Newcomer / Intro Finding a fair fight for my basic sidewinder?

[Sabeltann]

Hi,
I've been playing for a few hours now and have only done trading and transport missions, just travelling around the Eravate / LHS 3447 area. I've made a few non-combat upgrades to my Sidewinder like engines and frame shift drive, and it's all going ok, but I'm sort of feeling the need to shoot at something

The thing is, I'm not at all sure what I should be shooting at. Thinking back to the original Elite and Frontier, even early on, you used to randomly encounter pirates when travelling between stations and they were mostly balanced at the right level so you had a good fight but with a favorable chance of winning.

But so far here, I haven't encountered any kind of combat on my travels, and I'm a little unsure if I'm ready for the assassination missions yet. So where should I go looking? Are there any nefarious pirates out there who happen to be flying something weaker than a bog standard Sidewinder? How about the bulletin board missions that are looking for someone to destroy trade ships?

So where do I look? Or should I build up more money and upgrade my ship first? And if so, what is an entry level combat ship?

 

[technophebe]

You can do some bounty hunting and make some money in your basic Sidey no problem. Have a look at the bounty hunting section of my guide for some tips on where to go etc.

 

[Tsung]

Entry level combat ship? That would be the Sidewinder!.. Stick a laser on it, and/or a cannon. Get a kill warrant scanner, fly to your nearest nav beacon, and then scan all the ships in the area until you find one wantetd status.. Shoot it, claim bounty, repeat

 

[Zonderling]

Hi,
I've been playing for a few hours now and have only done trading and transport missions, just travelling around the Eravate / LHS 3447 area. I've made a few non-combat upgrades to my Sidewinder like engines and frame shift drive, and it's all going ok, but I'm sort of feeling the need to shoot at something

The thing is, I'm not at all sure what I should be shooting at. Thinking back to the original Elite and Frontier, even early on, you used to randomly encounter pirates when travelling between stations and they were mostly balanced at the right level so you had a good fight but with a favorable chance of winning.

But so far here, I haven't encountered any kind of combat on my travels, and I'm a little unsure if I'm ready for the assassination missions yet. So where should I go looking? Are there any nefarious pirates out there who happen to be flying something weaker than a bog standard Sidewinder? How about the bulletin board missions that are looking for someone to destroy trade ships?

So where do I look? Or should I build up more money and upgrade my ship first? And if so, what is an entry level combat ship?

In short, you can shoot at things in USS signals, confict zones, nav beacons, resource sites, in system by being interdicted by a pirate etc.

I'd advise you to upgrade your weapons first. Try gimballed weapons to start with (they track their target as opposed to fixed weapons) and a combination of energy and impact (laser(s) / multi cannon(s)) weapons. Use the energy ones to strip the shields and the MC(s) for the hull.
Start in Navigation beacons or resource sites and scan for ships that are wanted (make SURE you are not in an anarchy system). This way you can choose your fights.

The sidey can pack a serious punch but when you have the cash: an eagle is a better option. Viper is the heavy figher. Don't forget that, when going for the eagle or viper these are, imo, combat spacecraft and not as proficient in other roles.

Good luck

 

[ReaperAlex]

as you travel in supercruise look out for unidentified signal sources, head to those and you can bump into all sorts, from traders to pirates.

also head to nav beacons of resource extraction points. after a while they will start to fill with NPC's, some of which will be pirates

in your sidey pay attention to the ship and elite rating, and also if it has shields. sides and eagles are fair prey, though be wary if they are really high in the elite ranking. cobras and vipers are probably best left alone unless they have no shields.

also never ever shoot at a ship unless it is showing as wanted on your screen. even if you are sure it's a pirate because it was attacking a hauler with a wingman, and you scanned the wingman and that was a pirate, and when you shot the wingman they both went red and started shooting at you. when you turn round to shoot the 2nd pirate if you open fire before your ship confirms he is a pirate then you will get a bounty on your head and the cops will shoot at you.

also even if a pirate is wanted in other systems according to the kill warrant scanner, that doesn't mean you can shoot at it if it's clean in this system

finally you can get heat from the cops if you shoot their wanted friends. they wont fine you for that, but they do get upset. so if the cops go red jump out then back in and it will be reset. i believe this is being looked at as a part of the whole reputation system so just assume it's a bug for now.

if you really get into combat the eagle is a cheap upgrade for an extra gun, though pay close attention to power requirements when you slap the 3rd gun on. it is however very bad at hauling and jumping, so of limited use for trading. there is nothing to stop you from having more than one ship now, so you can keep a multi-roll for missions running and a dedicated combat ship for when you just fancy scrapping.

welcome back to the milkyway

 

[Sabeltann]

Hey, thanks a lot for the quick and helpful replies! Hopefully I'll get my hands dirty this afternoon

I don't play many online games and I'm starting to realise just how cautious I am when saving and reloading isn't an option

 

[InMemoriamSirocco]

As a newbie to space combat, I recommend gimballed weapons, as they help you hit your target more often than not, even if you do less damage per shot.

I also recommend you to not engage enemies that outclass you.

This means you should only fight opponents from harmless to competent, and they should be sitting in another sidewinder, maybe an eagle (dangerous, though... more maneuverable than you and faster), or a hauler.

You can also try entering warzones (conflict zones) and only targeting the short range federal/imperial fighters. They go down easily, if you can hit them (pretty nimble, but weak shields and armor).

 

[Cowski]

I concur with all of this. I'm finding my newb sidewinder ship actually not too terribly bad comparatively speaking. Beam laser for shields, gimballed multi-cannon for hull. I play the dance of power distribution quite well too!!


Also...something I do that I haven't seen mentioned yet at least in what I've read.

I won't take on an ASP...alone. There are times a wanted ASP will be floating along with a 25k bounty on his head. I won't attack him with my sidewinder but on a few occasions I'll see other NPC sidewinders and eagles take him on. That's when I get into the fight! Be very, very careful though in your firing. Don't hit another NPC that is fighting this ASP too. Especially if he's clean. I found out the hard way a couple of times. I sometimes let the other ships do the hard works...get his shields and hull down then I swoop down and finish the job!! THANKS, SUCKERS!!!

Good hunting!

 

[thorn-]

Might have been mentioned already: In a basic Sidey, be wary of trying to combat a fellow Commander in anything much larger than you. NPCs can be nasty in nearly any ship, but can also at times be surprisingly quick to take out. But a real pilot behind the controls, especially one in a fighter (eagle, viper) will be an entirely different matter.

While it's not uncommon see a Wanted NPC Asp or Viper without any shield (weird, but I guess even idiots can buy an ship) and take them out with a bit of police assistance, a Commander flying an such a ship will probably a) have shields b) have some nice guns c) have a LOT of experience in the cockpit. After all, they didn't didn't just find that Viper floating around and jump in. They had to buy it, and it takes a lot of time and flying to save up that much coin.

 

[JimDiGriz]

Go shooting!

I had concerns about how the sidewinder would perform. I did a few missions and upgraded a few systems (gimballed pulse lasers, sheilds, powerplant etc). After this, hunting pirates at nav beacons was fun and profitable. You can take on most ships although I would avoid anacondas .

At the beginning it is fine to try a few different things out. You can always scrub your save and start over it is goes really wrong.

Fly happy!

Jim