Help me get out of my box

[jmatt]

Okay, I spent five weeks doing exobiology and have some cash. I got my FSD engineered with Farseer and now I'm trying to figure out what to do next.

I'd like to pursue a Guardian FSD Booster but the videos make it look more complicated than I am ready for. I have never fired a shot in anger, from my ship or a sidearm. I have never engaged in ship combat whatsoever. I am still getting comfortable in an SRV. I have a AspX but can afford anything.

Is there a next logical step to my progression? Some piece of engineering that'd be useful but less intense than the FSD Booster? Engage in PvE combat at Nav Beacons for practice? Mining? Collecting mats for future use? Or just suck it up and grind for the FSD Booster? (I probably haven't even unlocked the proper engineer yet)

Any advice is welcome.

 

[SlickPBW]

Unlock some engineers. Their unlocking process was designed to expose players to many aspects of the game. 2 birds, 1 stone.

 

[Aleks Zuno]

The Guardian FSD booster is a matter of Technology Brokers as opposed to Engineers, so that path is very much available to you and appropriate if you want travel vessels which can reach the 65–75 light-year range (or beyond, if you sacrifice a lot).

Starship or on-foot combat will not help, for you will need a bit of SRV combat for this. Assuming that you know or can research the Guardian structure and its operation, my advice is:

• Firstly, ignore the way everyone always leaps at the chance to suggest fitting Point Defences. It is a lot of hassle for almost zero benefit here.
• The best thing you can do for some practice is to drive the Scarab SRV, and in particular, operate Turret mode. You can access that while driving by using your Hardpoints button!
• Practise driving both normally and while in Turret mode, and also with different amounts of ENG points.
• Practise targeting and shooting while in Turret mode; raw material rocks are fine for targets, and note how WEP needs to recharge a lot with the SRV.
• In combat with drones, use Turret mode of course. Charge SYS when attacked and WEP otherwise.

That really is all you need! The Sentries deal very little damage if you use SYS points while attacked. Their missiles do almost nothing other than to bump you around a bit, and half of them will target your starship instead. There is no need to use the ruined structures for cover either; just use SYS and WEP appropriately and you will be quite fine!

 

[metatheurgist]

Many things are easier with a friend. Sentinels aren't much of a match for a ship. Ships can charge pylons with their lasers.

 

[Kzak]

Guardian Sentinels can be blasted to bits easily with dumbfire missiles fired from a ship. Afterwards, go down, collect the valuable parts.

 

[Northpin]

I'd like to pursue a Guardian FSD Booster but the videos make it look more complicated than I am ready for.

IT's a really good module for basically any activity, not only exploration
The ruins are really atmospheric - especially if you manage to get there at dusk or dawn. Sure it can be sort of a terrifying experience if you're the type that really immerses in atmospheric gameplay - but... it wont last long. You'd need to do the Guardian site several time (5? 10?) to get the required components to unlock the FSD booster and since you're there, better check the list of the Guardian modules and consider if it's worth to unlock some more.
The sentries guarding the sites are not that hard, just make sure you put 4 pips in shields and try to avoid engaging more than 2 at the same time - learn to maneuver the srv from the turret position and use the scenery to take cover from one of the sentries while being able to target the other one.
Not at last, make sure you use a ship that can fit a size 4 srv hangar - so you have a spare srv incase you manage to lose one.

A very good guide is this, imo better than the yt movies:

Walkthrough: Guardian Module Blueprints

Note: I've written a guide for Guardian Vessel (Fighter) Blueprints here; Guardian Weapon blueprints here. Greetings, Commander! Let's talk about the Guardian Module Blueprints (now called Guardian Module Blueprint Segments). Perhaps you're interested in the Guardian FSD booster for...

forums.frontier.co.uk

The (correct) links for the weapon and slf guides done by the same CMDR:

Walkthrough: Guardian Weapon Blueprints

Note: I've written a guide for Guardian Vessel (Fighter) Blueprints here; Guardian Module blueprints here. Greetings, Commander! Let's talk about the Guardian Weapon Blueprints (now called Guardian Weapon Blueprint Segments). Perhaps you're interested in the guardian Gauss Cannon (small or...

forums.frontier.co.uk

Walkthrough: Guardian Vessel Blueprints

Note: I've written a guide for Guardian Module Blueprints here; Guardian Weapon blueprints here. Greetings, Commander! Let's talk about the Guardian Vessel Blueprints (now called Guardian Vessel Blueprint Segments). Perhaps you're interested in the XG7 Trident, with its plasma repeaters, or...

forums.frontier.co.uk

I have a AspX but can afford anything.

my ship progression for my first account: Sidewinder, Cobra Mk3, AspX, Krait Mk2, Python, Cutter (then many many others including the Federal Corvette eventually)

• Krait mk2 is a really good combat ship. It can fit a SLF, weapon placement is really good - overall one of the best ships in game
• Python - is the best medium ship in any bubble activity that does not require combat - cargo, running missions, mining, passengers - you name it.
• Cutter is the best trader/hauler in game. Roomy, plus it's Fast and can fit big enough shields to get out of any combat scenario.
• DBX is a really good ship for any long distance travel - taxi all over the bubble, visit the guardian sites, the brain trees, crystalline shards sites (latter 2 are one of the best sources of raw materials). DBX is also good for Odyssey missions.

Is there a next logical step to my progression? Some piece of engineering that'd be useful but less intense than the FSD Booster? Engage in PvE combat at Nav Beacons for practice? Mining? Collecting mats for future use? Or just suck it up and grind for the FSD Booster? (I probably haven't even unlocked the proper engineer yet)

I'd say that after you unlock Felicity Farseer, go and unlock all engineers and try to play with materials in mind*
Each engineer unlock will have a certain requirement that will introduce you into a certain gameloop - be it mining, bounty hunting, wars and combat bonds, rares trade, blackmarkets and even exploration (Palin will unlock if you travel 5000ly from your starting location) - so if for some people engineering unlocks were a grind, for me it was like a tutorial for various game loops.

Engineering your ships, even at mild levels like G3-G4 will vastly improve your ship and engineering (in general) is an endeavour highly recommended to pursue


*(fit a wake scanner on your taxi or trading ship and scan wakes everytime you leave a station, pick up materials if you go bounty hunting in a high res or a nav beacon, settle in a system get allied with all factions then do missions and pick up G5 material rewards, scan nav beacon everytime you get into a system then check for HGE from which you'd be able to get G5 materials which you can trade down for lower grades etc)

Edit: for materials and HGE, check this

 

[GroG79]

The FSDB booster adds nothing to the game. Just some convenience. Lets say 4 jumps on a trip that will cost you 5 jumps without FSDB

Play around. Have fun. Run some missions. Visit installations. Explore some lore. Have some more fun.

 

[SlickPBW]

Ships can charge pylons with their lasers.

Wow! I didn’t know that. Thanks!

 

[Willyum-71]

You said... "Any advice is welcome"...
Go play Legacy until you are caught up to where you are now!
My response is not addressing the FSD booster, I'm more so addressing your overall tone... "help me get out of my Box"... "never engaged in ship combat'... "more complicated than I am ready for"... can afford any ship after exobiology....

It sounds like you have not experienced 'Struggle - Progression - Graduation'. Odyssey does not force that on you (especially with all the content creators telling everybody to just do exo-bio then buy whatever ship you want)... Legacy does not allow you to bypass these stages. This is just my opinion, but those 3 stages are necessary for those deeper bonds with the game and with each ship. Even the get rich quick schemes in Legacy are still quite a bit of a challenge (and I wouldn't recommend doing them anyway)

Take note of how much money you have, what ships, what modules, what engineering... everything... And then match that exactly in Legacy.... Then pick up where you are now in Odyssey. You Will be hardened and experienced and the process of getting an FSD booster will not bother you at all. Legacy does offer a no-risk pathway, but it's only in the form of exploration, and even then it will take you out of the bubble and potentially put you in some tricky situations. Everything else is either going to involve you transporting or mining or disabling ships or something that you will have to learn to defend yourself from.

You will often 'nearly die', earn credits the hard way, build your 'trade' and 'Mining' companies... and after defending yourself so much, you will be comfortable with NPC combat.... but more than anything, you will actually appreciate those upgraded 'modules' to your Brand New Ship's and bond with them way more than you do in Odyssey (with exo-bio). Now just to be clear, I fully love Odyssey and only ever touch Legacy every few weeks or months only to fly my favorite old canyons, so I'm certainly not trying to convert you to Legacy... But I do strongly feel that Legacy is a much stronger candidate for building up a new CMDR's bond, ready for the rest of Elite. Odyssey has all the features that Legacy has to do the same thing, but it takes a lot of will-power to ignore the easy 'no-risk 20 million in 10 minutes' path once you've been exposed to it. I just purchased a new Alt and made 300 Million in 3 hours and could not tell you anything about any system I went through or where I bought my ships, and for a while didn't even name my ships for the new account, cause none of it mattered, I got bored and went back to my main account.

I highly doubt anyone would follow this advice, but at least stay away from Exo-bio in the early-game... you are being robbed of bonding-moments!
(Edit - also avoid fleet carriers for your first long trips, or first time to Hutton... you need to feel that distance, see those Nebula evolve gradually... experience the excitement of getting closer and closer to that far of star cluster that made you change course... but also you need to 'almost' run out of gas occasionally... or want to kick yourself for not fitting an AFMU and barely make it home by the skin of your teeth...)

 

[R4dioS1lence]

SlickPBW's advice is definitely on point. Unlocking engineers (even if you're not going to use all you unlock) is good to make you get used to the game and try lots of different things.

On the side of "next logical step", there is basically none. Elite's motto is "blaze your own trail", so anything you decide on can be done if and when you put your mind into it (provided you learn while failing to do it). Tutorials telling you "how to do things efficiently" can be bad if they are going to blind you to options, so keep that in mind. Unless there is something you really like or are really wanting to try (exploring, mining, combat), go for the engineers so that you start getting a grasp on most stuff and decide from there. Maybe seeing the ugprades for a weapon and shields/hull makes you have more fun with combat, or FSD makes traveling around more fun.

On the side of FSD ranges:
FSD Booster gives less range than FSD engineering for ships with already good jump range, but require no materials after unlocked (makes it faster to give that jump range boost). If you tend to fly ships with lower jump ranges, having them may be beneficial sometimes. Visiting Guardian sites is interesting in itself, so, even if you're not planing to unlock it, try giving one a visit. The drones that defend these sites can shoot missiles with good tracking, and a recent update fixed them not being able to shoot the missiles. PDT on top of the ship landed near the site makes things safer if combat is not your thing.

Since you are flying the Asp X, you are already on a ship with good base jump range, so it would make more sense to get FSD engineering up to speed if exploration is more interesting to you. Still, for ships with class 5 FSD (Asp X included), instead of engineering, you can get a per-engineered FSD (usually called the 5A FSD V1). Downside is that it require a bit more rare materials than engineering it, upside is that is more effective than a grade 5 engineering. Unlike most Tech Broker unlocks, this is a "pay materials per unit unlocked" and not a "pay materials to unlock, buy units with credits".

On the side of Materials for Engineering:
Getting Raw Materials can be done on the side while mining, but it's less than planetary exploration (but you make money while doing it). Getting Manufactured Materials via High Grade Signal Sources (HGSS) can be easy and have a high output, but finding them can be a pain (offsetting the high output), and doing relog might not be fun for you. Getting Manufactured Materials via missions and by scooping up bits of destroyed ships can be more constant than HGSS. Not only that, if you get the habit of scanning the Nav Beacon to see all Signal Sources on the system, you can look for HGSS more easily while doing missions or traveling around (instead of hyperfocusing on searching for them). Getting Encoded Materials via missions makes it easier (since you can mix it with other activities), and missions that require you to scan data terminals on planetary surfaces also end up netting some after scanning the data terminals. The Encoded Materials related to FSD wakes are a bit more complicated, since they are found by scanning wakes with the Wake Scanner. Mission Rewards help a lot being an easier way to get some Manufactured and Encoded materials (and net you more from destroyed ships, scanned data terminals, etc).

All this material gathering is better done while doing other stuff. That way you engage with more things and get less burnt out via hyperfocusing. And when one engineering in particular requires one specific thing that you don't have, focus on it while you need it.

On the side of things seeming way too complicated:
Don't mind it. Learning this seems hard, but it's by going at it that you get a hang. Banging your head against the wall learning this stuff is half the fun.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

I have never fired a shot in anger, from my ship or a sidearm. I have never engaged in ship combat whatsoever. I am still getting comfortable in an SRV. I have a AspX but can afford anything.

Stick some guns on the AspX (any fixed or - easier - gimballed ones, doesn't really matter ... change them around after each fight to see what suits you), go into a Low Intensity RES and shoot down anything Wanted.

Your ship is more than powerful enough for that, the opposition will be easy, and the police ships will help you out (or do most of the work for you)

Once you've got the hang of that, medium and high intensity RES turn up the pirate difficulty but you still get police ship assistance.

Then go for a hazardous RES - slightly harder pirates than the High, but no police assistance. But you should know by this stage what you can and can't take on in a fight, have picked a set of weapons that suit you, and so on.

Worst case, you get shot down, pay a trivial amount of credits - from your balance, anyway - to get your Asp back, and can try again knowing what not to do next time.


(The Asp isn't famed as a combat ship, but it's decent for its size class and will certainly be fine in anything up to a High RES if you don't overdo it.)

 

[Walter2]

Firstly, ignore the way everyone always leaps at the chance to suggest fitting Point Defences. It is a lot of hassle for almost zero benefit here.

I really don't understand this advice. Point defence units are the simplest and cheapest fit-and-forget units available, working automatically in defensive situations - you generally only know they have been active when you need to restock their ammunition. At Guardian sites they can destroy Sentinel missiles while you smooch around in your SRV, provided you can park close enough.

 

[Factabulous]

I really don't understand this advice. Point defence units are the simplest and cheapest fit-and-forget units available, working automatically in defensive situations - you generally only know they have been active when you need to restock their ammunition. At Guardian sites they can destroy Sentinel missiles while you smooch around in your SRV, provided you can park close enough.

The missiles have been nerfed, maybe they're thinking that. No harm in fitting PD though, they still get a lot of action

 

[Aleks Zuno]

I really don't understand this advice. Point defence units are the simplest and cheapest fit-and-forget units available, working automatically in defensive situations - you generally only know they have been active when you need to restock their ammunition. At Guardian sites they can destroy Sentinel missiles while you smooch around in your SRV, provided you can park close enough.

I know what they do; as I said, many love giving that advice to the extent of supposing that hearing otherwise must be due to ignorance, but trust me—try a Guardian site without them, just using SYS when any missiles are about to strike, and you will wonder why ever you bothered fiddling with Utility hardpoints for their sake!

The missiles have very little effect as it is, the mere presence of the starship halves the number which targets the SRV, and most cases involving Point Defence will halve that again (some Point Defence is wasted on the missiles which targeted the starship; typically there are two missiles each targeting the starship and SRV, and typically Point Defence destroys one each of those). You have already half of very little, and the trouble of adding Point Defence brings that down to average a quarter of very little.

 

[Northpin]

On the point of PDT, fitting them has no really detrimental effect and they can be of a very very minor help.

Sentinel missiles are not what they used to be - i remember a time when they badly tumbled your srv, the resulting collisions doing extra damage to your srv and giving the sentinels time to pound you even more due to the disorientation (and panic) instill by the tumbling.

Back then the srv was also a bit difficult to get back on its wheels if it got tumbled by the missiles (or for whatever other reason) so yea - having a PTD equipped ship nearby was highly recommended at the time (but the site was still doable even without PDT)

 

[Rat Catcher]

The Guardian FSD booster is a matter of Technology Brokers as opposed to Engineers, so that path is very much available to you and appropriate if you want travel vessels which can reach the 65–75 light-year range (or beyond, if you sacrifice a lot).

Starship or on-foot combat will not help, for you will need a bit of SRV combat for this. Assuming that you know or can research the Guardian structure and its operation, my advice is:

• Firstly, ignore the way everyone always leaps at the chance to suggest fitting Point Defences. It is a lot of hassle for almost zero benefit here.
• The best thing you can do for some practice is to drive the Scarab SRV, and in particular, operate Turret mode. You can access that while driving by using your Hardpoints button!
• Practise driving both normally and while in Turret mode, and also with different amounts of ENG points.
• Practise targeting and shooting while in Turret mode; raw material rocks are fine for targets, and note how WEP needs to recharge a lot with the SRV.
• In combat with drones, use Turret mode of course. Charge SYS when attacked and WEP otherwise.

That really is all you need! The Sentries deal very little damage if you use SYS points while attacked. Their missiles do almost nothing other than to bump you around a bit, and half of them will target your starship instead. There is no need to use the ruined structures for cover either; just use SYS and WEP appropriately and you will be quite fine!

Point defence will take care of most missiles launched by the sentries - not essential, but nice to have

The pylons can be activated on-foot using (in my case plasma) hand weapons
Sentries can also be destroyed using hand weapons... (great fun too!)

SRV is needed to collect mats, scan obelisks and dump treasures where "X" marks the spot - but the remainder is very possible (easier, IMO) on foot.

The rest of your advice is good - particularly for a newer player making their first visit.

 

[nemolomen]

...

Any advice is welcome.

When I was new-ish (in what was then called "Elite Dangerous; Horizons" but is now called legacy) and wanted to go exploring, I went after the Guardian FSD booster using a Diamondback Explorer built specifically for guardian sites with the Point Defense Turret and an SRV.

I had great fun and it took me a few tries to be able to figure out and complete the mini-game and get the blueprint and all of the materials.

For learning the SRV, go surface prospecting and learn how to use the built in pulse wave analyzer. You'll get plenty of practice driving and shooting and using the cargo hatch to scoop things up.

I highly recommend learning how to shoot in ship, in srv and on foot, its easily half the game and will give you the confidence to be able to defend yourself when needed.

I used a ship build and a video from a famous youtuber but I didn't watch all of the video, at first just only enough to get me started and then when I got really stuck I'd watch a little more, just to get a hint of how to proceed without being spoon fed and having it handed to me on a silver platter...and so on and so on and eventually I was able to complete the site. As I said above. it was a lot of fun...

Today, 2.5 years and over 4000 hours later, I still use that ship, it is my longest jumping ship and "bubble taxi" and sometimes explorer...

And now it sports rail guns for when some crazy NPC wants to "try" to take whatever I have onboard...

 

[aRJay]

I know what they do; as I said, many love giving that advice to the extent of supposing that hearing otherwise must be due to ignorance, but trust me—try a Guardian site without them, just using SYS when any missiles are about to strike, and you will wonder why ever you bothered fiddling with Utility hardpoints for their sake!

The missiles have very little effect as it is, the mere presence of the starship halves the number which targets the SRV, and most cases involving Point Defence will halve that again (some Point Defence is wasted on the missiles which targeted the starship; typically there are two missiles each targeting the starship and SRV, and typically Point Defence destroys one each of those). You have already half of very little, and the trouble of adding Point Defence brings that down to average a quarter of very little.

Like many of us I got my experience of Guardian sites long ago it is a shame to learn that their systems have become so degraded since then one wonders how much longer they will last before they can’t be activated at all.

The only effort involved in fitting the point defence on the DBX I used back then was making sure it was on the right mount, pretty much all my ships had them at the time but they were usually near the cargo hatch or the stern.

 

[Walter2]

On the point of PDT, fitting them has no really detrimental effect and they can be of a very very minor help.

Sentinel missiles are not what they used to be - i remember a time when they badly tumbled your srv, the resulting collisions doing extra damage to your srv and giving the sentinels time to pound you even more due to the disorientation (and panic) instill by the tumbling.

Back then the srv was also a bit difficult to get back on its wheels if it got tumbled by the missiles (or for whatever other reason) so yea - having a PTD equipped ship nearby was highly recommended at the time (but the site was still doable even without PDT)

I must confess: it's been a few years since I visited a Guardian site.

 

[jmatt]

... but also you need to 'almost' run out of gas occasionally... or want to kick yourself for not fitting an AFMU and barely make it home by the skin of your teeth...)

I've had a few trials. lol When I first started, I just jumped right into the game without looking at the training modules... apparently one of them grants you the initial Sidewinder, unbeknownst to me.

So off I go on an Apex to a base where I promptly get myself arrested and sent to prison. However, because I never got that initial ship I had nothing at the base with me and no ship I could call. And Apex wouldn't let me jump somewhere else. So I spent the first three weeks (just 15 mins a night) trying to sort this out and trying to figure my way out of this.

Eventually, the Powers That Be took mercy on me (I submitted a ticket) and that night when I logged in, I was just in a ship in the middle of nowhere and not really knowing what the heck I was doing. It didn't take me long to run out of fuel and the next night I met the Fuel Rats.

It was a sad, sad start. lol I think that initial experience is what's making me so cautious about everything. Well, including being blown up during an interdiction and accidentally turning off flight assist inside an orbital station and careening around bouncing off stuff until I just logged off in a panic.