Once you get into the ASP X, there is a way to fairly easily earn 30 million credits per hour, rising to 40 million when you become allied with the factions if you don't mind doing passenger missions taking criminal masterminds on sight seeing expeditions. About 2 and a half hours and you have fully fitted Phantom money. The ASP X is also good for mining earning a similar sum, but that takes some learning to get right. Alternatively you can keep doing road to riches exploration for around 10 million an hour or see what source and deliver cargo missions you can take using the bigger cargo hold for the ASP X
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Newcomer / Intro My Return to ED ......
- Thread starter Wombat1940
- Start date
Well yeah. There's only 1 galaxy. Ok to be clear there are a couple others visible but we can't fly there. The Milky Way is it. Only some 4 billion stars. Maybe we won't run out very soon.
Is that 4 billion in the Elite Dangerous Milky Way simulation?
Most sources say between 100 billion and 400 billion stars are in the real Milky Way.
This is not intended as a criticism of any advice you are receiving, and is not intended to be insulting to those giving it... 
The journey is the thing. We were discussing yesterday that after a while the game can become stale, and it can because with respect the activities are shallow and repetitive. My typical example is that once you know how to destroy a pirate lord that part of the game is over because every pirate lord is exactly the same.
I would advise very strongly not going down the road of trying to earn x credits per hour, because at that point the game has become a job. Easy for me to say I suppose since I have many billions of credits, but remember I've been playing a while. And one of the reasons I have billions of credits is because there's nothing to spend them on. I personally like small or medium ships, so buying and outfitting a new ship costs very little and the credits it takes are re-made before I know it. So do activities that you really want to do and the credits will flow anyway. Most activities pay very well. I have never needed to farm credits - the only farming I ever did was going to biological sites to farm grade four materials which I did once or twice and that was the least fun I've had in the game by a long shot.
If you are interested in exploration, I'd recommend exploring for yourself, not exploring a known route. You don't have to go that far, a couple of thousand light years from the bubble and you are on your own, completely virgin systems everywhere. Scan them, map them and they will forever have your CMDR name next to them in the system map - nobody will ever see it, the galaxy is vast and less than 1% explored. And by the way, the Asp Explorer is actually a very good exploration ship. You'd never guess it from the name. I got to Elite in exploration in mine. I do now also have a Phantom, which jumps maybe 4 or so Ly more, but that's only really important if a) you want to reach systems a long way away or b) when you are doing the last few thousand Ly back home to sell your data.
And exploration pays fine. I did a short trip recently to test out Odyssey, maybe a week or so, and not many hours played at a time and I got over 250 million credits, and I wasn't trying! Didn't even scan whole systems, just went for cherry picking for the first time in years to prove to myself how easy it is with the FSS, mapped only ELW's, WW's and Ammonia worlds, and those only if they weren't too far out... Do it properly, scan all the high value high metal content worlds, scan whole systems for the bonus, scan only unscanned systems (they will be your first discoveries and give more bonuses), map valuable bodies... Learn how to use the FSS effectively, it's not hard, map bodies with less than the recommended probes and get bonuses... And after that you'll know whether you enjoy exploration or not, and you'll probably be Elite in exploration also.
Anyway, that's my suggestion, and it's a suggestion only. ED is a game, you're supposed to play it for fun, and IMHO if credits or ranks or a particular ship, or a fleet carrier or whatever becomes the reason you're playing it I'd suggest frustration and burnout, not to mention resentment when FD nerf something that you felt was helping you get somewhere quickly will be the end result.
Lecture over - now go and have some fun.
The journey is the thing. We were discussing yesterday that after a while the game can become stale, and it can because with respect the activities are shallow and repetitive. My typical example is that once you know how to destroy a pirate lord that part of the game is over because every pirate lord is exactly the same.
I would advise very strongly not going down the road of trying to earn x credits per hour, because at that point the game has become a job. Easy for me to say I suppose since I have many billions of credits, but remember I've been playing a while. And one of the reasons I have billions of credits is because there's nothing to spend them on. I personally like small or medium ships, so buying and outfitting a new ship costs very little and the credits it takes are re-made before I know it. So do activities that you really want to do and the credits will flow anyway. Most activities pay very well. I have never needed to farm credits - the only farming I ever did was going to biological sites to farm grade four materials which I did once or twice and that was the least fun I've had in the game by a long shot.
If you are interested in exploration, I'd recommend exploring for yourself, not exploring a known route. You don't have to go that far, a couple of thousand light years from the bubble and you are on your own, completely virgin systems everywhere. Scan them, map them and they will forever have your CMDR name next to them in the system map - nobody will ever see it, the galaxy is vast and less than 1% explored. And by the way, the Asp Explorer is actually a very good exploration ship. You'd never guess it from the name.
I got to Elite in exploration in mine. I do now also have a Phantom, which jumps maybe 4 or so Ly more, but that's only really important if a) you want to reach systems a long way away or b) when you are doing the last few thousand Ly back home to sell your data. And exploration pays fine. I did a short trip recently to test out Odyssey, maybe a week or so, and not many hours played at a time and I got over 250 million credits, and I wasn't trying! Didn't even scan whole systems, just went for cherry picking for the first time in years to prove to myself how easy it is with the FSS, mapped only ELW's, WW's and Ammonia worlds, and those only if they weren't too far out... Do it properly, scan all the high value high metal content worlds, scan whole systems for the bonus, scan only unscanned systems (they will be your first discoveries and give more bonuses), map valuable bodies... Learn how to use the FSS effectively, it's not hard, map bodies with less than the recommended probes and get bonuses...
And after that you'll know whether you enjoy exploration or not, and you'll probably be Elite in exploration also.Anyway, that's my suggestion, and it's a suggestion only. ED is a game, you're supposed to play it for fun, and IMHO if credits or ranks or a particular ship, or a fleet carrier or whatever becomes the reason you're playing it I'd suggest frustration and burnout, not to mention resentment when FD nerf something that you felt was helping you get somewhere quickly will be the end result.
Lecture over - now go and have some fun.
I whole heartedly agree you shouldn't spend a great deal of time "farming" credits or engineering materials doing something repetitive and boring. It's just a suggestion if you want to remove credits as a barrier to a particular ship which you can get in a small number of hours doing one particular activity. Doing the Robigo Mines - Sothis Sirius Atmospherics passenger run is fun for an hour or two - especially when you're not yet allied with all the factions and you get chased and interdicted due to the "Illegal Passengers" you are carrying.
I want to play with an Imperial Cutter at some point, but need another 500 million credits to buy it at the right spec with credits to spare. I could do the Robigo passenger run (from Hauser's Reach) in an Anaconda for 80 million credits an hour for how ever many hours (Edit: used to use a shield-less Python for this, but sold it), but I'm tired of that circuit now. I will just wait until the credits accumulate naturally doing other fun stuff and the Cutter can wait until later. I'm not in a rush to get it.
(Edit 2: when I arrived in Colonia in a Phantom outfitted for exploration, I had about 730 million credits. There are a few different ships I could have bought with that, but I bought another Krait II for around 165 million because I can do a bit of everything including combat in this one ship. It's not a top money maker - a bigger cargo hold on something like an Anaconda is needed for that. But then, Colonia is not the best place in the galaxy to make money. Trading profits aren't great here, core mining is OK but not the most profitable and I only like mining in small doses anyway. It is a great base for exploration, though.)
I want to play with an Imperial Cutter at some point, but need another 500 million credits to buy it at the right spec with credits to spare. I could do the Robigo passenger run (from Hauser's Reach) in an Anaconda for 80 million credits an hour for how ever many hours (Edit: used to use a shield-less Python for this, but sold it), but I'm tired of that circuit now. I will just wait until the credits accumulate naturally doing other fun stuff and the Cutter can wait until later. I'm not in a rush to get it.
(Edit 2: when I arrived in Colonia in a Phantom outfitted for exploration, I had about 730 million credits. There are a few different ships I could have bought with that, but I bought another Krait II for around 165 million because I can do a bit of everything including combat in this one ship. It's not a top money maker - a bigger cargo hold on something like an Anaconda is needed for that. But then, Colonia is not the best place in the galaxy to make money. Trading profits aren't great here, core mining is OK but not the most profitable and I only like mining in small doses anyway. It is a great base for exploration, though.)
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Sorry. Don't we mean there is one Universe and millions of Galaxies, Sol being one of them?
However, quoting Wikipedia: "The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy."
Now I'm confused .......
Are they suggesting Stars and Galaxies exist separately?
I thought Galaxies included a set number of Stars and numerous Planets (and other things).
Sorry. Don't we mean there is one Universe and millions of Galaxies, Sol being one of them?
Sol is a solar system within a galaxy - the Milky Way galaxy that is where we exist in real life and is our game world in ED. There are 400 billion solar systems in this galaxy. There are I believe billions of galaxies in the universe... (I'm not an expert.)
Now I'm even more confused.
Faded talks about billions of Galaxies, but Codger talks about only one ........ You've introduced a new term: Solar System ......
Would be nice if somebody could sort out the terms: Universe, Galaxies, Stars, Planets (and now Solar Systems) and how they all fit together.
And let's forget about ED initially and what it includes.
Let's talk about the real Universe and I think we all agree there is only one of those.
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OK.....
We live on a planet. Planets orbit stars. The star and planets make a solar system.
In the game Sol is our own solar system.
The one galaxy in the game is our own galaxy, the Milky Way, made up of roughly 400 billion stars (solar systems).
There are trillions of other galaxies in the universe.
The universe contains everything.
We live on a planet. Planets orbit stars. The star and planets make a solar system.
In the game Sol is our own solar system.
The one galaxy in the game is our own galaxy, the Milky Way, made up of roughly 400 billion stars (solar systems).
There are trillions of other galaxies in the universe.
The universe contains everything.
Have you seriously not heard of these things?
Ok, I can go along with that.This is not intended as a criticism of any advice you are receiving, and is not intended to be insulting to those giving it...
The journey is the thing. We were discussing yesterday that after a while the game can become stale, and it can because with respect the activities are shallow and repetitive. My typical example is that once you know how to destroy a pirate lord that part of the game is over because every pirate lord is exactly the same.
Ok, but my aim will be to find ways to earn credits quickly (hence my wish to go to a Foundation controlled location to take advantage of their generously funded (or so I'm told) missions). Once I've earned sufficient credits to buy what I want, whether it be a Hauler, DBX, ASP X, or a Phantom I will stop doing missions.
My primary aim in terms of exploration will be twofold:If you are interested in exploration, I'd recommend exploring for yourself, not exploring a known route. You don't have to go that far, a couple of thousand light years from the bubble and you are on your own, completely virgin systems everywhere. Scan them, map them and they will forever have your CMDR name next to them in the system map - nobody will ever see it, the galaxy is vast and less than 1% explored. And by the way, the Asp Explorer is actually a very good exploration ship. You'd never guess it from the name.
(a) Explore thoroughly areas close to "home". The location of "home" is yet to be determined, but it won't be Sol. I won't care who has been there before me, what it's named after, and the thought of venturing to unexplored locations and have them named after me just offends me.
(b) To visit Sol (whatever you want to call it: Galaxy, Solar System, ........
) and go and see the Earth.After that ...... who knows ....... the sky's the limit
This is all about earning credits by deliberate means or otherwise. I'm not interested ......
No problems, except for the bonuses. They can keep those.map valuable bodies... Learn how to use the FSS effectively, it's not hard, map bodies with less than the recommended probes and get bonuses...
Well, as you will now understand, I am unlikely to get "frustrated and burnt out" because of the reasons you suggest and what I've written above.
Thank you ....... fear not ....... I most certainly will.Lecture over - now go and have some fun.
And in all seriousness, thank you for your contribution. It has helped me sort out some of my feelings and for that, I am extremely grateful.
Good post.
I could have written most of it. As soon as anyone starts talking about credits per hour I skip the rest.
Wombat, Sol is a solar system. You live in it. Ah, what does it matter. Have fun!
To clarify, missions for Federation factions will earn you reputation with them - enough reputation get's you a rank promotion - 3 promotions and you get the permit to be allowed to go to the Sol system (our solar system) and see Earth. If you are determined to see Earth, there will come a point where you might want to focus on Federation reputation gain and rank advancement and the best place for that happens to be close to the Robigo system. Come back to this when you're ready.
The fairly quick means of earning credits after you've used the Hauler and DBX to do "road to riches" plus your own exploration and sold the data, is using an ASP X with passenger cabins and doing the passenger sight seeing missions from Robigo Mines to Sothis. That will get you Phantom money quite quickly at which point earning credits is not that relevant to your exploration goals.
Engineering the ship then starts to be the focus unless you'll take what you can get jump range wise off the shelf so to speak.
The alternative is worse.Damn. I wish I knew that 30 years ago.
Mission rewards (pay) are affected and improved by your reputation with the minor faction giving the mission. So just aim to get allied reputation with some factions in a system and you will then be offered the best rewards possible for missions of the ranks that you are offered. Yes, missions have a rank associated with them, higher ranked missions give higher rewards, BUT - they can also be more challenging to complete and if enemies are sent against you these are determined by the rank of the mission.
Superpowers are not relevant when it comes to rewards, but they are when it comes to gaining superpower ranks, and since you want to visit Sol, you should indeed do missions for Federation aligned minor factions as they will contribute towards getting Federation superpower rank up missions which you will need to become a Petty Officer with the Federation which will get you the Sol permit... Phew, it's all simple really.
Why?
This will limit you greatly when it comes to exploring. When you find an unexplored system, even if you don't map it, you will at least get your name added for finding the star when you sell your data.
That seems to echo what Quain has been telling me (well, I think it doesMission rewards (pay) are affected and improved by your reputation with the minor faction giving the mission. So just aim to get allied reputation with some factions in a system and you will then be offered the best rewards possible for missions of the ranks that you are offered. Yes, missions have a rank associated with them, higher ranked missions give higher rewards, BUT - they can also be more challenging to complete and if enemies are sent against you these are determined by the rank of the mission.
Superpowers are not relevant when it comes to rewards, but they are when it comes to gaining superpower ranks, and since you want to visit Sol, you should indeed do missions for Federation aligned minor factions as they will contribute towards getting Federation superpower rank up missions which you will need to become a Petty Officer with the Federation which will get you the Sol permit... Phew, it's all simple really.
). So that is encouraging.I have to say, I am following his direction, and that in no way meant to offend anybody else offering me advice.
It just makes it a lot simpler for me.
If I fail, so be it. I won't be blaming anybody, particularly not Quain.
I'll just put it down to experience, having had a lot of fun.