Combat Deadly to Elite with NPCs?

[Hooplah]

Greetings,

I'm not sure where to put this thread on the Forum so let the moderators figure it out.

I'm combat Deadly status taking out NPCs currently at 11 percent. I like Resource Extraction sites (high) with a little help from the system authority ships when I am lazy but in my PvE Corvette I don't really need them. I can park the ship and let them come to me even taking on three at once. Still it takes me about an hour to move up one percent looking for Deadly and Elite opponents. Logout/login still currently works getting vipers versus anacondas for a bigger payday but either way I get the high end opponents. The ships don't really matter. Their Elite rating does. Should I go to Conflict Zones (been there many times...no biggie) or anarchy systems with compromised Nav Beacons for a faster turn around?

Looking for that combat Elite ID when another live player scans me. They won't know if I did it with NPC or live players with serious PVP. Still I'm getting pretty good with my PvP combat Fer de Lance not that I will win a fight. Those in the know scanning my ship for a PvP build will act accordingly. I welcome the challenge...Of course not in my PvE Corvette!

Regards

 

[avow555]

Don't thargoids give the best xp?

 

[aardappelianen]

I already completed my combat grind but having deadly and elite pilots spawn in combat zones res site was not very reliable,
Recently i discovered having a stack of assassination mission and going to the target system will cause at least 90% of all npcs spawning there be to be an deadly or elite FDL or anaconda(all with wanted status)
Might be faster to level up that way Instead, and as a added bonus having isolated instances with elite anacondas make it easier to harvest their bits afterward

 

[Hooplah]

Don't thargoids give the best xp?

As I understand even Scouts are rated Elite. But I haven't been there and done that or how long it takes to kill them. When the latest Beta goes live with more intrusion into the bubble I may have to setup three ships to deal with whatever Thargoid ships shows up. Reading a lot it seems like one ship won't get the job done. But that is another thread of many.

 

[JohnRoberts]

Don't thargoids give the best xp?

Indeed, Thargoid Scouts are pretty easy to kill, and count as Elite. However, the time spent to locate the NHSSs is significant. My feeling is that your best bet is a CZ, and prioritze every Deadly and Elite target you can find. A decent PvE Corvette can stay in a CZ indefinitely, and 60-90 kills per hour (not all Elite targets though) is possible. Also, don't have any NPC crew onboard, as they take some of your XP.

But... Its still going to take a lot of kills to get to Elite, so you can really try out a few different approaches, and see what works best for you. And what works best for me is to mix things up a bit, too.

 

[Vandaahl]

Don't thargoids give the best xp?

Yeah, farming scouts seems the way to go now. Its a bit harder/different than normal NPC's, but quite doable.

 

[Geist]

I went from Deadly to Elite at Compromised Nav beacons. Couldn't find enough Elite ranked NPCs anywhere else to make it fun.

 

[Hooplah]

I already completed my combat grind but having deadly and elite pilots spawn in combat zones res site was not very reliable,
Recently i discovered having a stack of assassination mission and going to the target system will cause at least 90% of all npcs spawning there be to be an deadly or elite FDL or anaconda(all with wanted status)
Might be faster to level up that way Instead, and as a added bonus having isolated instances with elite anacondas make it easier to harvest their bits afterward

REZ sites are RNG and a player can tweak them to their advantage knowing how the game works. But thanks for the heads up. I may try that not to be bored and learn something new. Maybe it won't be any faster but whenever I kill an elite anaconda I always go for those grade 5 mats.

 

[Bigmaec]

I used a mix of compromised nav beacons and scout hunting to get to Combat Elite. Oh, and leave the SLF pilot at home, costs you double the time.

 

[Hooplah]

I used a mix of compromised nav beacons and scout hunting to get to Combat Elite. Oh, and leave the SLF pilot at home, costs you double the time.

Being a terrible employer I often fire them before cashing in the credits if it is huge. Not a big profit I keep them. Frontier is probably watching and will come up with a punishment for us later. Don't tell anyone...Other players who start with harmless and spending time bringing them up to elite get personally attached and probably won't like my play style. Sorry about that. Even a harmless pilot can distract the attention of an enemy ship while your complete the kill.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

I've slowly been working my way from Deadly to Elite.

I'm about 80%, and because I use SLFs, I'm not really getting very far. Lol

Killing scouts bumped up my % very quickly, but trying to avoid the caustic clouds and missiles can make continuous combat rather difficult.

 

[Hooplah]

Indeed, Thargoid Scouts are pretty easy to kill, and count as Elite. However, the time spent to locate the NHSSs is significant. My feeling is that your best bet is a CZ, and prioritze every Deadly and Elite target you can find. A decent PvE Corvette can stay in a CZ indefinitely, and 60-90 kills per hour (not all Elite targets though) is possible. Also, don't have any NPC crew onboard, as they take some of your XP.

But... Its still going to take a lot of kills to get to Elite, so you can really try out a few different approaches, and see what works best for you. And what works best for me is to mix things up a bit, too.

I guess the bottom line is mixing it up a little and not being bored getting into a grind looking for a result. Look for other opportunities I haven't considered like bounty hunting or assassinations. I arrived at Deadly status as a Trader (go figure) over time never focusing on trying to make a combat goal but just enjoying the game. Maybe I should continue on in the same spirit. Then while I love playing the game next thing I know I'm combat Elite.

The morale of the story and this thread is probably don't look for a path but enjoy the game and the path will come to you. Sounds like a ZEN moment.

 

[5miley]

Find a system in Lockdown state, these should spawn “Pirate Activity Detected” signal sources.
Drop in and all the npcs are either Deadly or Elite.
Take care these ships are engineered and spam SCBs

 

[Edelgard von Rhein]

I am at almost exactly the same point as you and I am taking on Thargoid Scouts. So far it seems roughly 30 scouts gives me 1% towards Elite although I'm not sure if this is influenced by my having a Fighter Pilot (also Deadly) on board. My Krait MkII with a AX Taipan and Guardian Lance can destroy that many Thargoid Scouts in an hour, or less if I encounter enough NHSS Threat 5.
.
If you don't want to fight the Thargoids (and the pay is terrible, so you only get the rank and hopefully stop a station being damaged), then look for Pirate Activity Detected Signal Sources, which show up like Conflict Zones in, iirc, Anarchy systems in war/civil war. These have high-ranked human NPC ships and are supposedly very tough (they come in Threat 5, 6 and 7). CMDR Exigeous has a short tutorial about them on his YouTube channel that covers the basics.
edit: ninja'd, and it's Lockdown, but the vid is worth a look anyway

 

[Solsticide]

Compromised Nav beacons did it for me, lots of high ranked small ships to kill. Don't bring a SLF as already mentioned and also don't be in a wing, both of these slow your progression.

 

[Aashenfox]

Compromised Nav Beacons. Lots of small, elite ships that are easy to kill (take gimballed weapons).

 

[racer1]

IIRC I was making 2-3% deadly to elite an hour in compromised nav beacons using my FAS.

Lots of small high ranked ships.

 

[Dural]

Scouts. I have been creeping up Deadly very slowly doing REZ / CZ etc and got to about 25% in 4 months. Have been popping scouts for a week and a bit and am now at 62% Deadly. Not doing it for any other reason than it's fun and requires different tactics which makes a nice change but it's ever so good for the old combat rating.

 

[Hooplah]

Compromised Nav Beacons. Lots of small, elite ships that are easy to kill (take gimballed weapons).

But are they Dangerous, Deadly or Elite related? While it may be an easy turkey shoot taking out anything less just means a lot more more kills. Forget the ship. The Elite rating matters. We get the same points taking out an elite sidewinder versus an anaconda. We just get paid better with the anaconda. Easy starting out advancing quickly. I suspect not so much on the high end. We'll see.

Gimballed. I've moved on. On my PvE Corvette I use huge efficient gimballed overcharged beams and seriously engineered fixed frag cannons with every option. I like to be up close and personal staring into the face of my enemy when I kill them. Your results may vary. But thanks for the CNB. I'll work a few. Seems popular with many players.

Regards

 

[Stealthie]

I put my previous SLF pilot through an intensive training programme, ranking her up from Harmless to Elite in a week by farming high-intensity CZs in systems at war.
Took me about a week of blasting ships to get her there and also took me from (IIRC) 20% Deadly to Elite at the same time.

No accurate information about the numbers but I was taking on 2 massacre missions at a time (each for 70-80 odd ships), completing them and doing two "sessions" of that per night.
So, that'd mean I was exploding roughly 300 ships a night, over 4 (?) days, for a total of around 1,200 kills to get me from Deadly to Elite and get my SLF pilot from Harmless to Elite.

IIRC, SLF pilots take half your XP so, theoretically, I assume it'd only take 600 kills to get you, alone, from Deadly to Elite.

*EDIT*

Should say, I also earned the thick end of a billion credits in the process so, win/win I guess.