Newcomer / Intro A brutal re-introduction

[Hector]

Good evening fellow Commanders

So I've finally come back to ED after years of absence... as in back when I last played you couldn't land on planets, Aliens weren't invading the bubble, Carriers weren't in every system and engineering didn't even exist! Heck the Corvettes and Cutters were only JUST coming onto the horizon as far as I remember last time I was in a cockpit.

At the moment I've a python (fitted for mining), about 400M credits sat in Omicron Capricorni and such a huge WALL of "things to do" between engineering, getting things ranked up, etc etc that frankly i just don't know WHERE to go! I'm not really in the mind set of "must farm max credits / hour" because doing that on your own can just kind of kill the joy (i think, unless you have a very specific goal of course!)

Ideally what i'd like to do is start working on Empire-related reputation to eventually fly those pretty Imperial ships (plus cannon-wise i like the Empire most out of the factions) but I really am all-at-sea when it comes to WHERE to go, etc. I'm up for doing ground missions, combat, trading, etc (and happy to do a variety of all) but I was hoping some one (or more than someones) could give advice as to which systems would be good to base myself out of, get the ball rolling etc with regards to it all.

One issue i've found trying to read up guides on ship building as well is everyone seems to assume you can engineer stuff... obviously I cannot (not even ENTIRELY sure yet the full scope and scale of that). So please bear that in mind if you want to throw some ship-advice my way (Last ships i flew in combat if i can remember correctly were the vulture and the FDL... though even with combat it seems thats changed a LOT since last I played missiles etc were basically considered a complete waste and effectively your ideal combat build was just lasers plus MC's with as many shield bank cells as you could fit to keep regenerating!)

Fly Safe,

CMDR Hector

 

[metatheurgist]

Park yourself in Empire space and just start doing whatever interests you. Everything you do there will gain Rep and get you progress towards those ship unlocks. If you take a wide variety of tasks that will also get you some progress towards engineer unlocks.

 

[Jack Winter]

If you do combat, fit a collector limpet controller and bring some limpets to the fight to pick up materials that you'll need for engineering. Also scan as many ships as you can as that action can drop mats, also fit a wake scanner and scan wakes as you leave a station while doing other stuff.

And yes do whatever you want in imperial space, much of it will go towards your imperial rank.

If you need more credits you could trade or go exploring.

 

[SlickPBW]

Don’t grind unless you like it because many people burn out this way. Do what you like and take small detours when the opportunity presents itself to gather engineering materials.

Scan every ship you see, no matter what else you are doing. This will eventually fill a large fraction of data materials that you will need for engineering.

If any engineering mat gets full, visit a material trader and trade some to the higher value ones.

Fit a collector limpet to your bounty hunting ships and use them to gather mats after sploding bad guys.

Scan every system you enter, even if only by honking. This will provide a small easy income.

Sign up for any power play faction. Use their info tab to see what their special module is and pick one that you like. After 3 weeks, gain level 3 and buy as many as you think you will ever want. Then defect to another power. In ~11 months you can have a career supply of all the PP modules.


That should keep you busy and not bored and set you up for the next big steps.

Cheers and welcome back.

 

[aRJay]

Welcome back.

When looking at guides etc keep in mind the huge changes that have occurred in the game so check how recently they were produced or edited as there are a lot of them that are out of date.

 

[Rhialto]

Welcome back.
Gimballed lasers and multi cannons will still get you a long way into combat.
If you get more advanced, you can try fixed weapons. (Frag cannons, plasma accelerators) Difficult to get on target, but more damage.
Also try learning to manoeuvre with flight assist off, (set a key binding for that, so you can switch quickly) so your Python will turn faster.
There are a lot of recent Youtube tutorials to help you on your way.
Odyssey ground missions are a completely different thing, but they are fun if you get the hang of it.

 

[Ashnak]

Unless you get into engineering, stay well away form the Thargoid areas (you can see them on the GalMap with the corresponding filters). There are nice, high-rep, non-combat missions to be had with evacuating passengers from attacked stations (and, if you have Odyssey, ground bases) - but if you want to pull these off with a non-engineered ship, they'll get really tough.

For starters, yes - fly missions in Imp space. You'll get more variety if you just go where the missions lead you, but you'll get more profitable missions (for money, reputation or materials) if you stick to one (or a few) systems and work on maximizing your reputation with the local factions first.

Odyssey: the add-on (DLC) which added landing on slightly atmospheric planets, space suits, a second set of engineers (and matching materials) and walking around outside of your ship. Including missions on the ground.

Engineering: the usual starting place is Felicity Farseer. She is one of the known engineers you can see directly on your right side HUD. That also means that, besides basically every new player, also a lot of bottomfeeders congregate at her place. So unless you like to PvP little kids, I'd suggest you go to her place in solo mode.

Materials: what the engineers want in order to make modifications to your ship. The true currency in ED, as materials (mats) for the ship engineers (it's different with the on-foot engineers) can't be bought or sold, you'll have to collect them yourself. They come in three varieties: data (from scanning stuff), manufactured (pick them up from destroyed ships or signal sources) and raw (collect them on planetary surfaces). There are material traders (each one limited to one of those groups of material) which will let you exchange different materials - at an extortionate exchange rate.

Guardians: you might remember those - the old antagonists of the Thargoids. They left behind some interesting and not-quite-dead-yet ruins, from which you can collect other data and materials which can get you specific enhanced ship modules. If it's still active, the old Ram Tah (another engineer) mission can be a good introduction.

Powerplay: don't know if that was still around when you last played - but there are a number of galactic powers (i.e. people - like politicians). If you pledge to them, stay for long enough and collect brownie points (called "merits"), you are allowed to vote on how they're going to move in their power struggle (like a communal game of Risk) and will get access to specific enhanced ship modules.

Ah yes - if you have Odyssey, a current money earner can be exploration. Scan a system, scan a planet, then get down on foot and scan the, ... well, call it "plants" on these planets. If you do a first discovery, that stuff is worth a lot of money. Also, classic exploration data (sold at cartographics) is also a very good way to gain reputation with the leading faction in a station.

 

[nemolomen]

Don’t grind unless you like it because many people burn out this way. Do what you like and take small detours when the opportunity presents itself to gather engineering materials.

@Hector I can't emphasize this enough. Grinding for whatever (materials, money, etc...) does have its uses, but it is very, very boring. I have only done it a few times and the last time was quite a while ago now.

I've been playing for about 3.5 years, nearly every day, and I have 4900+ hours in game at this point. I have not yet unlocked all of the engineers, ships, etc. I have not yet done all activities/missions that this game has to offer. I do many different activities and just take my time playing. I'm not racing to the end. I really like the experience that this game offers to the point that its the only game I play.

But really it all comes down to what YOUR goals are.

 

[Hector]

Thank you all for the plethora of information!
I have... i wanna say maybe 2 follow up questions/opinions i'd like to ask people of.

1- Is there a site/tool where you can search for systems in accordance with affiliation AND missions on offer? I ask because i know there are levels of difficulty and I don't want to jump straight into the higher level difficulties EVEN if I was flying a ship capable of operating those missions.

2- In your accumulated opinions, 1, are there particular ships & setups that are better for combat, etc etc? To be clear I'm not referring to e.g. a Type 7 VS FDL for combat because that would be insane... I am more referring to e.g. FDL VS Kraite 2, etc.

I fully intend to acquire ships for specific purposes (e.g. I have the Python already for mining), I will ideally get a separate ship for trading, combat and exploration/bio work (which reminds me i need to look into THAT as an avenue as well it seems!)

I already have 1 of each of the 3 different types of suits and weapons for ground combat VS exploration and I need to now look at flying equivalents. Ideally I'll operate out of a single system and just branch out into the different things as times goes by.

Thoughts?

CMDR Hector

 

[aRJay]

Thank you all for the plethora of information!
I have... i wanna say maybe 2 follow up questions/opinions i'd like to ask people of.

1- Is there a site/tool where you can search for systems in accordance with affiliation AND missions on offer? I ask because i know there are levels of difficulty and I don't want to jump straight into the higher level difficulties EVEN if I was flying a ship capable of operating those missions.

2- In your accumulated opinions, 1, are there particular ships & setups that are better for combat, etc etc?

Yes, but there are many opinions as to what those ships are and even more as to what the setup should be. A lot of it is down to how you like to fly and fight.

To be clear I'm not referring to e.g. a Type 7 VS FDL for combat because that would be insane... I am more referring to e.g. FDL VS Kraite 2, etc.

For combat I use the following depending on mood.

• FdL either all laser or all multicannon builds.
• Mamba lasers and multicannon these two ships are quite similar in many respects the FdL was an old favourite but the Mamba with all the guns on the top has taken over.
• Krait mk2 because it has a fighter.
• Alliance Chieftain, the other two are AX ships currently
• Federal Corvette.

I fully intend to acquire ships for specific purposes (e.g. I have the Python already for mining), I will ideally get a separate ship for trading, combat and exploration/bio work (which reminds me i need to look into THAT as an avenue as well it seems!)

The Krait Phantom is an excellent exploration ship though not ideal for exobiology work due to its landing footprint. As I am doing exobiology and have the advantage of a carrier I am exploring in a Hauler.

I already have 1 of each of the 3 different types of suits and weapons for ground combat VS exploration and I need to now look at flying equivalents. Ideally I'll operate out of a single system and just branch out into the different things as times goes by.

Thoughts?

CMDR Hector

 

[Hector]

Yes, but there are many opinions as to what those ships are and even more as to what the setup should be. A lot of it is down to how you like to fly and fight.

Aye i figured as much (there are too many factors for there to be a be-all and end-all for best ship etc) but i was hoping with enough opinions I could narrow it down at least.

• FdL either all laser or all multicannon builds.
• Mamba lasers and multicannon these two ships are quite similar in many respects the FdL was an old favourite but the Mamba with all the guns on the top has taken over.
• Krait mk2 because it has a fighter.
• Alliance Chieftain, the other two are AX ships currently
• Federal Corvette.

See i won't lie, there is something about the FDL that just doesn't sit "right" with me! Not sure what it is but i've never really enjoyed flying a FDL. Is fighter management a pain in the ass if you're working solo or is it ok? I assume you can "buy" NPC fighter pilots? Furthermore, is it considered a waste to NOT have fighters then in a Krait 2?

Unfortunately both the Alliance Chieftain and the Corvette require reputations that I just don't have (plus the corvette is ruinously expensive to outfit compared to the cash i have to play with)

Also why all MC's/lasers? Is it not best to mix energy and kinetic weapons? Do people bother using missiles/torpedoes or are they still a dead system?

The Krait Phantom is an excellent exploration ship though not ideal for exobiology work due to its landing footprint. As I am doing exobiology and have the advantage of a carrier I am exploring in a Hauler.

For exploration are not the ASPs and the Diamondbacks still the ships of choice? Is it just a case that with engineering and carriers you can now basically fly whatever you enjoy rather than what can actually perform at its best for that role? For Exobiology i was considering something relatively small & fast with the best FSD and fuel scoop i could cram into its frame.

 

[Kayvan]

1- Is there a site/tool where you can search for systems in accordance with affiliation AND missions on offer? I ask because i know there are levels of difficulty and I don't want to jump straight into the higher level difficulties EVEN if I was flying a ship capable of operating those missions.

There are plenty of 3rd party sites. The most important one these days is https://inara.cz - here you can find almost everything, like where to buy certain modules, ships or commodities, which systems belong to which faction and so forth.
Another useful one is https://cmdrs-toolbox.com/ particularly for finding engineering materials, guardian stuff (Guardians are the "good aliens", they seem to be extinct but there are still plenty of ruins you can farm for their technology), route planning etc. There also are sample ship builds but those aren't necessarily optimal.

2- In your accumulated opinions, 1, are there particular ships & setups that are better for combat, etc etc? To be clear I'm not referring to e.g. a Type 7 VS FDL for combat because that would be insane... I am more referring to e.g. FDL VS Kraite 2, etc.

By and large, the FDL still seems to be the meta ship for PVP, but otherwise there's no reason to fly it if you don't like it.
These days a lot of people love the Krait MkII for combat. It's fast, heavily armed, has plenty of power, can even carry a fighter; personally however I find it too sluggish as you basically have to boost to make it turn.
My personal favourite for PVE combat is the Chieftain; fast, agile, plenty of firepower; only downside is that the distributor is a bit small for the amount of hardpoints it has, so careful power management is required... that, and engineering. Loads and loads of engineering.

Most important engineering modules:

• Power plant: go Armoured. This gives you more power and efficiency. Only in very rare cases should Overcharged be necessary.
• Thrusters: Dirty drive tuning with Drag Drive experimental. Best speed and agility. Don't worry about the thermal load, it's negligible.
• Power distributors: Charge Enhanced
• FSD: always Increased Range; and iirc everything with a class 5 or larger FSD will benefit most from Mass Manager.
• for weapons, it depends on your preferences and playstyle.

I fully intend to acquire ships for specific purposes (e.g. I have the Python already for mining), I will ideally get a separate ship for trading, combat and exploration/bio work (which reminds me i need to look into THAT as an avenue as well it seems!)

Smart. ^^
For exploration and anything travel-related, I recommend the Krait Phantom. It's super fast, has great internals, and one of the best potential jump ranges in the game, while still being medium-sized and reasonably easy to land on rugged terrain. It beats the AspX by almost every metric (which however still remains one of the top 4 explorers in the galaxy).

If it's been that long since you last played, you probably had to grind quite a bit for your 400M. Nowadays credits are cheap as chips. Even without running any of those optimized credit-farming loops you can make a boatload of money with a wide variety of activities. So don't be afraid to buy and try new ships. ^^

 

[Hector]

If it's been that long since you last played, you probably had to grind quite a bit for your 400M. Nowadays credits are cheap as chips. Even without running any of those optimized credit-farming loops you can make a boatload of money with a wide variety of activities. So don't be afraid to buy and try new ships. ^^

Ain't THAT the truth! I spent weeks on end trading (later smuggling when it became illegal) slaves ijn an Anaconda. By comparison I made 100M in a few hrs of mining so it does seem like the value of the credit has deflated some-what.

My personal favourite for PVE combat is the Chieftain; fast, agile, plenty of firepower; only downside is that the distributor is a bit small for the amount of hardpoints it has, so careful power management is required... that, and engineering. Loads and loads of engineering.

Aye you're not the only one to say Chieftain, its a pity i don't have the rep for that ship unfortunately. I wish i could but it doesn't seem to be viable for me at this stage. I am also definitely NOT a PvPer.... i don't have the reaction times etc to be able to fight other players unfortunately (or the innate skills unfortunately).

• Power plant: go Armoured. This gives you more power and efficiency. Only in very rare cases should Overcharged be necessary.
• Thrusters: Dirty drive tuning with Drag Drive experimental. Best speed and agility. Don't worry about the thermal load, it's negligible.
• Power distributors: Charge Enhanced
• FSD: always Increased Range; and iirc everything with a class 5 or larger FSD will benefit most from Mass Manager.
• for weapons, it depends on your preferences and playstyle.

Thank you for the list, I'll have to try and figure out HOW to work towards this list eventually!

 

[Kayvan]

Chieftain doesn't require any rep, you can just buy it in many alliance systems - and ofc at Jameson Memorial.
You're probably confusing it with the Federal Assault Ship, which does have a rank grind and is actually a bit worse than the Chief for most applications.

As for engineers, your first stop should be Felicity Farseer in the Deciat system, but it's advised not to go there in Open as it's often besieged by griefers. She'll send you on an errand to the Pleiades anyway.

 

[Ashnak]

1- Is there a site/tool where you can search for systems in accordance with affiliation AND missions on offer?

No. The missions on offer are updated every ten minutes or so, and will vary according to your reputation with the offering party and their internal state. Since all external sites rely on crowd sourced (i.e. imported from players) data, it would be a futile attempt to keep up with missions. The data inflow is barely/not even (depends on who you ask) sufficient to keep track of market prices. If you want to help with updating the common database (there are pros and cons to it), you can do so by running one of the data uploader apps like EDDiscovery or EDMarketConnector while playing.
Otherwise, yes - inara.cz is currently the tool of choice.

are there particular ships & setups that are better for combat

You bet there are. Unfortunately, none of my builds will be of any help to you until you've maxed out the applicable engineers. But yes, my favourites are:

• Viper MK.III for missions requiring less-than-legal datat acquisitions or discrete power failures. Not built for any ship-to-ship combat
• Vulture for anything that requires a small and combat capable ship that can deal with the occasional NPC Anaconda trying to steal my mugs.
• DBX for piracy ("liberate", "acquire",...) missions
• Krait Phantom for passenger evacuation missions
• Krait Mk.II for general fighting around and missions requiring to take care of would-be competitors. Includes a fighter bay.
• Mamba (don't like the FdL) for combat zones
• Corvette for the occasional heavy assassination mission (but tbh, most of them will be done with the Krait Mk.II - the 'vette was more of an open-capable cargo shuttle before I acquired the Cutter)

Another DBX for exobiology/exploration. I tried a Krait Phantom first, but turned around after a few thousand ly and outfittted the DBX instead. The Phantom has a better ratin of fuel scoop to FSD, but the DBX can land on a towel. When I am looking for biologicals, I can ususally land the DBX right in their middle, where the Phantm will often require a long-ish trek over heavy terrain.

 

[SteveWW57]

The Dolphin is an interesting explorer. Runs cool, small footprint, jumps long, inexpensive. 7 class 2 or better slots, can fit a class 5 fuel scoop!

Steve

 

[Ashnak]

She'll send you on an errand to the Pleiades anyway.

Although nowadays, you'll find some scalpers in carriers around Felicity's place (or can get the required item for free, if you ask around here nicely and can coordinate with other players).

 

[Ashnak]

The Dolphin is an interesting explorer. Runs cool, small footprint, jumps long, inexpensive. 7 class 2 or better slots, can fit a class 5 fuel scoop!

Steve

The only downside is when you want to do exobiology - you just can't see where you're landing.

 

[aRJay]

Aye i figured as much (there are too many factors for there to be a be-all and end-all for best ship etc) but i was hoping with enough opinions I could narrow it down at least.



See i won't lie, there is something about the FDL that just doesn't sit "right" with me! Not sure what it is but i've never really enjoyed flying a FDL.

Try the Mamba then similar fire power to the FdL flies faster and turns differently and with all the weapons on top easier to bring them all to bear when in close.

Is fighter management a pain in the ass if you're working solo or is it ok? I assume you can "buy" NPC fighter pilots? Furthermore, is it considered a waste to NOT have fighters than in a Krait 2?

You can hire NPC fighter pilots in various ranks, they take a cut based on their starting rank of any money you make from then on and take half your combat XP every time you use them in a fight. They get more useful the higher ranked they are and rank up as you use them, but their %cut increases as you rank them up so the lower starting rank the cheaper they will be.

When they become high ranked they can do very well for you in a fight rather than just being a distraction. Though that can be dependent on the fighter fitted.
There is a bug at the moment where clean ships shoot at you while trying to scan which can lead to your fighter counterattacking and you becoming wanted.

It is a benefit to have a fighter but not having one isn’t really a waste, they are easy to manage in whatever mode.

Unfortunately both the Alliance Chieftain and the Corvette require reputations that I just don't have (plus the corvette is ruinously expensive to outfit compared to the cash i have to play with)

The Alliance ships are not rank locked, it is only the Federal ships and Imperial ones that are.

Yes the Corvette is way beyond your budget but it is surprisingly fun to fly no matter what you are doing though it’s jump range isn’t great if you want to travel a long way fast.

Also why all MC's/lasers? Is it not best to mix energy and kinetic weapons? Do people bother using missiles/torpedoes or are they still a dead system?

I built an all laser boat because I got fed up reloading and as I had two FdL I decided to go all MC on the other, the laser boat burns through the shields in no time but is slower finishing off the hull the MC boat is the other way round but I find both fun. A mix should be quicker.
Torpedos are a pain as you only have a couple of shots before you are out of ammo, missiles aren’t dead but are quite niche.

For exploration are not the ASPs and the Diamondbacks still the ships of choice? Is it just a case that with engineering and carriers you can now basically fly whatever you enjoy rather than what can actually perform at its best for that role? For Exobiology i was considering something relatively small & fast with the best FSD and fuel scoop i could cram into its frame.

The Krait Phantom is up there with the AspX and Diamondback performance wise and has more room for stuff, personally I think the DBX is a ship that performs really well but for some reason I don’t enjoy it, the size of fuel scoop it can fit relative to its tank size means it can take a long time to fill up which doesn’t help. The AspX is a great ship it was my do everything ship from leaving the Cobra to getting a Python and FdL but the engine noise gets annoying for me.

Yes that is why I am using a Hauler for exobiology and exploration small enough to land almost anywhere so I don’t need to lug an SRV around 50Ly ish range in fast mode and can go 500Ly easily in economic jumping mode without scooping.

 

[SteveWW57]

There is no perfect ship, just those that suit your preferences. Every build has positives and negatives.

Steve