiablo]

...I think the biggest thing is it's lacking that community feel with the lack of global chat channels so Open Play feels like Solo Play to me. I want to make friends, I want to join a community, I want to talk to people. The game doesn't appear to have the basic tools to do so which is a bit baffling to me...

Welcome in the black Commander.

You can find like minded commanders here:

Groups, Squadrons, and Factions

Looking for a group or squadron to join? Check out this forum. Feel free to advertise your squadron and/or groups here!

forums.frontier.co.uk

Fly safe.

 

[Para Handy]

...........
Is there something I'm missing big time or do I just need thousands of hours to "get it" ?? Is there a community chat server or other tools for guys like me? A lot of guides and videos seem just way over my head but I really want to enjoy what this game has to offer.
.........

1. There is System Chat (doesn't help if there are no players in the system).

2. Top of this forum is a link to the Galactic Academy Discord Server - you can get all the help you would ever need with that.

3. I endorse what @Globusdiablo says - find a group / squadron that you can enjoy friendships, playing together, waging war - whatever.

Most important though is that you should keep enjoying yourself.

Good luck

 

[aRJay]

Regarding all the video and other guides you can find on the web check the dates, the game has changed a lot over the years.

 

[Ashnak]

A lot of issues for a first post - but don't worry, you found the right place (or one of them at least).

Yes, there is no global chat. But seeing how things work out in system chat in a busy system (or just in Discord with a dozen convos going on simultaneously...), that's not necessarily a Bad Thing. Because of this, most player groups are using Discord (which is also usually more reliable...).
As for other CMDRs - that can be a mixed blessing. There are a few places/times where you are basically guaranteed to find other CMDRs at any time. Those places are also known to CMDRs who just like to ruin your day by shooting you up without even a pretense of a reason. That doesn't need to be a big problem - just be aware that ahollow triangle lining up behind you is bad news...
Tricks and keybinds - sure. And let me tell you, even after five years there are still things left to learn (like flying FA off consistently ).

So you're asking where to go. That depends on where you are. Missions are ranked, and you will see a reminder in each mission if the mission's rank is above your current rank. Nothing will stop you from accepting that juicy "Elite - Kill Known Pirate" mission. But there's also nothing except system security that might stop that NPC in his Corvette from annihilating you...
If you want to start with bounty hunting - the hunting grounds in ED have some sort of hierarchy of difficulty:

• Nav Beacon
• low RES
• med RES
• high RES
• haz RES, compromised Nav Beacon <- no more system security to help you out
• combat zones (low, med, high)

as well as various Signal Sources with their associated threat level (1: a single sidewinder, 4: an Anaconda or a small wing with one Python or FdL, 6: Nope, 7: a full wing of high level enemies)

The usual recommendation for an aspiring bounty hunter is to get a small ship with at least one laser, find a low RES and follow the security around. When they start shooting some ship, scan that ship yourself, and once it registers as WANTED in your HUD, join in on the fun. As long as you manage to inflict some damage within the last xx seconds of its existence, you will be awarded the kill and the bounty. Just make sure you don't shoot the police or any other non-wanted ships...
Of course, that also goes the other way round: if you inflict some damage on an unsuspecting NPC and they die (for whatever reason) soon after while you're still around, you'll also get the full blame...

As for "a" community chat server - yes, Discord. Find a like minded group (usually through posts here on the forum, or on reddit or any other social waste of bandwidth and join up.

 

[Krieger]

Welcome to the Elite Galaxy commander!

If you like to chat with other players in text or voice, there are many discord servers where commanders hang out 24/7. The Elite Dangerous Community is one of the largest. On reddit there is an exhaustive list of discord servers related to Elite Dangerous. Practically everyone in those discords is willing to help.

You've probably already found most of the resources listed below. If not, have a look at them and in any case don't hesitate to ask questions here in the forum.

In-game help is available in the form of menu links to the Pilot's Handbook and the Codex (right-hand cockpit panel 1st tab).
For a very good beginner's guide see: An in-depth beginner’s guide to Elite: Dangerous.
Tutorials covering all aspects of the game, many of them in the form of YouTube videos, are available from ED Tutorials.
There is a wealth of useful information available in these forums spread out over hundreds of threads. Thanks to commander @Alec Turner you can access all of that information and more via a single thread: Alec's best of the forum (and elsewhere) [v2].
Here is a good guide on the background simulation (BGS) that simulates the economical and political changes caused by player actions in inhabited systems.
Also check out the inara.cz and eddb.io websites with (almost) realtime info on practically everything in the game.
The coriolis.io and edsy.org websites let you design your ships before buying them.
There are many more Tools and Websites created by fans that make life in the galaxy better.
And last but not least, the Elite Dangerous Wiki contains extensive information on nearly all aspects of the game.

o7

 

[Hell Razor5543]

First, let me welcome you to the Elite: Dangerous Galaxy. My rule 2 is; Have Fun (it is just a game, but WHAT a GAME!). Rule 2a is; In VR have LOTS more fun!!!

The learning curve is so steep (it has an overhang!) that the mountain goats go around in teams, roped together (and even then they may fall off, but that means the Vultures get to eat!). However, when you master something, and do it well, the buzz is worth the effort. To my mind the most important skill to master is landing your ship. Until you can do this nothing else matters (how can you complete a mission, for example, if you killed yourself on landing?). It would be a good idea to go through some of the Training missions to start learning the necessary skills to survive.

Now, Golden Rule 1, which is; Never Fly if you cannot cover the REBUY. REBUY is the insurance excess on your ship, and is 5% of the value of your ship (including all upgrades, but not the cargo). Any changes you make to a ship will affect the REBUY. You can see what your REBUY is on the Status screen (normally accessed by pressing key 4 when in cockpit view, although I do not know how to access the Status screen on a console), bottom left, below Balance. If you get killed, and you can cover the REBUY, you will get a replacement ship identical to the one you lost (although the cargo bay will be empty). However, if you cannot cover the REBUY you may well end up back in a basic Sidewinder. Please do not let this happen to you, as the forum is littered with tales of woe when other Players have ignored Rule 1, and then got killed. This links to a classic one I have seen;

1.5 years to get Anaconda, 1 day to lose it.

So it took me 1.5 years to get my Anaconda, and i lost it in 1 day. had 10 creds less then i need for insurance because i forgot i had a loan still from previous ship blowing up. So now in a fracking sidewinder, and to boot it started me 300LY from my back up ship in a station with no shipyard...

forums.frontier.co.uk

You will, at various stages, upgrade your ship (buying is covered in the next paragraph). Be aware that all internal equipment has numbers and letters associated with them. The number is the Class, while the letter is the Rating. Until you have a good understanding of the Class make sure (when upgrading) to fit the same Class as the unit coming out. There are stories of Players who fitted a 1A FSD to their Sidewinder, thinking it would help increase the jump range, only to find that (as the FSD that came out was a Class 2) they had REDUCED the jump range. The letter is for Rating, with E being the weakest and A being the strongest. However, there are two that confuse this somewhat. All D Rated equipment are very light (and are preferred by Explorers for this reason), while B Rated has heavy armour (which is great for combat specialists). I do not (at this time) intend to explain weaponry, as this is definitely a matter of personal preference.

When you decide to buy a new ship, try to have 200% of the purchase price first. That way you have enough for the ship, some basic outfitting, a couple of loads of cargo, and a couple of REBUYs (just in case). If you are trading in a ship, take it back to factory spec first. When you sell any ship you will always take a 10% hit on the value of the ship at the time of selling. However, if you take it back to factory spec first you get back the full amount that you paid for the upgrades (at this time, at least). Then, when you sell the ship, your losses will be reduced. For example, I have an A Rated Cobra MkIII worth 10Mcr. If I were to sell her now I would take a loss of 1Mcr. However, if I take her back to factory spec and then sell her my loss will be about 35Kcr.

One final piece of advise I have is that, when something within the Game gets boring, switch to something else for a while. There are so many different things you can do it should not be difficult to stay interested. I, for example, will alternate between Trading, RES Combat, Exploring and helping new Players in Starter Space (and there are a whole lot MORE in the way of things to do!).

Have fun, fly safely, and see you out amongst the stars. Feel free to ask any questions, we all had to learn somewhere, and those that care will answer all they can.

 

[d8veh]

Hi everyone making my introduction.

Been watching this game for years but with the free offer from Epic games store, I took the plunge. I play on PC with an Xbox controller. I love space games and flying, played Eve off and on for years etc etc. I'm sure you've heard this a million times.

So I started in Open Play because I love MMO's and life was pretty good. I did the tutorials, there were plenty of people in System chat to talk to and get help from. I was LOVING the game. I was asking myself why I didn't play it years ago. I earned a small pile of credits and before I know it, I was kicked out of noobspace for being so awesome and headed out into the black.....

...then I hit a wall. Suddenly everything was so...HARD. Suddenly I realized there is no "Global" chat of any kind, I never run into real players anymore. It's all so...lonely and intimidating. The complexity of the game is starting to smack me in the face. SO many keybinds. So many things to know. So many tricks with modules and power management. Also turning flight assist off reduces me to a tumbling spastic waste of space. Why would ships jitter like that in space? Dunno...

In Eve I could join a "Help" chat channel and pepper people with questions and learn. The lack of a large chat channel in Open Play in Elite is bumming me out. No noob channel. No help channel. No "everyone in the game in a big channel" of any kind it seems.

But look, I'm not a quitter. So I watched a ton of videos, read a bunch of guides, bought a Viper Mk IV and stuffed all the hull tank modules and shields and firepower I could afford - set module priorities, I mean I'm really trying here.

Things are worst than ever. "Massacre" missions seem aptly named, even ones with the lowest difficulty rating. Bounty hunting I can barely kill the guy with the help of NPC Security ships. Everything just seems so hard and intimidating. Where do I go from here?

I think the biggest thing is it's lacking that community feel with the lack of global chat channels so Open Play feels like Solo Play to me. I want to make friends, I want to join a community, I want to talk to people. The game doesn't appear to have the basic tools to do so which is a bit baffling to me.

But on the other hand I do kind of LOVE this game. I don't even mind dying, my first day I did about EVERYTHING wrong you could do in a space station and laughed my butt off about all my deaths. The game doesn't brutally punish you for dying like Eve does, and I really like that. I just mind how useless, intimidated, and isolated I feel playing ED in Open Play more than anything I guess.

I just feel SO useless as a new player and very intimidated by the difficulty and all the things I don't know and understand. I will mine if I have to but I like blowing stuff up and I heard mining got a big nerf.

Is there something I'm missing big time or do I just need thousands of hours to "get it" ?? Is there a community chat server or other tools for guys like me? A lot of guides and videos seem just way over my head but I really want to enjoy what this game has to offer.

Thanks and greetings CMDR's!

If you're still in the noob zone, go to Dromi, where you will find a couple of high resource extraction sites, where you can blow up plenty of ships using the starter Sidewinder by helping the police kill the bad guys. Two rules: 1. Only shoot ships that the police are already shooting. Don't join in when it's bad guys shooting bad guys. 2. Don't shoot an Anaconda, Gunship, Krait or Crusader unless you check its modules in the left side panel target tab to see if it's carrying a fighter hanger. If it has the hanger, don't shoot it because the fighter will prioritise you. Instead, put 4 pips to shields and wait until the ship is nearly dead, then give it a couple of shots. Hopefully your shields will hold until it blows up.

 

[Patrick_68000]

As Cmdr Krieger said, The Galatic Academy is a good place.

And don't forget, ED is a long journey.

The failures of today create the successes of tomorrow.

Fly safe.

 

[Lowbee]

Hi everyone making my introduction.

Been watching this game for years but with the free offer from Epic games store, I took the plunge. I play on PC with an Xbox controller. I love space games and flying, played Eve off and on for years etc etc. I'm sure you've heard this a million times.

So I started in Open Play because I love MMO's and life was pretty good. I did the tutorials, there were plenty of people in System chat to talk to and get help from. I was LOVING the game. I was asking myself why I didn't play it years ago. I earned a small pile of credits and before I know it, I was kicked out of noobspace for being so awesome and headed out into the black.....

...then I hit a wall. Suddenly everything was so...HARD. Suddenly I realized there is no "Global" chat of any kind, I never run into real players anymore. It's all so...lonely and intimidating. The complexity of the game is starting to smack me in the face. SO many keybinds. So many things to know. So many tricks with modules and power management. Also turning flight assist off reduces me to a tumbling spastic waste of space. Why would ships jitter like that in space? Dunno...

In Eve I could join a "Help" chat channel and pepper people with questions and learn. The lack of a large chat channel in Open Play in Elite is bumming me out. No noob channel. No help channel. No "everyone in the game in a big channel" of any kind it seems.

But look, I'm not a quitter. So I watched a ton of videos, read a bunch of guides, bought a Viper Mk IV and stuffed all the hull tank modules and shields and firepower I could afford - set module priorities, I mean I'm really trying here.

Things are worst than ever. "Massacre" missions seem aptly named, even ones with the lowest difficulty rating. Bounty hunting I can barely kill the guy with the help of NPC Security ships. Everything just seems so hard and intimidating. Where do I go from here?

I think the biggest thing is it's lacking that community feel with the lack of global chat channels so Open Play feels like Solo Play to me. I want to make friends, I want to join a community, I want to talk to people. The game doesn't appear to have the basic tools to do so which is a bit baffling to me.

But on the other hand I do kind of LOVE this game. I don't even mind dying, my first day I did about EVERYTHING wrong you could do in a space station and laughed my butt off about all my deaths. The game doesn't brutally punish you for dying like Eve does, and I really like that. I just mind how useless, intimidated, and isolated I feel playing ED in Open Play more than anything I guess.

I just feel SO useless as a new player and very intimidated by the difficulty and all the things I don't know and understand. I will mine if I have to but I like blowing stuff up and I heard mining got a big nerf.

Is there something I'm missing big time or do I just need thousands of hours to "get it" ?? Is there a community chat server or other tools for guys like me? A lot of guides and videos seem just way over my head but I really want to enjoy what this game has to offer.

Thanks and greetings CMDR's!

Greetings Cmdr!

Lots of good info here by others so I'll just reiterate the important ones that helped me the most...

1. Never fly without rebuy! Make sure you can cover your ship's insurance before anything else, unless you enjoy flying free Sidewinders.

2. Join a squadron that you fancy. It makes things a lot less lonely.

3. This forum, Discord, and 3rd party tools like Inara will connect you with tons of other Cmdrs; the vast majority of us will be happy to help you with anything you find puzzling or frustrating. Some, like the esteemed Sir Ganksalot, will also be happy to show you the finer points of the deadlier arts as well as how to survive them.

4. Have fun! I personally don't play ED as if it were a credit machine. The credits and all that come with it (engineering, etc) will happen naturally as you simply do the things you enjoy within the game - exploring, trading, combat. Don't rush things, it's a lot more rewarding if you find a flow in the game that suits you; a lot of things and skills you see in other Cmdrs took them a long time to acquire, so enjoy the ride!

Welcome!

o7

 

[SlickPBW]

Welcome aboard, Commander!

A bunch of good advice above.

 

[tolm]

Finding a Squadron to join may well help get more of a community feel. I’ve been playing on PS4 for years but joined a Squadron a few months back and so wished I’d done it sooner!

Combat-wise, Viper MkIV was the first ship I started getting a feel for but I didn’t start having any real confidence with Combat until I started engineering my ships. Thermal Resist Shields, Long Range Beams (or Efficient if you’re tight on Power) along with Resist / Heavy Duty Boosters and Dirty Drives make a HUGE difference - even just at G3 levels - so I wholeheartedly recommend starting on that journey.

 

[tolm]

And Inara is practically essential!

 

[Esteban]

Welcome to the game, @Starshot_Jigawatts! I have to say, reading your post made me remember, no, actually FEEL, the feelings I had when I re-discovered this game and began again. Thanks! That felt really good, that feeling of - Wow this is really big, this is umm I don't know how to describe it yet.

Enjoy! I gotta go - I gotta play now!

 

[Starshot_Jigawatts]

Wow thanks everyone this is great stuff. I can't thank you enough.

Update: So I'm doing a lot better now. I go around belts collecting bounties and have slowly fitted up my ship. I know the Mark VI is a pig but I plan on flying bigger ships so it's good practice.

Something keeps happening though: Module damage. I have two modules that are supposed to protect from damage...but my lasers are CONSTANTLY malfunctioning in combat.

I just died because my laser malfunctioned and shot a cop's ship accidentally. I wasn't even on the trigger, they just shoot on their own? So when I tried to repair at a station, the cops killed me. Funny stuff actually LOL.

Should I give up hull tanking or is there a trick to stop this annoyance? A lot of videos said hull tanking the Mark IV was really great but I'm so sick of the constant module-malfunction spam.

Oh and also, my first Engineer contacted me out of the blue! I'll have to read up on all that, but pretty exciting.

Thanks so much, wow what a community. You guys are great.

 

[aRJay]

When they have absorbed their limit of damage the Module Reinforcements fail and more damage gets through to your other modules.

Modules can start malfunctioning when they are down to 90-80%.

Usually the only weapons that can shoot on their own are turrets.

Personally I try to put good shields onto my ships even the ones that can be hull tanked as well.

 

[Starshot_Jigawatts]

When they have absorbed their limit of damage the Module Reinforcements fail and more damage gets through to your other modules.

Modules can start malfunctioning when they are down to 90-80%.

Usually the only weapons that can shoot on their own are turrets.

Personally I try to put good shields onto my ships even the ones that can be hull tanked as well.

I have a good shield generator but I figured the less keys while learning combat the better and seeing as how boosters have to be activated/managed, I went for the hull mods. Maybe a mistake?

Okay this game is hooking me now. After dying I spawned at prison and saw Wolf 359 was a jump away. I love Star Trek the Next Generation so I had to check it out!!! I didn't find any Borg but I did find Sol!!! HOME!!! I assumed Sol was really far from the starting zone? Wish I had the permit though, darn. But still, wow, what a ride. No clue how I got here really lol but I'm loving the journey.

Love the resource links and stuff though guys, so nice it's really appreciated.

 

[Krieger]

NPCs always use dumbfire missiles on ships with their shields down (or no shields at all as in your case). Missiles do explosive damage that really hurts the external modules of a ship. Weapons are external modules as are utilities, thrusters, cargo hatch and even the cockpit afaik. In my view hull-tanking is not really an option anymore in PvE since the day Frontier buffed missiles. I like to use missiles myself though, a few good hits can reduce an opponent's firepower a lot.

 

[CMDR Jago Kain]

Shield boosters don't need any kind of activation or management. They passively increase the strength of your shield and the shield's resistance to damage. These are the ones that go in utility slots.

Shield cell banks (also called health potions) do need to be activated, and when triggered they restore a portion of your shield and cause a lot of extra heat which you need to have a plan for. These go in your optional internal slots.