Hi, Returning Newbie Question please?

Dax T

Dax T
Hello,
I have just started playing Elite Dangerous Horizons after giving up a few years back, mainly because I couldn't get passed the learning curve. However, the Devs have really improved the game and so I am giving it another try. But I just wanted to ask you a few questions in order to avoid getting stuck again if i may?

1) I have just over 1,000,000 credits and I am on friendly terms with the federation, I am still in the pilots starting zone and I am flying a Viper MKIII which is working well enough for courier missions and some bounty hunting and bit of trading. - When should I leave the pilots zone and begin flying further out? and should I upgrade first before doing so?

2) Is it worth buying a mining vessel at this point and if so, what good are the hard points on say the Hauler? (if this is a mining vessel and not a trading one) are they really good enough to engage in battle with or are they just for making some sort of escape plan if you get set upon by pirates?

3) I am playing strictly in solo mode right now, I have never played with other real players online. When would be a good point to try playing in the real world environment, and what improvements/stats would you suggest making before I attempt to join other real players?

Sorry for being greedy and asking 3 really fussy questions, it's just that it's really hard to glean specific information on this game from the many many sources that exist without getting confused.

Thanks for your help in advance, happy flying!
cheers. :)
 

Dommarraa

Dommarraa
1) Leave whenever you like. The rest of us survived without the starter zone, proper space is really not that different.
2) "Hauler" the clue is in the name. DO NOT fight in it. Mining can be overly profitable to the point of ruining the game, so beware. Someone will give you a Mining Ladder that starts in a Hauler, and has you in a Conda within a few hours.
3) Why would you want to play Open at all ? Real players are by FAR more likely to either ignore you or destroy you regardless of the ship you fly. Open isnt "Normal", its just another mode. Play it if you want, or dont if you dont want to, all modes are equally legitimate.
 

Blasphemous One

Blasphemous One
Hey welcome back

1) You're are solid on basics if you managed to amass 1 million credits and completed bounty hunting, courier, trading missions. Viper MkIII is excellent ship, never sell it.

2) it depends on what path you want to pursue, Mining surely is lucrative especially Painite mining in overlapping hotspots (google it), but many newbies lose sense of progression when they engage in extremely profitable activities, credits are important but not everything. PS Hauler isn't for fighting.

3) Open is a mixed bag, give it a try, you can always switch between servers, don't overthink it.

Nothing greedy about it, if you have more questions, ask away.
 
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MoonRacer

MoonRacer
I am here since February 2019, not exactly experienced....
Despite that - my answers:
1) Here I am a bit unsure, since I never saw the newbie area. Judging from comments from people who reset their accounts, there are several things to consider:
a) You are tired of the small ships and the mostly D rated modules and want to try out Engineering.
b) You want to explore
c) You want to make much more money
If one of these things is true, you should take the 'Good Bye Mission' they offer and leave. On the other hand if you want to fight a bit, or take on mining you should be able to do this in the newbie zone, the same goes for trading, at least small time for a while (Hauler). There seem to be many things you can do inside, so why not stay?
But Exploring is not really possible, and going towards larger ships and big trade would be reasons for a planned leave. Think about it, plan it, and then do it.

2) The Hauler has only one hard point, not exactly a mining ship. I think you can trade a bit, but should learn how to flee from pirates, because fightinh them with a Hauler is no option. Also you can build a great cheap Explorer Ship with a Hauler! This is how I started Exploring. If you have one, keep it and retool it for Exploring, if you are interested.
I do believe you could buy a Cobra MK3 in the zone? If yes, this should be a possibility for mining. You can later sell it, or retool it for other things.

3) I play Solo only. Reading all the posts and different opinions here just reinforces my decision never to play Open, every time. PvP I do not want, and have not the time for the huge PITA engineering my ships just for this. This takes months of boring material collecting and so on. And it is completely unbalanced, with OP builds for PvP only. Not for me, thanks.
But it is for you to decide if you see advantages in playing with other (unknown) players. Just read several threads here, before you decide.

And no, your questions are not fussy but fully justified :)
 

DragonIV

DragonIV
1.) If staying in Solo, yes, move on. There's more money and action to be had elsewhere, and it sounds like you're taking care of yourself just fine.
2.) Only if you really want to amass credits quickly. I wouldn't recommend it at this point. I had a blast slowly moving up through the ship ranks, and that is completely lost once you start landing tons of dough easily. That said--when you get to a point where the money you're making isn't even close to what you want to buy (usually happens when you want to transition to the big ships), then start looking at mining.
3.) There's no real benefit to open unless you play with others or like emergent gameplay (aka ganking, :ROFLMAO:). I'd recommend staying in Solo otherwise.
 

CMDR Cknarf

CMDR Cknarf
Been playing a little over 3 years here, 99% of that time in open.

Running into other players is rare outside of points of interest or the area around starter space.

The best advice I could give to ‘prepare’ for Open is to look up the git gud guide to trading in open. Kind of NSFW, but sums up a lot of solid survival tactics should you encounter hostile players.

Can’t meet friends in solo play, man. Don’t be afraid to get out there in Open and make yourself famous. Worst that can happen is your pixels explode lol.

Happens to the best of us from time to time.

As for mining, the Adder is the smallest, cheapest ship that you can fit the good mining tools on and still have decent cargo. Good meaning ‘you can blow rocks up with it’.
 

Sensei Jacksama

Sensei Jacksama
Welcome back cmdr o7. Playing in open isnt that bad. 99% of the time other Cmdr's will ignore you or say hi back or whatnot. As long as you fly with rebuy then it's all good. The cobra 3 can be used for deep core mining.

Heres what you need to do it:
1) a pulse wave scanner in a utility slot
2) a seismic charge launcher and an abrasion blaster in your hardpoints
3) a class 1 prospector limpet
4) a collector limpet (class 1D should be enough)
5) a refinery. Class 1 should also be enough since you are only mining 1 material
6) a detailed surface scanner so you can find hotspots
7) shields.. definitely shields
8) an icy ring around a planet.
9) as many limpets as you can hold. Most of them will get used up by your prospector.

You should still have enough space in a cobra 3 for up to 32 cargo. A single void opal asteroid can net you 16 tons which can be resold for 20+ million credits. Do alot of research before you go out because finding these asteroids are tricky. Good luck.

Edit: If you play in open stay away from points of interest where lots of players are going to be gathering. For example community goals, engineers, sol, the founders world etc.
 
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Lightspeed

Lightspeed
Dax T said:
Hello,
I have just started playing Elite Dangerous Horizons after giving up a few years back, mainly because I couldn't get passed the learning curve. However, the Devs have really improved the game and so I am giving it another try. But I just wanted to ask you a few questions in order to avoid getting stuck again if i may?

1) I have just over 1,000,000 credits and I am on friendly terms with the federation, I am still in the pilots starting zone and I am flying a Viper MKIII which is working well enough for courier missions and some bounty hunting and bit of trading. - When should I leave the pilots zone and begin flying further out? and should I upgrade first before doing so?

2) Is it worth buying a mining vessel at this point and if so, what good are the hard points on say the Hauler? (if this is a mining vessel and not a trading one) are they really good enough to engage in battle with or are they just for making some sort of escape plan if you get set upon by pirates?

3) I am playing strictly in solo mode right now, I have never played with other real players online. When would be a good point to try playing in the real world environment, and what improvements/stats would you suggest making before I attempt to join other real players?

Sorry for being greedy and asking 3 really fussy questions, it's just that it's really hard to glean specific information on this game from the many many sources that exist without getting confused.

Thanks for your help in advance, happy flying!
cheers. :)
Click to expand...
Welcome back, Commander.

You can do just about anything in the Cobra III, including mining if you wish. It's a good stepping stone. (Edit - and the above post has covered this very well !)

But you may prefer to run a few missions to get a feel for the rest of inhabited space first.

Since you bought the game some while ago, you may have automatically received a couple of free (and good) paint jobs for the Cobra. Look out for these in Outfitting if you buy that ship. :)

Best thing about this game is, do what you fancy, so long as you have enough credits for a couple of rebuys.
 

Dax T

Dax T
Hi,
Thank you very much, you are all very kind and excellent. I really appreciate all of your advice, and yours also Dommarraa; verging on tough love!, I guess it's what every new pilot needs :).
The detail of the ideas you have all taken the time to give me is just what I need going forwards. I'll save this page/post to a Word Doc and refer to it as and when as I decide how to proceed. It's great.
Thanks again,
BJ:D
 

etarm

etarm
I haven't been playing much lately, so I'm not sure how active the Mobius PvE group stiill is, but if you want to try multiplayer but don't want Open, consider joining Mobius. You'll occasionally bump into other players there (particularly at Community Events), and can meet up with friends, but you won't be attacked by players who've engineered their ships for PvP. Good luck & keep flying!
 

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
Welcome back CMDR!

1) Leave whenever you want, there's better opportunities outside I believe.

2) I'd save up for a Cobra Mk3, you can do some fun boom boom core mining in that, and it pays very well, just remember you're new, and have a lot to learn.
Just because you can buy an Anaconda, doesn't mean you can fly one.

3) open is ok, avoid the busy places and you'll feel like you're in solo!
 

Dax T

Dax T
Thank you CMDR Cosmic,
I appreciate your concise advice, and I have just bought a Cobra MK III so I may just do all that you have suggested.

thanks again, :)
 

Brrokk

Brrokk
Deaf Space said:
Open Is For Real Men, Dont let anyone fool you, The Game is Elite Dangerous not Elite Alone With NPCs
Click to expand...
This is... untrue.

Edit. I don't want us to start the usual thing again. The important point is whether the mode advice is good for a new player.
 
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Ethaidan

Ethaidan
For mining, trade that Viper III in and buy a IV (Cobras are too common). I fitted a D-rated Viper IV for mining on my new account and a couple of quick core mining runs later and I'm in an A-rated DBX.

Oh, and there is no need to fear open. Just play smart.
 

Crank Larson

Crank Larson
MoonRacer said:
3) I play Solo only. Reading all the posts and different opinions here just reinforces my decision never to play Open, every time. PvP I do not want, and have not the time for the huge PITA engineering my ships just for this. This takes months of boring material collecting and so on. And it is completely unbalanced, with OP builds for PvP only. Not for me, thanks.
But it is for you to decide if you see advantages in playing with other (unknown) players. Just read several threads here, before you decide.
Click to expand...

While obviously Open isn't for everyone, if you are going to base your opinion of it on threads and comments in this forum, I think you do it an injustice. The forum is unbalanced with complaints about Open, but in fact it isn't the "everyone will attack you on sight" that some claim. I can't remember the last time I was attacked in Open. That's not to say it doesn't happen, but it really is limited to certain high traffic areas or really random encounters (which could happen anywhere, but are extremely rare).

I'd always suggest to try Open personally before deciding. You can always change your mind again later. :)
 
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