Advice for returning players 2025

rootsrat

Volunteer Moderator
rootsrat
I see quite a lot of "I'm back after x years, where do I start in Elite now?" kind of posts. Thought it'd be a good idea to have a dedicated thread with some adadvice :)

Thread rules: One piece of your best solid advice for returning players

I'll start: The new SCO drives are better than the old ones and are absolutely worth getting and engineering!
 

Tifu

Tifu
Join Powerplay, it brings so many advantages for people wanting to catch up and have fun at the same time.

1. Stronghold carriers provide outfitting second only to Jameson memorial and these carriers are in many places in your Power's territory.

2. As you rank up, you get engineering mats in the form of mini-care packages.

3. Every Power can now offer you all of the PP 1.0 modules plus a new one - the Concord Cannon by the new Alliance Power, Nakato Kaine.

4. Ship rebuys get cheaper as you rank up whether you get killed on your Power's territory or outside of it.

5. You get to play galactic territorial chess with other players and you can do it as a solo commander or as part of an organized group. The PP map shows you where your Power needs reinforcement or where it can expand either way.
 

nanothargon

N
The new ships are all excellent. They have Super Cruise Overdrive FSD drives, which means you can get anywhere in-system extremely quickly. The new ships also work much better with this feature; they are more stable in Overdrive, use less fuel and generate less heat.

Also, prebuilds (for Arx) cost 0 credits, can be deployed at any shipyard, and have a 0 credit rebuy. There’s an explorer, cargo, passenger, miner, bounty hunting and a couple of anti xeno builds. The explorer in particular is extremely handy as a long-range, self drive taxi.
 

Riverside

Riverside
You don't /have/ to get your own fleet carrier, you can use other peoples for most of the benefits but if you do get one & are likely to stop playing for a while again it will eat through your savings and probably be gone next time you come back so empty out any saved cargo & decommission the thing before taking another break.

hth
 

Pville_Piper

Pville_Piper
SCO drives can be used to boost In supercruise from a star or other gravity well. I even use them at distances as short as 300 to 400ls.

When using them at short distances zero the throttle as you initiate the boost, let the timer count down to 5 and drop out the boost. As the timer rises above 6 seconds, go to 100% throttle, dropping to 75% throttle as you come back down to 6 seconds.

With a little practice you will greatly decrease the amount of of time you spend flying a dropout point and greatly increase the fun factor of getting there!
 

Archvillain

Archvillain
Visit the wreckage of the Thargoid Titan, in orbit around Earth. This means flying to the center of the caustic cloud.

You will need either caustic sinks or repair limpets, because that remnant cloud of the maelstrom will slowly damage your hull. (caustic sinks can be purchased at a rescue ship, such as in the Luyten's Star system, though they may revert to a tech-broker unlockable at some point in which case limpets are easier to get)

[Update: latest reports are that the cloud has dispersed enough that hull damage is no-longer a concern, no equipment is needed]

You're going for the sights, but lots of materials and cargo is just floating around. if you're interested in the ultra longest range FSD possible (pre-engineered (SCO) V1 FSD, which can only be purchased with mats at a tech broker), key materials are in that cloud and you will need either a corrosion-resistant cargo-rack or to have all the materials ready and be ready to fly direct to the tech broker once you scoop the last piece - a Titan Drive Component - because it is corrosive so without the resistant cargo rack you want to go directly to the broker and offload it before it eats a hole in your ship 😉
 
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Dragsham

Dragsham
Deep core mining is a hoot. Blowing up rocks. Then with a hold chock full of goodies, using inara finding the best price to sell.
Alternatively, Mine in Boom, refinery/industrial allied systems and sell in the same system for merits towards PP2.0 rank.
Either way you get paid.
Go for rhodplumsite, monazite, alexandrite, muscravite, etc and rank up real quick.
 

Nekozji

Nekozji
Dillon Fallon said:
Get crazy with those ship building ideas. Engineering materials are everywhere now.
Click to expand...

This was going to be mine too!

If you remember spending hours-days-weeks farming engineering mats, and carefully reading up anything before you tried it and never experimenting because the cost was prohibitive; don't worry. Most materials are plentiful. Find some HGE signal sources, pay a visit to Jameson's crash site, stock up, then try out things you didn't try before.
 

IstvaanDCIV

IstvaanDCIV
nanothargon said:
The new ships are all excellent. They have Super Cruise Overdrive FSD drives, which means you can get anywhere in-system extremely quickly. The new ships also work much better with this feature; they are more stable in Overdrive, use less fuel and generate less heat.

Also, prebuilds (for Arx) cost 0 credits, can be deployed at any shipyard, and have a 0 credit rebuy. There’s an explorer, cargo, passenger, miner, bounty hunting and a couple of anti xeno builds. The explorer in particular is extremely handy as a long-range, self drive taxi.
Click to expand...

Relatedly, if you're coming back after a few years and haven't got yourself Odyssey yet, then do so. Ignore the people who are still complaining about it; as someone who got it after release and some updates, it's definitely worth it in my opinion. But even if you still disagree, Odyssey owners will be able to buy the new generation of SCO-optimised ships months after their release with credits and without needing to spend Arx.
 

Tyres O'Flaherty

Tyres O'Flaherty
If you want to engage in ground combat, don't forget; taking cover behind something isn't being scared or cowardly and is an almost necessary tactic. Gung ho git sum git sum will only get you so far.

(If I may offer a second tip: sharpshooters are sharp. Really.)
 

Coolgroove

Coolgroove
Engineering & Materials:

After the initial excitement of coming back is down a bit, you've enjoyed it and you're sure you're staying to play for a long time - plan 3 evenings (or whenever your play-time is) and do a farm for all engineering/synthesis materials, 1 evening each. It may seem like a dedication to something boring, and it is the most boring part of the game (even with latest improvements to significantly lessen the time needed to do it) - so getting it out of the way sooner will make the rest of the game much much more fun with a very little to distract from that fun.

Raw materials & Video for all materials.
Tip: I find it much quicker to do a Data farm in a ship, without going into SRV, as right now it is simply Drop in -> Scan once -> Relog -> scan a Second time -> go to a Encoded Material Trader in Diaguandri ->Repeat. Inara is your friend.

If you don't have all Engineers unlocked - you may need to spend another evening to partially redo the farm. Farm -> Unlock -> Re-farm to full. Ohh, and if you want to unlock a lot of new (best) FSDs for many ships - it could drain some of your Encoded and Raw materials rather quickly, so might need to adjust for that.

Ability to just engineer any ship/fit you'd like to try/use without farming every time - one of the best QoL you could do yourself. After that initial loop of farm, you could easily top up materials that you'll be spending by just playing the game (mission rewards, PP care packages, etc.).

The only other farm that you might want to plan the same way - Guardian Data, as it is the least fun of any farms that left. Guardian Blueprints and Mats, Anti-Guardian Zone resistance and Thargoid mats, Mbooni permit and Modded Guardian weapons... all these are quite fun. Even Odyssey personal equipment upgrades are good fun, especially if you remove a part of it with pre-engineered equipment you can just buy.

Credits for anything (initial equipment purchases and stuff) are very easy with an evening or two of Exo-biology around/near the bubble (and a good first try of the feature if you might like it), so just search for the list (example & how to) and go.

Have fun flying & using whatever you might want to build!
 
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Lhorndra

Lhorndra
Take your time.

There is so much to catch up on: new lore, new ships, new game mechanics, new events (player driven and FDev driven), new discoveries. It's totally normal to feel overwhelmed at some point or other. Don't let that frustrate you. Focus on one thing you enjoy first. Once you've got the hang of it, move on to the next. Don't give in to FOMO.
 
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