Heya fellows
I'm CMDR Freeman, a 38 year old space monkey from Sweden and I want to share my struggle to 2 billion credits, I consider myself a casual player.
Me like anyone else started in a Sidewinder. Fresh to the game I didn't have a clue what I was doing, I didnt know the difference between supercruise and FSD, I sat for hours trying to get to a system to hand in a mission. I got interdicted and killed several times and I didnt know why.
After a few days like that I thought to myself "Goosh what a tedious game" and stopped playing for 1 week or 2.
After browsing wonderful communities like the Frontier forums and youtube I found out I had done everything wrong. Now however I was ready to go again, but this time with some tips and tricks on my shoulders. I played the game pretty much everyday between 1 and 5 hours, depending on work and family.
After 2 month in game my wife bought me a HOTAS, the Saitek X-55 Rhino and I was in love for real this time.
I've never been a real fan of combat, that doesnt mean I would not pick a fight if I feel needed to, but I simply prefer running passangers, cargo or information from point a to b.
This is pretty much how my progression looked like
SIDEWINDER: Started in a Sidewinder and after some noob errors, confusion and lots and lots of practice I manage to move on to a new ship.
HAULER: Nice little ship, fast but small and fragile I was beginning to make some small payouts on a steady basis. During this time I still had problems surviving interdictions, I forgot to ask for landing permissions and got blown up inside the station with the cargo. But hey, at least I knew the back and front of my own ship by then [where is it]. During my time in the Hauler I noticed you could upgrade your ship *DOH*. After quite some time on the mission board and some cargo runs I was able to move up again.
ADDER: I really didnt feel any change from the hauler except that the engine sound and cockpit looked different, but an upgrade is an upgrade nevertheless. For me the Adder was just a stopover but at that time I didnt know it. During this time I looked alot on Elite Dangerous fan pages and got to notice the Imperial ships, the Federal ships were nice aswell, but like I said, I'm not a fan of combat. I really liked the sleek luxurious design. But noticed that the imperial systems was far away in a ship like the Adder, believe I tried, but I didnt know about the fuel scoop at that time. Anyway, I finally made my first million credits and it was time to move up again.
Type-6: The Type-6 was actually the first ship I liked, it had longer jump capability and could carry twice the cargo compere to the Adder and at the same time it had decent performance. Now I'm in the big league, or so I thought, then to my surprise people on the Frontier forums talked about buying the Python etc. And I almost got depressed when I saw the price on that thing. I actually spent quite a while in the Type-6 but eventually when I had the credits and was tired on the Type-6 it was time to move up again, but this time I had money over after I bought the new ship due to the fact that I almost lost my ship because I had about 60 credits more then the actual insurance cost.
ASP EXPLORER: Lakon Spaceways can really make ships, this one was awesome, jump range that I never seen before, almost uneffected by cargo, now the cargo was almost twice the Type-6 again. And even tho I had 100 tons of gold stuffed in my cargobay I could still defend myself and even take some bounty mission now and then. I was in love wih this ship. During this time I took a break from Elite Dangerous and when I came back the expansion Horizon was implemented. Now with bigger variations of missions I could make even more credits. But then I remembered the imperial ships, I should be able to jump to any of those systems now, during this time I knew about the fuel scoop and did some research about the imperial main system, which in my case was for Aisling Duval and the Cubeo system, without really noticing about the faction reputations I began doing missions for them, I even did the imperial navy mission without knowing it was for ranking up with the superpower faction. With weeks of farming I had to say goodbye to my Asp as I wanted to move up again, I was a little unsure at this time since the Asp was such a good ship, but no guts no glory.
IMPERIAL CLIPPER: Finally I were able to buy the ship I longed for, again twice the cargo space, agile for its size and its speed, but found out that I could no longer land on outposts, it was hard at first since many of the outposts had good missions and was also a destinations for many wares when trading. But this ship was so nice and pretty and the sound from its engines, I had to try it. Still farming reputations without knowing I sat out to work my way up again, I even did some combat/strike missions in it. Ocasionally I checked google and youtube for tips on several issues I had and ended up on elite-dangerous.wikia.com and noticed the Imperial Cutter, that thing was beautiful and wow, its cargo space, I noticed you had to be Duke to buy that ship and that was when I discovered the faction reputation, by then I was already at Count with the Imperial Navy. So i began to farm rep with the imperials. Now I noticed that there was alot of reputation mission that would lead to outposts so I have to do something about that. I was a little indecisive about that ship to buy so I started to check the Frontier forums again, and with some help from you guys/gals I ended up with a new ship.
Python: Everyone said this ship was a beast, a raw cannon that could chew its targets down to its bulkheads, good speed and maneuverability and at the same time it could carry lots of cargo "and" even land on outposts. And boy you guys were right, more cargo space then the clipper, but better armor and shields. This was the first time I felt secure. It was at this time I started to try a little combat and it was fun in the Python, I wasent worried about interdictions anymore, in fact I hoped to be interdicted so I could tear whoever did it up. In the Python I was able to farm my way up to Duke rank with the Imperial Navy, but I had lots and lots of less credits needed to buy the Imperial Cutter. So again I looked for a larger ship I could do even more credits in, in one trip. And ended up with my next ship.
ANACONDA: Jesus, thats a big ship and thank god for the docking computer, cause I dont know how many times I got stuck in the station corridor you flying thru, bouncing up and down between the roof and the floor. Again tho, I was stuck on planets and big stations, but due to my reputation with the Imperial Navy I was now able to take more missions and more well payed once aswell. By this time I learned about engineering and how good it actually was, you could improve your ship in several useful ways. So I started upgrading my Anaconda and it took a long time before I had it A-rated. with tons of cargo I didnt have much trouble in combat except for the Fer-De-Lance and Pythons, they were all over me like a damn rash. The Anaconda with its heavy made it impossible to stay behind those 2 ships, so I ended up playing in solo play to farm credits even faster and was finally ready to move forward again.
IMPERIAL CUTTER: I'm in love, this ship is my favorite, no doubt, but jesus, A-rate a Imperial Cutter with parts and engineering upgrades is around 600 million credits and thats gonna take forever, I thought. I first started to run cargo with it, but after some more tips from you guys, I removed my cargo containers and installed first class cabins instead. Since I already had high reputations both with local factions and with the superpower I was able so squish out around 5-20 million for 1 trip (1 jump), finally it didnt feel impossible anymore. I had room for 63 people and since I've learned to avoid being interdicted I also removed my weapons to boost my jump range even more. I still use this ship when I want money and that is a ship I will keep. I did come to realize that I was King with the Imperial Navy and basically found myself on a crossroad, I didnt know what I wanna do next. So I started to look among the ships again, I was reading post after post on Frontier forums again, and noticed that the Federal Corvette is heavy hitter for combat.
System Change
So I left Cubeo system and that gorgeous princess for new adventure and ended up in Sol system. I started farming thru the ranks once again and now with several hundreds of millions to spare I bought the Federal Gunship due to reading some posts about it being called the "Federal Funship". I enjoyed it, but it had weak shielding and didnt right cut it for me. After some tedious weeks and weeks of farming this is what I've got so far.
- King with the Imperial Navy
- A-rated Imperial Cutter for passanger runs.
- Admiral with the Federation
- A-rated Federal Corvette, which I now re-building for Thargoid hunting.
- A-rated Python for bounty runs
And still over 620 million to spare and counting.....
To you new people
What you need to know first is that this is not a sprint, you're not gonna be able to buy the biggest ship with only 20 hours of playing, this is a Marathon that require patience and determination. You dont have to spend countless of hours each day, you can still do it in your own pace, it just gonna take longer. I did all this under a 2 year time, with several long breaks included.
Is it worth it?, I think the easiest way to explain that is with a question, do you like the game, just after a few hours playing?, then the answer is yes, it just getting better and better, with more credits comes more possibilities. If you however dont enjoy the game even with several hours of gameplay the answer is probably no. You can always grow to like it, but as I said it will take some time.
To the Elite Dangerous communities on internet, I couldnt do this without your help, those tips I got when I was new has been valuable and useful and I wanted to share this with a story. You have to excuse me for the book, I didnt intent for it to be so long, but try to shorten the 2 last year in the game isent easy at all
Have fun out there and be patience, you'll get there evetually
-CMDR Freeman
I'm CMDR Freeman, a 38 year old space monkey from Sweden and I want to share my struggle to 2 billion credits, I consider myself a casual player.
Me like anyone else started in a Sidewinder. Fresh to the game I didn't have a clue what I was doing, I didnt know the difference between supercruise and FSD, I sat for hours trying to get to a system to hand in a mission. I got interdicted and killed several times and I didnt know why.
After a few days like that I thought to myself "Goosh what a tedious game" and stopped playing for 1 week or 2.
After browsing wonderful communities like the Frontier forums and youtube I found out I had done everything wrong. Now however I was ready to go again, but this time with some tips and tricks on my shoulders. I played the game pretty much everyday between 1 and 5 hours, depending on work and family.
After 2 month in game my wife bought me a HOTAS, the Saitek X-55 Rhino and I was in love for real this time.
I've never been a real fan of combat, that doesnt mean I would not pick a fight if I feel needed to, but I simply prefer running passangers, cargo or information from point a to b.
This is pretty much how my progression looked like
SIDEWINDER: Started in a Sidewinder and after some noob errors, confusion and lots and lots of practice I manage to move on to a new ship.
HAULER: Nice little ship, fast but small and fragile I was beginning to make some small payouts on a steady basis. During this time I still had problems surviving interdictions, I forgot to ask for landing permissions and got blown up inside the station with the cargo. But hey, at least I knew the back and front of my own ship by then [where is it]. During my time in the Hauler I noticed you could upgrade your ship *DOH*. After quite some time on the mission board and some cargo runs I was able to move up again.
ADDER: I really didnt feel any change from the hauler except that the engine sound and cockpit looked different, but an upgrade is an upgrade nevertheless. For me the Adder was just a stopover but at that time I didnt know it. During this time I looked alot on Elite Dangerous fan pages and got to notice the Imperial ships, the Federal ships were nice aswell, but like I said, I'm not a fan of combat. I really liked the sleek luxurious design. But noticed that the imperial systems was far away in a ship like the Adder, believe I tried, but I didnt know about the fuel scoop at that time. Anyway, I finally made my first million credits and it was time to move up again.
Type-6: The Type-6 was actually the first ship I liked, it had longer jump capability and could carry twice the cargo compere to the Adder and at the same time it had decent performance. Now I'm in the big league, or so I thought, then to my surprise people on the Frontier forums talked about buying the Python etc. And I almost got depressed when I saw the price on that thing. I actually spent quite a while in the Type-6 but eventually when I had the credits and was tired on the Type-6 it was time to move up again, but this time I had money over after I bought the new ship due to the fact that I almost lost my ship because I had about 60 credits more then the actual insurance cost.
ASP EXPLORER: Lakon Spaceways can really make ships, this one was awesome, jump range that I never seen before, almost uneffected by cargo, now the cargo was almost twice the Type-6 again. And even tho I had 100 tons of gold stuffed in my cargobay I could still defend myself and even take some bounty mission now and then. I was in love wih this ship. During this time I took a break from Elite Dangerous and when I came back the expansion Horizon was implemented. Now with bigger variations of missions I could make even more credits. But then I remembered the imperial ships, I should be able to jump to any of those systems now, during this time I knew about the fuel scoop and did some research about the imperial main system, which in my case was for Aisling Duval and the Cubeo system, without really noticing about the faction reputations I began doing missions for them, I even did the imperial navy mission without knowing it was for ranking up with the superpower faction. With weeks of farming I had to say goodbye to my Asp as I wanted to move up again, I was a little unsure at this time since the Asp was such a good ship, but no guts no glory.
IMPERIAL CLIPPER: Finally I were able to buy the ship I longed for, again twice the cargo space, agile for its size and its speed, but found out that I could no longer land on outposts, it was hard at first since many of the outposts had good missions and was also a destinations for many wares when trading. But this ship was so nice and pretty and the sound from its engines, I had to try it. Still farming reputations without knowing I sat out to work my way up again, I even did some combat/strike missions in it. Ocasionally I checked google and youtube for tips on several issues I had and ended up on elite-dangerous.wikia.com and noticed the Imperial Cutter, that thing was beautiful and wow, its cargo space, I noticed you had to be Duke to buy that ship and that was when I discovered the faction reputation, by then I was already at Count with the Imperial Navy. So i began to farm rep with the imperials. Now I noticed that there was alot of reputation mission that would lead to outposts so I have to do something about that. I was a little indecisive about that ship to buy so I started to check the Frontier forums again, and with some help from you guys/gals I ended up with a new ship.
Python: Everyone said this ship was a beast, a raw cannon that could chew its targets down to its bulkheads, good speed and maneuverability and at the same time it could carry lots of cargo "and" even land on outposts. And boy you guys were right, more cargo space then the clipper, but better armor and shields. This was the first time I felt secure. It was at this time I started to try a little combat and it was fun in the Python, I wasent worried about interdictions anymore, in fact I hoped to be interdicted so I could tear whoever did it up. In the Python I was able to farm my way up to Duke rank with the Imperial Navy, but I had lots and lots of less credits needed to buy the Imperial Cutter. So again I looked for a larger ship I could do even more credits in, in one trip. And ended up with my next ship.
ANACONDA: Jesus, thats a big ship and thank god for the docking computer, cause I dont know how many times I got stuck in the station corridor you flying thru, bouncing up and down between the roof and the floor. Again tho, I was stuck on planets and big stations, but due to my reputation with the Imperial Navy I was now able to take more missions and more well payed once aswell. By this time I learned about engineering and how good it actually was, you could improve your ship in several useful ways. So I started upgrading my Anaconda and it took a long time before I had it A-rated. with tons of cargo I didnt have much trouble in combat except for the Fer-De-Lance and Pythons, they were all over me like a damn rash. The Anaconda with its heavy made it impossible to stay behind those 2 ships, so I ended up playing in solo play to farm credits even faster and was finally ready to move forward again.
IMPERIAL CUTTER: I'm in love, this ship is my favorite, no doubt, but jesus, A-rate a Imperial Cutter with parts and engineering upgrades is around 600 million credits and thats gonna take forever, I thought. I first started to run cargo with it, but after some more tips from you guys, I removed my cargo containers and installed first class cabins instead. Since I already had high reputations both with local factions and with the superpower I was able so squish out around 5-20 million for 1 trip (1 jump), finally it didnt feel impossible anymore. I had room for 63 people and since I've learned to avoid being interdicted I also removed my weapons to boost my jump range even more. I still use this ship when I want money and that is a ship I will keep. I did come to realize that I was King with the Imperial Navy and basically found myself on a crossroad, I didnt know what I wanna do next. So I started to look among the ships again, I was reading post after post on Frontier forums again, and noticed that the Federal Corvette is heavy hitter for combat.
System Change
So I left Cubeo system and that gorgeous princess for new adventure and ended up in Sol system. I started farming thru the ranks once again and now with several hundreds of millions to spare I bought the Federal Gunship due to reading some posts about it being called the "Federal Funship". I enjoyed it, but it had weak shielding and didnt right cut it for me. After some tedious weeks and weeks of farming this is what I've got so far.
- King with the Imperial Navy
- A-rated Imperial Cutter for passanger runs.
- Admiral with the Federation
- A-rated Federal Corvette, which I now re-building for Thargoid hunting.
- A-rated Python for bounty runs
And still over 620 million to spare and counting.....
To you new people
What you need to know first is that this is not a sprint, you're not gonna be able to buy the biggest ship with only 20 hours of playing, this is a Marathon that require patience and determination. You dont have to spend countless of hours each day, you can still do it in your own pace, it just gonna take longer. I did all this under a 2 year time, with several long breaks included.
Is it worth it?, I think the easiest way to explain that is with a question, do you like the game, just after a few hours playing?, then the answer is yes, it just getting better and better, with more credits comes more possibilities. If you however dont enjoy the game even with several hours of gameplay the answer is probably no. You can always grow to like it, but as I said it will take some time.
To the Elite Dangerous communities on internet, I couldnt do this without your help, those tips I got when I was new has been valuable and useful and I wanted to share this with a story. You have to excuse me for the book, I didnt intent for it to be so long, but try to shorten the 2 last year in the game isent easy at all
Have fun out there and be patience, you'll get there evetually
-CMDR Freeman
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