Horizons Frustrated new(ish) player

[Lone_Wolf]

Hey guys, first post here .

I've played ED a little on and off but decided now I've gotten a new Track IR I'd give the game a proper go instead of just logging in and going "oooh pretty". However I'm finding myself getting frustrated with certain elements of game design which are kind of boggling for this day and age and was hoping for some advice. In particular the market system and locating specific products and/or equipment.

Now I'm a long standing EVE player, been causing havoc there since around '07 and I the market system there is pretty good. If you want an item, you can view it's price and trade info and mostly importantly WHERE it is sold. In Elite (unless I'm missing something) you're expected to jump blindly from system to system (say high tech ones) just hoping that this system MIGHT have what you're looking for, potentially wasting a lot of time in super cruise. Are there any major trading hubs aka Jita where traders congregate and sell wares?

I've been trying to find various A rated internal components like FSD's and in particular the SRV so I can actually make use of Horizons new "big feature". I mean, we're in a intersteller civilisation with complex trade routes but no one actually knows who's selling what and where? It seems like a massive oversight and it's frustrating the hell out of me. I understand this isn't a game you can pick up in an hour, but it's a system I'd have expected from the original Elite but not a AAA title from 2015.

 

[Deleted member 38366]

Look at the Trade Data (Option) in the Galaxy Map.

There, you can click on Commodity Groups and with the little grey arrows on individual Commodities to find out where they are traded.
Purchasing Trade data (limited to 20LY like anything else) will help you build a picture of what Systems are Importing/Exporting what Commodities.

When it comes to Equipment : Higher Population sells higher variety and higher grades, HighTech Systems tend to sell the broadest Equipment, followed by Industrial Systems.
Again, use the Galaxy Map filter to sort for Population and look for Systems with at least >1 Million Population.
For very high-grade gear, search for >100 Million population HighTech Systems, alternatively at least Industrial Systems... There, you'll likely find what you're looking for.

If you look for the extremes (Class 7 or 8 Equipment in A-Grade), Multi-Billion Population HighTech Systems are your best bet.
The Founders World / Jameson Memorial (Permit System - granted if you carry any ELITE rank or are Alpha/Beta-Backer) always has everything and at a permanent 10% discount.
It essentially is the place that has it all.

3rd party Website for Equipment : http://inara.cz/galaxy
3rd party Website for Commodities : http://www.elitetradingtool.co.uk/

 

[Chris Simon]

Like FalconFly said, 3rd party tools are way to go. (I would complete the list by https://eddb.io/ )

But even if you don't want to use them,
a) you can use galmap filters and buy trading data to see the commodity flows (in systems you've visited)
b) the commodity list isn't that long in Elite. Soon enough you will know exactly which commodities or modules said system sells and buys simply by looking on economy, population and location.