Newcomer / Intro Early battle opportunities?

[POH]

Hey guys,

New to E.D. Really enjoying it so far and have done various courier and black box type missions with my Sidewinder. Need help with a couple of things.

(a)Have now just hopped into my Freagle and am looking to get some battle experience. How do I go about doing this? Is it possible to do some dogfighting eventhough I don't own an interdictor yet?

So far I've tried going to the nearest asteroid cluster (as recommended by someone else on these forums) and look for pirates that usually hang around those parts. Didn't work unfortunately as the only other ship in that particular asteroid cluster was the Po Po...who just scanned me and then let me go on my way..

(b) I recently picked up a black box job that asked me to go pick up 3 rebel messages. I finally found the USS and then picked up 2 rebel messages (there was only 2 there). I then spent the next 15 minutes or so supercruising around the system trying to find another USS but it never materialised. Am I doing something wrong or is this just a common bug with the right USS not appearing?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Feldspar]

a) My combat opportunities come from USS encounters and getting interdicted myself (if you want to fight, throttle right down to submit).

b) You are not guaranteed to find the right cargo in the first USS you search, or the tenth, sometimes you are just unlucky and it takes a while, other times you find 8 in the first USS, meanwhile you might find something else to fill your spare cargo space or a nice fight, remember you probably have a couple of hours to finish the mission.

 

[Suicidal Tendancies]

Also, look for planets with rings (system map) these tend to have Mining Extraction sites. These are great for getting into some dogfighting and can earn you a lot of credits! 2 words of caution - 1. Check your fire: Only attack a ship that you have verified is Wanted (scanned) and watch out for kill-stealing security services that run right in front of you - friendly fire does not exist and will make you wanted. 2 Watch out for those asteroids!

P.S> You will always find pirates in Mining Extraction sites

 

[FaolGlas]

Resource Extraction Sites as mentioned, and the Nav Beacon in populated systems close to where you drop out at the star. Just hang around in either, and Wanted ships will show up. You'll have to contest for the killing shot that earns the money (does that make it the money sh.... ah never mind) with the local law in either, however.

 

[ReaperAlex]

how long does it take pirates to spawn at extraction sites? i waited for a few mins then went back to hunting USS's.

is the nav beacon the same as extraction sites with regards to pirate spawns?

and do i just need to find a more dangerous system than a high sec one for a nice flow of pirates to shoot at?

ta