12 jump Journey from Obambivas to LT 15574

[grammatonfeather]

As a relative noob to ED I've been studying it off and on over the past few months. One day I might watch videos and a few days later spend some time flying. I'd just been flying the default ship until last night when I decided I was going to become a bounty hunter after getting interdicted and losing my Sidewinder MK1 to a vastly superior craft.

I decided I would buy a Viper. I quickly learned that most of the starports in my area were out of stock (aftermath of black friday sales). I was told there might be a viper in stock 12 jumps away at LT 15574. I fueled up and started making the jumps. About half way I was getting low on fuel so needed to find a star port. There wasn't one within range! I had one more short jump left in fuel so decided I might as well make the jump just in case.

I was amazed to see a star port in the new system and with less than 1 bar left I was able to dock. I refueled and purchased a fuel scoop. I was able to make the remaining 7 jumps without issue to LT 15574.

I was pleased to see the Viper was actually in stock so I sold my existing bits and did a part exchange.

Fitted the viper with 2 gimballed multi-cannons and then jumped to a dense mining area nearby. I must say I liked the new cockpit. It's all so big with VR... Cockpit is more spacious and this ship makes a slightly different sound to the Sidewinder. I was weaving through an asteroid mining area when I noticed a battle going on. First target scanned was clean... second was WANTED so I took him on. He was destroyed within seconds. Immediately found second and third WANTEDs and took them out too. A fourth one started attacking so I jumped back to the star port and collected 3 bounties. Then off to sleep at 1:30am (much later than planned).

 

[Kicks]

+1. One of the nice things about Elite Dangerous is all the little personal stories such as this one.

However, one thing I do disagree with... you say that the Viper has a slightly different sound to a Sidewinder. Oh my! The Viper sounds like a Harley on crystal meth compared to the Sidewinder, and is all the better for it.

Where the Sidey whimpers with aplomb, the Viper growls with confidence. The Sidey banks like the little-engine-that-could, whereas the Viper turns your stomach inside out.

 

[grammatonfeather]

+1. One of the nice things about Elite Dangerous is all the little personal stories such as this one.

However, one thing I do disagree with... you say that the Viper has a slightly different sound to a Sidewinder. Oh my! The Viper sounds like a Harley on crystal meth compared to the Sidewinder, and is all the better for it.

Where the Sidey whimpers with aplomb, the Viper growls with confidence. The Sidey banks like the little-engine-that-could, whereas the Viper turns your stomach inside out.

You're right about the sound. I had the volume low last night and some vibration (cushion) so I wasn't getting the full effect.

 

[Ydiss]

It's amazing how epic these early days journeys felt. I remember my first week in beta and the first time I needed to travel for several jumps (same as you, it was to upgrade my Viper). It felt like a giant, grand task that I needed to plan and it took ages.

Same in the first week of gamma (the galaxy was reset and we had a new starting location). I went on an epic pilgrimage, seeking parts, finding trade routes and documenting my findings. It took such a long time and the journey felt like a huge undertaking.

I think it was about 80ly.

These days, I cover 200ly without blinking and I've travelled out 27.5k ly. My total ly distance travelled is well over 130kly. It's incredible how your perspective of scale changes over time.

 

[grammatonfeather]

It's amazing how epic these early days journeys felt. I remember my first week in beta and the first time I needed to travel for several jumps (same as you, it was to upgrade my Viper). It felt like a giant, grand task that I needed to plan and it took ages.

Same in the first week of gamma (the galaxy was reset and we had a new starting location). I went on an epic pilgrimage, seeking parts, finding trade routes and documenting my findings. It took such a long time and the journey felt like a huge undertaking.

I think it was about 80ly.

These days, I cover 200ly without blinking and I've travelled out 27.5k ly. My total ly distance travelled is well over 130kly. It's incredible how your perspective of scale changes over time.

Early steps versus seasoned explorer. Do you use exploration ship for really long distance? I should spend some time looking at the various ship specs today.

 

[Ydiss]

Early steps versus seasoned explorer. Do you use exploration ship for really long distance? I should spend some time looking at the various ship specs today.

Yes. I have an Asp Explorer that can jump 34ly, with an A6 fuel scoop (very fast scooping). It can do 1,000 ly in just under 30 minutes.

You don't need that though. The Hauler can be outfit to do 2kly (with a decent set of upgrades, that is, you can push it up to 35ly if you like), which makes a huge difference to your current limit.

This is a budget build Hauler Explorer...

http://coriolis.io/outfit/hauler/02D2D2A1D1D1D2C---2t-3u-.Iw19A===.Aw19A===

It's over 1m credits but that's because of the fuel scoop. It can actually go 156ly without refueling, so you could remove the scoop and just refuel. That's 215k credits total cost. To be fair, you'd probably not want a D class power plant with a fuel scoop (it's not got good heat management, which is essential for efficient scooping).

For a ship that can jump 35ly.

The only trouble is, if you want to fight in your Viper, you still need to do these long journeys if you want to get to a certain system. Until, at least, we get ship transfers.

All of this costs money, if course. So, to begin with, I recommend you get some capital first. Keep an eye out for combat CGs. If you can get over to one and spend a few hours handing in combat bonds (or bounties), you can get a sizeable amount of credits.

In the meanwhile, keep doing your thing. You can work all this out as you go. There's lots of fun to be had locally before you start to work out efficient travel options. But at least you know you can get a nice taxi for relatively cheap.

 

[grammatonfeather]

Yes. I have an Asp Explorer that can jump 34ly, with an A6 fuel scoop (very fast scooping). It can do 1,000 ly in just under 30 minutes.

You don't need that though. The Hauler can be outfit to do 2kly (with a decent set of upgrades, that is, you can push it up to 35ly if you like), which makes a huge difference to your current limit.

This is a budget build Hauler Explorer...

http://coriolis.io/outfit/hauler/02D2D2A1D1D1D2C---2t-3u-.Iw19A===.Aw19A===

It's over 1m credits but that's because of the fuel scoop. It can actually go 156ly without refueling, so you could remove the scoop and just refuel. That's 215k credits total cost. To be fair, you'd probably not want a D class power plant with a fuel scoop (it's not got good heat management, which is essential for efficient scooping).

For a ship that can jump 35ly.

The only trouble is, if you want to fight in your Viper, you still need to do these long journeys if you want to get to a certain system. Until, at least, we get ship transfers.

All of this costs money, if course. So, to begin with, I recommend you get some capital first. Keep an eye out for combat CGs. If you can get over to one and spend a few hours handing in combat bonds (or bounties), you can get a sizeable amount of credits.

In the meanwhile, keep doing your thing. You can work all this out as you go. There's lots of fun to be had locally before you start to work out efficient travel options. But at least you know you can get a nice taxi for relatively cheap.

Elite has a lot of hidden depth and complexity. 35ly is amazing. I will keep learning and exploring. It's a pain in ass having to hold down a life outside of elite and earn money/pay bills. Gets in the way.