An Elite Dangerous Beginner's and Buyer's Guide
by John Paul Wilson
Version 3.0 (Current)
9/6/2015
Changelog:
- Added section at the end of the guide concerning Powerplay.
- Updated sections concerning fines and bounties to reflect changes made in the 1.3 Update.
- Clarified or altered some explanations throughout the document.
- Fixed typos and grammatical errors.
- Added explanation about how dates are formatted (American vs European formats).
- Added section concerning new in-game laws on ramming.
- Edited minimum hardware specification subsection information.
- Removed notice about guide not reflecting 1.3 updates.
Version 2.2 (Old)
Changelog: Added a notice about the guide not yet reflecting the changes in the 1.3 Powerplay Update.
Version 2.1 (Old)
25/4/2015
Changelog: Fixed spelling and other errors, clarified some explanations, added more details, other minor changes.
Version 2.0 (Old)
4/4/2015
Change log: Fixed spelling and other errors, clarified some explanations, added more details, updated information to reflect changes made in v1.2 of the game (also called the Wings Update).
Version 1.0 (Old)
19/1/2015
Keep in mind that all dates listed are formatted according to European standards, not American. For instance, June the 9th in the year 2015 would be written 9/6/2015 in Europe, while in America is would be written as 6/9/2015. The reason this is done is because Elite: Dangerous was made in Great Britain.
This document may be updated in the future.
Welcome to the Elite Universe, commander!
Since so many of the same questions are asked on the Frontier Developments forums repeatedly, I decided to make this brief FAQ to give straight forward answers to some of the most typical questions and concerns. The first part, titled For Those About to Buy! is intended for people who are thinking about getting Elite Dangerous, but are unsure if it’s one of the rare “good” space games. The second part titled For Those About to Play! is intended for those who have bought the game and want to know how things work; the second section is also about answering questions that many new gamers might not know to ask, but will eventually.
Also, I want all folks who read this to know that there are other helpful sources:
Elite Dangerous Game Manual
Elite Dangerous Forums (Main Page)
Elite Dangerous Newcomers Forum
The Newcomers Thread Index (Got a question or a problem? Look in here first) BEFORE POSTING!!!
And for those who want to learn how to explore:
Nutter's Explorer's Guide To The Galaxy (by Cmdr Nutter)
This Is How We Do It: An Elite Dangerous Exploration Video Guide (by me)
And, when trying to look for a particular key word in Internet Explorer or Google Chrome, press the Ctrl+F keys, then type the word you're looking for into the search box (it usually appears at the top right corner of the window).
Overall, this guide is here for anyone to read, new or vetted. Now, on with the show…
If you’re a space game freak like me, then I imagine that you've been searching everywhere for that “perfect” space game. Well, I hate to break it to you, but from my experiences I can tell you that the “perfect” space game does not exist. That’s not to say that good space games do not exist; some of my personal favorites include Starflight on the Sega Genesis, Star Control 2 (aka Ur-Quan Masters) on the PC, and the Evochron series on PC (the latest being Evochron Mercenary). No space game has ever perfectly satisfied my desires for that “ideal” game in my mind. Keep that in mind as you consider whether or not Elite Dangerous is for you.
FOR THOSE ABOUT TO BUY!
Before you decide to buy Elite Dangerous, or if you have bought it and are new, ask yourself these questions before you commit any time to Elite Dangerous:
1. Do you want a space game that does not thrust you into action constantly, battle after battle, where you must explore a little to find the action? Where you choose when to fight and when not to?
2. Do you want a game that is extremely challenging (perhaps more so than any space game you’ve played)?
3. Do you want to play a game where your illegal or hostile actions have as much consequence in the game universe as in real life?
4. Do you have a lot of patience?
5. Are you okay with a game that does not have a story-mode campaign?
If you answered, “No,” to any or all of those questions, then this space game may not be exactly what you’re wanting. The reason I asked those questions wasn’t to scare you away, but to help you realize what kind of game Elite Dangerous is. However, if you said, “Yes,” to all those questions, or are willing to compromise on some of those questions you said, “No,” to, then you’re in for a ride!
Now, assuming you’re new (which this guide will be assuming from here on), then you probably want some straight-up information without having to scour the Internet and Frontier Developments Forums. I always encourage people to research games before they buy them. I also encourage everyone who is very curious about this game to search the Frontier Developments Forums. There are a few folks in the community who are extremely adversarial, but I also encourage you to be the bigger person when posting in the forums by not acknowledging such people. I’m not saying you can’t express your opinions, just be professional if you feel it necessary to offer a counter-argument to an issue. For the most part, though, the Frontier community is helpful, polite, and the forum moderators take their jobs seriously, which is to make everyone feel comfortable enough to express their honest opinions and ask questions in an environment that is conducive to intelligent discussion and useful feedback.
As a word of warning: The description in the previous paragraph does not apply to the Dangerous Discussion section in the Frontier Developments Forum. It's where most folks go on the forums, so extreme fans and disappointed players are frequent. If you got a thick skin, you'll be fine.
At this point you may be thinking, “Whoa, there! This sounds like some pretty serious stuff.” Well, on one hand, it’s a game. If you just want to play Elite as a lone wolf, never communicating anything on the forums, then that is definitely an option. On the other hand, if you want to be part of a growing community that makes your experience in the game more immersive, then yeah, it is serious. Don’t be scared, though! We want the community to grow, for the game to be successful, and for the game itself to be as fun as it can be. We welcome new folks to the Elite universe, and we’re always willing to help in any way we can; which is why I’m writing this guide.
Anyways, enough of the community stuff. You want to know what the Elite experience will be like, and if you really want to sink time and money into this experience. Let’s get some basic, vital information out of the way.
- What kind of controls are available? Mouse & keyboard? HOTAS style joysticks (aka flight joysticks)? My PC game controller? My Xbox 360 controller? Oculus?
The answer to all those questions is, “Yes!” Most space games I’ve played only support keyboard & mouse, and many support HOTAS style joysticks. Often, though, I found that most space games don’t work appropriately with dual analog style controllers; the left joystick would work, but never the right one. I imagine this is likely due to space games being developed for the HOTAS style setup. Have no fear with Elite! You can even use an Xbox 360 controller, and you can map everything to your own personal preferences. A word of warning; I have not been able to adjust sensitivity on my 360 controller for this game. Is it such an issue that makes the game unplayable? No. But, you may have to stick with weapons that track targets (gimbaled guns) rather than weapons that are fixed and require dead-center aiming.
Also, the XBox One Controller is compatible with Elite Dangerous. Just be sure you have a Mini USB Cable to connect it to your computer (as far as I know there's no way to use the One controller wirelessly with a computer, yet).
- Is there an offline mode?
No. There is a Solo mode where you can fly around the galaxy without ever having to deal with actual players. You still have to maintain an internet connection, however. The in-game economy (prices for commodities like metals, foods, and even people) is effected by everyone playing, no matter the mode they select. Also, there is a Group mode which is like Solo, but you will be able to play with your friends. Open mode is where you’ll encounter other players from across the planet.
- Okay, so there is a multiplayer mode, right?
Yes. On 4/4/2015 a feature called Wings was added in order to improve the multiplayer experience. People on your friends list and in your Wing (a party of up to 4 players) will appear in the galactic map so you always know where they're at when they're online. Players in your Wing will show on your HUD, and there's always a way to get to your wing mates, even if they're interdicted successfully and pulled into combat.
- That’s cool. Do I have to pay a subscription fee, like in Eve Online or World of Warcraft?
Nope! But, you will have to buy expansions when they become available. You'll still be able to play Elite Dangerous without the expansions, though- they're an optional purchase (when they become available).
- Alright… so what’s planned for those expansions?
Currently, Frontier is planning on adding planetary landings, where you’ll be able to mine the planet’s resources. Also, they plan on giving players the ability to walk around their ship and hunt on alien worlds for sport. Keep in mind that these expansions may take a while to finish, maybe even a year or more. And don’t forget they will not be free expansions, since there are no subscription fees to play online. But don't be scared! Most planned updates (and all updates thus far [25/4/2015]) are free of charge, and major updates include many fixes and new features to further improve the game.
- That sounds awesome! But, what can I do now!?
Explore any of the Milky Way’s 400 billion stars, many of which have planets and moons. And, yes, I said 400 billion stars. Plus, you can do the other typical space game stuff like trading goods for profits, bounty hunting, pirating, mining, smuggling, and fighting battles in conflict zones. You can also work toward building a reputation with one or more of three galactic empires (Federation, Alliance, Imperial). And with the 1.3 Powerplay Update, players are able to have more control over what happens in the Elite Universe. Now in Elite, you can swear allegiance to any one of the ten most powerful leaders in the galaxy, and you’ll try to help that Power to expand its territory and retain control over the territory it owns. In return, you’ll get various perks depending on which Power you join. Participating in Powerplay is entirely optional, and you can stop serving a Power anytime you wish.
- What kind of perspectives does the game allow?
The game has First Person Perspective (seeing through the eyes of your character/commander) and an External Camera, so you can see your ship from outside the cockpit and take flawless screen shots and videos of the beautiful Elite Universe. Also keep in mind that the External Camera, while activated, disables your ability to pilot the ship until you return to First Person Perspective.
For Beginners: The External Debug Camera has to be bound to a key or button in your options menu, under controls. From then on, you'll be able to enable the External Camera with the press of a button of your choice.
- What is the flying and fighting like in Elite?
That’s a great question to ask, since most space games are different in that aspect. The flying is handled in two ways; Flight Assist Mode On and Flight Assist Off. With Flight Assist Off, you are subject to Newtonian Physics; this is to say that if you boost in a certain direction then you continue to travel in that direction even with engines off. Remember, an object that is in motion will tend to stay in motion, and objects at rest will tend to stay at rest. If you ever played Evochron Mercenary, then you know what I mean. Or, if you even played Air Hockey, think of your ship as the puck, sliding nearly frictionless on the table until something slows it down or stops it.
But, with Flight Assist Mode On, the game plays more like a typical space game that focuses squarely on combat. If you ever played Darkstar One, Project Sylpheed, or just about any jet-fighter game like the Ace Combat series, then you basically got the idea. Frontier Developments wanted the combat to maintain the dogfight combat style of previous games in the series.
- But, how do the ships handle exactly? How do they feel?
As someone who has always loved playing jet-fighter games, I can tell you from experience that every game like that felt different, handled different; you always have to get used to the controls. That being said, each ship in the game handles differently, depending on its size and design. The smaller ships are more like combat fighters, and have better handling than the larger ships used for battling or transporting. Those larger ships, though sluggish, are more heavily armed and armored. So, it comes down to personal preference, and the ships accommodate that wide variety of preferences. As space games go, Elite Dangerous’ ships handle well if you know how to fly them, and depending on your ship’s size.
- Fair enough. What about ship variety? How many are available currently?
To answer the question directly, there are around twenty (20) by my count. Several more are planned to be released later in updates. It’s not the widest variety of ships I’ve ever seen in a space game, but not bad at all.
- How is the space travel done?
There are three ways to get around the galaxy with all ships. First, you have Normal Space, which is more for battles than actual travel (it is in this mode you can shoot opponents and scoop cargo floating in space). If normal travel was the only means to get around, then no one would get anywhere. Second is SuperCruise, or SC for short. SC is how you travel within any given system to explore planet to planet. In this mode you travel at faster-than-light speeds. You won't arrive at your destination immediately, but most objects can be reached within a few a seconds or minutes (depending on the distance of the object, of course). Third is Jumping, where you can travel from system to system in about fifteen seconds or so. Different ships can jump different distances, that also depends on that ship’s warp drive, or Frame Shift Drive as it’s called in game. Small ships can do 7-10 light years, and heavier ships can jump around 30 light years, more or less. Either way will get you to many of your destinations. But if you’re trying to explore further out along the edge of the galaxy where stars are further apart, then you need a ship that can make that distance.
Also keep in mind that ships use fuel. Supercruise uses fuel, and jumps use even more fuel. More details will be available later in this guide. Don’t be scared, though! Space stations aren’t the only way to get fuel…
- Will I be able to own more than one ship at a time?
Yes. When you buy a new ship, you have the options to sell your current ship to knock down the price of the new ship you’re buying, or you can store your current ship and hop right into your new ship.
- Can I name my ship the USS Whatever?
Currently, ships cannot be named. I know, it’s a pity. But, I’ve had mostly positive experiences with Frontier Developments and they seem to listen to their fans. I can imagine that at some point you will be able to name ships. For now, unfortunately, it’s not an option.
- Can I at least pimp my ride?
Yes. Each ship has a number of modules where you can equip shields, life support, cargo holds, and more. The bigger the ship, the more modules it will have available (or, that’s the basic idea). Same is true for weapon modules (aka hardpoints). Paint jobs are also available for ships, but have to be bought in the Frontier Developments online store. They are expensive but depending on your personal preferences, they may be worth it. For instance, a player can buy flag paintjobs for the Viper. On my Viper is painted the flag of my home nation, the USA. And it was worth the $5. Sadly, not all paintjobs are available for all ships. For example, I can put the American Flag paintjob on my Viper, but not on my Cobra or Sidewinder. Disappointing, I know, but remember what I said at the beginning? Elite Dangerous is not the “perfect” space game, but what is?
- Alright, what about stations? What’s it like to dock at them?
Remember when I asked if you like a game with a challenge? Well, this applies to docking. Don’t be scared, though! It’s not too difficult to learn, and you actually get pretty good at it after a while. If you really want to avoid docking, a docking computer is available for your ship. Just remember that a docking computer will take up module space, which might be better used for shields or a discovery scanner for exploration.
But the docking isn’t bad. You hail the station, ask permission to land, they give you the go, you approach the station, enter the station’s entrance/exit carefully, find your landing pad, and land. Don’t forget to deploy your landing gear!
- What about exploration? How is that done?
Fairly simple, honestly. When you lock on to a star as a destination, it tells you before you jump there if the system has been explored. When you jump, lock onto the star and remain facing it. You must be facing an unexplored object in order to scan it. It’ll take a few seconds, but when done, it’ll be logged in your ship’s computer. After you scan the star (or as you are scanning the star), you can use something called a Discovery Scanner. It only takes a few seconds to activate, and will tell you if there are any objects in the system. If there are, you lock onto the object, approach it, and your ship will scan it automatically once it is within range. Different objects have different values. A planet with life will be worth more than a planet that’s frozen and covered in ice. Black holes hold a high value as well. Just be careful! If you die before returning to a station, you can no longer sell that data. This is another challenging aspect of the game, especially if you’ve spent a long time exploring without selling the data at a base. You don’t get paid much (when compared to other professions), but at least it pays. Also, as you become more experienced in exploration, you can decide whether an unexplored object is worth the time to scan it. Time is money, people!
UPDATE: While exploration still doesn't pay as well as bounty hunting, turning in combat vouchers, or especially trading, Frontier Developments listened to their fans and doubled (on average) the value of all astronomical objects. The development team has expressed a desire to bring other professions more in line with the higher paying ones. This is not to say that at some point they will all pay equal, but given the time it takes to explore the vast reaches of the galaxy, and the costs of buying larger ships, ship maintenance, and ship upgrades, many of the fans and the developers decided that exploration needed to pay out more. Expect further changes in the future!
- What about a campaign story-mode?
Currently, there’s no campaign, at least in the traditional sense. Yes, there are missions. Yes, there is a story to whole Elite Universe. And, yes, some missions will be affected by the actions of you and other players. Sadly, there is very little story telling in the game. You can always access GalNet anytime from your ship, so you can read news headlines to see where a war may be taking place, or what events are unfolding. But, there’s no cut scenes, no voice acting, and very few of the non-playable characters (or NPCs) will tell you anything about the Elite Universe’s history. I know, disappointing. On the up side, Frontier is planning on having missions that’ll have something to do with the Elite Universe’s story. I’m not sure what the details are exactly, how exactly this will be done. If it is your belief that a game must have a storyline or campaign, then Elite Dangerous may not be for you (yet). Typically, with most games and especially space games, I prefer a plot and in-game storytelling. But I’ve enjoyed Elite Dangerous so much that I’ve overlooked this typical necessity. If you can stand a game without storytelling if the game is good enough, then Elite Dangerous may be for you.
Also it’s only fair to note that in Elite players can play a role in shaping the Powers, factions, and events in the galaxy by working collectively toward certain goals. In this way, players can actively participate in shaping the Elite Universe’s current events.
Personal Perspective: I’m holding out hope on this particular issue. Elite is amazing without storytelling. I can only imagine how much more amazing it would be with storytelling. Some people believe that a game with no in-game story telling forces you to use your own imagination to create a story for yourself. I disagree with this assertion, and if you ever played Starflight on Sega Genesis, or Star Control 2, then you might know what I mean when I say in-game story telling can add a lot to the immersion in that particular universe. In the early 1990s, when I was a kid playing Starflight on my Sega, the story just sucked me into that universe. My imagination ran wild as the game’s various alien species told me their own version of the history of that universe. You didn’t get it all at once, though. You had to explore, encounter their ships, build a dialogue with them by asking questions, answering questions, and even your disposition (polite, hostile, obsequious, etc.) affected how the aliens would deal with you. With all of that happening, I felt so much a part of that universe, with my own ship, a handpicked crew, a name for my ship, landing on planets, upgrading systems on my ship, and so on.
Anyways, this is likely the point where you decide whether or not this game is worth the time and effort. Personally, I love a good story, and I really thought Elite might get stale pretty quick without one. The game was so excellently executed, though, that I overlooked this personal preference. However, there are a few folks who felt the lack of a story mode or campaign really killed this game for them.
- Alright, so what are the system requirements? How well will this “amazing” game run on my computer?
To quote from this webpage https://www.elitedangerous.com/about/playyourway
MINIMUM RECOMMENDED HARDWARE SPECIFICATION:
Direct X 11
Quad Core CPU ( 4 x 2Ghz is a reasonable minimum)
4 GB System RAM (more is always better)
DX 10 hardware GPU with 1GB video ram
Nvidia GTX 260
ATI 4870HD
Internet connection
SUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEMS:
Windows 7.x
Windows 8.x
My system exceeds the minimum requirements, but I still have to dumb down the graphics settings to medium. Even on the lowest settings, though, it’s still a beautiful game. Also, a Mac version of Elite Dangerous is currently available. An XBox One version of the game will also become available in the coming months. And, yes, Elite is currently available on Steam.
- So, should I buy it?
As always, research and decide for yourself if any game is worth its price. Speaking for myself, I paid $50 for the pre-order and it’s been worth every penny. It’s especially worth buying it if (like me) you’ve been wandering the fowl dumping grounds known as the space-sim genre. There are lots of lemons out there, believe me. Elite Dangerous, though, is certainly a gem (in my own opinion!!!).
Ultimately, it is up to you, and you can never be 100% sure if a game is right for you until you actually play it. Something else to keep in mind is the Youtube videos about Elite. Many of them showcase the combat, but remember that Elite isn’t just one battle after the next. You have to become familiar with Elite’s version of the Milky Way Galaxy and keep tabs on GalNet (the news) to see where battles are taking place or may take place soon. There's certainly a lot of combat in Elite Dangerous, especially if you go back and forth between bounty hunting and conflict zones.
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FOR THOSE ABOUT TO PLAY!
Okay, so you bought the game and are new. What in the heck to do? Well, I know how you feel, especially when you open that galaxy map for the first time and realize that there are truly 400 billion stars out there to visit. Even just the part of the galaxy inhabited by humans is very large. It’s also a dangerous, unforgiving universe out there. Don’t be scared, though! I’m here to provide some life-saving tips. The Frontier Developments forum and instruction manual to the game also can come in helpful with a wealth of information. We’re all here for you, commander. We want you to have fun.
Whether you’re a bounty hunter, smuggler, honest trader, pirate, fighter pilot, explorer, miner, or whatever, these are a few things you need to know:
- Death and Respawning
As far as death itself goes, not too bad. If you die, you have the opportunity to rebuy your ship at a portion of the ship’s total cost with in-game insurance. Everyone has insurance, and you only need it to rebuy your destroyed ship (the only exception is the ship you start with, the Sidewinder; it’s free to replace). Insurance will also pay for all the exact modules and hardpoints you had installed on your destroyed ship (if you choose to do so; not replacing modules should lower the ship’s rebuy cost). Keep in mind that you must have the money to pay, or you will go into debt by having to borrow credits from the insurance company. There’s a limit to how far you can go in debt, so try very hard to stay alive and always run if you can’t win the battle. It’s not a tactic many of us like to use, but at times it’s simply necessary to survive.
As a further warning, you have to be careful you don't put yourself in a situation where you could lose all your financial progress. Always check how much your ship's insurance rebuy cost will be. If the rebuy costs more than the credits you have available, then you shouldn't fly it. As a rule, try to keep about 3 or 4 times more money than your ship's rebuy cost. Don't be scared! I've never went bankrupt because I always make sure to follow the rules I stated. Buy new ship, upgrade the ship, check the rebuy cost, and if it's a third or less than your total cash on hand then you're golden. Plus, if you're a trader, don't gamble all of your cash on a single haul. Maybe you're good enough to survive and make that haul. But all it takes is one mistake to lose it all. Patience is truly a virtue in Elite Dangerous!
One more time- if you can't rebuy, then don't fly!
- Crime and Punishment and Reputation
Now, here’s a couple of the hardest things for an inexperienced commander to do in Elite Dangerous; don’t get in trouble with the law and don’t ruin your reputation!
o First, understand how the factions and jurisdiction works in Elite Dangerous!
For example, if you murder someone in an Anarchy system, and go to a Federation system, the Federation factions won’t hold it against you. If you murder someone in a Federation system, then the local Federation faction will hold it against you.
So, basically, the faction system works like this: There are three major Galactic Nations; The Federation, Empire, and Alliance. In your galactic map, you can set the map to show you which systems are controlled by which Galactic Nation. Each Nation differs in what cargo is banned; like the Federation considers slaves as illegal cargo, whereas the Empire allows slavery. So be careful what you do and where you do it! Finally, there are factions, which operate somewhat similarly as states in a nation. For instance, if you go to a Federation system, there will be one faction in control of that system, whose authority vessels patrol that system and enforce the Federation’s laws. This faction has jurisdiction over most of the system (meaning, stations controlled by that faction and all areas that are not owned by other factions). Within such systems, there are other factions, and some may own a space station or may not. But those “lesser” factions have jurisdiction over any stations they control, but nothing more. Think of it like the United States of America; the US has a federal, centralized government, and that government considers all states as its jurisdiction. Within each state, there is also a system of government (which may not function exactly like the federal government). So, both the federal US government and the individual states have jurisdiction in those states. For instance, New York is under that state government’s jurisdiction, but the US government also has jurisdiction within that state. However, New York police do not attempt to enforce its laws in other states, like Georgia. If you understand that concept, then you basically understand how jurisdictions work between Galactic Nations and controlling factions. Note that not every “lesser” faction in a system will fall under Federation jurisdiction. For instance, if you go to a Federation system, the Federation’s controlling faction will not be the only one present. Other factions will exist, some loyal to the Federation and some not. If a station is controlled by a lesser faction not aligned with the Federation, then the Federation has no jurisdiction in and immediately around that station. Once you leave from the vicinity of that station, you have re-entered Federation territory and jurisdiction.
o Be careful which factions you serve, and what Galactic Nations they serve.
This is one of the most common aspects of the game that most folks have trouble understanding. Again, think of factions and nations like the US government and its states. If you accept a contract from a Federation faction to kill a member of another Federation faction then you can lose reputation with the Federation. Likewise, if Georgia and Tennessee started fighting a civil war, and you start supplying Georgians with weapons and assassinating Tennessee politicians and leaders, then the US government will consider you a criminal. Tennessee will consider you a criminal. Georgians may love you for your efforts, but no one else will. That same concept applies to factions and nations in the game. When you accept a contract, especially if it’s something illegal or harmful, make sure that both factions are not aligned with the same Galactic Nation (using the galactic map). This will damage your reputation immensely. So, be careful!
o For lesser infractions, such as docking with a station without asking permission, you will most likely get a simple fine.
You have only so much time to pay your fines before they can become a bounty on your head. You got a good bit of time, though. Just remember that getting fines and bounties on your head also decreases your reputation with factions in whose territory you committed your crime(s). If you commit a crime in Federation space, then your Federation reputation will suffer. The same relationship exists with the factions in the game.
o Cargo you find floating in space will most likely be counted as stolen.
It’s not all stolen, but so much of it is stolen that I would suggest you always consider such cargo as stolen at first. In fact, a good, generally safe way to make some quick credits is to only pick up the abandoned, “stolen” cargo in systems that either have no government (labeled as Anarchy) or in systems where laws are pretty lax. Then, only sell that cargo at an Anarchy system, or in systems where laws are lenient on your new cargo. You can smuggle cargo into stations aligned with the Federation, Empire, or Alliance, but there are a couple of ways to sneak the illegal cargo in; 1) toggle your “silent running mode” to avoid being scanned, but you’ll likely have to turn silent running mode off one or two times as you fly to the station in order not to overheat your ship; also remember not to land on a landing pad with Silent Mode On, as your ship will continue to heat up and after a certain point, that heat will destroy your ship; 2) Using your heatsink to hide your ship’s heat signature to sneak in, in combination with disabling some of your systems so your ship remains cold and off of system authority scanners.
o If you are tempted to smuggle (or do anything illegal) just remember that reputation is easier to destroy than it is to build it up.
Think of reputation in the real world; you can you donate to charities, help people in need, treat everyone with kindness and sincerity, but if you got caught trying to smuggle cocaine into the community, all that philanthropy and other good deeds would be essentially forgotten. You would forever be known as a dirty smuggler. So, for example, if you really want to build Federation reputation, then consider smuggling to one of the Alliance or Imperial stations. It’s risky business, but can yield a tidy profit. Just be careful!!!!
o The game is sort of lenient with mistakes.
If you are a bounty hunter trying to claim that sweet bounty, and a couple of system authority ships show up to help, do not screw up and shoot them! You can get a bounty on your head and those authorities can start attacking you, too. With update 1.3, a little bit of friendly-fire will be forgiven, but anything more than a couple of stray bullets can still get a bounty on your head. Also remember that if you target a ship that isn’t wanted and shoot them, you can get fine and/or bounty whether the shots were accidental or not. Again, this rule doesn’t apply to anarchy systems. Just be careful!
o Don’t screw up when docking!
The station staff will announce on station loudspeakers that loitering will not be tolerated. If you hang out at an entrance/exit for too long, the station will attack you and most likely destroy you. If you hover over the wrong landing pad for too long, the station will attack you. If you fire your weapons in a station’s No Fire Zone, the station will attack you. If you shoot the station for any reason, the station will attack you. If you fart while docking, the station will attack you. Just kidding on that last part. But all the rest, take seriously!
o Murder is taken seriously. If the ship you are attacking is not wanted for crimes in that system, then those authorities will be out to kill you.
Make sure your target is wanted in that system. The only places where crimes are not registered are in anarchy systems, where anything and everything goes!
o The way to remove a fine that has been placed on you is to dock at a station owned by the faction whose laws you violated and pay your fines off. Bounties are another matter….
Currently, major Galactic Nations (Federation, Imperial, Alliance) do not place bounties or fines on players anymore. Instead, fines and bounties are only issued and enforced by local factions. Also, understand the difference between fines and bounties: fines are issued for lesser crimes and can be paid off at any time, but if the fines aren’t paid within seven days the fine becomes a bounty; bounties are typically issued for major crimes like murdering someone who isn’t wanted, and bounties cannot be paid off immediately. Small bounties, like friendly fire, can be paid off after a 15 minute cooldown time. Major bounties, like murder, can only be paid off after an entire week (7 days) cooldown time- however the number of days before the bounty becomes dormant can vary depending on the faction and crime(s) committed. 7 days is the highest the cooldown timer will go.
After the cooldown time, the active bounty becomes a dormant bounty, which you can pay off by returning to a station owned by the faction you committed your crime against. But be careful! If you are scanned by the authorities of the faction you committed the crime against before you pay off the bounty, your dormant bounty will become active again, and the cooldown timer will be reset.
Also keep in mind that each crime you commit will reset to the cooldown time for active and/or dormant bounties depending on the crime. For instance, if you commit murder, you can’t pay the bounty off until the cooldown timer runs to zero. If your cooldown time is set to 7 days for a crime like murder, and only three days pass, and you kill another non-wanted player in that system, the cooldown timer is reset to seven days. Or, if you have a dormant bounty and commit another crime, the cooldown timer is reset and the active and dormant bounties will be added together, and that will be the new bounty on your head. Finally, dormant bounties will disappear, too, if you don’t pay them off for another 7 days. Essentially, crimes that result in immediate bounties can only be held against you for up to two weeks maximum.
Sounds confusing? Yeah, it can be. Maybe the following will be more helpful:
- Fined
- Bounty
Okay, so what if you are killed with an active bounty? What happens?
And, yes, the cooldown time is based on real time and ticks down whether you play or not.
o Ramming is now illegal!
If you ram someone while traveling over 100 m/s you will be fined (no bounty). If you ram someone who does not have shields the fine will be higher. Likewise, if someone rams you under the same circumstances, they too will be fined accordingly. So be extra careful with your speed and direction in and around space stations.
o Overall, keep in mind that Elite Dangerous takes reputation and crime almost as seriously as real life!!!
I cannot stress this enough. Many players who are new to the Elite universe do not realize this, since most games are not so strict. In the Fable series, for instance, the game does keep up with your good deeds and bad deeds, and your character’s good or evil alignment keeps track of those actions. But, if you’re 100% good in Fable, you can actually get away with some murder and philandering and still be as holy as an archangel. In Elite, though, you can be allied with a Nation one second, and the next you could be considered unfriendly for one negative deed or mistake. Don’t be scared, though! With a bit of experience and careful decision making, you can avoid many of the most punishing mistakes. But to do serious damage to your reputation, it has to be something more severe like murdering a non-wanted person. Like I said earlier, a little too much friendly fire will cause you to be fined a couple hundred credits, and you will be wanted, but your reputation should be fine as long as you don't make excessive friendly fire a habit!
- You may have to start over a couple of times.
I certainly had to, as I did not immediately know or realize many of the things that have been explained in this guide. So, in your first run-through of the game, don’t sweat the mistakes so much and take the time to see what happens when you do certain things. Once you have a firm grasp on the basics, then you can have a serious go at the game.
o If you do have to restart and you own the Mercenary Edition that had an Eagle spacecraft as a free preorder bonus, you can start over without losing the free Eagle.
Note, though, that your free Eagle will not have any new modules or weapons you gave it in your prior play-through. The same applies for your Sidewinder.
Now that we’ve discussed laws, reputation, and factions, we can move on to other issues.
- You can only have one character save at a time!
Yep, just one at a time. As stated previously, you can wipe your game and start anew if needed. I haven’t seen anything about adding more save slots for other characters from Frontier Developments.
- Ranking up in the Imperial or Federation navies can be done by doing missions provided directly by those Nations.
How can you tell if it’s an actual Fed or Imperial mission? Well, missions normally provide the name of the faction issuing the missions right under the name of the missions in station Bulletin Boards. For navy missions, the issuing Nation’s name will appear in place of the faction names. Also, reputation likely has influence over when navy missions become available.
- Some systems cannot be visited without a system permit.
Some systems, such as Sol and Sirius, require permits in order to be visited. You obtain those permits by doing missions for the controlling Galactic Nation and/or faction. So, to get to Sol, you have to increase your rank and reputation with the Federation. Once the Federation is satisfied with your rank and rep, you will be able to select the system permits they offer in the station Bulletin Boards.
- You can serve more than one Galactic nation.
You can advance rank and reputation with both the Federation and Empire. With the Alliance, you can only build rep at the moment and not rank. This could potentially change in the future.
- Conflict zones are only available in systems that are in a state of war or civil war.
You may not find conflict zones immediately in systems that are in a state of war/civil war. You may need to fly further out from the initial star, to other stations and planets within the system, in order to find the conflict zones. But, they are there and normally aren't too tough to find.
- To see if a system is in a state of war, check the system’s info and where it says “State” in the System Map.
If it says Civil War next to State, then conflict zones should be there.
- Use caution and think carefully before entering a combat zone.
There are two types of conflict zones within any given system that is in a state of war; 1) low intensity conflict zones, where the number of combatants on each side are roughly equal; 2) high intensity conflict zones, where both sides are not equal. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the enemy in a high intensity conflict zone if the side you choose to fight for is losing the conflict. Choose wisely and come prepared.
- Choose your faction upon entering a conflict zone.
Before you even begin shooting, choose a faction as soon as you enter a conflict zone. It’ll be the interface to your right in the cockpit, under the last tab. “Faction” should be the first option available there.
- If you enter a conflict zone and can only choose one side, then you have encountered a bug.
This doesn’t happen to most people, but it did happen to me a couple of times. Do not participate in such conflict zones. Restart and try entering it again, and if it persists, fill out a ticket at the Elite Dangerous support page. Be patient as Frontier is not a large company like Bungie and Maxis. Their support staff stays busy, but it is growing as the fan base grows larger (as is the rest of the company).
- Since you are just starting out, be careful which missions you accept.
I encourage new folks to wisely choose missions. Don’t choose missions that’ll wreck you reputation with the Nation(s) and faction(s) you intend to serve loyally, and don’t choose missions to assassinate a target for 100,000 or more credits; I know all that cash is tempting, but remember you will most likely be fighting an Anaconda, which is basically what you might consider a destroyer or battleship. It is not impossible to defeat an Anaconda with a smaller ship, but it can be very difficult and you can die from one or two shots in a ship without upgrades and shields. Also, do your absolute best not to fail missions. Each failed mission will lower your rep with the faction and nation that issued the mission (but you can recover pretty easy if you fail a mission or two).
- If you want to explore, but sure to have a fuel scoop!
Remember at the beginning of this document when I said, “Stations are not the only ways to get fuel”? Well, that’s where the fuel scoop comes in. It allows you to scoop fuel from certain types of stars. If you intend to venture far outside of sphere of human influence, a long way away from any station, then you must have a fuel scoop.
- If you want to explore and make money, heres how:
You start with a basic discovery scanner, which you can use to find unexplored objects within 500 light seconds (or 500ls) from your position. You can upgrade to the Intermediate Discovery Scanner which can find unexplored objects 1000ls away, and you can upgrade to the Advanced Discovery Scanner, which will show all unexplored objects in a system. They require tons of cash, so save up! You can also find planets and others suns within a system by traveling at faster-than-light speeds and looking for stars that move faster than the other stars further off in the distance (specifically, this is called Parallax). Not the most efficient way to find stars, but it’ll have to do until you get 1.5 million credits for the best discovery scanner.
Finally, there is something called a Surface Scanner. This piece of equipment will require a module separate from the discovery scanner. The Surface Scanner allows you collect more detailed information on stars, planets and moons, increasing the value of your astronomical data. It’s about 250,000 credits, but pays off quickly.
[video=youtube;Npi1Rdw34co]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npi1Rdw34co[/video]
- Be choosey when exploring (eventually).
You don’t have to scan everything you find, unless you want to. Mostly, steer clear from asteroids fields as they are worth absolutely nothing… essentially, a waste of time (again, unless you just want to scan everything for the sake of being thorough). Try to focus on Earth-like worlds, water worlds, gas giants, black holes, stars, and metallic planets. Dead planets of ice and rock net you little cash (BUT they still are worth a little).
- Don’t die while bounty hunting.
Remember, this game punishes you for dying. If you collect some bounties, and get killed before you return to a station to turn in your bounty vouchers, then you lose those vouchers, thus make no money.
- And you really don’t want to die while trading commodities.
It’s not my favorite thing to do in space games, but in Elite most people find it necessary to build rep and make lots of credits. Just be very careful about carrying highly expensive cargo. For instance, if you find a good trade route for gold, and load up on 300,000 credits worth of gold, then die, then you lose that cargo and therefore the investment. It’s a good way to go broke fast if you’re not careful.
- Beware of kamikaze NPCs
At the moment it’s no longer common for a ship controlled by the game (NPC) to fly into you. Still, be very mindful of ships that seem to fly too close or right at you. Most of the time, you can avoid such potentially devastating collisions… most of the time. I strongly advise you to equip a Shield Generator in your ship. Shields don’t guarantee a collision won’t kill you, but they do help in preventing most fatal collisions.
- Oh, and equip point defense ASAP!
In my experiences, the Point Defense weapons is a life saver. Since equipping Point Defense, I haven’t had a single missile successfully hit me. So far, it’s had a 100% accuracy rate for me. I don’t think it is supposed to be 100% accurate, but in my case has been.
- What’s this Powerplay stuff all about?
Around the beginning of June 2015, Frontier released a major update for the game, with Powerplay being the headline content upgrade. First, you do not have to participate in Powerplay at all. It’s entirely optional, and you can still fight wars and do missions for your favorite factions and Galactic Nations. Powerplay just introduces a new dimension and depth to those who are loyal to a particular faction or Galactic Nation.
Okay, so you remember what factions and Galactic Nations are, right? Well, Powerplay allows players to serve specific leaders and their factions throughout the galaxy (like Federation President Zachary Hudson and his agenda). But, you can only swear allegiance to a Power if you meet its minimum rank requirements for exploration, combat, or trading (for instance, you may need to be at Expert combat rank to serve President Hudson, with exploration and trade ranks not taken into consideration). In this way, serving your preferred political powers takes on a whole new meaning.
At the time of the June 2015 1.3 Powerplay update, there could only be a maximum of 10 Powers to whom you can swear allegiance (this could increase or decrease over time). Whether a Power remains a power depends on the support it gets from players and how successful the efforts of those players are. Powers are ranked from 1st place to 10th depending on how many systems it controls and if control can be maintained. If a Power is at 8th place or lower, it is in danger of being taken off the list of powers and being replaced by another new power.
To check out information about the Powers (and to read GalNet articles) look to your left in the cockpit, and in the first tab in that left user interfact (UI) panel, you should see Galactic Powers. Select that and you can read about the Powers, as well as many GalNet articles, at any time (not just while docked).
When looking through the Powers, you can select one and read more details about it. In the first screen that comes up (under the Overview tab) you will be able to read about that Power’s Ethos, which is basically how that Power achieves its goals. This can vary from Power to Power- for instance, President Hudson’s Power is oriented on combat and delivering intelligence, whereas another Power may be oriented on trade or exploration.
The actions of Powers come in three forms: Preparation, Expansion, and Control. Preparation is how Powers prepare an unclaimed system for Expansion. Again, depending on the Power this could involve delivering cargo, intelligence, or participating in combat or exploration. Once a system has been sufficiently prepared, it can be Expanded into by your Power. If successful, the Power will claim the new system as its own. If unsuccessful due to players countering your expansion efforts or due to fellow sworn players not putting in sufficient effort, then expansion will have been repelled and the system will remain independent of your sworn Power. Keep in mind that you can also counter Expansion of other powers, as well.
Finally, there’s control. A Power does this by fortifying its systems, which can involve moving cargo or combat. If players fail to fortify a system, it does not lose control of the system. Control and fortifying is more about decreasing the maintenance costs of the systems a Power controls. But if a Control fortification fails, this can increase maintenance cost of the system. If the Power can’t afford the maintenance cost that system will go into Turmoil, and the system could be lost by the Power.
So, you might be wondering what Powers use as currency in terms of maintenance cost and expansion. Well, all powers use something called Command Capital, or CC. CC is earned by a Power depending on the number of systems it controls. Also, Control systems can earn more CC by exploiting systems that are within 15 light years of each Control System. If a Power makes more CC than it spends Controlling it’s systems, then that’s extra CC that the Power can spend to Prepare and Expand into other systems. The higher the population of a system, the more CC it earns.
Now, how do Powers decide how to use that CC? How does it decide where to expand? Players decide. As you carry out the objectives of your sworn Power (whether those objectives are related to Expansion, Control, or Preparation) you earn something called Merits. The more Merits you earn, the more benefits you get for being sworn to a Power. Merits also allow you to vote for the next actions to be performed by your sworn power. If the action receives enough support, and as long as the Power has the CC to afford that action, then that Power will carry out that action.
Oh, and another important piece of information: Powers perform actions on a weekly basis. You might refer to each week’s actions as turns or cycles. At the end of each cycle or turn, all the efforts of each Power are calculated. Again, the support each action receives (and the support each counter-action receives by another Power’s players) will determine whether or not an action is successful. Then a new cycle begins.
While many players have sworn allegiance to Powers, many players have not. Why wouldn’t someone want to participate in Powerplay? Well….
For example, let’s say that you swear allegiance to Zachary Hudson’s Power. The thing to keep in mind is that the Federation has two Powers. They do compete against each other, but not nearly as aggressively. Any Power belonging to the same Galactic Nation will only act against another Power belonging to the same Galactic nation in covert, less violent ways. However, any Power that is not part of the same Galactic Nation will be aggressive toward one another. So, by joining Zachary Hudson’s Power, you will become fair game within the territory of all other Powers that are not in the same Galactic Nation. So, Federation Shadow President Alicia Winter’s sworn players will not be allowed to attack you on sight when in their territory. However, all other Power’s sworn players can attack you on sight within their territories. Likewise, you will be able to attack any player belonging to a non-Federation Power if they are within your specific Power’s territory.
Essentially, if the game is not challenging and dangerous enough for you as it is, you can swear allegiance to a Power. But if you feel such conditions don’t fit with your play style (like if you move often from Federation, Imperial, Alliance, and other independent Powers’ systems) then you can choose to not swear allegiance to a Power. You can still build reputation and participate in wars by the various factions and Galactic Nation like before Powerplay was released. But if you’re extremely dedicated to a particular Galactic Nation or one of its great leaders, and you just need an extra challenge, you can join in on Powerplay, and it will be more difficult, especially in the territory of other Powers.
You can leave a Power at any time in two ways. First, you can defect to another Power. This allows you to carry over some of the merits you earned with the Power you left. Second, you can simply choose to leave the Power in the Galactic Powers Screen. It’s important to note that if you defect, the Power you betrayed will send mercenary ships to hunt you down and kill you for quite some time. If you simply leave a power at any point without defecting, they will be less motivated to hunt you down (or less aggressive) but will still do so nonetheless. Also, when you leave a Power you will have to wait a certain amount of time before you can swear allegiance to another Power. If you defect, you will have to wait a certain amount of time before you can defect again.
On one last note, not every ship in another Power’s territory will kill you on sight. This only applies to a Power’s players and that Power’s NPC ships which serve that power specifically.
An excellent resource to help you learn (especially if you’re a visual learner) is a series of tutorial videos made by Frontier Developments, with the first of the four part video series linked here at YouTube:
[video=youtube;NWcL8qEGg7Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWcL8qEGg7Q[/video]
Also, the Powerplay Manual can be found at this link in the Frontier Developments Forum:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=152185
Okay, I think this is good for the time being. I know I didn’t answer every question a new Elite commander might ask, but I think I got many of the most important issues covered. If you have any questions or comments that you feel need to be addressed here, whether concerning this guide itself or other questions about Elite, feel free to post under this topic. Of course, I and the Elite Dangerous community welcome you to post any questions or comments in the appropriate message boards. Don’t be scared! I mean, sure, not everyone at the Elite forums is nice and helpful, but most of us are. Never let anyone make you feel like less of a person for expressing your opinions or for asking questions. You don’t have to apologize to anyone for this simple act, nor should you feel compelled to do so (that is, unless you explicitly behave rude and unprofessionally, and do something against the forum’s rules). Frontier Developments opened a forum for Elite Dangerous so that its customers can provide them with feedback, which is essential for any game of this magnitude. They want to hear your opinions, ideas, questions, comments, and concerns. If they didn’t, the forum would not exist.
Also, I realize that there are tons of other guides, FAQs, and forum topics available to help new folks and vets alike. This guide is simply my own way of trying to explain things in this game. And, searching the forum, while helpful, can be overwhelming, especially when a topic is posted about several times. Many of those posts may have many of the same answers for the same questions, but may not answer a specific question or concern you have. I’ve been searching the forums several times a week ever since I got Elite Dangerous, and I will likely continue to do so for a while longer.
Again, feel free to post here for anything covered by this guide, and for things you think should be covered by a newbie guide. And if you have anything to say about the guide itself, I’m open to any and all criticism and suggestions.
Have fun exploring the Milky Way Galaxy, commander! I hope to see you somewhere out there…
by John Paul Wilson
Version 3.0 (Current)
9/6/2015
Changelog:
- Added section at the end of the guide concerning Powerplay.
- Updated sections concerning fines and bounties to reflect changes made in the 1.3 Update.
- Clarified or altered some explanations throughout the document.
- Fixed typos and grammatical errors.
- Added explanation about how dates are formatted (American vs European formats).
- Added section concerning new in-game laws on ramming.
- Edited minimum hardware specification subsection information.
- Removed notice about guide not reflecting 1.3 updates.
Version 2.2 (Old)
Changelog: Added a notice about the guide not yet reflecting the changes in the 1.3 Powerplay Update.
Version 2.1 (Old)
25/4/2015
Changelog: Fixed spelling and other errors, clarified some explanations, added more details, other minor changes.
Version 2.0 (Old)
4/4/2015
Change log: Fixed spelling and other errors, clarified some explanations, added more details, updated information to reflect changes made in v1.2 of the game (also called the Wings Update).
Version 1.0 (Old)
19/1/2015
Keep in mind that all dates listed are formatted according to European standards, not American. For instance, June the 9th in the year 2015 would be written 9/6/2015 in Europe, while in America is would be written as 6/9/2015. The reason this is done is because Elite: Dangerous was made in Great Britain.
This document may be updated in the future.
Welcome to the Elite Universe, commander!
Since so many of the same questions are asked on the Frontier Developments forums repeatedly, I decided to make this brief FAQ to give straight forward answers to some of the most typical questions and concerns. The first part, titled For Those About to Buy! is intended for people who are thinking about getting Elite Dangerous, but are unsure if it’s one of the rare “good” space games. The second part titled For Those About to Play! is intended for those who have bought the game and want to know how things work; the second section is also about answering questions that many new gamers might not know to ask, but will eventually.
Also, I want all folks who read this to know that there are other helpful sources:
Elite Dangerous Game Manual
Elite Dangerous Forums (Main Page)
Elite Dangerous Newcomers Forum
The Newcomers Thread Index (Got a question or a problem? Look in here first) BEFORE POSTING!!!
And for those who want to learn how to explore:
Nutter's Explorer's Guide To The Galaxy (by Cmdr Nutter)
This Is How We Do It: An Elite Dangerous Exploration Video Guide (by me)
And, when trying to look for a particular key word in Internet Explorer or Google Chrome, press the Ctrl+F keys, then type the word you're looking for into the search box (it usually appears at the top right corner of the window).
Overall, this guide is here for anyone to read, new or vetted. Now, on with the show…
If you’re a space game freak like me, then I imagine that you've been searching everywhere for that “perfect” space game. Well, I hate to break it to you, but from my experiences I can tell you that the “perfect” space game does not exist. That’s not to say that good space games do not exist; some of my personal favorites include Starflight on the Sega Genesis, Star Control 2 (aka Ur-Quan Masters) on the PC, and the Evochron series on PC (the latest being Evochron Mercenary). No space game has ever perfectly satisfied my desires for that “ideal” game in my mind. Keep that in mind as you consider whether or not Elite Dangerous is for you.
FOR THOSE ABOUT TO BUY!
Before you decide to buy Elite Dangerous, or if you have bought it and are new, ask yourself these questions before you commit any time to Elite Dangerous:
1. Do you want a space game that does not thrust you into action constantly, battle after battle, where you must explore a little to find the action? Where you choose when to fight and when not to?
2. Do you want a game that is extremely challenging (perhaps more so than any space game you’ve played)?
3. Do you want to play a game where your illegal or hostile actions have as much consequence in the game universe as in real life?
4. Do you have a lot of patience?
5. Are you okay with a game that does not have a story-mode campaign?
If you answered, “No,” to any or all of those questions, then this space game may not be exactly what you’re wanting. The reason I asked those questions wasn’t to scare you away, but to help you realize what kind of game Elite Dangerous is. However, if you said, “Yes,” to all those questions, or are willing to compromise on some of those questions you said, “No,” to, then you’re in for a ride!
Now, assuming you’re new (which this guide will be assuming from here on), then you probably want some straight-up information without having to scour the Internet and Frontier Developments Forums. I always encourage people to research games before they buy them. I also encourage everyone who is very curious about this game to search the Frontier Developments Forums. There are a few folks in the community who are extremely adversarial, but I also encourage you to be the bigger person when posting in the forums by not acknowledging such people. I’m not saying you can’t express your opinions, just be professional if you feel it necessary to offer a counter-argument to an issue. For the most part, though, the Frontier community is helpful, polite, and the forum moderators take their jobs seriously, which is to make everyone feel comfortable enough to express their honest opinions and ask questions in an environment that is conducive to intelligent discussion and useful feedback.
As a word of warning: The description in the previous paragraph does not apply to the Dangerous Discussion section in the Frontier Developments Forum. It's where most folks go on the forums, so extreme fans and disappointed players are frequent. If you got a thick skin, you'll be fine.
At this point you may be thinking, “Whoa, there! This sounds like some pretty serious stuff.” Well, on one hand, it’s a game. If you just want to play Elite as a lone wolf, never communicating anything on the forums, then that is definitely an option. On the other hand, if you want to be part of a growing community that makes your experience in the game more immersive, then yeah, it is serious. Don’t be scared, though! We want the community to grow, for the game to be successful, and for the game itself to be as fun as it can be. We welcome new folks to the Elite universe, and we’re always willing to help in any way we can; which is why I’m writing this guide.
Anyways, enough of the community stuff. You want to know what the Elite experience will be like, and if you really want to sink time and money into this experience. Let’s get some basic, vital information out of the way.
- What kind of controls are available? Mouse & keyboard? HOTAS style joysticks (aka flight joysticks)? My PC game controller? My Xbox 360 controller? Oculus?
The answer to all those questions is, “Yes!” Most space games I’ve played only support keyboard & mouse, and many support HOTAS style joysticks. Often, though, I found that most space games don’t work appropriately with dual analog style controllers; the left joystick would work, but never the right one. I imagine this is likely due to space games being developed for the HOTAS style setup. Have no fear with Elite! You can even use an Xbox 360 controller, and you can map everything to your own personal preferences. A word of warning; I have not been able to adjust sensitivity on my 360 controller for this game. Is it such an issue that makes the game unplayable? No. But, you may have to stick with weapons that track targets (gimbaled guns) rather than weapons that are fixed and require dead-center aiming.
Also, the XBox One Controller is compatible with Elite Dangerous. Just be sure you have a Mini USB Cable to connect it to your computer (as far as I know there's no way to use the One controller wirelessly with a computer, yet).
- Is there an offline mode?
No. There is a Solo mode where you can fly around the galaxy without ever having to deal with actual players. You still have to maintain an internet connection, however. The in-game economy (prices for commodities like metals, foods, and even people) is effected by everyone playing, no matter the mode they select. Also, there is a Group mode which is like Solo, but you will be able to play with your friends. Open mode is where you’ll encounter other players from across the planet.
- Okay, so there is a multiplayer mode, right?
Yes. On 4/4/2015 a feature called Wings was added in order to improve the multiplayer experience. People on your friends list and in your Wing (a party of up to 4 players) will appear in the galactic map so you always know where they're at when they're online. Players in your Wing will show on your HUD, and there's always a way to get to your wing mates, even if they're interdicted successfully and pulled into combat.
- That’s cool. Do I have to pay a subscription fee, like in Eve Online or World of Warcraft?
Nope! But, you will have to buy expansions when they become available. You'll still be able to play Elite Dangerous without the expansions, though- they're an optional purchase (when they become available).
- Alright… so what’s planned for those expansions?
Currently, Frontier is planning on adding planetary landings, where you’ll be able to mine the planet’s resources. Also, they plan on giving players the ability to walk around their ship and hunt on alien worlds for sport. Keep in mind that these expansions may take a while to finish, maybe even a year or more. And don’t forget they will not be free expansions, since there are no subscription fees to play online. But don't be scared! Most planned updates (and all updates thus far [25/4/2015]) are free of charge, and major updates include many fixes and new features to further improve the game.
- That sounds awesome! But, what can I do now!?
Explore any of the Milky Way’s 400 billion stars, many of which have planets and moons. And, yes, I said 400 billion stars. Plus, you can do the other typical space game stuff like trading goods for profits, bounty hunting, pirating, mining, smuggling, and fighting battles in conflict zones. You can also work toward building a reputation with one or more of three galactic empires (Federation, Alliance, Imperial). And with the 1.3 Powerplay Update, players are able to have more control over what happens in the Elite Universe. Now in Elite, you can swear allegiance to any one of the ten most powerful leaders in the galaxy, and you’ll try to help that Power to expand its territory and retain control over the territory it owns. In return, you’ll get various perks depending on which Power you join. Participating in Powerplay is entirely optional, and you can stop serving a Power anytime you wish.
- What kind of perspectives does the game allow?
The game has First Person Perspective (seeing through the eyes of your character/commander) and an External Camera, so you can see your ship from outside the cockpit and take flawless screen shots and videos of the beautiful Elite Universe. Also keep in mind that the External Camera, while activated, disables your ability to pilot the ship until you return to First Person Perspective.
For Beginners: The External Debug Camera has to be bound to a key or button in your options menu, under controls. From then on, you'll be able to enable the External Camera with the press of a button of your choice.
- What is the flying and fighting like in Elite?
That’s a great question to ask, since most space games are different in that aspect. The flying is handled in two ways; Flight Assist Mode On and Flight Assist Off. With Flight Assist Off, you are subject to Newtonian Physics; this is to say that if you boost in a certain direction then you continue to travel in that direction even with engines off. Remember, an object that is in motion will tend to stay in motion, and objects at rest will tend to stay at rest. If you ever played Evochron Mercenary, then you know what I mean. Or, if you even played Air Hockey, think of your ship as the puck, sliding nearly frictionless on the table until something slows it down or stops it.
But, with Flight Assist Mode On, the game plays more like a typical space game that focuses squarely on combat. If you ever played Darkstar One, Project Sylpheed, or just about any jet-fighter game like the Ace Combat series, then you basically got the idea. Frontier Developments wanted the combat to maintain the dogfight combat style of previous games in the series.
- But, how do the ships handle exactly? How do they feel?
As someone who has always loved playing jet-fighter games, I can tell you from experience that every game like that felt different, handled different; you always have to get used to the controls. That being said, each ship in the game handles differently, depending on its size and design. The smaller ships are more like combat fighters, and have better handling than the larger ships used for battling or transporting. Those larger ships, though sluggish, are more heavily armed and armored. So, it comes down to personal preference, and the ships accommodate that wide variety of preferences. As space games go, Elite Dangerous’ ships handle well if you know how to fly them, and depending on your ship’s size.
- Fair enough. What about ship variety? How many are available currently?
To answer the question directly, there are around twenty (20) by my count. Several more are planned to be released later in updates. It’s not the widest variety of ships I’ve ever seen in a space game, but not bad at all.
- How is the space travel done?
There are three ways to get around the galaxy with all ships. First, you have Normal Space, which is more for battles than actual travel (it is in this mode you can shoot opponents and scoop cargo floating in space). If normal travel was the only means to get around, then no one would get anywhere. Second is SuperCruise, or SC for short. SC is how you travel within any given system to explore planet to planet. In this mode you travel at faster-than-light speeds. You won't arrive at your destination immediately, but most objects can be reached within a few a seconds or minutes (depending on the distance of the object, of course). Third is Jumping, where you can travel from system to system in about fifteen seconds or so. Different ships can jump different distances, that also depends on that ship’s warp drive, or Frame Shift Drive as it’s called in game. Small ships can do 7-10 light years, and heavier ships can jump around 30 light years, more or less. Either way will get you to many of your destinations. But if you’re trying to explore further out along the edge of the galaxy where stars are further apart, then you need a ship that can make that distance.
Also keep in mind that ships use fuel. Supercruise uses fuel, and jumps use even more fuel. More details will be available later in this guide. Don’t be scared, though! Space stations aren’t the only way to get fuel…
- Will I be able to own more than one ship at a time?
Yes. When you buy a new ship, you have the options to sell your current ship to knock down the price of the new ship you’re buying, or you can store your current ship and hop right into your new ship.
- Can I name my ship the USS Whatever?
Currently, ships cannot be named. I know, it’s a pity. But, I’ve had mostly positive experiences with Frontier Developments and they seem to listen to their fans. I can imagine that at some point you will be able to name ships. For now, unfortunately, it’s not an option.
- Can I at least pimp my ride?
Yes. Each ship has a number of modules where you can equip shields, life support, cargo holds, and more. The bigger the ship, the more modules it will have available (or, that’s the basic idea). Same is true for weapon modules (aka hardpoints). Paint jobs are also available for ships, but have to be bought in the Frontier Developments online store. They are expensive but depending on your personal preferences, they may be worth it. For instance, a player can buy flag paintjobs for the Viper. On my Viper is painted the flag of my home nation, the USA. And it was worth the $5. Sadly, not all paintjobs are available for all ships. For example, I can put the American Flag paintjob on my Viper, but not on my Cobra or Sidewinder. Disappointing, I know, but remember what I said at the beginning? Elite Dangerous is not the “perfect” space game, but what is?
- Alright, what about stations? What’s it like to dock at them?
Remember when I asked if you like a game with a challenge? Well, this applies to docking. Don’t be scared, though! It’s not too difficult to learn, and you actually get pretty good at it after a while. If you really want to avoid docking, a docking computer is available for your ship. Just remember that a docking computer will take up module space, which might be better used for shields or a discovery scanner for exploration.
But the docking isn’t bad. You hail the station, ask permission to land, they give you the go, you approach the station, enter the station’s entrance/exit carefully, find your landing pad, and land. Don’t forget to deploy your landing gear!
- What about exploration? How is that done?
Fairly simple, honestly. When you lock on to a star as a destination, it tells you before you jump there if the system has been explored. When you jump, lock onto the star and remain facing it. You must be facing an unexplored object in order to scan it. It’ll take a few seconds, but when done, it’ll be logged in your ship’s computer. After you scan the star (or as you are scanning the star), you can use something called a Discovery Scanner. It only takes a few seconds to activate, and will tell you if there are any objects in the system. If there are, you lock onto the object, approach it, and your ship will scan it automatically once it is within range. Different objects have different values. A planet with life will be worth more than a planet that’s frozen and covered in ice. Black holes hold a high value as well. Just be careful! If you die before returning to a station, you can no longer sell that data. This is another challenging aspect of the game, especially if you’ve spent a long time exploring without selling the data at a base. You don’t get paid much (when compared to other professions), but at least it pays. Also, as you become more experienced in exploration, you can decide whether an unexplored object is worth the time to scan it. Time is money, people!
UPDATE: While exploration still doesn't pay as well as bounty hunting, turning in combat vouchers, or especially trading, Frontier Developments listened to their fans and doubled (on average) the value of all astronomical objects. The development team has expressed a desire to bring other professions more in line with the higher paying ones. This is not to say that at some point they will all pay equal, but given the time it takes to explore the vast reaches of the galaxy, and the costs of buying larger ships, ship maintenance, and ship upgrades, many of the fans and the developers decided that exploration needed to pay out more. Expect further changes in the future!
- What about a campaign story-mode?
Currently, there’s no campaign, at least in the traditional sense. Yes, there are missions. Yes, there is a story to whole Elite Universe. And, yes, some missions will be affected by the actions of you and other players. Sadly, there is very little story telling in the game. You can always access GalNet anytime from your ship, so you can read news headlines to see where a war may be taking place, or what events are unfolding. But, there’s no cut scenes, no voice acting, and very few of the non-playable characters (or NPCs) will tell you anything about the Elite Universe’s history. I know, disappointing. On the up side, Frontier is planning on having missions that’ll have something to do with the Elite Universe’s story. I’m not sure what the details are exactly, how exactly this will be done. If it is your belief that a game must have a storyline or campaign, then Elite Dangerous may not be for you (yet). Typically, with most games and especially space games, I prefer a plot and in-game storytelling. But I’ve enjoyed Elite Dangerous so much that I’ve overlooked this typical necessity. If you can stand a game without storytelling if the game is good enough, then Elite Dangerous may be for you.
Also it’s only fair to note that in Elite players can play a role in shaping the Powers, factions, and events in the galaxy by working collectively toward certain goals. In this way, players can actively participate in shaping the Elite Universe’s current events.
Personal Perspective: I’m holding out hope on this particular issue. Elite is amazing without storytelling. I can only imagine how much more amazing it would be with storytelling. Some people believe that a game with no in-game story telling forces you to use your own imagination to create a story for yourself. I disagree with this assertion, and if you ever played Starflight on Sega Genesis, or Star Control 2, then you might know what I mean when I say in-game story telling can add a lot to the immersion in that particular universe. In the early 1990s, when I was a kid playing Starflight on my Sega, the story just sucked me into that universe. My imagination ran wild as the game’s various alien species told me their own version of the history of that universe. You didn’t get it all at once, though. You had to explore, encounter their ships, build a dialogue with them by asking questions, answering questions, and even your disposition (polite, hostile, obsequious, etc.) affected how the aliens would deal with you. With all of that happening, I felt so much a part of that universe, with my own ship, a handpicked crew, a name for my ship, landing on planets, upgrading systems on my ship, and so on.
Anyways, this is likely the point where you decide whether or not this game is worth the time and effort. Personally, I love a good story, and I really thought Elite might get stale pretty quick without one. The game was so excellently executed, though, that I overlooked this personal preference. However, there are a few folks who felt the lack of a story mode or campaign really killed this game for them.
- Alright, so what are the system requirements? How well will this “amazing” game run on my computer?
To quote from this webpage https://www.elitedangerous.com/about/playyourway
MINIMUM RECOMMENDED HARDWARE SPECIFICATION:
Direct X 11
Quad Core CPU ( 4 x 2Ghz is a reasonable minimum)
4 GB System RAM (more is always better)
DX 10 hardware GPU with 1GB video ram
Nvidia GTX 260
ATI 4870HD
Internet connection
SUPPORTED OPERATING SYSTEMS:
Windows 7.x
Windows 8.x
My system exceeds the minimum requirements, but I still have to dumb down the graphics settings to medium. Even on the lowest settings, though, it’s still a beautiful game. Also, a Mac version of Elite Dangerous is currently available. An XBox One version of the game will also become available in the coming months. And, yes, Elite is currently available on Steam.
- So, should I buy it?
As always, research and decide for yourself if any game is worth its price. Speaking for myself, I paid $50 for the pre-order and it’s been worth every penny. It’s especially worth buying it if (like me) you’ve been wandering the fowl dumping grounds known as the space-sim genre. There are lots of lemons out there, believe me. Elite Dangerous, though, is certainly a gem (in my own opinion!!!).
Ultimately, it is up to you, and you can never be 100% sure if a game is right for you until you actually play it. Something else to keep in mind is the Youtube videos about Elite. Many of them showcase the combat, but remember that Elite isn’t just one battle after the next. You have to become familiar with Elite’s version of the Milky Way Galaxy and keep tabs on GalNet (the news) to see where battles are taking place or may take place soon. There's certainly a lot of combat in Elite Dangerous, especially if you go back and forth between bounty hunting and conflict zones.
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FOR THOSE ABOUT TO PLAY!
Okay, so you bought the game and are new. What in the heck to do? Well, I know how you feel, especially when you open that galaxy map for the first time and realize that there are truly 400 billion stars out there to visit. Even just the part of the galaxy inhabited by humans is very large. It’s also a dangerous, unforgiving universe out there. Don’t be scared, though! I’m here to provide some life-saving tips. The Frontier Developments forum and instruction manual to the game also can come in helpful with a wealth of information. We’re all here for you, commander. We want you to have fun.
Whether you’re a bounty hunter, smuggler, honest trader, pirate, fighter pilot, explorer, miner, or whatever, these are a few things you need to know:
- Death and Respawning
As far as death itself goes, not too bad. If you die, you have the opportunity to rebuy your ship at a portion of the ship’s total cost with in-game insurance. Everyone has insurance, and you only need it to rebuy your destroyed ship (the only exception is the ship you start with, the Sidewinder; it’s free to replace). Insurance will also pay for all the exact modules and hardpoints you had installed on your destroyed ship (if you choose to do so; not replacing modules should lower the ship’s rebuy cost). Keep in mind that you must have the money to pay, or you will go into debt by having to borrow credits from the insurance company. There’s a limit to how far you can go in debt, so try very hard to stay alive and always run if you can’t win the battle. It’s not a tactic many of us like to use, but at times it’s simply necessary to survive.
As a further warning, you have to be careful you don't put yourself in a situation where you could lose all your financial progress. Always check how much your ship's insurance rebuy cost will be. If the rebuy costs more than the credits you have available, then you shouldn't fly it. As a rule, try to keep about 3 or 4 times more money than your ship's rebuy cost. Don't be scared! I've never went bankrupt because I always make sure to follow the rules I stated. Buy new ship, upgrade the ship, check the rebuy cost, and if it's a third or less than your total cash on hand then you're golden. Plus, if you're a trader, don't gamble all of your cash on a single haul. Maybe you're good enough to survive and make that haul. But all it takes is one mistake to lose it all. Patience is truly a virtue in Elite Dangerous!
One more time- if you can't rebuy, then don't fly!
- Crime and Punishment and Reputation
Now, here’s a couple of the hardest things for an inexperienced commander to do in Elite Dangerous; don’t get in trouble with the law and don’t ruin your reputation!
o First, understand how the factions and jurisdiction works in Elite Dangerous!
For example, if you murder someone in an Anarchy system, and go to a Federation system, the Federation factions won’t hold it against you. If you murder someone in a Federation system, then the local Federation faction will hold it against you.
So, basically, the faction system works like this: There are three major Galactic Nations; The Federation, Empire, and Alliance. In your galactic map, you can set the map to show you which systems are controlled by which Galactic Nation. Each Nation differs in what cargo is banned; like the Federation considers slaves as illegal cargo, whereas the Empire allows slavery. So be careful what you do and where you do it! Finally, there are factions, which operate somewhat similarly as states in a nation. For instance, if you go to a Federation system, there will be one faction in control of that system, whose authority vessels patrol that system and enforce the Federation’s laws. This faction has jurisdiction over most of the system (meaning, stations controlled by that faction and all areas that are not owned by other factions). Within such systems, there are other factions, and some may own a space station or may not. But those “lesser” factions have jurisdiction over any stations they control, but nothing more. Think of it like the United States of America; the US has a federal, centralized government, and that government considers all states as its jurisdiction. Within each state, there is also a system of government (which may not function exactly like the federal government). So, both the federal US government and the individual states have jurisdiction in those states. For instance, New York is under that state government’s jurisdiction, but the US government also has jurisdiction within that state. However, New York police do not attempt to enforce its laws in other states, like Georgia. If you understand that concept, then you basically understand how jurisdictions work between Galactic Nations and controlling factions. Note that not every “lesser” faction in a system will fall under Federation jurisdiction. For instance, if you go to a Federation system, the Federation’s controlling faction will not be the only one present. Other factions will exist, some loyal to the Federation and some not. If a station is controlled by a lesser faction not aligned with the Federation, then the Federation has no jurisdiction in and immediately around that station. Once you leave from the vicinity of that station, you have re-entered Federation territory and jurisdiction.
o Be careful which factions you serve, and what Galactic Nations they serve.
This is one of the most common aspects of the game that most folks have trouble understanding. Again, think of factions and nations like the US government and its states. If you accept a contract from a Federation faction to kill a member of another Federation faction then you can lose reputation with the Federation. Likewise, if Georgia and Tennessee started fighting a civil war, and you start supplying Georgians with weapons and assassinating Tennessee politicians and leaders, then the US government will consider you a criminal. Tennessee will consider you a criminal. Georgians may love you for your efforts, but no one else will. That same concept applies to factions and nations in the game. When you accept a contract, especially if it’s something illegal or harmful, make sure that both factions are not aligned with the same Galactic Nation (using the galactic map). This will damage your reputation immensely. So, be careful!
o For lesser infractions, such as docking with a station without asking permission, you will most likely get a simple fine.
You have only so much time to pay your fines before they can become a bounty on your head. You got a good bit of time, though. Just remember that getting fines and bounties on your head also decreases your reputation with factions in whose territory you committed your crime(s). If you commit a crime in Federation space, then your Federation reputation will suffer. The same relationship exists with the factions in the game.
o Cargo you find floating in space will most likely be counted as stolen.
It’s not all stolen, but so much of it is stolen that I would suggest you always consider such cargo as stolen at first. In fact, a good, generally safe way to make some quick credits is to only pick up the abandoned, “stolen” cargo in systems that either have no government (labeled as Anarchy) or in systems where laws are pretty lax. Then, only sell that cargo at an Anarchy system, or in systems where laws are lenient on your new cargo. You can smuggle cargo into stations aligned with the Federation, Empire, or Alliance, but there are a couple of ways to sneak the illegal cargo in; 1) toggle your “silent running mode” to avoid being scanned, but you’ll likely have to turn silent running mode off one or two times as you fly to the station in order not to overheat your ship; also remember not to land on a landing pad with Silent Mode On, as your ship will continue to heat up and after a certain point, that heat will destroy your ship; 2) Using your heatsink to hide your ship’s heat signature to sneak in, in combination with disabling some of your systems so your ship remains cold and off of system authority scanners.
o If you are tempted to smuggle (or do anything illegal) just remember that reputation is easier to destroy than it is to build it up.
Think of reputation in the real world; you can you donate to charities, help people in need, treat everyone with kindness and sincerity, but if you got caught trying to smuggle cocaine into the community, all that philanthropy and other good deeds would be essentially forgotten. You would forever be known as a dirty smuggler. So, for example, if you really want to build Federation reputation, then consider smuggling to one of the Alliance or Imperial stations. It’s risky business, but can yield a tidy profit. Just be careful!!!!
o The game is sort of lenient with mistakes.
If you are a bounty hunter trying to claim that sweet bounty, and a couple of system authority ships show up to help, do not screw up and shoot them! You can get a bounty on your head and those authorities can start attacking you, too. With update 1.3, a little bit of friendly-fire will be forgiven, but anything more than a couple of stray bullets can still get a bounty on your head. Also remember that if you target a ship that isn’t wanted and shoot them, you can get fine and/or bounty whether the shots were accidental or not. Again, this rule doesn’t apply to anarchy systems. Just be careful!
o Don’t screw up when docking!
The station staff will announce on station loudspeakers that loitering will not be tolerated. If you hang out at an entrance/exit for too long, the station will attack you and most likely destroy you. If you hover over the wrong landing pad for too long, the station will attack you. If you fire your weapons in a station’s No Fire Zone, the station will attack you. If you shoot the station for any reason, the station will attack you. If you fart while docking, the station will attack you. Just kidding on that last part. But all the rest, take seriously!
o Murder is taken seriously. If the ship you are attacking is not wanted for crimes in that system, then those authorities will be out to kill you.
Make sure your target is wanted in that system. The only places where crimes are not registered are in anarchy systems, where anything and everything goes!
o The way to remove a fine that has been placed on you is to dock at a station owned by the faction whose laws you violated and pay your fines off. Bounties are another matter….
Currently, major Galactic Nations (Federation, Imperial, Alliance) do not place bounties or fines on players anymore. Instead, fines and bounties are only issued and enforced by local factions. Also, understand the difference between fines and bounties: fines are issued for lesser crimes and can be paid off at any time, but if the fines aren’t paid within seven days the fine becomes a bounty; bounties are typically issued for major crimes like murdering someone who isn’t wanted, and bounties cannot be paid off immediately. Small bounties, like friendly fire, can be paid off after a 15 minute cooldown time. Major bounties, like murder, can only be paid off after an entire week (7 days) cooldown time- however the number of days before the bounty becomes dormant can vary depending on the faction and crime(s) committed. 7 days is the highest the cooldown timer will go.
After the cooldown time, the active bounty becomes a dormant bounty, which you can pay off by returning to a station owned by the faction you committed your crime against. But be careful! If you are scanned by the authorities of the faction you committed the crime against before you pay off the bounty, your dormant bounty will become active again, and the cooldown timer will be reset.
Also keep in mind that each crime you commit will reset to the cooldown time for active and/or dormant bounties depending on the crime. For instance, if you commit murder, you can’t pay the bounty off until the cooldown timer runs to zero. If your cooldown time is set to 7 days for a crime like murder, and only three days pass, and you kill another non-wanted player in that system, the cooldown timer is reset to seven days. Or, if you have a dormant bounty and commit another crime, the cooldown timer is reset and the active and dormant bounties will be added together, and that will be the new bounty on your head. Finally, dormant bounties will disappear, too, if you don’t pay them off for another 7 days. Essentially, crimes that result in immediate bounties can only be held against you for up to two weeks maximum.
Sounds confusing? Yeah, it can be. Maybe the following will be more helpful:
- Fined
- Pay off fine
- You’re legal and clear
- Don’t pay off fine within 7 days, it becomes a bounty.
- Bounty
- Can’t pay off immediately, must wait until the cooldown time for the active bounty reaches zero.
- If you return to the system you committed the crime in before the cooldown time passes you are fair game for those authorities.
- If you return to the system you committed the crime in before the cooldown time reaches zero, and commit more crimes there, then those fines and new bounties are added to the active bounty you already had and the cooldown timer is increased depending on the crimes you committed.
- After the cooldown time reaches zero, the active bounty becomes a dormant bounty. At this point you can return to the system you committed the crime in and pay off the bounty at the appropriate faction’s stations.
- If you are scanned by authorities of the system you committed the crime in before paying off the dormant bounty, the dormant bounty becomes active again and you have to wait until the cooldown time reaches zero again before it becomes dormant.
- Even if you pay off a dormant bounty successfully, it will be added to something called a Legacy Fine. If you commit more crimes in that faction’s territory, the Legacy Fine will be added to your new, active bounty. This is to deter people from committing the same crimes over and over again (unless you just like being a legendary outlaw, then it might be an incentive).
- Also, if you don’t want to pay your dormant bounties, just wait 7 days and it will disappear, but not completely. Remember that no matter what, your bounties and fines will be added to your Legacy Fine.
Okay, so what if you are killed with an active bounty? What happens?
- If you are killed and the bounty is claimed, the bounty is cleared. However, it is still a part of your Legacy Fine.
- If you die and are teleported (returned) to a station owned by the faction you committed the crime against, and the bounty is not claimed, you will have to pay it off in addition to your insurance buyback cost. It still counts toward your Legacy Fine.
And, yes, the cooldown time is based on real time and ticks down whether you play or not.
o Ramming is now illegal!
If you ram someone while traveling over 100 m/s you will be fined (no bounty). If you ram someone who does not have shields the fine will be higher. Likewise, if someone rams you under the same circumstances, they too will be fined accordingly. So be extra careful with your speed and direction in and around space stations.
o Overall, keep in mind that Elite Dangerous takes reputation and crime almost as seriously as real life!!!
I cannot stress this enough. Many players who are new to the Elite universe do not realize this, since most games are not so strict. In the Fable series, for instance, the game does keep up with your good deeds and bad deeds, and your character’s good or evil alignment keeps track of those actions. But, if you’re 100% good in Fable, you can actually get away with some murder and philandering and still be as holy as an archangel. In Elite, though, you can be allied with a Nation one second, and the next you could be considered unfriendly for one negative deed or mistake. Don’t be scared, though! With a bit of experience and careful decision making, you can avoid many of the most punishing mistakes. But to do serious damage to your reputation, it has to be something more severe like murdering a non-wanted person. Like I said earlier, a little too much friendly fire will cause you to be fined a couple hundred credits, and you will be wanted, but your reputation should be fine as long as you don't make excessive friendly fire a habit!
- You may have to start over a couple of times.
I certainly had to, as I did not immediately know or realize many of the things that have been explained in this guide. So, in your first run-through of the game, don’t sweat the mistakes so much and take the time to see what happens when you do certain things. Once you have a firm grasp on the basics, then you can have a serious go at the game.
o If you do have to restart and you own the Mercenary Edition that had an Eagle spacecraft as a free preorder bonus, you can start over without losing the free Eagle.
Note, though, that your free Eagle will not have any new modules or weapons you gave it in your prior play-through. The same applies for your Sidewinder.
Now that we’ve discussed laws, reputation, and factions, we can move on to other issues.
- You can only have one character save at a time!
Yep, just one at a time. As stated previously, you can wipe your game and start anew if needed. I haven’t seen anything about adding more save slots for other characters from Frontier Developments.
- Ranking up in the Imperial or Federation navies can be done by doing missions provided directly by those Nations.
How can you tell if it’s an actual Fed or Imperial mission? Well, missions normally provide the name of the faction issuing the missions right under the name of the missions in station Bulletin Boards. For navy missions, the issuing Nation’s name will appear in place of the faction names. Also, reputation likely has influence over when navy missions become available.
- Some systems cannot be visited without a system permit.
Some systems, such as Sol and Sirius, require permits in order to be visited. You obtain those permits by doing missions for the controlling Galactic Nation and/or faction. So, to get to Sol, you have to increase your rank and reputation with the Federation. Once the Federation is satisfied with your rank and rep, you will be able to select the system permits they offer in the station Bulletin Boards.
- You can serve more than one Galactic nation.
You can advance rank and reputation with both the Federation and Empire. With the Alliance, you can only build rep at the moment and not rank. This could potentially change in the future.
- Conflict zones are only available in systems that are in a state of war or civil war.
You may not find conflict zones immediately in systems that are in a state of war/civil war. You may need to fly further out from the initial star, to other stations and planets within the system, in order to find the conflict zones. But, they are there and normally aren't too tough to find.
- To see if a system is in a state of war, check the system’s info and where it says “State” in the System Map.
If it says Civil War next to State, then conflict zones should be there.
- Use caution and think carefully before entering a combat zone.
There are two types of conflict zones within any given system that is in a state of war; 1) low intensity conflict zones, where the number of combatants on each side are roughly equal; 2) high intensity conflict zones, where both sides are not equal. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the enemy in a high intensity conflict zone if the side you choose to fight for is losing the conflict. Choose wisely and come prepared.
- Choose your faction upon entering a conflict zone.
Before you even begin shooting, choose a faction as soon as you enter a conflict zone. It’ll be the interface to your right in the cockpit, under the last tab. “Faction” should be the first option available there.
- If you enter a conflict zone and can only choose one side, then you have encountered a bug.
This doesn’t happen to most people, but it did happen to me a couple of times. Do not participate in such conflict zones. Restart and try entering it again, and if it persists, fill out a ticket at the Elite Dangerous support page. Be patient as Frontier is not a large company like Bungie and Maxis. Their support staff stays busy, but it is growing as the fan base grows larger (as is the rest of the company).
- Since you are just starting out, be careful which missions you accept.
I encourage new folks to wisely choose missions. Don’t choose missions that’ll wreck you reputation with the Nation(s) and faction(s) you intend to serve loyally, and don’t choose missions to assassinate a target for 100,000 or more credits; I know all that cash is tempting, but remember you will most likely be fighting an Anaconda, which is basically what you might consider a destroyer or battleship. It is not impossible to defeat an Anaconda with a smaller ship, but it can be very difficult and you can die from one or two shots in a ship without upgrades and shields. Also, do your absolute best not to fail missions. Each failed mission will lower your rep with the faction and nation that issued the mission (but you can recover pretty easy if you fail a mission or two).
- If you want to explore, but sure to have a fuel scoop!
Remember at the beginning of this document when I said, “Stations are not the only ways to get fuel”? Well, that’s where the fuel scoop comes in. It allows you to scoop fuel from certain types of stars. If you intend to venture far outside of sphere of human influence, a long way away from any station, then you must have a fuel scoop.
- If you want to explore and make money, heres how:
You start with a basic discovery scanner, which you can use to find unexplored objects within 500 light seconds (or 500ls) from your position. You can upgrade to the Intermediate Discovery Scanner which can find unexplored objects 1000ls away, and you can upgrade to the Advanced Discovery Scanner, which will show all unexplored objects in a system. They require tons of cash, so save up! You can also find planets and others suns within a system by traveling at faster-than-light speeds and looking for stars that move faster than the other stars further off in the distance (specifically, this is called Parallax). Not the most efficient way to find stars, but it’ll have to do until you get 1.5 million credits for the best discovery scanner.
Finally, there is something called a Surface Scanner. This piece of equipment will require a module separate from the discovery scanner. The Surface Scanner allows you collect more detailed information on stars, planets and moons, increasing the value of your astronomical data. It’s about 250,000 credits, but pays off quickly.
[video=youtube;Npi1Rdw34co]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npi1Rdw34co[/video]
- Be choosey when exploring (eventually).
You don’t have to scan everything you find, unless you want to. Mostly, steer clear from asteroids fields as they are worth absolutely nothing… essentially, a waste of time (again, unless you just want to scan everything for the sake of being thorough). Try to focus on Earth-like worlds, water worlds, gas giants, black holes, stars, and metallic planets. Dead planets of ice and rock net you little cash (BUT they still are worth a little).
- Don’t die while bounty hunting.
Remember, this game punishes you for dying. If you collect some bounties, and get killed before you return to a station to turn in your bounty vouchers, then you lose those vouchers, thus make no money.
- And you really don’t want to die while trading commodities.
It’s not my favorite thing to do in space games, but in Elite most people find it necessary to build rep and make lots of credits. Just be very careful about carrying highly expensive cargo. For instance, if you find a good trade route for gold, and load up on 300,000 credits worth of gold, then die, then you lose that cargo and therefore the investment. It’s a good way to go broke fast if you’re not careful.
- Beware of kamikaze NPCs
At the moment it’s no longer common for a ship controlled by the game (NPC) to fly into you. Still, be very mindful of ships that seem to fly too close or right at you. Most of the time, you can avoid such potentially devastating collisions… most of the time. I strongly advise you to equip a Shield Generator in your ship. Shields don’t guarantee a collision won’t kill you, but they do help in preventing most fatal collisions.
- Oh, and equip point defense ASAP!
In my experiences, the Point Defense weapons is a life saver. Since equipping Point Defense, I haven’t had a single missile successfully hit me. So far, it’s had a 100% accuracy rate for me. I don’t think it is supposed to be 100% accurate, but in my case has been.
- What’s this Powerplay stuff all about?
Around the beginning of June 2015, Frontier released a major update for the game, with Powerplay being the headline content upgrade. First, you do not have to participate in Powerplay at all. It’s entirely optional, and you can still fight wars and do missions for your favorite factions and Galactic Nations. Powerplay just introduces a new dimension and depth to those who are loyal to a particular faction or Galactic Nation.
Okay, so you remember what factions and Galactic Nations are, right? Well, Powerplay allows players to serve specific leaders and their factions throughout the galaxy (like Federation President Zachary Hudson and his agenda). But, you can only swear allegiance to a Power if you meet its minimum rank requirements for exploration, combat, or trading (for instance, you may need to be at Expert combat rank to serve President Hudson, with exploration and trade ranks not taken into consideration). In this way, serving your preferred political powers takes on a whole new meaning.
At the time of the June 2015 1.3 Powerplay update, there could only be a maximum of 10 Powers to whom you can swear allegiance (this could increase or decrease over time). Whether a Power remains a power depends on the support it gets from players and how successful the efforts of those players are. Powers are ranked from 1st place to 10th depending on how many systems it controls and if control can be maintained. If a Power is at 8th place or lower, it is in danger of being taken off the list of powers and being replaced by another new power.
To check out information about the Powers (and to read GalNet articles) look to your left in the cockpit, and in the first tab in that left user interfact (UI) panel, you should see Galactic Powers. Select that and you can read about the Powers, as well as many GalNet articles, at any time (not just while docked).
When looking through the Powers, you can select one and read more details about it. In the first screen that comes up (under the Overview tab) you will be able to read about that Power’s Ethos, which is basically how that Power achieves its goals. This can vary from Power to Power- for instance, President Hudson’s Power is oriented on combat and delivering intelligence, whereas another Power may be oriented on trade or exploration.
The actions of Powers come in three forms: Preparation, Expansion, and Control. Preparation is how Powers prepare an unclaimed system for Expansion. Again, depending on the Power this could involve delivering cargo, intelligence, or participating in combat or exploration. Once a system has been sufficiently prepared, it can be Expanded into by your Power. If successful, the Power will claim the new system as its own. If unsuccessful due to players countering your expansion efforts or due to fellow sworn players not putting in sufficient effort, then expansion will have been repelled and the system will remain independent of your sworn Power. Keep in mind that you can also counter Expansion of other powers, as well.
Finally, there’s control. A Power does this by fortifying its systems, which can involve moving cargo or combat. If players fail to fortify a system, it does not lose control of the system. Control and fortifying is more about decreasing the maintenance costs of the systems a Power controls. But if a Control fortification fails, this can increase maintenance cost of the system. If the Power can’t afford the maintenance cost that system will go into Turmoil, and the system could be lost by the Power.
So, you might be wondering what Powers use as currency in terms of maintenance cost and expansion. Well, all powers use something called Command Capital, or CC. CC is earned by a Power depending on the number of systems it controls. Also, Control systems can earn more CC by exploiting systems that are within 15 light years of each Control System. If a Power makes more CC than it spends Controlling it’s systems, then that’s extra CC that the Power can spend to Prepare and Expand into other systems. The higher the population of a system, the more CC it earns.
Now, how do Powers decide how to use that CC? How does it decide where to expand? Players decide. As you carry out the objectives of your sworn Power (whether those objectives are related to Expansion, Control, or Preparation) you earn something called Merits. The more Merits you earn, the more benefits you get for being sworn to a Power. Merits also allow you to vote for the next actions to be performed by your sworn power. If the action receives enough support, and as long as the Power has the CC to afford that action, then that Power will carry out that action.
Oh, and another important piece of information: Powers perform actions on a weekly basis. You might refer to each week’s actions as turns or cycles. At the end of each cycle or turn, all the efforts of each Power are calculated. Again, the support each action receives (and the support each counter-action receives by another Power’s players) will determine whether or not an action is successful. Then a new cycle begins.
While many players have sworn allegiance to Powers, many players have not. Why wouldn’t someone want to participate in Powerplay? Well….
For example, let’s say that you swear allegiance to Zachary Hudson’s Power. The thing to keep in mind is that the Federation has two Powers. They do compete against each other, but not nearly as aggressively. Any Power belonging to the same Galactic Nation will only act against another Power belonging to the same Galactic nation in covert, less violent ways. However, any Power that is not part of the same Galactic Nation will be aggressive toward one another. So, by joining Zachary Hudson’s Power, you will become fair game within the territory of all other Powers that are not in the same Galactic Nation. So, Federation Shadow President Alicia Winter’s sworn players will not be allowed to attack you on sight when in their territory. However, all other Power’s sworn players can attack you on sight within their territories. Likewise, you will be able to attack any player belonging to a non-Federation Power if they are within your specific Power’s territory.
Essentially, if the game is not challenging and dangerous enough for you as it is, you can swear allegiance to a Power. But if you feel such conditions don’t fit with your play style (like if you move often from Federation, Imperial, Alliance, and other independent Powers’ systems) then you can choose to not swear allegiance to a Power. You can still build reputation and participate in wars by the various factions and Galactic Nation like before Powerplay was released. But if you’re extremely dedicated to a particular Galactic Nation or one of its great leaders, and you just need an extra challenge, you can join in on Powerplay, and it will be more difficult, especially in the territory of other Powers.
You can leave a Power at any time in two ways. First, you can defect to another Power. This allows you to carry over some of the merits you earned with the Power you left. Second, you can simply choose to leave the Power in the Galactic Powers Screen. It’s important to note that if you defect, the Power you betrayed will send mercenary ships to hunt you down and kill you for quite some time. If you simply leave a power at any point without defecting, they will be less motivated to hunt you down (or less aggressive) but will still do so nonetheless. Also, when you leave a Power you will have to wait a certain amount of time before you can swear allegiance to another Power. If you defect, you will have to wait a certain amount of time before you can defect again.
On one last note, not every ship in another Power’s territory will kill you on sight. This only applies to a Power’s players and that Power’s NPC ships which serve that power specifically.
An excellent resource to help you learn (especially if you’re a visual learner) is a series of tutorial videos made by Frontier Developments, with the first of the four part video series linked here at YouTube:
[video=youtube;NWcL8qEGg7Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWcL8qEGg7Q[/video]
Also, the Powerplay Manual can be found at this link in the Frontier Developments Forum:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=152185
Okay, I think this is good for the time being. I know I didn’t answer every question a new Elite commander might ask, but I think I got many of the most important issues covered. If you have any questions or comments that you feel need to be addressed here, whether concerning this guide itself or other questions about Elite, feel free to post under this topic. Of course, I and the Elite Dangerous community welcome you to post any questions or comments in the appropriate message boards. Don’t be scared! I mean, sure, not everyone at the Elite forums is nice and helpful, but most of us are. Never let anyone make you feel like less of a person for expressing your opinions or for asking questions. You don’t have to apologize to anyone for this simple act, nor should you feel compelled to do so (that is, unless you explicitly behave rude and unprofessionally, and do something against the forum’s rules). Frontier Developments opened a forum for Elite Dangerous so that its customers can provide them with feedback, which is essential for any game of this magnitude. They want to hear your opinions, ideas, questions, comments, and concerns. If they didn’t, the forum would not exist.
Also, I realize that there are tons of other guides, FAQs, and forum topics available to help new folks and vets alike. This guide is simply my own way of trying to explain things in this game. And, searching the forum, while helpful, can be overwhelming, especially when a topic is posted about several times. Many of those posts may have many of the same answers for the same questions, but may not answer a specific question or concern you have. I’ve been searching the forums several times a week ever since I got Elite Dangerous, and I will likely continue to do so for a while longer.
Again, feel free to post here for anything covered by this guide, and for things you think should be covered by a newbie guide. And if you have anything to say about the guide itself, I’m open to any and all criticism and suggestions.
Have fun exploring the Milky Way Galaxy, commander! I hope to see you somewhere out there…
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